These Sons of Mine
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of or related to Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.
A soft tune drifted across the field, carried by the wind. Sweet but simple, like a mother's lullaby.
Crimson eyes narrowed, and the demon child that they belonged to scoffed. His mother had abandoned him – he wouldn't know what a mother's lullaby sounded like – but the tune called to him. He knew it could be a trap to catch him, but if it was, he would just kill them and move on – it wouldn't be the first time.
Faster than one would think legs that small could carry him, the boy ran across the field to the edge of a forest. He peeked inside, making sure that the sound was indeed coming from in there, then dashed in.
He followed the tune, stopping every now and then to check his surroundings before continuing. He finally came to a clearing around a large tree with a scar in the bark. The demon child felt the power of the tree and shuddered. He had only sensed it this kind of power once before. It was one of the Goshimboku, the God Trees, said to be able to resist time.
Sitting near the base of the tree with a silver, fuzzy blob in her lap was a girl about seventeen years old. She was human, but her aura was amazingly pure, too pure to be anything short of an angel in his opinion, not that he would ever state such out loud. She had long black hair, and he could see deep blue eyes gazing fondly at the fuzzy blob… Make that two blobs. He could see a tiny bit of red past the silver one.
Scanning the 'blobs'' auras he found fire and plant life, not to mention kitsune, though they were young, no older than himself. Two kits with a ningen? He continued to watch them when the girl looked up.
"You can join us, you know." The child nearly fell out of the tree. She knew he was there! "There's plenty of room down here and we don't mind." She smiled brightly then looked back down at the shifting blobs. "Did you two have a good nap?"
The red one sat up, yawned, and smiled sleepily, nodding, while the silver simply grumbled and tried to go back to sleep. The boy in the tree blinked when the silver shot up and began looking around the clearing. He knew that the silver was looking for him, and bent down closer to the tree brunch. "Okaa-san, there is a youkai nearby."
The demon child tensed, shocked at the kit's words. 'Okaa-san'? Not possible… He watched the girl smile and nod down at them. She seemed completely accepting of the two, as if they were really her own children. Maybe… not so impossible…
"I know. I was just trying to get him to come down from the tree." The woman-child smiled at the silver's shocked face while the red climbed onto her shoulder to get a better view of the tree.
"Are you going to come down?" This one sounded hopeful and innocent. "Okaa-san is really nice! Inuyasha's kinda mean, but he's like that to everyone."
How can someone be that trusting? A sense of longing he didn't expect to feel welled up inside of him, causing him to sigh and jump from the tree into the clearing. This probably wasn't the best idea, wasn't even a good idea, but he'd been without any contact for too long. He could always just kill them if things got ugly.
The girl smiled and beckoned him closer. "It's okay: I'm not going to purify you."
He stopped short on his small journey to the Goshimboku, crimson eyes that had seen too much bloodshed for someone so young widening. "You're a miko?" A trace of fear colored his voice, and he kicked himself for letting it show.
The girl's smile became indulgent. "Hai, but I don't mindlessly attack youkai unless they threaten me or my friends." She patted the ground beside her. "And if you had wanted to kill us, you would have done so by now." Her smile brightened when he started to cautiously walk over and sit down.
The red kitsune grinned widely at him from her shoulder, but somehow managed to not ask any questions… yet. Kitsunes were curious creatures; they couldn't keep their mouths shut for long. The silver didn't say anything, but he positioned himself protectively on the girl's lap.
"I'm Kagome, and these are my adoptive sons, Shippo-chan and Youko-chan." She pointed to the red then to the silver. "The others in our group are an inu hanyou named Inuyasha, a houshi name Miroku, and a taijiya named Sango with her nekomata, Kirara." She was quick to reassure him that Sango would not harm him unless he attacked them, causing him to settle on the ground more.
Shippo let the girl, Kagome, talk to him, even if he didn't answer her, before crawling onto the child's lap and gazing up at him, smiling all the way. "Inuyasha is a jerk, and Miroku is a pervert, but overall they're really nice."
