Present Time.
Inuyasha Fanfiction
By alandrem
Chapter 24
Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah. Same as chapter one.
Author Note: As always I want to thank telosphilos for co-writing/sharing ideas with me, and for her great memory, because I sometimes forget what direction we had decided the fic should go.
Thanks to Chri who did the editing of this chapter and evercool, please try to contact me on the ICQ since my antivirus has been deleting a lot of stuff without warning or letting me check the remittent so I don't know if you have responded to my e-mails. Try to contact me to this e-mail please animealam@alandrem.net or the one in my profile.
I know it took me long to update, with trying to get my site going again, and some other real life stuff I have not been able to write as fast as I would have liked to. But I promise I won't take as long with the next chapter. It is already well under way and hopefully will be finished soon, it all points out that it is going to be a very long chapter or maybe I'll post two.
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Kagome thanked the heavens above that it was Friday so she would not have a full day of classes tomorrow. She was sure it would not make much difference if she skipped it. The young woman mentally snorted at herself. Who would have thought that she would willingly contemplate missing school, not her, that was for sure. Missing school had been the main theme on most of her discussions and arguments with Inuyasha. He wanted her to stay in the past and she wanted to be in her own time and attend her classes.
The young Miko sighed, to be truthful to herself, she would much rather have stayed at home with Inuyasha and Shippou, but with as much school as she had already missed the previous weeks, she could not justify it. She needed to go to the classes, besides; it was easier to learn the material if she was there for the lectures, and could ask either the sensei or any of her classmates for explanations. Yet, there were just too many things happening in her life, and too many things she needed to think about to really be able to concentrate on what the teachers were saying.
At that moment she was in History class, her Sensei, Mr. Suzuki was one of her nicest and more comprehensive teachers. He always went the extra length to make the dull subject of studying the past light and entertaining. He also always made sure she could catch up with the rest of the group when she came back from her 'illnesses'. Suzuki Sensei had noticed that Kagome was unusually distracted that morning. Whenever she was back from wherever she really went, Higurashi Kagome was one of his most attentive and diligent students. He was aware that she had not been sick of more than a cold in quite a long time, being a tanuki* youkai gave him an advantage over the human sensei.
The young Miko's thoughts constantly went to her most recent problem, Shippou. He was so hurt and they had almost lost him. In fact, Kagome was not sure he was out of danger yet. She was really having second thoughts about her idea of leaving her mate, and the young woman could not keep the small tender smile that came to her lips, to care for Shippou. She knew Inuyasha did love the kid enough to do what he did to keep the boy alive and to let her family see how worried he really was. It was just that she could not help worrying that they might get into trouble with all the modern things in her home.
There was also the fact that Inuyasha was definitely not a patient hanyou. A sick and injured Shippou could be enough to try a monk's or Miko's serenity. The boy certainly made sure to try Inuyasha's endurance to its limits when he was healthy, which usually resulted in the kid being bopped on the head and the hanyou kissing dirt. Also, her mate knew nothing about tending sick people or taking care of children. In all she now sincerely regretted leaving those two alone, even if Jii-chan was supposed to keep an eye on them, she was sure neither demon would pay any attention to him.
'What was I thinking in the morning?' Kagome thought letting out a very soft groan and putting her face in her hands for a few moments ignoring the Sensei in front giving his lesson. She was also completely oblivious to the concerned looks from her friends, too preoccupied that, when she finally got home she would have to pacify her furious mate, take care of Shippou's numerous bumps and comfort the kid. 'I need to call home during lunch break; maybe Eri will lend me her cell phone. She usually brings it to school.'
All of the sudden, Kagome's vision darkened and changed. She was no longer seeing the classroom around her. It was like those awful nightmares she had been having. She could not just stretch her mind and escape from the vision that invaded her senses and stole her away from the classroom like she could a night mare or a day dream. This was definitely different from the musings of her subconscious, definitely real. Somehow, she knew that she needed to see this, that she needed to know what had happened to be able to stop it from occurring again, but that did not make the vision any easier to take.
The room was dark, damp and filled with the nauseous scent of decay. Only the light coming from a small and dirty window filtered through, giving a hint that it was still daylight outside. Hearth wrenching sobs resounded in the enclosed space, leaving the faint echo of metal walls. A… girl entered her line of vision; she was young with beautiful large brown eyes and long wavy dark hair that was sticking to her damp face and shoulders. In the dim light, she saw some dark marks covering her naked body, something that resembled wings protruded from her back lay limply. Nothing was clear with the exception of a strange, red glow in the middle of the girl's chest. It was some kind of strange ofuda; the design looked and felt so different from what she had seen before, that it almost etched itself into her mind. The young youkai female could only move her head, even if her body shook slightly with her sobs. She raised her head at the sound of her steps, her eyes filled with terror and she let out a blood curling, horror filled scream.
Kagome let out a startled gasp, and shook her head to clear it of the vision she had just experimented. It had been disturbing, as if she was seeing through one of the killer's eyes, and yet, she could not tell which one it was. This vision was also very different from what she had seen on Thursday when the young hooker was murdered. Then, she had felt the young woman's pain and anguish, and today she really felt nothing. It was not even like watching a horror movie, because if it were a good movie she would be scared. But, the guy felt nothing, nothing at all. Only after Kagome was free of it did her brain, body and emotions react. Fear gripped her at the knowledge that she could have been that girl and those… 'Monsters' were, without any doubt, after her. The young girl had been a youkai and she was trapped, had not been able to escape or fight them off. She wondered how they managed that, and the image of the strange ofuda glowing red filled her mind. It took the young Miko a few moments to get herself under control and put her 'I'm-perfectly-all-right' face.
