Moonlit Encounter:

A Tale of Dogs & Wolves 

By: ChocolateEclar

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any other character from the anime/manga "Inuyasha." So don't try to sue me.  ^___^

Claimer: I own Koinu (Nobara), Shirakaba, Yu (Yousukou), Hime (Yuck!), Mashiro, Itoshii, Haipaa, Koishii and her children, and all of Yu's younger siblings and cousins.

To TetsuoTsubushi: You never know, Hime might have some good points…Then again maybe not! *laughs* An antagonist fits Hime perfectly. Thanks again!

To Tinuviel: Yep, I had too much fun making up the school's names. Anyhow, thanks for reviewing!

A/N: Here's a funny quote:

Myouga: "Inuyasha-sama...you should get your personality fixed."

Part 7: Shi's Guest

Koinu awoke with a start, sweat lining her brow. She could recall only bits and pieces of her battle with Hime, her mind fuzzy.

"Ah. You're awake," said a gentle female voice.

Koinu could tell the woman was an urufu youkai even though her head was pounding and she felt shaky. The smell was unmistakable. "Who-Who are you?" she inquired lifting her head up off the furs she seemed to be laying on.

"My name is Mashiro," replied the lady wolf coming into view. It was indeed Yu's okaasan, her long white hair flowing down her back and her matching tail curved out behind her elegantly. She smiled and crouched down and handed Koinu a little strip of meat. "Eat it. It'll help you get your strength back. My sister's a hanyou and whenever she lost control she would forget what she was doing when it happened. I think because you're only a quarter youkai you feel so ill now."

Koinu took the meat, nibbling on it absently. "Where's Yu?" she asked after awhile.

By then Mashiro had already gotten up and was about to step out of the cave into the diminishing light outside. She stopped and replied, "I'll go get him."

She left leaving Koinu to feebly slump back onto the furs and close her eyes. She could recall turning back to her normal self. 'It hurt,' she thought.

After a few moments, Yu came into the cavern temporarily blocking all the light that was filtering in. He sat down beside Koinu, asking, "Dochirahe?"

"I'm alright," answered Koinu.

She wasn't meeting his blue-eyed gaze though so he knew something wasn't right. "What's wrong?" he inquired.

"Its just a headache, really," Koinu replied.

"You're lying," whispered Yu lightly. He lifted up her chin and said, "Come on, look at me. You're fine now."

Koinu met his gaze reluctantly. Gold met blue and Yu knew she had been in pain in an instant.

"It hurt to transform like that, didn't it?" he asked.

"It-It felt like I was drowning in my own youkai blood," explained Koinu, her eyes glittering with emotion. She laughed uneasily and turned away.

Yu sighed. He could read her so easily. "Do you want me to take you home and bring you back tomorrow to ask my mom for help with that math thing? It's already sunset after all," he noted.

Koinu nodded. "Fine, it is only Saturday after all so I can do it tomorrow," she said.

"Alright, I'll carry you the whole way."

"You sure?" Koinu asked as he stood up.

"Yea, you're not heavy at all, remember?" Yu teased.

He wanted her to laugh and his goal was accomplished right after he said that. After her laugh fest she tried to get up as well to no avail. Her head just pounded too much.

Yu grabbed her hands and gave them a tug, pulling her up and against his chest. Her face reddened and she pulled away regretfully. He picked her up in his arms and walked to the cave entrance, there he jumped down the cliff and to the earth below. Koinu had to muffle a scream as he did this; she hadn't realized how high they were.

Yu ran through the forest and then down to the road that led to Tokyo. They were a blur of wind as he skimmed across the ground, their hair and Yu's tail flapping about.

They reached Koinu's house about a half an hour later. Yu stopped and stood Koinu up on the front step. Koinu rang the doorbell, too tired to fish out her keys from her ragged jeans. Inuyasha growled lowly at Yu as he opened the door. "What did you do?" he barked at him as he helped Koinu limp into the house and onto a couch in the living room.

"Its-Its my fault, Dad," said Koinu. "I shouldn't have tried to fight his oneesan. She was too strong, I started losing control and Yu stopped me. If it wasn't for him I probably would've gone full youkai." By then Kagome had come into the living room and was gone again getting fresh bandages from their medicine cabinet.

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"Your okaasan did a good job with these old cloths," Kagome remarked to Yu after the new bandages were firmly placed.

"She's the tribe healer," explained Yu.

Koinu lounged back on the sofa she was sitting on. She closed her golden eyes and opened one when Shi came through the front door. "What happened to you?" he asked, taking off his baseball cap. He looked extremely pleased with something.

"Oh just your everyday train wreck," said Koinu sarcastically.

Shi smirked and said equally sarcastically, "Well whatever happened atleast you've still got your shining personality."

"Hardy har har," snapped Koinu dryly. Both of her eyes were open now and she was looking like she was ready to tackle her ototo.

Yu gripped her arm from where he was leaning against the couch from behind it. Koinu relaxed to Shi's surprise causing the shaggy white-haired boy to grin. He didn't say anything though and went to his room.

