"Huh?" Kagome groaned quietly as she shifted herself onto her elbows, still half asleep. "Gah!" a loud thump came from one of the corners of the small shack near the door.
"Kagome, go back to sleep" a voice said quietly, trying not to wake the others. "Inuyasha? Where are you going?" Kagome asked as she rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the dark lighting of the shack that was their shelter for the night. "Nowhere, go to sleep" Inuyasha replied before vanishing out the door.
Ignoring what he had said, Kagome got up and ran after Inuyasha quietly.
Where did he go? Kagome thought, frustrated. "Hey! Give that back!" someone shouted, Kagome turned and looked in the direction that the voice had come from. Curiously, Kagome walked in the direction of the voice, dodging sticks and branches along the way.
"Please give it back, we were playing with that" another voice pleaded, Kagome ducked behind a bush, if it's Inuyasha then these flowers will cover my scent, she thought proudly as she looked out into the clearing.
A small group of kids were gathered in a clearing, all looking up at the taller figure that was holding a old looking ball above his head. Inuyasha! What's he doing to those kids? Kagome wondered, shifting her position so she could get a better look.
"Oh, you want this?" Inuyasha smirked down at the kids. "Yes!" all the kids replied loudly, nodding their heads. "If you want it then you have to catch me!" Inuyasha yelled as he jumped high the air.
Kids cant jump that high! Kagome thought furiously, preparing to get up. "Ha, ha!" the kids laughed happily, jumping into the high trees, then into the air at the same level as Inuyasha. "Who are those kids?" Kagome whispered to herself quietly as she watched the scene.
One of the kids stopped and looked down at the bush Kagome had hidden herself in. Kagome held her breath and inched backwards slowly, silently praying that she had not been seen, luckily, the kid shrugged and ran to catch up with the others.
In the end, the kids had caught Inuyasha by circling him and attacking all at once, forcing Inuyasha to give up the ball.
"Daddy?" asked a little girl. She had dull yellow eyes, light brown hair, dog ears and a tail who wore a old blue kimono that looked like it had been sewn together many times before by someone who didn't know how to sew. "Yes Mihoshi?" Inuyasha replied softly. "Did you bring any food this time?" the little girl, Mihoshi, asked. "Yeah, do you want some?" Inuyasha asked, Mihoshi nodded eagerly.
Daddy? Kagome thought to herself, how could Inuyasha be a father? Are all of these kids his? Who's the mother? Kikyo? No, then who could it be? Maybe they were adopted?
"Everyone! Daddy's got food!" Mihoshi yelled out. All the kids turned their heads to Inuyasha, who was holding a large basket full of, what Kagome guessed, was food, and gathered around him.
"Hey, Daddy?" a little boy who had dark brown-almost-black hair and light brown eyes asked, "where were you last night? You didn't come to see us".
"I was fighting a demon, he wasn't too tough but he did give me a pretty big graze on my back, nothing to worry about" Inuyasha replied as he got out the food. So that's where my noodle boxes got to, Kagome sighed.
"Oh, your human tonight Daiki, ya shoulda told me" Inuyasha laughed to the little boy, "I didn't recognise ya there" the other kids laughed too. "If I did then you'd forget, there are eleven of us remember?" the little boy named Daiki laughed. "Ah, nope, there are twelve, who's taking care of little Aiko? You didn't leave her back at the last clearing again did you Yuzuki?" Inuyasha teased to a girl who looked around ten, she had long silver hair that reached around her knees, dog ears and bright yellow eyes that sparkled in the light.
She looks so much like Inuyasha it's crazy, is she really adopted? Kagome thought as she looked on in awe. Kagome was so focused on the scene that she didn't notice the boy who was slowly crawling up behind her.
"Who are you?" the boy asked suddenly as he popped up next to Kagome, making her jump. "You have my Father's scent on you, are you Kagome? Dad talks about you a lot, how do you make those noodle thingies? Did they come from your world? What's your world like? Can I go there? Does-"
"Shhh!" Kagome whispered furiously, "yes I'm Kagome, I don't make the noodle thingies, they did come from my world and I don't know if you can go there, now will you please be quiet?"The boy sat there for a second staring at Kagome silently before yelling out "Dad!?"
Kagome's eyes widened slightly and she tried to back away behind a tree but the boy grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the bushes. "Dad, did you let Kagome come here?" the boy asked Inuyasha, not letting go of Kagome's wrist.
Inuyasha flinched back when he saw Kagome, a slight blush from embarrassment showing on his face. "Uuuh, um...go get something to eat Kohaku, I'll talk to Kagome" Inuyasha told the boy.
Kohaku? Not the Kohaku, Sango's little brother, right? Kagome wondered as she looked at the boy properly for the first time. He had short dark brown hair like Kohaku, he also had the same brown eyes as Kohaku, he looked about the same age, same hight, same posture, the only difference between them was the dog ears and the tail that this Kohaku had.
"It is" Inuyasha sighed, "what?" Kagome asked.
"That is Kohaku, Sango's little brother" Inuyasha explained, "I don't know how it happened but he's half demon now, I found him one day, unconscious in a large crater, looking like this, he almost has the same scent, not entirely because he's half demon now, but when he woke up he said he couldn't remember a thing, only his and Sango's name. I would have taken him to Sango but I think that will bring his memories back too quickly and he might be hurt, so I'm keeping him with me. Remember a while ago when I started asking Sango everything about her old life in the village?"
"Oh yeah, I was wondering what was going on then," Kagome smiled, "so when you knew everything about Kohaku you started to tell him about his old life slowly and carefully, your so nice Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha smiled and leaned against a tree. "Your so different around these kids, why aren't you like this all the time?" Kagome asked as she leaned against the same tree, facing Inuyasha. "I don't know really, these kids just have that affect on me ya know" Inuyasha replied simply.
"You adopted these kids, right?" Kagome asked, Inuyasha nodded and grabbed Kagome's hand before sitting down, forcing Kagome to sit on his lap. "What are their names?" Kagome asked, Inuyasha laughed.
"What's so funny?" Kagome asked, Inuyasha smiled. "your asking a lot of questions" he replied, Kagome smiled too.
"It's like truth or dare" Kagome laughed.
"What's truth or dare?" Inuyasha asked, curiosity showing on his face.