Eri sat beside Kagome; she noticed her strange lapse and wanted to ask. The girl discreetly turned to her and very softly called her friend's name, hoping the sensei would not hear. He was known for his exceptionally good hearing. Kagome did not want to deal with questions, especially in the middle of a class, so she pretended not to hear. Even if Eri knew about the 'Park Killers' it was not the place to discuss them.
The vision still danced in her mind, but slowly some of the few details she had been able to distinguish started to fade. It was then that the young Miko decided she would write down what she saw; describing everything no matter how gross, it looked. If she was careful in her notes, and as accurate as the rather foggy visuals allowed her, she was sure some clue as to who and where those 'monsters' were might come up. In addition, the strange ofuda would not leave her mind. The thing was important; she felt it. Maybe Miroku-sama or Kaede obaa-chan would know what it was used for. Ignoring her teacher once again, she started describing on paper what she had just seen.
While he was writing some important dates on the blackboard, he felt a flare of Miko power, and it required a great deal of control from him to ignore it just long enough to finish and turn to face the class slowly. He did not want to worry his youkai and hanyou students, as Suzuki was sure they had felt it too, and if he reacted alarmed, his human ones would wonder what was happening. Higurashi-chan's eyes were slightly unfocused for a few seconds more, then she let out a barely audible gasp and shuddered before looking thoughtful. Then the young woman started scribbling madly on her notebook. It puzzled him; he would have to ask her what it was about. At the moment he just whispered a reassurance to his sensitive students and went on with the lesson.
In the beginning of Kagome's absences, he had been worried that one of his best students was involving herself with bad companies or even drugs. She seemed more tired whenever she came back, and he could detect the faint traces of inu hanyou's scent sill around her. As any sensible teacher would do, he had decided to bring the subject to the attention of her mother. However, before he had a chance to speak to her, he found out that her family was aware of the absences and they were the ones covering for the young woman.
Higurashi Kagome and her disappearances became an interesting puzzle after that. All the youkai and hanyou teachers liked to ponder about it during their free time, and they sometimes included a few of the trained humans that worked with them. They all noticed how the girl's spiritual strength grew as the days passed. It was faster than any of them thought possible.
Most of the youkai teachers were aware she lived at a shrine, and the only possible conclusion they reached was that Higurashi Kagome was receiving training to become a Miko. To everyone it was clear she was going to be exceptionally powerful, the young woman already was and they could see she had not advanced much with the training yet. Still, that did not explain why she smelled so strongly of dog hanyou, later the scent of Kitsune baby was added and even some kind of feline youkai, no one could really place.
Suzuki sensei made a few rounds through the rows of desks as an excuse to get closer to Higurashi-chan. When he passed Kagome's seat he stopped and sniffed, trying to see if this time the girl was indeed sick. His sense of smell was not great, but it certainly beat a human's any day. What he found out disturbed him, the scent of inu hanyou was stronger, like a mated human should smell, but not quite. In his opinion, she was too young and the hanyou's scent was young too, and very strong. It was almost like a pack leader's, which could not be. As far as the tanuki knew, inu youkai did not allow pups to become leaders of any pack. His nose was probably playing tricks on him or maybe he was catching a human cold, it was not entirely unheard off. The disgusting virus had managed to cross species and confound the youkai immune system.
There was also the smell of the kitsune boy, so young that he was probably no more than a baby. But this time, unlike before, the scent was almost as strong as the hanyou's and carried the lingering and distinctive odor of sickness. The tanuki frowned; feeling confused and worried, he decided it was time to have a little chat with Kagome-chan. She should not be fooling around with an inu hanyou, especially because his species mated for life. However, he had a class to teach at the moment, and she was not paying attention to it, there would be time for that chat later. Before he could say anything though, he felt a second flare of her Miko power, much stronger this time. He could not see her eyes since she was bent on her notebook, but her hands gripped the pen tightly. He was sure her eyes were unfocused as if she was having some kind of vision, and the scent of fear increased.
The vision this time was worst than the first, stronger too and more in focus than the one she experienced only a few minutes before. It took Kagome a little while to realize it was still the same youkai girl, but her condition was much worse, to the point of making her barely recognizable. Parts of her once beautiful wings were missing; her whole body and face were masses of dark and bloody bruises. She could see the back of the other man having his way in torturing the girl; she could also distinguish some emotions. It sickened the young woman's heart. The… man was feeling pleasure at what his partner did. The youkai girl cried piteously in a bird like voice, but it was clear that she had barely any strength left, the light from the window was gone and Kagome got the impression they been hurting her for a very long time. She got a glance at a strange blade the person through whose eyes she was seeing held carefully. The design seemed familiar before she was jolted back to reality.
It had lasted longer than the first, the details were firmer in her mind and she determinedly scribbled what she saw, not wanting to miss any detail. Kagome did not realize her sensei stood beside her, he could and actually read, what she was writing. Suzuki sensei was for lack of a better word astounded; Higurashi's notes were some gross details about something that clearly looked like torture or even a murder. Her spiritual powers had flared even stronger, while she sat still, but he was surprised that it had not harmed him or any of his students. It had also happened fast enough that barely any of the human students there had noticed something was wrong.
He definitely needed to speak to her. The tanuki wondered if what she was writing had maybe something to do with the fact that she was under police protection. The principal informed them of the situation only a few days before. They were not to detain her after class, unless previously accorded with one of her escorts or her mother. Although those teachers that had to deal with Higurashi Kagome were curious about the reasons for the police protection, no explanations were forwarded, they were even subtly ordered not to ask. After the things he had read, Suzuki decided to ignore that order.
