Greetings again, readers of young and old. Another chapter of brownies has come. Sit back, relax, and read the computer screen when you should be outside doing summer shit.
"Families are like brownies; sweet with a few nuts."
Chapter 16. Big Daddy
Kagome walked through the woods holding Sumiko's hand. Sumiko watched her as they walked. "Where are we goin', Mommy?"
Kagome didn't look back at her, she just moved through the forest with a determined stride and her big backpack flopping around behind her. "You'll see, Sumiko." She said. Then they paused, almost causing Sumiko to run into her. Looking around the huge backpack, Sumiko saw Inu Yasha leaning his back against a tree, meditating in his usual sitting position.
Kagome stared at him for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and walking toward him. Inu Yasha's ears twitched and he looked in their direction. Kagome pulled Sumiko into view and said, "Inu Yasha, I need you to watch Sumiko for a few hours."
"What??" he asked.
"I have to go to my time to restock. Plus, I got homework to turn in!" Kagome said.
"No way!"
"Please, Inu Yasha! It's just for one day!"
"Make Sango watch her!"
"She can't! She had to go with Miroku to do an exorcism. And Kaede's busy, plus she's already taking care of Shippou."
"I can't watch her! What am I gonna do with her?!"
"I don't know Inu Yasha, just be nice to her and make sure she doesn't hurt herself, okay?" Kagome pleaded. She even wrung her hands together for effect.
Inu Yasha 'feh'ed and looked back and forth from Kagome, Sumiko, and the grass. He looked kind of upset that she sprang this on him, angry that she was trying to make him do this, and guilty for the expression she was giving him. "I-I won't know what to do!" he finally said.
"I'll leave you some lunch for the both of you, just eat it when you get hungry. I'll come back after school. And I'll leave you the address of the village Kaede went to visit if you need any help, she should be back in a few hours." Kagome said, rummaging through her bag for all of these things.
"Yeah, whatever." Was Inu Yasha's reply.
"Okay then," Kagome stood facing Sumiko, she brushed off her kimono and straightened it like it was a bed sheet, then licked her thumb and rubbed at a smudge of chocolate on Sumiko's cheek. She held Sumiko's shoulders. "You be good for Inu Yasha, ok?"
"Okie, Mommy!" Sumiko smiled.
Kagome picked up her sack and began to walk away. "I'll be back in a few hours. Be nice to her, don't let her out of your site, I'm counting on you Inu Yasha!" she called.
"Yeah, yeah!" he called after her. Once she was out of site he turned to look at Sumiko. She stood there smiling innocently at him, and also looking like she didn't have much on her mind.
After a few moments of silence, he went back to the meditating he was doing before she got there. Sumiko still stood there, staring at him. Inu Yasha realized she was still standing and opened one eye to look at her. "Sit down or something, you're annoying me."
"Okay." Sumiko said and sat down.
Inu Yasha closed his eyes again but found it hard to think. There was a weird feeling in the front of his mind that held him back from concentrating correctly. He opened his eyes and saw Sumiko still staring at him. "What?"
Sumiko shook her head. "Nuffin'." She said.
Inu Yasha 'feh'ed again and went back to meditating. (AN: Two feh's in one hour!) He still couldn't think. He looked at her to see that she was still staring. "Don't you have something better to do then sit here? Why don't you go play or something?" he asked irritatedly.
"My mommy said not to run away from you." Sumiko stated.
Inu Yasha frowned. "Kagome ain't your 'mommy', I don't know what you were smoking when you came to that conclusion."
"My mommy also says that smoking is wrong." Sumiko said.
She was really starting to bug him. "Oh? Well what else does she say?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. Like he really cared.
Sumiko looked upward and started repeating things she had heard Kagome say, "Sumiko! Don't pet that alligator!" "Where are my cards?" "Thanks Kaede, I would have you watch Sumiko too, but I want her and Inu Yasha to bond together…"
"WHAT?!?!" Inu Yasha looked at her wide eyed.
Sumiko blinked in confusion and repeated what she said, "Thanks, Kaede, I would have you watch Sumiko too-"
"Shut up! I heard what you said!" Inu Yasha growled. Then he looked down at the grass with a deep scowl, "That wench! She made me watch her on purpose!" he stood up and started walking away. Sumiko got up and followed him.
"Where are you going, Daddy?" she asked.
"I ain't you daddy, and I'm going to Kagome's time!" he growled. "I'm going to go to that school of hers and drag her back her! Then I'm going to yell at her and make her stay here."
All of a sudden, Sumiko jumped over Inu Yasha's head and stood in front of the well. She looked at him and said, "Mommy said not to let Daddy come through the well."
