Response to reviews at the end of the chapter.
"Hello, boys!" Inuyasha's mother smiled down at them, tilting her head to look down at the puppies. Her long purple sleeves shimmered in the available light, making her look unearthly.
"Hullo, mom." the boys replied sulkily.
"And what brings you two here?" she asked pleasantly, but her voice had a sharp edge to it. Both brothers swallowed hard and pulled themselves to their feet.
"Ah, yeah, about that…we were just leaving!" Sesshoumaru stammered, putting one hand behind his head. "Right Inuyasha?" he asked.
Inuyasha nodded glumly, not bothering to say anything in their defense. He could just BET they were going to have Words about this later.
"I still want to know what you're doing here! You boys know better than that!" The "nice mother" facade disappeared completely, and Inuyasha covered his tiny ears reflexively. Oh yes, they were going to have Words. Maybe even a Discussion.
"I-Inuyasha did it!" Sesshoumaru defended himself in the age-old method of childhood, jabbing a finger toward his younger brother. Inuyasha tried very hard not to bite it off…his momma didn't like that, for some reason.
"No way! Your fault!" the hanyou retaliated, pointing the Finger back at his sibling. "He maked me do it!" he appealed, giving his mom his most powerful Cute, Defenseless Puppy look. She did not look impressed.
"Do what?" Mother inquired testily.
"Well, uh…"
"Ummm…" a soft voice interrupted. "S-sesshoumaru-sama came and gave me flowers." Yasuka supplied shyly, stepping closer to the light. "They're very pretty." She beamed at him gratefully, still clutching her bouquet. Sesshoumaru repressed the urge to throw up.
"Oh..." The human woman's gaze softened unexpectedly, and Inuyasha thought he saw her…wink at Yasuka? "How nice of him!" Mother complimented, reaching out to pat the puppy on the head. "What a good boy you are!" Sesshoumaru growled and snapped, but the human seemed oblivious. Her hand snaked right and began scratching behind a pointy ear...
A few minutes (and one slightly subdued Sesshoumaru later), both boys found themselves being dragged further into the woman's chambers. Inuyasha clung to his brother's arm for support…support for his brother, at least, who was leaning on him heavily. Sesshoumaru looked slightly dazed.
"We are so dead." Inuyasha whispered.
"Don't remind me…" Sesshoumaru slurred, shaking his head.
"Now, I heard you two got yourselves into trouble earlier." Inuyasha's mother chided, brushing through a curtain. "That was very naughty of you to wake Oiichi-san!"
"We're sorry!" the puppies responded truthfully. Sesshoumaru's mother was very…touchy…if she didn't get enough sleep. Ahead of them, Sesshoumaru could hear the infernal Yasuka chattering about something.
Gods, could you be more annoying? he wondered, irritated by her sing-song-y speech. What else could go wrong…
"Ah, yes!" the human clapped her hands together, pausing in front of a small sliding door. She nodded slightly, and Yasuka stepped forward to pull the screen open. "Here you go, kids…we'll find you someone to play with!" Mother announced. The brothers exchanged guarded looks, both very much afraid.
"Good afternoon, ladies!" Mother chirped, pulling them into a small room. The brothers groaned in unison as a few very familiar faces looked up from their sewing with interest. Sesshoumaru stiffened, and Inuyasha was very amused to see his brother unconsciously covering his ears.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" Michiru snickered. The other girls laughed musically, reclining against silken ottomans. "Or human, as the case may be."
"What shall we do with them?" Mother inquired playfully. "They just don't seem to want to leave you alone." She winked at Yasuka again, and Sesshoumaru shuddered. Inuyasha watched the exchange with some interest…he'd never seen anybody wink so much in his life. Maybe Mom has some dirt in her eye…then why did big brother freak out about it? Weird.
"I think they're looking for someone to play with!" Inuyasha's mother continued cheerfully. Inuyasha knew that tone of voice very well…it was the same tone she used for questions like "Isn't anybody going to wash these dishes?" and "I think the trash needs to get taken out sometime…" The hanyou tried to slink behind his brother.
"Any takers?" the human continued, undaunted by the lack of volunteers.
"Not until they're older, honey." one sultry voice purred, and Inuyasha's mother shot its owner an extremely nasty look. "I only play with the big boys." the flaxen-haired youkai yawned languidly.
Inuyasha was extremely insulted.
"But I am a big boy!" he announced proudly. "I sleep in a grown-up bed now! Just like my big brother!" Inexplicably, the room dissolved into laughter. "Well, I am seven!" the hanyou pouted.
