A/N: First place!
Taking Chances
Shippou closed his eyes and sighed. He did not need his youkai senses to hear what the man around the corner was saying, nor to smell the fear rolling off of him, nor to realize how very stupid he was.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I wish to wed Rin-sama. I do not have much, but I will treat her well. She will be as a worshiped goddess in my humble home." The man simpered as he kowtowed at the Demon Lord's feet. He was not the first, nor would he likely be the last.
Rin did not know about any of them.
Since coming into womanhood, she had become the most popular woman in the province, possibly in all of Japan. Men came from all over to seek her hand. Some, like this man, were ordinary villagers; others were lords or princes in their own right. None of them loved her, and all of them – as far as Shippou was concerned – were morons.
It was not Rin they wanted, it was the father figure that came with her. Sesshoumaru, they knew, would allow no harm to come to his ward or her offspring, and having the complete backing of the Demon Lord of the West would make an Emperor out of the most humble farmer.
The Demon Lord would never allow Rin to dress in anything less than fine silk or ruin her delicate hands picking rice. He would see to it that she always had the richest foods and sweetest sake, and more than enough to fill her needs or wants. She would live a life of luxury; he would see to it.
And every single one of them knew it.
Yet, somehow, they seemed to think they could fool Sesshoumaru where all those before them had failed. If they were just sincere enough, and humble enough, and worshiped him enough, surely they would win his favor.
Unfortunately for them, Sesshoumaru was no one's fool. Even worse, he often killed them for asking.
"If it pleases you, Sesshoumaru-sama, I –"
"It does not."
"Sesshoumaru-sama...?"
"It does not please this Sesshoumaru. If you speak of this moment again, I will end your life." The words had no bite, just the simple cool statement of fact. The man sputtered, terrified, obviously trying to think of what he could say that would not be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Shippou had seen it all before, and it never ended well.
Letting out his breath, Shippou slipped silently around the edge of the hut and spoke. "Move, you stupid man! Or do you think Sesshoumaru-sama should be forced to step out of your path?" The man squeaked and scurried out of the road like a very large bug.
"Fox," Sesshoumaru addressed him with only a hint of disdain to heat his icy voice. Shippou responded by casually rolling his neck back towards the fields. Golden eyes flickered in the direction he indicated, to see Rin and Kagome making their way back towards the village, baskets loaded with herbs. The demon lord gave a slight nod, then continued as if it had always been his intent to do so. "I have some matters to attend to and shall be gone for several weeks. You will look after Rin's welfare in my absence."
Shippou blinked at him then shrugged. "As you wish."
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin's voice rang clear and she almost bowled Shippou over as she raced past him, only to abruptly stop next to the demon. "Rin is very happy to have you visit again! Can Rin show you what she has learned? Why is that man lying in the dirt?"
Shippou deftly relieved Rin of her basket of herbs as the young woman began hurrying ahead of the Demon Lord, telling him about the events of the village since his last visit. He stood in the road and waited until Kagome caught up, watching as Rin disappeared into her hut, with Sesshoumaru unhurriedly following in her wake.
"You can get up now," Shippou said idly to the man still kowtowing in the dirt. "He's gone." The man lifted his head and Shippou frowned at him. He had a dull-witted look in his wide set eyes. Shippou was reminded of a particularly stupid carp. "Take my advice, go home and forget this day ever happened, unless you really do want to die."
The man glared up at him. "Mark my words, that girl will be mine."
"I'll be sure to mark those words on your grave," the fox replied mildly. Fish-man "harrumphed" before scurrying off. Kagome stopped next to Shippou and they watched the man go. "I think you should prepare that man's last rites."
"Is he after Rin as well?" Kagome asked in an almost disinterested tone.
"Aren't they all?" Shippou asked, though it was not really a question.
"Think this one will be back?"
"The stupid ones always come back."
The two began walking towards the other side of the village, where the shrine stood at the top of the hill. The temple also served as the medical center, where Kagome and Miroku made healing medications and prayer scrolls.
Shippou glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The years had been kind to her; she had not aged a day since she returned through the well. Shippou had heard tales that humans who spent a lot of time in the presence of youkai lived longer, something about the aura of influence, but he was not sure how it worked. Still, he had witnessed its effects on Kagome, Miroku, and Sango. All were still young and energetic years after they should have begun slowing down.
The two paused as they entered the shrine to say a prayer at Kaede's grave. Even with Inuyasha's influence, time had taken its toll, and she had passed peacefully in her sleep only five years prior.
"Sooooo," Kagome drawled as they entered the shrine and began sorting the herbs to be hung and dried. "When will it be your turn to crawl around in the dirt at Sesshoumaru's feet?"
"Never. I'm not that stupid."
"But," Kagome pressed.
