So I met Midori's little pack of orphaned wolf cubs. Wait… I mean, BAND of orphaned wolf cubs. I thought there would only be a few… but there were a bunch of them!
There were so many, I can only remember a few of their names. The ones I remember the best were the ones I watched (the girls) while Midori took the rest (the boys) to the hot springs for bathing.
I remember that Aya is the little toddler with black hair and grey eyes. She just learned how to walk and swim, and she can only say a few words. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was still alive, but couldn't look after her during the day.
Umeko was born a few months ago. She's the youngest of the orphans and one of the cutest- her big brown eyes captivated me. But I felt so melancholy when I heard her circumstances: both her mother and father were killed in an attack by Naraku.
Kotone was the oldest of the cubs. She was just young enough to be a cub, but not old enough to go out on her own. If human, I'd probably count her as a laid-back and rebellious teenager. I was surprised to find out that she was only a few years younger than me; she was just fourteen years old. Her mother died while giving birth to her younger brothers, Kyo and Kiyoshi, and her father died while battling the birds of paradise.
Then there were the triplets: Natsuki, Natsuko, and Natsumi, at twelve years old. All three looked exactly the same, light brown hair and green eyes, and even had the same voice. Their mother died of exhaustion shortly after their birth and their father was too busy to take care of them during the day.
Moriko was the last girl- she was about thirteen years old. She was mute; Midori told me that Moriko had been mute ever since her parents were killed by Naraku. It was such a shame, she was so beautiful and graceful, and I could only imagine what a lovely voice she could produce.
I held Umeko in my arms, admiring her cute little face and calm demeanor. I sat on the grassy ground, with Moriko to my right and Aya to my left while Kotone and the triplets played a game of tag around us. We sat a few meters from the lake and waterfall, relaxing under the shade of the forest trees. I had become quite comfortable there, and I even had staggering thoughts about having kids of my own-
But I couldn't bring myself to think of who the father would be.
"Kagome?" Kotone sat in front of me, taking a break from the game. "You were the one who defeated the birds of paradise, right?" her chocolate eyes looked straight into mine.
"My… friend- did most of the defeating."
I still can't say THAT DOG's name.
"But you could see the sacred jewel shards in the birds, right?" Kotone asked me.
"Yes, I can see them."
"Can you tell us how you defeated the birds of paradise with your, um, friend?" Kotone asked me.
"Why do you want to hear that story?"
"I wish to hear how my father's killers perished."
I wasn't sure how to exactly react to that… but I finally decided that she could probably handle the story, without the gross bloody parts…
So I told her how THAT DOG, myself, and Kouga killed the birds of paradise. She seemed satisfied with the story, and I was relived that she didn't ask me anymore questions concerning the matter.
But my relief was short lived, because Kotone decided to ask when I would mate Kouga. I mean, come on! What is with these wolf demons?!
"I don't know if I'm going to 'mate' Kouga," I could feel the heat in my face, and all I could do was hope that the cubs were too young to understand why I was red.
"Really? Almost all the females would love to be Kouga's mate. I think most of them are jealous of you," one of the triplets stated. I still can't tell them apart, damn it.
"The only ones that aren't jealous are the old and mated," another triplet added.
That would explain the fight between Midori and some of the other females….
I felt a tug on my skirt, and found that Moriko was gesturing for me to look past Kotone and the triplets where Midori and the boys were heading towards us.
"Kagome, how did the girls behave while we were gone?" Midori asked.
"They were fine, no problems," it was a bit of a lie… but I guess I can't blame the cubs for being curious.
Midori smiled at me, and then told the boys to go ahead and play a game, warning them to stay clean for at least an hour. I doubted that they could, the boys were so hyper…
Kotone, the triplets, and Aya went to play with the boys, while Moriko stayed sitting to my right and Umeko in my arms. Midori sat down on my left, holding both Naoki and Naota, orphaned newborn twins.
We sat talking and playing with the newborn cubs for awhile, until most of the cubs were taking their afternoon naps. Only myself, Midori, Kotone, Moriko, the triplets, and another older male cub were awake. We spoke softly, so we wouldn't wake the sleeping cubs.
I heard the older male cub's story as well as Naoki and Naota's.
The male cub that was still awake was named Izumi (eleven years old), and his mom died about a year ago, due to sickness. I was shocked when I found out who his father was: Ginta. Ginta didn't have time to fully take care of Izumi, since he was always out with Kouga and Hakkaku. I also was shocked to hear that Hakkaku had a mate and a child as well.
Then I heard about Naoki and Naota's life. They were abandoned by their mother after their father died in a battle with Naraku. It was so sad; all the more reason to kill that bastard.
"Where are Riki and Etsuya?" Kotone asked Midori.
