I didn't mention it last time, but "Words that are italicized and in quotes" are suppose to be thoughts. I'm sure most people figured that out anyway. Also, I've decided to continue on with the current arc the story started with, flashbacks will be slipped in as we go along to give you a better idea of background details.
I do not own Inuyasha.
Just A Hanyou - Part 2
Shippo silently whimpered against Kagome's stomach. The kitsune cub hadn't let go of her since Kirara had landed. The neko-demon was exhausted from the flight, having had to carry a heavier load than normal. Kagome sighed as she stared up at the sky, whose darkness looked like it could hold off the coming dawn for only a few more hours. They had traveled for nearly two hours before setting down. Miroku was adamant about putting as much distance between themselves and that horde of demons as possible. Some of his paranoia could be attributed to Shippo constantly crying out that he still heard the demons howling.
Kagome gently ran her fingers through the kit's hair as she stared into the fire Sango had just set up. Kagome was worried about Shippo. He refused to ease his grasp on her for an instant, not even to let her set up her sleeping bag. She made a note to watch for any more odd behavior from the kit, for it was obvious that Shippo wasn't taking Inuyasha's dea…departure very well.
"Though it's not like I'm the perfect example of coping, now am I?" she numbly thought to herself. "I can't even bring myself to accept that he's…not coming back to us."
Sango walked over to her and placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder.
"Try to get some sleep, Kagome. I've set up your sleeping bag for you. Kirara will keep watch tonight."
Kagome offered her a small smile, "You going to go look for Miroku?"
"Hai," the exterminator replied. "Do you know which way he went?"
Kagome nodded her head in the direction the monk had set off in not too long ago. Shippo's grip loosened a bit, indicating he had probably fallen asleep. As Kagome slipped the sleeping bag around herself and the kitsune, she turned to her friend.
"Sango…"
"Hai?"
"…I miss him."
Sango bent down and kissed Kagome's forehead and tucked the sleeping bag under Kagome's chin. "I know. Now try to get some sleep." With that, the demon exterminator turned and walked into the forest to find the absent monk. Kagome's eyes began to water as she was suddenly overcome by a memory that had been very similar to what just transpired.
*********
It had been six years ago when Kagome was 11. It was raining one night when Sota, who was 5 at the time, came into her room and woke her up.
"Kagome," her little brother whispered, "I had a bad dream."
"Hmm, try to go back to sleep," she mumbled, obviously still half-asleep.
"It was about Papa."
Kagome's breath caught in her throat as she finally sat up to look at her brother. Their father had been killed a little over 9 months ago when an oncoming car had lost control in the rain and swerved into his lane. Kagome didn't like to talk about it much, but she knew Sota had nightmares about it whenever it rained at night.
"Come on, Sota," she said getting up, "I'll go tuck you back in."
As Sota had slipped back under his covers, he turned to look at his sister.
"Kagome, I miss my Papa."
Kagome finished tucking him in as she placed a kiss on his forehead. "I know, Sota. I miss him, too. Now try and go back to sleep."
"Goodnight, Kagome."
"Goodnight," she whispered as she continued to watch him. When she was certain he was asleep, she crept back into her room and cried.
**********
"Sota needed me to be strong back then, probably like Shippo will need me to be strong now," Kagome thought to herself as she suddenly realized how tired she was. "Inuyasha would want me to be strong; he would expect me to be strong for Shippo.
Oh Inuyasha, please be alright, please come back to me." With that, the girl from the future finally succumbed to a dreamless sleep.
**********
Sango ducked underneath a low-hanging branch as she came up behind a kneeling Miroku. She cleared her throat rather loudly to announce her presence.
"Yes Sango?"
"I came to find where you wandered off too, Houshi-sama, and to tell you that I finally got Kagome to try to sleep," Sango yawned as she sat down and drew her knees against her chest.
Miroku turned his body to face Sango and chuckled as he rubbed his tired eyes. "I think sleep is something we could all use now. You should try and get some rest, I shall stand watch."
"Thank you, but there is no need. Kirara seems to have taken it upon herself to protect us tonight," Sango responded, this time successfully stifling the yawn that tried to escape her mouth.
"No doubt she realizes the dangers we face now that Inuyasha is no longer with us," the monk observed, turning back to his original position.
