Inuyasha was snacking on the boar that he'd caught. Damn it was good. Kagome had cooked it just right like she did sometimes. He could remember back when he'd first started traveling with her and she hadn't even been able to sort out the right roots for cooking with. She'd been completely ignorant about everything. At least now they all got a decent meal.

He finished one stake and looked down towards where he'd sat the other. But it was gone. Confused he patted the ground underneath his knee but it wasn't there. He'd taken the other off the fire to cool while he ate the other, and now he was confused as hell.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"It was right—" he looked to where the pup was eating several feet away. "Hey! Miyuki." She looked over at him. "Did you steal that from me?" Big golden eyes blinked between him and the meat that she had in her hands. "If you wanted more you could'a just asked. You didn't have to take it when I wasn't looking."

"I sawy." She did look a bit sad now. She scooted a little closer and offered him what was left on the stake.

"Nah, just keep it." She was already eating it anyway. "But no more stealing ok? Ye ain't gotta do that anymore."

"KK Yaya." He reached over to grip the back of her neck and shake her playfully. She giggled and he retracted his hand.

Shippo watched the quick encounter between Inuyasha and Miyuki from across the fire. If he had stolen food from Inuyasha like she'd done he wouldn't gotten hit for it. It'd happened before. But Miyuki had just gotten a few words.

Even Kagome wasn't as harsh on her as she was on him sometimes. Nobody was. No matter what she did no one seemed to get upset with her. She could pee on Inuyasha, cut his arm, whine, steal Inuyasha's food, and everybody loved her for it because she was pretty.

And Inuyasha gave her all his attention. He wanted to go hunting with Inuyasha and play with him too but if he asked then he'd get some comment about being an idiot. It wasn't like Miyuki was the only orphan or anything. His parents were gone too but it was so much more important for her. It just wasn't fair. He wanted Miroku to tell him stories too.

"Kagome?" he heard Inuyasha say softly. He looked up to see Kagome gathering together her bathing supplies while Sango stood by with hers in her arms.

"I'll make sure she goes before we get back," Kagome assured him with a pat to the shoulder. Grabbing Miyuki by the hand Kagome followed Sango in the direction of the nearby hotsprings.

They weren't even waiting for him! He scrambled to all fours and set out after the girls. If they were going to get their bath then he was going to get his too. He could show Kagome and everyone how much cooler he was than stupid Miyuki. He could fight and watch out for himself and protect Kagome and everything. He was way better than some baby who couldn't even take herself to pee.

He undressed himself and folded his clothes neatly by the water just like Kagome. But Kagome didn't even notice. She was currently shaking Miyuki out of her blue kimono and getting out that inner-tube thing that she let him use to float with.

He knew she wouldn't forget him!

"Can you swim Miyuki?" Kagome was blowing up the tube. "On your own I mean."

"Lak fishy?"

"Yes sweetie. Can you swim?"

"No," she sent her luminous hair flying as she shook her head.

"You can use this to stay above the water then." Kagome finally got done and stuck Miyuki's head and arms through his floating water-donut. His! "That way Sango and I can have a bath too."

"Ok 'Ome." Miyuki nodded. Kagome lifted her then and put her in the hot springs' water.

"What are you waiting for Shippo? Come on." Kagome was easing in already and reaching for her bag of toiletries. He was frozen in place watching Miyuki giggle and paddle her feet around under the surface.

He was angry.

He sat down on the edge and folded his arms. Kagome was already ducking under the water to get her hair wet as she started chatting about some girl-thing with Sango while he watched Miyuki playing with the water, swiping at it, slapping her hands against the water.

Why did everyone seem to love her better? She couldn't do anything. She was just a big baby who couldn't talk or help collect firewood or swim or fight or…anything! Even Inuyasha and Miroku liked her better.

He decided it. He definitely didn't like her, even though she was sometimes fun to play with. She was stealing his place, his attention, everything that he had. He'd been with the group longer and they made him pull his own weight. Miyuki didn't do a damn thing.

He hated the sound of her laughing.

"Look Ippo!" she spun around in the tube to face him, close to the edge. Giggling she sent a spray of water his way. The water on his face that was dripping down to his chest made him even angrier. Stupid. "Play in water Ippo!"

"You're such a thief. You steal everything." It wasn't like Kagome or Sango were paying them any attention. They were having a nice enough talk over on their side of the water and washing themselves.

"Wha?" she looked up at him dumbly.

"You're stupid and I hate you." She didn't even seem to know what he was saying. "I can't believe they even like you."

"Plea play Ippo." Miyuki stuck out her bottom lip. "Want play." She bounced up and down in the tube and created a few waves that made her giggle again. "You lak water?"

"Kaede's definitely right. The sooner that we get rid of you the better." Then she could get out of his life and quit taking what he had. Inuyasha's attention, Kagome's attention, everybody else. "You're completely useless. You can't do anything on your own."

"Ippo," she whined.

He couldn't stand her voice. Leaning forward he stuck his claws into the thin flexible layer keeping her afloat. He glanced up at Kagome and Sango before slipping into the water and swimming across the water and away from the horrible girl.

Miyuki kept slapping her hands against the water for another few minutes before she started to sink in the water. Eyes widening a large whine escaped out of her mouth and she started slapping at the water harder. He tightened his jaw and turned his back.

"'Ome! 'Ome!" Miyuki smelled scared.

"Oh Miyuki!" Kagome's voice came. "Did you bump against a rock? Poor baby, it's ok." Just like he thought. Kagome was already coming to her rescue and ignoring him completely.

