A tug at Inuyasha's hakama took his concentration. Katsuo tightly clasped together tiny handfuls of Inuyasha's clothes as he stared at Tokishi.
Inuyasha shouted, "Katsuo! What happened?!" although he quickly facepalmed as the boy recoiled and whelmed over with tears. Katsuo had a bad habit of breaking down anytime an adult yelled at him.
Inuyasha mumbled a curse word beneath his breath, took Katsuo under his other arm, and headed back to the village.
"Sango!" Inuyasha tossed Katsuo at Miroku then showed Sango Tokishi's wound, "Quick! Fix her!"
"Fix?" Sango held Tokishi's bleeding arm, "Inuyasha, what happened?!"
"I'm not sure, just bandage her already before-!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome beckoned from the edge of the village, "Tokishi!"
Upon hearing her Mother's call, Tokishi's tears erupted louder than before with a new found energy.
"Make it stop!" Inuyasha shoved Tokishi into Sango's arms, "Please!"
Miroku shifted Katsuo so that he cradled comfortably in his arms. Then Miroku calmly asked, "Mind telling us what happened in the woods, Katsuo?"
Not too far from Kaede's home Miroku and Sango have a home of their own. With a growing family a separate home was inevitable. And even beyond Miroku's home is one Inuyasha built himself, for his family. To avoid all the racket, and bustling village folk, it's just on the edge of the village. A tranquil, remote area.
Moments after Tokishi's injury was treated she ceased her crying, and dozed off in her mother's lap. Kagome stroked Tokishi's hair as Miroku and Sango entered their home with Katsuo close behind. They took a seat in front of Kagome, near the door, to discuss the days events.
"Where's Inuyasha?" Sango glanced around the room.
Kagome smiled, "Who's Inuyasha?"
"Oh," Miroku and Sango averted their eyes as a wobbly silver head, full of dirt, crawled through the door.
Katsuo hid behind Sango's hip when Kagome looked to him, "Katsuo, can you tell us how Tokishi was injured?"
"We," he hugged his mother's kimono, burying his cheek in her side, "We were searching for mushrooms. Then this mean boy came out of nowhere. He wanted to hurt me... so Tokishi tried to protect me."
"I see," Kagome ran her fingers through the strands of Tokishi's hair.
Inuyasha sat upright, leaning in, "What'd the boy look like?"
Katsuo crinkled his eyebrows, "He looked weird."
Miroku raised his hand up high, "was he tall?" he lowered it, "short?"
Katsuo tapped his own head, "He's as tall as me."
Sango twisted around to look at Katsuo, "What was weird about him?"
Katsuo tugged at his own lips, "That boy had claws and teeth," then he pointed at Tokishi, "like Tokishi! And he was wearing lots of fur."
"I did smell a hint of some foul wolf," Inuyasha crossed his arms, snarling as the thought entered his mind.
Kagome gasped, "You don't think-?"
Sango giggled, "Oh no."
When Miroku began laughing, Katsuo jumped onto his father's lap, tugging his clothes, "What? Do you know him?"
"I can't say we know the flea bitten pup," Inuyasha spoke up, narrowing his eyes, and turning up his nose with a frown, "But we have an idea of who his mangy father might be."
The sun was saying it's final goodbyes for the day, peeking over the trees horizon for one last look of the land while the moon slowly woke up for the night. Akio dragged his feet. All his years he had heard stories of how kind a human girl could be, how loyal, and friendly. Then after finally finding one, his claws did the introductions.
"Akio," Ayame smiled to her son at the entrance of their home.
Near a small waterfall the wolves created a den. The den is a cave which had been dug deep into the side of a cliff by Koga and his men. It's relatively close to Kaede's Village, not just for personal reasons, but also practical ones. To pursue the acceptance of humans as friends for the wolf demon tribe, Koga asked that two young one's be raised near other human children so that they can grow up as equals.
Akio dropped three mushrooms into Ayame's hands causing her to raise an eyebrow, "You usually collect so many mushrooms. Did something happen?"
Akio coolly walked past his mother, falling into bed, "Nothing new."