"That's not what she meant, dear." his mother hushed sternly, but her eyes were laughing. "Anyways, these puppies are in need of some playmates…won't any of you spend some time with them?" Her question came out as a statement.
"Well, let's see…I know! Why don't we play Hide and Go Seek?" Michiru suggested. "You guys go hide, and we'll come looking for you…eventually." The other girls snickered.
"What a wonderful idea!" Mother smiled winningly. "I'll play too!"
For some reason, Michiru looked irritated. "No, m'lady, that's not really necessary—"
"Well, I'll help organize at least!" Mother pressed onward, ignoring the groans. "Now, what teams should we have? I bet Sesshoumaru wants little Yasuka on his team…" she mused, even as Sesshoumaru waved an emphatic NO! Inuyasha was disappointed when she didn't wink again. "But, I think we should do it the old-fashioned way: boys versus girls! Why don't you boys go first? You can count out in the hall."
"Yes, mom…" the brothers grumbled, trudging toward the sliding door.
"And you girls, go and hide! Anywhere within this quarter, but stay away from the east wing…the lord is working on his books today. C'mon…chop-chop!"
"Stupid bloody hide and seek!" Sesshoumaru complained, slamming the screen shut behind them. "This is baby stuff!"
"At least we're not dead." Inuyasha offered.
"We might as well be…" Gods! Hide and seek with girls! What if anybody finds out about this? I'll just have to get rid of the witnesses, I guess… He eyed his younger brother. Well, at least I'd be putting him out of his misery. It must suck, being a hanyou.
Inuyasha, oblivious, began counting with enthusiasm.
"One…two…three…five…six…ow! What was that for?"
"Stupid! You missed four!" Sesshoumaru hissed.
"Momma says that's bad luck!" Inuyasha complained.
"I'll show YOU bad luck! How the hell did you lose that snake!" Sesshoumaru badgered, returning to earlier grievances.
"I dunno, it was all wriggly and you told me to hurry up…"
"I didn't mean for you to LOSE it! Now look what you did!" the full demon looked like he was about to hyperventilate. "I think she likes me!" he whimpered.
"She…likes…you?" Inuyasha mulled it over. He'd thought something was a little strange about her reaction to those stupid weeds…how horrible! A girl liked his big brother! Ew! There was only one thing to do.
"Sesshoumaru an' Yasuka, sitting in a tree!" he chanted. "K-I-S-S-I-N—!"
"Shut—up---!" Sesshoumaru growled, his right hand lighting with poison. A few drops splattered on the floor, etching little tracks into the wood. "Besides, that isn't the worst part…she's got your stupid mom thinking it too!"
"My mom ain't stupid!" Inuyasha thumbed his nose at his brother, assuming a fighting position. "Wait…Is that why she keeps winkin' at Yasuka?" he asked, curiosity overcoming the impulse to tussle.
"Maybe, I dunno." Sesshoumaru replied, in a voice that sounded like he did think so. "We gotta get that stupid bitch back." He looked positively murderous. "We're gonna drag her out, kicking and screaming, and we'll shave her head bald, and make her take a B-A-T-H, and break all her doll toy-things, and--!"
"…hey, Sesshoumaru?"
"Huh?"
"Shouldn't we go Seekin'? We can't do nothin' if we don't find her first…"
"...oh yeah."
It was a little harder than they'd expected, but nevertheless the puppies located most of the girls within a half hour; the heavy incense of the Women's Quarter didn't quite override their personal scents. Most of them seemed oddly relieved to be discovered, although Michiru acted annoyed as always.
However, Yasuka was no where to be found, although they'd looked everywhere they could think of. Sesshoumaru was getting increasingly vexed.
"Well?" he asked for the three millionth time, tapping his foot impatiently. Inuyasha looked up at him and whimpered.
"But by dose hurts, Sesshoumaru…"
"Oh, for godssake!" the full demon rolled his eyes. "Never send a hanyou to do a youkai's job!"
"But you were da one dat said I should do all da trackin'—" Inuyasha pointed out, sneezing again. His head was absolutely killing him, and his nose was nearing the point of perfumed melt-down. Why do they have to use all this smelly stuff? Maybe it's some sorta self-defense thingy…
Sesshoumaru gracefully lowered himself to all fours beside his younger brother, inhaling deeply. The myriad scents of the hallway hit his untrained, highly sensitive nose all at once, and the full demon belatedly realized why he'd been making his brother do the tracking. Quite strangely enough, the floor chose that exact moment to jump up and meet him.
"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha called.