He could feel it was time to wake up. His inner self just knew it like it always did.

He opened his eyes expecting to see Miyuki already up and about but the pup wasn't there. He lifted his head and looked around the camp but he couldn't see the pup anywhere.

"Miyuki?" Maybe she'd gone to go pee.

He got up and started searching around when he caught a whiff of her scent on the wind. He set up in the early morning light towards the direction of the river where he'd found the boar grazing. What was she doing over there? He was going to have to teach her not to wander off like this if she woke up first. It just wasn't safe.

In the orangish-light of daybreak he broke through the trees to the river. Miyuki's scent was here sure enough but he—

"Oh hell," he breathed.

There in the river he could see her holding on for dear life to a boulder that was stuck in the center. Seeing him there she let out a whine as she tried to pull herself up onto it but her little arms weren't strong enough. He made an easy jump to stand on it and catch her before she could get caught up by the current, holding her securely to his chest as he leapt back to the grassy bank.

"What are you doing?" he nearly hissed as he set her feet down. He didn't even wait for an answer before pulling her wet little self into his body into his and pushing his nose into her hair. "Were you trying to swim or something?" He could hear her sniffling. "Pup? You're ok now." At least she wasn't hurt, she hadn't been carried away by the current.

"Fish." He strained his ears to hear her little voice. She'd been terrified. Still was.

"What?"

She pushed away from him to look up at him through her damp bangs and weepy eyes. "Fish, Yaya."

Fish?

"You were hungry? Why didn't you just wake me up? You know I'll feed you." He'd deal with the fact that she left camp in a moment. Right now he was stripping himself of his haori and tucking it around her shaking little shoulders to get some warmth into her.

"No," she shook her head. Dragging the red fabric behind her from where it pooled around her ankles he watched her go over towards a rock sitting on the bank a few feet away. Miyuki moved it and turned around to wave a half-dead carp under his nose of decent size, though half of the flesh had been peeled off the back half. "Get fish Yaya. 'Ere."

He blinked. "You actually got one?" He hadn't been expecting that one.

"I 'unt too. See?" She was trying to push it into his hand.

He felt strangely touched. Taking the thing from her he held it up so she could stand in front of him proudly with a smile on her face. It was twice the length of his hand. "That's actually not a bad kill for a squirt like you."

How the hell had she done it? He couldn't usually find fish like this.

"I catch buh fall in. Big fishy." She sniffled again and used her hand to wipe against her nose. "Yaya lak?"

"You did great." Laying it aside he reached forward to tug her forward to meet him face to face. "Miyuki?"

"Uh-huh?"

"You're not allowed to leave camp without somebody. Ever." He knew that she'd been on her own for a while so maybe she didn't understand. "It's not safe for you to be out here like this."

"I do bad?" Miyuki's face dropped.

"If you want to hunt you need to wake me up to do it. I don't want you to leave camp alone ever again. You understand me?"

"Buh I know 'unt. I can do it!" Miyuki shook her head.

"Yeah, I know. But you're also too little to be out here without me or Kagome or one of the others. It's a big no-no." She could get killed doing something like this. It was way too dangerous.

"Buh—"

"I said no." He threw in a growl for good measure. Her bottom lip thrust out but he kept a stern look. After a moment she set to walking her fingers up the fabric of his shirt with a little sigh.

"K Yaya."

He let the adrenaline die. The kid seemed to understand that he wasn't happy with her doing this kind of thing. But she didn't have to make him feel so bad for it. He was trying to keep her safe.

"You want to do some more fishing?" Maybe he could watch and see how she'd caught such a big fish on her own.

"K!"

Setting her onto the grass again she abandoned his haori as she went back to the water's edge to peer over. He set the coat on the grass to dry out a little while he went to kneel next to the pup.

"Yaya not let fall in?" She turned her big golden eyes back on onto him.

"Sure. You ain't goin' anywhere pup." Like he'd really let her fall in again like that.

She was on her hands and knees, staring fixatedly into the rolling water. He let his own eyes flicker back and forth between catching a fish himself and watching the completely still little Miyuki. He'd never seen her quite so motionle—

In a flash Miyuki's arm swiped in an arc at the water in front of a fish that he could see swimming through the stream. A flopping, quite lively fish went sailing through the air to land. Miyuki was on it in a flash, tumbling to the ground and snarling at it as it kept flopping in her grasp.

He couldn't help laughing. It was just too damn silly.

Miyuki "fought" with it until it stopped moving in a few heartbeats before rolling to her feet. She stayed on her hands and feet for a minute poking at the smaller carp until she was completely satisfied that it was dead, picking it up and scrambling to come and lay it on his leg.

"You're a good little hunter," he chuckled, ruffling her hair. She swiped at his hands with a little protest and he sobered. "Where'd you learn to hunt like that? Your mom teach you?"

"Pwactise!" she sank down to her behind. "I good, righ' Yaya? Nah use-ess?"

Damn.

"You're not useless," he managed.

Sure she'd been pilfering food but he hadn't thought about just how much food she probably needed. He could remember back when he'd had to scrounge up for himself. He'd gotten good fast because he'd had to.

"Come here pup," he patted his lap, but her eyes were shining in the direction of the water again. He tried to get her to come to him for a hug again…only to find that she was already at the water's edge in her hunter's wait, not in the least bit interested.

Eh, well…

"All right then. Breakfast it is."