A Kitsune's Rhapsody
By Timmothy Shaw
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, no matter how much I wish I did.
Well, than, on with the story!
Chapter 1
It was a cool November night that once again found Shippo, a kitsune, staring into the overcast sky. Shippo was sixteen years of age, and acted as if he were still six. The fox demon had grown considerably in the last few years. He now stood almost up to Inuyasha's shoulders, though Inuyasha adamantly refused to cease calling Shippo "kid" or "runt", much to Shippo's annoyance.
Having just gone through the painful growth spurt, Shippo had not yet filled out. He was fairly strong for his age and race, but there were little signs of muscle on his body. Shippo was thoroughly vexed about this situation and stood bare in front of a mirror or lake often, almost willing his body to even out.
The once small, fluffy stub of a tail had grown long and fairly luxurious. When it first began to grow in, Shippo had a habit of running his hands through the fine fur, until he began to notice it was thinning due to his incessant tugging. Shippo quickly broke that habit, for fear of having no tail at all.
A general feeling of lethargy had settled in after the defeat of Naraku. With no jewel fragments to collect, no evil demon to destroy, there was no need to travel. No one loathed the chronic boredom more than Shippo; even Inuyasha was content to live the rest of his live in serenity with his mate, Kagome.
No, there would be no adventures for Shippo anytime soon. However, Shippo was careful not to let his fears of dying of tedium spoil the generally happy mood. Sango and Miroku were perfectly happy living together as well. Miroku had been, shall we say, more forthcoming with his feelings than Inuyasha, and had proposed to Sango as soon as his Kazaana was gone. Sango had happily accepted.
A small smile curled at the edges of Shippo's mouth. He remembered the last time he had seen his old friends. Sango and Miroku, along with Sango's brother, Kohaku, had decided to settle in the demon slayers village. Once rebuilt, there hadn't been much occasion to see his friends; the last time was over a year ago.
Inuyasha and Kagome, after a long and tiring battle of pride, had finally consecrated their love together. Shippo had never seen his friends so happy, it made him happy, and sad at the same time.
Shippo had no one, there was no one for him to love and care for and protect. For Inuyasha, just the act of Kagome being there for him to look after satisfied his wild and free nature, but Shippo was all alone.
Oh, of course Kagome and Inuyasha had invited him to live with them, even offered to act as surrogate parents (that was mostly Kagome's suggestion) but Shippo felt that no one could take the place of his biological parents, who were still so vivid in his memory. Kagome had understood and didn't bring up the subject again.
The familiar restlessness stirred within the kitsune again. It was a very familiar feeling, one that occurred almost every time he was alone and unoccupied, which was often these days. Shippo stood and began to walk. It didn't matter where he was going; he already knew every inch of the surrounding woods.
Several minutes later Shippo looked at his surroundings and recognized the place he was in. His feet had unconsciously carried him to the old bone-eaters well. Kagome rarely used it anymore, Shippo wondered if it still worked, but supposed it had to since the jewel was still around.
Many times had they thought of what to wish upon the jewel, decidedly it was to be a pure wish, but a purely selfless wish could not be thought of. Thus the jewel remained around Kagome's neck until a solution could be reached.
Shippo sat at the edge of the well and peered in, the darkness was unsettling, and calming at the same time. Shippo stared into the well for almost an hour, as soon as his eyes were adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the bones of Mistress Centipede and many other demons. He focused on those, was almost mesmerized by the shapes and shadows they made.
Darkness settled swiftly and silently, Shippo had not noticed the coming night until those shadows that had held his attention were gone. Shippo looked up surprised; he had not noticed the late hour or the incoming clouds. The once overcast sky was now full of deep, dark clouds that hid the moon and stars.
Low rumbles shook the clouds up above. Shippo shrank to the ground and whimpered when he heard the sounds. Memories of the day his father was killed came back with shocking clarity. A bolt of lightning arced towards the ground; Shippo took off at a sprint in the direction of Kagome and Inuyasha's hut.
The kitsune was halfway to the hut when rain started to pour down. The rain came down hard and sudden. Sheets of water beat against Shippo, seemingly with a conscious effort to prevent him from reaching Kagome's house. When he crested the hill before Kagome's hut he stopped and stared at the peaceful building.