"It's a game we play in my world, one person would say to another "truth or dare" and the person they asked chooses either truth or dare. If they say truth then the first person would ask a question and the second would have to answer truthfully, no matter what the question was" Kagome explained, "if the person they asked says dare then the first person dares the second to do something and the second person has to do it. There's and extension of the game called truth, dare or double dare, it has the same rules except if the second person says double dare then they both have to do it"
"Do you get it?" Kagome asked, turning to Inuyasha, who had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Can we play it?" Inuyasha asked, Kagome blinked.
"Can we?" Inuyasha asked again,
"Uhh, sure, scissors, paper, rock on who goes first" Kagome replied.
After a minute of shuffling so that they could move their hands around freely, Inuyasha and Kagome played scissors, paper, rock. They both did rock. "Again" Inuyasha said, they did another round. They both did the same thing again, this time it was paper. "Again" Kagome challenged, her competitive side starting to show. Rock. "Again". Scissors. "Again". Scissors. "One more time".
"Yes, I win!" Kagome laughed, "paper beats rock!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes.
"Okay, truth or dare?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"Truth" Inuyasha said instantly, Kagome blinked in surprise but asked her question anyway.
"What are the kids names?" she asked.
Inuyasha turned to a little girl who was watching them curiously. "Go gather everyone up, I'll introduce you to Kagome" Inuyasha said to the girl, who nodded and ran off.
"While we're waiting, truth or dare?" Inuyasha asked Kagome. Kagome thought for a second before saying "dare" Kagome then saw the victory on Inuyasha's face and whispered "o, oh" to herself in fright, "this cant be good".
"I dare you too..." Inuyasha stopped and spoke the next words quietly into Kagome's ear. Kagome's eye's widened and a faint blush came across her cheeks.
Hesitantly Kagome leaned in, the blush on her face getting redder and redder and a slight blush was showing on Inuyasha's face. Slowly, hesitation in all of her movements, Kagome kissed Inuyasha.
"Daddy, everyone's her-" the girl started to say but she stopped when she saw the scene in-front of her. "WE'VE GOT A MUMMY NOW!" the girl squealed happily, all the other kids began to laugh and squeal too. With a blush on both of their faces, Kagome and Inuyasha quickly pulled apart but Inuyasha sat up to quickly and Kagome fell off his lap, which he quickly apologised for.
"Calm down" Inuyasha laughed when he and Kagome had recovered from the small fright. "She's only you Mother if she wants to be, you cant force her, there are twelve of you" he continued but then he bent down and whispered "but if you wanna try convincing her, puppy eyes always work".
The kids instantly brightened up and ran to Kagome. "Can you pleeeeaaaase be our Mother?" all eleven of the kids asked Kagome at the same time, eyes big and shining hopefully."Awwwwwwwww~!" Kagome smiled, "well I cant say no to you, now can I?" all the kids cheered happily and hugged Kagome tightly.
"Now," Inuyasha laughed, happy Kagome accepted the children, even though there were twelve of them. "The names, this," Inuyasha said, pointing to the oldest looking child other than Kohaku, a twelve year old boy with short light brown hair and large yellow eyes who had light brown dog ears and a tail, "is Haruki"
Next Inuyasha pointed to the girl Kagome had seen Inuyasha tease earlier, closer up Kagome noticed that she had freckles covering her face and that she had braided her fringe on both sides. "From what you heard, you should probably know by now that her name is Yuzuki, thought I should make sure you knew anyway" Inuyasha explained, Kagome nodded.
He then pointed to another girl, she looked about nine, she had short black hair that she had cut off before it had even reached her shoulders and dark brown eyes. Her dog ears were a little droopy, as if she were too shy to be the centre of attention, Kagome noticed this and offered her a kind smile, which the girl returned, Inuyasha told Kagome that her name was Mia.
Then there were two boys, they had nothing in common but you could tell they were twins, Inuyasha introduced them as Arata and Yuuto. Arata had short silver hair and dark brown eyes and his silver dog ears were up confidently in the air, while Yuuto had longer black hair that was half-way down his back, his dog ears low as if he were scared of Kagome but his bright yellow eyes shone with curiosity. Both of them looked around seven.
The next three were all girls; Aimi, Naoko and Sakura. Aimi had short silver hair, her dog ears were perked up with curiosity and happiness was shining in her yellow eyes, she seemed to be seven. Naoko had normal length dark brown hair and large brown eyes, her brown dog ears twitching as she listened out for any noises that sounded odd, she was only a year younger then Aimi. The last child, Sakura, was on odd child to behold, her long hair that reached her ankles was brown at the bottom but slowly as it reached to the top it changed from brown to black, then grey, then silver, her dark brown eyes also had little flecks of bright yellow showing in them too, you could tell that she was the same age as Naoko even though her hight was rather short.
The next two children were Daiki, who, now that Kagome could see him better, looked around five, and Mihoshi, who looked like she was three or four.
"Here" Inuyasha said as he handed Kagome a small bundle, "this is Aiko, I found her a few weeks ago abandoned in the mountains as a newborn, almost about to be eaten by wolves". Kagome felt a small pang of sadness as she looked down at the baby girl, Aiko had very short silver hair that looked about the same length as the hair on her small dog ears. "She's so cute~!" Kagome cooed as she watched the small baby open her bright yellow eyes. Inuyasha smiled as he watched Kagome hold the small baby.
"Are they getting enough food?" Kagome asked Inuyasha as she gently rocked the baby back to sleep. "No" Inuyasha sighed sadly, "I try to collect as much food from villages without them noticing as possible but that's still not enough, and I'm having trouble getting milk for Aiko too, I'm surprised they made it this far, I was preparing to tell you about them tomorrow, do you think you can help them?"
"You could have told me long ago that you were taking care of these kids, I would have helped you strait away" Kagome laughed quietly, trying not to wake the baby or any of the other kids who had fallen asleep.
"So you'll help them?" Inuyasha asked eagerly, Kagome nodded.
"But there's one problem, we have to get to my era, and it'll take seven whole days to walk back to The Bone Eater's Well, you'll have to let me tell Sango, Miroku and Shippo if you want to get there quickly" Kagome explained.
"Please don't tell them" Inuyasha pleaded, "they'll think I'm weak!"
