TWO
"But why can't I have pocky for breakfast?" The kitsune whined again as Higurashi Kagome handed him his bowl of soup.
Kagome sighed. "We've been over this, Shippou. Pocky isn't breakfast food and-"
"And ya don't need anymore damned sweets." The irritated hanyou cut in from across the room. "It's already all going to your fat head."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome chided.
Sango, the youkai slayer, shook her head disapprovingly from her place beside her husband.
"What? The little brat needs to know when no means no! You spoil him Kagome."
"I do not!" Kagome snapped back.
"You so do." Inuyasha scoffed with a roll of his golden eyes.
"You do. . . a little." Miroku spoke up with a sheepish smirk, quickly shutting his mouth when the miko shot him a seething glare.
"See? Even the pervert knows it." The hanyou said. "If it'd been up to you we would have had to roll the kit around while we hunted down the rest of the Shikon no kakera."
"I'm not fat! And I'm not spoiled!" The young kitsune in question cried out. He turned his back on the hanyou, his nose in the air defiantly and his little arms crossed angrily over his chest. "At least I'm not a complete baka that acts like a jealous fool whenever Kouga comes around!"
Kagome heard Miroku try to muffle his laughter into his robe, and she knew that if she'd heard it so had the volatile half-youkai.
Heat flooded Inuyasha's face in what Kagome believed to be embarrassment, and before she could stop him Inuyasha had jumped the short distance across Sango and Miroku's hut and thumped Shippou on the head, hard.
Tears instantly welled in the child's eyes, his bottom lip trembled as he held the sore spot on his auburn head with both of his little hands.
"Inuyasha no baka!" Shippou yelled as his tears spilled over. He ran out of the hut quickly, the sound of his crying left in his wake.
Inuyasha looked from the swinging curtain that acted as a door, to the three sets of eyes that looked at him in varying degrees of exasperation from around the room.
"What?" He grouched defensively. "The runt was asking for it!"
Kagome swatted his arm, rolling her eyes as she stood from her place beside him.
"Oi! What the hell was that for?"
Kagome ignored his question, but said over her shoulder instead, "Sometimes you really are clueless." Before she shot out of the hut in search of the weeping little youkai.
0:0:0:0:0: .
Shippou was nowhere to be found. She'd checked through the village, she'd asked the local children if they'd seen her youkai companion, she'd even checked around Goshinboku but had come up with nothing each time.
Inuyasha was such an idiot. He didn't realize just how much his words had hurt the kitsune child. Shippou, though he'd never admit so, looked up to Inuyasha a lot. And though the irritating hanyou acted like more of a bullying older brother most of the time rather than the father figure she knew Shippou viewed him as, Kagome knew that Inuyasha's often careless words meant the most to the child.
'It wouldn't be the first time that baka didn't realize what was staring him in the face.' Kagome thought with an inward sigh.
Her feelings for him were so obvious. Even after almost two years after their battle with the evil Naraku, and the final death of the miko Kikyou, Inuyasha still seemed like he could care less about her at times. She'd thought that after their battle with the nefarious hanyou was over, and after Inuyasha had time to grieve for Kikyou again, that he'd realize what was always there. That she was always there for him, she always cared and protected him in a different way than he her, she was the one who loved him more than she did herself.
But instead they'd spent the last few years gathering the remaining Shikon no kakera. Inuyasha always seemed too preoccupied, too distracted most times with gathering the jewel shards to even take a moment to really talk with her. Nevermind realize how she felt. Even now, with the complete jewel dangling from a silver chain around her neck, the hanyou's only concern seemed to be figuring out a way to purify the damned thing.
She could never bring herself to tell him how she felt anyway. There was a good chance that he didn't feel the same. Kagome knew how deeply he loved Kikyou. She remembered how he'd wept and howled to the skies the night she died again in his arms. And although she wished more than anything that she could forget, she remembered the love that was so painstakingly obvious in their final kiss.
Kagome winced at the memory.