He stared at the lazy curls of smoke rising from the small hole in the middle of the roof; it must be warm and homely. The hut was in stark contrast to the bleak surroundings, a source of warmth surrounded by a cold, wet, and dreary world. Shippo stood with his arms across his chest, shivering as the cold rain penetrated his clothes and sunk down to the bone.
The peaceful image of the hut was, in fact, exactly the opposite of Shippo's current mood. He felt as if the cold was more where he belonged. That is until another bolt of lightening struck closer to where the kitsune was standing. Shippo shrank in fright and clenched his eyes and teeth, trying to shut out the terrible memories that tormented him.
Burning tears traced a path down Shippo's face, he tried to shake the tears away, but refusing the memories only gave them more power over the kitsune. Shippo finally made his way down the slippery slope of the hill into a small valley just before the village.
Pausing at the door, Shippo raised his hand to knock but something stopped him. What if they thought he was being weak, just a weak and scared little child? Perhaps the best thing to do was to go somewhere and wait out the storm. Shippo started to walk away, but hadn't gotten five paces before the door opened and Kagome stepped into the rain.
"Shippo?" Kagome was holding a blanket over her head to prevent against the rain.
Shippo heard her and was instantly afraid of her, of what she might think. He refused to turn to face her, but could not run away from a person who had shown him so much affection.
"What's wrong, Shippo?" Kagome noticed that the kitsune was quivering, he was obviously cold, but there was something else wrong. "Shippo…" Kagome reached the fox demon and lifted his face up to meet hers.
When she saw the tears streaming from his eyes and his soaked clothing, she grabbed him into a large embrace. Shippo let loose all the emotion that had been plaguing him and sobbed into Kagome's chest. Kagome wrapped her blanket around him and brought him inside.
"What's wrong with the runt?" Inuyasha asked when Shippo and Kagome entered the house.
Shippo bit back more tears at the mention of his embarrassing nickname. Kagome stripped Shippo of his wet haori and wrapped the blanket tightly around his narrow shoulders. Inuyasha stared at the kit, but Shippo refused to return his gaze, only staring at the fire with an expression of longing on his face.
"Is that better, Shippo?" Kagome asked as she rubbed his wet hair with a towel.
"Mmm…" was all that Shippo said.
"Keh, leave the kid alone, Kagome, he looks fine to me." Inuyasha's harsh words made Shippo cringe, Inuyasha observed the reaction with great interest.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome chastised, "Can't you ever even try to be more than an emotionally devoid baka?"
"What the hell are you talking about? I care about the runt; he isn't hurt, is he? So why's he bawling like that?" Inuyasha seemed to believe he was perfectly justified in his answer.
"Can't you see he's hurting about something? I can't believe…where did he go?" Shippo had run off when he saw Inuyasha and Kagome fight again, he didn't want to be responsible for breaking another happy union.
Although the rain had stopped, Shippo's lack of a shirt made him even colder than before. Shippo ran through the woods, at first he ran on two legs, but the recent rain had made the ground slick, and he soon had to resort to loping along on all fours. The kitsune tried to find a place devoid of any sentiment, a place where he had no memories. But no such place existed, every tree, every rock carried with it a happier day and time that had long since passed.
Shippo stopped at a small pond, a great distance away from Kagome's house. Peering into the placid water, he saw his reflection. This was not a pastime he enjoyed, every time he looked at himself, Shippo saw a stranger he didn't think he wanted to know.
"Hey…Shippo?" Inuyasha had followed Shippo on Kagome's orders.
Shippo cringed at the sound of the hanyou's voice, but noticed the clear absence of one of Inuyasha's favorite slang terms for Shippo.
"What do you want?" Shippo asked sullenly.
"Ah…yeah, well…I guess…Kagome kinda wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine" Shippo didn't take his eyes off the reflection in the water.
"I don't buy it; kid…what the hell has been wrong with you lately?" Inuyasha stepped foreword and placed his hand on Shippo's bare shoulder.
Inuyasha was surprised to feel the tremors that shook Shippo's body so. Obviously the kit was upset about something. Shippo's knees quivered and he fell into Inuyasha's arms, exhausted. Inuyasha carried Shippo back to the house and laid him on his and Kagome's bed. The kit was asleep before he hit the ground.
The next morning, Shippo woke to find himself in Inuyasha and Kagome's bed, with the couple asleep in the far corner of the room. Shippo smiled at the sight of the two sleeping, but the smile quickly turned to a frown when he remembered the events of last night. Lightening and thunder understandably put the kitsune in a bad mood, though that was no justification for his actions.
