"Hey, Kagome!"
The young girl blinked over the rim of her cocoa mug as the fox youkai bounded up to perch on her knees. She smiled at him.
"Hey, Shippo," she greeted him. "What's up?"
He sniffed at the air over her cup cautiously. "What's that?"
Laughing, she sipped from the cup. "It's a special drink from my time called hot cocoa."
"Hot ko-ko?" Shippo tilted his head to one side quizzically, reminding Kagome of her younger brother so strongly that for a moment her heart sighed nostalgically.
"Yes," she said to the young kit, who leaned forward to peer into the mug and examine its dark, liquid contents. "It's sort of like those chocolate bars I give you, except the chocolate is made into powder that gets mixed with hot water, and then you've got cocoa."
"Ko-ko," he repeated again absently, sniffing at the cup again. He shot her an uncertain glance, apparently unimpressed with the scent of her drink.
"Tell you what," she said, holding out the steaming mug. "Why don't you try some?"
"You want me to drink the hot ko-ko?" Shippo said doubtfully, but she could see interest in his eyes. He sniffed it again, then shrugged. "I guess I could give it a little sip…"
Kagome wisely hid a smile. To date, she'd never seen Shippo refuse chocolate in any shape, fashion, or form since she'd introduced him to the sweet. Mutely she offered her mug, and the boy took it in his own tiny hands; the mug was almost as big as his head.
"Careful, it's hot," she cautioned, and he gave her a look.
"'Course it is, you said it was called hot ko-ko," he replied tartly.
"So I did," she murmured, stifling another grin. She watched, amused, as Shippo took a tiny, careful sip. His eyes widened, and he took another, longer one. She burst out laughing as his hefted the mug with both arms, leaning his head back to drink more.
"Not too much," she said, tipping the mug back down with one finger. "You have to go to bed soon, and you don't need to be drinking so much sugar, or you'll never get to sleep."
"Should've thought of that before you gave the brat any, shouldn't you?" came the snide voice from the branches of the tree behind them. Kagome turned her head and watched as the scarlet-clad hanyou dropped lightly from the tree, rolling on the balls of his feet. He ambled toward them, and she could see that despite the harsh tone of the words, he too was amused by Shippo's newfound obsession.
"Well, it won't hurt him to try new things, will it?" she asked Inu Yasha as he sat down beside her.
"Bite your tongue," he said, but his words lacked any bite as his golden eyes flicked over the large mug in the kit's hands. "Don't drop that, dummy, or you'll break the damn thing and get yourself covered in that hot stuff."
Kagome bit her lip to keep from grinning. Sometimes Inu Yasha was such a…mom.
"I won't," Shippo shot back, but he carefully handed the mug back to Kagome and began to bounce on his toes, making the cocoa in the mug splash dangerously toward the rim.
"Idiot!" Quickly Inu Yasha snatched the kit up by his tail and dropped him to the grass. "You're going to make her spill it on herself if you keep jumping all over her like that."
Shippo regarded Kagome with wide eyes. "You're okay, right, Kagome?" he asked plaintively.
"I'm fine," she assured him, and sipped from the mug. Her eyes rested thoughtfully on Inu Yasha. She held out the mug to him. "Want to try?"
He gave the mug a bored look. "I don't even like that chocolate stuff when it's in food form. Why would I like it as a drink?"
Her lips curved a little and she sipped serenely from the mug again. "Just asking," she said lightly, but in her mind, she thought, Well, dogs and chocolate, after all…
"Asking what?" Sango and Miroku approached the campfire with armfuls of wood, Miroku sporting a reddened bump on his forehead where he'd undoubtedly been beaned with one of the branches they carried—probably as punishment for groping Sango again.
"Hey, Sango, Miroku, you've got to try this stuff Kagome's got!" Shippo said excitedly as their companions piled the wood off to the side.
Sango straightened first and came to stand behind Kagome's shoulder, leaning down to examine the mug of cocoa. "What is it?" she said warily, her eyes watching the steam trails as they curled up from the mug and evaporated.
"It's called hot ko-ko, and it's chocolate!" the kit told her knowledgeably, and Sango and Kagome exchanged quick, amused smiles at his enthusiasm.
"Want some?" Kagome asked, and Sango took the proffered drink as if she were handling a priceless treasure.