The child could only gape down at the kit in awe. Had the kit no sense of self-preservation? He just crawled into his lap like he was his brother. When he mentioned this, Shippo just smiled. "I guess he got that form Kaa-san," Youko responded for him as he smirked lightly at his younger brother.
Kagome reached over and ruffled Shippo's hair affectionately before turned back to their new friend. "What kind of youkai are you, and what's your name? If you don't mind me asking…"
The child tensed, turning his face away from all of them. "Fire and ice apparition, forbidden."
Shippo's eyes grew wide, and the child tensed, waiting for the horrorstruck exclamations to berate him. "Sugoi!" Crimson eyes closed, and he felt the terror and disgust radiating from them – wait, what? He turned back to face the kitsunes. Wonder and respect filled their auras, but the miko's saddened, and tears began to fill her eyes. When the boys looked at her in question, she just shook her head.
"I'm sorry, for everything… Everyone has no doubt put you through Hell." The boy just stared at her, trying not to let them see how much those simple words affected him. For the first time… someone seemed to actually care… She smiled brightly, trying to hide the sadness from moments ago. "Tell you what, you can travel with us!"
The two foxes nodded, Shippo far more vigorously than Youko, though the silver smirked. "We're a bunch of misfits; you'll fit right in."
The forbidden child looked at the ground, thinking the choice over. It did sound nice, better than any of his other options, anyway – running from every village he came across for stealing was getting irritating. Besides, if things turned to the worse, he could just run away. "Hiei." At their questioning gazes, he gave a small nod and smile. "My name. It's Hiei."
The three beings smiled, happy to have another addition to their 'family.'
The rest of the group took Hiei's joining them in stride. They didn't trust him, he could tell, but they were accepting of him because of Kagome.
The rest of them, that is, except Inuyasha.
"No way in Hell! We are not accepting another helpless runt into my pack!" Hiei watched the anger in the miko's aura rise and knew that the hanyou was in trouble. He smirked at the thought of Inuyasha being put into his place, but he couldn't stop the growl that immerged from his throat when the mutt called him helpless. "First, you brought in that one, then it was that brat," Shippo only furrowed his brows, but Youko tried to snarl at the insults, "and now you want to bring in that? Do you have any idea what it is?!"
"Osuwari." Kagome's deadpan voice sent the hanyou crashing into the ground, much to the amusement of those watching. "That is enough, Inuyasha. You made it quite clear that the rest of us have no say in what goes on in this group when you proclaimed that it was your pack, even though you know that I'm the one that holds it together." She turned and beckoned the boys to follow, which they did easily, not the least bit reluctant to leave the mutts presence.
"My sons and I are leaving, Inuyasha, and don't say that I can't because I can and will, no matter what you say." Hiei watched as she picked up her backpack and began walked off, leaving a shocked Inu-baka behind while Sango called after her. Miroku only sighed, shaking his head as he whapped Inuyasha over the head with his staff. Kirara watched them forlornly, but made no move to stop them.
Hiei fell into the line the miko and her sons made, looking over the two kitsunes. Shippo had been with her the longest, and Youko was older than he seemed, making him the oldest of the three of them. 'My sons' she said, and she told me to follow…
A small smirk made its way onto his face. Perhaps he would fit right in after all.
Hiei saw his 'brothers' tense as they entered a forest, and Youko began watching the shadows around them more carefully. Frowning, he looked up Kagome, who seemed unchanged, but he could see that she, too, was more alert.
Shippo had been making jokes and imitations of Inuyasha since they left, falling into a comfortable silence after he ran out of things to say. The relaxed atmosphere around them had vaporized, though, and it put him on edge. He reached inside his cloak to where his sword was hidden. It was a bit big for him, but he knew that if he could carry it and use it now, he would be able to wield it easily as he grew bigger.
