"He's going to be furious when he wakes up," Sango warned but made no movement to intervene.
Shippo humphed as he gathered more silver hair in his hands. "It's his own fault for over sleeping. No, Yahna! Not so much!" The tree child looked at him and blinked. "Only grab as much as you can hold in one hand, like this." Shippo lifted his fist full of hair so she could see. She let go of some of the hair. "Not so little, though. It wont stay if you don't have enough. Grab just a little bit more." She grabbed one small chunk and gazed at him nervously. The kit smiled. "Good. Now just hold it. I'll tie it in a second."
Shippo grabbed one of the pink ribbons he had acquired from his shoulder. No one asked where he had "found" them nor did any of the adults feel inclined to. The kitsune was determined to mock the dog hanyou and nothing anyone said, did, or asked was going to change his mind.
An amused smile spread across Miroku's lips as he watched the two children. Oh yes, Inuyasha was going to beat the two of them senseless for this... assuming they didn't make a run for Kagome. She caught him, pink ribbons or not, he would be sat for picking on the children.
"You should take those out before he wakes up," Sango warned again as she continued to sharpen Hiraikotsu.
"Then he shouldn't sleep this late, now should he," the kit teased.
He hopped down from the sleeping Inuyasha's shoulder and next to Yahna. Carefully, he gathered the hair, hopped on Inuyasha shoulder, and tied the second ribbon in. When it was fastened tightly so it wouldn't come out without being pulled, he stood back to admire their work. He looked over the sleeping adult hanyou with a confident smirk. As usual, Inuyasha was sleeping sitting up with Tetsusiaga leaned against him. This time, however, there were two pretty, pink bows in it.
"I think he looks good," the kitsune smirked. "Don't you, Yahna?" The girl nodded enthusiastically. Shippo glanced down at the other two ribbons in his hands. "Maybe we should give him two more." Yahna nodded.
The children stated walking towards him again. Inuyasha gave a grunt as he started waking up. The kitsune squeaked, shoved the ribbons in Yahna's hands, and bolted for the door. Miroku and Sango couldn't help but chuckle. Yahna suddenly trotted over to the monk and laid the ribbons across his knee. He raised a curious eyebrow at her. She smiled and trotted back to Inuyasha.
Yahna crawled in to Inuyasha's lap, startling him awake, and announced, "Otoo-sama!"
Inuyasha jerked back, banging against the wall. After a few seconds of staring at the child, his memory kicked. Damn it! It wasn't just some horrible nightmare. "Get off, brat!" he snapped. The child smiled brightly and snuggled against him. He snagged hold of one of her legs and pulled her away before she could get a firm grip. "I said get off!"
Out of the corner of his eye, the hanyou spotted Miroku shoving something pink in to his robes. He snorted and dropped the girl as she made an unceremonious thud as she hit the floor. He stood stiffly and headed out the door. Without wasting a second, Yahna bounced to her feet and went trotting after him.
Miroku and Sango covered their moths to keep from bursting out if a fit of laughter.
~~~~~
Kagome was just about to say good bye to Kaede when she spotted Inuyasha coming out. She'd seen Shippo go speeding past a moment ago, so she figured he was probably awake now. About time... what the!?!
The teenager gaped. Curious as to what she was staring at, Kaede turned to see. She blinked in surprise as she stared at the approaching half-breed. Her eyes focused on a pair of small pony tails sticking out from the side of his head tied with little pink bows.
"Oi! Where are you going!?" he snapped at Kagome.
"..."
Inuyasha looked at her in annoyance. Something about the way she and the old hag were looking at him didn't sit right with him. "What?" he demanded.
"Uh..."
"Are you going for a new hair style?" Kaede asked with a chuckle.
He gave her a questioning glare. "What?" He felt a gentle tug on his hakama and glanced down to see Yahna standing next to him with her usual cheery smile. "Go away, pup."
"Your, um, hair," Kagome whimpered as she struggled to keep from laughing.
"Huh?" He reached up and felt around his head. He soon found something tying up his hair and gave it a small yank.
