Chapter 9: Tamako's First Crush
Ever since Kouga had saved Tamako, Inuyasha had gotten no peace when it concerned the wolf demon. Tamako talked about it almost constantly, and he hated it. He disliked the wolf, and it was obvious as the sound of Kougas name coming from his daughters lips nearly made him see red every time.
Part of it was jealousy. How dare Tamako see the wolf as capable of taking care of her just as much as him! He'd thought he was done with the wolf once Naraku was defeated. In fact, he hadn't seen Kouga since before the final battle with Naraku. And he was perfectly okay with not having that smug wolf demon sniffing around him and his friends, especially his daughter.
At least the mangy wolf hasn't tried claiming her like he did with Kagome. I'd rip his throat out. Inuyasha thought, a small grin coming over his face at the idea of finally being able to rip the wolfs throat out.
But also, ever since that day, Kouga had come by more often, at lest once every seven days. He never let the two out of his sight though, and he forced himself to be content with Kouga hanging around every once in a while. Even though he'd warned the wolf not to make a habit of it, he seemed to.
It'd been two months since that day. Tamako was almost five years old now. In just four more months, she'd be five. It was going by all too fast for the hanyou, watching his daughter get bigger and become very adapt to her surroundings in this era, just like she'd always belonged here to begin with.
All in all, today was proving to be a very peaceful day. Kouga had last visited the day before last, and knowing the wolf usually took at least seven days in-between visits, he didn't expect the wolf to show his face around here. The weather was also gorgeous too. It was just the ending of summer, fall was starting to show its face, and the weather was getting quite nice.
Standing just outside the hut, Inuyasha was skinning and cleaning the rabbit he'd caught for dinner on a table he'd made to the side of the hut to do such a thing on, while Tamako ran around playing just a few yards from him. When, all of a sudden, a scent caught his attention, making him growl slowly.
It was Tamako's voice that spoke his thoughts. "Kouga-kun!" she squealed happily upon smelling the wolfs scent herself. And within a few moments Kouga came from the trees, smiling.
"Hey! Thats right, kid. You're getting good at that." he said, glancing towards Inuyasha and grinning to him. "Hey there, mutt-face."
Inuyasha only nodded to him a bit, sitting his catch down on the table and brushing his claws off on the towel that hung just by. "Well, if it isn't the mangy wolf. What'd you come here for? Huh? You here to bother us again?"
This comment brought a small pout and glare from his daughter, causing him to blink before Tamako looked up to Kouga. Quickly running up to him as he knelt down to give her a hug. Running into his arms, she hugged him around his neck tightly, looking at his face with a smile.
"You're always welcome here, Kouga-kun." she told him as she held onto him.
This made Kouga grin a little. "Yeah, see mutt-face, I'm always welcome."
"No more name calling!" Tamako demanded. "Both of you. Stop name calling, its not nice." she declared.
Blinking at his daughters demand, looking at her. "Hey! Who is the parent here?" he asked. But, the look in his daughters eyes made him know she meant business. Sighing a little. "Fine. Around you, no name calling."
Kouga blinked at the demand, instead just nodding slowly. "Alright. No name calling. Promise." he said, flashing her a smile. He liked being around the little girl, she reminded him so much of Kagome, and she was so sweet. It was hard not to instantly love the girl, just like everyone else who had actually gotten to know her.
"Good." she said with a smile, moving to take Kouga's hand. "Kougaa, I made a picture! You wanna come see it?" she asked, lightly tugging on his hand towards the hut.
Shaking his head a little. "A bit later, okay? Come on, you wanna go for a run?" he asked. Turning his back to her, glancing back at her a little.
Tamako's eyes lit up as she nodded quickly. "Yeah!" she squealed, quickly moving to jump onto the wolfs back, feeling Kouga pick her up in his arms.
Though, in an instant Inuyasha was in front of Kouga, glaring at the wolf. "No. You are not taking my daughter anywhere. I refuse."
A grin crossed Kougas lips as he looked at him. "Whats the matter? She wants to go. I can protect her way better than you can. So out of the way."
Sighing, Tamako looked up at her fathers angry face. "Otou please? I'll be home for dinner. Please Otou? It'll be fun! Kouga runs fast! You do too but you never take me. I wanna go." she said, showing him her soft pout.
His hands were gripping into tight fists as he glared at Kouga. No, Inuyasha did not trust Kouga at all with his daughter. He did not want them to go. "You will never be able to protect her like I can. And so help me, if ANYTHING happens to her, I will have your head, wolf boy."
