Chapter 28 Outing With the Small Ones
Before his brother got very far, Sesshoumaru had left the room and followed him, calling him back. Reluctantly Inuyasha waited for the youkai and composed himself ready for the scolding about his childish behaviour that was certainly coming. Still, he waited calmly and with a look on his face of indifference that could rival any of Sesshoumaru's masks. Sesshoumaru would have smiled at his expression but he knew the pup was feeling hurt.
"I apologise Inuyasha; I did not handle that situation very well at all." With his words Sesshoumaru defused his brother's anger and melted the coldness. Inuyasha was not going to be made to feel an errant child and was immediately more conducive to listen to Sesshoumaru. "Are you prepared to listen to me?" Inuyasha nodded in answer.
"I had just planned to discuss this with Kouga when I thought that the other boys would benefit from learning. You have already been trained with me for when you claim your inheritance. What would be your thoughts on the land treaties?"
"There's nothing to decide, the boundaries are already fair and have worked well for everyone for centuries. They should be left alone unless someone has a very good reason for changing them, which doesn't include their own ambition."
"Exactly so, you have seen it immediately, whereas the other boys will not and need to learn how to deal with such problems; however easy it is for us to see the outcome, it needs to be considered carefully to stop any further escalations of problems, in this your siblings have not your experience."
"Feh!"
"I knew you would be bored while the niceties of wording such resolutions are discussed and I do need someone I can trust implicitly with Hanataba and Amai, they are taking all the small pups and cubs and need extra help. The children all think the world of you and you were the natural choice. I meant no offence Inuyasha nor did I intend to belittle you."
"I know that Sesshpapa, it's just that sometimes…I get jealous that Koumyou gets to second his brother; it never happened for me."
"Rather it has not happened yet pup and will not for a few more years. Even if our regretful past had not happened and we had grown together under father's care, we would not have had such training together and you would not have been my second until you attained your majority. It is our age disparity and for no other reason that you have not taken up your duties as my second yet.
"The training to inherit your own property is the same as you would have to help me. I am neglectful to not have realised that you were unaware of this, but you have had enough responsibility in your life; I sought not to give you further burden. The boys of course do not have a difference in age and can be trained together."
"When Kouga said…with the other kids…"
"Inuyasha, it was just an unfortunate remark that came at the wrong time; you know and have not bothered when Kouga teased you before. We are all in an unusual situation, you will always be the pup he protected and helped to raise now; he loves you as much as his own family. I too find it a challenge to try and remember that my instincts recognise you as my pup, whereas my knowledge knows you to be our father's son as much as I.
"Sometimes the line blurs and mostly I do not think of you in any place or role, except that you are just my Inuyasha, whom I love and protect as father wished." Sesshoumaru was not above using the hanyou's feelings against him and knew exactly how to soften his brother's indignation. Inuyasha knew without doubt that it was just as Sesshoumaru said, as even the mighty youkai could not conceal a lie from his brother. The rigid lines vanished of the boy's face and a small smile appeared;
"O.K; I'll go with the ladies and pup-sit." He said with a sigh but with better grace than when he had left the small room earlier. Kouga then popped his head out of the door;
"Hey pup, can you get me some sweets, anything as long as it has liquorice." Then he winked and grinned at Inuyasha; he could of course tell that Sesshoumaru had spoken to his brother and that Inuyasha had accepted his words, as the boy's aura was once again balanced.
"Keh!" Inuyasha returned the grin; he was old enough to know that Kouga did not mean to have upset him. He pushed his head beneath Sesshoumaru's chin and waited to be acknowledged with a rumbling purr and went to find the shopping party, which was not difficult because of the sound of eager pups. It may have been loud but he still heard Sesshoumaru's soft voice;
"I would prefer some crystallised fruits please." The Daiyoukai smirked, relieved when he saw Inuyasha's hand raised in acknowledgement and farewell. At least Inuyasha didn't hold a grudge, his anger and upsets were always like a summer storm, intense but up and over quickly. In that he was the opposite of his brother; Sesshoumaru had had to learn to let his anger go when a true apology was offered.
