Author's Notes: Ah yes, another oneshot. This was just a fun little idea I had, so no, it won't be going anywhere after this. Just wanted to get it out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or The Boy who cried Wolf by Aesop.
The Kitsune who cried "Kagome!"
"Inuyasha! You have to play nicely with him!" Kagome stormed up to the hanyou, who was trying not to cower under her furious gaze.
"He made me mad," Inuyasha muttered as a sort of apology. He glanced at Shippou, cradled in Kagome's arms. The kitsune stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. When Inuyasha pointed accusingly at him, the face instantly smiled.
"Shippou, I've had enough of this." Kagome looked down at the young kitsune smiling innocently at her. "You need to learn how to protect yourself against Inuyasha.." Shippou's bright smile faded at Kagome's serious expression. He had really gotten himself into trouble this time.
"Inuyasha, it is your job to train Shippou." Kagome smiled at her brilliant idea, but Miroku and Sango exchanged looks.
"WHAT?" Both Inuyasha and Shippou cried out.
"You heard me. Inuyasha, you need to train Shippou so that he can stand up to you." This made perfect sense in Kagome's mind, but the male minds she was talking to couldn't follow.
"I'm supposed to teach him how to fight...against me?" Inuyasha looked truly baffled.
"Yes, and you start now." Kagome set Shippou down and turned towards Miroku and Sango.
"Come on," she said cheerfully, "We'll leave you alone. I expect a demonstration when you get back." Against their better judgement, the monk and the exterminator followed the miko away. Shippou and Inuyasha stared at their retreating backs, and then at each other.
"So, what now?" Shippou asked meekly.
"Feh, I don't know." Inuyasha turned and jumped into a tree. He was not about to teach the kitsune anything.
"Inuyasha, come back down here!" Shippou yelled, putting his hands on his hips. When Inuyasha failed to comply, Shippou sat down on the ground, pondering. When his mischievous litttle mind went to work, great ideas usually came popping out. And now, he looked at the pretend sleeping form of Inuyasha wickedly.
"Hey, stop it!" Shippou called loudly. "Inuyasha, stop it, you're hurting me! Ow, Inuyasha! No, don't do that, help!" The more he went on, the louder and more frightened he sounded. At his first exclamation, Inuyasha looked down without really being concerned. But as Shippou kept yelling, he began to get alarmed.
"Help, no stop!" Panic was laced through Shippou's words. Inuyasha kept throwing nervous glances around, sniffing the air for Kagome's scent returning. He leapt out of the tree and looked at Shippou.
"Hey, Shippou stop it, huh? Kagome's gonna get mad at me!" But Shippou kept right on, and Inuyasha, desperate to stop him, finally grabbed the kitsune. That was the unfortunate moment when Kagome returned into the clearing, anger on her face.
"Inuyasha!" she shrieked. Inuyasha turned and guiltily dropped Shippou. "SIT!" came the command, and Inuyasha slammed faced down into the earth.
"Are you ok, Shippou?" Kagome cooed to the kitsune, who looked up with big alligator tears.
"Yes, thank you, Kagome." Inuyasha at this point had stumbled up out of the crater he had been in.
"I didn't hurt him, Kagome" he tried to explain, but she looked at him frostily.
"Tomorrow, you will behave better." At this statement, she got up and stalked away, leaving Inuyasha feeling dejected.
Bright and early the next morning, Shippou was calling for Inuyasha.
"I'm ready!" came his excited voice. "What are you going to teach me today?" His wide eyes were fixated on Inuyasha.
"I'm not teaching you anything," Inuyasha grumbled, but Kagome cleared her throat. "I mean, not until after breakfast," Inuyasha amended. Kagome smiled.
After breakfast, Shippou was bouncing up and down. He was following Inuyasha to the outskirts of the forest, just bordering a clearing. Inuyasha had told Kagome they were going to work on camouflage, so there was no reason for her to supervise. Miroku and Sango both raised an eyebrow, but Kagome nodded in understanding, sending the two off.
"So what're we gonna do first?" Shippou clambered up on Inuyasha's shoulder. The hanyou plucked him off and tossed him on the ground.
"We're gonna work on your tracking skills. I'm going to hide and you're going to find me." Inuyasha turned and bounded in the trees, telling Shippou to count to five. Once out of sight, Inuyasha smirked. He waded through some water before ending up about a mile away.