As far as he knew, from comments among the demon circles, some Mikos were strong enough to aid in locating missing persons or dead people. However, that was not something commonly done and Higurashi Kagome, although incredibly strong, was not a fully trained Miko. He could not help but feel both concerned and curious; perhaps one of his colleagues would know more about that type of Miko, and a possible reason why an untrained girl would be used for such cases. Seeing as he still had a class to teach, no matter how much he wanted to ponder on the girl's puzzle, the youkai teacher decided it was better to bring Kagome's attention back to his subject, than to let her dwell in those gross details.
"Higurashi-chan, please continue reading where Kawasaki-kun left off." He told her standing by her desk.
"Hn?" was the young woman's unintelligent reply. She had been too busy writing her visions to notice the sensei standing beside her.
"I asked you to continue reading from where Kawasaki-kun left off Higurashi, am I correct in assuming you have not been paying attention to class?" His voice was mildly reproving.
"Sumimassen Suzuki Sensei," Kagome apologized bowing her head a bit ashamed at having been caught distracted, not that she could have done anything to stop the visions. "You are correct sensei, gomen nasai."
"May I inquire the reason Higurashi-chan," he decided it was better to pretend he had not read any of her notes, there would be time later to ask in private. Besides, he wanted to know what kind of excuse she invented. "It is not like you to be so distracted in my class. You're not falling ill again, are you?" the way he stressed ill gave her the impression that he knew she had never been sick to begin with. Kagome tensed visibly and the tanuki could smell some nervousness coming from her.
"No sensei, I am not sick. I feel fine today." She finally looked up to see him and plastered on her face her best 'I'm-perfectly-fine-thank-you' smile. Her eyes widened a bit as she focused on his face. His image wavered, and she was finally able to notice he was a youkai, a tanuki.
Kagome's eyes slowly traveled around the classroom, taking notice of the new appearance of some of her classmates. There were full youkai and hanyous among them, but their numbers were small, only eight, from a group of 30 students. For a long moment, she stared at Kawasaki-kun unable to look away, the young hanyou shifted nervously in his seat. A small shudder ran down her spine, and she had to suppress a gasp. He was a spider hanyou! Kagome had always been afraid of spiders, and her encounter with the kumogoshira* had not done anything to lessen it.
'What human would be crazy enough to love a spider?' She thought again with a shudder. The young Miko then remembered that Kawasaki-kun's mother was an entomologist. The woman positively loved insects of any kind. She even wore hair clips with insect motives, and most were not pretty butterflies. 'So, Sesshomaru's spell has completely worn off now,' she sighed mentally. 'I guess I better get used to seeing youkai and hanyous all around. At least now I know why Kawasaki-kun always gave me the creeps, he is not a bad person, but… Spiders, I just hate the things!'
'What happened just now?' Suzuki thought, he had felt a flick of power, and then Kagome's Miko strength had flared bright and incredibly strong.
To him and the youkai in the classroom, it was like it had been tapered down and now it was finally released. He was sure youkai all around the school had felt it. What surprised him the most was that even beside her, he did not felt threatened or hurt by it; on the contrary, it was soothing and warm. True Miko strength was not easy to bear for youkai.
Suzuki could see the bewilderment reflected on his demon-blooded students, they were more than a bit perplexed and slightly afraid, and again he whispered reassurances; although he was not sure it was safe for any of them. So far, Kagome had not harmed them. It was also clear by the look on the young woman's eyes that she had been able to see through the concealing spell of everyone in the class, and without casting a disclosing spell or murmured any strong prayer. To his knowledge, only the Mikos of old might have been able to do that and even they had to use a spell.
"Are you sure Higurashi? You look a bit pale…" Perhaps if he got her out of the classroom he could get an explanation.
"Really Suzuki Sensei, I am fine," she reassured him, her 'I'm-perfectly-fine' smile still plastered on her face.
"Well then, since you are feeling all right," he said unconvinced by her clearly fake smile, and all that he had witnessed. No one would have been 'fine' with that. He certainly was not. "And you have been inattentive in class today… I want you to do an essay on the subject we were reading about today and will be studying this month. The Sengoku Jidai is a fascinating period of our history. To make it more interesting, concentrate on the mythology and popular beliefs of the time. I believe it won't be hard for you to find information about it since you live at a Shrine, a very old one if I'm not wrong." Kagome could not suppress the small groan at the extra work, although she might have an advantage if she asked Kaede obaa-chan, Miroku-sama or even some of the village women about some myths.
"Hai sensei. When do you want me to deliver the essay?" A few of her classmates snickered at her bad luck and extra load of work. It looked like a boring subject no matter how interesting the sensei thought it was.
"In two weeks, that should give you enough time to research and present a decent work. I would like you to present it for the class, but would like to read it first. So, book time for a couple of tutoring hours when it is done, as well as if you need any help with the topic." That would give him the excuse to have a lengthy private talk with her, even if it would not be as soon as he wanted. "And class, since you seemed to like the idea so much, I want you to do the same work as Higurashi-chan." A general groan greeted his news as well as some protests. "This will count as your test grades," the tanuki went on ignoring the protests, "I want a good interesting presentation, in fact I will book the projection room for Saturday in two weeks so everyone has the chance to present the work with visual aids." More groans from his disgruntled students. "Ok, I'm not that EVIL Sekiguchi, you can do the research in teams of four, BUT, the final presentation and the essay are INDIVIDUAL work. I want them in my office by Thursday prior to the presentation. It can be printed, on diskette or by e-mail to my school account and remember I don't have a Mac or Linux Yamamoto-chan," the told the class geek, then the end of class bell rang signaling the recess. "So please only PC format, class dismissed. Higurashi, please drop by my office for a few moments before your next class, I'll give you some bibliographies that might be useful for your work."