His humour restored in the main, Inuyasha met up with Hanataba and Amai; only to find that Rin had also decided to join the trip with her kits. The youngsters were all excited once they found out that Inuyasha was to escort them, and he soon had them clamouring up him and all talking at once.
They also had the younger two of Kouga's cubs with them; Ayame was staying with one of her older cubs who had got into disgrace and had forfeited the right to go and get his treats that week. Inuyasha grimaced; he knew the cub well and had certain sympathies with the boy whose lippy mouth got him into so much trouble. Inuyasha would bring him back a small treat in any case; it wouldn't be as much as he would normally get, but he couldn't bear to feel that the child would be the only one left out. He well remembered how that felt.
The group preferred to go to a small parade of local shops than to the mall with all of the children. As it was they looked like a Mother and Toddler group out on an outing; but they were a familiar sight now as they went to the nearby park before going to the regular sweet shop, where they were highly welcome. The shopkeeper knew that this particular group always depleted his stores because they bought for many others as well as themselves.
But first it was important to work off the excess excitement before the pups could invade the small shop, and so they were allowed to run around in the park before splashing Inuyasha in the paddling pool provided by the park authorities. Not of course that Inuyasha just let them; no, he gave as good as he got, and it was not long before nearly all the water in the pool was out in the surrounding grass or soaking through clothes and hair.
All the mothers were just watching amused but knowing better than to remonstrate. Besides they had brought towels and changes of clothes for such an eventuality; knowing what would happen when Sesshoumaru told them it would be Inuyasha going with them and not just one of the guards. Once they were out and dried off the pups went to the playground apparatus and all of them wanted Inuyasha with them to slide, swing or hang on the ropes. They especially liked the small seat that hung from a long line that they pushed off and zoomed to the other end, stopping as they hit an old tyre put there for the purpose.
With Inuyasha's boundless energy, the pups were all safe, he would run alongside and catch any who looked as though they might fall; but as they were youkai and hanyou even though very young, they could easily handle anything that had been made with human children in mind. Finally after a light snack to ward off hunger until the evening meal, the group left the playground tidy and went to get their sweets.
The smallest cub was strapped back into a papoose sling on Inuyasha's back so that she didn't just wander up and down the aisles of the shop tasting and leaving half eaten sweets on the shelf. She was not yet old enough to be trusted even if she could walk. She didn't mind, she loved being up higher than the rest of the others and she enjoyed having Inuyasha's ponytail to play with. She knew that he didn't realise he made happy little growls in his throat that only she could hear when she played with his hair.
Unfortunately for Inuyasha a new curio emporium had opened up which they had to pass, before they reached the children's favourite shop and the hanyou recognizing the glint in the women's eyes, knew they wouldn't pass it by without checking it out. There was no way he was going to take all the little brats into the sweet shop on his own so he offered to take them back to the park for an hour while the ladies had that time to browse.
It was considered a good plan by all and Inuyasha scoffed, Sesshpapa would owe him big time for this but then, perhaps the look on his face if the ladies brought anything in there would be worth it. Inuyasha didn't mind really, the kids were no problem for him and they were mainly good. It was just as well, he hadn't quite the same speed or stamina today as it would be the moonless night later and his youkai was already on the wane.
While Inuyasha didn't let them go into the water again, he didn't see anything wrong in letting them play in the large sand pit. They still had plenty of time before Kyouko brought Kagome back; she wasn't due until the evening meal and would stay for the whole weekend, then Inuyasha would take her back on the Monday as this time it was a day she had no lectures. He lost himself for a while in thoughts of having Kagome home for the whole weekend and before he knew it he had been away for an hour and a half, which he thought was plenty of time for the ladies to shop; so he rounded up the children and set off to the shop again.