"Hai, no doubt."
Sango took this opportunity to study the monk before her. She heard slight mumbling and noticed the position he sat in was similar to that when he meditated. Though she was fairly certain what he was doing, she was uncomfortable with the silence that now fell upon them. "What are you doing, Houshi-sama?"
Miroku hesitated, seemingly torn between remaining still and turning to face her. He finally settled on staying motionless. "I am praying for Inuyasha's soul to find peace," the monk responded in a slightly uneven voice.
"Stop it," Sango whispered, but Miroku could sense the venom in her voice.
"I'm sorry, Sango, but I do not understand what you are asking me to stop doing," Miroku replied, this time turning to face Sango. She was now leaning against a tree, her arms tightly crossed in front of her chest. She refused to meet his gaze as she continued to stare at the ground. She looked tired, so very tired…
"Stop talking like he's already dead," she said, now glancing up to meet Miroku's stare.
It was Miroku's turn to shift his eyes to the ground. "I realize your upset, Sango, we all are. But…but we have to accept that Inuyasha has most likely passed on. There were just too many demons, and he…he was already weakened a great deal," Miroku paused to compose himself.
"We don't know that though!" her voice cracked as stray tears began to appear on her cheeks. "And even if he is dead, there has to be a way to bring him back! Dead doesn't mean dead anymore, Houshi-sama! Look at Kikyo, or…or…" Sango suddenly stopped short.
"Or Kohaku," Miroku thought sadly. He moved to sit next to Sango. As he wrapped an arm around her back, he turned his gaze to the night sky that was partially visible through the tree tops. "I think," he paused, hoping that he could word this correctly, "that Inuyasha knew what was going to happen when the demons attacked."
"We shouldn't have abandoned him," Sango spat, seemingly more angry at herself now than the monk. "He wouldn't have abandoned one of us."
Miroku nodded his head. He too had been unhappy to leave his friend to the demons' wrath, but he had been unable to argue with the look of desperation on the hanyou's face. "I think he knew he was going to die in that field, one way or another. He made the decision to protect us until the end."
Another silence fell upon the two until Sango did something that surprised the monk. She placed her head on his shoulder. "I'm tired of all of this," she whispered. "I'm tired of losing my friends, Miroku, tired of losing my family. All the good we've done up until this point, it seems so meaningless now. I feel like everything is just so hopeless."
"We cannot lose hope, Sango. Inuyasha never lost hope; he couldn't have survived the life he's lived if he had. Shippo has lost his parents, but not his hope. And I, Sango," he turned to gaze at her with a fire in his eye, "I have not lost hope. Even with this accursed wind-tunnel threatening to swallow me up, I haven't lost hope for the future."
Sango blushed under his stare. Miroku seemed a bit different to her. He was more passionate, rawer, less composed. She realized that she was no longer talking to Miroku the monk; instead, she was talking to Miroku the person. He seemed to have hidden this more emotional side of himself from everyone. "I'm sorry, Miroku, you are right"
She paused for an instant before turning her neck to face him. "Thank you for being so understanding." With that she lifted her face to place a kiss on his cheek. Miroku, however, chose this exact moment to turn his head towards Sango. Before the demon exterminator realized it, she had sealed the monk's lips with her own.
Sango snapped her head back as her eyes grew wide and a deep blush spread across her cheeks. She stared at the monk who now wore a large smile plastered on his face.
"You're very welcome, my dear Sango. And if the need arises later on tonight, just know that I could be much more understanding," Miroku winked at her as the arm that was still around Sango's waste moved lower to give the taijiya's rear end a playful squeeze.
"Do that again, Houshi-sama, and I will break one of your ribs," Sango threatened as she got up and started to head back to camp.
"But Sango-chan," Miroku piped up, the lecherous smirk evident on his face just by the sound of his voice.
"Hai, Houshi-sama?" Sango replied, turning to face the still-seated monk.
"I have many ribs, what do I care if one is broken?"
Sango shook her head as a light blush returned to her cheeks. She then slightly chuckled and turned back towards camp.
"Thank you, Miroku," she thought as she made her way to the campfire.
Miroku again kneeled down and, as if reading her mind, whispered, "You're welcome, Sango," before he continued his praying.