"Hai Sensei," Kagome said with a resigned sigh. She had the feeling her teacher did not want to talk about books.
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Watanabe Tsuki had studied medicine, among other things, and a couple of years ago she decided she was going to try her luck at forensic analysis. The decision came after her little brother, Kojiro, got her involved in a murder case he was working on. The female neko hanyou had found it utterly fascinating and a challenge for her innate curiosity so she switched professions. She became Kojiro's contact at the coroner's office, and besides being his favorite sibling, she usually got him good info or insights on those cases he had worked on aside from the 'Park Killer'.
The lieutenant had called his sister from the car and explained as much as he could about Shippou's condition. Tsuki had been a bit appalled at what she heard; her first thought was insist that a hospital would be a better place to take the kit. However, Kojiro had been adamant about not taking the kit to a hospital. She had heard him argue with someone, her guess was the boy's father as her brother had already told her that blood was shared, when he offered her an explanation over dinner. Kojiro apparently won the argument by saying and swearing that 'she WAS his sister for crying out loud and she was TRUSTWORTHY'. The other person remained quiet after that. The female neko hanyou informed her little brother that she agreed to look at the kid's injuries and keep it a secret.
When they arrived, she was already waiting for them and made the trio go into one of the rooms used for autopsies. For a moment, she was surprised to see that the person carrying the kit was an inu hanyou pup, instead of a kitsune as she expected, but she decided not to ask just yet about that. Kojiro after all had promised to explain later. The place she took them to was miraculously empty considering the workload the office was having. As soon as they stepped in, both Shippou and Inuyasha became wary of the strange neko and the awfully smelly place. The boy hissed nervously and went so far as to try to bite her when she came close. Inuyasha was more controlled, deciding that so far Watanabe had proved trustworthy, so he did his best to reassure the little kit. The young inu hanyou was inwardly surprised at his behavior; normally he would have done nothing to reassure Shippou, the kit was equally surprised and dog boy's awkward petting helped to distract him.
Tsuki understood that the kit was afraid and in pain from struggling. After all, from what little her brother had told her, he was not from the city. Therefore, she took the time to explain, as best as she could, everything there was in the room. She had always been good with kids, and had enough nephews that loved to have her baby sit to prove that, so she knew just what to do. Her friendly chatter, non-threatening voice and movements helped to reassure both kids it was safe. The female neko managed to take the x-rays of all Shippou's body, even though he still trembled a bit in fright. After Kojiro explained how he was injured, and she had been suitably horrified, Tsuki decided to make sure they were not missing any dangerous injury.
The final medical verdict was two broken ribs, and two slightly cracked. The fractures were simple, and did not require surgery. A few contusions on his head, a fissure on his right ankle that no one had noticed but that also needed a cast. His right arm was broken in three and the left in two; again, he had been lucky with simple fractures that would heal only with casts.
The big cut across his abdomen was ugly looking and hurt some internal organs but was healing because of the blood sharing; that made her curious. Where was his parent or the donor? Why was there only another pup with him? And of a different species. True, there seemed to be a bond of trust and affection between those two, but the injuries were too serious to leave the responsibility to a teen. In addition, his kitsune scent was strange; she really could not place the reason, but knew that something was not right about it, and it bothered her.
Then there was also the strange fact that the boy's parent must have really been a fast healer; the inner area of the wound was closing at an incredible pace. From her brother's recount, and what she could see, the boy should not have even been conscious and it would have probably taken him more than a week to start closing. But it already was, the stitching would help close it a bit faster and be less painful. In all her years as a doctor, the neko hanyou had never seen anything like it.
Unfortunately, as working with dead people did not require anesthetics, the only kind Tsuki was able to procure to close Shippou's wound was something local. It would not be able to remove all feeling from the area, although the kid would not feel pain. It would still be unnerving for someone as young as he was; there was also the fact that she had nothing to give him for the pain of setting his arms. To say that stitching Shippou and, even more important, putting on the casts was an ordeal could be considered the understatement of the year for Watanabe Tsuki.
It was painful, and the child became terrified of all the things she used. She had explained everything she was going to do to him, even the fact that she would have to hurt him a bit. But he did not understand most of the terms she used, no matter how much Tsuki tried to simplify them. And what made things worst, was that his fright only served to turn the inu hanyou into a nervous and rather menacing wreck, who growled, paced and even threatened to kill her for hurting 'his' Shippou. It surprised her to no end to hear that. The inu hanyou pup was acting as if he was the little one's parent. She had to stop in the middle of setting the kit's ankle to look at him perplexed.
'No, that can't be, he is too young. He, he's not even of the same species!' Tsuki thought to herself, 'I'm imagining things.' The hanyou doctor shook her head and resumed with her attempts to set the fissure of the struggling and crying child.
Inuyasha was going nuts; for one thing, he wanted to claw the neko to pieces for hurting Shippou. For another, he had understood some of what she explained and knew that she had to set the kit's fractures. He was just having one hell of a time to keep himself from rushing to 'rescue his pup'. The young man was anxious and confused about his feelings, so he growled and got angry. Anger being the only way he knew to deal with his confusion. His attitude only seemed to distress Shippou even more. At one point, Tsuki ordered Inuyasha to behave and let her work or Kojiro would take him out of the room forcefully. He had protested but in the end, he thought things over and managed to keep himself under control, if only barely.
