"No, evil tree," the half dog youkai corrected. Yahna suddenly looked confused. "If it were a 'holy' tree, you wouldn't be here."
"Inuyasha, sit!" The hanyou's face greeted the ground for the third time that day. He muttered a few choice words. "And don't swear in front of Inuyahna! She's too little to understand not to repeat them."
"Bitch," he grumbled. Kagome shot him a glare and he stopped himself from saying anything more. Inuyasha may not have always been too bright, but he did have good, healthy fear of getting sat again.
Young, impressionable blue eyes watched the whole scene with great interest. Yahna blinked curiously, seemingly unsure of how to react to this. As Inuyasha picked himself up, she grinned from ear to ear and snuggled back up to Kagome.
Sango and Miroku sighed as they watched the scene before them. This wasn't getting them anywhere. The youkai exterminator approached Kagome and the child. She gave the child a good once over before turning her attention to the school girl.
"Kagome-chan, can you sense anything from within the tree?"
Kagome shook her head. "No, it doesn't feel any different than normal." Her auburn eyes traveled up to the healing wound in the trunk. But I haven't touched where she came out...
Inuyasha snarled at the tree as he walked up to it. "Stupid tree," he grunted, then kicked some dirt at it. "Evil stupid tree." He leaped up on the roots so he was standing right in front of where he used to be attached. One clawed hand reached up, ready to dig his claws through it, but stopped. Heat radiated from the bare spot.
Out of curiosity, he reached out and touched it. Warm... very warm. He growled. Stupid god damned tree. B-bump. Inuyasha's eyes widened ten fold. B-bump... b-bump. Inuyasha's brow furrowed. A heart beat? A sudden pulse of energy shot through his arm and he felt some of the flesh like wood shift under his hand.
Instinctually, the hanyou jerked back. The next second he was standing several feet away, Kagome in hand. He was crouched slightly behind the Japanese girl and growling. His hands gripped her shoulders so tightly his claws cut the fabric but were careful to not cut her skin. Kagome turned her gaze towards him in confusion. Everyone else gave him a curious and slightly concerned glance.
"EVIL EVIL GOD DAMNED HOLY TREE!" he roared in a threatening voice. "Taking advantage of innocent hanyous!"
Miroku leaned closer to Sango, whispering, "Innocent hanyou? Who's an innocent hanyou?"
"Yahna, maybe," the taijiya replied.
Kagome sighed. "You're not very scary from there, ya know."
"Hiding behind women and children..." Shippo trailed off with a shake of his head.
Children? Inuyasha glanced down slightly and suddenly found himself nose to nose with Yahna.
"Otoo-sama," the child half purred.
The dog youkai leaped back with an "urk" and a snarl. "Keep that... that... thing away!" He let out a low, dangerous growl before leaping off in to one of the trees and out of sight.
"Well, he took that better than expected," Kaede remarked.
~~~~~
The same goofy smile she had been wearing since he first saw her was still plastered on Yahna's face. Inuyasha scowled from his same perch in a tree just outside of Kaede's home. Yahna made a jump at the trunk in an attempt to climb it. Though she managed to grab on to the trunk, her grip was weak and she soon tumbled off with a yip. The child sat up, shook her head, then tried again... with the same results. The hanyou growled at her. She'd been doing this for over an hour without tiring. The sun had gone down some time ago and most of the villagers had gone to sleep. Thump. Yip. Roll. Damn it! Doesn't it ever get tired!?!
"Give it up, brat. You're not getting up and I don't want you," he snorted.
"You don't have to be so mean, Inuyasha," Kagome scolded as she walked up under the tree. He grunted in response. "She's not going to hurt you." The girl reached down and scooped the child up in her arms. "Dinner is ready. Are you going to come in to eat."
Inuyasha weighed the situation in his mind. He was hungry. Whatever the old miko had made smelled good. Getting food sounded good. If he went down, the creature would latch on to him again and that was the last thing he wanted. She would probably hang on him all night and refuse to let go. Tree or food? Hunger or weird tree pup hang on to him?
"Keh!"
Kagome shrugged. "Fine then. I'll tell Kaede your not hungry."
"Keh!"
The adolescent disappeared back inside with Yahna, leaving him alone. Inuyasha snorted again. Good! I don't want them out here anyway! Stupid Kagome! Stupid pup! Stupid, god damned tree pup!