**********
Shippo awoke from his restless slumber to the sounds of Miroku settling down against a tree. The kitsune waited until he heard the monk's breathing even out, indicating he was asleep. It was a trick Inuyasha had taught him right before the hanyou had been captured. Shippo slowly eased himself out of Kagome's sleeping bag, careful not to wake her. Once he was free, he expanded his sense of smell and hearing to identify where everyone was, another lesson courtesy of the hanyou.
Kagome was still asleep in her sleeping bag. Miroku was slumbering while leaned up against a tree. Sango was resting on a fully transformed Kirara, who was staring at Shippo from across the fire. Shippo offered a small smile which seemed to appease the fire-cat's worries. The kitsune then tiptoed over to Kagome's over-stuffed yellow backpack.
He silently unzipped the main compartment and reached his tiny hands in to grasp the fire-rat haori he knew was on the top. When Inuyasha had been captured and taken away, Miroku and Sango had found the trembling kitsune wrapped in the red jacket. Inuyasha had used it to protect him, again. And Inuyasha had ended up getting hurt because he was protecting Shippo, again.
"Weak baka! I should have been able to help him. But no, I'm so stupid and weak that I just get in the way," the kitsune cub berated himself as he slowly climbed to a low hanging branch of a nearby tree. "Inuyasha wouldn't have gotten captured if it wasn't for me. He could have taken those demons out easily if they hadn't caught me first…"
Shippo plopped himself down on the branch and wrapped the fire-rat haori around his tiny body, its giant arms hanging off the tree limb. From where he was sitting, he had a fairly unobstructed view of the starry sky.
"Inuyasha said he was gonna join up with my dad and his dad to watch over me. I wonder if he's already there…" the kitsune thought as he snuggled deeper into the haori, taking comfort in the scent of the absent hanyou. He slowly drifted back to a much happier sleep, one that took him back to a happier time.
**********
Lightning flashed across the sky again as a clap of thunder echoed through the land. Shippo huddled closer to the base of the giant Goshinboku. Kagome had left for her time earlier that day; she had to take what she called a 'final exam.' Amazingly, Inuyasha didn't put up any fuss over her leaving, which shocked both Kagome and Shippo. Before Kagome jumped through the well, she had turned back towards the passive hanyou.
"Are you sure you're not going to say anything?" she had asked, her voice a mix between hope and disbelief.
"Take all the time you need, Kagome. If we need you in this time for some reason, I'll come and get you," the half-demon replied, seemingly more interested in the yellow-jacket that was buzzing around his face.
"Oh." After that, Kagome jumped down the well, but Shippo had seen a look of hurt on her face.
So here Shippo was, trapped underneath the humongous God-Tree, wet and alone. Well, Inuyasha WAS in one of the branches above him, but he didn't count. Miroku and Sango had left the day before, having taken Kirara with them to travel to some nearby villages and scout out any shard rumors. With his favorite playmate absent, the kitsune cub had settled on annoying the combustible hanyou for entertainment. However, Shippo hadn't counted on two things. The first was that Inuyasha was just as indifferent to his annoying antics as he was to Kagome's leaving. The second was for a massive thunderstorm to hit, quickly and without warning, while Shippo was still with Inuyasha.
Demons are usually able to pick up a change in the electrical charges that are in the air, thus alerting them to oncoming inclement weather. So whenever Shippo noticed a thunderstorm coming, he made sure he was always indoors or clinging to Kagome. He knew it was silly to be afraid of thunder; he was a demon after all. But still…
"This is stupid. I'm a DEMON, gosh darn it! I shouldn't be trapped here just cause some silly thunder. I'll just head over to Kaede's hut and spend the night there. Yeah, that's what I'll d-"
A rather loud crash of thunder sent the tiny kit up the Goshinboku and into Inuyasha's outer haori.
"What the hell?" snarled the hanyou, peaking under his jacket only to be met by two blue eyes. "Get the hell out of there!" Inuyasha reached in and pulled Shippo out by his tail. The half-demon continued holding the kit by the tail, bringing him up to eye-level. "Explain."
"I got lost?" the kitsune decided to try to humor with the inu-youkai. Though, one considerably violent shake told Shippo that Inuyasha wasn't in the mood for humor.
