Characters of Inuyasha (manga and anime) belong to Takahashi-san
Hair
"I wonder when Kagome's going to come back." Shippou mumbled from under his breath, while watching the inside of the old well, hoping that the girl from the future would materialise out of nowhere. His sensitive ears picked up another sound, and he turned his head to find Inuyasha lying on his back, his eyes closed in slumber. Hopping down from the rim of the well, he scampered towards the hanyou when he heard him mutter something in his sleep. Shippou leaned forward, while being careful to avoid Inuyasha's striking range in case he would awaken.
"I love you, Kagome…"
That statement caused the kitsune's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Really?" the hanyou laughed quietly, "You love me too? Oh, I'm so happy." He then turned onto his side, a goofy grin on his features.
Shippou sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward. "You should say 'I love you' when she's here, you baka." He then slumped into a sitting position, yawning from seeing Inuyasha's sleeping face. However as his eyes were beginning to close, they suddenly snapped open when a very large, very menacing presence walked gracefully towards him. Shippou's legs trembled as he stood up to face the youkai that had its cold, cruel eyes directed at the sleeping hanyou.
"Wha-wha-what d-d-do y-you want…?" He said, in the bravest voice he could muster.
A clawed hand instantly smacked the little kitsune against the tree, and Shippou fell with a thump, his mind in a dizzy spin. Shippou could only watch helplessly as the youkai swung the hanyou, who was still asleep, onto his shoulders. The white youkai then elegantly rose into the air and, in an instant, he vanished.
The kitsune dropped into unconsciousness.
A light illuminated from the old well signaling the arrival of the girl from the future.
"Thank all the kami that I passed that test." She breathed a sigh of relief as she struggled to lift herself from out of the well, only to find that it was strangely quiet. Narrowing her eyes to scan the area in case a certain boy in red was going to pounce on her, she found to her surprise was the little kitsune, curled up into a ball, shaking and crying.
"Shippou-chan, what's wrong?" Kagome exclaimed, running up to the kitsune.
Slowly he turned, and his eyes filled with more fat tears. "Ka-Ka-Kagome, I couldn't stop him." He jumped into the miko's comforting arms. "I tried to, I really did, but he was too strong for me…and…and…and…he's gone, he's gone."
"Who's gone? Please tell me, Shippou-chan." Kagome said, trying not to panic. What had happened?
"It's my fault! Sesshoumaru kidnapped Inuyasha. He's going to kill him, and I couldn't stop him." The kitsune couldn't hold it in any longer, and he began to cry louder. "The baka is going to die!!"
Kagome's heart thundered loudly in her chest in fear, and knew she had to act quickly, she had to act now.
Inuyasha lazily opened his eyes, sat up and rubbed his eyes from sleep, still remembering remnants from his pleasant dream. His nose twitched, and in an instant, all of his senses were forced into attention. Someone who he did not want to meet right now was in the immediate vicinity.
"So, Inuyasha, you have finally decided to grace me with your pathetic awakening." The youkai grabbed onto the hanyou's neck, and hissed in icy tones. "You will know today, just how angry I can be by your defiance."
High above the tree tops flew a large feline surveying the area for any sign of the hanyou, with a very worried miko on its back. Kagome bit her lip in anxiousness as she tried to keep her emotions in check.Inuyasha…where are you? Are you all right? Please be all right…
Kirara growled, signaling that she had found him, and then proceeded to gradually descend to land on the ground.
"Are they over there?" The miko asked quietly, while arming herself with her bow and arrow.
The neko nodded her head, and they peered over the bushes, almost fearful for what they would find. Kagome's eyes grew wide at the sight she saw in front of her, and had to cover her mouth to stop herself from gasping.
Inuyasha sighed as he continued to snip a few strands of his brother's hair with a pair of little silver scissors that Kagome had given to him as a surprise gift. Although he had been reluctant to use such a nice pair of scissors, it was the only sharp instrument he had, besides Tessaiga –which he was itching to use right now. Thus he stood there behind Sesshoumaru, continuously cutting at his locks and reflecting on the past events that had lead him to where he was now.
He did not know exactly how he had come to be in his current situation, only knowing that Sesshoumaru had come to him and 'politely' asked for his assistance. Though he never would have predicted that cutting The Tai-youkai's hair would be the most complicated task he had ever encountered. It had taken most of the afternoon, carefully snipping and trimming the damaged locks and then styling his hair to the desired shape. Sesshoumaru was of no help either, continually insisting that Inuyasha take the upmost care with his hair, or risk facing his demonic wrath if he did not.
"Perhaps you would like me to regale the tale to your little miko, about how you were making those 'funny noises' while saying 'Ka…go…me' the way you did, while you slept?" And that was all that was needed for Inuyasha to keep his mouth shut. So, he continued to cut at his hair, wishing of all the things he wished to accomplish in his hanyou life.
This was definitely not one of them.
Inuyasha sighed, again.
"Will you please stop sighing like that?" Sesshoumaru said irritably. "This is punishment for what you have done to my hair." But before the hanyou could utter a word, the tai-youkai continued, iciness in his tone, "Because of your crazy miko's little stunt, my hair has never been in such a terrible state.
