A/N: Another handful to thank for reviews: Sycocat2, Esha Napoleon, little25victor, Dragon and Sword Master, TheLadyofFluffy, and kurukurupa. And thank you to anyone who put this or its author on their lists. Okay, the update rate isn't too bad on this one. My crossover didn't fare so well.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Rumiko Takahashi et al.

One Hanyou Too Many

Living with Women

A strange collection of travelers headed out first thing in the morning in the hunt for the elusive Lord Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha and Miroku had put their heads together for a bit the night before in an effort to find a way to make the demon lord's life as miserable as possible for as long as possible. The fact that Yukari had turned Miroku into a half demon on accident only added to the desire to bring as much trouble to the elder dog demon as they could.

It wasn't that they objected to the younger inuyoukai's presence. Her manners were that of a noble young lady's and when she forgot that she was dealing with humans and half demons, she was a nice kid. It was when she remembered who she was with and why that things got a little tense. Inuyasha was frustrated every time she insulted him. Not because of the insult itself, but because she seemed to have no knowledge, instinctive or otherwise of pack dynamics. He was the strongest of the group and as such should have been the uncontested alpha. Kirara was willing to let things slide because Inuyasha was taking care to correct the girl and Shippou was still younger than Yukari so his place wasn't that affected. Besides, he was small enough to be carried by the girls and having another member even temporarily added to the group didn't change that. The others, knowing that their esteemed leader was at the figurative end of his rope, did what they could to gently scold the black dog demon without a fight but were mostly unsuccessful.

There was one other reason that they wanted Yukari with Sesshoumaru as soon as possible. By mid day they had begun noticing something. She had the ability to cause trouble. Nothing overt but it seemed that if any demon in the area had a problem with humans, they met up with it. By the time they sat down to eat, they'd already defeated five demons and rescue Yukari from injury an equal number of times. Miroku had a sneaking suspicion that she had been named the way she had for exactly that reason. If it wouldn't have been so unlucky, her mother might have just named her "Trouble" and been done with it but "Affinity" must have been the logical substitution. He wondered what else she had an affinity for.

"I really don't like this," the young girl said, wrinkling her nose at the cup of noodles placed in front of her.

"You eat or you starve, pup," Inuyasha shot back. "We don't have time to hunt. Sesshoumaru's getting farther away the longer we sit around."

"But there's no meat in this even though it smells sort of like chicken."

"That's because it's only flavored," Kagome explained patiently. "I have some jerky in my bag you can snack on when we get going again. That's real meat that's been smoked so that it'll last on long journeys."

Yukari pouted slightly but didn't protest further. She knew she was getting on their nerves and had been testing Inuyasha's patience. He was their pack leader and she'd been trying to usurp his authority with no luck. The others didn't listen to her, seeing her as a child and not a real authority figure. They probably thought she had something wrong with her head as she'd been pretending to be ignorant of pack dynamics. "Do you think we'll meet up with Aniue today?" she asked, leaving the subject of food alone.

"Not today, probably tomorrow. He's bound to notice sooner or later that you and I have met up. Curiosity if nothing else will let us catch up to him so that he can figure out why I haven't killed you yet." Inuyasha took a large bite of his favorite food, not the least bit ashamed of the only slightly veiled threat.

"Why haven't you killed me?" Yukari asked, a part of her morbidly curious. The half demon had no reason to spare her life as he seemed to want to kill their older brother without a second thought.

"Because he's not like that," Miroku answered for his friend. "Inuyasha kills only to survive and to eat. You aren't a threat to him. Shippou has annoyed and tricked him far more than you have and he's still alive." Eating his own ramen before it got cold; the monk didn't bother to look at the other half demon to confirm his thoughts.

"Miroku's right, Yukari-chan," Sango added, sipping at the last of the broth. "It seems that both of the Inutashio's sons have soft spots for kids. Even Sesshoumaru has taken on the responsibility of raising a child."

"Aniue adopted a pup?" Yukari screeched, three pairs of furry ears laying back in distress at her exclamation. Shippou shrank back, surprised at her outburst.

"Well, I don't know if he formally adopted her but he's certainly looking out for her and gets quite angry if anyone tries to hurt her. Rin isn't that much younger than you, relatively speaking and is very self-sufficient. I'm not quite sure how they met but I have a feeling from something Jaken said that he saved her with Tenseiga and she's been with them ever since." Kagome tossed her empty cup into the fire, not realizing what her words would mean to the young demoness.

"He replaced me?"

"Keh, he didn't replace you, kid. He saved her life and now he's responsible for it. I don't think even he knows why he did what he did. Don't try to figure the bastard out; you'll only get a headache."

"But he's my aniue."