"Idiot, do you want these kids to survive?" Kagome asked, Inuyasha nodded sadly, "Sango, Miroku and Shippo wont think your weak, they'll think your stronger if they think any differently of you at all, look at all these kids, a normal person wouldn't be able to handle one, your taking care of twelve! And your still fighting demons and running around with energy to spare!"
"But-" Inuyasha began to argue, but he stopped when he saw the look on Kagome's face.
"I'm going to tell them, if you try to stop me I'll say it, now, help me get all of the kids back to the shelter" Kagome said, Inuyasha gulped and nodded.
Kagome then turned and, still holding Aiko, picked up Mihoshi. "Haruki, Kohaku" Kagome said quietly as she walked past the two boys. "Huh?" Haruki groaned as he sat up, "what is it Mum?" Kagome's heart skipped a beat when she heard herself be called Mum. I guess I'll get used to it, she shrugged before shaking her head. "Can you wake up Kohaku and help me and your father move your brothers and sisters?" Kagome asked kindly, Haruki nodded and turned to his adopted brother.
"Is that everyone?" Kagome asked as she stopped at the edge of the clearing. "Yeah" Inuyasha replied, shifting a bit so that Daiki and Mihoshi (who Inuyasha took from Kagome) were more comfortable in his arms with their heads on his shoulders. Kagome nodded and looked up, Haruki and Kohaku were already ahead of them, Haruki holding Naoko and Sakura's hands as he led them through the trees, following the path Kagome and Inuyasha had taken earlier. While Kohaku gave Aimi a piggy-back ride because she was too tired to get up. Yuzuki, Mia, Arata and Yuuto walked sluggishly behind Kagome.
"Wow, it's already sunrise, we were gone for ages" Kagome yawned as she looked at the colourful sunrise.
"Kagome! Inuyasha! Where were you?" Miroku asked at the door of the shelter as Inuyasha entered the clearing. "And who are these little cuties?" he added when he saw Yuzuki and Mia. "My, my, what are your names little girls?" Miroku asked the children.
"I'm Yuzuki, this is Mia" Yuzuki introduced.
"And how old are you Yuzuki?" Miroku asked.
"Ten" Yuzuki replied simply.
"Wow, what a big girl" Miroku smiled, "say, Yuzuki, would you consi-"
"Ooooooh, no ya don't!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he jumped between Miroku and his Daughters.
"And why not?" Miroku asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
"Because" Inuyasha pouted, "why would I let you even ask that to one of my Daughters? She's only ten!"
Miroku jumped back in surprise and turned to Yuzuki, then back to Inuyasha, then Yuzuki again.
"Sh-she looks just like you!" Miroku yelped.
"Coincidence, I'm not her biological Father" Inuyasha said as he crossed his arms, then he turned to Kagome. "Which reminds me" he whispered to Kagome, "can I have one of those soon?"
Kagome blushed and whispered back, "wait a few years, we cant have two babies running around"
"Aww" Inuyasha pouted.
"Hey, where's Kohaku? I thought he was ahead of us" Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"I pulled him back before he saw Sango" Inuyasha replied before turning to the rest of the kids. "Line up!" Inuyasha called out, instantly all the kids gathered around their father, more alert now that they had gotten a chance to wake up.
"Where's Mihoshi and Daiki? I cant see them anywhere" Inuyasha asked with fake worry in his voice. "They're on your back!" the kids laughed, Inuyasha turned around.
"Still cant see them, Mihoshi!? Daiki!?" Inuyasha called out, turning around in circles, the children continued to laugh.
"He seems like a whole different person" Miroku commented to Kagome.
"He's like that around the kids, he doesn't know why though" Kagome replied as she rocked Aiko in her arms.
"Mummy! Mummy! Look!" Sakura yelled to her Mother as she looked down from a high tree.
"Oh, no, Sakura! Get down from there!" Kagome yelled up to her daughter.
"Mummy?" Miroku asked to himself. "I'm their adoptive Mother" Kagome explained as she watched Sakura climb down the tree carefully.
"Are they all half demon?"Miroku asked, watching as Daiki's dark brown hair changed to silver, his light brown eyes changed to yellow and his dog ears and tail appeared.
"Yeah" Kagome replied, "are Sango and Shippo up yet?"
"Not yet, but I'm expecting them to be soon" answered Miroku, turning back to the small shack.
"What's with all this noise?" Sango asked as she opened the shack door and looked up.
"Good morning" Kagome greeted, Sango looked at Kagome and saw the little squirming bundle in her arms.
"What's that?" Sango asked, pointing to the bundle just as it began to cry.
"Shh, it's okay" Kagome whispered gently to the baby. Sango's expression changed from questioning to exited as she ran up to Kagome to get a good look at the baby.
"Awwwwwwwwwwww~!" Sango cooed as she gazed at the baby girl, everyone jumped at the sudden unexpected mood change.
"Where are her parents?"Sango asked when she had calmed down slightly.
"Here" Kagome and Inuyasha said at the same time, raising their hands as if they were in a classroom.
"Your her parents?" Sango asked, surprise written all over her face.
"Well, adopted parents, Inuyasha found her abandoned in the mountains, she was about to be eaten by wolves" Kagome explained, "her name's Aiko"
"I didn't think Inuyasha would be kind enough to take in an abandoned child" Sango gawked.
"Inuyasha! Stop holding Arata upside down and hold your Daughter for me, I need to talk to Sango" Kagome yelled to said half demon.
"Yes ma'am" Inuyasha yelped, afraid he'd get in trouble. All the kids laughed.
"Sango" Kagome said gently, said girl looked up in surprise when she heard the tone Kagome was using.
"What is it?" Sango asked.
"Inuyasha found Kohaku" Kagome answered. Sango's eyes widened slightly and she was about to turn around to look for Inuyasha so she could ask him some questions but Kagome grabbed her wrist.
"Kohaku's with us now, don't worry, but you cant see him" Kagome explained, confusion came across Sango's face.
"Why not? Is he hurt?" Sango questioned.
"He has no memory other than your name and his own, Inuyasha's afraid that if Kohaku saw you, he might get his memories back to quickly and get hurt, there have also been some...changes to his appearance" Kagome replied.
"What sort of changes? Is he disfigured? Or bald? Come on, tell me" Sango pleaded.
