The river flowed calmly that day. Crystal clear, shimmering water. The fish swimming along looked as if they floated through nothing until one fish flicked its tail against the surface, creating a ripple far from where a lure set.
Inuyasha sat at the waters edge, precariously holding a fishing pole in place. A light breeze tousled his hair out of place. Sleep called him with its sweet hypnotic whispers. His head drooped forward, listening closer. Mind drifting. Eyes closing.
"Father!" a young girl beckoned him back to reality. She proudly held up what was possibly the smallest fish in existence to his nose while proclaiming, "I caught it all by myself!"
She placed it in his hands, shining a toothy smile while it meekly flopped against his palm.
Inuyasha ruffled her hair and grinned, "Wow, you're doing better than me!"
Her face beamed. She embraced his arm with her entire body then darted off for more.
A young boy noticed her elation then approached her father with a good sized river fish hooked onto his rod, "Look what I caught."
Inuyasha rested his chin on an upright palm then gazed into the distance with a sigh, "Yeah, that's pretty good, kid."
The boy smiled, even though he never noticed Inuyasha look up, he felt pretty proud to be noticed.
Inuyasha had been appointed babysitter for the day. Miroku went away on business, Sango was busy teaching the twins basic demon slaying techniques, and Kagome left to pick herbs with Jinenji.
Inuyasha glanced at the two children. Miroku's son, Katsuo, is growing up to be a mousy little child. Six years old, and he refuses to pick up a weapon. However, his elder sisters leapt at the chance to fight. Although, it's still possible for him to became a monk. After all, Katsuo highly resembles his father. Dark brown, short hair, tied back into a tiny wispy bundle. Then a dark green and black kimono which matches the design of his fathers clothes.
As for the girl, her name is Tokishi. The daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome, only five years old. Unlike Katsuo, she inherited a blend of traits. Firstly, her earthly brown eyes from Kagome. From Inuyasha she received natural weapons; claws, fangs, and sensitive dog ears. Then her glittering silver hair from Inuyasha became Kagome's black at the tips. And she always wore the kimono which was fashioned out of Kagome's last outfit from her world, a pink kimono with blue designs waved out along the sleeves and edges.
Inuyasha tossed one last fish into the overflowing basket along with Tokishi's minnow, closed the lid, and pulled it over his shoulders by the straps.
"Alright, it's time we head back," he called to the two.
Tokishi immediately retaliated, "But I need a fish for Mother!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "We've got one for her in the basket."
"Those are fat! She needs a baby fish!"
"Then I'll give her the one you caught earlier."
Tokishi stamped the ground "That's your fish! She needs her own!"
His voice turned stern, "Tokishi."
Katsuo approached Tokishi, and held forth his hand, offering her something. Tokishi opened her palm and accepted his gift. A minnow.
Tokishi lit up, "I got one, I got one!"
Inuyasha let her throw it into the basket. He readjusted the straps onto his shoulders with a relieved sigh. Then they stared their way through the forest toward home.
Tokishi elbowed Katsuo, "How'd you do that?"
He whispered, "It's a secret."
She quietly gasped, "Wooow. I like secrets! Can you tell me?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. No matter what he told Miroku, Katsuo would continue to fill Tokishi's head full of fanciful nonsense.
"We're gonna look for mushrooms!" Tokishi suddenly blurted.
Both of the children dashed off.
Inuyasha called out, "Only the brown ones! Don't touch anything but-"
Tokishi waved at him, "The brown ones, I know!"
Inuyasha hesitated upon continuing home as he watched their figures disappear behind the trees. He could tail them. But Tokishi would know immediately by his scent. Inuyasha then sniffed the air for any threatening stench, but quickly cupped his nose when all he inhaled was the sun dried moss that Tokishi stuffed into the fish basket earlier.
They'll be fine, he convinced himself, Ever since we defeated Naraku, no demon has been stupid enough to come near Kaede's Village.
"Come on!" Tokishi urged Katsuo.
While Tokishi easily leapt onto the branches of trees, Katsuo could only wrap his arms around the trunk, painfully scaling and scraping at the bark as Tokishi continued to yap, "You're so slow!"
Katsuo paused and rested his head against the tree while whispering, "This is dumb. Trees are dumb. Tokishi's dumb."
Tokishi dug her heel into the top of Katsuo's head.
Katsuo continued, "Tokishi's foot is dumb."
She picked him up by the back of his yukata with her demon strength, glared into his uncaring eyes, then set him onto the branch. She knew a word fight with him would be useless. He never listened to mockery, and would usually curl up mumbling insults until she stopped.
Tokishi hopped from one branch to another, rebounding each one and shaking Katsuo as he attempted to follow her pace. Tokishi could easily bounce through trees, landing foot first, like a bird descending gracefully into place. Katsuo on the other hand was lucky if he could wrap an arm around any limb he leapt for. Once in a blue moon he could get into the rhythm and use Tokishi's rebounds as a boost to jump to the next destination, but otherwise, they traveled at a snails pace.
Katsuo grunted, his muscles were weakening, causing him to nearly slip off.
