He hates Kagome's world sometimes.

He just doesn't get why she loves it so much. The air is smelly, the people are dressed funny, and it's so fucking noisy around here that he can barely think straight sometimes. She's dragging him all over her metal village all happy and giggly while he's got his ears jammed under what they call a "baseball cap". Doesn't she realize how uncomfortable this thing is? It cramps his ears and he needs those, goddamnit. She's heading for one of the magic glass doors that move on their own. Not another shop; he's seen enough of her weirdo shops to last him a lifetime.

"Can we go now?" he complains, holding her bags up. He's been to the clothing store, the food store, and now this? "I think we've got enough stuff."

It's the pup's human night and he wants to get back before she changes. She gets all worked up when she can't smell right and he doesn't like leaving the group when she's that defenseless. Granted, it's perfectly safe in Kaede's village. He knows logically that nothing is gonna happen to her there, of all places; still doesn't mean he likes it.

This will be her second transformation with them. That means she's been with them for a little more than two months now. He's almost a little embarrassed to admit that he likes having the pup around. She keeps herself mostly out of trouble, save a few significant lapses here and there. For the past few days, since running into Sesshomaru in the forest, she's stayed by his side without too much of a fuss. She's actually been pretty easy to reign in.

Kagome smiles at him which makes his stomach flutter with how beautiful it is. "This is the last stop, I promise. I told Shippo I'd get him a new book."

That's right, she's been trying to teach the whelps how to read. Kiyomi doesn't really care for it very much but Shippo's totally loving the whole learning process. It drives Inuyasha crazy. Sometimes he wishes he could cuddle up next to Kagome as much as the kit does. But when he does it he's apparently some sort of lecher like Miroku.

Stupid Shippo…

His eyes roam the small shop irritably. Kagome's world has scents that are unrecognizable to him and it's all dulled by this smokey odor that's permanently settled over everything. How's he supposed to sniff out demons in this mess? Kagome leads him to a brightly colored corner of the shop that has dozens of those stuffed toys she thinks are cute lining the shelves. The sign overhead says CHILDREN in a funny-looking script. Heh, he can't imagine a kid in his world having this kind of crap. Still, it's interesting that they've managed to change the walls to this vibrant hue…

Kagome is reviewing books in a corner while he sulks. He peers to his left, beside him there is a display of those black and white books that Kagome lets the kids write in. There's a rather impressive variety of them. He thumbs through one, having gotten used to the kiddish illustrations inside. It's actually pretty cool! There are all sorts of pictures of some sort of tokage-youkai that breathes fire, all different types of them! Kiyomi might actually like this… He's got a couple of coins in his pocket that he could use to pay for it…

"Uh, Kagome?" he asks quietly, holding the book up. "How do I buy this?"

She looks at him confused. It seems a little childish for someone of his caliber. "You want that?"

He blushes a little. "I figured the pup would like it."

Kagome's confusion gives way for a warm smile; he can practically see the stars shining in her eyes. Damnit, he hates when she does this. Every time he tries to do something nice for the stupid kids she gets all mushy-eyed. He doesn't know why. It's not like he's a total asshole… He kinda remembers what it's like to be a kid and all. Why wouldn't he do something nice for them now and again? She pulled the same face when he offered to take Shippo fishing a couple of mornings ago.

"What's your problem now?" he complains. "It's not a big deal or nothin'."

She shakes the stupid grin off of her face, plucking the book from his hands and adding it to her own collection. Watching him, she hurries over to a nearby shelf to grab a box of those crayon things that the kids like to use.

"I'll buy it then."

He doesn't like that idea at all. "No! Tell me how I can pay for it."

"You don't have any money," she retorts.

He reaches into the small pocket, the one Kiyomi couldn't find, inside the folds of his robe. Kagome's surprised when he pulls out a couple of copper coins along with a few crumpled leaves. Her heart feels like it could melt in her chest. Wow! He wants to buy Kiyomi a gift! If that isn't the sweetest thing she's ever seen?

"Is this enough?" he sounds unsure. He's not good with money even in his world. "It's all I've got with me."

"Money is different here," she explains, closing his open palm. "Let me take care of it and you can pay me back, okay?"

It seems it's the only way that he can get it so he reluctantly concedes. He stands guard over Kagome and her items while she hands the yen over to the shopkeeper. He's impressed that it's a lady. You don't see many female shopkeepers in his time.

"Would you like any of this gift wrapped?" she asks Kagome, looking at Inuyasha speculatively.

People always look at him funny here. Then again, people look at him funny everywhere so he supposes that it's not all that different from his world after all. He didn't think it was possible, but Kagome's eyes go even sparklier than before. What's her deal?

"Yes, please!" She separates Shippo's things from Kiyomi's. "These are going to a little boy"—she hands over Shippo's new books—" and this"—she points to the tokage-youkai book and the crayons—"is going to a little girl!"

The next thing Inuyasha knows, the books have been hidden in boxes that are wrapped with colorful parchment, one pink and one blue. Before he can demand that the keeper return his books to their original state, Kagome is shepherding him out of the shop. He frowns if this isn't the stupidest thing he's ever—

"I think it's very nice of you to want to buy a gift for Kiyomi," Kagome tells him sweetly as they stroll down the road back to the shrine.

"S'not a big deal," he grumbles. "I just figured she'd want something to do while she's up tonight."

"She doesn't sleep on her human night?" Kagome looks mad at him for some reason now. Are all women this weird?

"Uh, no. I don't either," he answers her, looking confused.

"That's not good for someone her age!" Kagome scolds.

