Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kenshin or Inuyasha. Happy now?
Author's Note: Yay! This is where Kenshin comes in! And Shura, of course, because Shura rules and is my alter-ego. Ack…the first time I wrote this I somehow had the idea that Suzume's name was Suzame. I'm an idiot.
Chapter 2: An Interrupted Holiday
Unbeknownst to the pirates, the island they had marooned Kagome and Shippo on was, in fact, Shura the pirate's island, whom Kenshin and company were visiting for a holiday. Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan were playing on the beach, while Kenshin, Kaoru, and Shura talked and watched the little girls' antics. Then Ayame ran up to the Kenshin and tugged on his shirt.
"Ken-ni! Come quick, we found something!"
"Oro?" was Kenshin's word as he was dragged over to the water. He looked where the two girls were pointing and saw a little boy lying half-in, half-out of the water. That was when Shura and Kaoru got there.
"Oh, Kenshin! A little boy!" Kaoru exclaimed as she picked him up out of the water.
"A boy with a tail," said Shura.
"And fox feet," added Kenshin.
"And fangs," said Kaoru.
They all stared at each other with strange looks on their faces until the boy, who was in fact Shippo, groaned and coughed up some water. They rushed him to Shura's cabin and laid him on the bed.
"Why didn't we bring Megumi with us? WHY?"
"Because she had to stay home and be a doctor, that's why."
"Ok, everyone calm down," said Shura, "He's just been in the water too long; he'll come around soon. Believe me, I think I would know. I am, after all, a pirate."
'Soon' was an understatement. Within seconds, Shippo leapt up and looked around wildly, "Where am I? Who are you? Where's Kagome?"
"Whoa, now. Calm down," Kenshin put up his hands and smiled in a reassuring manner, "I'm Kenshin, this is Shura, this is Kaoru, and these are Ayame-Chan and Suzume-chan, who found you. You're in Shura's house. I have no clue who or where Kagome is. Who are you?"
"I'm…" Shippo began, but was interrupted by the arrival of Sanosuke and Yahiko, who were loudly demanding food. Then Sano noticed Shippo, and picked him up by the tail. The two of them were having a little growling face-off when Kenshin interrupted.
"And this is Sano and Yahiko. Sano, would you put him down please," Sano reluctantly complied, "Now, you were telling us your name…"
"Yes, I was before he interrupted me. I am Shippo, a mighty fox youkai."
"HAH! I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WERE A YOUKAI!" Sano was freaking out.
"He's a cute youkai!" Ayame was hugging Shippo.
"Gack…please let go of me…"
When Shippo finally escaped the hug of death, he jumped onto a table and waved his arms, "I hafta find Kagome! She's a human girl and she got thrown overboard right after me and I've gotta find her before something bad happens and it's all my fault!"
"Wait…thrown overboard?" said Shura, suddenly serious.
"Yeah, me and Kagome and Inuyasha were looking for a Shikon shard and we got captured by these pirates and they threw me an' Kagome overboard but they've still got Inuyasha!"
"Say again?"
"Errrgh…JUST HELP ME FIND KAGOME WILL YOU?!?"
"Yes, yes, we'll help you look for her. Where should we start, Shura?"
"It depends on where the ship was when they got thrown over."
"We were facing a mountain with a waterfall."
"Ok, I know the place. It's not too far from here. Let's go!"
"Kaoru, could you stay here and watch Ayame and Suzume?"
"Sure, Kenshin. Good luck!"
***
The group ran along the path while Shippo explained what had happened. Shura would often nod and ask questions, and said that she most likely knew who these pirates were.
"They're sheer evil. No sense of morals whatsoever," then she added as an afterthought, "No sense of proper English either, for that matter," then she continued speaking where she had left off, "It was a wonder they didn't kill you outright. Ah, here we are," Shura pushed aside the last few bushes to reveal a huge waterfall, "Kenshin, I believe you remember this place."
"How could I forget, Shura?"
'KAGOME?!? KAGOME?!? WHERE ARE YOU?!?" Shippo had already bounded down the narrow path to the bottom of the waterfall. He looked around, still calling for her. Finally he saw her clinging to a piece of driftwood almost 25 feet away from land. She looked up weakly at his calling, and smiled.
"Shippo…you're safe…" she said softly before losing consciousness. Her still form began to slip off of the wood into the deep sea.
"Kagome…" Shippo murmured.
"Don't worry kid," Shura stood next to Shippo, then looked down and gave him a wink, "Shura's here." Then she leapt into the sea and began to swim quickly towards Kagome. She was just a few feet away when Kagome slid completely into the icy water and vanished. Shura took a deep breath and dived after her, and all those on the beach watched the rolling waves for what seemed like an eternity before Shura broke surface again, holding Kagome and swimming towards shore. Shura finally reached the rock ledge where everyone stood, and they all pulled Kagome out of the water while Shura climbed up and shook water out of her hair.
"Wow, miss Shura! You're so brave!" Shippo gushed. She smiled at him, then turned towards Kagome. Her skin was blue-tinged, and she was breathing very unevenly. She had been in the water for a long time, and, unlike Shippo, had no demon powers to help her. Sano and Kenshin carried her back to Shura's home, where she was covered in blankets and left to recover.
"Kaoru, why does she wear strange clothes?"
"Now, Suzume, that's not very nice."
"Well they are pretty weird."
"Yahiko! Shut up!"
"Oh, yeah? Why don't you make me, ugly!"
"THAT'S IT!!! YOU ARE SO DEAD YAHIKO!!!"
"Kenshin, are they always like this?"
"Hai, de gozaru."
"They remind me of the way Kagome and Inuyasha fight."
"You mentioned this Inuyasha person before. Who is he?"
"He's a dog hanyou. He's a big jerk, and he and Kagome fight all the time. And then she says osuwari and he falls flat on his face, it's so great. We have to go around and collect Shikon shards that increase your power. We need to get all the shards so we can put the Shikon no Tama back together so we can defeat Naraku who's a really creepy hanyou who everyone except me seems to have issues with but he wants to kill us all because he has issues with us too. And then there's Inuyasha's half-brother Sesshomaru who also wants to kill us 'cause he hates Inuyasha's guts. And there's also Kouga who really likes Kagome but Inuyasha likes Kagome too so they fight every time they see each other, which gets really annoying because I think Kouga is cool. And there's a monk named Miroku who travels with us, and every time he sees a girl he asks them to bear his child, then Sango hits him over the head with her giant boomerang. Sango is a youkai exterminator who has this fire cat named Kirara that she flies around on and when she isn't fighting, Kirara turns into a little kitty that girls like to hug."
Kenshin could make absolutely no sense out of that, so he just smiled and nodded and retreated outside. Shippo sighed and looked out the window. He saw Sano leaning against a palm tree, and hatched an spur-of-the-moment, evil plan. He snuck out the door, around the house, and up the tree. Then he jumped onto Sano's head and hung his head over so he was staring Sano right in the eye while making a freaky, evil face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! THE YOUKAI IS ON ME!!! IT'S GOING TO SUCK OUT MY SOUL!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Sano ran in circles waving his arms wildly until Shippo fell off, "FUTAI NO KIWAMI!!!"
"Yeep!" Shippo dodged Sano's attack, then ran away and clung to Shura's leg, "Shuraaaaa! He's trying to kill meeeee!"
Shura waited for Sano to get close, then dodged out of the way and punched Sano in the face, causing him to overbalance and fall over.
"Yay! Shura is so cool!"
Kaoru stuck her head out the window and called, "Hey, she's waking up now!"
"Kagome!" Shippo raced across the sand and leapt through the window.
