Chapter 32
Kagome felt maybe a little teensy bit bad about being so excited for a chance to leave the village for a little while. Everyone had been so gracious, taking her in after she literally dropped in on them out of the blue.
But the last few months have been a hard adjustment period. Plus, if she had to be randomly chosen to be thrown back in time, she kinda wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. As in, look around. She hadn't really strayed very far from the village at all.
Even though she'd done this the bulk of the day yesterday, Kagome had a feeling it'd be a long time before she got tired of the feeling of flying across the land with Inuyasha.
She wiggled a little bit, and looped her arms loosely around her friend, resting her chin on his shoulder.
Sighing in contentment, she watched the landscape whiz by.
Once she'd gotten the hang of being fluid with her weight, moving when he did, Kagome found travelling on Inuyasha's back to be very comfortable. He was nothing but smooth and graceful movements, and quiet too. Ten out of ten, would recommended.
But people need to find their own hanyou; this one is off limits.
Giggling a little at the thought, she watched his puppy ears twitch at the noise. But he didn't comment.
He usually preferred not to talk too much while they ran. Which made sense, she supposed. Couldn't be too comfortable with the wind rushing and also, would get a mouthful of bugs.
Gross.
Kagome shuddered and shifted again, laying her cheek instead on Inuyasha's upper back.
She quieted, and lazily watched the trees pass by under a clear blue sky.
Before she knew it, they'd passed into the foothills of the mountains proper and the sun and risen to its zenith. Inuyasha had deposited her near a small stream where they would stop for lunch.
He'd muttered something then darted back into the trees. Kagome assumed he was either off to find something to supplement their meal or to relieve himself.
Untying her carry sack, she rummaged around for the two bamboo canisters and bent to refill them with fresh water from the stream. That done, she unpacked the two yams they'd left cooking overnight and some other items for their lunch spread.
A sudden loud crack caused her to jolt violently, heart thudding hard. More sounds like wood splitting sounded from the forest beyond the stream, not super close but unfortunately getting louder.
She got up to a slight crouch, scanning her field of view for anything that would prompt her to run. Then she felt a weird feeling squeeze her insides. That was all the notice she got before another resounding crack and something big bolted through the trees a few meters away.
It was an ogre she supposed, blue skinned and dressed in patches of animal skin. Absently, she noted that at about one and a half storeys tall, it seemed short for the mythological oni. And she certainly didn't recall a fluffy tail in their description either.
Like she was some sort of youkai expert, mind you.
A thundering of steps announced something that looked like oversized boar in hot pursuit.
In delayed horror, Kagome realized that the path of the ogre had curved around to where she was and the boar youkai was pawing the ground, ready to charge.
She screamed, somehow throwing her body roughly to the side. As the world rolled around and the bramble splintered beneath her weight, she felt a rush of air and something red streaked across what little visual field she had.
A sound of impact and two grunts from distinct voices. She righted herself enough to catch a glimpse of Inuyasha resuming a low squat, having just tackled the boar youkai sideways.
In front of the hanyou was the ogre, seemingly overwhelmed by the latest development. Wasting no time, Inuyasha leapt into the air, redirecting his aggression to the bigger threat of the two.
"Sankon tes—" He snarled as his arm swung down, claws arched.
No one expected the sound of a child's cry and the accompanying poof as the ogre vanished in a billow of smoke.
Kagome also cried out when she saw Inuyasha's eyes widen, then cursing as he jerked himself awkwardly off course. He bounced into a nearby trunk, thudding to a stop at the base.
It was oddly silent for about two seconds before a high pitch wail echoed in the air.
"Wahhhhh! Don't hurt me!"
Completely flabbergasted, Kagome spied the source of the child's voice and found a tiny figure huddled in the midst of clearing smoke. They were very small, up to her knee at most with a shock of auburn hair and bright clothing. The way the little fists rubbed at the tears dribbling from their crunched up eyes broke her heart.
"What the fuck, kid," Inuyasha rose from his crouch, growled. "Ya got a death wish or somethin'?"
It would seem that the boar youkai had assessed the situation, deemed it not worth its while and took advantage of the chaos to flee.
Kagome got to her feet and made slow, cautious steps towards the little kid. As she got closer, she caught sight of the tiny pointed ears and a fluffy tail peeking out from behind their bum. That explains the weird looking oni from earlier.
Though she was sure Inuyasha would rip her a new one for being so careless, she went ahead anyways and squatted down beside the kid and laid a consoling hand on the little shoulder.
"Fuck, stay away from it, Kagome!" He yelled at her, if on cue.
"I'm not an 'it'!" An indignant reply burst forth from the child, who'd uncovered bright green eyes. "I'm a boy!"
Now who could resist such a cute display?
