Disclaimer: *Sends out minions and those funny little people who run around
with the horns and scream through them* (what are those called?) I don't
Inu-kun and friends. no matter how much I want them.
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Shippou stared. Sango stared. Kaede stared. Inuyasha stared. Miroku stared.
"What?" asked Kagome innocently.
Suddenly her hand stopped as she found what she had been looking for. With a somewhat evil grin, the said miko whipped out her hand and brandished in the air, something so fearsome, something so terrible, something so sadistically malicious it could only be called one thing.
A deck of cards!
Inuyasha jumped back, unsheathing Tetsusaiga and nearly running into the wall. Shippou jumped into Sango's arms, and Miroku tried to do the same but he simply earned himself a smack on the head.
"Itai." he grumbled, keeping a wary eye on the gleaming cards.
Inuyasha growled. "What in the heck are those things?"
Kagome blinked at him and smiled. With a gentle flick of her wrist, the cards landed at Inuyasha's feet. The half dog-demon stared at them for an instant, then howled and leapt away. "*^$%, woman, are you trying to kill me?" he swore at the startled girl, who rocked back on her heels.
By this time Shippou had gathered the courage to reach a tiny hand out to the deck. Its slick surface gently slid along the clean floor when he poked it, and Sango, who had gathered not only her courage but also her wits, reached down and picked it up.
Unfortunately, the fastener for the bottom of it came undone and the deck spilled everywhere, aces, queens, and kings floating to the floor in a mess leaving Sango with a box in her hand. Kaede tried her best not to moan; the little pieces of stiff paper would take forever to get up, since they had scattered all over the floor.
Kagome, on the other hand, smiled and gracefully rose, then swooped and picked up the a cards. "This," she announced jubilantly, "is a deck of cards. One of my friends gave it to me," she added.
Kaede shook her head. "Surely ye jest?"
The younger girl blinked at the older. "No, I'm serious. They're used to play games of all sorts." Kagome blushed. "But I'm best at 'Go Fish'"
With a sagacious nod, Miroku began to pick them up, inspecting each one of the cards' surfaces carefully, as if searching for a trap. Inuyasha mimicked him, scraping them up with his long and very pointy claws.
Dislodging herself from her seat, Sango followed suit, and sooner than Kaede thought possible the cards were all in one pile in Kagome's hands.
"Okay, everyone," began the girl, "sit around this table here, 'kay?"
They all scrambled to obey- all except for Kaede, who sat to the side- and they turned out sitting like this: Kagome at the north, Inuyasha across from her at the south, Sango at the east, and Miroku at the west. Shippou was seated comfortably in Kagome's lap.
Inuyasha didn't see any sort of magic at the miko's fingertips, but all of the sudden the cards were being flipped around and flapped together like there was some sort of incantation on them.
"This," remarked Kagome casually, as if this weren't some great magic trick unlike one the feudal people had not seen before in their lives, "is called shuffling. I'm not very good, but I want to get better."
With a small smile, she glanced around at her company, studying their faces. "Okay, this first round will just be for learning and practice. There are a few rules, remember, so listen up."
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^Ten Minutes Later~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
Stares and glares were locked against the small sitting table in a fierce battle unlike one ever raged. Golden eyes met brown ones, and brown eyes met golden eyes, and if looks could kill, then no one in the hut would still be alive to tell the story of this great battle.
Luckily, looks can't kill, so everyone just kept glaring at the others.
"Do you have," began Inuyasha, his voice an almost inaudible hiss, "Any. sixes?"
Sango met his gaze readily, eyes winking down to her cards for a moment. Then, ever so slowly, her lips formed two words. "Go. Fish."
The dog demon let out a feral scream. He was losing! He was losing to these meager humans. Each one of them had at least one match, and he had none. Where was his luck for the day?
Kaede was startled awake by that very scream, and it took her a moment to gather all of her wits before she remembered that the youngsters -never mind that Inuyasha was actually older than her.- were still playing cards.
The ancient woman had to admit that Kagome had been a good teacher for these students. In the span of only a few minutes, she had managed to teach them everything that they needed to know, keep Inuyasha from chopping anyone's head off with his katana, keep the lecher under control, be completely patient with Sango -well, they were good friends, so.- and keep Shippou calm in her lap.
A truly amazing feat.
