Check the last chapter for the AN, as this is a double posting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me. lol

Oh, and as of late,

:::thoughts::: sound/ italicized/ emote "speech"

Recap:

"Inu Yasha, come say hi to Shippou!" Ugh, here we go. Pouting, stubbornness raised to a high only rivaled by the presence of Kouga... or maybe a mad Kagome, Inu Yasha willed his body to turn and face the direction that his head already had been in, his unintelligible grunting barely heard by the girl before him. "Inu Yasha!" Great, now she sounded annoyed. Internally sighing, Inu turned back towards the pair, one thought surfacing in his mind above all others.

"Keh."

Do the Math

Chapter 31: Candy Boy (Part 3)

"Kagome?" tug tug "Kagome, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Hmm?" Finally tearing her gaze away from one of the many stuffed animals in the souvenir shop, Kagome glanced down at the child below her.

She and Inu Yasha had decided that they would play baby-sitter for the day, well, actually, she had decided, but look at him; he was so cute!!! How could she resist, especially when the poor, adorable thing had been all alone in the big park? He could've gotten hurt! Besides, it seemed that the people who built the park overlooked one aspect when putting it together; there was no day care, no real lost and found, or in other words, no place to take the boy where his parents might go to look for him. Because of all of this, Kagome had decided that she'd watch over Shippou, playing as his temporary guardian, while they both looked for his parents and enjoyed the amusement park. Since then, they had enjoyed many a souvenir and candy shop, and had even ridden on a few rides. Unfortunately, Inu Yasha had been rather, well, pouty ever since Shippou had arrived, distancing himself from them and pulling up that cold barrier that she had worked so hard to make him drop, even for that day. Because of this, Kagome had allowed Inu Yasha to ride whatever he wanted from time to time, even if Shippou couldn't go on them, and thus, leaving her to stay back and watch him have fun, but that was alright with her. She just wished that she could've gone on a few of the rides with him. Maybe things would get better between them when they found Shippou's parents, but in the meantime, she was content with enjoying the company of said energetic boy, and had, all in all, grown quite fond of him. Another soft tug on her, already wrinkled, shorts reminded Kagome where they were, and the situation that had just presented itself.

"Okay Shippou; there's a bathroom not too far from here. Where's Inu Yasha?" With a flat face, the boy pointed an accusing finger towards a ramen stand across the way, and both sweat dropped. It looked as if they had one stop to make before heading to the bathroom after all.

If only getting Inu Yasha to watch Shippou had been as easy as getting him away from that ramen stand (which wasn't easy.)...

"Inuuuuuu..." Uh oh, the warning tone; he knew what was coming next, unless...

"Keh, fine, fine, I'll take the runt." There, that aught to do it. Spotting the approving look in Kagome's eyes, Inu sighed and grabbed Shippou by the scruff of his neck, about to drag the boy into the bathroom, when a sharp pain erupted from his hand. Growling quite audibly while massaging his, newly-adorned, bite marks, Inu Yasha turned towards the gloating youth, muscles ready, both for the chase and the punishment that would soon follow.

"Why you!!!"

"Inu Yasha! Sit!" Kagome stood, hands firmly planted on her hips, as Shippou scurried up into her arms, eyes pouting, and yet cocky all at once.

Okay, it was one thing to be forced to watch the runt, and quite another to have to put up with him. Even Inu Yasha could agree that they had little choice but to watch Shippou until they found his parents, and he really hadn't minded too much, well, minus the exasperating amount of attention he took from Kagome of course, but enough was enough! It wasn't fair to be punished just because he was mad at the brat for biting him! If it wasn't for Inu Yasha, SHE would've had to go to the bathroom with him! He was doing that kid a favor, and what happens? Bam, pain! Yeah, he was mad, but she would've been too! Glancing towards Kagome and realizing, all too quickly, that he had a promise to keep, Inu sighed and squatted on the ground. The brat was toast.

"Woof." Laughter erupted from the child, now perched lovingly in Kagome's arms, and jealousy boiled within Inu's gut. So much for a fun day at the amusement park. Finally receiving the signal that allowed him to rise, Inu glared daggers at the two, and stormed into the awaiting restroom, leaving them to their own devices, and, at the same time, escaping the whim of his overly-stimulated emotions, and the punishment that seemingly came with them.

Still standing outside, the young girl and the even younger boy watched, one out of concern and one pride, as the door to the boys' bathroom swung open, and then shut, only to repeat the process once more, before settling down, at least, for the time being. Realizing that there was nothing left to do outside, and even more so that there was little left to pacify Inu Yasha, Kagome instructed Shippou to go and take care of business, and to meet Inu inside once he was done. Leaving to enter her own, corresponding, bathroom, Kagome gave the small boy a slight squeeze and a cheerful smile. Yeah, he definitely liked her.