The forbidden child moved closer to the foxes so they could talk quietly without disturbing their mother. "What is this forest?"
Youko glanced at him and nodded to Shippo before concentrating on the forest around them again, and Hiei realized he was tuning himself in with the plant life, listening for any movements other than their own through it. Shippo looked up at him, and Hiei could see the timid fear in his turquoise eyes. "This is the border to the Western Lands, ruled over by Sesshomaru-sama, Inu-baka's half-brother. They really hate each other, and all the times we met him, they fought. Now, we don't know if he will attack us since we were with Inuyasha, or if he will let it slide this time…"
Hiei nodded and motioned for them to follow him as he went closer to the miko – if anything happened, they could all protect each other. Let's hope we don't come across him, then; we can't go against a taiyoukai if he decides to attack.
The small family entered an open field filled with flowers, knocking Kagome and Shippo breathless. Youko squatted down to run his fingers over a flower gently, a look of glee in his eyes. Hiei didn't see much beauty in it – a place like this was easily destroyed and stained with blood, as he knew from experience – and he didn't want to take chances of being in the open too long. "Kagome, let's go."
The miko glanced at him with a smile, gesturing for him to wait a moment, and Hiei sighed. It doesn't take a moment for a demon to sneak up on us… He reached out a little hesitantly to tug at her sleeve. "Okaa-san." The urgency in that word made her look at him, an unreadable emotion in her eyes. "We need to go."
Shippo laughed suddenly, though he somehow managed to keep the sound quiet. "You called her 'Okaa-san,' Hiei-nii-san!"
The forbidden child stiffened, staring at the red kitsune in shock. "Hiei-chan," he tensed even more, but he couldn't stop the faintest bit of red from coloring his cheeks as he looked at Kagome, his gaze staying just below her eyes. He really hadn't meant to do that. "Hiei-chan, arigatou."
Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a light hug that he could easily escape from if he wanted, but Hiei couldn't bring himself to do it. But he couldn't bring himself to hug her back, either, so he just let her hold him. Her arms were warm, and he wanted to close his eyes and fall into her embrace, but years of staying on edge and away from everyone kicked in, keeping his aware of everything. "We should go…"
Kagome pulled back, and Hiei reluctantly missed the comforting embrace. "Un."
Hiei followed her, Shippo on his shoulder and Youko close behind him. Both foxes radiated happiness that he had accepted them as family, but Hiei was uncomfortable. Kagome's embrace was… nice, and he was afraid of becoming too attached.
But… He reached up to steady Shippo as he walked. Am I attached already?
They stayed on the edge of the field, so they could use the trees for cover if they needed, and were nearly all the way around when they heard a shrill scream. Hiei jumped, his paranoia telling him to stay away from the commotion – he could escape while the threat was occupied with whatever was screaming.
Before he could dive into the forest, Hiei sensed Kagome running into the clearing, obviously intended to help as much as she could, with Youko behind her. Shippo was telling him something, but he couldn't hear over the conflict raging inside him.
Kagome was running directly into danger – she deserved whatever happened to her for being so reckless – but… Okaa-san…
Closing his eyes tightly, certain that he would regret it, Hiei darted after them. He wasn't sure if having a 'family' such as this was a good thing, but he wanted to keep it as long as he could. Youko grinned at him as he caught up, an action he stubbornly ignored while Shippo tried to hold on to his over-sized cloak.
A little girl was running across the field, trying to get away from the hideous spider youkai following her. Hiei sneered at the dumb thing, wondering how such vermin gained as much power as he sensed from it. "Shikon shards…" Kagome's panicked whisper set them all on edge. This… could turn bad very quickly…
"Shippo, distract it! Youko, try to bind it! Hiei, get the girl out of there!" His instincts raged against being told what to do by a human, but the other two weren't so inhibited. Shippo jumped from his shoulders and pulled out a kitsune illusion toy, yelling as he threw the top at the spider. The top grew to an insane size, driving the youkai into the ground, where Youko pinned it as well as he could by manipulating the grass around it to grow large and strong.