Not Kagome. And so it was she found herself helping the boy to his feet to the edge of the stream. His poor little lip trembled and eyes started watering again when she lifted up his arm to inspect the long red cut running almost the length of the limb.
Behind her, Inuyasha let out a string of curses. "Goddamnit Kagome, it's a kitsune for fuck's sake. He's playing it up for your sympathy. And you're dumb enough to fall for it."
Pointedly ignoring the daggers he was glaring at her back. Kagome grabbed the ointment and loose cloth bandage she'd packed for first aid purposes.
"What's your name?" She asked the boy as she gently cleaned his wound.
"I'm Shippou!"
"Well, Shippou, I'm Kagome."
"Thanks for helping me, Kagome." He smiled up toothily at her when she finished tying the bandage around his arm neatly.
"Why are out here on your own?"
At the question, he looked like he was about to cry again and she almost wished she didn't bring it up. "I was out on a hunting trip with my parents… b-but I lost them."
Kagome remembered well how helpless it felt to get lost in a store as a young child. "Well don't worry, Shippou-chan, I'm sure your parents will find you in no time!" She gave his back a friendly pat. "If you and your family are anything like my friend over there, then I'm sure you all have excellent noses to help find each other."
The kitsune pursed his lips and looked quizzically at Inuyasha, who was now sulking under a tree a ways from them, and then back at her.
"Kagome, why do you travel with a half-breed?"
At hearing the degrading term spill out of the boy's mouth, Kagome gasped. She shot a look at Inuyasha, who still had his eyes closed but she had no doubt he heard the words.
"Shippou, that's not a nice word to call someone." She frowned. "Inuyasha is my friend and he saved both of us earlier. Can you please apologize?"
He paused, then mumbled. "'M sorry. I hear other youkai say it so I thought it's okay."
Kagome sighed and patted his head.
It saddened her to find out that apparently youkai were just as derisive towards hanyou as humans were. For some reason, she'd thought since Inuyasha had more demon attributes and abilities, it wouldn't be so hard to blend in. And plus, youkai shouldn't fear him like humans right?
Thanking the kami that the whole kerfuffle steered clear of their supplies and food, Kagome retrieved the two yams and offered one to Shippou. He thanked her enthusiastically and dug in. Taking the remaining one, she walked up to Inuyasha.
His hands were jammed into his sleeves and arms crossed tightly across his chest in turn. What was apparent in his body language was that he was mighty displeased with the situation. Honestly, she couldn't blame him. She'd be pretty pissed off too if she'd helped someone and then they go and call her something rude.
"Ne, Inuyasha," She approached quietly, squatting down in front of him to peer up at his face.
One golden eye opened and glared at her. "Ya finished babying the runt?"
"You know I can't stand seeing someone hurt and do nothing about it." She sighed. "Like you said, he's a baby."
"A youkai runt, Kagome. Probably heals faster than me." He muttered, while shooting an annoyed look towards the direction of the stream. "He just looks small 'cause he's a kitsune."
"I know." She plopped down beside him. Taking advantage of his distraction, she tugged on his nearest wrist and deposited the remaining yam into the palm she'd freed. "Eat up!"
Inuyasha stared at the vegetable while she rearranged herself into a more comfortable position, wrapping her arms around her knees. She could sense the weight of his gaze on the side of her face.
It was her turn to be surprised by the unexpected feel of his fingers wrapping around her forearm. She was in the middle of looking over in question when something was forced into her grip.
Looking down, it was a division of the yam she'd just given him.
"Inuya—" She started, then noticed that her piece was definitely the bigger chunk. "Nuh-uh!"
Quicker than she'd thought herself capable, she snatched his portion a hair's breadth from his lips and swapped it with hers.
"Oi!"
"Nope. You're the one doing the running, so nope!"
As a final gesture, she peeled the puny end of the yam he'd dared to rip off as his own portion and crammed it into her mouth whole.
Well ok, it wasn't that small, so as a result her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's. Worst yet, the look on Inuyasha's face was so amusing that she had a hard time not choking as giggles escaped her.
"Don't think you can bribe me with stupid yam to let that kid tag along." Inuyasha grumbled beside her.
From the corner of her eye she saw one corner of his mouth quirk up briefly before he bit into his own portion.
Successfully pocketing the large mouthful into one cheek so she could chew, Kagome nudged the hanyou's side playfully.
Hearing his half-hearted protests made her grin anew.
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A/N: Okay, so I angsted about how to get all the characters in here with the time difference. The running explanation I've concocted is the 50 years Inuyasha was pinned the tree simply did not existed and the timeline from before that instance superimposed itself onto the time the canon series would've occurred :P Lol if that doesn't make sense, just go with "because the author herself wished it so".
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.