He rolls his eyes. Kagome doesn't understand. How could she? She doesn't have to worry about the same things he and the pup worry about. If once a month someone pinched her nose shut and shoved a bag over her head so she couldn't smell, see, or hear nothin' then she wouldn't want to sleep either. Sometimes Kagome gets too worked up over these damn kids.

"She's fine," he tells her irritably. "I'd know. I do it all the time."

"But she's much younger than you are! She needs sleep to grow," she insists. "I mean it, Inuyasha! We should at least try to get her to fall asleep. Promise me you'll try!"

Feh, the damn woman's lost her mind. He stayed up on all of his human nights and he grew up just fine. He'd even boast that he's in pretty damn good shape. Staying up when she's vulnerable isn't going to stunt the kid's growth or nothin'. She's not a normal little kid by any means. Still, if it makes Kagome stop pestering him he can tell her he'll try.

"Fine!" he snaps. "If it makes you shut up, I'll ask the kid to go to bed tonight. She's not gonna listen though."

She doesn't look very impressed with him, if anything she looks annoyed, but at least she drops the subject.

~.~.~

"Here you go, Shippo," Kagome says sweetly, handing the kit the blue box.

Both children are sitting in front of them looking confused. Kagome looks over at Inuyasha expectantly before she nudges him uncomfortably in the ribs. Oh yeah, she told him to give the pink box to the pup. He drops it in her lap without a word. He hadn't meant for this to turn into some big thing. All he'd wanted was to do something nice for the pup. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Both children look at the boxes with varying degrees of bewilderment.

"How'm I supposed to play with this?" Shippo asks, shaking the box and trying to roll it on the ground like a toy.

"No, no," Kagome giggles, placing the gift back in his lap. "You're supposed to open them to see what's inside! It's a present. From us to you!"

Kiyomi frowns, eyeing Shippo's box enviously. "I don't like pink. I want that color!"

Inuyasha rolls his eyes. He knew that was coming, the pup hates girly stuff; something Kagome hasn't quite figured out yet. She keeps bringing the girl those silly kimonos all the time and looks wounded when Kiyomi's not interested in them.

"Will you two stop being stupid and open them?" he snaps, crossing his arms to look intimidating. Kagome looks sad now that the gifts are being rejected.

Kiyomi is tugging on the pink, curly ribbon on hers. "I can't undo this knot!"

Shippo's figured out pretty quickly that he just has to nick the parchment and peel it away. Three children's books tumble into his lap as he tips the open box upside down. Kiyomi looks even more upset that Shippo's gotten his surprise before her. She's watching him enviously, lightly pulling on the ribbon.

"Wow!" he cries out, overflowing with joy. "New books! Will you help me read them?"

The boy is all eyes on Kagome. Inuyasha turns to Kiyomi who's pouting with her still unopened box. At least this one likes him enough to hunt and play with him. Shippo's too soft for his tastes. He crouches down and grabs the pup's hand to scratch at the parchment. It's a stupid idea to him, to use parchment on a parcel, but he's come to the understanding that Kagome's world is very wasteful.

The sound of the rustling paper pulls Kiyomi from her gloom. Her ears dart forward and he notices that hers are a little larger and slightly floppier than his. Her point is rounder than his too. They're still triangular, just different from his in a few small ways; although, she'll probably grow into them. He's never really noticed that before. She grins, her baby fangs peeping out over her lip as she eagerly begins to tear the rest of the pink parchment away. Inuyasha can feel his stomach knotting… He really hopes she likes the 'color book' as Kagome calls it.

To his chagrin, the girl puts the box aside and starts growling playfully at the paper that's crumpled beside her. With a little snort, she begins wrestling with it, gnawing and shaking little bits of it off. He snatches the paper out of her greedy hands and throws the box into her stomach. He's gone through all that trouble dealing with Kagome telling him over and over how sweet this is on top of the fact that he's left two coins on her bed. He'll be damned if the pup doesn't open what he's so graciously provided. He's paid in both money and dignity for this!

Kiyomi lifts the lid of the box and her face changes drastically to one he can't identify. She recognizes the small flat package that the crayons are in. She reaches inside the box to pull out both the crayons and the book of black and white pictures. She looks up at him slightly awestruck but also very uncertain.

"Are… these for me?" she asks him with wide eyes. She looks a little shocked.

"Well, yeah they are, stupid. I gave it to you, didn't I?"

He can feel Kagome glaring at the back of his head but how else does she expect him to answer such a stupid question. He's annoyed to notice that the pup doesn't say anything to him, she just sits there looking at the gifts in her hands. Shippo had announced how happy he was right away. Why isn't Kiyomi saying anything? She must not like it… He knew it! It was a stupid gift anyway. Great, he's gone through all of this trouble for something she doesn't even—

His thoughts are disrupted by Kiyomi thumping into his chest, flinging her arms around his neck, and hanging from there like she's some kinda monkey. The force of her leap knocks him from his crouch so he's sitting on his butt with a very bewildered look on his face. He pats her back gingerly, a little flustered.

'Happy! Happy pup!' she purrs against him. "Thank you!"

Heh, so maybe today hadn't been such a waste after all. She does like it… Good, he's glad.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles to her, trying to pry her off of him for sake of appearances. "S'not a big deal. Lemme go!"

"You're my best friend," she whispers into his hair, squeezing him a little tighter. 'Friend! Happy pup!'