'Stay focused, girl. Gotta find Shippou before he gets himself into trouble.'
She'd been through Inuyasha's forest for close to an hour before she decided to try to get a better look from a familiar hill. Maybe if she looked down from the vantage point she could see Shippou's bright reddish-brown hair among the villagers.
Kagome stopped abruptly in her frustrated stride when she came from the cover of the trees and took in the small crumpled figure lying in the grass on the hill's peak. She took a hesitant step closer to see what happened to be a small child, not much older than Shippou by the looks of it.
She clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp of horror. The unconscious boy had dozens of long, deliberate cuts along his small arms and legs. Blood was caked on the side of his face that she could see, dried down his neck and disappearing into what couldn't even be considered a shirt. His hair was midnight black like her own, but matted and cut in a disarray; some strands reaching the middle of his back, while some barely reached his shoulders as if he were attacked by a scissor youkai. Atop his hair sat two small, black, drooping puppy ears. The overwhelming urge to rub his fuzzy ears was quelched immediately when she saw that the right little triangle was cut savagely along its edge. The appendage ended in a jagged zig-zag like pattern on one side. Kagome could tell that the wound was very old by the pale pink skin took the place of fur, instead of bright angry red like the rest of his wounds held.
"An inu hanyou. . ."
The boy's ears twitched at her whispered words though he did not wake.
She closed the distance between herself and the child, blinking back tears as she knelt by his side.
Who could have done this to the poor thing? Why would someone want to hurt a child so badly? She couldn't imagine what kind of heartless monsters were responsible. Up close she could see the dark circles under his eyes, as if he'd never had a good night's sleep. She could see his hollow cheeks and pronounced cheekbones as if he hadn't eaten in days, the black and blue bruises that mottled his flesh under the dried blood. At first glance the child appeared to be dead, but Kagome could still sense his weak youki. He was alive, but his spirit was battered and beaten almost beyond recognition. Kagome felt her heart breaking, and holding back a sob she placed a gentle hand on the little hanyou's back.
As soon as her hand touched the boy, his eyes snapped open. The intense hostility and fear she saw in his amber gaze broke her heart further. The hanyou jerked away from her touch, launching himself back across the small space of the hilltop and causing Kagome to fall onto her backside. He issued a low growl of warning, began to rise into a crouch as if he were ready to spring at her.
"H-hello." Kagome said lowly keeping her voice calm as to not frighten the child further. "Are you alright?"
The boy pulled his lips back in a snarl. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me."
Kagome held up her hands in front of her in a placating display.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Who did this to you?" She asked, feeling tears well up in her eyes at the deep anger she saw in his.
He ignored her question, choosing to growl at her again instead. He moved closer to her, stalked her. He looked angry enough to kill. Kagome scooted away from the prowling boy. She felt no fear, just an unending sadness. She'd never seen a boy so young carry so much hate in his heart, and though she knew that it wasn't at her directly it still hurt to see.
"I can help you. What's your name?" She tried again around the growing lump in her throat, hoping to distract the boy from his anger.
It didn't work.
He suddenly pounced at her with an angry cry, only to be caught in mid air by a flash of red that appeared from nowhere.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha barked down at the girl sitting in the grass.
He held the squirming little hanyou in the air with one hand by the scraps of his shirt.
"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed in relief. Maybe he could talk some sense into the child. "He's hurt. We need to take him to Kaede's."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" The child screeched, struggling against the larger hanyou's hold on him to no avail.
"What the fuck did you think you were doing, pup? Attacking Kagome like that?" Inuyasha growled at the child. "You'd be lucky if I don't gut you this second."
The child didn't back down, meeting Inuyasha's glower with one of his own. He bared his teeth at the older hanyou and swiped his little claws at Inuyasha, aiming for and missing his face.
"Oi! Watch it, you little cretin!" Inuyasha yelled as he shook the child in reprimand for his attempted attack.
Kagome quickly got to her feet and tried to take the boy from the seething baka. Inuyasha pulled the child higher into the air, out of Kagome's reach, and continued to joggle the little hanyou. "Stop that, Inuyasha! He's just a kid!"