In the end, Tsuki was able to set the fissure on the boy's ankle and put his already very swollen arms in casts. He would probably need to have the casts checked once the swelling went down just to make sure they still held the arms properly. But that would be something to worry about later. There were also the burns and scrapes to threat; they were really no trouble, once the most painful part was over. The older kid's behavior puzzled her more than a bit; somehow, he did not strike her as the kind to get distressed. However, the neko hanyou pushed that line of thought along with the other curious things to the back of her mind again, until she finished taking care of all the kit's injuries.
After she finished, Tsuki left for a few moments to deliver a blood sample, she had managed to extract it with the pup help, to the lab. She wanted to check what caused the fever her brother described. Being out of the room would also give her time to puzzle about those two kids. The older one's behavior was just too much like a parent, and yet she could not accept it, in youkai society that was just unheard of. So she pondered on possible explanations, it was just one of those puzzles her curiosity thrived on. Kojiro too left both of them alone, with the pretext of searching for some snacks or treats for the boy. He also wanted to give them some privacy in hopes that the pup could calm Shippou.
Inuyasha had a bit of a problem there, since he had no idea how to calm Shippou, who was still bawling his eyes out. He was never the one to ask for or give comfort. In the end, in a 'flash' of inspiration he was reminded that, as a child, his mother held and sang to him when he was hurt. That had always made him feel better and just holding had worked with Kagome on Friday. So, he did just that, instead of singing he hummed very softly a tune from his childhood. He vaguely remembered it, and the words seemed lost in the passages of his mind, hence the reason for not singing.
This behavior shocked Shippou to silence. He really could not believe his youkai ears, Inuyasha was humming, and he had a nice voice to top, while he gently rocked him back and forth. It did not take him too long to recover from his shock, the rocking motion, and the soothing tune worked wonders. And Shippou was soon lulled to a peaceful sleep.
'I wonder why Dog boy was never like this before. It's really nice.' He thought with a mighty yawn, barely able to keep his eyes open. Inuyasha held him close and let the kit's head rest on his shoulder, Shippou snuggled as best as he could against his neck. 'I… I like Inuyasha better this way.' Was his last wakeful though, a contented smile on his face and feeling no pain because of Tsuki's medicines.
The treatment had worked and not just with the kit, he too felt less tense almost immediately. The confusion remained, since the way he was behaving was at odds with the image he had worked most of his life to maintain. Inuyasha guessed he had to really sit down later to sort out the changes, and think what he was going to do about them. It was not that he minded loving Kagome and Shippou or caring for the rest of his pack, his problem was that he was showing too much. Letting people see too much and loosing some control over himself, it made him feel vulnerable and exposed.
"Fucking instincts!" he muttered again at the time Kojiro's sister returned.
Without realizing it, he growled menacingly at the sight of her. The MD was surprised at his reaction and she sniffed around for any danger, but there was nothing and no one except for her. Tsuki had arrived to a cute scene and even heard Inuyasha hum and later curse his instincts. She saw him unconsciously tense and take a protective stance, shielding the little kit from her, when she came in. It was then that she realized what the inu pup's problem was.
Tsuki was surprised, the signs had been there, the mixture of scent and the behavior, but she had not wanted to accept them. She had gone with logic and concluded that one of the kit's parents had been the one to share blood with him. When it was the inu hanyou pup who did it. It explained his behavior of course, why he was so protective and distressed at the child's pain. If her dumb brother had mentioned that 'little' fact she would have spared the teen and the kit all that anxiety, she would have sent the inu out. She was not versed in adoptions, but she did know there was some sort of connection between donor and recipient. Still the blood mark did not explain why the kitsune boy was alive and healing; the dog demon should not have been that strong. Well, it was done and could not be undone. The inu pup had adopted a kitsune pup that was something interesting to say the least. She could only hope for the older kid's sake that the little one was an orphan.
"Don't worry; I won't harm your pup Inuyasha," she told him in her most soothing voice. "That's your name isn't it?" They really had no proper introductions when they arrived; sometimes her brother's manners were atrocious. Inuyasha just nodded and stopped growling when he became aware that he was doing it. "I'm sorry I had to hurt him, and that you had to witness it. But I was not really aware that you had marked him until a moment ago."
"Feh! I would not have left the runt alone." Inuyasha told her gruffly, he knew Shippou would have been even more frightened if he had to face the neko hanyou alone and in such a strange place that reeked of death under all those weird scents.
"If my baka brother had seen fit to inform me I think we could have made this less of an ordeal for the both of you." She explained and Inuyasha just eyed her suspiciously, not understanding how she could have made it easier to bear.
"Feh!" he said, not really believing she could have made things better. He had never liked to see Shippou hurt before, much less now. But he knew that fractures were painful to set, he had done that several times before, and although he did not allow himself more than a groan or a hiss of pain, he knew it would be too much to bear quietly for Shippou. "I know setting fractures hurt," there was a pause before he added, "Just don't do it again."
"So this means you accept to bring him back so I can check how he's doing?" Tsuki said with a small, pleased smile, she had commented on that while she worked on the kit.
"Hai," Inuyasha responded with a curt nod.
"Good, now let me write some prescriptions for the medicines he will need and we'll go over how to care for him while he is injured ok?" She told him as she began searching for her prescription book. "Now where did I put the thing?" She mussed to herself revolving some drawers.