His eyes go wide and his brows shoot up towards his hairline. He's… never had anyone flat out call him a friend before. Like, he knows that Miroku and Sango are his friends but it's not like anyone's had to come out and say it. Hearing that is… God, it's nice. Has he really made that much of a difference for the kid? Well, that's a stupid question; of course, he has. He'd be a completely different guy if someone had done for him what he's doing now for her and the kit. Well, more for her… Shippo still doesn't really give a shit about him. That's fine, Kagome can have the runt; he'll take the pup.

"Heh," he grunts, trying to play cool but, in the end, he still whispers back. "You're mine too, pup."

Really, what else are you supposed to say to something like that?

"They're really for me?" she asks him again, leaning back with a cheesy grin on her face. She doesn't wait for him to answer before she runs loudly over to Shippo. "Shippo! Shippo! Look what I got! Come see my present!"

He watches them, slightly stunned. He's… feeling that unidentifiable feeling that he'd experienced in the glen when he thought that Sesshomaru had wanted to take her away from him. It's… this oddly warm feeling. Behind that warmth is this surge of certainty that he's doing the right thing. That place he had to carve out for himself in the world, that lonely place that he'd existed in for years, isn't something she's ever going to have to experience.

He can feel Miroku and Sango watching the whole event through the back of his head. Great, now they're gonna think he's some sissy. Strangely, he doesn't really care all that much at the moment. He's too busy watching the kids running around the hut. The pup's laughing loudly as Shippo and her are now chasing each other, waving the colorful parchment in the air. Again, Inuyasha allows himself an extra moment to revel in the fact that he has made her happy. No one had done that for him. He never got to laugh like that once his mom died. He can't help but feel so damn good about this.

The two kids are having a blast. They are noisy and rambunctious, rolling around the floor wrapped in that colorful parchment. They are at it for hours and Kiyomi looks like the happiest fucking kid he's ever seen in all his life. Hell, she's having so much fun that she doesn't even notice or fuss when she changes over from hanyou to human. Just looking at her as an outsider, you'd never know she'd been orphaned in the first place. She's smiling from ear to ear all damn night.

Finally, Kagome decides that enough's enough and beckons Shippo to her sleeping bag. Feh, it's not fair that the kit gets to sleep in the bag with Kagome. He wants to be the one cuddling up next to her. Well, no use moping about it now. He's not about to start suggesting mushy stuff like that to Kagome.

"Inuyasha," Kagome calls, nodding her chin towards Kiyomi who's marveling at her new crayons. They are still in their neat little white box, she refuses to take them out. "Isn't there something you would like to ask Kiyomi?"

The girl looks up when her name is called. She's looking back and forth with her green eyes between Kagome and Inuyasha. Oh yeah, Kagome's all worked up that the kid keeps herself awake one night a month. Stupid if you ask him but what's he to do?

"Going to sleep?" he calls out.

She shakes her head, going back to staring at the little rainbow in front of her. Kagome doesn't look impressed with his attempt so he growls and crouches down beside the pup. She peers at him from the corner of her eye for just a moment. She's got a weird look on her face. He shifts his gaze down and frowns.

"Hey, Kagome," he complains, "this box is broken!"

There's no red crayon in there!

"What are you talking about?" she asks. "It's brand new."

Miroku and Sango look on from their bedrolls interestedly. They've been forced to marvel at the girl's present all evening. Everything had seemed in order then. What could have possibly happened?

"Where's the red one?"

He sounds indignant, bordering on outrage. How can his favorite color not be there? It's the most important color, goddamnit! Miroku chuckles to himself. The red crayon had definitely been there; upon his last inspection before Kiyomi had sequestered herself into the corner to stare at her gifts. Inuyasha must be missing something obvious again.

Next to him, Inuyasha can hear Kiyomi's heart pick up just the littlest bit. What the hell's wrong with her now? She'd better not be upset about the gift. He's obviously going to sort it all out tomorrow. He'll have Kagome bring him back to the shop for a replacement. She claims they are a common item in her world. He looks down at the girl. Her cheeks are pink and she's avoiding his eyes. Great, she must think he got her a shitty gift.

After a moment, she tells him softly, "It's not broken. It's okay. See?"

Sheepishly, as if she's done something wrong, she pulls her mother's scarf out from her jacket. She unfolds it carefully, revealing that she's tucked the red crayon inside of it for safekeeping. Inuyasha frowns, scratching his ear. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of them?

"I didn't buy them for you to stare at them, ya know," he tells her lightly, under the impression that there's something important behind her actions. "You're supposed to use them."

She cherishes that scarf. He had actually felt bad when he'd found out about it because he had never considered that she would have possessions when he first met her. Unbeknownst to him, she'd kept a little pile of treasures that were important to her back in the cave she'd called home. She's stashing a stupid wax stick with something that belonged to her mother. That's not something someone just does for no reason.

Those pink cheeks glow brightly in the firelight. "I know… I just…"—her voice drops to a whisper so that only he hears it—"wanna keep something to remember… It's really important to me."

His gift's been added to her treasured items? God, if that's not the sappiest thing he's ever heard. Not to mention extremely impractical. He paid money for those items! Still, he guesses that it's sweet that this is so important to her. She looks up at him with that unrecognizable expression on her face.

"Is that okay?" she asks nervously.

"Feh," he grumbles, "they're yours, you do what you want. Don't complain to me when you can't color in the fire though."

She smiles and points to the orange and yellow crayons. "I won't! I'll use these!"

