Feudal Diaries:

Plush

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Summary- In which most of Kagome's old childhood toys go missing.

It was the strangest thing. Kagome was up in the attic of the house, looking for some old toys that she was going to give away to charity. Just some little plush toys like stuffed dogs, teddy bears, plush cats, etc. However, when she went to the box they were put in, she found, to her utter bewilderment, that they were all gone. Just the empty box was left.

How did so many plush toys disappear? There was no way someone snuck in and grabbed them all. After all, who'd sneak in and steal a bunch of stuffed animals?

When Kagome told her mother about the missing plush toys, that's when she heard something rather bizarre. According to Atsuko, Inuyasha actually came to visit while Kagome was still out with her friends, last week, but he didn't stay long to wait for her to come back as he usually does. He explored the house for a little bit, but then he left about an hour before Kagome came back home. Even stranger, when Atsuko was sweeping the shrine grounds, she actually did find one of Kagome's old teddy bears near the well house.

Kagome didn't understand it. What would Inuyasha want with a bunch of plush toys?

It wasn't that she believed her mother, but this? This was something she had to see for herself.

So, Kagome headed to the well house and jumped into the Bone Eater's Well, traveling back to the Feudal Era, and when she got there, the first thing she got was a hug from an excited Shippo, which, of course, she eagerly returned.

"You're back!" the kit exclaimed. "Did you bring me any snacks, Kagome?"

"Huh?" Kagome asked. "Oh! No, Shippo, I'm sorry. I didn't bring any snacks, today."

"Aww," Shippo pouted.

"Actually, Shippo, I do need your help with something, though," Kagome said. "Have you seen Inuyasha, by any chance?"

"Inuyasha?" Shippo repeated. "I think I saw him going into the forest."

"Perfect," Kagome said as she headed off into Inuyasha's Forest, remembering to her bow and arrows with her, just in case.

"Why?" Shippo asked as he soon jumped onto her shoulder. "Is he in trouble or something? You're not mad at him again, are you?"

"No, Shippo, I just need to ask him something," Kagome replied as she walked into the forest and began to call out for the half-demon. Surely, he could hear her voice from a mile away. Shippo even joined in calling out with her, and yet they got no response. At first, they thought that maybe he might have gone back to the village without knowing they were there, but Kagome soon tensed up, sensing the half-demon's demonic aura.

He was close. Very close.

When Kagome parted the bushes to peek...she just couldn't believe her eyes. She saw Inuyasha, sitting in the branches of a hollow tree, cradling something in his arms, and when she got a closer look, she was exactly what it was: one of her old plush bunnies. It was a white one with a cute little pink bow on its right ear and brown buttons for eyes. It was actually a present for her 9th birthday.

What really got to her, though, was the Inuyasha was holding it. He held it so gently in his arms as if he was cradling a newborn baby while sniffing its white plush, and he had this sweet smile on his face, too.

Unable to hold back any longer, Kagome let out the loudest squeal she had ever made in her whole life, causing Inuyasha to look down and see her and Shippo. Gasping in shock and his face turning red, he forgot about keeping his balance and fell down from the tree, landing in a pile of leaves with a loud THUD!

"Oh! Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as she ran up to help him up. "Are you okay?!"

"Nothing hurts," Inuyasha grumbled as he rubbed his head with one hand and held the bunny in the other, "well...except maybe my pride."

"Since when did you start playing with baby toys?" Shippo asked with a snicker, only to gain a bump on the head from Inuyasha's fist, not three seconds later. "OW!"

"I ain't a baby, got it?!" Inuyasha questioned with a growl.

"Umm...Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "Why do you have one of my old plush toys?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened before he glanced down at the stuffed rabbit in his hand, his face turning redder and redder. Even the tips of his ears were red.

"Umm...I...I didn't take just one," he muttered before he stepped away from the tree, revealing a large hole inside the trunk. Kagome looked inside, and sure enough, there were all her old stuffed animals: teddy bears, plush puppies, stuffed cats, plush bunny rabbits, and even a plush hedgehog. They were all smudged with dirt, but other than, they didn't have so much as a mark on them.

"Wow! Look at them all!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, th-there's a lot of them," Inuyasha stammered, still flustered. "Y-you better not tell anybody!"

"Umm...Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "Why do you have all my old stuffed animals?"

Inuyasha gulped, sweat dripping off his brow and his lips pursed in a pout, but Kagome only gave him a sweet, reassuring smile, showing that she wasn't angry.

"...I...I took them because..." Inuyasha started, only to swallow, again. "I...I took them...because...they...they...umm..."

"They...what?" Kagome asked.

"...They have your scent, okay?!" Inuyasha blurted out. "I took them because they have your scent!" He then sighed. "I...I didn't mean to take them all...but...I came to your home to see you...but when I got there, you weren't around and...I...I got a little lonely."

Kagome's eyes softened, but she tried not to make it seem like she was pitying him. She had to admit, though, it did break her heart a bit to know that he got lonesome whenever she wasn't around.

"So...I decided to maybe look around your house for a while," Inuyasha continued, "just to try and take my mind off things, and...I went into the attic and I found a box and...your scent was a little faded, but I could still smell it coming from inside, so I opened the box and...I found all these stuffed animals...and...well...smelling your scent coming from them made me feel a little better, so...I took them." He rubbed his arms and shuffled his feet in a guilty manner. "I'm sorry...I know I should've asked, but...I just couldn't help it."

"...I'm not mad, y'know," Kagome said, still wearing that same sweet smile. "Honestly, I was gonna get rid of them, anyway."

"You were?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah," Kagome replied. "I was gonna donate them to charity."

"Charity?" Inuyasha repeated.

"It's when you give something to someone who's less fortunate than you," Kagome replied.

"Oh," Inuyasha realized before he looked inside the hollow tree, then glanced at Shippo, who blinked at him in perplexity.

"What?" Shippo asked, causing Inuyasha to smile before he reached inside the tree and pulled out a black teddy with brown paws and a blue bow.

"Here, Shippo," said the half-demon. "You want one?"

"Really?!" Shippo asked in delight before he took the bear in his arms. "Wow! Thanks, Inuyasha!" He then jumped off Kagome's shoulder and ran off toward the village. "I'm gonna show Miroku and Sango, now!"

"Don't tell them you got it from me, got that?!" Inuyasha yelled after him while Kagome chuckled and took his hand into her own.

"Come on," she said. "Let's head back."

"Uh...yeah," Inuyasha replied as they began to walk back to the village, together. As they did, Inuyasha gently squeezed Kagome's fingers as he glanced at her...then he pulled her closer to him, causing her to gasp slightly as she felt her face being pressed against his chest, where she could feel and hear a deep rumble as he wrapped his arms around her, his nose buried deep in her charcoal hair as he took in a deep inhale, then sighed.

"...Hugging those toys is nice and all," he whispered, "but...I still prefer to hug you, more."

Kagome blushed a deep red upon hearing that...but then she smiled as she returned his embrace.

This one goes out to StarlingChild4 and juliatheanimelover7 on Tumblr. :)

Review, please!