Shippo walked along slowly, looking all around. He had to act like he was a frightened ningen onna. Well the frightened part he had down no matter what. He just had to make sure he held the form of the ningen onna that he had.

Koga and Sora watched with anxious eyes as Shippo acted the part he was suppose too. "He is good at this."

"Hai. I had no idea he could do this." Whenever Koga would be around Shippo he was always trying to talk to Kagome and fighting with Inuyasha to notice what the kitsune could or couldn't do.

Then suddenly he stopped. The smell of the youkai heading full speed at Shippo. Even transformed like this he could smell like a youkai. So he knew that he was coming. That much was for sure.

From where he would hear Kagome scream over everything when he first started to travel with her he turned and screamed as he fell to the ground. Their in front of him was some sort of collection of youkai in one body. Though weak looking at best.

Ryuiji glared down at the onna that had evaded him. "You got away from me once, you won't do it again. Now you die!"

Shippo smelled Koga coming so he played the scared female and screamed as he curled into a ball only to be picked up seconds later by Koga.

Sora came up behind Ryuiji and glared at him. Once Koga had Shippo out of the way she leapt up and ran her blade through his shoulder and ground, pinning him there.

Ryuiji was not a fighter. Not against other youkai, seeing the hanyou and youkai standing in front of him he froze and turned scared eyes to both of them. "What have I done to you?"

Koga sat Shippo down. "You tell me what you have done. That village didn't do anything to you and it is the only one you are terrorizing. There are other villages that you could do at the same time. If you were truly a powerful youkai, then you would be able to handle more than one small village."

Sora leaned down and growled out, "Not to mention that is the village that my ningen mother was from. That made it personal. You are to weak to have done much. Who were you ordered by. And don't make me ask twice."

Ryuiji was no fool. He knew who the hanyou was. Sora. Soshi's daughter and the one that he was told to kill. And last month Karasu told him about Koga and said that Koga sucked when it came to fighting and he wanted him to kill him. He had no clue that Koga knew one of the females in the village and would run to save her. "Karasu. He ordered it. The plan was to kill the villagers one by one and attract your attention. Then when you came to kill me, surprise you and kill you. When he learned that Koga was coming with you, he wanted me to kill you both. Please don't kill me."

"How pathetic. How did a youkai like you ever get a job like this one."

Ryuiji jerked his head toward the onna who did not sound like she did a minute ago. "You stay out of it wench. If it were not for you, I would have succeeded!"

Shippo smiled a feral smile. "Wench. I am a kitsune youkai. Not a ningen onna baka." Then with a puff of smoke he was the short youkai that barely came past Koga's ankles. He smiled as he jumped up on Koga's shoulder.

Koga did not like the look that came into the youkai's eyes. "Shippo I want you to go back to Ginta and Hakaku. Now."

Shippo nodded and took off. He did not want to wait around to see why he was telling him to leave. But he would do as Koga bid him to do. After all it was Koga who just let him join in his first fight.

x

Sora was the one who stopped the story this time. She smiled when she got a groaned out "Mama!" from all eight of her pups. "Don't give me that. It is late and this story is not going to be told in a single day or evening. It is a rather long story."

Akira crossed her arms and growled. "It just got to a good part that I was getting into and you are stopping it. Why mama?"

Sora scooped up her youngest pup and said, "It is late and it is time for all pups to be in bed."

Isamu who was sitting with Kosha looked at him and said, "You are lucky. You are an adult and don't have to go to bed when mama says so."

Kosha laughed and picked him up tossing him accords the room to his father. "Don't bet on that one shatei. Mama made it clear that as long as our room is in this house, we go by what she and father say. That means even myself and Mizuki have to go to bed."

Koga caught his youngest son and hauled him over his shoulder. "Yep that's right. So just go to bed and after breakfast in the morning I will pick up from where we left off."

Isamu propped up on his shoulder over his father's back. "If we have to. Man I love stories about your battles and now I have to wait to hear it."

Yuriko who had be quiet for the most part of the day, just taking in everything and admiring Nozomi finally spoke. "Don't worry Isamu. I will go in with you and Akira and tell you a story for bed about one of my battles I had with Seiji when we were your size."

Isamu perked up and smiled at his older sister. "Hai that would be great. Even Akira likes to hear stories about how you beat up Seiji and Daisuke."

The two hanyou males jerked their heads around and said, "Hey!"

Emiko was there with her arms around them. "Don't worry brothers. You might actually win a fight one day and then you will be able to brag about it. Until then just suck it up."

Daisuke shrugged out from under her arm and glared at her as he stood and stretched. "We have won fights thank you very much!"

Emiko laughed. "Fights against ningens don't count brother."

"Why I otta…"

Koga turned and growled. "Enough. No fighting in the house. Kosha, get Seiji and Daisuke and get to your wing. Emiko follow me since you know Isamu won't let you out of the story. Yuriko, Mizuki. Bed."

Sora was standing in the door and smiled as she watched her mate act the part of a father. When she first came to live here with him as his mate, everyone, except for Ginta and Hakaku told her that he would make a horrible father. 'But he is wonderful. I could not have asked for a better mate or father for myself or my pups.

Koga shrugged past her and flopped his son down in bed and fixed him with his father's glare. Then did the same to Akira. He bent down and kissed them both. Turning to Emiko he kissed the side of her head and said, "A short story the off to bed with you too."

Emiko leaned into her father's embrace and nodded. "Hai otousan." She turned to the pups and sat down. "So let me see, want to hear the one about how Yuriko and I beat them up in front of the females they liked when we were little?"

Both Akira and Isamu jumped up and down on their beds shaking their heads yes.

"Okay, okay, settle down before you get us all in trouble by papa."

x

Koga walked around to check and make sure that all his pups were at least trying to go to sleep. Satisfied that they were all there he smelled the air. His mate was outside. Making his way to her he found her up in the tree that they spent most of their time in before Kosha and Mizuki were born.

In a single leap he was in the tree in front of her, not surprised when he did not spook her. "Koishii?"

Sora smiled and shook her head no. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is just perfect. I don't know how we could make anything better."

Koga slid in behind her and held her against him. "I know koishii. There is not a thing in the world that could make me happier than I am right now."

Sora smiled as she settled into his grip and sighed. "There is one thing that could make life better."

"Nani?"

Sora turned and looked into Koga's blue eyes. "A grandchild. And with Shippo mated, it won't be long you know.

Koga laughed as he looked up at the sky. "I still don't think that I am ready to be a grandfather yet. Was sort of hoping that Akira and Isamu would be older you know."

Sora laughed as she smacked him on his arm. "I am ready for another infant around the house. And not one that I have to have. I am done with pups."

"I know koishii. I just still have a hard time seeing Shippo as an adult that is mated. I can't get over it. When ever I think about Shippo I don't see him as he is now, I see the kit that came into camp asking me to stay with me all those years ago." Koga sighed as he looked up in the moon. It was a full moon. The night that he and Sora mated it was a full moon.

Sora nodded. "I know what you mean. it is hard to see him as an adult, and not as the kit that we took care of for so long."

Koga leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Come on koishii. We better get inside and in bed. I got this feeling that the pups, all eight of them are going to have us up before dawn wanting to finish the story."

Sora smiled and nodded. They both leapt down and held hands as they walked into the house. She wondered though, when she would be a grandmother?