"Uhhh, dog ears...tail..." Kagome answered quietly, "...he's, uhh...half demon"
"Half demon? How?!" Sango cried, tears of worry appearing at her eyes.
"Calm down, calm down, he's okay, we don't know how he became half demon, but his sacred jewel shard is gone now if that helps" Kagome reassured, Sango smiled slightly and wiped her tears away.
"If you want I can take you to see him, you just cant let him see you" came a voice, the two girls turned around to see Inuyasha leaning on a close by tree with Aiko still in his arms. "Thank you" Sango smiled gratefully.
"And that means that you will have to hold the baby" Inuyasha teased as he walked up to Kagome.
"And I'm fine with that" Kagome smirked, "but only if you do one thing for me"
Sango watched on with wide surprised eyes as Inuyasha kissed Kagome on the lips and Kagome took the baby from Inuyasha.
"I want a reward for being nice enough to adopt twelve kids" Inuyasha whispered into Kagome's ear. "Not now, later, outside the next village we stop at" Kagome replied, knowing what the half demon was after. Inuyasha grinned victoriously and kissed Kagome again.
"Shippo, Shippo" Kagome called gently, Inuyasha had already left with Sango so that she could check on her little brother, Kagome had gone back to the shelter and was now trying to wake Shippo.
"Huh? Kagome? Is it morning already?" Shippo asked tiredly as he looked around the shack.
"Yes Shippo" Kagome replied patiently.
"IS THAT A BABY!?" Shippo yelled excitedly when he saw the bundle in Kagome's arms. Hearing Shippo's exited shouts, Aiko woke up and began to cry. "Sorry" Shippo whispered to Aiko, Kagome smiled.
"What's her name?" Shippo asked as he watched Kagome rock the small baby back to sleep.
"Aiko" Kagome answered.
"Is she a half demon?" Shippo questioned, Kagome nodded, "where are her parents? Were they killed like mine?"
"No, Inuyasha found her in the mountains about to be eaten by wolves. Her parents abandoned her and instead of dropping her off at a village to be taken care of like we'd all expect him to, he adopted her, along with eleven other children, I'm their adoptive Mother" Kagome explained.
"Why would Inuyasha adopt twelve kids? I thought he didn't like children, he's not nice to me" Shippo pouted.
"Wait till you see him with the kids, he's actually a total softie" Kagome smiled.
Hours later, after Sango and Inuyasha had gotten back from checking on Kohaku, everyone gathered up their stuff and left the clearing, following the path towards a close by village. Inuyasha was at the front of the group giving Naoko a piggy-back ride. Next in line was Haruki, Kohaku, Arata, Yuuto and Daiki who were quietly throwing the old ball to each other. Just behind the boys were Yuzuki, Mia and Mihoshi who were talking about something-or-other. In front of Kagome and Sango was Shippo and Sakura, who were holding hands. Kagome had teased them about being boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Where's Miroku?" Sango asked Kagome.
"He went ahead to talk to Inuyasha" Kagome answered.
"Hey Inuyasha, can I talk to you?" Miroku asked.
"What about?" Inuyasha asked back.
"You and Kagome" Miroku replied.
"Hey Daddy?" Naoko called, tugging on her Father's ears slightly.
"What is it Naoko?" Inuyasha asked.
"Can I go play with Yuzuki, Mia and Mihoshi?" Naoko asked back. Without replying, Inuyasha flipped Naoko off his shoulders and let her fall back to play with her sisters.
"Sango told me that you kissed Kagome" Miroku continued.
"Yeah, so what?" Inuyasha groaned, knowing where the conversation was going.
"How do you do it?" Miroku asked.
"Do what?" Inuyasha asked back.
"How do you get to that stage in only one night?!" Miroku cried, but then he stopped and stared wide eyed at Inuyasha. "Did you-"
"No" Inuyasha replied before Miroku could finish his question.
"Then what did you do?" Miroku pleaded.
"Truth or dare? What's that?" Sango asked Kagome.
"It's a game we play in my world, one person would say to another "truth or dare" and the person they asked chooses either truth or dare. If they say truth then the first person would ask a question and the second would have to answer truthfully, no matter what the question was" Kagome explained, saying exactly what she had said to Inuyasha the previous night. "If the person they asked says dare then the first person dares the second to do something and the second person has to do it. There's and extension of the game called truth, dare or double dare, it has the same rules except if the second person says double dare then they both have to do it"
"Oh, so you played that with Inuyasha" Sango realised.
"H-how did you know?" Kagome asked, her face turning red.
"Well, you said that if the person says truth then they're asked a question and they have to answer it truthfully, if the person says dare then they're asked to do a dare" Sango explained.
"Yeah, and?" Kagome said, the blush getting slightly pinker.
"These are only what ifs but, what if Inuyasha asked you truth or dare, and you chose dare, and what if Inuyasha dared you to-" Sango continued.
Kagome's face went hot pink, Sango noticed this and gawked.
"He didn't" Sango gasped.
"He did" Kagome replied quietly as she looked down.
After a long pause Sango asked, "did you enjoy it?"
"What?!" Kagome yelped.
"Did you enjoy it?" Sango repeated.
"Umm...uhhh, well..." Kagome stuttered.
"You did" Sango concluded.
"We didn't really Finnish, or start for that matter" Kagome sighed, giving in.
"No way, that's all? It actually works?" Miroku asked.
"Yeah, but don't do it to Sango" Inuyasha instructed.
"Why not?" Miroku asked.
"I can hear Kagome telling Sango about last night too, she wont fall for it" Inuyasha explained.
"Aww" Miroku groaned.
"So when are you and Miroku gonna get together?" Kagome asked Sango, deciding to change the subject.
"What?!" Sango squeaked.
"Well now that me and Inuyasha are together, you two are falling behind" Kagome explained.
"Y-wh-huh?" Sango stuttered.
"We know you like Miroku" Kagome continued, "a lot"
"Wait, we?" Sango questioned.
"Yeah, Inuyasha, Shippo and I, and we're getting impatient" Kagome replied.
"Awww" Sango groaned.
After a few hours of walking, the group reached a fork in the road. "Which way?" Miroku asked, Arata and Yuuto pointed to the left track.
"Why that way?" Kagome asked.
"We have a connection to it" Yuuto replied.
"A connection?" Sango asked.
"We chose this path before Miroku even asked which way we should go" Arata answered.