"I'm not a kid!" The child said furiously, turning his angry glare on Kagome again and growling at her.
Inuyasha shook him harder. "Growl at her again pup, and you're gonna get the thumping of your life." He threatened dangerously.
"Inuyasha! Cut it out," Kagome said desperately. "I need to treat his wounds. We need to get to Kaede's!"
Both pairs of golden eyes turned to look at her in shock.
The older of the two spoke up first as the younger tried and failed again at trying to claw Inuyasha's face off.
"Are you stupid, wench? This little runt," Inuyasha shook the child again. "Just tried to kill you, and now you want to take him home?"
"He didn't mean it! I scared him!" She defended quickly, trying again to nab the little hanyou from her irritating best friend. Inuyasha moved him out of the way again, in the process moving her behind his back while he glared at the stewing child dangling from his clawed hand.
"I did mean it," The little half-youkai spit. "I knew what I was doing. And I'm not scared of some stupid human!"
Kagome gasped at the vehement in his high voice. And for the second time that day she was too late at grabbing onto Inuyasha's arm before he struck a child.
The loud thump on the little hanyou's head echoed off of the trees and Inuyasha dropped him roughly on the ground.
"Oww! What the hell, idiot!" The boy yelled as he rubbed the lump growing under his dirty hair.
Inuyasha moved so quickly Kagome didn't have a chance of stopping him before he hit the child on the head again.
Thump!
"Watch your mouth, you little pest." Inuyasha growled lowly. "And if ya ever speak to Kagome like that again, you'll be getting more than a good thumping."
The boy glared daggers at the hanyou that towered over him, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Kagome shook her head at the violent display. She moved slowly around the irate older half-youkai to sit on her legs in front of the youth, ignoring Inuyasha's growl of warning.
She wasn't angry at the child for his mean words, or at the fact that he'd try to attack her; she just wanted to help him, to understand him.
"What happened to you?" She asked softly. "Where are you from?"
The little hanyou looked like he wanted to snap at her, but the low snarl and pointed stare from Inuyasha stayed his tongue. So instead he looked away and grumbled, "I'm fine. And it doesn't matter where I come from, just know I'm not going back."
Kagome nodded understandably. "I wouldn't want to go back to a place where I was hurt either."
"I'm not hurt! I said I'm fine, human." The boy bit out, his amber eyes flashing with anger.
Inuyasha growled menacingly and took a step toward him, only to stop when Kagome glared at him quickly over her shoulder. He stopped with his infamous 'Keh' sound before he folded his arms into the sleeves of his haori and continued to watch the child closely.
"OK. . . Can I at least know your name?" Kagome asked patiently, willing the boy to look her in the eyes again.
"Why do you need to know my name?" He asked, his posture guarded and suspicious.
Kagome smiled sweetly at the boy. "Well you're so cute, I can't help but want to know your name. Plus it's polite to ask. My name is Kagome, and my baka friend here is Inuyasha."
The child snorted in a very Inuyasha-like fashion before muttering, "Tshro. . ."
"Come again?"
"He said his name is Toshiro, wench." Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes, before directing his attention to the younger hanyou. "Ya' know, for someone named 'intelligent' that sure was stupid of you, to attack a powerful miko."
Toshiro turned and looked at Kagome skeptically. "You don't seem like much of a miko," he shook his head in blatantly doubt, what was left of his bangs dangling into his eyes as he said, "You don't even have a weapon. You sure she's a miko?"
Kagome heard Inuyasha snort at her side. She tuned him out, tuned everything out, as she focused the way Kaede trained her to and reached deep down for her power. She felt her miko's aura pop and pulse with energy around her, and eyes still closed, she heard Toshiro's low gasp as he sensed her power.
She opened her eyes, letting her aura die down with a small smile on her lips at the little hanyou's wide eyes.
"So if you're a miko. . . Why didn't you defend yourself when I attacked you? I would have killed you." Toshiro said bluntly.