"Whenja get up there?" the full demon asked blearily, staring upwards.
Inuyasha scowled. "You were da one that felled dow—" he cut off abruptly, swiveling his head sharply to the right. His fuzzy ears snapped upright, straining to make something out. "Didja ya hear that!?" he yelped.
Sesshoumaru pressed one slender ear to the floor, trying to figure out what his brother was talking about. He could almost hear a very faint scraping sound, wood on wood—and a muffled thump? As if someone was moving something…or moving around in it. Off to the east, and close to the kitchens…
Both puppies had the same thought at once.
"The storage room!"
"Shhh!" Sesshoumaru warned, carefully sliding open the heavy screen. "We don't want her to hear us."
"Ewww!" Inuyasha squealed, completely ignoring his big brother's advice. "Stinks like pickles!"
"Exactly!" Sesshoumaru grinned. "She didn't think we'd be able to smell her in here. But that's why I knew she was here—such an obvious trick." (Of course, his brother's hearing had nothing to do with it.) Stupid brat…thinks she can outsmart me? "She's a hundred years too young!" he mused aloud.
"For what?" Inuyasha asked.
"Huh?"
"What happens in a hundred years?" the hanyou wondered.
"Er…I was just sayin' that Yasuka couldn't beat me, not in a hundred years!"
Inuyasha looked crestfallen. "Then she'll beat you when you turn a hundred?" Man, some big brother YOU are…
"No, stupid!" Sesshoumaru sighed, exasperated. "It's just an idiot-ism…er, idiophore…er, thing. It's like saying 'you'll have to get up pretty early in the morning to get the better of ME!' "
"That's not hard!" Inuyasha pointed out. "You always oversleep!"
"Dammit! That's not the point!"
"But you do!" Ah, the tenacity of seven-year old reasoning.
"You stupid little—"
Something giggled, off in the darkness, and both puppies froze. Their prey was close…in an unspoken truce, Inuyasha released his brother's arm in exchange for the use of his legs again.
"C'mon!" Sesshoumaru beckoned, padding over to a stack of unused barrels, heavy wooden containers piled to the ceiling. They had been emptied one by one and then stacked here, still steeped in pickle juice…the dog demon's nose twitched briefly before he decided not to bother. Instant headache for sure, that.
And after all--one of the barrels' lids was suspiciously ajar.
"There she is!" Sesshoumaru whispered, crouching down behind "C'mon, Inuyasha…we gotta move fast!"
Before the hanyou could react, his brother streaked forward and slammed the lid home, trapping the girl inside. Frantic pounding rattled the barrel from the inside out, but to no avail…two warm bodies were leaning on the cover.
"You got her!" Inuyasha shouted, pure hero worship shining in his eyes.
"Of course I did." his brother purred, giving the barrel an extra kick for good measure. The racket inside stopped for a moment. "And I know just what to do with this…" Sesshoumaru's smile turned deadly.
"How much farther?" Inuyasha complained, giving the wooden container another shove.
"We're almost outside…" Sesshoumaru panted, keeping a careful eye on the lid. The barrel was rolling steadily, and thankfully its inhabitant had settled down—he didn't think his poor ears could take much more pounding. "Ok, there's the door."
The lid wobbled dangerously, but Inuyasha managed to hang onto it as his brother slid the screen aside. A few hundred feet, and then they'd be home free…
"Ah, Sesshoumaru! Inuyasha!" a familiar male voice called.
Both puppies stiffened and instantly plastered innocent smiles on their cherubic faces.
"Hi dad!" they grinned in unison, trying to hide the barrel behind their diminutive forms.
"What are you doing?" The western lord asked amicably, yawning. Inuyasha was amused to note he had smudge marks on his face…just like his big brother did when he fell asleep on his protocol homework.
"Uh…we're just…playing!" Sesshoumaru stammered.
"W-with Yasuka!" Inuyasha added, leaning heavily on the lid.
"Girls, eh?" Inutaishou smiled indulgently. "Ah, I remember when I was a pup your age…" His eyes grew all misty, and both brothers groaned. If he got started on his "nostalgia" thing again, they'd never get outside. "Her name was Maiko, as I recall…"
"Uh, that's nice and all, but we really gotta go!" Sesshoumaru pleaded. "Yasuka's gonna be mad at us if we, er, keep her waiting."
"Bye, Dad!" Inuyasha called obediently, before shoving the barrel out onto the porch.
Inutaishou watched his sons fondly, content to observe their little game. Something thumped around heavily inside the container, and the brothers kicked the lid fiercely. Inutaishou wiped away a tear.