The strip of cloth came out and he examined it. A pink ribbon? His eyes narrowed. Inuyasha reached around and found an identical ribbon tied on the other side. One silver eyebrow twitched as he made his hands in to fists. He whirled around and stomped back towards the small house with Yahna close behind.
"Someone is going to die!" he growled. Kagome suddenly burst out laughing. Inuyasha cringed. Oh yes, someone is going to die.
The first thing Inuyasha did once he was back inside was go for the monk struggling not to laugh. He grabbed Miroku but the front his robes and lifted him off the ground.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?!" the hanyou roared.
"Now now, Inuyasha. Calm down," Miroku said in a annoyingly calm voice. The claws squeezed harder. "It was not me."
"Who..."
"Yahna an..."
The gold eyes glared at the girl standing next to him. He dropped the human in favor of grabbing the tree born child. Clawed hand snagged her by the back of her haori and lifted her up to eye level. "You god damn little...!"
"Sit!" The hanyou became one with the floor... again. Kagome strode in and glared at him. "She's too little to understand why your mad, Inuyasha. Hitting her will do nothing but hurt her."
Yahna sat on the ground in front of him, petting his head. Inuyasha muttered a few choice words as he watched Kagome leave. The tree pup is so dead.
~~~~~
I can't believe him! Picking on her like that! She's only a week old! Not even that! Six days! Six whole days! Kagome let out a small snort as she stomped towards the well. He's such a jerk!...
"Kagome!" Shippo cried as he leaped from the edge of the well in to her arms. She easily caught him and smiled at the child. "Do you really have to go?" he asked with large, pleading emerald eyes.
The teenager gave a nod. "I have to go to school sometimes. I'll be back in a few days, though." The kit pouted as she set him on the edge of the well. She sat and dangled her legs inside. A thought suddenly struck her. "Mm, Shippo, can you do me a favor?" This caught the youkai child's attention instantly and he perked up. If there was one thing he liked, it was being useful. "While I'm gone, could you keep an eye on Inuyahna? Makes sure she stays out of trouble and keep Inuyasha from hurting her?"
Shippo puffed his chest proudly. "You can count on me! I'll keep her right where I can see her and make sure she knows where it's safe to play!" he boasted.
"Thank you," Kagome stated with an affectionate smile. "Be sure to play with her too. You don't want your new imoot to be bored or feel left out."
"My new imoot?"
The schoolgirl nodded. "Um hm. Your new imoot. Take good care of her and I'll bring you back a treat." She slipped off the side and disappeared in the darkness.
For a long moment, the kitsune just stared at the darkness where she had gone. "My new imoot..." he whispered to himself, then puffed up proudly. "Yes, my new imoot, and I'm going to take good care of her, Kagome. Just watch... Wait, does that make Inuyasha my new otoo-san? Eh! I don't want Inuyasha to be my otoo-san!"
~~~~~
A deep sigh escaped the half dog youkai as he walked by the river. This day had started off bad and so far it wasn't getting any better. A slight tug on his hakama reminded him why this day was so horrible. How exactly did I get tricked in to pup sitting with the old hag?
"Otoo-sama!" the now familiar voice cried from below.
"Go away!" he snapped as he scowled at the girl toddling just behind him with a grip on his clothes. "I'm not your otoo-sama!"
"Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama," the child repeated in a sing-song voice.
Inuyasha stopped and snarled. "Stop it! Leave me alone! I don't want you! Go crawl back in the god damned tree!"
"Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama," she continued to sing as if he hadn't spoken.
"Infuriating, worthless, little whelp," he grumbled and continued walking. The child happily kept pace, still singing the word 'Otoo-sama' over and over again. His eyes shifted over to the water, then to the pup, and back again. It wouldn't be that hard to drown it, he contemplated.
"Are you looking for something?" Kaede inquired as she walked a few paces ahead of him.
"Keh!"
"If your thinking of drowning her, I don't recommend it. She's already proven she can swim. Even if you did manage to drown her, I would imagine explaining to everyone else why you purposely killed her would be rather difficult... unless you would like Kagome to turn against you." He growled. "Now, hurry up. The sooner we get to the forest, the sooner we can gather herbs, and the sooner we can be done." He snorted but skulked after her anyway.
"Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama, Otoo-sama," the girl continued to sign.