Everyone's huddling into their bedrolls, Kagome still glaring at him for not urging the pup to bed. He rolls his eyes. He still doesn't think it's as big of a deal as Kagome's making it. It's pointless trying to argue with the thing if she doesn't feel safe sleeping on her night. He's not about to make the kid do anything that causes her to feel like she's in danger. A small finger prods his shoulder. He looks down at the crown of her head where Kagome has pulled her brown waves into a messy knot. She's pointing to the 'color book' interestedly. Her little finger is tracing the lines that make up the picture.

"What's this?"

"Eh, I don't really know, some kind of lizard or somethin'. Did you see"—he points to the fire coming out of the demon's mouth—"it's got some sort of cool fire attack."

He can hear the wonder in her voice as she whispers, "Wow… Can you help me color one?"

There's that warm feeling again… What the hell is that? "Uh… Yeah, sure, I guess."

She excitedly hands him the blue crayon while she colors the spikes on the tokage-youkai's back green. She presses her finger into the paper and tells him, rather bossily, "I think he's blue. Don't go outside the lines, okay?"

Sheesh, the kid is bossier than she looks. He rolls his eyes but he doesn't argue with her instructions. He watches her interestedly. The hell is with him lately? Ever since that whole event with Sesshomaru he's felt different towards the kid. That urge to protect is shifting into something else entirely. He doesn't want to just protect her, that's apparently not enough now. He wants her to be happy. He wants her to enjoy being with them. The hell is the matter with—

"Inuyasha?" Her voice is so quiet that he's sure he's the only one who hears her.

"What, kid?"

She looks up at him, eyes wide and cheeks pink, very briefly before she stares down at the green crayon in her hands. "Are we gonna stay friends forever?"

What the hell kind of question is that? "That what you want?"

She nods her head, biting her lower lip to keep her coloring hand steady. She smells nervous but not in a bad way. "I really like it here… With you and Miss Kagome… I've never had a best friend before."

She's not lying, and she doesn't just feel this way because of the present. She really can't remember being able to rely on anyone besides her mama and once she was gone it left Kiyomi with no one. She can't remember having any friends of her own… Mama had Lord Sesshomaru-sama and he would visit them occasionally, two or three times a year maybe, but Lord Sesshomaru-sama wasn't her friend. He was her mother's. But here she has friends of her own. Lots of them! Really nice friends who teach her stuff like fishing, and play with her, and look out for her. She didn't realize her heart could be this full.

She wonders if they like her too…

Inuyasha stops coloring to look at her. Half of him wants to say something, to let her know about that whacky feeling that came up when she'd called him her best friend. On the other hand, he's not going to have that discussion with the others in such proximity. Besides, he doesn't even know what that feeling is, much less how to explain it to the kid. Luckily for him, the girl lets loose a large, jaw cracking yawn.

Perfect, a distraction!

"Ya know," he begins, raising his voice so Kagome will hear him doing as she'd asked, "you should really get some sleep."

"See, Kagome, I'm not so bad! I do as you ask!"

The kid looks at him incredulously. "No, I shouldn't; that's stupid."

"No, it ain't!" he disagrees, reminding himself that he's the top dog around here. He won't let this little runt walk all over him! "Now… Now, quit arguing and get to bed, missy!"

He can feel the pup's energy shift from cheerful and sweet to cantankerous and combative. She's sleepy enough where she's not gonna get whiney, she's gonna get mean. Great, what happened to the whole best friend bit earlier? After a few petty looking blinks she snatches the blue crayon from his loose grip and frowns up at him. He blames Kagome entirely for this. It wasn't his idea!

She shuts the 'color book' tersely, leaning back with her arms folded, holding the crayon box to her chest. "Nothin' doin'."

Why this little—

"Look, I'm just sayin' that you look like you could use it," he grumbles, trying to defuse the situation at least a little. "Nothin's gonna happen to ya while I'm here. Ya don't gotta stay up protectin' yourself."

Nope, she's still mad at him. "Hmph. I wasn't scared. I can look after myself, you know."

"Don't get snippy with me," he warns. "It was Kagome's idea! Not mine!"

"Pff, yeah right!" the girl retorts. "You're just bossy!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

Miroku sits up from his mat. "Could you two please take your squabbles elsewhere? The rest of us need some sleep before we travel. Perhaps, Inuyasha, you and the girl could both benefit from a late-night walk to expend some energy?"

"Yes, please," Sango agrees, not lifting her head from where it's resting.

"We're not squabblin'. The pup and I don't squabble! Isn't that right?"

The girl nods, her sleepy-induced temper now directed towards Miroku. "I've never squabbled in my life!"

Miroku sighs, lying back down. "Be that as it may, please keep it down."

Inuyasha looks down at the kid. "Feh, let's go, pup. We don't gotta listen to this!"

They both march out of the hut, hands linked together tightly. It takes him a few feet to remember that his gait is much faster than hers and, after a few stumbles on her part, he bends down to pick her up. She settles against him, forgetting that they were bickering minutes before. He'll have to remember to thank the monk for that in the morning.

After a few minutes, she asks, "Where're we goin'?"

He shrugs, strolling through town aimlessly. "Dunno… Mind if I ask you something?"

She narrows her eyes suspiciously at him but nods her head. Feh, stupid kid always thinks he's up to something. It's a little rude if you ask him. He's just trying to be nice! He'll walk over to the Goshinboku, that's an easy landmark.

"Before you were by yourself, what'd you do on your human night? Like, did you and your mom do anything special?"

She looks down at the beads of subjugation around his neck. From what she understands, these are how Kagome is able to do the "sit" command. She wonders what he did to make her mad enough to put those on him. It must have been very naughty indeed! Mama would have loved one of those for Papa… Oh, right, Inuyasha asked her a question, hadn't he? Gosh, he sure is nosey… Well, he is her best friend, right? Do best friends normally ask these kinds of questions?

