Hello again! This is my answer to the major feedback I got for my last one-shot. This, however, will not necessarily be a one-shot itself. Before you read this, I strongly encourage that you read "Shoot the Birds, Squash the Bees" first, but should you decide not to, here's what you need to know; everyone except Kaede has been reduced to the age of five, besides Sesshomaru who is six. This makes my life a little easier.
I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
The Kindergarten Chronicles: A Lesson on Sharing
Sesshomaru walked slowly down the sidewalk, now only a block away from school. Inuyasha, apparently in some sort of hurry, had run out the door before him, so he should have arrived ten minutes ago. The reason why, though, was beyond him; maybe he was racing Koga again. He didn't give it a second thought until, of course, he walked in and saw Inuyasha.
It was a sight to behold…at least for Sesshomaru. Inuyasha was sitting in the midst of basically the entire class. They were ogling while he was beaming stupidly, and Sesshomaru didn't know why, until he saw what he was holding. It looked like a strange cardboard cutout sword, weirdly thick and about as long as Inuyasha was tall. At the base of the "blade" were glued-on white feathers and cotton balls. Sesshomaru wanted to laugh, but instead he approached the crowd.
"What is this, little brother?" asked Sesshomaru in his almost monotone voice. Some of the students waved hello at the sight of him.
"Hey Sess!" Inuyasha jumped out of his seat. "Check out my sword! I made it last night. I call it Tetsusaiga! Pretty cool, huh?"
Sesshomaru couldn't help but smirk a little. "Inuyasha, can you spell 'Tetsusaiga?'"
Inuyasha paused, scrunching up his face in thought. After a few seconds, he screamed "That doesn't matter! This is the coolest sword ever!"
"Or maybe just cooler than that," Kagura said, pointing at the old beat up plastic sword that Sesshomaru was keeping on his belt/sash.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "If it was really the coolest sword ever," he said, giving a good imitation of Inuyasha's voice, "then it would be mine."
Inuyasha brought Tetsusaiga closer to his chest. "I'd like to see you try and take it."
"Maybe I will." They stared at each other for a moment, the other children shifting their eyes back and forth between brothers. Sesshomaru lunged without warning. Most were able to move out of the way before they were hit; others were knocked to the floor and crawled away from the scene. Inuyasha had fallen backwards in his chair, and Sesshomaru took that opportunity to grab the sword. They both tugged with all of their strength.
"Gimme that sword!"
"No way!"
"Give it!"
"NO!"
The morning bell rang. As soon as it did, every pair of eyes in the room shot towards the door. The children, mumbling a little, made their way toward their desks. Before Sesshomaru went to his desk, he pointed a mini claw at Inuyasha. "You win this round, little brother, but before the day is over, I will have Tetsusaiga." He released the sword and turned his back on him.
"Can you spell 'Tetsusaiga?'" Inuyasha mocked.
"Hmph." Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder. "I-D-I-O-T."
Koga, who was still straggling, looked at Sesshomaru like he was crazy. "Are you sure that's how you spell it?" he asked.
"Good morning class," Kaede said from the front of the class.
"Good morning, Miss Kaede," the class sang, bowing to her and then sitting down.
"It's so nice to see your smiling faces again. Now, if you'd please pass your homework to the front." There was shuffling of papers as the children fished their homework out of their bags. As Sesshomaru and Inuyasha passed their homework along, they shot glares at each other. One could practically see the sparks.
"Very good," Kaede said softly as she collected the stacks from each row. "Let's move right along into spelling."
Through the entire spelling lesson, the two brothers participated very little; they would answer a question or two, and then get right back to fuming or glaring at each other. A few of the more restless children were watching this silent display.
"Nicely done, class," Kaede said, smiling brightly. "Any questions? Yes, Miroku?"
Miroku put his hand down and hopped to his feet. "Miss Kaede, who gives the mailman his mail?"
Kaede tensed; all eyes, save for Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's, were on Miroku.
"Yeah!" The affirmative came from Kikyo. The uproar was massive as usual. Kaede squeezed her eyes shut, as if she were about to be struck.
"Is there a mailman for a mailman?" Kagome asked.
"I don't think so," Naraku said, more to himself than anyone else. The debate ensued for about five minutes until Kaede was finally able to get a word in.
"Now, this isn't positive, Miroku, but I would think that the mailman would simply pick up his mail at the end of the day."
"Ohhhhh," the class said in unison, letting go of their former opinions.
"It's snack time," Kaede said, looking at the clock on the wall. "To the tables, children."
"Yes, Miss Kaede." They all began to clamber to the round tables at the other end of the classroom. Inuyasha cleverly waited for Sesshomaru to leave the immediate area before making his way there himself.
Among the "feast" of apple slices and half pint milks, the children began to talk about the Tetsusaiga.
"It's too big and bulky to get anything done," Kanna said quietly.
"It feels pretty light to me," Inuyasha answered.
"Well, strong demons like me don't need swords to mess stuff up," Koga said haughtily. Ayame and a few other girls rolled their eyes.
"I think I'd use more than a sword in a real fight," Sango said.
"I'd use mystic power," Naraku said with a sinister look in his eyes…well, as sinister a look that a kindergartener can muster up.
"Riiiight," Ginta said from across the table. He then leaned towards Hakkaku and whispered, "Someone's been watching too much Power Rangers." Hakkaku giggled. At this point in time, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were at least acting civil with each other.