Inuyasha growled dangerously at the child again, sparking trepidation in the little kid's eyes as he glanced nervously between the large hanyou and the miko who sat looking at him calmly.
"She wouldn't hurt a pup." Inuyasha said, his tone serious for once. "Even one stupid enough to try to attack her. If she wanted to she could have purified your ass in a second, pest. Don't forget that."
"I just don't understand why she didn't then. . ." Toshiro muttered, more to himself than to the two adults who looked on at him in puzzlement.
Did he expect to be beaten? Kagome thought it better to ask. She saw the way he sat with his arms wrapped around himself unconsciously, as if he were bracing himself for a strike that could come at any moment. Did this child suffer the same way Inuyasha did as a child? He sure did act like the hostile half-youkai Inuyasha used to be when they first met five years ago; angry, guarded, eyes and ears always moving anxiously and looking for signs of danger. Where were his parents? Was he orphaned? Kagome felt a fierce surge of protectiveness shoot through her. She felt a burning emotion swirl in her stomach. She clenched her hands tightly in her navy blue skirt. She felt fury at whoever or whatever would cause a little boy so much pain.
She shook her head to clear it before focusing back on the boy across from her who was still deep in thought.
She cleared her throat to bring his tawny gaze back to her. His face was stoic, but in his eyes Kagome could see the pain and the fear he was trying so hard to hide.
"Would you please come back to the village with me?" She asked him in her most persuasive voice.
Toshiro stiffened, his eyes taking on a cautious light. He shook his head in confusion as he asked, "Why?"
Kagome smiled sweetly.
"I want to help you. I promise that me nor my friend here," She gestured to the watching hanyou beside her. "Will touch you against your wishes. I can treat those wounds of yours. And get you cleaned up and fed, are you hungry?"
Toshiro nodded his head once slowly, his uncertainty clear as he glanced back and forth between Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Am I free to go. . . After I've eaten?" The little hanyou asked hesitantly, eyes wide as if he expected them to say he'd be held captive.
"You're not our prisoner, runt." Inuyasha said with a snort.
"But I'd hope you would want to stay with us," Kagome interjected quickly. "You would always be fed, and clothed and cleaned. You would be taken care of."
"I don't need anyone to take care of me." Toshiro said stubbornly.
"Yeah, well we could use your help too." Inuyasha spoke up to Kagome's surprise. "We're youkai exterminators in a sense, we get requests to help villages and we often attract a lot of bad attention along the way because Kagome here protects the Shikon no Tama. You obviously can put up a fight, pup and it blows sometime being the only one actually capable of kicking some ass in our pack." The larger hanyou smirked down at the girl glowering at him. "So you wouldn't be getting coddled, you could earn your keep by helping us keep the baddies away."
Toshiro looked intrigued despite himself. Kagome was astonished at Inuyasha's offer. She glanced up at the hanyou, and saw the same anger she felt echoed dimly in his golden eyes. Sure, he was angry that Toshiro had attacked her, but she could tell he was more angry that the little boy had obviously been treated similarly to how he had been when he was young.
"Pack?" The boy mimicked a second later, as if Inuyasha's words had just sunk in. "There are more of you?"
"Yes, we travel with a kitsune a little younger than you, a monk, and a youkai slayer." Kagome said.
She saw recognition flicker in Toshiro's eyes.
"Shikon no Tama. . .You're that miko?" He asked incredulously. "The incarnate of the miko Kikyou? The one who killed Nuraku?"
Kagome felt her cheeks pink at Toshiro's slightly impressed expression. "Yep, that's me. Though I couldn't have done it without my friends."
"And you're a brother of the fang, right?" He asked Inuyasha, gazing at him with a respect that wasn't there a second ago.
"You're damn right, I am. The better brother, too." Inuyasha grinned, his fangs gleaming in the early afternoon light.
"I heard you hacked the youkai of the Western Lands' arm clean off!" The little hanyou said, childlike excitement shining in his eyes for the first time since they'd met.