"In other words, we like it" Yuuto continued.
"Strange kids" Miroku commented quietly as everyone turned onto the left path.
"We'll camp here for the night" Inuyasha said as they walked into a small clearing.
"What's that smell?" Mihoshi asked as she sniffed the air, Kagome opened her bag and pulled out
a bottle of water and eight packets of barbecue chips.
"Strange food!" all the kids cheered.
"What?" Sango and Miroku asked at the same time.
"Strange food" Sakura said, "it's what Daddy would sometimes bring us, we didn't know what to call it so all it's called now is strange food".
"One packet between two people" Kagome said as she handed Miroku and Sango a packet of chips.
Then Kagome handed Shippo and Sakura a packet, then she gave Kohaku and Haruki, Arata and Yuuto, Yuzuki and Mia and Daiki and Mihoshi a packet each, saving one for Inuyasha and herself.
"I'm surprised she went this long without wanting food" Kagome gaped as she watched Aiko drink the bottle of water she had given her. "She's used to it" Inuyasha sighed, Kagome sighed too.
Miroku and Sango watched on with wide eyes as Inuyasha sat down and carefully pulled Kagome, who was still holding Aiko, onto his lap.
"They look so cute together" Miroku drew in the dirt with his fingers, a precaution he and Sango had taken so that Inuyasha couldn't hear them.
"Yeah" Sango wrote back after scribbling out Miroku's message.
"Thank you" Shippo said smugly as he stole a handful of chips out of the packet Sakura had in her lap and ate them.
"Hey!" Sakura protested, "you took too many!"
"Took too many of what?" Shippo asked innocently.
"The chips!" Sakura replied, "you took a huge handful of them!"
"Why would I do that?" Shippo asked, reaching into the packet again and taking another handful.
"That's so cute" Kagome cooed as she watched the scene, "they would make an adorable couple!"
"Yeah but if Shippo hurts her I'll kill him" Inuyasha replied.
"He wont" Kagome said.
"Wh -cough, cough- whaaaa!" Aiko screamed as she choked on her water, Kagome instantly took the bottle out of the baby's mouth, sat her up, and patted her back until the coughing stopped.
"You got used to taking care of the kids pretty fast" Inuyasha pointed out.
"I have to if I want to be their Mother" Kagome said.
"Still, it took me weeks to adjust to it" Inuyasha frowned.
"Well, I guess that proves that woman are better at multi-tasking then" Kagome grinned smugly, Inuyasha poked his tongue out then kissed Kagome, forcing her to laugh.
The next morning everyone packed up and moved on.
"Hey, Kagome" Inuyasha called.
"Yeah?" Kagome responded.
"Why are we walking? Didn't you tell Miroku, Sango and Shippo about the kids so that we could go faster?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yeah" Kagome replied, "but first we need to find some kind of transportation for the kids so that they don't have to use all their energy to keep up with us".
"Oh" Inuyasha replied stupidly.
After six hours of walking they finally saw a village.
"Look! I see the village!" Shippo cried happily.
"Food!" All the children cried together.
"Oh my, look at all these little ones" An old lady gasped as the group entered the village.
"Yes, there are a lot" Kagome replied, "can you please tell me where we might be able to find someone who could give us temporary lodgings for a night or two?"
"Only if you tell me your names, I cant let complete strangers run around my house" the old lady replied.
"I'm Kagome, this is Inuyasha, Shippo, Miroku and Sango. The baby's name is Aiko and these children's names are Kohaku, Haruki, Arata, Yuuto, Daiki, Yuzuki, Aimi, Mia, Sakura and Mihoshi" Kagome Introduced, "Thank you for letting us stay at your house".
"Such a nice girl, my name is Hatsumi" the old lady, Hatsumi smiled.
"Wow!" Kagome gasped.
"Amazing!" Sakura laughed.
"It's huge!" Shippo gaped.
"You have such a nice house Hatsumi" Sango commented.
"Why thank you" Hatsumi replied, "I try to keep it clean for visitors, now, the bedrooms are up this way".
"the children can sleep in the room at the end of the hallway, Miroku will be staying in the room across from it and Sango can sleep in next to Miroku's" Hatsumi explained.
"So then, where do we sleep?" Kagome asked as she leaned against Inuyasha.
"Oh don't worry, you two follow me" Hatsumi laughed as she walked up another set of stairs.
"You to can sleep here" Hatsumi smiled.
"it's nice but, there's only one bed" Kagome commented, "and why are we at the other end of the house?"
"Well, we wouldn't want the children hearing anything now would we?" Hatsumi winked, Kagome and Inuyasha's faces went bright pink.
"This it the kitchen" Hatsumi explained, "you can have whatever you like, it looks like you need it".
"Thank you" Sango said gratefully, Hatsumi smiled.
"Now, it looks like it's been a long day, how about we stuff ourself with food and get some rest" Hatsumi laughed as she clapped her hands.
"She's very weird, but she's also very nice, I like her" Shippo commented, everyone nodded in agreement.
The next morning everyone gathered in the hallway. "Wow, I haven't slept like that in ages" Sango yawned as she stretched, everyone nodded.
"How did you sleep Kagome?" Sango asked, when she didn't get a response she looked up to see Kagome gazing of into the distance, lost in thought.
"Kagome? Kagome!?" Sango called.
"Huh? What?" Kagome asked, shaking her head.
"I said, how did you sleep Kagome?" Sango repeated.
"Oh, I slept great" Kagome sighed happily.
"Looks like Inuyasha did too, I've never seen him this happy before" Miroku pointed out as he watched Inuyasha jump over the railing of the stairs and land lightly on the floor.
"Come on, lets get some breakfast" Hatsumi smiled as she walked past.
"Okay!" Everyone laughed.
"I'll be down in a second, I just need to go to the bathroom" Kagome called before heading off to said sacred place.
"Wow, your a really good cook!" Shippo smiled as he ate the hot food Hatsumi had prepared.
"I'm glad you like it, my grandchildren are very picky and wont eat half the stuff I make them" Hatsumi laughed.
"Gah!" everyone heard Kagome shout, then they heard a bang and a crash and after that, a moment's silence before, "owwwww, ow, ow, owies! It hurts!"
Inuyasha instantly jumped up and ran to the stairs where Kagome's cries could be heard.
