Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, they are owned by Rumiko Takahashi
This is an Inuyasha x Sango story though it may not seem so at first, so please bear with me.
Chapter 1
Empty. That's how he felt as he sat on the tree branch dangling his feet. Down below he could hear the village children as they played their games.
"Over here!" shouted one of the kids, "throw the ball over here!"
"No! Don't throw it to him!" a familiar voice shouted, "throw it to me!"
"Inuyasha!" one of the children called his name.
"What is it?" the hanyou responded, taking great care to feign annoyance.
"Why don't you come down and play with us?" the child stated whilst looking up at him.
"Keh. Why would I want to throw a ball with a bunch of little kids?" he huffed, folding his arms over his chest.
"Pleeeeease?" the child whined.
"Just leave him alone" the familiar voice spoke. "You know Inuyasha doesn't like to have fun."
"Awww. Why should I Shippo?" whined the child "you know it's a lot more fun when Inuyasha plays with us."
"It's not that much better with Inuyasha," Shippo commented, slightly put out, "Besides who needs him," Shippo commented just as a twig smacked him in the back of the head. "OW!" he screamed rubbing the bump on his head, "What'd you do that for INUYASHA!" the small kitsune yelled.
"Heh. That's what you get," Inuyasha calmly stated before he went back to watching the horizon.
"Stupid Inuyasha," Shippo muttered under his breath, before he and the other children went back to playing.
A smile tugged at his lips as he listened to children laughing and having a good time playing. 'No.' Inuyasha thought with a sudden burst of insight, 'I'm not empty' as he continued his earlier train of thought. 'An empty person wouldn't be able to smile.' Frowning at this new realization he thought hard trying to decipher how he felt. 'I'm happy that we beat Naraku and Kikyo was finally able to rest in peace, but why can't I help but feel I've been dealt a bad hand.' he thought as he watched a pair of birds flying through the sky. A solemn look dawned Inuyashas face as one word came to mind.
"Kagome," the hanyou whispered, as the two birds settled down on the branch of a nearby tree. Because he wasn't focused on his surrounding, he never picked up on the sound of the ball till it was too late…THWACK! The ball the Shippo and the other kids were playing with nailed Inuyasha in the side of the head effectively jarring his thoughts, and knocking him out of the tree. Completely shocked with the whole situation, Inuyasha didn't think to use his demon agility to land on his feet. Instead he hit the ground below with a dull thud.
"Ohhhhh," the children pointed at Shippo "you are so going to get it," the children chided. Shippo looked ahead where Inuyasha had fallen with a look of anxiety etched into his features.
"WHO THE HELL HIT ME IN THE HEAD WITH THIS BALL?!" an enraged Inuyasha screamed, leaping up from the bushes and landing in front of the small group of children and Shippo. The children pointed at Shippo while they were silently giggling amongst themselves, at the circular mark on Inuyashas cheek. "SHI-PPO" Inuyasha growled eyes shut tightly, and hand clenching.
"You needed to be hit Inuyasha!" Shippo yelled standing his ground, and looking up at Inuyasha defiantly. Inuyasha glared down at Shippo before bashing him in the head with his fist, causing Shippo to hold his head in pain.
"How's it feel Shippo" Inuyasha, teased the poor little kitsune, whilst lifting him in the air by his tail.
"PUT ME DOWN INUYASHA!" Shippo wailed, "I was only trying to help".
Perplexed and a little irritated Inuyasha just glared at Shippo thrashing about in his hand. "Since when the hell did slamming a ball into a person face HELP THEM!" the hanyou yelled at the dangling kitsune.
"WELL I WOULDN'T HAVE HIT YOU IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE SUCH A SAD LOOK ON YOUR FACE, AT THE TIME!!" Shippo yelled at Inuyasha.
"W-What the hell are you talking about," Inuyasha stammered. He was shocked at the fact that he hadn't noticed Shippo watching him.
"Please don't be too hard on him, Inuyasha." one of the children spoke up. "Shippo only did that because you looked really sad about something," another added.
'Did I really have such a sad look on my face?' Inuyasha thought to himself, temporarily forgetting he was holding his attacker. Using this opportunity, Shippo swung up to Inuyashas wrist and bite down hard on it. This caused the unsuspecting Inuyasha to yelp in pain, while effectively letting go of him.
"That's what you get for having that look on your face again," Shippo taunted him, upon landing on the ground. However, up on seeing Inuyashas angry face he decided to run instead of tease.
"WHY YOU LITTLE…COME BACK HERE!" Inuyasha bellowed chasing after Shippo.
'Good' Shippo thought, as he ran as fast as he could, 'at least now he seems to be acting normal for a change.'
The other kids just stood there watching the scene before them with smiles on their faces. They were just happy that Inuyashas somber mood was gone, even if it was just for the moment.