Kouga shrugged a little. "Come now, would I ever let harm come to Kagome's child?" he asked. The mention of Kagome seemed to hurt Inuyasha a bit. And in his slightly shocked state, Kouga walked around him and instantly took off into the woods where he'd come.
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They ran for several minutes in silence. Tamako was taking in the scenery. She loved the prettiness of the woods in this time. She'd never been in the woods in the future. But here, they lived in the woods, and she loved it. It almost felt like she belonged here. And she knew she did.
Looking up, she saw the waterfall they were just by, smiling slowly. "Oohh Kouga look! Can we go over there?" she asked. Instead of verbally answering her, he just nodded an ran towards the waterfall. Stopping just at the bottom of the water fall, watching as the water splashed down into the pool below, the mist coming off the water.
Smiling as Tamako looked at it, hugging Kouga around his neck. "Its so pretty. Otou never lets me come this close. It kinda looks like rainbows." she said, leaning her chin on Kouga's shoulder.
Kouga nodded slowly. "It is. I live by a waterfall. My cave is just by one."
"You do? Thats cool! You live in a cave and not a hut?" she asked.
Glancing back at her, Kouga nodded. "Yeah. Wolf demons don't live in huts. We live in big caves all together. My whole pack lives there."
"Your pack? They belong to you?"
Smiling as he nodded again. "Yeah, I'm the leader of the pack, they all listen to me."
"Wooow thats cool!" she said happily. Leaning her chin more on his shoulder, her chin resting on his skin just before his shoulder pad, looking forward at the waterfall.
Looking towards his face again slowly, blinking a little. "Kouga...are you only friends with me because you liked my Okaa?" she asked. She'd heard her father yell it at him at one point in time, and it bugged her. But she didn't want to ask such a thing around her father.
The question made him blink and look back at her, shaking his head. "No. I mean, I liked your mother a lot, yeah. And you're almost just like her. But, no Tamako. I don't just like you because of your mom. Where would you get such a thought?"
She shrugged, looking up at him. "I heard Otou say that. He doesn't like you. And you don't like him. Why are you two so mean to each other all the time?"
Kouga shrugged a little. "Not really. We both liked your Okaa and disagreed about a lot of things. We didn't really ever get along." he said, looking forward. "Hey, you know...you told me your birthday is coming up. Soo, I came back to give you something." he said. Reaching within his armor to take out a small box, offering it to her.
Her eyes lit up with the surprise, looking at it. Shifting on his back still as she reached to take it. Opening the box, inside was a small bracelet that would fit her wrist. It was made of small beads that were varying in shades of purple. Her ears peaked up as her eyes brightened, quickly moving to put it on around her wrist happily.
Chuckling a bit at her reaction. "Like it?"
Nodding to him, she hugged him tightly. "Yes! Thank you Kouga-kun." she said in a cheerful voice, looking up at him. "Are you gunna come see me on my birthday?" she asked.
Glancing at her face, he nodded a bit. "If you'd like."
She nodded back in response. "I would." she said, hugging him happily, leaning her head against the side of his neck.
"We better get heading back before your pops has a heart attack." he said, chuckling a bit.
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After they'd returned, Kouga stayed for a bit with Tamako hanging all over him, until finally he had to leave, which made Inuyasha pretty grateful.
Sitting at dinner, he'd made a very simple dinner just like always. It was just the two of them that night, so it was rice with fire roasted rabbit. It was all quiet as they ate their food for the moment. But, Tamako slowly looked up at her father, swallowing what was in her mouth.
"Otou..can I ask you something?" she asked.
Inuyasha blinked at his daughter, nodding. "Of course. You usually don't ask permission to ask a question...you usually just...ask. So, whats the matter?" he asked.
Pouting a little, looking down at her bowl that still had some rice and rabbit in it. Moving her chop sticks along the rice, playing with it a little. "Well...why don't you like Kouga?"
Blinking at the random question, he shrugged. "We just don't get along. Never have." he said, not really wanting to tell everything about why he didn't like Kouga. Tamako was still too young to understand such things, he thought.
"Yeah well...I like Kouga." she said, looking down at her rice.
Nodding to her. "I know." he said. He could already tell she liked playing around with Kouga by the river. And, while he didn't like the wolf, for the moment he was willing to swallow his pride a little so his daughter could have fun.