Yu let go and stood up. "I should be getting back now. I have the night shift tonight. It starts soon," he explained.

Koinu looked up and him and nodded.

"Are you sure?" asked Kagome.

"Yea, I'll get in trouble if I'm late," said Yu. "Besides, I bet my dad is mad already 'cause Hime, my oneesan, abandoned her shift to attack Koinu."

They said their good-byes; Inuyasha was acting a bit friendlier, but was far from being truly sociable towards Yu.

Yu sped off in his usual whirl of wind, glancing back once to see Kagome in the doorway. Koinu was still too dizzy to move very well on her own.

He smiled faintly. Koinu had proved how tough she was that day.

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The following day, Koinu woke up and got ready for Yu to pick her up. She grabbed her homework, which, because of the fight the previous day, was looking a bit crumpled and woebegone, and stuffed it into her jeans' pocket. She pulled back her long, raven-colored tresses in a ponytail and put on her favorite necklace, a gold chain with a tiny tear-shaped blue topaz as its pendent. (A/N: I have one of these. I love it. ^_^)

She went into the kitchen where Shi was already eating breakfast. "Where's Mom and Dad?" inquired Koinu as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Mom went to breakfast with Uncle Souta, and Dad went out somewhere. 'Probably went to see Shippou or something. Both let us sleep late," explained Shi.

"Hmm. What are you doing today?"

"Zat is coming over for lunch."

"What are you gonna make?"

"Hot dogs," replied Shi.

"'Makes sense considering that's the only thing you can make without burning," teased Koinu.

"Like you should talk."

Koinu laughed and said, "I'm going with Yu back to Fuji-yama. His Mom's gonna help me with a math problem."

"Is that all?" inquired Shi, one eyebrow cocked.

"Oh shut up, squirt!" snapped Koinu.

"Squirt? I'm as tall as you, you mizetto!" retorted Shi.

Koinu stuck her tongue out at her ototo, which was when Yu decided to make his presence known. "Very mature, Ko," he said, laughing.

Koinu's head turned around sharply and she grinned sheepishly. Yu was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen doorway, his arms crossed and his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Ko does mean child," Shi said mockingly.

Koinu kicked her ototo who yelped and swore.

"Where does this bad language come from?" Yu commented.

"Oh, we learned when we were little," said Koinu and Shi added, "from our dad."

Yu chuckled and stepped together the kyoudai.

"I'll be done in a minute," said Koinu finishing her cereal.

Yu nodded and waited, examining the two kyoudai. They both had golden eyes but Koinu's seemed 'deeper' with little flecks of darker gold. Shi's hair was shockingly bright in the morning light while Koinu's was dark. They were the same height and quite alike when it came to the shape of their faces. Shi looked a bit more like his otousan than Koinu did though. He was like a smaller version of Inuyasha with much shorter hair. Koinu looked like her okaasan but with different color eyes and bushier hair. She was a bit shorter than Kagome as well.

In a few moments Koinu was done and had put her bowl in the sink. "Ready?" she asked Yu who had a distant look on his face.

He snapped out of his trance and said, "Alright. See ya later, Shi!"

Shirakaba nodded and said good-bye to them as well. He watched as they took off, his keen eyes noticed worriedly that Koinu was still limping. He turned back to his own finished breakfast and cleaned up.

'Soon Ouka'll be here!' he thought giddily. He had invited his crush over, not his best friend. He was terribly nervous.

The doorbell rang a half an hour later and he took a deep breath. He opened the door to see eleven-year-old Ouka, her shoulder-length black hair and her bright green eyes glittering in the sunlight.

"Umm…  H-Hi, Ouka," stammered Shi.

Ouka smiled and said, "Hello, Shirakaba."

"Oh, you can call me Shi," said Shi letting her inside.

"Alright," said Ouka. She was adorned in a cute shirt and shorts that were light pink with white daisies. "So what are we going to eat?"

"I'm gonna cook hot dogs, if you don't mind that is."

"That's fine," agreed Ouka following him into the kitchen and sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. "Need any help?"

"No, no, I'll be fine," said Shi, getting the frozen food out of the freezer.

Ouka nodded and watched Shi as he cooked.

Shi could 'feel' her eyes on him and he gulped. 'Gotta stay calm. She's actually here, remember? She accepted your invitation to lunch…' he thought. He sighed and glanced at Ouka who was looking at him intently. She smiled at him.

Shi couldn't help but smile back. 'Maybe this was a good idea after all,' he pondered cheerfully.

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A/N: Here's some quotes between Inuyasha and Kaede:

Inuyasha: *digs a shallow ditch, places the wounded Kaede in it, and covers her with leaves and soil* "…hide here! I'll come back for you later… if I don't forget."

Kaede: "See that you do not, boy!"

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A/N: Here are the translations:

Dochirahe=How are you?

Mizetto=midget A/N 2: Review! ^___________________________^

Koinu: That's a big mouth.

Choccy: Hey… That wasn't nice.

Koinu: *shrugs*

Choccy: Anyway, bye! ^_-