The mothers took one look at their sand covered offspring and glared daggers at Inuyasha; there was sand in their long and now matted hair, in their clothes and shoes even under the tiny claws. It would mean a mass bath when they all got home and sand was notoriously difficult to get completely off squirming children. Inuyasha's ears plastered themselves to his head as he listened to all the complaints and even though they had been grateful for the time he had allowed them, the mothers had hoped he would have shown more responsibility.
Inuyasha got sulky; the pups had only played not murdered anyone but he could see the point of all that sand being difficult to remove. Now he felt he had proved himself irresponsible and his ears wouldn't leave the security of his hair, even under the concealment he could feel them. Once he had been thoroughly scolded from Hanataba, Amai and Rin, women he had considered mothers of his own at various times, he heard Hanataba pronounce sentence. He would have to wash all the pups and remove the sand when they got home and no amount of pleading that Kagome would be home soon, got him off the duty.
Inuyasha brightened up at the thought that maybe Kagome would help him; she was good with and liked the small ones. They had to wait to go into the shop while the pups were shaken free of whatever sand they could loosen. Shoes were taken off and socks removed and Hanataba got out a large bristle brush to brush the hair of the pups to get out as much as she could, while heavily hinting to Inuyasha she could easily find another use for the flat side.
Inuyasha growled under his breath at the thinly veiled threat, coming on top of Sesshoumaru and Kouga's treatment of him; he was not amused, but took care not to be cheeky or any other action other than to turn his back and stick his nose in the air. He knew that it was not an idle threat so he didn't wish to force her hand; as far as Hanataba was concerned he was as much her pup as the small ones, and she wouldn't consider his age and dignity if she decided to use her brush.
Hanataba smiled to herself, catching knowing glances from Amai and Rin which was unfortunate as so did Inuyasha, and he walked away from them all in a huff. He was very annoyed and ignored them as they were calling him back good naturedly, and he marched into the sweet shop with his back straight and his arms crossed without a backwards glance. When the pups had been tidied as much as was possible, which wasn't a lot with all their squirming and fuss about wanting to follow Inuyasha, they finally were on their way and entered the wonderful place.
All the smells were intoxicating to the sensitive little noses and the sugar in the air was enough to make them excited, but they knew how to behave and what was expected of them. While they were all looking around and deciding what they wanted as treats this time, Inuyasha had already bought the confections for Sesshoumaru and Kouga. He was now choosing something he wanted and also had found some of Kagome's favourite chocolate caramels.
Before he exited the shop to let everyone else have space and to try to get a handle on his agitation, one of the little cubs ran up to him to give him a cuddle which did make his spirits rise; the child also reminded him of his decision to take a treat back for the naughty cub who had been left behind. So he turned around to do some more shopping carrying the cub in his arms and snuffling at her hair which also served to calm him down.
A man in the shop also smirked at Inuyasha as he noticed the children who had started to cling to his legs, Sesshoumaru's youngest twins were asking Inuyasha to get them some chocolate bars that were out of their reach. He hoisted the cub in his arms and as he went for the chocolate, he felt a hard sharp nudge under his arm and looked down to see the barrel of a gun pointing at his heart. The smirking man was now fixing him with a steely glare.
"Turn round there's a good boy; don't want these nippers to get hurt do we?" The man also held another pup in his other hand, restraining the boy by the collar of his shirt. Now tell your Mama and her friends not to move, or I might get nervous and let the gun off." He sneered at Inuyasha who had to think quickly and alert the family to the trouble.
"Mama, Mama," He called getting their attention instantly as he never used the tone of voice with any of them. He sounded lost and very young. "Mama, the man has a gun, he says for you all to stand still." Inuyasha watched as Hanataba assessed the situation instantly, she was on the other side of the shop and couldn't reach him or the other children without risk.
