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Small But Fierce

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"Shouldn't…ahem hold on sorry…shouldn't it have shrunk by now or something?" Sango snorted as she tried and failed to stop herself from devolving into giggles. The others weren't fairing much better as they stared at the increasingly nervous looking toddler currently drowning in the voluminous fire rat robes. Kagome shrugged – a grin seemingly permanently plastered on her face – before she moved forward and knelt down in front of him, "Have you always worn the same robe?"

Nodding solemnly, the tiny Inuyasha looked up at her with watery golden eyes as he whined softly, "Mother knows how they work. Do you know where she is?"

With those few little words, any humor the others found in this situation vanished instantly. Casting a pleading glance at the others, Kagome grimaced before turning back to him, her mind racing to find a placating response, "Um, well…she, uh, isn't with us but we'll take good care of you."

"Will you help me find her?" he pleaded desperately, tears welling in the corner of his amber eyes, "I…I didn't mean to run away. I didn't, promise. She's gunna be real mad at me."

"Um, well she, uh…." Kagome spluttered anxiously before a terrible, terrible realization bloomed in her mind, "Wait, when did you last see her?"

"Yesterday," he whispered quietly before giving her a desperate imploring stare as her blue eyes widened in horror, "I don't know how I got here, honest but I'm sure glad I found you. Do you live at the castle?"

Everyone, minus Kagome, blanched as their eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Without thinking, Miroku blurted out before clapping a hand over his mouth, "Wait, you lived in a castle?!"

Giving the monk a quizzical look, Inuyasha nodded once before squirming uncomfortably in the giant robes, "Imma lord. Where did you think I'd live?"

Holding his fist over his mouth to cover the grin that so desperately wanted to break free, Miroku quickly excused himself and damn near ran into the treeline where his muffled giggles could still be heard. The poor monk felt tremendously guilty for finding humor in the wholly unfunny situation but once the laughter began, they became increasingly difficult to control. The rude, ill tempered, completely uncouth hanyou was actually of royal blood. It kinda made sense based off of what they knew of Sesshomaru and honestly, Myoga did call him lord but still….

Huffing, the tiny half-demon growled before turning back to Kagome with an angry looking frown, "It's not funny. He has bad manners. Bad."

"Yeah, can't argue with you there," Kagome mumbled miserably as she glared into the tree line where the monk disappeared before sighing heavily, "Hey, why don't you and I go back to where you first realized you were lost? Was there a sword there? Can you show me?"

"I dunno about a sword but I need different clothes before I show you I think," Inuyasha agreed as he squirmed, making the billowing fabric rustle slightly around him, "These are too big."

"Well, I have a t-shirt I think might fit you," Kagome sighed as she got up and moved to her backpack before giving him an apologetic smile over her shoulder, "It's probably going to look like a dress though. Are you okay with that?"

Biting his lip, the tiny hanyou seriously considered saying no and just running around naked before nodding dejectedly and shimming out of the robe. His mother would be angry if he ran around like that and she was already going to be furious with him anyway. Giving the small boy a sympathetic smile, Shippo came bounding up to Kagome, "I think he would probably be more comfortable in my clothes. I'll wear the shirt, Kagome."

"That's very nice of you Shippo but I don't think you guys are the same size," Kagome cooed affectionately, "Once we figure out how this happened, I'll need to take him to my time to get him something more comfortable to wear until we can change him back or figure out how to shrink those robes."

"Where did 'Ippo get his clothes, 'Gome?" the small toddler asked suddenly as he shuffled up to the backpack and peered inside, "I like those colors. Maybe Mother would buy me some if I was really, really good."

"Maybe so," Kagome sighed as she picked up her pajama shirt and held it up to his body to judge whether it'd fit him, "But don't you like your fire rat robes? Red is really a good color on you."

"But I wear the same thing every day though," Inuyasha whined as the miko began working the oversized shirt over his head, "Mother won't let me wear anything else."

"And why is that?" Kagome asked warmly, trying to hide the fact that she could most definitely guess why. Scrunching up his tiny face, he shrugged as he looked down to examine the soft cotton shirt and nodded once in approval. Wrapping his tiny claw hand around a few of her fingers, he tugged as he pointed in the direction that the much older version of himself had gone last night, "This way. Come on."

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It was not that he kept tabs on Inuyasha's whereabouts. It truly was not and Sesshomaru would gladly strike down anyone who suggested as much. He was merely in the area when he recognized a disturbance in the half-breed's aura. It only stood to reason that such a distinct alteration deserved a through investigation. His curiosity was merely to ensure that that despicable stain on his family didn't bring dishonor upon them, more so that had already been done of course.

"Rin, Jakken, we're leaving," the daiyoukai ordered stoically as he turned and began heading in the direction of that meddlesome Inuyasha who had managed yet again to get himself into some sort of mess.