"Ok Inuyasha, I'm coming." Shippou called. He began sniffing the area, tracing the hanyou to a stream, but he couldn't find him from there on out. Suddenly the woods looked big and dark and scary, and Shippou felt very alone.
"Help!" he cried out, "Help! A demon is attacking me! HELP!" Inuyasha heard the cries, but he could also smell no demons, and figured it was another trick of Shippou's, like the last one had been. Inuyasha stayed put. Kagome had run to his cries however, convinced Inuyasha had abandoned him. What she found was a quaking kitsune, who said Inuyasha had left, and he was hiding from the demon. When Inuyasha later appeared with the group, asking Shippou why he hadn't found hin, Kagome promptly sat him, telling him how awful it was to leave poor little Shippou by himself. Miroku only sighed, and Sango bit her lip to prevent saying anything.
And so, the rest of the week followed much in the same pattern. Inuyasha would some days actually attempt to teach Shippou something, or refuse to on other days, but Shippou always got 'rescued' by Kagome, and Inuyasha got a face full of dirt. Once Kagome had to go back to her time for a test, Inuyasha finally caught a break. He was waiting by the well for her - he didn't know why, really, given how she'd been treating him - and Miroku and Sango were having a hushed conversation. Inuyasha heard every word though, it was about him.
"Give it a rest, you two!" he snapped irritably. They both looked at him, wide-eyed, before continuing. Inuyasha frowned, then shut his eyes and leaned against the well. He briefly wondered where Shippou had gotten off too.
"Help!" came a faint panicked voice. Inuyasha lazily turned an ear towards the sound. It was far away, neither Miroku nor Sango had heard it. It was obviously Shippou, and he apparently was playing his 'rescue poor weak me' game. Inuyasha snarled. He was fed up with the kitsune. He may not have been as nice as he could have been, but he had actually tried to teach the kitsune something a time or two, to no avail.
"Help! A demon!" The cry was more persistent. Still, Kagome wouldn't have heard it if she had been here. Inuyasha lazily stretched. He felt no need to run to Shippou's aid. That made him weaker than anything else. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he decided Kagome was keeping Shippou reliant on her. If she kept coming to his rescue, especially when there was nothing dangerous to rescue him from, he would never be able to rely on himself.
"Please, help me!" Terror was evident in the words. Inuyasha didn't want to go, he was sure Shippou was faking. He didn't want to have Shippou do this to him, wrap him around his claw, just like he had with Kagome. Inuyasha grunted, he didn't have the emotions Kagome had. He took in a deep breath, and his eyes flew wide open. There was a demon nearby! Without a second thought, Inuyasha leapt up, and sped off in the direction he smelled the demon.
"Where are you going, Inuyasha!" Miroku called out, but he received no answer. Helplessly, he looked at Sango, who shrugged, and took off after him. Miroku followed.
"Help!" The cries were getting louder, and it wasn't long before Inuyasha appeared at the scene. Shippou was jumping around, using every method he knew to escape, but the large bird demon was attacking from air. Inuyasha shook his head. He withdrew Tetsusaiga, and blinked when it didn't transform. Duh, he thought, no Kagome. So he sheathed it and attacked anyway.
"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" In two swipes it was over, and Shippou was cowering at his feet.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Inuyasha, you save my life!" Inuyasha glared at the sniveling kitsune.
"Maybe if you attempted anything at all in my lessons, rather than crying to Kagome, you wouldn't have almost died." He pointed to the healing would that was most of Shippou's small left shoulder.
"What happened?" Sango yelled, as she entered.
"I just saved Shippou's life, that's all." Inuyasha looked down at the kitsune.
"I'm going to tell Kagome everything," Shippou said, looking at Inuyasha with wide eyes. "And then I'm really going to listen to you, if you want to train me some more."
"Feh. Only if you're good." Inuyasha turned and headed back the way he came, a small smile on his face. He passed Miroku, who looked at him, puzzled.
"Everything alright?" the monk asked.
"Sure," Inuyasha said, and went back to wait by the well. Miroku looked up to see Sango and Shippou making their way towards them, Shippou looking injured, but happy.
"I can't wait till Kagome gets back!" he was telling Sango. "She'll never sit Inuyasha again, not after he saved my life, after I was so mean!" Sango caught Miroku's eye, and quirked her brow. Miroku smiled slightly. Kagome would be happy the two finally seemed to have an agreement, but rather upset she was part of the problem, in the end. Some people were just too nice for their own good!