"Kagome! Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked as he helped Kagome sit up.
"Yeah, I just tripped and fell down the stairs" Kagome said, straining a smile.
"Mummy! Look at your leg!" Mihoshi squealed, pointing at Kagome's leg.
"Oh my" Hatsumi gasped, running to Kagome so she could get a better look at Kagome's leg.
"We'd better get a doctor" Miroku said.
"I am a doctor" Hatsumi said, "Inuyasha, can you carry Kagome up to your room while I get the materials I need?"
"Yeah" Inuyasha nodded, picking up Kagome.
"Sango, Miroku, Shippo, you'll have to watch the kids" Inuyasha called as he carried Kagome up the stairs.
"Okay!" Sango replied, turning to the kids, "this shouldn't be too hard"
"I take back what I said earlier" Sango groaned ten minutes later as she stretched, "taking care of Inuyasha and Kagome's kids is even harder then fighting Naraku"
"Yeah" Miroku and Shippo agreed as they watched the kids eat, "eating is the only thing that keeps them quiet"
"Mummy! Daddy! Look what I found!" Daiki shouted to his parents when he saw them coming downstairs.
"What did you find buddy?" Inuyasha asked.
"A kitty! He looks like Kilala!" Daiki responded holding up a cat that did, in-fact, look like Kilala, the only difference between them was that his fur was a light shade of orange.
"Daddy? Is Mummy okay?" Mihoshi asked.
"Yeah, she wont be able to walk for a while but she'll be okay" Inuyasha replied to his Daughter.
"Why cant she walk?" Mihoshi asked.
"Because her leg's broken" Inuyasha answered patiently.
"Oh, so that's why your carrying her" Mihoshi realised.
"Kilala!" Sango gasped as the cat jumped out of her arms and walked up to the cat that Daiki was holding.
"What is Kilala doing?" Miroku questioned.
"I don't know, I've never seen her act like this towards another cat before" Sango replied, watching as the cat Daiki was holding jumped out of Daiki's arms and walked over to Kilala.
"Hey!" Miroku yelped as the two cats ran between his legs and out the door.
"Let them go" Sango said before Miroku could run after them, "I have a feeling she'll be back before we leave".
"Master Miroku! Master Miroku!" a voice called from outside.
"Hachi?" Miroku asked, walking to the door.
"I heard you were in the village so I came to see how you were doing" Hachi smiled.
"Just who we need" Inuyasha smiled.
"Huh?" Hachi questioned, fear showing on his face.
"We need you to take us to The Bone Eater's well" Miroku explained.
"Oh, I thought you meant for something dangerous" Hachi sighed in relief.
"We also need you to help carry all these children" Miroku smiled.
"Huh? Kids?" Hachi asked.
"Yes, all twelve of Kagome and Inuyasha's children" Miroku continued.
"Tw-twelve!?" Hachi yelped in surprise.
"Is there a problem?" Miroku asked, only Hachi noticed the threat in his voice.
"No, no, Master Miroku, I was just a little surprised at the number of kids there were" Hachi replied quickly.
"Hey Kagome, you haven't said anything since you fell, are you okay?" Sango asked.
"Yes, now that you mention it, Inuyasha hasn't been that talkative today, even with his good mood" Miroku agreed, "did something happen?"
"No, nothing happened" Kagome said.
"Then what? Are you feeling sick?" Sango asked.
"No, I'm just tired, Inuyasha, can you take me to the bedroom, I need a nap" Kagome yawned.
"Yeah" Inuyasha replied, turning around and walking upstairs.
"Let's follow them" Sango whispered quietly to Miroku,
"Why?" Miroku questioned.
"I just have this feeling..." Sango trailed off, "come on, let's go".
Without waiting for Miroku's response, Sango ran quietly up the stairs after Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Kagome looks like she's in a better mood now that they're alone" Sango stated to Miroku when they finally reached Kagome's room.
"Yeah" Miroku agreed, then he and Sango heard talking and turned their attention to the couple.
"If I end up pregnant then you'll have to take care of me even more" Kagome laughed.
"I don't mind" Inuyasha laughed back.
Pregnant? Where would she get that idea? Miroku and Sango thought to themselves.
"Then you wouldn't have a panic attack if I ever said I was pregnant?" Kagome teased.
"Maybe, maybe not" Inuyasha responded.
"Well that's helpful" Kagome laughed with sarcasm in her voice, "why maybe?"
"Because, if it did happen I'd have to worry about the baby before they're born too, I've only taken care of kids after they're born" Inuyasha explained.
"It'd be funny to see you run around in a panic when I go into labour" Kagome joked.
"You talking about it as if you really are pregnant" Inuyasha pointed out.
"Well it could happen...especially after last night" Kagome said.
"Hope not, one baby crying is enough" Inuyasha joked.
"He's coming out!" Sango whispered when they heard footsteps coming closer.
"Come on!" Miroku whispered back, pointing to a window, Sango nodded and jumped through the window first, then Miroku.
"That was close" Sango sighed as she leaned against the wall.
"Too close" Miroku agreed as he groped a forbidden area that earned himself a large red slap mark on his face.
"Okay kids, what do ya wanna do now?" Inuyasha asked his children.
"Can we go for a walk?" Yuzuki asked, "we haven't gotten a chance to explore this place yet".
"Yeah, and we can bring Auntie Sango and Uncle Miroku!" Aimi agreed.
"Auntie Sango? Uncle Miroku? Why do you call them that?" Inuyasha asked.
"It felt weird calling them Sango and Miroku, we told them that and they told us that we could call them Auntie and Uncle" Yuuto explained.
"Okay, where are Sakura and Shippo?" Inuyasha questioned.
"In the other room playing with Shippo's toys" Kohaku answered. Inuyasha instantly turned around and walked into the room next to the kitchen.
"Wow! How did you do that?!" Sakura squealed as she watched the giant spinning top fly around the room.
"I'm not gonna tell you unless you be my servant for a whooooole day!" Shippo smirked.
"Not fair!" Sakura yelled.
"Fair!"Shippo yelled back teasingly.
"Is not!" Sakura responded.
"Is too!" Shippo replied
"Is not!" Sakura retaliated.
"Is not!" Shippo laughed.
"Is too!" Sakura shouted, then she paused for a second, "wait a second! You tricked me!"