"Kinda," she answers quietly, not meeting his eyes. "Mama 'n I would go see Papa. We'd get to play together."

Heh, lucky kid. "Sounds fun. What'd you guys play?"

She perks up a little, leaning her elbows on his shoulder and reaching up to scratch his ears. "Papa likes to play tag but Mama likes hide and seek. She's got a really good nose so she always finds me. Do you think Shippo will play with us on my next night?"

"Heh," he smiles, "Shippo's too much of a wimp to pull an all-nighter. How's this? You and me can hang out without the others on your night? Sound cool?"

Kagome won't be able to get mad at him if she doesn't know the kid stayed up! Ha!

She beams up at him. "Really?! Just you and me? Can we play tag?"

"Hell yeah, we can. I'm gonna warn you now though, I'm a hide and seek pro. I don't want to hear you whining when you lose."

Her eyes glaze over with wonderment. He loves it when she looks at him that way; like he's the coolest person ever. "You are?"

"Of course I am! Tch! Would I lie?"

She supposes he wouldn't lie about something as serious as hide and seek. She murmurs how impressed she is one last time as she rests her head against his collarbone. They settle into a comfortable silence when he enters the forest. She's not exactly sleepy, just calm and relaxed. She's relieved that she has friends that want to play with her. She's always been under the impression that Papa always wanted her human night to end quickly so that he could go back to his family. She'd always feel so sad when her and Mama would part from him…

She's not gonna have to leave Inuyasha and the others, right?

"Inuyasha?" she whispers.

"Eh?" he answers, his ears dipping when he notices the solemn tone in her voice. "Somethin' the matter?"

"No…" she begins, wondering how to explain what she's thinking. "Am I a good friend?"

His brows quirk together. For someone as spoiled as she was, she doesn't seem to be very sure of herself. "That's a stupid question."

She pouts at him. "No, it's not!"

"I don't have shitty friends," he deadpans. "So it's a stupid question to ask me."

She giggles a little, she does that a lot when he curses in front of her; seems to think it's funny. "What about the Lord Monk? You're always complaining about him."

"Feh, Miroku's not so bad as long as he can keep it in his pants."

She frowns earnestly. "Keep what in his pants?"

His face burns brightly with the reminder that the kid really doesn't have the faintest concept of the anatomical differences between "he"s and "she"s. Shit. What the hell is he supposed to tell her now? He gulps, glad her sense of smell is trash right now; she won't be able to pick up how nervous he is.

"Uuhhh…" The girl is staring at him intensely now. "His coin purse, pup."

She looks confused but he's relieved to notice that she doesn't inquire further. She figures it must be one of those grown-up things that just doesn't make sense because she's still little. He's still not eager to test her curiosity though. He puts her down on the ground with a pat to her head. He shuts his eyes, relying on his nose to pinpoint her human scent.

"You've got twenty seconds to find a hiding spot."

His ears swivel behind him as the kid scurries off into the thicket, giggling like some kind of maniac. Feh, no wonder the girl's mom always found her playing hide n' seek. The pup is the worst hider he's ever met.

~.~.~

"OW! OW! OW!"

Inuyasha's left brow shoots up into his bangs, and his right eye squints. He looks down at the little ankle in his left hand, his claws are hovering centimeters away from a tiny thorn embedded in the pup's heel. He looks at Kagome, who's cradling the girl's upper body against hers lovingly. He hasn't even touched it yet! Kagome knows that, right? She's not gonna sit him for this, is she? He looks back down at Kiyomi who's cringing like he's about to mortally wound her. It's been like this for at least five minutes and all he's managed to accomplish is persuading her to let him just look at it.

Well, the time for looking is over, goddamnit. This fucking thorn is coming out, ready or not. Was he ever this dramatic as a kid? No, he's sure he wasn't; it must be a girl thing…

"I ain't even done nothin'," he objects, his fingers twitching away from the prickle as if he's actually about to do something wrong. This is ridiculous! There's nothing wrong with what he's doing! He's trying to help the stupid kid!

"But you're gonna!" the girl yelps, trying to twist her foot out of his hand.

"Well, yeah… I'm gonna take it out, stupid." He moves to try again only to have to narrowly duck as her free leg tries to kick his wrist. "Will you knock it off?!"

"It'll hurt!" she shouts, watching his hand warily.

"I'll show you something that hur—"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolds, stopping his threats. "Kiyomi, how about we take a nice deep breath. It will only hurt for a second and we can't leave it in there. How would you walk around with that in your foot?"

Inuyasha rolls his eyes. There's no sense trying to reason with the pup, she's impossible! Kiyomi's eyes turn to him at Kagome's question. She grins and points to him. Like hell! He's not carrying her around everywhere. This is stupid!

"Don't even think about it," he huffs. "I ain't carrying your fat ass everywhere. Now, hold still for five fucking seconds and I'll be—"

"Inuyasha! Don't use that word around her!"

More distractions; why isn't anything ever easy around here?!

He turns his attention back to the little girl who's been trying to pry his fingers off of her ankle. "Will you stop acting like such a baby, damnit?!"

"I'm not a baby!" She flashes her little fangs at him in some sort of vague attempt to threaten him.

"You sure act like one," he grumbles.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Both of you!" Kagome shouts above their feud. "Alright, let's all just calm down. Inuyasha, on the count of three, take it out. Kiyomi, I want you to sit really still and take a big breath on three, okay?"