Hiei looked to Kagome and saw her bring up her bow, an arrow notched soundly against the string. His hesitation vanished, and he ran forward to grab the girl. He saw the purification arrow flying beside him, forcing him to push himself to go faster – if he wasn't fast enough, both he and the girl would be harmed.
He grabbed the girl from where she tripped and kept running to get out of the range of the purification. He was only slightly bigger than her, despite the fact that he was older, and he held her close to him, knowing that she was scared and wouldn't let go anyway.
A flash of pink light illuminated the entire field, and Hiei hissed slightly as his arm was singed. He slowed and turned on his heel to head back to the others. Setting the girl down, he stepped away, rubbing his arm carefully. Damn…
"Kagome-kaa-san!"
Hiei's eyes widened, and he turned to watch the young girl clamp onto the miko's leg, sobbing into her skirt. "Rin-chan!" Glancing at the foxes, the forbidden child could see that they were just as confused as he was.
She had another child?
"Hn." The soft grunt shouldn't have been enough to rouse any attention, but Kagome looked up at him, her eyes worried. She gently pried Rin from her, handing her to Youko, and made her way to him.
"Hiei-chan, are you alright? Did the purification reach you?" Hiei glanced away, not wanting to show any weakness to her. He didn't want to show weakness to anyone, actually… She knew he was a youkai, therefore vulnerable to purification, yet she shot the arrow anyway.
"Oh, Kami, Hiei-chan I am so sorry." He blinked back up at her, surprised to see the tears forming in her eyes. "I knew you would be able to get away in time, so I shot and… I'm sorry…"
If he was uncomfortable when she hugged him, seeing her crying for him was at least three times as bad. Nothing but honesty and guilt flooded her aura, and he shuffled his feet. Regret for even thinking that she planned to purify him overwhelmed him. If he had moved when she told him to, he wouldn't have gotten burned, and she had known that. "It's fine."
"Ne, Rin-chan," Shippo's voice interrupted anything Kagome would have said in response, and they turned to look at the others. "Why were you alone? Isn't Jaken supposed to take care of you?" The red kitsune patted her head as she clung to Youko, and Hiei looked up at Kagome in confusion.
Kagome wiped at her eyes quickly and frowned. "Rin-chan is Sesshomaru-sama's ward, and she took a liking to me, though I didn't know she called me 'Okaa-san' like you boys… Jaken, Sesshomaru-sama's retainer, usually watches over her."
Rin sniffled, and Youko winced slightly when she wiped her face on his tunic. "Jaken-sama yelled at Rin while Sesshomaru-sama was away, so Rin ran away, looking for Sesshomaru-sama, but was attacked after Rin found a pretty rock." The girl pulled back to reach into her checkered kimono to pull out a Shikon shard. "Rin wanted to give it to Sesshomaru-sama but Rin got attacked… Then Kagome-kaa-san came with Shippo-kun, Gin-kun, and Kuro-kun and saved Rin!"
Hiei watched his mother take the shard delicately and smile gently at Rin. Did she smile at everyone that way? "Ne, if we help you find Sesshomaru-sama and pick some nice flowers for him, can I keep this pretty rock?" Rin seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding, and she clung to the miko again, still shaking slightly.
Kagome nodded to the boys, and they made their way back towards the trees to set up camp.
Hiei looked down at his arm, the minor burn already healing. 'Okaa-san,' ne? He jogged a little to catch up to Youko, who reached over to ruffle his hair a little, another action he refused to acknowledge. Maybe… I'll find out what a real mother is supposed to be like…
AN: I know, I know... I shouldn't be starting another story, especially when I have so much other stuff to do, but hey, I couldn't resist. I don't know how often this one will be updated - I have a lot of revising to do - but I'll try. Thank you all for reading, and review if you feel up to it!