Kagome thought it strange that a child would get so excited about such a thing, but before she could wonder any more about it she heard Inuyasha boast proudly at her side.
"I sure as hell did!" He said as he set his clawed hand tenderly on Tetsusaiga. "The poor bastard didn't stand chance."
"Cool." Toshiro said dreamily, his body relaxing a bit.
Kagome rolled her eyes at Inuyasha's pride at maiming his brother, then turned back to watch the small hanyou who still looked up at Inuyasha as he recalled the story of how Sesshomaru lost his arm in their battle at their father's grave.
He'd moved to sit how Inuyasha often did, his knees apart and his small hands on the ground between them. He was completely enamoured by Inuyasha's tale, his fuzzy ears rotating in the direction of the older hanyou, showing that Inuyasha had his complete attention. She smiled a little to herself as she watched Toshiro's tension lesson a bit. He was just so cute, even matted with dirt and blood she cooed internally when his cheeks dimpled as he smirked at something Inuyasha said. She couldn't help herself as she reached a hand to the distracted young hanyou, intent on rubbing one of his cute little ears.
But right before she could grasp his left little appendage, his ears folded back to hide in his hair and his head snapped in her direction. His eyes became guarded again and a low snarl slipped between his now clenched teeth. She let out a low gasp, quickly retracting her hand back to her person as Toshiro glared at her dangerously.
"Dont. I told you not to touch me." He reminded her in a hard voice.
His gaze quickly went to the larger hanyou who had stopped his story, and was watching him warily as if he would try to attack Kagome again. Toshiro shook his head quickly, as if clearing his mind before he turned his tawny eyes back to the miko, all traces of the smiling child now gone from his face.
Inuyasha took a purposeful step forward, placing himself between the younger hanyou and Kagome. He cleared his throat loudly, claiming the boy's attention again as he folded his arms back into the expansive sleeves of his haori.
"So do you want to come with us or not, runt? You can stay out here and let whatever did that to you," He gestured to Toshiro's battered body. "come for you again, or you can come with us where you'd be looked after, and have a place to learn to fend for yourself."
Kagome watched from the gap between Inuyasha's legs as Toshiro weighed what the older hanyou had said carefully. The young hanyou's brows were furrowed as he considered his options for a few minutes, before he finally looked up to his senior, skepticism in his golden eyes.
He nodded slightly at Inuyasha before he rose slowly from the grass and said. "Alright. . .I'll come with you."
Inuyasha reached back for Kagome's arm to pull her up beside him as he still stared attentively at the hanyou who barely stood to his hip. Inuyasha then started making his way into the forest, Toshiro hesitantly walking beside him, and Kagome following behind the two.
"Fine, but there are gonna be some ground rules twerp." Inuyasha stated in a no nonsense tone as he walked, one of his ears turning behind him as if making sure Kagome was there. "Firstly, you will not under any circumstances raise a claw to Kagome. You do one time, runt, and you're gone. You got that?"
Toshiro's eyes flicked back quickly to the miko in question, who in turn gave him a small smile. He didn't return it as he turned back to the older hanyou.
"Fine." He echoed.
"The same goes for the rest of our comrades, no matter how annoying Shippou gets or how much that perverted monk deserves it, don't do it. And secondly, if you're going to travel with us, and maybe even live with us you have to do your part. That means gathering firewood, and hunting, and above all else protecting our pack."
Kagome smiled at the two, taking in the way both of their shoulders were set back proudly as they moved, the stubborn set to both of their jaws. She felt such pride at Inuyasha's acceptance of the boy, and she wondered again if it was because Toshiro reminded him of himself.
"Tch. I know that." She heard Toshiro say irritably to the older hanyou, who let out a, "Keh. And don't forget it, pest." in response.
Kagome's smile widened, they were more alike than she was sure either of them would ever admit. She wondered how the rest of their friend's would respond when they came home with Toshiro. And she wondered if given time, would he learn to let his guard down, and to trust them.