"It's good!" Shippo urged, and Sango gave in and took a sip. Her eyes, like Shippo's, went wide with delight.
"Mmm," she said, peering down at the drink. "This is delicious, Kagome!" She moved around the fire and took a seat on the ground.
"Glad you like it," Kagome told her as Miroku wandered over to Sango's side and sat down as well.
"May I?" he asked, and Kagome made a fluttering 'go-on' motion with her hands. Miroku took the cup gently from Sango, blew lightly on it, and laid his lips directly over where Sango's had been. Her cheeks reddened—the gesture had not gone unnoticed. His lips curved into a smile of appreciation, though whether at Sango's embarrassment or at the taste of the cocoa, Kagome couldn't quite be sure.
"Lovely," he murmured, handing the cup back to Sango, his eyes never leaving hers. Once again, whether he meant the drink or not was uncertain.
"Glad you like it," Kagome said in a wry tone as Sango contemplated the cocoa for a moment before glancing at Miroku and sipping again—from the same spot his lips had rested.
Miroku grinned. Sango blushed. Kagome tried very hard not to roll her eyes.
"I'm pretty full, Shippo's had enough, and Inu Yasha doesn't want any. Why don't you two share the rest of that?" she suggested, and silently Sango passed the mug back to Miroku. Shippo's eyes followed them enviously; he knew he wasn't allowed to have any more of the cocoa.
Inu Yasha leaned toward Kagome. "That sure was generous of you," he commented dryly in a low voice.
Kagome gave him an amused glance. "Oh, come on," she whispered. "They were totally having a make-out session using that mug. I'm not going to drink from it again until I've washed it."
Inu Yasha stifled a snort, and Shippo edged closer to the monk and the exterminator, clearly hoping for one more sip. Kagome picked him up and cuddled him in her arms.
"And neither are you," she commented archly. "It's late, remember?"
"Aw, Kagome," he complained, but he wriggled into a comfortable position, already prepared to fall asleep in her arms.
"Aw, Shippo," she mimicked his tone perfectly, but smiled down at him. His eyelids were already fluttering.
Inu Yasha let out a quiet 'ha' of derision. "What a brat," he said, but the words were full of affection that she knew he'd never admit to feeling when it came to the fox kit.
"Not a brat," mumbled Shippo without ire.
"You remind me of someone I know," Kagome murmured. The kit blinked up at her sleepily.
"Who?" he asked, yawning.
"My little brother," admitted Kagome.
Those bleary green eyes sharpened for a moment on her face. "Your brother?" Shippo asked curiously.
"Mmm-hmm."
He appeared to consider that for a moment. "So does that make us kind of, sort of, maybe like family?" He was obviously trying to be casual, but she read the insecurity in his eyes. Her heart trembled and sighed once more.
With a laugh, she squeezed him. "It's definitely more than a 'maybe,' Shippo. We're definitely a family."
"Yeah?" Shippo glanced over at Miroku and Sango, who were still passing the mug between them without any words. Sango's blush had died down a bit, but not very much. Miroku's content smile hadn't shifted an inch.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Shippo conceded as Sango handed the mug back to Miroku. His voice lowered a bit. "Kagome, what are they doing?"
Kagome had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out into laughter, which would startle poor Sango and probably end the touching scene before them. "Um, they're sharing, Shippo," she managed to choke out under her breath.
"They're doing it weird," he commented, but subsided, closing his eyes and snuggling into her arms. Kagome's lungs hurt from holding back her laughter.
"Well, they've got to practice sometime, don't they?" muttered Inu Yasha's, whose eyes were also closed. Kagome knew that despite this, he was probably more alert than the rest of them.
"Practice what?" she asked him.
He opened his eyes halfway and shot a quick little grin at her. "The san-san-kudo," he murmured, and this time Kagome couldn't quite hold in her laughter.
A/N: The san-san-kudo is a ceremony performed at marriages wherein the bride and groom each drink three times from a goblet. In his own way, Inu Yasha is making fun of Miroku and Sango drinking from the same mug.
In case you're wondering, I'm not sure whether or not this is a general sort of fic or a very subtle Miroku/Sango story. What with their whole "make-out" session with Kagome's cocoa... Well, if it's a M/S, it's definitely dedicated to Kiin-chan. Since she loves M/S, you know. KIIN-CHAN, HOPE YOU LIKE IT!