Shaking her head quickly, a blush forming on her little cheeks. "Nooo otou! i like like him. He's nice...he gave me a present today. And...and I like him." she muttered softly, chewing on her bottom lip gently. She didn't have a mother to talk to about things like boys, so, she figured her father would want to hear it.
Hearing the words coming from her lips, his eyes widened as he growled. "No, no you don't. Enough Tamako. You're not playing with Kouga anymore." he said in an instant, looking down at her. No, he did not want to hear about his daughter liking boys. Especially Kouga. "You do not like that mangy wolf. One, he's too old for you. Two, he's a wolf. Three, he pisses me off. And four, because I said so!" he said instantly.
Looking up at him with her eyes wide at how upset he seemed to get. Pouting and sniffling a little. "I can like who I want, Otou! You can't tell me I can't!" she yelled right back at him, slamming her bowl down on the wood floor in front of her. The move instantly reminded him of Kagome's feistiness.
"What did you just say to me, young lady? I am your father, you will listen to what I say."
Shaking her head quickly, her eyes moved up to meet his. "But you can't tell me who to like!" she said, pouting and standing up. "I hate your guts!" she yelled at him, storming off into her room.
Those three little words...he'd remembered when Kagome yelled them at him. And, as much as it broke his heart then, it hurt just as much now. She hated him? Sighing and putting his bowl down, standing up and walking to her room, knocking on the doorframe. "Tamako...come on back out here."
"No! Go away. I hate you!" she yelled from inside her room. He could hear the sniffling and smell the saltiness of her tears.
Great, now what had he done? She was crying.
"Please?" he asked, his ears lowering. He wished she'd stop saying she hated him.
"No no no! Go away! You're mean and I hate you!" she yelled loudly to him.
He'd understood that raising a girl would be hard. But, he didn't think he had to worry about boys for years now. Sighing a little, he had no idea what to do now.
Kami, Kagome would know... he thought. Sure, she would. But then again..wouldn't another woman know? Thinking for a minute before he moved away from the door and headed outside. He'd only be gone for a few minutes, so he wasn't worried.
Running quickly to Sango and Miroku's hut. He desperately needed help with this. Tamako was crying and yelling about how she hated him, and it broke his heart each time she said those words. It'd been three times she yelled it at him, he was counting.
Coming up to the hut within a matter of minutes, knocking on the door before peaking in, looking at the family. "Sango...can I borrow you for a minute?" he asked.
Sango looked up from where she sat, blinking and nodding. "Of course Inuyasha." she said. Handing her son to Miroku, looking at him and smiling. "Watch the kids for a minute dear." she said. Standing up and moving outside the hut, looking at Inuyasha. "Whats the matter? You look upset." she asked.
He nodded to her, sighing. "Can you...come help? T-Tamako...she's mad at me and she won't talk to me. I um...I think...she needs a woman to talk to." he said slowly.
Confused, Sango could only nod. "Alright. Lead the way." she said.
Following the hanyou back to the hut, he seemed to be in a hurry. Obviously he'd left Tamako alone. And once they'd gotten to the hut, Inuyasha only motioned Sango to the sounds of crying coming from Tamako's room.
Sighing, Sango shot him a glare. "What did you do?"
Shrugging to her slowly. "Nothing..."
"I highly doubt that." she said as she walked to the bedroom door. Knocking on it slowly and walking in, looking at Tamako sitting on her futon, crying.
"Aww, Tamako-chan. Why are you crying?" she asked, moving to sit down next to her. Feeling Tamako quickly push into her, hugging her tightly and hiding her face on Sango's chest.
The older demon slayer smiled, hugging Tamako and bringing her into her lap. "Shh, shh, there there. Would you tell me whats going on?" she asked. When Tamako sat up a little, Sango reached to wipe her tears from her cheeks, looking down at her.
Tamako sniffled, cuddling into Sango's chest and looking down. "O-Otou is mean and I hate him."
Four. Inuyasha thought as he sat just outside the room.
Sango shook her head. "You do not hate your father honey. You're just upset. I'm sure your dad does not like to hear you say something like that." she told the young girl, running her fingers through her hair. "But, why are you mad at him? What did he do?"
Cuddling up to her chest, Tamako took in a deep breath as she blushed. "I...I told him that I like Kouga. And he got all mad and started to get loud and I yelled right back and...and he said I'm not allowed to like Kouga. But...but I do..." she said, looking up at Sango.