Kagome was the first to wake up and notice Shippo staring at them. Kagome smiled and mouthed the words 'Good morning'. Shippo returned the greeting.
Kagome shook Inuyasha awake and gathered preparations for breakfast. Shippo got out of the bed when the smell of freshly cooked rice filled the hut. They ate the food in silence, Shippo was the first done and put his bowl down on the wooden floor in front of him.
"Shippo, I and Inuyasha were thinking last night, and well, we think we know what's making you so upset." Kagome said calmly and quietly.
Shippo kept his eyes focused down and was careful not to show any emotion.
"We think, well, I think," She said after a glower from Inuyasha, "that maybe you just need a vacation, you know, something exciting and adventurous. We…"
"Ahem…"
"I think I know the perfect thing to get you out of this slump." Kagome waited excitedly for Shippo's reply.
Shippo stared at the floor, unemotional, but inside he was a six year old again. Waiting to explore and venture out of the tedious existence he had found himself in in the past few months. "Yeah…I guess that could be fun. When are we leaving?"
"Well, Shippo, we aren't exactly going…"
"Damn right she ain't, she isn't going to endanger my pup!" Inuyasha exclaimed.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome hissed, apparently she hadn't wanted to share that sensitive information just yet.
"You guys are gonna have pups?" Shippo asked.
Now that he took the time to notice, Kagome did smell pregnant. Almost a month pregnant, how could he have not noticed something so obvious?
"Keh, if Kagome doesn't get our pups killed first."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome said angrily.
"I just don't think you're careful enough with our pups…" Inuyasha finished the sentence early because of the looks he got from Kagome.
"Wait, if you two are staying here, am I going with Sango and Miroku?" Shippo asked.
"Well, you see, I've arranged for some other people to take care of you."
"What exactly is this about?" Shippo narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, this was an unexpected turn.
"I wanted you to go back to my time, to live with my family for a while. Maybe go to school there and have a life there…"
"Kagome, have you hit your head or something, I can't get through the well."
"I thought you knew, kid?" Inuyasha said.
"It was kind of by accident that we found out, Sango slipped one time while holding the shikon jewel, and she made it through. I think all that is needed is the jewel." Kagome explained.
"Oh…I guess that could be fun." Kagome beamed at his praises.
"Right, than. Let's go, runt." Inuyasha stood up and made for the door.
"We're going now?" Shippo had expected to leave in a day or two perhaps, not right away.
"I told my parents to expect you today, last night. If you don't want to go…" Kagome let the sentence hang.
"No, no I want to go." Shippo assured her.
"My room has already been set up for you, since I'm going to be living here." Kagome said.
"Yeah, ok," Shippo couldn't stop smiling at the thought of seeing Kagome's time.
"Oh, and my brother is about your age, so at least you'll have someone to hang out with."
"Souta?" Shippo remembered seeing a picture Kagome had brought back with her, in his mind, Souta was a young boy with scrawny features.
"Yeah, he's excited to see you too; he's practically an only child now, so you're both in kind of the same situations."
"Are we going to go now, or not?" Inuyasha was standing impatiently while Kagome and Shippo talked.
Shippo grabbed his now dry haori and a few toys and things, mostly mementos. He stuffed the items within the folds of his shirt and followed after Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Is that all your taking?" Kagome asked.
"What else do I have?" It was true, Shippo had but one outfit and a few small possessions. Those he did keep were very precious to him.
Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back and motioned for Shippo to do the same. Inuyasha scoffed at having to carry the kitsune. Shippo refused, and instead wanted to run alongside Inuyasha.
Inuyasha took off at a light pace to make sure that Shippo could keep up. When he saw that the fox demon was easily following, Inuyasha increased his pace until Shippo could no longer keep up. Inuyasha earned himself a sharp slap on the back of the head for this.
When they finally arrived at the bone-eaters well, Inuyasha and Kagome had to wait a few seconds for the kitsune to catch up. When Shippo finally arrived at the clearing he walked over to the well and peered into its depths. The darkness no longer looked menacing, but had a friendly and warm quality to it.
Kagome placed the necklace containing the shining shikon jewel around Shippo's neck and fastened the clasp. Shippo looked down and stared at the shimmering object that had caused so much trouble. The kitsune twisted the jewel in his fingers, feeling the sooth curves and soft surface.
This would definitely be some sort of adventure.