Even if Tsuki was working at forensics, she still tended to live patients on occasion, for cases just like Shippou. It usually was demons that could not or did not want to go to the hospital for one reason or other, the occasional human and when one of her many cousins, nephews or their friends got into trouble. And sometimes they were Kojiro's friends and co-workers who, since she joined forensics, had become part of her circle of friends too. They were usually minor things like sprained ankles and wrists, broken noses, colds or the lesions gotten from a little brawling while drunk.
When she finally found her block and finished writing the medication and instructions, Tsuki gave him specific instructions on how to take care of Shippou. She emphasized that he should eat as much as he could to heal better, but not to give him too many sweets, the dr. added when she saw the HUGE gummy bear bag Kojiro had found who knows where for the kit. At the moment, Inuyasha and her brother were the only ones popping gummy bears into their mouths like there was no tomorrow. She shook her head with a sigh; Kojiro had always had a sweet tooth, ever since he was a kitten and he never grew out of it. She guessed there would be none left for Shippou at the rate they were going. Also at Kojiro's insistence, she listed what kinds of foodstuffs would provide more energy to heal.
She also showed him how to bandage the ribs properly to make him more comfortable, and to use either a heated cushion or an ice pack to make the boy feel better. They would have to try both and see which one worked better at easing the pain. She prescribed some antibiotics to avoid infection, a medicine for the fever and some painkillers since the ribs were bound to hurt for a while. The fever thankfully was nothing to worry about, if well treated, just one of the normal youkai children afflictions. Shippou should be rid of the bouts of fever in a week or so, demon kids usually suffered it for about five days but the kit's energy would be devoted to heal the belly wound first, so he would take longer in recovering his full health.
The female hanyou also informed him she wanted to see Shippou in three days to check if the wound had closed enough for the stitches to be removed. From what she had been able to tell, the kit was healing fast. However, the casts had to wait for at least one week. Healing would make him tire easily, sleepy and hopefully very hungry. If he did not want to eat, Inuyasha was to call her the next day to check him up again. Before they left, she handed Inuyasha the few sheets of paper where she had written the prescriptions and instructions of how they were to be given to the kid. Tsuki also gave him her phone numbers in the event he had any doubts, or there was an emergency.
After that, Watanabe took them to get the medication and Inuyasha learned a bit more about going shopping. The neko was really helpful, he explained where the price was and about the taxes that would undoubtedly be added to the total. The younger hanyou took a good look around the huge drugstore, as Watanabe called the place. Saw all sorts of odd things and was glad he did not have to ask too many questions as Shippou woke up the moment they entered the place. And, as tired as he still was, set to the task of asking about everything he saw.
Thankfully, Inuyasha had enough money. Asami had seen it fit to provide the wallet she gave him with enough money to pay for his transportation, lunch, snacks and a few extras for two weeks. Inuyasha had used very little of it, so he was able to pay for the medicines, and two Hershey chocolate and cookies bars. Both his and Shippou's noses had gone into overdrive the moment they passed by them. Paying for all the stuff left the young hanyou penny less. He had never cared much about money, but the more he spent in Kagome's time the more he understood why it was important. There were no rice fields or orchards around, and the trees he had seen were not the kind to give edible fruits. If the people from Kagome's time wanted to eat, they had to buy it using that money. But he could not help but wonder where did the food come from.
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Before going out to recess Kagome suddenly became the most popular girl in class. Being the only one living at a shrine, with access to old scrolls made her the 'ideal' teammate. But the young Miko had already formed her research group, Eri, Arumi, and Yuka, her friends. She also knew they were serious students and would be careful with Jii-chan's precious scrolls. Some of her classmates still asked if they could do research at the Higurashi shrine. Her response was that she would ask her grandfather and give them an answer on Monday. In truth, the one she was really going to ask was Inuyasha. She was not sure how he would take having a lot of her classmates around, even if they would mostly be at the shrine's office.
The girls left the classroom towards their favorite place in the schoolyard; it was a big old cherry tree near the outer fence. It was quiet but gave them a perfect view of the whole yard, allowing them to keep up to date with the latest gossips and happenings. On their way there, they had talked about what kind of legends or myths they could use. Kagome had to admit a bit ashamed that she rarely paid attention to Jii-chan's rantings about the shrine's legends, so she really had no clue what she could research.
As they settled the girls kept talking like nothing was wrong, but each of them had noticed how distracted Kagome had been during the morning classes and they worried about their friend, each of them forming their own theory about her reasons.
Yuka figured Inuyasha had done something to piss her off and upset her friend. She knew the two-timer jerk was more often than not the cause for her friend's distress. In addition, Yuka could not understand what Kagome saw in him, the guy was rude, aggressive and loud mouthed. Of course, she had to admit the guy in question was also very hot looking, what with that strange long silver/white hair and the excellent body… Still what good were looks if he was a total ass? The young woman also wondered why Dayu thought the guy was so cool. All Wednesday he had been going on and on at how Inuyasha had beat up eight of Takeshi's band, she still had trouble believing it.
Arumi on the other hand, being as clueless as she was, believed that what Kagome needed was some rest and relaxation. After all it had been a long time since her friend attended a full week of classes. This week she had done it, and the week before she had attended for three days. Maybe it had been too much for her sick body, she should not push herself so hard. Arumi decided that maybe going out for lunch, and to watch a movie would do her friend good. She would suggest it to Hojo-kun, after all, he liked Kagome a lot and they made a cute couple. For a moment she worried about the violent two-timer guy, he might cause her trouble, but Kagome said the guy they met was only her foster brother so she saw no harm in it. And the guy was cute, perhaps she could suggest a double date?