"No! S'not okay!" the pup squeaks.

"One," Kagome begins tellingly, squeezing Kiyomi's shoulders. "Two…"

Inuyasha pries the thorn out with the tips of his claws and flicks it into the foliage where it rightfully belongs. It had literally taken less than a second to do. All that fuss for a split second of pain. The girl's so worked up trying to stop Kagome's counting that she doesn't even notice he's taken it out. Feh, figures. She only thinks it's going to hurt and lets herself get all crazy on him. She did the same thing with the stupid tooth. Does it matter that he knows she'd be fine? Of course not! Nobody listens to him around here.

Stupid kid is a pain in his ass.

"Three."

Kiyomi yelps and scrunches up, her eyes shut tight and her face puckering like she's licked something sour. Inuyasha lets go of her ankle watching her with nothing short of amusement as she curls herself up into a little ball.

After several seconds she murmurs in a squeaky little tremble, "Did he do it?"

Kagome reaches into her bag and pulls out one of her sticky bandages to cover the little hole in her foot. "There! It's all done! Great job!"

"Feh, she cried the whole time!" Inuyasha complains.

The girl tentatively pops one eye open, lifting her freshly bandaged heel up to her face for inspection. After a moment, she looks at him with surprise lacing her features before she leaps up and latches onto his shoulders, nuzzling him. The hell is the deal with this stupid kid? A minute ago she'd been trying to weasel away from him. Kagome only watches from the corner of her eye as she puts her medical kit back in her backpack.

The two of them together is just the cutest darn thing…

"Whaddya doing? Lemme go!" he complains, going through the motions of making it look like he's trying to pry her off of him.

"'M all better now!" she informs him happily. "You didn't hurt me!"

"Hmph, you acted like I was murderin' you. I told you it wasn't going to hurt." She shifts from nuzzling his neck so that she's hanging on his back, waiting patiently for a ride. "What do you think you're doing, brat?"

She wiggles her "wounded" foot against his side. "Miss Kagome says you should carry me because I'm hurt!"

Kagome has not said such a thing, he'd know. He's been with her all freaking day. He looks to Kagome to foil the pup's plot only for the human girl to shrug her shoulders dismissively. Great, no backup around here as per usual. He complains but ultimately falls victim to the pup's demands. He can at least be honest with himself, he likes the happy humming in his ears from his little passenger. And it ain't like she's heavy.

"I think the others have gone pretty far ahead," Kagome says quietly, walking alongside Inuyasha in perfect stride. "Can you smell them?"

"Tch, 'course I can smell them," he scoffs. "How about you, pup?"

He reaches up to tap the pup's nose over his shoulder. She giggles and covers her nose with her hand, trapping his fingertip under her palm. She's apparently not in a learning mood right now. He rolls his eyes. He's learned quite a bit from watching Kagome trying to teach the kids how to read. The pup loses focus kind of quickly, especially if she's not interested in the subject. The trio strolls in silence for a while, Kiyomi humming cheerfully while she taps a little beat with her claws on his beads of subjugation.

She suddenly goes rigid on his shoulder, her claws pinching the skin near his collarbone. Kagome notices the shift in her behavior as well. She reaches over to touch Inuyasha's elbow worriedly only to have him toss Kiyomi into her legs. He grabs Tetsusaiga's hilt menacingly as the girl scrabbles back up off the ground. There's no mistaking this scent. Naraku, or at least one of his incarnations, is nearby. There's also another familiar scent that he's not going to point out to Kagome, Kikyo's: graveyard soil and old bones. The girl hasn't seen Naraku yet but at least she has the smarts to recognize that it's unfamiliar and potentially dangerous.

"Kiyomi," he says authoritatively, eyeing the girl out of the corner of his eye, "take Kagome and get to Miroku and Sango, got it?"

She opens her mouth to argue and he growls a loud warning at her, 'OBEY ALPHA!'

He's not going to be able to fight with her underfoot. The kid's ears shoot back and she whines, sharply. She's worried something's going to happen to him. He directs his attention to Kagome. She will listen to him. Without him having to say anything, Kagome grasps Kiyomi's hand tightly in hers and starts tugging her backward.

"I can't find them on my own, Kiyomi-chan," she whispers. Inuyasha is insanely grateful; it might be the only thing that gets the girl to listen. "Don't worry about him, Inuyasha is really strong. He'll be all right."

With another whine in his direction—her way of pleading for him to change his mind—which he ignores, Kiyomi finally submits and allows Kagome to drag her through the woods. After a few minutes, she finally begins to take charge and lead the way. She can smell the others, they aren't very far. If she can deliver Miss Kagome to them, she might have enough time to double back and help him. Whatever she smells out there isn't good…

Kagome gasps behind her. "I sense… two sacred jewel shards! They're coming this way!"

That's bad… Usually one shard of the jewel made someone really strong. Kiyomi doesn't want to imagine what kind of trouble two could bring. She wishes Inuyasha were here! With a sharp squeak she tries to run faster, pulling on Miss Kagome's hand. Ahead of them she can make out a whirlwind approaching them through the trees. What kind of demon could that be? It must be truly terrible!

Kagome sighs audibly behind her, she sounds relieved. "Oh! Koga!"