"Ladies, I can see you all in the security mirrors and none of you want my gun to accidentally hurt any of your brats do you? No silly heroics please and empty your bags of your money and jewellery and put them on the counter." He waited for them to go and do so and called the shopkeeper to empty the till and safe, all the while keeping hold of the cub and not letting the gun waver at all from Inuyasha.
But Inuyasha noticed that the man was not as calm as he was pretending to be and he had the distinct scent of hallucinogenic drugs oozing form his skin as he sweated; the two things together made for one nervous human with a twitchy trigger finger. Kouga's cub was getting scared too and started to fidget, which in turn was making her hard to hold and putting her in danger if the guy let off stray bullets.
Inuyasha whined and the man laughed at him calling him a crybaby; but it didn't matter, he could whine and speak with Hanataba in Inu and the man wouldn't realise what he was doing.
"Alpha bitch, stop man; hide bitches, pups behind shop table. Man unsafe."
"No, give man things let him go." She whined back to low for human ears.
"Will not go, man afraid, stinks, pups in danger man weapon."
"He not use weapon." Hanataba just wanted to let the man take the stuff and leave; they could get him outside the shop with the children safe inside, later. But Inuyasha could feel that the man's tension was rising especially when they heard the police outside the shop; the shopkeeper had triggered an alarm hidden on his body. This was not good, the man grabbed Inuyasha around the throat, with the gun now at his head and he still had Sesshoumaru's twins and Kouga's cubs with him.
Inuyasha could easily have disarmed the man on his own but his arms and legs were hindered with the small ones; so Inuyasha was an effective hostage. The rest of the children and the two human women were now behind the counter with the shopkeeper, Hanataba had the valuables in her hand and told the man to take them and go out the back. He just laughed asking if she wanted to get rid of her crybaby son, as he was going to take him and the young ones as hostages.
Then the situation shifted, the shop was surrounded and the police knew the name and reputation of the gunman, he was a known wanted criminal. Inuyasha was getting worried now, the pups and humans were in more danger as this attack dragged on; and if it lasted as he knew it could do, he was going to change when the sun went down. They had to do something soon, he didn't want the guy getting trigger happy. It didn't help either that his damn youkai seeping away left him nervous as well, he could tell he was getting jittery the nearer his transformation got.
He whimpered again to Hanataba and once again the man jeered at the crybaby wanting his mama.
"Alpha bitch, Inuyasha youkai leave, no moon night." Inuyasha saw her eyes widen in understanding. "Pups scared, man afraid. Alpha bitch get man."
"Not yet, Inuyasha get hurt." She stopped as the man cuffed Inuyasha.
"Stop that whining, it's getting on my nerves and if you don't shut it I'll give you something to make the noise about; the gun don't only kill you know. I might shoot the little fella in the leg or stomach; I'm already wanted for murder, one or two more won't matter to me especially since I'll plead a drug induced hallucination. You understand cry baby?"
Oh yes, Inuyasha understood; the lenient human powers would let this man get away with murder and try to help him get over his drug addiction, hardly taking into account that he knew full well what he was doing. The fact that Sesshoumaru would still kill the man no matter what, would not matter, if any of them were killed. It was time for action; Inuyasha was tired of this human moron calling the shots. He whined again and then put his head in his hands and made out that he was crying in fear; but whining only loud enough for Hanataba to hear.
"Alpha bitch be ready, get man."
"Inuyasha no…"
"Alpha bitch obey male no argue." His sharp order startled her and her instincts propelled her to obey him. As Inuyasha looked like he was crumpling in fear he suddenly reached down and picked up all the pups, ripping them away from their clinging to him and threw them at Hanataba in one fast and smooth move. Her reflexes caught them and tossed them over the counter in another while Inuyasha turned to the man his face frightening as his youkai had come out wishing to kill.
It was the wrong time for it; the man was very fast and desperate in the light of what faced him and before Hanataba could make her leap and push him forcefully to the ground he had let off all six bullets, pumped into whatever part of Inuyasha he could find. Inuyasha dropped like a stone.
TBC
