More to Me

Chapter 9: Time Out

I don't own Inuyasha

Two small, bare, feet tip toed along the ground as two hands gradually made contact with it as well. The left ear twitched, flicking a bit of water off as a fang peeked from his mouth. Gold eyes gleamed against a moonless night. Without making a sound he pounced on the fur, sinking his small fangs into it. Looking around, he realized that there was no one connected to it. Only his and his father's pair of boots lay where they had been sitting. Jumping up, anxious excitement took over and his heart pounded. Quickly, he turned, hearing a noise to his left but he knew it was a trick. The area fell silent again as he held in a giggle. This time the noise entered his ears from behind him, and though he struggled not to look back, he glanced anyway, missing the blur that crossed in front of him. Rishou moved to the center of the clearing, not wanting to be close to the edge. Almost simultaneously he heard the rustling of the bushes from all around him. Unsure of which way to go, he took his chances and bolted to his side. A smart choice it had been since the silence filled the air again. His ears twitched, listening closely for anything that would give his father away. He yelped in surprise as he barely had time to blink before he was tossed into the air. Coming back down, he was caught in his father's grasp as a bear hug ensued.

Rishou growled as he fought to escape but realized how futile it was and gave up. "Aww, no fair."

"Who said there were rules? I see you were playing by your own." Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow as he made note of his son's damp clothes and thumbed the soggy ear.

"How else was I supposed to throw you off?"

Sesshoumaru sat down as Rishou joined him.

"There's always more than one way to skin a cat."

"What does lord Yukata have to do with this?"

Sesshoumaru let a light laugh slip.

Rishou blinked, noting this as one of the few times he had heard or seen his father laugh and yet he couldn't figure out why he had.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing" Sesshoumaru cleared his throat.

"Well I wanna laugh too!"

"Oh?"

Rishou nodded seriously and sat up straighter.

Feeling his stomach attacked, he fought to escape the barrage of tickling but was paralyzed as he rolled backward onto the ground laughing.

Sesshoumaru figured that they were waking up the entire forest but it didn't really matter. Neither he nor his son had been able to sleep and instead of sitting there in silence they had taken the opportunity to do something…productive. He couldn't actually remember the last time that he had played with Rishou. Rin's death had expanded his responsibilities and making sure that their son was simply taken care of had been at the forefront. Somewhere along the lines, play had faded from that priority and his son had never complained.

Rishou laid on the ground trying to catch his breath as he looked up at the stars above.

"How many are up there?"

"Not even the oldest youkai have the answer to that question."

"You mean you've never tried to count them?"

"No."

"But you spend so much time looking at the sky. What's the point if you don't count them?"

"What do you think that I'm doing when I'm looking at the sky?"

"Not much."

Sesshoumaru smirked at that conclusion. "Physically, that's true. But, there are several things that I do when I watch the sky."

"Like what?"

Sesshoumaru joined his son as he laid back in the grass to view the night sky overhead. Interestingly enough, he had never discussed what he was thinking about when he was watching the sky. Everyone always assumed that it was just his way of dealing with things and allowed the privacy of his thoughts.

"The past or what's to come. At times, I ask for guidance or advice."

"Guidance or advice? From who? No one can respond."

"From my father or your mother. It takes practice, but if you listen long enough, you'll get an answer."

"Really!"

Sesshoumaru nodded.

"I know what I would ask mother."

"What?"

"How she was so brave."

"hn…your mother was a strong woman indeed."

"I don't remember much about her."

"You two were quite alike. You remind me of her."

"How?"

"Your mother had the same inquisitive nature that you do. You even shared the same taste in food."

"Like the mushrooms?"

"mm hm."

"Mother always gave good hugs and smiled. Was she like that all the time?"

"The majority of the time, yes. But she did have her own way of putting you in your place."

"So how old was mother when you first met her?"

Sesshoumaru felt a blush threaten to collide with his face. Yet another detail to be dispensed but this one definitely needed to wait until Rishou was older for him to understand.

"She was six and two."

"She was older than you?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged. Six and two in demon language meant six hundred and two but of course Rin hadn't been older than eight when he saved her. Had Rishou have asked when they became mates the answer would have been different. She was seventeen.

Quiet eventually settled between as he watched Rishou fall asleep. The coming days back home would be chaotic and he feared that this night would be one of the last peaceful ones until the ceremony.


A/N: I mention that there is a moonless night here, Rishou's night is not the same as Inuyasha's. This is a bit of a filler but I figured that showing a bit more interaction between father and son wasn't too much of a bad thing!

Thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 10: Practiced Perfection - "Your lies are best kept to yourself you old dog."