The tornados drift to a stop and a man stands in its place. Kiyomi growls and holds her arms out in front of Miss Kagome. She marches a few feet forward. Without Inuyasha here she's the one that has to keep Kagome safe. She whines loudly, her youkai warning Kagome to flee. When the miko doesn't respond, she's actually upset for a moment because she's become accustomed to being understood when she communicates that way. After all, Inuyasha and her converse with it daily. She'd forgotten, at least for a moment, that Kagome isn't an inu anything and doesn't understand it they way Inuyasha does. The man has side stepped Kiyomi and is now gripping Kagome's hands.

"Hey, Kagome," he purrs, eyeing her all funnily. "Funny running into you here."

"H-hey, Koga," Kagome says uncomfortably.

'DANGER! MINE! FIGHT!' Kiyomi growls loudly, showing off her tiny teeth. "RUN, MISS KAGOME!"

She charges for the man's calves but she's picked up by her ankle before she can complete her mission. With a startled yip she finds herself face to face with the strange man. She begins blushing brightly. Whoever he is, he's awfully handsome… Not that she really understands what that means but Mama used to say it about Papa all the time. The demon scoffs, his blue eyes surveying her.

"What's with the little puppy?" He turns to look at Kagome again, holding the girl upside down. "She reeks of the mutt. Don't tell me she's—"

"Did the mutt have a secret whelp this whole time? She sure smells like his!" Koga muses, sniffing the girl again.

"I'm not a puppy!" she shouts at him, wiggling earnestly. She hates being told she's a little kid. It makes her feel so helpless. "Run, Miss Kagome! I-I'll fight him off!"

She looks at Kagome only to be surprised to see a smile on her face. "It's all right, Kiyomi-chan. Koga-chan is a friend of ours! Don't be frightened! Koga, this is Kiyomi; she's been staying with us for a little while now. She's a very sweet little girl.

That warm blush grows even brighter. She'd almost attacked a friend… how embarrassing. Did... did Kagome call her sweet? The demon, Koga, places her down and smiles at her. It makes her heart flutter a little. He seems quite nice now that Kagome's told her he's a friend. Koga is very eager to prove to Kagome that he'd be a much better mate than that mangy mutt she hangs around with. He decides to play nice to the little kid. That will show Kagome that he's a better match. Women love children.

"Kiyomi, eh? Nice name, kid," he says, resting a hand on his hip. "Where'd you pick up this little cutie, Kagome?"

Kiyomi yips cheerfully. He called her cute! Kagome watches the girl speculatively, if she didn't know any better, it looks almost like Kiyomi has got a little crush on Koga. She sighs, Inuyasha will not be happy about this development at all. Speaking of Inuyasha…

"Koga! Inuyasha smells something out in the woods. Could you please stay here with Kiyomi while I go lend him a hand?"

"What?!" Kiyomi shouts. "You're not leaving me, are you?!"

Kagome smiles down at the girl who is now fuming. "I'm only going to go help Inuyasha. You'll be safe with Koga."

"I'm not a babysitter, Kagome—"

"Yeah! What he said!" Kiyomi chimes, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Oh yeah, it's clear whose attitude she's picked up.

Koga finishes his sentence. "But if it makes you happy then I'll gladly hang out with the little runt for a bit. You, uh, sure you want to go chasing the mutt?"

Kiyomi, who really thought she was winning that argument, turns around to yell at Koga too and is startled to find herself scooped up into the wolf demon's arms. She wants to be mad but all she can do is stare at him and turn pink. He smiles down at her and ruffles her hair under his. Okay, so maybe staying behind isn't such a bad thing after all…

Her cheeks feel all funny and warm.

"Oh my god, Inuyasha's totally going to freak when he figures this out. I'm not going to be the one to tell him!" Kagome tells herself, noticing the way Kiyomi has very quickly become smitten with Koga. "I'm sure, we shouldn't be gone long. Can we meet back up at the main road? Kiyomi, I want you to stay with Koga until Inuyasha and I get back, okay?"

Koga grins charmingly at the little girl. "Let's go, Kiyomi, I can show you the—OW!"

A bonk on the head from behind interrupts whatever he's about to show Kiyomi. He swivels around to find himself face to face with Inuyasha who's glowering at him. Kiyomi frowns. She thought Miss Kagome told her that Koga was a friend? Inuyasha's not supposed to strike friends; especially not ones as handsome as this! Koga growls deep in his throat while Inuyasha openly glares at him.

"What are you doing with my—" he begins, stopping himself just short of calling the pup his again. "Put her down!"

Kiyomi's horribly confused but she likes this Koga fellow an awful lot. Inuyasha's being terribly rude to him… Lucky for her, Koga pulls her even closer into his chest, Kiyomi's face is pink all over and squished between his bicep and pectorals where she can hear his heart beating. She can feel hers speeding up. Inuyasha thinks that this is a sign that she's nervous. Goddamnit, that stupid wolf's scared his pup; he's gonna pay for that!

"No can do, mutt face, Kagome's asked me to watch over this kid. I'm not putting her down until Kagome says so! You see, Kagome, I care very much about children. I'm an excellent mate unlike this brute here."

"No one is gonna use my pup to win points with Kagome! I'll KILL him!" Inuyasha thinks while he flicks Tetsusaiga out of its sheath. "Who're you callin' a brute?!"

Kagome sighs heavily, "Really guys?"

She hadn't meant for this to turn into a pissing contest over Kiyomi. Not to mention Koga doesn't exactly come across as the 'fond of children' type. He's never cared about Shippo, he almost fed him to his wolves for crying out loud! She gets the feeling that Koga only cares about Kiyomi because she asked him to look after her. The little girl, however, doesn't seem to mind it. Now that Inuyasha's safe and sound along with Kagome, Koga seems to have absorbed all of the girl's attention.