~~~~~
Yahna happily slurped up the soup given to her and didn't hesitate in holding out her bowl for more. She gave Kaede a delightful grin as her bowl was refilled, then slurped it down as well. The child held out the bowl for more with an innocent smile. Everyone blinked... then blinked again.
"She certainly has Inuyasha appetite," Sango commented.
"She isn't going to eat us, is she?" Shippo asked.
"I doubt that," Kaede sighed as she gave the child a third helping. "Does she always eat this much?" Kagome inquired as she took a bite of her rice.
The old miko nodded. She pointed to the untouched bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks next to the little girl. "She has trouble using chopsticks so she doesn't eat anything solid. I tried helping her but she just couldn't get it right. Drinking soup is easier so that's all that she has."
Miroku eyed the child with a frown. "She can't live on just soup. She has to eat other things to grow up healthy."
"She'll try again when she's hungry enough," Kaede responded. "You can't force a child to eat anything they are not hungry for."
Yahna gave a exaggerated sigh and set the bowl in front of her. She leaned back with one hand behind her and rubbed her stomach with the other. A yawn escaped her, and her eye lids drooped. With a warm, full belly, she now felt ready to sleep. Her eyes lazily glanced at the door. She rolled up to her feet and toddled towards the drape made of reeds. The child suddenly found herself grabbed and dragged in to Kagome's lap.
"You should leave him alone for a little while," the adolescent said calmly. "I think he's still a little spooked about all of this." She smiled warmly at the child, hoping to convince the girl to stay. Yahna sighed and leaned back against Kagome.
"Kagome-sama," Miroku suddenly spoke up, "Weren't you going back to your country today?"
"Hm, I can go back in the morning before school. Someone has to keep Inuyahna away from Inuyasha. He might hurt her..."
"Might? Try will," the kitsune retorted. "He hates children."
"And he's violent," Sango added.
"With a terrible temper," Miroku put in.
"And absolutely no patience," Kaede stated.
The child blinked and glanced up at Kagome's face. "Otoo-sama?"
"Yes, Inuyasha, or otoo-sama as you've so deemed him," the school girl sighed. "But don't worry. I'm staying the night. You just need to be patient with Inuyasha. He just needs a little time to get use to you."
~~~~~
Another growl of his stomach and the lack of other noise in the village finally enticed the hanyou out of his tree. And when did I become so weak that I can't even go one day without food anymore? he mentally chastised as he hunched outside the door to Kaede's hut and listened. His ears twitched as he picked up the faint sound of snores from the sleeping inhabitants. Good. The brat's finally out.
Carefully, he skulked inside. The fire was out and the room was dark. Leaned against one wall, Miroku slept while holding his staff. Sango was curled up in a sheet with Kirara resting on her back. The old miko slept calmly next to the youkai exterminator. On the other side of the fire pit was Kagome wrapped up in her sleeping bag with Shippo curled up in her arms and Shippo on her back...
Wait a second! He looked over the children and Kagome again. It was definitely Shippo on her back. Curled up against Kagome's chest was a very content Yahna. That filthy tree brat! How dare it sleep in Kagome's bed! The little monster! Inuyasha growled and reached out with his claws to grab the child.
"Something wrong?" Miroku inquired with a yawn. The half dog youkai shot him a glare and yanked his hand back. "Why do you care where she sleeps? She's not bothering you."
"Keh!" Inuyasha grunted.
"Kagome saved a bowl for you by the fire," the monk sighed.
Inuyasha's eyes darted to the bowl setting by the cooking fire covered by a handkerchief. He humphed but grabbed the bowl and chopsticks anyway. Miroku just smiled.
"Not a word, bouzo," the hanyou growled.
"Of course not," the human replied.
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Japanese words I've used in this chapter
Taijiya = exterminator, usually said in reference to killing youkai in Inuyasha. I interchange this word with "youkai exterminator" occasionally just to vary the pace and flow of the writing a little.
Bouzo = a derogitory term for a monk (can't find the exact meaning, does anyone know?). Inuyasha calls Miroku this randomly throughout the show (usually when angry at Miroku).
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Fixed the spelling of youkai. Still doesn't look right to me, but that's probably just because I spell using English grammar rules. I'll stick with how I'm spelling other things simply because that is how I found the words when I looked for them. I put it down as hanyou instead of hanyoo because that is how I found it written out. The same goes with otoo, okaa, imoto, etc.
Glad people like it so far. I'm enjoying writing it. Of course, we know Shippo is going to have to take advantage of the situation. What fun would it be if he didn't? He he he. Well, I'm off to do more writing and homework. Remember to review.