Akio, the young prince of the wolf demon tribe. Full demon, just like his father, and even with the same dull blue eyes. His hair though, came from his mother, burnt orange in color. As for clothing, Akio wore dark brown fur which didn't blend well with his orange tail. He also liked to wear a chest armor similar to his fathers, but black in color.
"Hm," Ayame frowned. She knelt down and set the food into a bowl, chopping, and preparing it for dinner, "Well, your father is out catching dinner. Did you wash up in the river?"
Akio sniffed at his washed claws. The smell of her blood still remained, but only slightly, "Yeah."
Ayame narrowed her eyes, something outside caught her attention, "And where are your uncles?"
Akio froze. He sat up and saw the two slowly approaching from a distance.
"Little Boss," Ginta collapsed against the cave wall when they entered, nearly crying, while Hakkaku embraced Akio, "We feared for the worst!"
"I told you I'd be fine on my own," Akio grumbled, turning away to hide a blush.
Hakkaku smiled, "Nonsense! Anything we'd do for Koga, we'd do for you! Even if that means laying down our lives in the face of danger!"
Ginta waved his arms, nervously chuckling as he spoke, "Not that danger would even come near you with us around."
"Oh, Ayame, we found some extra mushrooms if ya need any," Hakkaku handed her about a dozen shiitake mushrooms. Ayame lit up, and graciously piled them into the bowl.
Akio rolled out of bed. He picked up a mushroom then returned to his comfy spot, wondering if the girl he met earlier would like such a thing as well.
"She's definitely there!" Koga entered the cave, dropping a boar heavy enough to rattle the ground followed by a resounding thud.
Koga scratched the side of his nose, merrily grinning, "I picked up her scent the minute we arrived, but now I'm positive."
Ayame snapped her head to the left, giving Koga a sidelong glare, "You mean Kagome?"
"Yep!" Koga agreed. Although his smile faded as a thought popped up, "But I also smelled something foul... Hm?" Koga's nose led him to Akio. Akio kept a straight face, assuming no suspicious had been aroused until Koga took Akio's hand, giving the claws a few sniffs, "Why do I smell mutt blood on ya?"
Despite his better judgment, Akio kept silent.
A puzzling mix in the blood nagged at the back of Koga's mind, "Is that- Akio, you didn't-?"
Akio reclaimed his hand, swiftly hiding it beneath the bed fur, "It was an accident! I was just playing around when this little girl got in the way!"
"Little girl?" Koga pulled away, voice trembling. He threw a hand up to measure Kagome's approximate height, "She was this tall, right?"
Akio's eyes traveled to the ceiling as he tried to remember, "No, she's a bit smaller than me."
"Smaller," Koga slowly repeated, "No way," he dropped to the ground.
Akio moved forward on all fours, this was the first time he had ever witnessed his father suffering in such a way. Then Koga reached up, pulled at Akio's ear, and yelled, "Ya know what, I think you're lying!" Akio growled and gritted his teeth as Koga dragged him to the exit, "We'll go to the village and find out right n-"
The boar from earlier flew through the air, landing right on Koga, and plowing him into the ground.
"You're hurting our son!" Ayame shouted between puffs. Akio scurried to his uncle's. They all huddled together in fright before the fight erupted.
Koga held his head, dearly wishing for the sudden headache to disappear, "And that justifies throwing dinner at me?!"
"Maybe if you just calm down and think clearly! We're going to see Kagome tomorrow, remember?! Akio needs to look his best for that!"
As the bickering continued Ginta, Hakkaku, and Akio created their own little circle of talk to ignore the barking couple.
"Ginta," Hakkaku began, "When's your family gonna get here?"
"Oh, you know them," he smiled and shyly scratched his head, "My wife wanted to make sure everything was perfect. She'll probably get here sometime in the next two days."
A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
AmeliaBlake: Thank you! I made the name Tokishi by mixing around "warrior" and "priestess" in Google translate xD But it really means:
(to) "soar, fly"
(ki) "spirit"
(shi) "child"
BleachAndKougaEqualHappiness: Gurrl, shorten your username! Dx And I've already said it, but thanks for the long review :DD