"Now why would I do such a thing?" Shippo smiled.
"Because you want me to be your servant!" Sakura replied.
"Yes, now be a good little servant and get me a drink of milk" Shippo ordered with a smirk.
"I am not your servant!" Sakura yelled.
"Yes you are, you agreed to it" Shippo laughed.
"Did not! You tricked me!" Sakura responded.
"No I didn't" Shippo continued to laugh.
"I could stay here and watch you two all day but I'd like to tell you something, your conversation is going nowhere now" a voice commented.
"Daddy! He wont teach me how to do the spiny thingy!" Sakura yelled, pointing at Shippo.
"Still cant get used to kids calling Inuyasha Daddy!" Shippo whispered to himself.
"Neither can I" Inuyasha laughed.
"Now, are we gonna sit here all day and chat or are we gonna go for a walk?" Inuyasha asked the two children.
"We're going for a walk!?" Sakura asked her Father.
"Yup, right now" Inuyasha replied.
"Hurray!" Sakura cheered.
"Are you okay with taking care of Aiko while we go for a walk Hatsumi?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yes, yes, now, go and have fun with your children Inuyasha" Hatsumi smiled.
"Okay! Let's go!" Yuzuki cheered.
"Yeah!" all the other kids agreed.
"INUYASHA!" Came a shout from upstairs.
"Yes Kagome?!" Inuyasha replied.
"COME. HERE. NOW!" Kagome yelled.
"How come your not worried? What if she's being kidnapped?" Miroku asked.
"She's not, I can tell by the tone of her voice...she's angry at me" Inuyasha explained, saying the last part with a scared expression.
"Why would she be angry at you?" Miroku asked.
"How am I supposed to know?" Inuyasha replied as he walked up the stairs.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as he slowly opened the bedroom door, caution laced through his voice, everyone who was watching at the stairs held their breath.
"Get in here!" Kagome shouted, dragging Inuyasha inside before anyone could even get a good look at her.
Without saying a thing, everyone piled up and pressed their ears against the door that Inuyasha had been dragged through.
"What's wrong Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, "are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?!" Kagome asked.
"You look kinda silly with that sheet over your head" Inuyasha replied, Kagome sighed and ripped said sheet off her head.
"What. Did. You. Do. To. Me?" Kagome asked, emphasising each word as she pointed to her new dog ears.
"Oh, I forgot about that" Inuyasha said.
"What happened?" Kagome questioned.
"It sometimes happens when a demon...mates...with a human...basically it's proof that you're mine, it's effects are different for every demon when it happens, I guess you got my ears, which, by the way, makes you look so much cuter then before" Inuyasha explained.
"Is there anything else?" Kagome asked, ignoring her blush.
"You could have gotten some kind of demonic power" Inuyasha said, "I'm not sure what though".
"So basically I'm half demon now" Kagome dead-paned.
"Yup" Inuyasha confirmed.
"Is it permanent?" Kagome asked.
"Yup" Inuyasha replied.
"Everyone's listening to what we're saying at the door" Kagome whispered.
"Let's get em'" Inuyasha whispered back, picking up Kagome and jumping out the window quietly.
"What are you doing?" Kagome asked the group after Inuyasha carried her around the house and up the stairs again.
"Gah!" the group screamed in fright.
"Kagome, Inuyasha, weren't you..." Miroku trailed off.
"Busted" Inuyasha whispered into one of Kagome's new dog ears, Kagome giggled.
"Mummy! What happened to you?" Mihoshi asked.
"If you didn't already hear, your Mother is a half demon too now" Inuyasha said.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT." Sango exclaimed, "so you...and she...I thought that you...GAH!"
"Sango, it's best not to think about it if you want to understand" Miroku explained, Sango's face changed from slightly confused to officially confused as she dropped her head in defeat.
"She's here!" came an exited shout from outside.
"Noyo's here!" came another shout, recognition came across Inuyasha's face and he turned around.
"Noyo? Who's that?" Sango asked.
"Who's Noyo? WHO'S NOYO?! HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW NOYO?!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Here, take care of Kagome, I've gotta go" Inuyasha said to Miroku as he gently placed Kagome against the wall.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, "Where are you going?".
"I'm gonna go PARTY!" Inuyasha shouted as he jumped downstairs and rushed out the door, everyone looked at each other and shrugged before following Inuyasha downstairs.
"Are you sure your okay with Miroku carrying you Kagome?" Sango asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, besides, Miroku wouldn't DARE touch me in any inappropriate areas if he values his life" Kagome smiled, when Miroku caught the hint he shrank in fear.
"So who do you think this Noyo person is?" Shippo asked.
"Maybe an enemy?" Sango suggested.
"No" Kagome replied, "Inuyasha wouldn't be that exited over an enemy, maybe an old friend of his?"
"Maybe" Miroku agreed.
"What is going on here? The town was normal and quiet a few minutes ago" Hatsumi exclaimed as she looked around the town.
"It's...a party" Sango gaped.
"Whaaaaaa?!" Kagome exclaimed.
"What's wrong Kagome?!" Sango and Miroku asked, Kagome pointed at a figure who was staggering around the streets with sake in his hands.
"Inuyasha? How did he get so drunk so fast?!" Miroku gasped.
"Noyo's special sake can do that to you" an old man smiled.
"Do you know Noyo?" Kagome asked.
"Yes, I follow rumours of her parties, she's quite famous and even though I've never seen her myself I know her quite well" the old man explained.
"How many of her parties have you been to?" Sango asked.
"three hundred and twelve" the old man replied simply.
"THREE HUNDRED AND TWELVE?! SHE THROWS THAT MANY PARTIES?" Miroku yelled, "HOW COME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HER?!"
"You're too young, I've heard that she's an immortal goddess who goes out for a year every hundred years to enjoy herself and party, I was a young child when she threw the party at my village, it was a wonderful event and ever since then I've searched for her home where she spends her time after her parties" the old man explained to Miroku.
"That means that...your over a hundred years old!" Sango realised.
"You look way younger than your true age" Kagome pointed out.
"Yes, I have been quite lucky to be able to go to one more of her parties before I die" the old man smiled.
"Do you wish to meet Noyo before you die?" Miroku asked.
"Yes, that is my dream" the old man replied.
"Come on then, lets see if we can find her then" Shippo exclaimed, jumping out into the crowd.