"I…um…well you see, I-" another crack of thunder caused Shippo to visibly flinch. Once the sound died away, his entire body drooped in the hanyou's hand. "I'm afraid of thunder."
"Afraid of thunder?" Inuyasha echoed. "Why the hell are you-oh…" The dawning realization hit him like a ton of bricks.
"His parents were killed by elemental demons, you moron! They were called the damn THUNDER Brothers for fuck's sake."
Inuyasha lowered Shippo so the kitsune was sitting on the hanyou's knee. "You gonna be OK, kid?"
"Yeah, it's just that usually Kagome is here or I'm already inside when it starts to-" yet another thunder clap caused the kit to pause, but he resisted the urge to jump back in Inuyasha's haori.
However, the hanyou saw the visibly shaken kitsune and made a decision. Inuyasha picked Shippo up and stuffed him in his jacket, surprising the young demon. The hanyou then proceeded to leap from his branch of the God-Tree. He kept leaping from treetop to treetop, heading towards the outskirts of the forest. Meanwhile, inside the haori, Shippo was clutching to Inuyasha's chest as the hanyou tore through the forest canopy at high speeds. Shippo could hear the inu-hanyou's heart rate rise slightly due to the exertion.
Finally, Inuyasha came to a stop, and Shippo poked his head out from the haori. The hanyou had taken them to a mountain top, just outside his forest. As he leaned farther out to see below them, Shippo was amazed to see some of the lower hanging rain clouds actually beneath them from this vantage point. The observation brought about some slight vertigo, causing the kitsune to tumble out of the haori. Luckily, Inuyasha caught him before he hit the ground.
The hanyou placed the kit on his shoulder but continued to stare down into the forest.
"Shippo, did your father ever growl at you?"
Shippo thought about it. "Yeah, sometimes he would."
"Was he angry when he did it?"
Shippo thought some more. "Sometimes, when I was being bad. But other times, he'd do it when he was happy."
Inuyasha looked deep in thought before turning his face to the cloudy sky. "When I was young, my Haha-ue told me that the sound of thunder was my father growling down at me from up in the sky."
"Oh," Shippo responded. He strained his ears to hear the remnants of a thunder clap. From up here, the thunder DID sound more like growling than…well, thunder.
"She said it was his way of telling me to be good. She also told me that when it rained," Inuyasha paused to sniff at Shippo, "it was his way of telling me I needed to take a bath."
"Hey! I took a bath yesterday with Kagome!" the kitsune yelled indignantly, trying to defend his own personal hygiene.
"Yeah, but then you spilt that jar of cinnamon all over you later at Kaede's," the hanyou replied, smiling up at the kitsune cub on his shoulder, "and you now how strong I think that stuff is!"
Shippo giggled, remembering when Inuyasha had actually stuck his nose into a large jar of cinnamon to confirm that it was the correct spice. "You were knocked out for an hour! Kagome was too worried to be angry at you!"
"Hmph, yeah…Come on, let's go get that stink off you," Inuyasha snorted before turning to walk down the mountain.
"Hey, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah twerp?"
"Do you think my dad is up in the sky with you dad?"
"Yeah, Shippo. I think he is."
"You think your dad is still watching over you?"
Inuyasha paused and stuck out his chest a little bit, "Nah, he doesn't have to since I'm all grown up. But I bet he's helping your dad watch over you."
"Really?"
"Yeah kid. But their job is pretty easy, 'cause they know I'm down here, already protecting you." Inuyasha pointed his thumb at his chest before continuing to walk down the mountain.
Shippo thought a little about what Inuyasha had said. He figured his dad would have approved of how the hanyou was protecting him and practically raising him. Shippo smiled to himself on Inuyasha's shoulder before whispering, "Thanks, Inu-Papa."
One of the hanyou's ears swiveled to face Shippo and Inuyasha nodded to confirm that he had heard the kitsune. A small smile played on his lips while a slight blush spread across his cheeks as he mumbled under his breath, "If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you."
**********
Good? Bad? Should I stick to writing what I do best (i.e. lots of heart-wrenching angst), or am I allowed to throw in some happier scenes?
For all those who reviewed, thank you for your encouragement, but unfortunately I don't have time to reply to your reviews at this time. I would rather get this chapter posted and respond in the next chapter.
Alright, I've gotta skedaddle, keep reading.