"Can't you make it shut up!?!"
The old woman stopped and glanced down at the child. "Yahna, could you please keep quiet for a little while?" The girl snapped her mouth shut and nodded with a giddy smile. "She responds better when you ask nicely," the miko explained.
Inuyasha growled. Nicely, huh? Fine! I can be nice! "Yahna, could you please let go of my hakama?" he asked in forced politeness. The child glanced at him curiously but made no move to let go.
"If she does that, you'll run away again," Kaede responded.
He glared at the old miko but decided to try it her way. "I wont run away if you let go," he grated out.
The child glared at him and gripped tighter.
"She's also quite good at judging when people are lying."
"God damned tree bitch," he grumbled.
"Otoo-sama?" He glanced down at the child and found her holding one arm up to him.
"I am not picking you up, brat," the hanyou grunted in response.
Kaede looked back and sighed. "Yahna, come take my hand and walk with me." She held out her right hand for the girl.
Yahna looked at the woman for a moment, then smiled. She gripped the hand she had been holding up back on to his hakama. Carefully, she reached over with her left hand and grabbed the left leg of his hakama. She maneuvered over so she could grip the cloth on his left leg with her right hand. Then, she trotted a few steps ahead, pulling on the red cloth as much as she could and grabbed hold on the woman's hand with her left hand.
Inuyasha had watched the whole display and growled yet again. "Can't you make the damn brat let go!?"
"Yahna, please let go of Inuyasha," the miko requested.
"Otoo-sama!" the girl snapped as she pulled the cloth closer. For a moment, Inuyasha was tempted to just take off the hakama and just give it to the pup, saying 'she could have them if it would make her leave him alone.' One look from Kaede, however, warned him not to.
"No, I can't make her let go. You will just have to get use to her being there."
"Keh!"
As they made their way in to Inuyasha's forest, Yahna stopped by the holy tree. She gave a tug on Inuyasha's hakama, commanding him to stop as well. Kaede had stopped in front of a tree near by and was picking some plant leaves. Inuyasha sighed and slumped on to the ground.
"Holy tree!" Yahna stated proudly as she pointed to the tree while keeping the other hand still firmly attached to his clothes.
"Evil tree," Inuyasha corrected.
"Holy tree," the child persisted.
"No, god damned fucking evil piece of shit tree!" Inuyasha snarled as he glared at the child. The hanyou suddenly had a devilish thought. He stood and flexed his claws. "Maybe I should share with everyone else just what that damned thing is." Yahna glanced at him curiously and blinked as he advanced on the tree, dragging her along with him.
Kaede glanced over just as Inuyasha was about to drag one claw through the bark. "Inuyasha, you will not carve obscenities in to the holy tree!" she scolded. He glared at her. The triangle ears twitched in annoyance. A moment later, his golden eyes focused on the pup still holding on to him. A malicious smile spread across his face as he reached for her. "You will not carve obscenities in to the child, either!"
"Damn mind reading old hag," he pouted.
"I don't need to read minds to know what you're planning."
"Humph!"
"Otoo-sama?"
"Baka tree brat."
The three continued in relative silence further into the forest. Yahna kept a firm hold on her "otoo-sama" the whole time, much to his annoyance. As Kaede finished gathering herbs, they headed back towards the village. It was still early in the day, but already Inuyasha was ready to climb up a tree and take a nap... high up in a tree... where the girl couldn't get to him.
"Yahna!" Shippo's squeaky voice rang out as they got close to the village. The kit came in to sight a moment later, darting straight for the curious girl. "Yahna! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" he half cried. She blinked. "I thought Inuyasha might have done something to you."
"He considered it several times," Kaede stated gruffly as she walked past them.
Shippo looked horrified. "He wouldn't!?!"
"Of course I would," Inuyasha grunted. "Anything to get the brat away."
"Ah! No! You can't kill my new imoot!"
"Your new imoot?" Inuyasha cringed. This wasn't a good sign.
Shippo folded his arms together and puffed out his chest. "That's right, my imoot! But don't expect me to start calling you otoo-san."
"You do and I'll kill you," the hanyou threatened.