"Ohhh, I get it now. Hey, you can like whoever you want, okay? But, your dad isn't going to like it. No matter who it is." she said, smiling slowly. "So...you've got a crush on Kouga. Thats cute. You can like Kouga if you want to. I was about your age when I had the biggest crush on one of the slayers in my village. I remember him too...he was so handsome and so strong. His name was Shiro, and he was one of the top slayers." she said, holding Tamako in her arms, looking down at her.
"R-Really? I can like who I want? Why won't otou like it?" she asked.
Sango shrugged. "Its a dad thing. You are his little girl, and nobody is good enough for you. My father thought the same thing about me." she said. Sighing a little and looking at her. "You know...I didn't have a mom for a long time either. She died when I was really young, bringing my brother into this world. I get girl talk can be very hard with men. So...you can always come talk to me about boys or anything you want." she said, smiling to her.
Tamako just smiled, looking up at her and wiping her eyes. "Really?"
Sango nodded. "Really."
Cuddling up to her, Tamako finished wiping her eyes, sniffling a little. "I can really like Kouga?"
"Yes, you can like whoever you want." Sango affirmed, looking down at her. "But, I think you owe your father an apology. I'm not sure what happened, but he looks really upset. Just...remember, he's the only father you've got. And you're the only daughter he's got. He just wants to protect you, and that means even from heart break. Because, crushes usually do not turn out to much other than that. He'll learn that he can't protect you from everything. Until that point, he is still your father."
Tamako's ears lowered as she nodded, wiping her eyes slowly as she sniffled. "Oh..." she started to say, figuring out what might have happened. Slowly moving to stand up and walking out of her bedroom towards the main room, looking up at her father.
Inuyasha sat there, pretending as though he weren't listening, but he was. How dare Sango give her permission to like Kouga? He was almost furious, but he tried to hide it. That last part had been very true. He just wanted to protect his daughter. But, he sat there with his eyes looking into the fire, letting Tamako make the next move.
Quietly Tamako walked up to her father, looking up at his face and chewing on her bottom lip. "Otou?" she asked. But, he didn't look at her. Was he that mad? Sighing a bit as she climbed up into his laps, forcing his arms open so they held her, looking up at him. "I...I'm sorry I said I hated you. I...I don't hate you Otou. I love you. But...but I like Kouga...and..and I wanna like who I wanna like. I'm a big girl."
Inuyasha looked down at his daughter when she wormed her way into his arms. Shaking his head and hugging her tightly, leaning his chin down onto her head. "Yeah yeah I know you're a big girl. But you're just too damn big for me." he said, rubbing her arm slowly, looking down at her. "You better not hate me. Don't ever say that again, okay? Your...your mom said that to me once..." he said, his ears lowering as he leaned close to her, gripping her gently. His mind flashed back to that day...the day that Kagome had saved Kikyou from the miasma, and afterwords she had said how she hated his guts. It tore his heart out. Just the way Tamako had just done.
"Really? Okaa said she hated you?"
Nodding to her, looking down at her. "Yeah. It was after a dumb thing. She was upset because she thought I would choose someone else over her. It was all a confusing time...I'll tell you about it when you're older. Promise. But...she said she hated my guts, and was so upset with me. It...it hurt, more than anything else. She didn't mean it. She didn't hate me." he said, looking at her face. "I'd hope you wouldn't hate me either..." he said.
Shaking her head as she looked up at him. "I was just mad Otou. I don't hate you." she said, resting her cheek on his chest, moving her fingers to play with his haori sleeve on the arm that was around her. "I can never hate you. But you made me sooo mad." she said.
Smiling softly to her, he nodded. "I know. But, I really don't want you liking Kouga. So...no more talk about liking some guy, or crush or whatever?"
Tamako pouted, shrugging. "We'll see." she said. Snuggling into his chest, sighing a little. "I'm sleepy..." she said. It'd been such a long day.
Inuyasha nodded. "Alright. Lets get you ready for bed." he agreed.
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A/N: Another chapter up quickly after the last! :-). This is probably going to turn into a verrry long story haha. And, don't worry, Sesshoumaru's entrance is coming soon! I was going to do it earlier, before Kouga's, however I got that genius idea about bringing Kouga in. I have a plan for Sesshoumaru meeting his niece, I promise!
And, I'm not too certain what happened to Sango and Kohaku's mother in the anime. So, I made up that story. I also thought it'd be good for Sango and Tamako to bond through sharing a similar thing of not having a mother.