"Oi, pup," Inuyasha rumbles, "sock that mangy wolf in the eye and get over here!"

"Why would I wanna hit him?" she murmurs, allowing her eyes to flit away from gazing up at Koga only for a moment. "He's very nice."

"See that, Kagome! I think the little one prefers me here," the wolf-demon boasts, turning away from Inuyasha with Kiyomi tucked under his arm. "I'm a pro with pups! Ours will be the strongest cubs; I breed leaders!"

Inuyasha looks like the thought of Kagome and Koga having children makes him physically ill. He also doesn't look very impressed that Koga's got his dirty paws all over Kiyomi. In fact, Inuyasha really just looks like he would rather be dealing with any scenario but the one he's faced with. He looks over the wolf demon's shoulder with the intent of plucking Kiyomi out of his hold. If he keeps hanging on to her like that, he'll stink the kid up. She's not even looking at him, she's got this real funny look on her face staring up at wolf boy.

"The hell's gotten into her? She hates strangers… Least, I thought she did."

"It's all right, Koga," Kagome says in her super-duper nice voice. Ugh, why's she always have to be so nice to the creep? "You can put Kiyomi down."

The moment her feet brush the grass, she scrambles for behind Kagome. Inuyasha would feel better but the whole time she's back there she's staring up at the wolf all pink and stuff. Poor Kiyomi can feel her face burning but she just can't help herself! He's just so tall and rugged…

Is… Is this love?!

A warm hand on her forehead distracts her from her musings. Inuyasha's crouched down beside her, ignoring Koga as if he'll disappear if they pretend he's not there. The hanyou is frowning, looking at Kiyomi as if he's worried. After a moment and a little "hmph" on his part, he runs his hand over his own forehead. Nope, the kid's temperature is normal. He'd thought that maybe her cheeks were all pink because she's coming down with something. He's relieved that she's not sick but at the same time he's very confused. Maybe he'd better check again?

Or maybe she's eaten something poisonous? The whelp's always running around eating things that she shouldn't. If she's nibbled something that's making her sick then he'd better stop somewhere and get her some help. She really doesn't look so good… Her eyes are all funny and her face won't go back to its normal shade. Something has to be wrong.

Kagome begins to blush too now, trying her best to ignore Inuyasha's efforts to fuss over the little girl beside her. He goes to lift her off of the ground to interrogate her only to find that Kiyomi is pushing his hands away before she sidles to Kagome's left leg to put some distance between them. The whole time she just keeps looking up at that goddamn mangy, fleabag wolf. What the hell is with this kid? Koga notices the pup staring at him and offers her a smooth wink. If Kiyomi had a tail (and thank god she doesn't) it would be wagging now.

"As I was saying, I was in the area and could have sworn I smelled Naraku. It's a good thing I found you when I did. I don't know what the mutt was thinking, leaving you and that little girl on your own like that. How dangerous!"

Inuyasha rolls his eyes, looking up at the demon from his crouch. "Really laying it on kind of thick there, aren't we? So, you lost the scent too, did ya?"

He reaches over to grab Kiyomi again but she scoots just out of his grip, peering shyly up at Koga beneath her long lashes. She taps the demon's knee. She's got that look on her face that she gets when she's trying to look tough. Inuyasha scoffs, it's almost as if she's trying to impress that disgusting wolf.

"I was going to take care of Miss Kagome," she informs the okami-youkai softly. "I'm really strong, you know. I was going to help her find the Lord Monk and Lady Sango."

"I'm sure you are." Koga does a good job pretending to be impressed. He crouches down so he's eye level with the besotted child. "Well, then I'll be trusting you to watch after my Kagome when I'm not around, okay? You look like you're up to the job"

She giggles up at him. In that moment, as her blush deepens to worrisome shade of red, it clicks for Inuyasha. Kagome can actually pinpoint the exact instant it hits him because his face goes from confused to flustered to openly outraged: realization followed by denial followed understanding. Not to be confused with acceptance, it is apparent that he's not going to take this new development lying down. She has to whisper a short and quiet sit command to keep him from leaping up and running away with Kiyomi. If he lets on that he knows now then he'll only embarrass the poor girl.

He pulls his face out of the dirt, spluttering leaves out of his mouth, and hollers to Kiyomi, "S'matter with your face, pup?! Put-Put your eyeballs back in your head!"

"I mean, isn't she a little too young to start thinkin' like that?!" he worries to himself, watching the girl all but swoon as Koga scratches lightly behind her ears.

Sure, she's not that much younger than Shippo, maybe a couple of years give or take? How old is Shippo anyway; seven, eight? And he's got all of those little human girlfriends when he runs around the villages… But that's different! Shippo's chasing after kids his own age! Koga's a grown ass man… Come to think of it, how old is Koga?! He could be hundreds of years old already and nobody knows! And there he goes chasing after Kagome… The creep!

Wait, he's over a hundred… does that make him a creep too? No, he's not going to think about that right now. Koga's the scumbag not him!

He's not gonna stand for this! He jumps from his confinement the first moment he's able to. Before Kagome can sit him again he grabs her around the waist, pinning her to his side, and snatches the pup, tossing her up onto his shoulder. Thank the gods that the others have gone on ahead. It gives him a clear goal to head towards.

He's outraged! She's a little kid! She can't go around eyeballing people like that! And why did it have to be Koga of all the demons in the world? Why did it have to be that smelly, mangy, ugly wolf?! Of all the things—

These are his girls! His, goddamnit! And he will be damned before he lets Koga win over either one of them.