Tokishi felt antsy watching him, he looked as though he would fall at any second.
After swaying from the decision to continue without him, Tokishi returned to Katsuo and yanked him securely onto the tree.
She growled, "Why don't you just walk?"
He simply replied, "You're not walking."
"Yeah, but... I like high places."
"I like high places too."
Tokishi wrapped her arms around Katsuo's waist then descended to the ground and dropped him. He landed rather harshly onto a pile of rocks, yet brushed off the pain without so much as wincing.
"We found some yummy mushrooms here last time, so you go that way," she pointed left then turned right, "And I'll go this way."
"If I find more mushrooms this time, I want you to come with me to the well."
"Again?! ...fine, but if I find more, I want half of your dinner."
Katsuo's mouth drooped open into a frown as he soothed his already grumbling tummy.
He sighed, "Deal.."
Tokishi turned on her heel and swerved through the trees until they hid her from his sights.
Mushrooms. Search for mushrooms. Six year old Akio wandered the woods. After purposely losing his two chaperones, he decided to take a leisurely detour near the river while collecting food for his mother's dinner.
Akio took in the scenery; tiny song birds provided soothing music, the lush greenery provided a vivid sight to admire, and no demons could be sensed for miles. The area was so fresh, so new, so different.
It was unbearable.
Nothing drew Akio's excitement like his previous home in the mountains did. No sudden tumbling rocks to look out for. No vultures to prey on. And no mountains to scale. The highest spots in the woods were treetops, and even with that, he couldn't get the rush of looking over the land from a breathtaking distance. Akio's claws were trembling. He wanted to scratch at an enemy. He wanted to hunt something. His wolf instincts were itching for a thrill.
That's when a certain smell reached his nose.
His eyes lit up, a human? He thought. Akio tracked the scent to a small boy. He ducked under a bush, studying the boy closely. This was his first time seeing one up close, and he couldn't help but wonder, what does it taste like? Of course Koga had forbidden every wolf from slaughtering humans, but just one wouldn't hurt, right? Everyone else in the pack had eaten human before the rule was issued, so why not?
Akio crouched down, excitedly deciding on which vital area to bite first. His tail snapped eagerly from side to side. Although upon taking a step closer he snapped a twig, alerting the human.
Katsuo stood up to the noise and surveyed the area, "Tokishi?" he grumbled then crossed his arms, "If you're planning on pouncing me again, forget it. I borrowed my dad's sutras!"
Tokishi's ear flipped to Katsuo's voice in the distance. He was yelling something she shrugged off as nonsense. At least until the wind swept by from his direction. She couldn't identify it exactly, but it was definitely the musky scent of a wild animal.
She dropped her mushrooms then dashed straight for Katsuo. Tokishi rounded a tree when the wild animal broke from a bush, claws ready at Katsuo.
"Katsuo! Run!" Tokishi shouted.
Katsuo jumped, but only fell on his bottom in shock. Tokishi took immediate action and swiped at the wolf's hand. Thanks to Tokishi his attack diverted from its target and jammed into a tree. However, in the process his claws tore through her yukata and scraped the skin across her forearm. Although it was a shallow wound, it spanned from her elbow to her wrist. The blood dribbled down over her claws, and plopped onto the grass.
Fear escaped as her demon instincts set in, heart pumping with anxiety to keep Akio away from Katsuo.
"A girl?!" Akio yelped as he pried his claws from the bark. He then faltered, taking a step back, "A human girl?" he mumbled. A deep feeling of remorse set in for hurting her. He hid his bloodied claws then barked, "why's a girl defending a boy anyway?!" His eyes bounced around for an escape when Tokishi moved forward. Katsuo ran to Tokishi's side, both glaring until Akio gained enough sense to flee.
Tokishi's anger soothed as his scent quickly faded. She licked her wound, but the pain soon overwhelmed her will to move.
Katsuo hovered over her wound, "Is it gonna be okay?"
Tokishi's ears folded down in dismay as her humanity returned, "You idiot!" she weakly knocked him over the head, "I thought he was going to kill you! Why don't you pay attention, stupid!"
He looked away, "I'm sorry... thank you for saving me..."
Katsuo smoothed over the hair atop her head, pacifying her mood.
"Katsuuooo?!" Sango yelled in the distance.
"Tokiiishiiiii?!" Miroku called out.
Although with his keen sense, Inuyasha was the first to arrive. He wrapped his arms around Tokishi, lifting her carefully into his arms.
Inuyasha slid a hand under her injured arm, pulling back the sleeve until it was in plain view, "Tokishi, what happened?! Who did this?!"
But in her fathers arms all the emotions poured out. Tokishi began crying, clinging tightly onto Inuyasha's clothes, while dangling her right arm forward as if he hadn't seen it already. Inuyasha comforted Tokishi by lightly rubbing her back.
Dammit, I should've followed them, Inuyasha gritted his teeth. That's when he noticed the scent of a familiar wolf lingering in the area, Koga? He glanced back at Tokishi, then why-?! What's going on?!
Special thanks to YouFall9Times for helping me with the names!