Inuyasha sighed, sensing a storm on the horizon. He had enough trouble when Kagome cried; he didn't need to deal with Yukari's tears. "Look, Sesshoumaru isn't a good elder sibling. He's not really big on family. Hell, he's tried to kill me since before I was your age. Trust me, if you want to know what a big sibling is supposed to be like, look to Sango or Kagome. They both have younger brothers and care for them a whole lot more than Sesshoumaru could ever care for either of us." Inuyasha paused, unsure why he was trying to make the child understand. She idolized Sesshoumaru and maybe it was better to leave things alone but he didn't want her to be hurt the way he had been.

There had been a time when he'd adored Sesshoumaru too. Even though his mother had warned him that demons would most likely try to hurt or kill him, he'd once believed that his big, strong brother wouldn't be one of them. The first time they'd met was shortly after Izayoi had died, and Inuyasha had found out how wrong he'd been. Still young himself, Sesshoumaru had declared him a blight on their father's proud lineage and had vowed ever since to remove him from the earth.

"Maybe, but you're a half demon so it's different."

"Yukari!" Kagome gasped, horrified at the girl's words. "You apologize right this instant, young lady!" the miko demanded, her usual fiery temper for once not focused on Inuyasha.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha started, only to hold his tongue when he realized that she wasn't listening to him.

"It doesn't matter if a person is human, half demon, or full demon. They still deserve to be loved and respected. An elder sibling has a duty to protect and take care of his or her younger brothers and sisters. Sesshoumaru should have been showing Inuyasha what it meant to be half inuyoukai instead of trying to hurt him. Now all they do is fight over Tetsusaiga." Hands on her hips, the girl from the future stared at the younger girl angrily until Yukari bowed her head in contrition. "Now, if everyone is done, we should get going." She began picking up, intent on not leaving any evidence behind.

Sango began helping, slightly impressed and more than a little amused at her friend's tenacity. "Miroku, please take of putting out the fire," the demon slayer said, only to narrow her eyes at him when she caught him staring at her backside. "Miroku…"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Of course, my dear. Shippou, will you go get some water from the stream nearby so that we can make sure to douse the fire thoroughly?"

"Sure, Miroku. Would you like to come with me, Yukari?"

"No, thank you."

The kitsune shrugged and took up a container that they usually used to carry drinking water in before following his ears to the running water. "Be back soon, Kagome."

"Be careful!" Kagome called after him and got a wave in return.

"Ah, Inuyasha, may I have a word with you while our lovely companions finish breaking camp?" the monk asked, black ears moving with sudden unease. He'd take care of the fire in a moment.

Inuyasha looked at his friend in concern, not understanding why the other man was so uncomfortable. "Yeah, sure," he replied, still a little dazed at Kagome's passionate defense of him. He knew that she saw him as no one else did but it still surprised him every time she did it. Leaving the females alone with a nod to Kirara, the two half demons wandered away so that they wouldn't be heard by the two women they had to live with. "So what do you want?" he asked when they came to a stop.

"I have smelled the most alluring scent just now and I don't quite know what to do with myself." Giving a gusty sigh, Miroku sank down on a rock and leaned his staff against one shoulder.

"An alluring scent, huh? This wouldn't have happened to have been when you were staring at Sango's butt, would it?" The original hanyou leapt into a tree and stared down at his friend, a knowing light in his golden orbs.

"How'd you know?"

"I've smelled it every moon cycle since she's been with us. Kagome should be giving off that same scent any time now too," Inuyasha said knowingly. For once he knew something about females that his friend didn't.

"Every moon cycle… Does that mean…?" Miroku's eyes widened, his nostrils flaring.

"Yeah, they're going into heat. Remember when I warned you that some scents might drive you a little crazy? That's one of them. Just relax, take deep breaths when you're away from her and run a lot. It'll pass in a few days."

"I wish Naraku was dead."

"Yeah, me too. Your new strength would help in killing the bastard but I don't dare take time away from getting Yukari back to her mother."

Miroku didn't say anything back, his thoughts centered on Sango. To know when his future wife was able to conceive… "Say, is that why you get so testy sometimes?"

"Finally catching on, huh?" Jumping down, Inuyasha patted his friend on the shoulder. Don't worry, you'll get used to it," he commiserated. One ear suddenly cocked, the voice of his priestess reaching him. "Kagome's calling."

"Right, we better get back." Miroku had a fire to put out if Sango hadn't gotten tired of waiting for him to do it and put out the flames herself. No doubt he'd pay for it later if she had.

"Yeah," the pack leader murmured. Inuyasha let Miroku go first, something nagging at him. Had he forgotten to tell the new half demon something? It would come back to him.

If it was important.