"Huh! Whatever! Try and stop me!" he said as he continued to approach the well.
That was a mistake.
Sumiko raised her hand out in front of her like she was saying, 'talk to the hand, cause the demoness ain't listenin'.'
Inu Yasha all of a sudden started running as if trying to scare her into running aside. She didn't. He ran right into an invisible shield that she created around herself and the well.
He sat up, feeling like he had broken his nose and looked up at her in disbelief. Sumiko giggled lightly in amusement. "Daddy funny like Kitty!" she laughed. He held his nose and stared intensely at her. He remembered when Sashimi would create really strong barriers. But with all of the baby talk, silliness, and naivety, he had never even considered the thought that Sumiko might have demon powers.
Inu Yasha jumped up and drew tetsusaiga. He held it so that it pointed at her and her barrier. "Drop your barrier or I'll mow it and you down!" he bluffed. He knew that if he killed Sumiko, Kagome would kill him. Deep down, he didn't really want to hurt Sumiko anyway.
Sumiko just looked at him confused, with her hand still raised.
"Do you think I'm lying little girl?!" Inu Yasha growled. Tetsusaiga faded blood red at the blade and swarmed with energy. Hopefully that would scare her enough to drop the barrier and run. It didn't. Sumiko stood there with her hand still raised, and more then likely, her barrier was still there too. Either she was very confident in her strength of magic, or she was incredibly stupid.
Inu Yasha sheathed his sword and plopped down in the grass. "Fine! I'll just wait till you drop the barrier!" he said. Eventually her hand would get tired and her barrier would weaken. It wouldn't be a long wait, he thought.
5 hours later…….
Sumiko stood with her hand raised in front of the well. She watched in awe as a butterfly floated overhead. Inu Yasha felt like he was gonna die. How boring is this?? He thought.
"Hey! Aren't you tired at all??" Inu Yasha asked.
"Sumiko took her nap little while ago." She answered with a smile.
Inu Yasha 'feh'ed again and looked to the side.
Sumiko watched him for a few seconds. "Daddy, Sumiko have question…."
He didn't answer so she just asked, "Does Daddy think Kitty likes Sumiko?"
Inu Yasha scowled boredly and said, "Tsk. He'd rather try and date that gay ass Jakotsu before he tried to like you."
Sumiko gasped and took a step back. The barrier shrank a bit. Inu Yasha noticed.
"He-he doesn't?" Sumiko whispered in shock.
Inu Yasha paused for a few seconds, thinking. "No. He hates you."
Sumiko gasped again and her barrier dropped. She sank to the ground and stared out into space with an unreadable expression on her face, but most of it was shock.
Inu Yasha smiled and walked over to the edge of the well. He was about to jump in when he heard Sumiko say in a shaky, slightly deeper voice, "Sumiko knew it! Kitty really doesn't like her!" She started to shiver, sniffing and whimpering.
Inu Yasha freaked out. He ran over in front of her to see if she was really crying. She sat with her head tilted forward, biting her lower lip while little steams of tears ran down her cheeks.
"S-stop crying!" Inu Yasha commanded.
She leaned forward putting her face in her arms. "Sumiko knew it! Kitty hates her!" she sobbed loudly.
"He-he doesn't hate you!" Inu Yasha shouted. He hated it when women cried.
"Kitty hates her!" Sumiko sobbed. "He always has! Sumiko doesn't know what she did wrong!" that brought on a high pitched whimper followed by more sobs.
Inu Yasha kneeled in front of her and held out his hands, but didn't touch her, afraid he would make it worse. All of a sudden, Sumiko through herself into his chest and cried into his haori. "Why does Kitty hate Sumiko so, Daddy??" she cried.
Inu Yasha felt terrible, like he had just made one of the hugest mistakes ever, and it made him a little angry, at himself and angry at Shio. He tentatively put his arms around Sumiko for comfort. "He doesn't hate you, Sumiko. Shio doesn't hate anyone, especially not you."
Sumiko's volume decreased only a little, but she continued to cry. "Kitty hates her, he always has." She put her arms around him too.
"No, he doesn't!" Inu Yasha said, with a small tinge of annoyance in his voice. "He's just stupid. Do you want me to talk to him or something?"
Sumiko sniffed and nodded, "Uh-huh." She hugged Inu Yasha tighter and most of the crying was gone, besides the sniffles.
He gave her a gentle pat on the back, symbolizing that he was ready to let go of her. She didn't get it so he just stood up, making her let go of him. She looked up at him with large wet eyes and a swollen face.
