June 10
This afternoon, Inuyasha and I were picking some fresh strawberries that had just blossomed near our house.
I took a bite of one as we put them in our basket. "These are so much better straight off the bush."
"How else would you eat them?" he asked.
"In my era, they're pre-packaged and you buy them from the grocery store."
"That sucks. Fresh food is way better." He picked up the basket. "Do you think this is enough?"
"I would say so. Let's go."
From there, we took our strawberries and went to Miroku and Sango's house to share them with our friends. We found them outside finished up with hanging their laundry while the kids played.
"Hey, you two!" Miroku said when he saw us.
"We brought fresh strawberries!" I said.
"Ooh!" the kids said as they immediately ran over to us.
"Wait a second, you three!" Sango said, stopping them. "You've been playing in the dirt for the last hour. Come inside and wash your hands first." All three of them pouted as she ushered them inside.
"They're such cuties," I said, giggling a bit.
Miroku chuckled as he came over to us. "They're a handful." He reached into the basket and took a strawberry. "Thanks, you guys. This is much needed after a long day."
We sat in the grass with the strawberries and soon after Sango came back outside with the children who eagerly dug in.
Soon after, we spotted Shippo coming towards us.
"Hey Shippo, come here!" Inuyasha called him over.
Shippo came over to sit next to us but to our surprise, he looked really down.
"What's the matter, Shippo?" Sango asked.
"I've got a really ferocious demon to fight, you guys," Shippo said sadly.
"What kind of demon?" I asked.
"A really scary one."
"Shippo, if you need any help we'd be happy to come with you and take it down together," Sango offered.
"Yeah, you're not alone with these things," Miroku added.
"I appreciate that, but it's something I have to fight on my own."
"Out with it already. What demon is it?" Inuyasha said impatiently.
Shippo sighed. "It's the demon of love."
Now we were all confused.
"The demon of love?" I asked.
"There's this girl in the village I really like," Shippo said wistfully. "Her name is Michiko. She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life."
"Aww! Shippo, that's so sweet!" Sango gushed.
"The problem is I don't know how to tell her." He took a frustrated bite of a strawberry. "Love is so hard."
"Ah Shippo, my friend, no need to stress over it," Miroku said, patting his back. "It's easy to get a woman to fall in love with you."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at him. "Oh really, monk?"
"I'm an old pro at this, Shippo," Miroku said proudly. "Now, I know I've hung up my expert flirting skills for married life, but I've still got a few things up my sleeve."
Sango crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as well. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Watch and learn, Shippo. In order to get a woman to fall head over heels for you, hold her hands like this." Miroku uncrossed Sango's arms and held her hands. "Look deep into her eyes and say to her, 'my dear, you are the most divine woman I've ever seen. Would you consider bearing my children?'"
Sango glared at him although she was blushing furiously. She pulled her hands away from her husband and looked away trying to hide how much she was blushing. "Shippo, never take relationship advice from Miroku. Ever."
"Well, I've had a lot of success with this strategy over the years." He leaned over to her and kissed her cheek. "My greatest conquest to date has been you."
If it were possible for Sango to blush even more she would have.
"Don't listen to Miroku, Shippo," Inuyasha said. "A woman isn't going to want to be with you if you ask her to have babies with you right off the bat. You have to build up to that point."
"I wouldn't take relationship advice from you either, Inuyasha," Shippo said.
Inuyasha looked shocked. "Why not?! Clearly, I've been successful with love."
"That's just because Kagome is nice," Shippo said. "Don't think we've forgotten about how you used to go back and forth between her and Kikyo all the time. Even I know that's a really bad strategy for getting a woman to fall in love with you."
Inuyasha looked furious and I could have sworn he'd beat Shippo up for that. But for once my husband had nothing to say in retaliation and instead he just crossed his arms and looked away.
"Shippo, the main thing you need to remember when you talk to this girl is to just be yourself," I said gently. I figured Shippo now needed a voice of reason.
Sango nodded in agreement. "Kagome is right. Girls want to be with someone who is confident and doesn't try too hard and is honest."
"Are you sure?" Shippo asked.
"Of course," I said. "Just go up to this girl and tell her how you feel. Remember, you'll never know if you don't give it a try."
A determined look crossed Shippo's face. "Okay. I think I can do this."
"That's the spirit, Shippo!" Sango said.
"You can do it," I added.
We watched as he went off to go confess to the girl of his dreams.
"He's grown up so much," I said wistfully. I thought of the Shippo I knew four years ago, the small, young boy who had recently lost his father. He'd matured so much since then. I was proud of him.
"He's still an annoying little runt," Inuyasha said, still pissed off by Shippo's earlier comment.