"Do you know what I saw when I looked into the river to see if my hair had grown back? More split ends, I simply could not believe it. And that was not all, my dear Inuyasha. Frizz…, all I saw was frizz. Your bitch permanently damaged my hair, and now you must pay, so I suggest you keep cutting, you half-breed."
Sesshoumaru's sharp hearing picked up a whistling sound and he raised his hand just in time to catch the object that was obviously directed towards him. Delicate fingers gripped around the oddly shaped object, which looked like some strange bottle or container. It had a strange, yet smooth texture, nothing he had ever touched before. His grip tightened, trying to determine what the thing was.
Suddenly he heard it make a loud pop sound, and a white gooey substance exploded everywhere creating a sticky mess, especially on his nicely trimmed mane. A low growl escaped from his lips in annoyance, while attempting to shake his hand free from the sticky goo.
"Kagome…!" Inuyasha exclaimed in surprise from seeing that it was indeed the miko who had thrown the bottle of her favourite shampoo. "You're back already." What he didn't notice was that after he had been shocked by Kagome's sudden appearance, he had accidently sliced off more hair then he had intended. Luckily for him, Sesshoumaru had not noticed…
…not yet, anyway…
The miko found her feet running easily towards the hanyou. "What do you mean, I'm back already? I was so worried about you. Shippou-chan was crying because he saw you being kidnapped by your own brother. I've never seen him so distressed before. I've spent half the day looking for you, fretting over if you were all right. And what do I find?" Her voice rose in anger, "You're here giving a hair styling session for him of all people. Why don't you give him a couple of foils as well, or put it in curlers?"
"But…," Inuyasha tried to say yet kept getting interrupted by her words such as, 'streaks' and 'French braids', "but…but," it was then he noticed the silver locks in his hand.
And his face said it all, Oh…shit…
Sesshoumaru, after shaking most of the goop off his hand, noticed something strange. It was something one noticed when something was out of place. And when he raised his fingers to touch the place where he felt that strangeness, he growled fiercely, knowing what that feeling was on the bare skin of his neck, and on his scalp.
It was the breeze.
"Inuyasha…" he said slowly, not allowing his anger to cloud his sense of cool rationality and nobility. "I can feel that the breeze is much more evident on my neck – and in a place I'd rather not mention –, than in previous times." He stood up, tall and threatening, his face dangerously close to the hanyou. "Have you by chance, chopped off more hair than intended? After explicit instructions to take upmost care with this Sesshoumaru's hair, you think it amusing to hack it off like you hack your enemies with Tessaiga? I've seen how you wield that blunt blade. Anyone would have thought you had drunken sake like water before battle."
Inuyasha felt the icy breath prick at his skin as his bastard brother spoke those words, words which sounded like a threat to his honour. The hanyou set his face into a frown, his clawed hand reaching for Tessaiga.
"So, is it a fight you want?" Sesshoumaru sneered, his hand reaching for his Tenseiga.
"It's not like I can say: 'Oh Sesshoumaru-sama, please forgive this poor and wretched hanyou for slaying thy hair so ungraciously." Inuyasha replied, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "You have so kindly requested this poor brother to style your hair in such a fashion to make even the moon goddess, Kaguya hime or Amaterasu the sun goddess, envy thy hair. And yet…and yet" He snarled. "Your mother always said that you were an unforgiving bastard."
The tai-youkai took a sharp intake of breath at this accusation, "Don't you dare speak about my mother using that tone of voice." He drew out his katana. "I will make sure you die pitifully, hanyou!"
Panic rose from within the miko's heart at seeing the two brothers prepare to fight. This was one of the last things she wanted. She had to stop it. Kagome glanced around for a weapon as her bow and arrows were nowhere near her at the moment. But she had something better in her hand. She sprinted forward, the deadly weapon in her hand, straight to the older brother. With one, nearly graceful sideward arc, she brought the 750ml bottle of herbal conditioner smack into the tai-youkai's jaw. A cracking noise filled the air from the impact of hard plastic against Sesshoumaru's delicate chin. And the last thing Sesshoumaru saw as his mind slowly slipped into blackness was that the miko had a hand over her eyes as she brought the accursed thing down again.
Sesshoumaru fell on his back, unconscious to the world.
Inuyasha shook his head in bewilderment. He stared at his prone brother on the ground, and then he lifted his eyes to face Kagome, who still had her hand covering her eyes while the other hand was madly swinging at the empty air.
"I-is it over?" Kagome asked shakily, causing the hanyou to snap out of his reverie.
Then Inuyasha suddenly smiled. "Have you been working out? That right arm swing looks a lot stronger than before."
Kagome blushed and even let out a giggle. "I have been practicing using my bow and arrows." She watched him use his clawed thumb to examine her bicep muscle.
"Wow, I can really feel it." Inuyasha said, sounding impressed.
"Maybe now I can beat you in arm wrestling."
"Keh! As if. You'd have to wait five hundred years before you can beat me."
The miko laughed, linking her arm around his. They walked away; completely forgetting that Inuyasha's older brother still lay prone on the ground with bottle shaped red markings across his gracefully handsome yet chilling face.
It would be safe to say that he was not a very happy youkai. As Jaken, his faithful servant found out when said youkai awakened a few minutes later…
The End.