The kit turned back to Yahna. "You shouldn't go off anywhere with Inuyasha when Kagome's not here. He beats up defenseless kids like you."
"Oh, you mean like this!" the hanyou growled as he bopped Shippo on the head.
Yahna clamped both her hands over her mouth in shock. Her azure eyes focused down on the poor kit lying face first in the dirt. Inuyasha took advantage of the momentary distraction and leaped in to nearest tree.
"Otoo-sama!" she cried as she realized her mistake. The pup ran to the base on the tree and tried to leap up it. She didn't get far and tumbled back down.
"Keh! Thanks for the distraction, brat!" He leaped off in to the sky, over the trees, and out of sight.
"Otoo-sama! Otoo-sama!" the girl wailed.
Shippo pulled himself back up and dusted off his clothes. His hands traced up to the new ache on his head. This one's gonna leave a huge bump, he thought with a sigh. The kit glanced over at Yahna slumped on her knees whimpering at the base of the tree Inuyasha had just been in.
"Don't worry about it, Yahna. He's just being a jerk. He always is."
She looked back at him with tear filled eyes. "Shippo-chan, Otoo-sama!"
The kitsune froze. "Shippo-chan? You know my name?" She nodded and started to wipe her eyes. He puffed out his chest proudly with a smug smile. "I'm your fifth word!" He trotted over to her and helped her stand back up. "It's Shippo-nii-san," he corrected. "I'm your onii-san so call my Shippo-nii-san or just nii-san, kay?"
"Shippo-chan," Yahna repeated.
"Nii-san."
"Shippo-chan."
"I'm not going to change your mind, am I?" The girl shook her head no. "Alright, I guess you can call me Shippo-chan, but only if I can call you Yahna-chan." She smiled happily and nodded. "Good, now come on. Kagome told me I need to take care of you, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Why don't I teach you a few games..."
_______________________________________________________________
Japanese words I've used in this chapter
imoot = younger sister
Onii = older brother
Nii = short way of saying older brother; kind of like saying bro
San = mister, miss, or misses; a polite way of adressing someone. It is also used at the end of older sibling and partental terms a lot (otoo-san, onii-san, etc.) but not younger siblings.
Chan = a term put on the end of young children's names and used with close friends, usually girls. Kagome, for example, calls Shippo 'Shippo-cahn' and Sango 'Sango-chan'. It doesn't really have an exact translation equivalence in English.
Baka = idiot, though I've also seen it used in place of stupid too.
Kit = young fox; not a japanese word but I thought I should add it for people who were curious.
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Yay, five chapters! I made this one extra long (sorry if it annoyed people) because I'm not going to have my computer for the whole week and wont be able to post for the week. I think I can keep this fic updating once a week so long as I keep a little ahead in my writing. Anyone have a preference for what day of the week they'd like to see it update? One more question. I have two spellings for mother: oka and okaa? Now, I can pronounce the word, but I don't know which would be the correct spelling. I really am trying to do the spellings right, and I really appreciate everyone's help. Oh, Amakara has a great sight with spelling of names and such from Inuyasha. It's very helpful and I definitely recommend people take a look at it (and the rest of it) if you are writing any fanfic, not just an Inuyasha one.
I fixed bouzu, though I think Miroku can pass as a bozo sometimes. also, Oi is actually a Japanese word so I added it back in chapter two where it was first used. I hope that putting the meaning of the words at the bottom does help people. I know that I sometimes come across Japanese words (especially in Inuyasha fan fics) I don't know and it is a pain to go look it up sometimes.
Alright, I feel like I should explain the bows. This was not entirely my own idea. I came across a fan art picture a while ago of Inuyasha with pink bows in his hair. I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it, so I can't point people in the right direction to see it. However, when I saw it, I thought of Shippo and Yahna tying up his hair. It was too cute not to put in and gave Shippo a good reason for being at the well before Kagome.
Amakara , I'd love to be in your good fic guide. I'm honored you think I'm good enough to mention. Really, I had no idea my idea was that original. I know children being born from trees is a little odd, but places in Europe has stories of dryads who come out of tree. There was a talking tree in the show (I wont ruin it for people who haven't seen that far and just leave it at that). Everyone else, thank you for reviewing.