"Ah, puppy love…" the proud parent chuckled, and went off to compose a suitable poem.
"Ok, dump it in the lake!" Sesshoumaru squealed happily. Inuyasha sagged against the wooden container, trying his damndest to muster up the necessary strength.
"What? Wimping out?" his brother accused, and the hanyou made a half-hearted swipe at him.
"You should talk! You didn't even push!" he growled.
"I did!" Sesshoumaru retorted. "…a little bit."
"Not much!" Inuyasha panted.
"Fine!" Sesshoumaru huffed, joining his brother behind the barrel. "One—two---three!"
They shoved it forward as hard as they could, collapsing onto the grass the minute it passed the edge of the hill. Slowly at first…then faster and faster…the container wobbled down the short slope and into the family lake, muffled screams following it all the way. It hit the water with a magnificent splash, temporarily displacing a large patch of the pond scum carpeting the shore waters. The barrel spun forward once and then squelched deeply into the mud, weighed down too heavily to roll into deeper waters. The lid floated nearby, unnoticed.
"Excellent!!!" the puppies cried as one, and then, in that time honored tradition of mischievous boys everywhere—they got the hell out of there.
"That was totally worth it!" Sesshoumaru decided as they rounded the corner to the main compound. "She never knew what hit her!" Inuyasha nodded, staring at his brother in admiration, and that's why he didn't notice until he ran…
…right into a pair of familiar pink eyes.
"Ya-yasuka!" Sesshoumaru yelped. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Forgive me, my lord, for leaving your game so early." she addressed formally, bowing her head. "But I wanted to repay you for your kind present, so…"
Sesshoumaru stood in shock as she dumped an assortment of shiny homemade candies into his larger hand. She backed away respectfully, mumbling the usual humble words (although the effect was somewhat marred by the proud smirk plastered on her face—she had always been proud of her candy making skills).
"Hey, big brother…" Inuyasha whispered urgently, tugging on his brother's robe. "If Yasuka is here…then who was in the--"
"Of course, if my lord does not wish to receive such an ignoble gift, I can always—"
"Ok, thanks, bye!" Sesshoumaru squeaked, shoving the girl bodily toward the house. He had the same thought as his brother, and it sure wasn't a good one. They'd found all the women that were playing, unless…
The puppies made the trek to the lake in record time, taking the shortcut straight through Jaken's flower bushes (much to the delight of the wizened retainer), and hurtled over most of Dad's rock garden. They rushed over the edge of the hill, gasping for breath…
A familiar black-haired human woman was struggling in the shallows, trying desperately to pull herself out of a splintered pickle barrel. Her purple silk kimono was covered in brownish pond scum—absolutely, without any doubts, ruined.
Inuyasha turned mournfully to his older brother.
"Do you think Mom's gonna be mad about this?"
The full demon paled.
"…probably."
Uh-oh! Looks like they're really in trouble this time! @_@ Poor puppies—what will happen next? And more importantly, how will they deal with it? Will a little punishment cause them to give up and let those icky girls win? Or will the boys rally their forces and triumph? Find out next time, but first, don't forget to…
R-E-V-I-E-W! ^_^
Response to Reviews (no particular order):
Jarjayes:
Yes! I'm so happy someone got that impression – that's exactly the character description I think of when writing little Sess. Sure, he's bad-ass and powerful as a grown up, but he isn't nearly so kick-ass as a kid…but he does have ego to spare. Thus, he gets himself into all kinds of trouble…
Dark Kitsune:
Glad you liked it! My grandpa used that line a lot when we were children, so I'm pretty familiar with it ^_~ And yes, more Half-Light is forth-coming – I only finished this chapter because it was almost entirely written already. (I suffered some bad writer's block for chapter 3 and eventually realized these events should be a separate chapter.)
Dayla:
Well, not quite…at least, not quite yet. (Hah, did that give anything away?) As an interesting side note, I've guessed that his red eye shadow might be there because of an element of Kabuki theatre…the evil guys/evil demon things tend to have red above their eyes. (To make them stand out/look evil?) Then again, Sango has red above her eyes…and she was never really evil…so I could just be off the mark.
ChibiJenn:
Glad you liked it ^_^ I will have more Half-Light out soon too, as testament to your persistence – you alone have given me lots of reason to keep writing ^_^
Everyone Else:
Once again, thanks for your continued support! Love to all!
Everyone Else Who Didn't Review:
REVIEW, damn you! If you got this far down on the page anyways, why not? The button is right there…