Lunch

Day 2

Sesshomaru glared at Kii. He did not bother moving his head down to look at her; he kept it pointing forward, as if looking off into the distance of the shaved forest: his pride as a lord prevented him from tilting his head and looking straight at her. He just moved his golden eyes downwards, seething at her, face threatening to contort into a look of impending rage. It was all he could do to stop himself from lashing out his poison whip and lopping her head off.

She... spat on me? This... thing spat on me?

He glared down at her. He saw a mess of a woman. Her pink kimono, (Rin's kimono, he noted dutifully), was muddy and torn from being dragged across the forest floor. Her own was body cut and banged up, with small stinging wounds all over her freckled skin, some bleeding, some threatening to start. They were all painful surface wounds, of which he could feel on his own intact skin due to their connection with one another. He used his demonic energy to heal the matching wounds that he felt form across his skin. She glared up at him, her wild orange hair tangled with mud and leafs. Her snot filled face had a expression containing some sort of contemptuous victory after spitting on him, but her wet brown eyes betrayed her exhaustion: her eyelids were quivering in anger, confusion and fear. He could feel that too – her emotions – as they washed over him like the water would try dragging his body when he stood too deep in the ocean.

He combated her feelings with his own rage: She DARE spit on ME? This impetuous... His thoughts felt simple and clouded, probably related to the fall the human had when she was forced out of the tree. That angered him all the more.

"L-leave me alone!" she weakly demanded. Her voice was horse and parched. He felt the pain caused from using her voice in his own throat.

He said nothing, but granted her his attention by turning his face down towards her. He reached a hand out and started to pull her up by the hair, but immediately let go when he felt the pain. She quickly dropped back to the ground. He breathed in and out heavily as he watched her try to scamper away, her fear threatening to overcome the great lord as she turned herself frantically and started escaping, crawling across the forest floor.

This disgraceful...

He pulled out his sword, not the Bakusaiga, but the dull, rusty, sword that had pierced through her head earlier on in the day. He made sure it made a loud metallic sound as it was drawn from its sheath.

"If you run," he threatened in a flat, monotonous voice, a testament to his ability to remain in control, "I will kill you."

He watched as she turned her face back towards him from the ground. He did not bother getting into a fighting stance, did not bother moving his long silver hair back and out of the way from his arm, but simply held his sword arm out in front of him. He watched her expression change from fear to horror. He felt the change course through his whole body.

She started whimpering, her frame shaking."Wh-what do you want?!" she cried.

He said nothing, keeping his sword pointed at her, and looked up at the sky, giving a cue to the waiting Ah-Un. Moments later he heard her screaming as the two headed dragon floated down beside him, their brown scales shimmering brilliantly in the light. The human pushed herself up from the ground and made to start running, but the lord moved quickly, appearing in front of her before she could take a step. The sword was still pointed at her.

"Get on Ah-Un." he commanded.

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she stared at him. She looked behind herself, and back at him over and over, her messy orange hair flopping back and forth as she turned. She did it enough time that she started to get dizzy – that he started to get dizzy. "D-demon...!" was all she could say.

He stared at her, stone faced, his sword arm still extended. The tip of the sword was close enough that if she moved forward, it would puncture her face. He despised this type of behaviour – threats, but he could not trust himself not to try and kill her if he was touching her again. He was utterly repulsed by her. His long black eyebrows did not even twitch as he moved his lips. "Get on Ah-Un."

He moved the sword forward, so that it was just touching her forehead. She let out a little yelp, then turned and staggered over to the beast which had sat down and started grazing. She side stepped towards it cautiously, and jumped back when one of the heads, Ah, snorted. He watched as she glanced back at him, then at the trunks and stumps of the forest he had cut down around her, then at the dragon, and then back at him. She took a deep breath, and he felt a surge of her confidence rush through him. He briefly wondered if she was going to run, but then watched as she guardedly side stepped her way to the mount on the demon, and then cautiously climbed on. She kept freezing, whimpering every time the dragon moved their heads to chew on a new patch of grass, but eventually made it up.