Eri's theory was that something related to the park killers had come up. She was positive Kagome-chan was under a lot of stress, and she had to admire her friend's courage. Going on with her life like nothing was wrong, when two brutal killers might be looking for her, and the only sign of all that stress was her lack of attention in class. If it was her, Eri would have been in a panic, hysterically refusing to see the light of day until they caught those 'monsters'.
After thinking for a bit she decided that it might be a good idea to drop by Kagome's house after school. That way the girls would not be there and her friend could talk freely. She might not be able to understand fully what she was going through but at least she could listen and offer a shoulder to cry on. Eri would also like to talk with Inuyasha. After thinking about the situation a bit, she concluded that he was not a bad guy, of course she did not know him that much, but he looked sincerely concerned for Kagome's safety. He might also give her news about how things were going with the police or maybe if there was anything else she could do to keep her friend safe.
They had settled under the tree and took their bentos out, it was then that Kagome asked Eri for her cell phone. The request earned her questioning looks from all of them, and she sighed she would have to give them an edited version of what happened to Shippou satisfy their curiosity. The young woman was sure both, Yuka and Arumi, would not question the story that much, but Eri did know more. She only hoped that she would not ask questions until there was no one to hear.
Eri had pocketed her cell phone just before leaving for lunch break and she guessed Kagome saw her, and she was the only one in their group with one of the things. She usually did not take the phone out at school since the teachers confiscated any that went off during class. They usually frowned on the students using them during breaks, but since they were really not interrupting academic activities it was deemed tolerable if not fully accepted. The young woman made Kagome promise to tell her why and what was distracting her so much in return for the favor. The young Miko readily agreed and quickly dialed home, hoping Inuyasha or her mother would pick up the phone.
Very close to where the girls were sitting, their P.E. teacher was doing some rounds by the fence, checking for students ready to leap over it and skip the rest of the day. It had been an activity that had started to become too popular with the seventh graders, although it was some of the ninth grade troublemakers who initiated it. It was getting a bit out of hand since it was not only demons jumping up the fence, there were now humans too. It worried the youkai teachers, since the only way the humans could use that way to get out of the school was with demon or hanyou help.
Revealing their true nature to humans was something very controlled, or as controlled as they could make it. The wrong kind of human with that knowledge, and it would become problematic. Since the escapades started the youkai teachers drew lots to patrol the fence and catch the troublemakers, but so far, they had not been lucky.
This morning it was her turn to patrol, and as she approached the cherry tree, she could not help but listen to Higurashi Kagome's conversation with her friends and her urgent plea to use a cell phone. That immediately caught her attention; she was an oni and had felt the young Miko's flare of power minutes before the recess, while she was still in class. Everyone in the school with a slight hint of youkai blood had, and probably even some of those outside the school. It had really worried her to feel such a strong energy, and one of her youkai students, a hare demon, went into hysterics and almost blew her concealing spell. If she listened in, the phone call might give her an explanation.
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Shippou had grown tired after his barrage of questions and trying to take in all the strange and interesting things at once. The hanyous had barely set foot outside the store when the soft snoring of the kid made them chuckle. One moment the kit was babbling his head off, and the next he was snoring. The hanyous had been careful not to wake him and the kid slept soundly all the way to Kagome's home.
He was warm, safe, cared for and felt no pain thanks to that female neko's medicine. She had explained that it would hurt only a bit, and that later the pain would go away, and then without warning she stabbed his butt with a needle! He screamed his lungs out in indignation and pain, only a bit, yeah right! The damn thing had BURNED his butt! It hurt so damn much! Then the nekos left and Dog boy had been all… mushy he guessed was the word and then he fell asleep for the first time, then woken up at that strange covered market place, and then fell asleep again.
He should not have fallen asleep the second time but he had been so tired and comfortable that he could not have helped it. And once he did, given the circumstances, he should have stayed asleep more than the meager twenty minutes he actually did. In fact, he would have much preferred to remain in dreamland but his stomach had other ideas. He was hungry, very hungry, like in starving kind of hungry. But, he did not dare tell Inuyasha, and that was the problem.
They were lying on the same place they were before his ribs hurt. The TV thing was on and those 'anime' drawings were moving and making noises. Inuyasha had watched them for a little while, but Shippou could see the thing was lulling the hanyou to sleep. His eyes were closed and his breathing indicated that any moment now and he would doze off.
The kit really wanted something to eat but he learned from experience, that waking Inuyasha up could end up being very painful. The hanyou became even grumpier, if that was even possible. Shippou did not think he could stand a bopping session the way he was, and he could not run to escape a furious Inuyasha. But, he WAS hungry, and his stomach has started hurting him. The kitsune boy was not sure he could hold on without nourishment until the young man woke up.
After thinking a bit, Shippou decided he would risk the hanyou's anger. In the worst case, he would get some more lumps on his head, but he might get lucky and end having some food. Inuyasha had been acting strange, the little kit still could not get used to the changes, he and the hanyou had been at each other for too long, to completely change their behavior in less than a full day. Although Inuyasha was surely managing, and maybe because of those changes the hanyou would feel charitable enough to feed him.
"Inuyasha," Shippou called him in a fearful voice. The kit cursed inwardly he did not want to sound too much of a coward, but, he guessed he could not really help it. He had received enough bops for waking the hanyou that the reaction was just automatic.