"Whoa there Shippo" Sango said, grabbing the little fox demon's tail.
"What did you do that for?!" Shippo yelled.
"This is a party for adults, you shouldn't be out here, go back inside with the other children, talk to Sakura" Sango explained, Kagome and Miroku nodded.
"Aww, but I like parties" Shippo complained.
"I'm sure you do, but this isn't the type of party that you would like" Kagome sighed, Shippo sighed in defeat and walked inside.
"You go inside too Hatsumi, we need someone to take care of the children and we have no one else who we can trust" Kagome added.
"Kagome, are you sure that you should be out here? Your leg's broken remember?" Sango asked Kagome.
"Yeah, I know, Miroku, take me inside" Kagome sighed.
...A few minutes earlier...
"Noyo?!" Inuyasha called.
"Yes, what is it Inuyasha?" Someone answered, Inuyasha turned around and stared at her, she had long silver hair and Forrest green eyes, the complete opposite of the colours on her black and purple kimono, and she walked around bare foot.
"You look the same every time you come out, Noyo; drunk" Inuyasha smirked.
"Well I come out of hiding to party didn't I?" Noyo replied, "and I heard that you had gotten attached to the sacred tree, how did you get free?"
"Uhhhh..." Inuyasha trailed off.
"What? Is it that bad? If you don't tell me then you can't have any sake, and I'll find out myself" Noyo threatened.
"No, no, don't, Kagome's had enough stress lately" Inuyasha groaned.
"Kagome, who's that? Your mate?" Noyo asked with a smirk, Inuyasha's face turned red.
"No way! She is!" Noyo concluded, "and here I thought the wimpy little boy from the village would never have a mate".
"Shut up" Inuyasha groaned.
"Oh well, TIME FOR SAKE!" Noyo cheered, everyone in the crowd cheered with her.
"Hey, where's Sake?" Inuyasha asked, glancing around.
"Right here dummy!" Noyo laughed holding up a bottle of sake.
"Not sake the alcohol, Sake the lizard!" Inuyasha groaned.
"Oh, he's over there" Noyo pointed to a table where a small green lizard was muttering around mumbling something to himself about a hangover.
"Sake!" Inuyasha called, the green lizard tuned and a smile appeared on his face.
"Inuyasha!" the lizard called, "it's been so long since I last saw you!"
"Same here" Inuyasha said.
"Drink the sake!" Noyo yelled handing Inuyasha a bottle of sake.
"Noyo! Don't! Remember last time you gave him sake?!" Sake yelled.
"Yeah! And he was wicked!" Noyo cheered, Sake face palmed.
"Oi! I'm a hundred years older then I was back then!" Inuyasha shouted.
"Yeah, so am I, and I still get drunk easily!" Noyo laughed.
"Alright then, how bout a little contest, first one to pass out is the loser" Inuyasha challenged.
"Your on kid!" Noyo accepted, grabbing a bottle of sake.
…twelve bottles of sake later...
"Ha, ha! I win!" Inuyasha cheered as he held up a bottle of sake, everyone clapped and cheered too.
"Who knew Inuyasha could drink so much" Miroku commented, Sango nodded in agreement.
"What's going on here?!" came a voice, everyone turned to see a small greenish demon holding a staff walk up to them.
"Hey! Look! It Jaken!" Inuyasha yelled.
"I'm surprised he can even talk in his state" Sango gaped.
"What is going on here?!" Jaken repeated.
"A drinking competition" Miroku replied, "Inuyasha challenged Noyo and, surprisingly, won".
"HEY! WHO are yoooou!?" Noyo yelled, pointing at Jaken.
"Oh LOOK! she up!" Inuyasha yelled.
"I am Jaken" the little demon replied, ignoring Inuyasha's loud shouts.
"And whoooose thAt!?" Noyo asked, pointing at the person behind Jaken.
"Don't you dare point at Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken yelled.
"Why not?!" Noyo yelled.
"Because it's very rude! And if you value your life I suggest you stop!" Jaken responded, Noyo looked down at her hand and realised that it was still pointing at the figure behind Jaken.
"Come on, you've had enough" Inuyasha said, dragging Noyo away.
"HOW DID HE MANAGE TO RECOVER SO FAST!?" everyone shouted.
"So that's why he challenged her" Miroku realised.
"OI! Whoooose Sesshomaru?!" Noyo yelled to Jaken as she was being dragged away.
"Inuyasha's older brother" Jaken answered, "and it's Lord Sesshomaru to you!"
"Hey! Sesshomaru! Did you know you has a sister-in-law!?" Noyo asked Sesshomaru.
"Shut. Up. Noyo!" Inuyasha yelled, emphasising each word.
"And who would that be?" Sesshomaru asked, deciding to humour the drunken woman.
"He saids her names was Kagome" Noyo replied.
"Shut. Up." Inuyasha groaned.
"And he said he mated withs her!" Noyo added.
"I will kill you if you don't stop" Inuyasha threatened.
"No way! You cant kill me! I immortal!" Noyo yelled.
"I'll tie you to a tree" Inuyasha said.
"I can get freeee easillyyyyyyy!" Noyo shouted, "Now Lettt meeee gooo!" she then swung her arms around.
"Why don't myy powerssss wooork!?" Noyo shouted.
"Your drunk" Inuyasha reminded her.
"Oooooooh, okay, run horseeeee! I wanna go and play on the rainbow!" Noyo cheered.
"There are no rainbows" Inuyasha groaned, "and I am not a horse!"
"Yeeesss you are!" Noyo responded, Inuyasha groaned in defeat and just let Noyo talk to herself about unicorns and rainbows.
"Heeey! Inu-Pup! Did you know that I can shape-change now?" Noyo asked.
"Into what?" Inuyasha asked half-heartedly.
"A HUUUUUGE GREEN DRAGON!" Noyo cheered.
"Oh really?" Inuyasha responded, barely even paying attention.
"Yup! Look!" Noyo shouted, and suddenly she disappeared.
"Whaaa! Where did she go!" Inuyasha yelled, a worried tone in his voice, after all, a drunken woman who has the power over elements on the lose isn't a good thing.
"Over here!" Noyo shouted.
"Huh?!" Inuyasha gawked, looking up at the big green dragon that was running excitedly around a clearing just outside the village.