He felt the her pain from moving in every limb of his body, and felt her fear in every joint. She held on to the reins tightly, and squeezed her eyes shut, a sense of foreboding washing through them both. His heart beat quickly in time with hers.

Sesshomaru sheathed his sword and immediately started floating in the air. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he listened to her scream when Ah-Un followed him in suit, lifting themselves off the ground and gently gliding through the air.

Miroku sat on a cloth laid out on the grass, his wife Sango by his side. Across from him on the cloth sat InuYasha, looking amused as he watched his children chase each other around the field. His own twins, Saya and Miazaki, were off bickering with each other just like he and Sango always did (Saya had hit on another boy and was being lectured by Miazaki – which is good because he had it in his right mind to kill any boy who actually went off with her), while his other three were off doing their own thing around the village. Kagome and Shippo were at the wooden picnic tables InuYasha had begrudgingly made under Kagome's instruction. They were serving food to the villagers who had decided to join in on the pot luck. The smell of soup and dango, roasted meat and boiled rice filled the air, making Miroku's mouth water even though he had already eaten his fill.

Rin was sitting beside Kohaku, moping with her head on the table. Kohaku was patiently rubbing Rin's back, most likely consoling her about the disappearance of the strange girl. A worn out Munto lay sleeping, strewn across her lap.

At first, when they heard the girl was gone, Miroku and InuYasha were going to go after her, but Kohaku had a talk with the two of them and they all decided it would be best not to chase her if she left willingly. It was not as if they were heartless – she looked pretty defenceless – it was just that Kohaku had mentioned Sesshomaru had seemed oddly interested in her. InuYasha could sense Sesshomaru's presence nearby, in the direction the girl went in, and they all figured that the prideful demon had some business with her. Case point: She would be safe with him. And as it was now, the men figured it was best that Kagome stayed away from her.

Miroku let out a loud burp from his full belly, receiving a discreet and painful nudge in the side by his glaring wife. He laughed, the noise having an agonizing air to it, but before he could think of a smooth line to give back to her, Sango caught sight of some friends, and quickly got up to greet them. He smiled inwardly, knowing that she had just made a tactful escape from another corny line, and then turned his attention to his old friend. A concern he had been brooding over all morning lay heavily on his mind.

"InuYasha," he started,watching InuYasha's ear twitch at the sound of his voice "Something about all of this is odd."

InuYasha tore his gaze from his children and looked at Miroku, confusion written all over his face. "Something about all of what is odd?" he asked.

Miroku stroked his chin and leaned forward towards InuYasha, keeping his voice low. "Haven't you noticed? The demon tribes are acting... strange."

InuYasha gave a loud snort, oblivious to the mood Miroku was trying to set, "They're always acting weird. Figured you of all people would be smart enough to catch on the that by now."

"No, InuYasha, think of last night. Think of the Birds of Paradise. They've been massacring human armies for absolutely no reason."

"Yeah, so? Humans are dumb, the Birds of Paradise are dumb. Makes sense that they'd try and go after each other. Birds of a feather, or whatever."

Miroku rolled his eyes. "InuYasha, you're half human, and your kids are basically human. You can't think that we're all dumb."

"Of course not: my brats are wa~ay smarter than some stupid army."

From the corner of his eye, Miroku spotted Mamoru pushing Kenta over to win while racing one another. Miroku let out a slow breath of air. "Uh-huh, let's go with that. Anyway, my point is that at every battlefield we come across, the demons have obviously won a one sided battle against enemies that have had no chance against them. But, they don't eat the humans, even though they're carnivorous creatures. They just leave the bodies on the ground and return to whatever they are doing."

InuYasha made a face, scrunching his face together as if he was thinking. He put his hands through the opposite sleeves of his red robe, concentrating. As expected, it did not take long for him to give up on finding an answer on his own. "What's yer point?"

Miroku leaned in closer and whispered, "I think the demons are purposely hunting the humans. And before you say anything, I don't mean the demons like you or Shippo or Koga, I mean the demons who aren't capable of intelligent thought, and the demons who are easily swayed by nature's elements. Sango's been saying that demon hunters are in high demand in densely populated areas due to the lesser demons attacking the areas surrounding the bigger cities, even though they hardly ever go near there. They all know its dangerous: the spiritual power is strong there."