"Hn?" Was the Inuyasha's sleepy response, not deigning to open even an eye. He could smell no pain coming from Shippou, and Tsuki had assured him after pinching the kit's butt that he would not hurt for at least six more hours, then someone would have to repeat the process of pinching him with that needle.
"Inuyasha… are you awake?" The kid asked craning his neck as much as it would go to get a glimpse of the young man's face.
"No."
"Aah! I didn't know you talked in your sleep," Shippou said in an awed voice.
"Runt, of course I'm awake!" Inuyasha said with an annoyed sigh, still not bothering to open his eyes. It figured the runt would want to talk just when he really wanted to take a long nap. "I'm trying to sleep, so what the hell do you want? And don't tell you're hurting because I know you're not."
"No, I'm not in pain… I'm feeling all right I guess," Shippou said hesitantly.
"So? What do you want Shippou?" Inuyasha let out an exasperated sigh that this time the kid did feel, from his position, cradled as he was in the nook of Inuyasha's shoulder and chest it was hard to miss.
"I… ah… well…"
"Shippou…" The tone held a slight warning that he better not be playing a trick or there might be hell to pay.
"I'm starving!" The kit finally blurted out, "I'm sorry I'm not letting you sleep, really, I tried to ignore it but… I'm so hungry I'd eat a whole deer!" At that moment, his stomach decided to support his claim by growling loudly.
"You are hungry," Inuyasha stated softly, it was just his luck that when he was finally comfortable enough, he would not be allowed to take his nap.
He opened his eyes finally and looked at the kit, who wore a pleading expression. Tsuki had warned him the kit should be very hungry, the energy to heal came from the food he ate, and if he was not inclined to eat then he should call the healer. Well at least he would not have to worry on that accord; Shippou always did have quite an appetite for someone of his small size. In fact, he had wondered why the kid had not grown a bit since they met him, he should have. The inu hanyou decided he would ask the female neko when he saw her the next time.
"Yes, I'm hungry, very hungry. Can I have my chocolate now?" The kid asked hoping he could get to eat the sweet. Inuyasha had not allowed him to eat it at the 'drugstore' place, and the damn hanyous had only left him about a couple gummy bears! It was not been fair! His stomach growled again to make his point.
"No chocolate until you eat some food Shippou…"
"Chocolate is food, that's why you can eat it!" The kid interrupted him.
"According to the… doctor, it isn't and it also goes for candy, she said you needed to eat some other things to heal."
"She didn't say something like that; you're just making it up because you don't want me to have my chocolate!" Shippou said a bit reproachful and giving Inuyasha one of those looks created to make him feel either guilty or angry.
"I'm not, you were asleep twerp, that is why you didn't hear," Inuyasha said gathering all his patience, which was not much to begin with. He was not going to fall in Shippou's game again, he was pack leader and his new parent and if he started arguing like he usually did there was no way he could obtain the kid's respect. Things had changed and the kitsune needed to understand and get used to it.
"You just don't want me to have chocolate, you're being mean! I'll tell Kagome and she'll sit you so hard you won't be able to move in a week." Shippou told him, the threat of a few sits worked sometimes, but he guessed that would not be one of those. He saw Inuyasha close his eyes and his eyebrow twitched, and then he took a couple of deep breaths before he spoke in a surprisingly calm voice instead of the outburst he expected.
"I'm not being mean runt; you are hurt and need to eat well to heal. Chocolate will not help to get you moving again. So go ahead, tell Kagome I seriously doubt she would sit me. Besides I know she never gives you sweets before meals."
"Yeah right, like you would know," Shippou muttered disgruntled, to hide his surprise. He would never have thought Inuyasha paid attention to the way Kagome treated him.
"Feh! You think I didn't notice?"
"But I want my…"
"But nothing runt, you'll eat what I give you without protest. When you're done, I'll see if I'm in a charitable mood, if I am, you get the chocolate." Inuyasha told him as he stood up from the recliner and made his way, carrying Shippou to the kitchen.
"That's not fair! You're never in a charitable mood! You're always so grumpy and mean to me! I'll never eat my chocolate!" The kit whined sadly, he was at Inuyasha's mercy. The comments hurt the hanyou a bit more than he expected, since he had taken pity of the kit on more than one occasion, so he stiffened and growled his displeasure, Shippou stopped whining.
"You're alive now aren't you?" His tone was colder than he intended, and the kid realized he had over done it.
It surprised Shippou that Inuyasha was actually showing his feelings; his thoughtless comments had at least bothered him, maybe even hurt him. He really should not have said that, he owed his life to the hanyou many times over. He had just acted the way he usually did around him, criticizing and putting him down, his reaction had been more out of habit than real thought. But this time everything was so much different than before, he was the hanyou's pup. There was really no greater proof he could have of Inuyasha's charitable moods, and was it just that morning when the young man admitted caring and worrying for him? Shippou started to feel guilty, that he had gone too far, that perhaps this was not the only time. Things had been so nice so far, had he made the inu hanyou go back to the way he was before?
"I'm sorry," Shippou said in a low voice, the hanyou ignored him as he moved about the kitchen looking for something to eat. "I didn't think, you haven't been mean to me this time," the hanyou kept ignoring him, and the kit could swear he felt the young man's sadness and disappointment. It only made him feel worst and he really could not understand why. It was so confusing he started crying, then there was a flash of guilt, and of few other feelings that he was not sure he understood. They made one thing clear, those were not his feelings, but if not his then whose?
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* Tanuki = Raccoon
* Kumogoshira = the spider demons that attack Inuyasha and Kagome on the first new moon they are together. I am not really sure of the spelling so it might be wrong.