"Just don't cry anymore, okay?" he said. He turned around and started to walk away. "I'll talk to him. But let's go eat lunch first."
Sumiko stood up and followed him, taking small quiet steps. She looked up at him and rubber the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you, Daddy."
He glanced back at her. She smiled at him with slight hope.
He looked forward again and nodded. "You're welcome, Sumiko."
Kagome tossed her backpack over the side of the well, and climbed out to be greeted by Shippou and Shio.
She sat on the edge of the well and Shippou jumped into her arms. "I missed you, Kagome!" Shippou hugged her happily.
"Kagome," Shio said. Kagome looked up at his mischievous grin. He motioned for her to follow as he turned around and began walking somewhere. "You've gotta see this."
He led her through the forest and stood by a tree staring into a clearing. Inu Yasha sat with Sumiko. They were flipping out card after card on a flat rock, playing a game of war. Then when a matching king fell on the deck, they both slammed their hands down on it at the same time.
Sumiko: "SUMIKO GOT IT!!"
Inu: "I GOT IT!!"
Sumiko and Inu: "IT'S MINE!" "SUMIKO/I TOUCHED IT FIRST!!"
They laughed, shouted and fought over who got the card first.
"SUMIKO GOT IT, DADDY IT'S MINE!!"
"I DON'T THINK SO, LITTLE GIRL! I PUT MY HAND DOWN FIRST!!"
Sumiko pushed him, and he almost fell off of the rock he was using as a seat. He pushed her back and she almost fell over. Then she bared little fangs and grinned.
Inu Yasha looked confused and slightly afraid. "Uh-oh."
Sumiko growled and jumped him. "RAH!!!"
But Inu Yasha caught her and flipped her over to the person being attacked. Sumiko screamed with laughter. "STOP!! – SUMIKO GIVE UP!!! STOP IT!!"
Kagome, Shio, and Shippou came over to see her getting the tickle torture.
"Ahem." Shio said.
Inu Yasha looked up at them first and backed crawled off of Sumiko in embarrassment. "Hi, Kagome. Back so soon?"
"Daddy and Sumiko were playing war! And it was fun, right, Daddy?" Sumiko asked, her cheeks rosy from the laughing.
"Yeah, it was." Inu Yasha smiled and agreed with her.
Kagome smiled at both of them. "Well, I'm glad you had fun today, who wants candy?"
"Me!" Shippou and Sumiko raised their hands.
Later on that night, another ominous cloud had burst into a thunderstorm, so Miroku did his stuff to get them into an expensive mansion for the night. Sumiko hid her head under her blanket and shivered as another lightening bolt crackled overhead. She wrapped her blanket around herself and lightly stepped out the door to the hallway. There were different doors all around, but she knew that there were scary monsters lurking in the darkness, waiting for her to walk far enough away from her room. Fear of the darkness crept up her legs like thousands of spiders. Sumiko shivered and darted into the closest room to hers.
She stood with her back to the door, while her large eyes scanned the room looking for who was in it. Her pupils were able to gather enough light to see that there was a bed against the fathest wall of the room with a body in it. She crept over to it trying to see who it was. She could bearly see who it was at all. She noticed a candle sitting nearby. She took a deep breath and blew out toward the candle. The wick of the candle seemed to catch fire on it's own and the room became dimly lit with it's small light. She looked at the bed again and her eyes widened. It was Shio. But there was something different about him. She had seen him asleep before when he was lying up in a tree or sitting on the ground inside of a shed with the rest of the group, but lying in a separate room inside of a mansion with a bed, he had different sleeping habits. His hair was down and strayed across the floor and the green kimono he was using as a pillow. Sumiko blinked. Why was he using his shirt and pants as a pillow? Then she was struck by a wondrous thought. If he's using his shirt and pants as a pillow, then what was he……..
She reached over and pulled back the blanket a little bit. Shio's well toned chest was there, rising and falling with his breathing. She pulled back the covers more, gasped and dropped the blanket back on him. She backed up in bewilderment. "What's that?!" she whispered loudly.
Shio laughed in his sleep and rolled over. "Oh princess," he said in his sleep. "You're such a tease!"
Sumiko wasn't really sure about staying in that room for the night. Whatever that-that—"thing" was that Shio was hiding under his blanket was, was scarier then any monsters that watched her in the hallway. Another thunder clap echoed overhead, arguing with that last thought. Shio rolled over on his side. Sumiko wrapped her blanket tightly around herself and welt to lay behind him. It probably couldn't get her if she was over there. She pulled over some of the clothes to use as a pillow, and after a few moments, she fell back to sleep.