Shippou stopped and looked her in the eyes. "'But nothing. Sesshoumaru has rejected lords and princes with more money than this village could make in a decade. I have nothing to offer and he'd have no qualms about killing me. Even if it was just to annoy Inuyasha." Shippou tied a group of herbs more fiercely than was necessary, crushing the stems. "Regardless of how I feel, it does me no good if I'm dead."
Kagome looked at him for a long moment. "How is it you learned to bottle up your emotions from Inuyasha, but not the ability to fight for what you want?"
Shippou bared his fangs, but they both knew it was a bluff. "Because I'm smarter than to go off half-cocked into battles I can't win!"
"Winning isn't always the point," Kagome replied gently. She wiped her hands on a rag and took their baskets. "The boys should be home from hunting soon. Will you join us for dinner?"
"Sure. I'll have to listen to Inuyasha bitch for a week if I don't."
The next weeks passed without incident. With the Shikon no Tama gone and with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's dual protection – not to mention the efforts of the miko, monk, and demon slayer – Edo had become remarkably quiet. But this was even quieter than normal. Not even the local, relatively harmless, youkai that made their home in the surrounding forest showed up.
Shippou passed his time watching over Rin as she went about her life as an ordinary village girl. Though, he admitted, she stretched the definition of "ordinary" to an extreme. She had her daily chores, but she rarely did them herself. When she went to fetch water for her hut, someone else always seemed to volunteer to carry it for her. When she bought rice, she got more than she paid for and it was delivered free of charge. When she ran low on firewood, some always appeared as if by magic at her door.
Shippou had to admit, fear of Sesshoumaru's wrath was an amazing thing.
"Shippou-kun!" Rin chirped. Shippou looked down from his branch to see her standing in the doorway of her hut. "Rin needs to get some water. Do you want to walk with Rin?"
"Sure." He rolled off the branch and landed gracefully on his feet. He took the empty bucket from her hand and began walking towards the river. As he expected, Rin began hurrying ahead, picking flowers and talking about the beauty of the world as she went. Shippou smiled, indulging her. He loved listening to her talk. She had been too young to truly understand the horrors Naraku had wrought, and due to Sesshoumaru's sheltering, had retained her naivety and innocence about the world. When she spoke, he could see the world through her eyes, clean of the blood and terror he knew lurked in the shadows.
"Look how clear the water is, Shippou-kun!" Rin declared as she dropped a crown of flowers on his head. "I know, after I get water, we should come back and fish! It will be fun and Rin can bake some for you like Kagome-chan showed her!"
Shippou felt his cheeks heat up and quickly bent to dip her water. "That sounds like a great idea, Rin." He kept looking at the water, even after he had filled the bucket, watching the fish to keep his mind from running down the paths her innocent offer could lead.
Shippou blinked when he notice a fish staring up at him, the gap-mouthed, dull-witted expression of a carp. But the face was too big, and it was getting larger by the second.
"Rin! Move!" He shoved the girl out of the way as a giant carp lunged out of the water. The enormous grey-black fish landed with a heavy, wet thump on the riverbank. Shippou and Rin stared as the fish youkai, despite being large enough to swallow a boat whole, flopped uselessly on the ground while gasping for air. "Ummm." Shippou scratched the back of his head. "This is the part where I should heroically tell you to run away while I fight to the death with the demon, but I think we should both just walk away and save us all the embarrassment."
"Mine!" the fish gasped. "Girl. Mine!" The fish flopped angrily after them, succeeding in gaining only a few feet more up the bank. "My. Bride. Girl. Mine!" he continued to gasp adamantly with each flop.
"Riiiiiight," Shippou drawled. "Come on, Rin. I'll walk you back to the hut."
"Okay," Rin agreed happily.
"Girl. Mine. Not yours! Mine!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shippou waved over his shoulder. "I don't want Rin caught in the middle of a fight, so I'll take her home. If you are that determined, meet me outside the village later and we can hash this out."
"MINE!" the fish roared in a deafening voice and slammed its huge head against the ground. Rin screamed as the earth began to shake violently, throwing them both off their feet. Nearby trees thrashed as if in high winds and the surface of the water seemed to dance.
"Rin!" Shippou surged forward, throwing himself over her just as a branch came crashing down. The limb, as round as a large rice bowl, slammed across his back and shoulders with enough force to break a human spine. Shippou gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. "Run!" he hissed as the shaking stopped.
"Shippou-kun..."
"Rin. Run. Now!" The girl nodded, scrambled out from under him, and began to run.
"MINE!!" the fish roared again, raising itself up for another blow.
"Idiot!" Shippou roared back, as he turned glowing red eyes on the fish. "I am your opponent!" He flicked his wrist and a volley of blue flames knocked the giant carp back into the water.