"Come along, children, it's time to start back up again."
"Aww." Many of them took their sweet time throwing away their scraps and getting back to their desks anyway.
The time passing for Sesshomaru was slow and painful. He could hardly remember math and story time, and by the time song time had arrived, he was watching the clock like a hawk, as were a few of the other children. He waited and waited as patiently as he could, until…
Brrriiing!
Recess. Finally. He could pursue Tetsusaiga with little interruption now. Smiling, he looked around to see that Inuyasha was already outside. His smile immediately turned into a scowl. Inuyasha wasn't making this easy. Oh well, it wouldn't take him long to get Inuyasha and that Tetsusaiga.
On the playground, the kids were scattered all over the place. Some were on the slide, some on the swings, a few in the sandbox, and Inuyasha on a bench, holding Tetsusaiga close.
"Aha!" Sesshomaru cried triumphantly, running to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha's ears twitched and he turned just in time to see Sesshomaru take off. "Uh-oh," he said, and got to his feet, running almost instantly.
The two ran through half of the playground before Sesshomaru, being older and stronger, was able to catch up. Once he was at a good distance, he pounced on Inuyasha, and both of them fell to the ground.
"That sword is mine!" Sesshomaru yelled, trying to wrench Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha's hands.
"NOOOOO!" By now, everyone on the playground had heard the ruckus, and neared the boys to investigate.
"Should we do something?" Sango asked Kagome, eyeing them cautiously as they both rolled around.
Kagome shook her head. "Nah. Not yet."
"What is going on here?" Kaede's voice rang clearly outside. Upon seeing Kaede, the two scrambled to get up and hide the sword behind their backs. It was, of course, a lost cause.
"Nothing, Miss Kaede," Inuyasha and Sesshomaru said quietly, not making eye contact.
Kaede put her hands on her hips. "Ayame?"
"Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are fighting over a toy sword," Ayame answered happily.
"Tsk tsk tsk…I thought I taught you better," Kaede said sternly. Both still had their heads down.
"I think it's time we all learn a lesson on sharing," Kaede continued. She looked up to see that the entire class was standing nearby. "Alright children! We are going to learn a new song! Repeat after me:
Care to share
Things I can lend,
Care to share
The time I spend,
Care to share
With everyone,
Care to share
It's so much fun!"
The class haphazardly began to sing; Kaede sang along in case they forgot the words. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru merely mumbled. "Very good," she complimented, while approaching the two guilt-stricken boys. "I hope you've learned your lesson," she started, "but in case you haven't, I think the both of you should take turns holding the sword. It would be a lot easier than fighting over it."
"Yes, Miss Kaede," they said automatically. She smiled at them.
"Time to go back inside, class." The children shuffled their feet into the classroom. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha watched them until the last one, being Koga, walked inside, whistling the sharing song the whole way.
"You know," Inuyasha said, giving a sidelong glance to his brother, "I don't plan on letting you hold my sword, don't you?"
"I wouldn't dream of it, little brother," Sesshomaru answered, "I'd rather have it all the time or never." And with that, they both reentered the classroom, tugging on Tetsusaiga the whole way.
Kaede had already started her lesson when they sat down, but they were still able to discreetly fight over the sword for a full fifteen minutes before anyone noticed, let alone the teacher.
"So class, what would-" Kaede noticed that she no longer had the attention of her students. It didn't take her long to find the point of origin. What would the chances be that they learned their lesson the first time? She finished her sentence in her mind.
"Sesshomaru." He jerked his head forward. "Inuyasha." He did the same. "I think you need to join me up here and sing our sharing song for us one more time." They both cringed, but walked to the front of the class, carrying Tetsusaiga between them.
"Well?" Kaede prompted. Inuyasha tugged on the sword and began to sing.
"Care…to SHARE!"
"Things I can…LEND!" Sesshomaru tugged back.
"Care!"
"To SHARE!"
"The TIME!"
"I!"
"SPEND!" At this point, they were tugging as hard as they could, but they both kept singing, now in unison:
"Care to share with EV-'RY-ONE!!" They cut the song short to exert all of their efforts in seizing the sword. Sango and Kagome exchanged looks; Kagome nodded and armed herself with an oversized glove.
Kaede shook her head, not really wanting to involve herself with this sword epidemic. "Boys, I don't want to have to put you in-"
"I got it, Miss Kaede!" Kagome interrupted, crossing to the front of the class. She stopped right in front of tug-o-sword, and with hardly an effort, she plucked it from between them using her gloved hand, and sent them each falling backwards.
Inuyasha got up first, watching Kagome head for the back door. "Hey! Come back here, woman! That's my sword! My-"
"Inuyasha, would you just sit down!" Inuyasha wasn't sure why, but he instantly obliged.
After a few minutes, Kagome came back, the glove gone, dusting off her hands. Kaede gave her a pat on the head. "Good job, Kagome." She turned to the class. "OK, it's craft time!"
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha went back to their seats together.
"It was such an awesome sword," Inuyasha mumbled.
"Too bad we'll never see it again," Sesshomaru replied. They both knew he was right, because they knew that Kagome was the best hider in kindergarten, and it was highly probable that they would never see the likes of that sword for a very long time.
Oh, how right they were.
There it is! I know it was a bit lengthy, but I hope you liked it! As always, I am open to constructive criticism and suggestions. I am sure this will be the first (or second) of many! Review please, thanks!