Now all alone, Shippou stood a moment, pausing to consider joining the aggravated teen, as his confidence began to ebb away, seemingly frightened of the vast amusement park before him. Moving towards the call of his bladder, a new presence decided to make itself known, drawing Shippou's attention to something even larger that said amusement park. Looking upwards, Shippou could see not but a large, thick wall of flesh, one which donned a light blue and yellow dress, outlined by a thin layer of lacey frills. The frills above him wiggled for a moment, shifting and flailing as if being blown in fierce wind from all directions, and then suddenly, all movement stopped. The boy briefly wondered if they had died, before scolding himself, as they weren't really alive in the first place, well, unless you went back to their plant stage waaaaaaay back down the line, but that conversation was for another time. Just then, the light blue wall began to roll towards him, frills descending upon him like spikes on a saw blade, until he saw nothing but eyes, staring out of the blackness above.

Shippou looked up at the woman, and the woman looked back at Shippou, smiling good-naturedly.

"Ahh, Shippou..." Kagome strolled out of the bathroom, tummy appeased and spirits high, to see the boy standing before her, "Did you finish?" Shippou nodded and smiled.

"Yep." Scurrying back into Kagome's arms, the boy smiled contentedly and curled up against her.

"Good, now, where's Inu Yasha? Didn't he go in with you?" The boy froze, completely stiff but for a second, as he realized what would soon be to come.

"Oh, he's still in there." Just then, a dark cloud rose over the pair, engulfing one in an endless feeling of dread, and causing the other to wonder, absentmindedly, if rain was soon to be afoot, as they poked the symbol timidly.

"I'm NOT coming out!!!" Kagome withdrew her finger from the darkened fluff as realization dawned upon her features. Inu Yasha was mad. Well, that would sort of explain the cloud... Gathering her voice, Kagome called out, intent on discovering what the problem was, and more importantly, on getting back to the fun that seemed to emanate from the rides around them.

"Inu, what's wrong?"

"Ask the brat!" Confused chocolate orbs turned on the younger boy, and he couldn't help but flinch away.

"Shippou?" Now positioned in the "oh shit, I'm caught; what do I do now?!" pose (all IY fan know this pose right?), Shippou let loose a small squeak before denial slipped past his lips.

"Um...I don't know?" Wrong answer, not but a moment later, Inu Yasha stormed out of the bathroom, ivory locks flying behind him, and fists balled so tightly that they may have drawn blood, leaving the other inhabitants scurrying aside and lining the walls, cowering in his wake. As the anger flared through Inu's veins, now let loose to blaze forth from his eyes, aimed to scorch a particular orange-haired runt, all he could do was yell, or risk another humiliating sit.

"Like hell you don't know!"

"Inu Yasha!" The anger in Kagome's voice all but died in her throat, the original intent to scold him for his language gone, as she looked below the border, so to speak. Sweat dropping, only one phrase could come anywhere close to adequate enough to express what she had wanted to ask just at that moment. "Umm... What happened to your shorts?" Yes, Inu Yasha's, once white, shorts were now an odd mix of whites, browns, tans, and reds, ornamented with many shapes and sizes of one particular image, a mushroom with gigantic googly eyes, the pupils of which going in separate directions, causing the vegetables to look dazed and confused. (Shippou's mushrooms!!!! XD) Inu Yasha's flat face was the only answer Kagome received, as said teen raised a small package of shiny, plastic-covered markers, ranging all basic colors of the rainbow and then some.

"Ask Shippou." Shippou, looking frantically left to right in hope of finding something, anything to take the blame off of himself and to stop the accusing stares, gave forth the only explanation his mind could come up with. When there was no real person to blame, make one up!

"The mushrooms MADE me do it!" Yeah, that would work!

"Shippou..." Or... maybe it wouldn't. Quick, diversionary tactics!

"Woah, whale"

"What?" Both teens turned, gaze traveling where Shippou's already resided, as their eyes widened unbelievingly. A woman of enormous girth stood before them, her light blue mane cut short, about chin level to be exact, making the woman look even larger than she was, and drawing attention to her, overly jolly, face. Large, apple-green eyes squinted merrily, melding with her dimpled cheeks as they huffed and puffed with every word, expanding and contracting as would a balloon with a child jumping on it. Briefly, the trio noted that the woman was saying something, probably to them, but her words, sung as if lines in a musical, were droned out, giving way to an odd, yet hypnotizing, jiggling as she walked towards them. Inu Yasha was dizzy; Shippou was sea-sick, and Kagome, well, she was just plain embarrassed. (Sorry for sounding like I'm making fun of heavy people, I'm not trying to, really, this is more for effect. ;;; Really! I swear!!!)