Shippou felt his power begin to rise, and the dirt around him stirred. Standing, he faced the water. He'd used his powers to play tricks on Inuyasha, or amuse Rin or the village children, or – on rare occasions – for self-defense if something slipped past Inuyasha or Miroku. But this was the first time he had ever been alone in battle.
The fish leaped into the air, spitting water. Shippou fired back with more foxfire. The two met in a hiss of steam, clouding and heating the air into a thick broth. Hidden by the misty soup, the fish slammed its head against the ground again.
This quake was much fiercer than the one before. It threw Shippou from his feet, slamming jaw first into the ground. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, trying to get his bearings as the world around him vibrated out of control.
The loud scrape of stone on stone was his only warning, before a blunt spike of earth the size of a small tree shot up and hit him in the chest. The impact flung him into the air, and in the swirl of mist he lost track of the sky and the ground. His back slammed hard into the trunk of a tree, snapping the innocent plant in half before hitting the one behind it. Sliding to the ground, he sat there, waiting for the rest of the shaking to stop and hoping the fish had lost track of him.
"Good job, genius," he muttered to himself. "Pick your first fight with a Namazu who has control of Earth and Water. Fire will do a whole fucking lot of good." He reached into his pockets to find he had a few leaves, a piece of string, an acorn, a pebble, and a tiny statue. A fanged grin peeled across his face.
When the earth was again still, Shippou crouched down low and listened. The thick mist gave the forest a muted quality, but he could still hear the babbling of the river off to his right, as well as the gasping of the giant fish.
Slipping a leaf from his pocket, he pressed it to his forehead with two fingers and closed his eyes. It had taken him a long time to master this trick, even with the "school." It had been hard not having another kitsune to teach him directly. With his high marks, he had been offered apprenticeships with master tricksters from across Japan. Even a White Kitsune who was said to study with the Great Inari had offered to tutor him. But the thought of leaving his human family and being gone as their finite lives slipped away had kept him in Edo.
Concentrating, he felt his body become light and spread out as he become mist and vanished into the world around him. Mist was harder to do than regular water or air, he decided. Focusing on his goal, so as not to lose the illusion, he drifted forward, back towards the river. The fish lay half out of the water, gasping and casting its dull stare about. Wishing he could nod to himself, Shippou set his plan into motion.
He drifted to a place about ten meters in front of the fish and settled his misty body on a tree branch. He would have to act quickly and did not want to waste even a moment. Moving what would be his hand to where his pocket would be, he released the spell. In one smooth motion he dipped into his pocket and dropped the statue and the acorn, willing some of his magic into them right before they hit the ground.
The statue, which had landed face down, grew until it was the size of a small man, and the acorn sprouted eyes and began to make a high-pitched wail. The old trick had stopped working on Inuyasha years ago, but between the mist and the fish's own dull wit, it worked well enough. As the fish again raised its head to shake the earth, Shippou leapt from the tree, flying over the distracted youkai's head to land on the other side of the river.
From here he could still feel the ground trembling, but this time the fish had used a more directed blast so the surroundings were largely unaffected. Pulling the string and pebble from his pocket, he carefully tied one end of the string around the rock and made a small loop with the other, then tossed them towards the fish. With a touch of magic, the string became a rope and the pebble became a boulder.
The fish flipped himself up for another strike, and his tail slipped through the loop of rope. Shippou released the magic keeping the rope and boulder in the air, and the entire thing came crashing down. The boulder splashed into the water, causing the rope and fish to whip through the air violently, before slamming the fish hard onto the rocky riverbank.
Shippou leapt across the river, landing in front of the stunned youkai. The fish's body twisted and thrashed, before it began to shrink and shift to a more human shape. Shippou could not muster even a flutter of surprise to find the carp-faced man looking up at him, his feet still bound by the rope.
"Mast–"
Shippou kicked him in the head. "Shut up. I should kill you," He paused, watching as emotions flashed in rapid fire across the youkai's face. Finally it settled into a frown.
"You– "
Shippou snatched him off his feet by the front of his yukata. "I said shut up!" Shippou took a deep breath and composed himself. "If you ever come near Rin or this village again, I'm going to find a new and interesting place to shove that boulder and we'll find out if fish can drown."
The man's eyes bugged out of his head, before he made a tinny squeak and changed again. This time into a minnow, which plopped back into the river. Shippou watched as the minnow swam off in a great hurry before turning around. Sesshoumaru stood off to one side, watching him with his usual icy stare. Shippou looked away first and began walking toward the village. The taiyoukai made no move to stop him, letting him pass until he was several yards away.
"Fox," Sesshoumaru said evenly.
Shippou stopped but didn't look back. "I'll never be the person you want for her, Sesshoumaru-sama. I am too much your brother's son."