"Hmmm," InuYasha said. He put his hand on his chin as if he was thinking, about to make some marvelous observation, "I see one problem to yer theory."

Miroku blinked, did I miss something? Did InuYasha actually figure something out that I haven't? "Yes?" he hesitantly asked.

InuYasha smiled a wide, toothy grin, "You said that the idiotic and easily-swayed lesser demons involved don't include Shippo and Koga. Yer clearly outta yer mind! Those two are morons!"

Miroku had to stop himself from literally slamming his face into his palm. He let out a heavy sigh. Why did I think it was a good idea to talk to InuYasha first before going to Kagome or Sango?

Miroku heard the sound of footsteps race towards them. Almost randomly, Shippo appeared, quickly sitting down on the cloth beside the two men. "Hey! I heard my name! Whatchu guys talking about?"

"Nothing mu-"

InuYasha cut Miroku off, turning his brilliant, cheeky smile over to his short, orange haired friend, "Just about how much of a moron you are."

Shippo turned towards InuYasha, his whole body thrown into his response,"Hey! That's not very nice! You take that back!"

"Why should I, idiot?"

Shippo puffed up his tiny cheeks, "Well, if you ever want a babysitter again, you better take that back!"

"Wha-?" InuYasha's eyes widened. Miroku quickly reasoned it was probably in fear of what Kagome would do if she heard that they had lost their most readily available sitter, "You wouldn't!"

"Yes I would! Now take it back!"

InuYasha quietly growled, his white ears alert, "Y-you..." And then almost manically he blinked, and smiled. He got up and towered over Shippo.

Miroku stared on, only half amused. He probably has something on Shippo, he reasoned

"That reminds me..." InuYasha began, "What exactly did ya tell Kenta yesterday!? Once that girl left this morning, he ran into the room in tears, crying something along the lines of, 'Shippo said you guys would never fight again!' and, 'I tried really hard! I did everything he asked me right,' and, 'that spell was really hard to remember!' We had no idea what the hell he was talking about! He just kept crying yer name over and over saying: Shippo said this and, Shippo did that. Took friggen forever to get him to shut up!"

By the end of the short rant, Shippo started sweating profusely as if knowing what was coming. Almost on cue, InuYasha formed a fist, cracking his knuckles. Shippo stood up, his fluffy tail standing on its end, sensing danger.

Miroku stood up as well and took a step back. He knew exactly where this was going. He only hoped Kagome would make her way over here and stop this before InuYasha ended up scaring any more of the villages children away from visiting the shrine InuYasha and his family inhabited. It was pain enough as it was trying to teach them the way of the Buddha at the only actual shrine in the area without InuYasha (and his wild child Mamoru) frightening the children while they were there.

InuYasha struck first, going in swiftly for a punch as Shippo dodged. He swung again and again, but each time, Shippo managed to dodge due to his nimbleness on his feet. After a minute or so, Shippo followed up with a taunt yelling, "You're going to throw out your back if you keep trying to fight me, old man!"

InuYasha stopped moving for a second a fumed: "Who the hell are ya calling an old man, you stupid fox?!" He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Shippo ran behind Miroku, as Miroku expected, and clung to his leg. He stuck his head out and pointed at InuYasha, yelling, "I'm not stupid, and you're the old man! Look! You've got wrinkles forming on that stupid forehead of yours from all that yelling! See what being mean gets you! You get old, you stupid half demon! Old and grey, I tell you!"

"What did you say you stupid fox?! I'm going to beat you black and blue just for tha-"

"SIT BOY!"

"OOOWWWW!"

"Ow!"

Miroku turned around. Although InuYasha was screaming in pain, it was not him who made that quieter noise. Looking downward, he smiled. Chiharu, InuYasha's youngest and most well behaved child, had come behind Shippo and karate chopped him on the head.

"Mom says no fighting." She stated. Miroku chuckled slightly. Little Chiharu looked and acted so much like Kagome that Miroku wondered how InuYasha would handle her when she becomes a teenager. Dealing with Miazaki, Miroku's oldest daughter, or rather Sango incarnate, was hard enough as it was for the level-headed Miroku to handle. He could not imagine a hot head like InuYasha going through all that.