Now, they were in their second game. Kagome had won the first, but she modestly accredited it to the fact that she had played before and the other hadn't. Kaede could tell by the girl's aura that she was going easy on the others and she was carefully letting Sango win.
Shippou was quite pleased by this new game, and Kagome had let him pick a few of her cards, but then the kitsune had abandoned her lap and ran around looking at everyone's hand. He was allowed to as long as he promised not to cheat for anyone, and knowing Shippou he wouldn't have.
Suddenly, Miroku let out a squawk of outrage. "You cheated!" he yelled, pointed an accusing finger at Shippou, who froze in his tracks.
The fox's eyes grew wide as dinner plates and he rapidly shook his head. "I didn't," he attested. "I swear, I didn't!"
Inuyasha's eyes began to grow red. Had he been losing because the little fox was cheating for Sango? Even though to his rational self that didn't make much sense, he was really frustrated and couldn't imagine how he could be losing at such a simple game.
Jumping up at the same time, the two men launched after the little fox demon, who yelped and ran for his life. Out the hut, down the road, screams waking up the later-sleeping villagers.
Sango and Kagome rose, traded looks and headed out after them, Sango with her boomerang and Kagome with a bow and quiver of arrows that had been leaning against Kaede's wall. The cards lay forgotten on the table.
The old woman herself looked at the said objects and set down her long since cold cup of tea. Slowly, ignoring the yells and screams that came form out in the village, she scooted off her cushion and approached the table.
Kagome had a decent hand, from the explanations that she had heard before drifting off to sleep, Sango had a good hand, Miroku had a not so good hand, and Inuyasha's hand absolutely sucked.
Grinning, the lady fiddled with the cards for a moment. The stack in the middle of the table, which had been rapidly diminishing thanks to Inuyasha, and ransacked as she switched out a few of the cards.
The yelps had long since grown faint and Kaede had no worry of being caught in her naughty act. Cards found themselves across the table, in the stack, out of the stack, in different hands, and generally in the wrong places.
Grinning to herself, the old woman settled back onto her cushion for another little nap.
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A/N: *^-^* Naughty Kaede! Ooh, thanks to anyone who reviews.. thanks to anyone who even reads it! *grin* I have more planned, but review if you want to be able to read it! ^-^v the little purple button is right down there..
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Shippou stared. Sango stared. Kaede stared. Inuyasha stared. Miroku stared.
"What?" asked Kagome innocently.
Suddenly her hand stopped as she found what she had been looking for. With a somewhat evil grin, the said miko whipped out her hand and brandished in the air, something so fearsome, something so terrible, something so sadistically malicious it could only be called one thing.
A deck of cards!
Inuyasha jumped back, unsheathing Tetsusaiga and nearly running into the wall. Shippou jumped into Sango's arms, and Miroku tried to do the same but he simply earned himself a smack on the head.
"Itai." he grumbled, keeping a wary eye on the gleaming cards.
Inuyasha growled. "What in the heck are those things?"
Kagome blinked at him and smiled. With a gentle flick of her wrist, the cards landed at Inuyasha's feet. The half dog-demon stared at them for an instant, then howled and leapt away. "*^$%, woman, are you trying to kill me?" he swore at the startled girl, who rocked back on her heels.
By this time Shippou had gathered the courage to reach a tiny hand out to the deck. Its slick surface gently slid along the clean floor when he poked it, and Sango, who had gathered not only her courage but also her wits, reached down and picked it up.
Unfortunately, the fastener for the bottom of it came undone and the deck spilled everywhere, aces, queens, and kings floating to the floor in a mess leaving Sango with a box in her hand. Kaede tried her best not to moan; the little pieces of stiff paper would take forever to get up, since they had scattered all over the floor.
Kagome, on the other hand, smiled and gracefully rose, then swooped and picked up the a cards. "This," she announced jubilantly, "is a deck of cards. One of my friends gave it to me," she added.
Kaede shook her head. "Surely ye jest?"
The younger girl blinked at the older. "No, I'm serious. They're used to play games of all sorts." Kagome blushed. "But I'm best at 'Go Fish'"
With a sagacious nod, Miroku began to pick them up, inspecting each one of the cards' surfaces carefully, as if searching for a trap. Inuyasha mimicked him, scraping them up with his long and very pointy claws.