"They're training today with the other older male cubs," Midori answered her.
"Isn't that what Kouga's doing? Training the cubs?" I asked.
"Yep. All male cubs older than fourteen," Izumi answered this time.
"Why don't the girls older than fourteen train?" I asked.
"We don't really train, we just learn from our mothers, or in my case, Midori," Kotone looked a little saddened, but was quickly cheered up by Midori.
"And I'm the best teacher, aren't I?" Midori laughed evilly, "I teach you how to discipline naughty cubs!"
We all laughed, except Moriko- who was smiling, until we accidentally woke up the napping cubs.
Three of which, Umeko, Naoki, and Naota, were newborns. (Which we all know, never stop crying.) The rest, including toddlers and the smaller kids, were very grumpy and negative.
I was trying my best to soothe Umeko, lightly bouncing her, making funny noises, and I even tried begging her. Then I tried singing to her, which finally worked. It also seemed to calm Naoki and Naota, who weren't responding to anything Midori did. I felt like I could actually do the whole 'mom thing'.
I really need to stop thinking that or I'll-
"Kagome…" a familiar voice said from behind me.
"Kouga!" all the former ill-tempered cubs smiled at their prince.
But, did he hear me sing? Oh my goodness, he couldn't have! I'm so embarrassed…
"I didn't know what a beautiful voice you had, Kagome," Kouga looked right into my eyes, and smirked.
This wolf just KNOWS how to get me, doesn't he?
"I'm really bad at singing, actually…" I could still feel the heat in my face.
"Doesn't sound like you're bad to me or the cubs…" Kouga smiled at the drowsy Umeko in my arms. He put his fingers in her reach, and she gratefully grabbed his pointer finger- smiling her biggest smile.
It was so cute.
Kouga played with Umeko for awhile, then gently pulled his fingers away from her, and helped me stand up.
"What are you doing here, Kouga?" Midori asked as she handed Naoki to Kotone.
"I came to make sure Kagome really didn't mind helping out and to see if anyone here was hungry."
All the cubs paid attention to 'hungry' and nodded, asking for the food. Kouga laughed at their eagerness, and told them to follow him back to the caves for lunch. I was surprised when the older cubs picked up the younger, and hopped just like Kouga up the rock wall and into the cave. I was wondering how I could get up the mountain, when Kouga swept me off my feet, with Umeko safely in my arms, and hopped right behind the cubs.
I was confused at first, seeing the entry cave almost empty. I asked Midori why we were practically the only ones here, and she explained that the wolves ate lunch whenever they wanted. The older wolves were responsible for getting their own lunch and their family's, except for this bunch. Kouga or one of the cub's fathers would hunt for the entire group.
"Today," she said, "Kouga hunted and skinned our food."
That was so nice of him…
I looked to Kouga, who was helping a cub tear off a piece of meat for his lunch. Then I saw a few female wolf demons, who were holding newborn cubs, come from the east caves, who asked Midori if the babies were ready for lunch. I was wondering earlier how they fed the cubs… I guess they just have mothers with newborn cubs feed them….
"Kagome," Kouga got my attention, then handed me my cooked meat and a small bowl filled with clear spring water. Dang, he thinks of everything, doesn't he?
"Thanks," I smiled at him, earning the famous wolf-smirk in return.
We sat down on the dried grass for the second time that day, once again me and Kouga at the 'head'. Just a few minuets later, we were joined by two more cubs, who I learned were Riki and Etsuya, the older cubs Kouga had been training.
We finished awhile later, and waited for the mothers to return from feeding the newborns. They finally came, so we went back to where we were before, down by the edge of the forest and lake.
We settled, me, Midori, Moriko, and the newborns were watching a new game emerge with the cubs. It was something like hide-and-seek, but it was reversed. We watched, until the younger cubs became tired and took another nap. This time, though, I fell asleep with them.
A/n: See the difference in the paragraph flow this time? Haha, that's because I was listening to different music. This time, it was 'Don't Cry Out' by Shiny Toy Guns and 'Breathe Deep' by MXPX.
People reading this should feel special! Wanna know why? Because this has become my first priority story! Woot! Because of all the hits I have been receiving on this, it has jumped to the top of my to-do list. So feel special! lol.
OMG. I was looking at my stats on FF (it's also on deviant art) and I saw that 'Minako Miharu' added this story to her alerts (and reviewed)! Minako Miharu is one of my absolute favorite Kouga/Kagome writers! I'm a major fan of her work, and I highly suggest reading 'Knight Errant'. I've been reading it in my spare time and it's SO good. (I'm not finished reading it yet…) Here's the link to Knight Errant (take out the spaces and put dots in their places!!!): www fanfiction net(slash here) 2663447 (slash) 1
about the long author's note… hahaha.