Shippo just up and walked away, rubbing his head self-pitifully, off past the crowd of villagers that were forming around the group instead of enjoying the food. Miroku figured it was probably to coolly get away from what was about to be another marital spat. "That's the last time I go flower picking with you and Yuna." Shippo whined sullenly. Chiharu followed after him, begging him to change his mind about the flower picking. Miroku wanted to leave as well, but something Shippo had said earlier piqued his interest, and he wanted to ask InuYasha before he forgot.

"InuYasha, just what are you doing?"

"N-nothing...!"

Kagome, clad in her pony-tail and he red and white priestess attire, frowned and folded her arms. "Didn't look like nothing to me!"

"Well it was nothing. Shippo was just being an idiot, as per usual."

"InuYasha."

"Don't treat me like one of yer kids!"

"Ugh! You're embarrassing me! You basically are my sixth right now!"

"Mommy," a child who was watching in the crowd whispered rather loudly, "I thought she only has four kids: Ryuta, Mamoru, Kenta and Chiharu."

The air got silent, and suddenly Kagome had what was an obviously pained smile on her face. She started blinking rapidly, as if to stop herself from crying. The child who had spoken had recently moved to the village after his mom married into one of the families living here, so of course the child did not know what had happened to Jin.

InuYasha growled so loudly and menacingly that Miroku almost thought the ground was shaking.

"OOOO-kay!" Miroku said, clapping his hands together loudly. "I know it's still the middle of the day, but I think Sango and Kohaku might be up for a little fire dancing. Aren't you, Kohaku?" Miroku stared expectantly at Kohaku, who still with Rin watching the commotion from one of the picnic tables. Kohaku gave a short, yet firm nod.

"Sure am!" Kahaku said. The hand that was lingering on Rin's back betrayed his displeasure of doing it right at the moment, but he quickly got up and whistled for Kirara. "We just can't do it here because of all the wood. If everyone would follow me down to the river...?"

The crowd quickly dispersed, the bulk of them understanding that this was a diversion.

InuYasha and Kagome were staring at each other, obviously about to have a lovely consoling moment.

Miroku pinched the bridge of his nose. Why are all the women today being so... emotional...? Just where is Sango when I need her? No, scratch that, where did the rest of my family go? They're all gone right when I need them. He sighed and looked at the couple. They were staring into each others eyes, probably reading something only they could see. I guess I can just ask them about it later. He thought. But it doesn't make any sense. How come InuYasha is ageing? He lived for 200 years prior to meeting Kagome, and he looked like a teenager. Now he's ageing nearly at the same rate as Kagome... Just what is going on?

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AN: Oooo-kay there buddy. Plot just happened. Kinda. Or foreshadowing. Yeah, maybe that. Let's go with that. In any case, sorry for the wait! School is... well, school's awful. I'm writing essay after essay after essay and once I finish that all I want to do is put my laptop away and sleep. It's zapping my personality, I tell ya!

My good buddy longhairedman just informed me that the InuYasha killed all of the Birds of Paradise back when he first met Koga. I like the name of their tribe, so I'm using them. Here is some back story on them: InuYasha killed the Birds of Paradise, but a few eggs remained which were laid in an inconspicuous place, and subsequently forgotten by the demons once the mad dash for the jewel shard began (don't blame the demons: it takes three months for the eggs to hatch, and they don't require warmth from their mothers sitting on them. They're basically independent eggs). They may not have the history or culture of their tribe, but they learned pretty quickly through the harshness of the world how to breed, form a hierarchy, and survive.

Annnnd back to semi-serious mode: thank you for the reviews! I saw one pop up on my email last week and I was like, "OMG I GOT A REVIEW!" but I was actually in the middle of class so I that was all internal and I was smiling like an absolute idiot to myself. And it was at that point I realized I hadn't written a chapter in a while (almost exactly a month now), so that you for reminding me. :D Next chapter should hopefully come out sooner.

Note: At this point, Smexysesshomaru had spent six hours straight writing this chapter. Please forgive her foolishness.