Dislodging herself from her seat, Sango followed suit, and sooner than Kaede thought possible the cards were all in one pile in Kagome's hands.
"Okay, everyone," began the girl, "sit around this table here, 'kay?"
They all scrambled to obey- all except for Kaede, who sat to the side- and they turned out sitting like this: Kagome at the north, Inuyasha across from her at the south, Sango at the east, and Miroku at the west. Shippou was seated comfortably in Kagome's lap.
Inuyasha didn't see any sort of magic at the miko's fingertips, but all of the sudden the cards were being flipped around and flapped together like there was some sort of incantation on them.
"This," remarked Kagome casually, as if this weren't some great magic trick unlike one the feudal people had not seen before in their lives, "is called shuffling. I'm not very good, but I want to get better."
With a small smile, she glanced around at her company, studying their faces. "Okay, this first round will just be for learning and practice. There are a few rules, remember, so listen up."
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^Ten Minutes Later~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
Stares and glares were locked against the small sitting table in a fierce battle unlike one ever raged. Golden eyes met brown ones, and brown eyes met golden eyes, and if looks could kill, then no one in the hut would still be alive to tell the story of this great battle.
Luckily, looks can't kill, so everyone just kept glaring at the others.
"Do you have," began Inuyasha, his voice an almost inaudible hiss, "Any. sixes?"
Sango met his gaze readily, eyes winking down to her cards for a moment. Then, ever so slowly, her lips formed two words. "Go. Fish."
The dog demon let out a feral scream. He was losing! He was losing to these meager humans. Each one of them had at least one match, and he had none. Where was his luck for the day?
Kaede was startled awake by that very scream, and it took her a moment to gather all of her wits before she remembered that the youngsters -never mind that Inuyasha was actually older than her.- were still playing cards.
The ancient woman had to admit that Kagome had been a good teacher for these students. In the span of only a few minutes, she had managed to teach them everything that they needed to know, keep Inuyasha from chopping anyone's head off with his katana, keep the lecher under control, be completely patient with Sango -well, they were good friends, so.- and keep Shippou calm in her lap.
A truly amazing feat.
Now, they were in their second game. Kagome had won the first, but she modestly accredited it to the fact that she had played before and the other hadn't. Kaede could tell by the girl's aura that she was going easy on the others and she was carefully letting Sango win.
Shippou was quite pleased by this new game, and Kagome had let him pick a few of her cards, but then the kitsune had abandoned her lap and ran around looking at everyone's hand. He was allowed to as long as he promised not to cheat for anyone, and knowing Shippou he wouldn't have.
Suddenly, Miroku let out a squawk of outrage. "You cheated!" he yelled, pointed an accusing finger at Shippou, who froze in his tracks.
The fox's eyes grew wide as dinner plates and he rapidly shook his head. "I didn't," he attested. "I swear, I didn't!"
Inuyasha's eyes began to grow red. Had he been losing because the little fox was cheating for Sango? Even though to his rational self that didn't make much sense, he was really frustrated and couldn't imagine how he could be losing at such a simple game.
Jumping up at the same time, the two men launched after the little fox demon, who yelped and ran for his life. Out the hut, down the road, screams waking up the later-sleeping villagers.
Sango and Kagome rose, traded looks and headed out after them, Sango with her boomerang and Kagome with a bow and quiver of arrows that had been leaning against Kaede's wall. The cards lay forgotten on the table.
The old woman herself looked at the said objects and set down her long since cold cup of tea. Slowly, ignoring the yells and screams that came form out in the village, she scooted off her cushion and approached the table.
Kagome had a decent hand, from the explanations that she had heard before drifting off to sleep, Sango had a good hand, Miroku had a not so good hand, and Inuyasha's hand absolutely sucked.
Grinning, the lady fiddled with the cards for a moment. The stack in the middle of the table, which had been rapidly diminishing thanks to Inuyasha, and ransacked as she switched out a few of the cards.
The yelps had long since grown faint and Kaede had no worry of being caught in her naughty act. Cards found themselves across the table, in the stack, out of the stack, in different hands, and generally in the wrong places.
Grinning to herself, the old woman settled back onto her cushion for another little nap.
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A/N: *^-^* Naughty Kaede! Ooh, thanks to anyone who reviews.. thanks to anyone who even reads it! *grin* I have more planned, but review if you want to be able to read it! ^-^v the little purple button is right down there..