"Shippou!"

"What?? She came from the whale ride!" The two teens turned their gaze slightly to the right, and sweat dropped.

There, now behind the woman, was the Ocean Blue, a little kid's ride. Consisting of small, light blue whale-shaped seats, with white bellies and black eyes, connected to "arms" that converged above the ride, it barely moved about, going first up, then down, then up again, as the children inside squealed with impressionable joy and rapture. Outside of the attraction, parents of all ages watched, most bored out of their wits, but all trying to look as if they were incredibly interested in the ride before them, hoping that their children would be satisfied, and not beg to ride the larger, scarier rides of which they weren't allowed. Still staring, rather dumbly, at the scene before them, Kagome swallowed a small lump in her throat, as she realized who was standing directly in front of them.

"... oh." The woman first snickered, causing Kagome to wonder if they really were all that obvious, and then began laughing. Patting Shippou on the head, she turned starry eyes upon Inu's shorts, and grinned, her smile becoming much larger than any thought quite possible, and gaining a rather frightening aspect to it. (frightening in the "Peppy! Ahhhh!!!!!!" way, and not so much in the Tim Burton way.)

"Well, I see you've made good use of the markers I gave you, little one." Pinching the small boy's cheeks, if a bit harshly, she turned towards Kagome. "Is he yours?"

"Wha..." Shocked beyond all belief, Kagome stuttered a few times, face burning with both embarrassment, and realization, as Inu Yasha snickered behind her, "n... no, well, not really, you see, we found him and..." Before she could finish, the woman turned towards Inu Yasha, and, gesturing back towards the fumbling youth before her, raised a curious eye brow to accentuate a conspiratorial wink.

"And she must be your girlfriend." The woman elbowed Inu Yasha in the ribs. "Good going sonny." Inu Yasha's jaw hit the ground harder than an airborne bowling ball, choking noises being the only thing to escape the gaping hole that had once been his mouth.

Oh man, Kagome thought she was going to die, to drown in the sea of sweat drops pooling from both her party and the bystanders around her, converging to rise and devour her whole. Why did the woman have to say those things?! In all honesty, Kagome was more embarrassed by the fact that, in some way, she WANTED the woman to be right. She wanted to be Inu Yasha's girlfriend, and the thought of maybe having a kid some day, after that train of thought, was absolutely devastating to her composure. While Inu Yasha was preoccupied stuttering, and trying his damnedest to form a good defense against the recent onslaught, Kagome became acutely aware of the gazes directed at them, and, in her mind, solely on her. She couldn't remember being this embarrassed in her life! Well, there was the diary thing, but that race was about neck and neck at this point. Slowly being sucked down a mental whirl pool of anguish and despair, the teenage girl could only thank the heavens when the woman spoke again. "Well, I have to be going now."

:::Yes!::: Kagome's heart soared at the thought of leaving these feelings behind, of escaping the need to wonder, to know, what Inu Yasha was thinking, if he cared for her as well. They could get back to their care-free day of rides and cotton candy, merriment and merth!

"Don't have too much fun, and no snogging in front of the little one, you hear?" A small squeak erupted from Kagome's lips as her blush rose ten-fold. Moments passed, crickets chirped, and people came to marvel as children successfully attempted to cook eggs on the two teens' faces. With one more gut-wrenching wink, the woman walked off, disappearing into the haze of uncertainty and discomfort, as the two began to slowly recover from the ordeal. A lone soul strolled past the tio, snickering at Inu Yasha's shorts as they went, and was soon running for their lives. Yeah, the chase made a good distraction, not to mention a great escape from the vulnerability, but now there was just one more problem; how could Kagome keep Inu Yasha from killing them...

About ten minutes had passed since the woman left and Inu Yasha began chasing the person that laughed at his shorts. In that time, Kagome had, not only, kept Inu from killing the poor fool, but had managed to calm him down to a pout, something that hadn't been easy once Shippou let loose a wise crack or two. All in all, however, the random passer-by was saved, Inu Yasha was no longer murderous, and Shippou, well, Shippou was in trouble. Granted, he was still a little kid, and they HAD given him sugar against their better judgment, but still, that was no excuse for his behavior, and he needed to be told as such. Refusing the boy's advances to be let into her arms, Kagome sat Shippou down on a nearby, red and blue swirled, bench, and began to speak.

"Shippou, you know that drawing on things that aren't yours is wrong. That'll be the last time I give you..." Eyeing a candy store within close proximity, Shippou began to drool.

"Suuugaaarrr..." In a flash he was up and rushing to the store, sugar high now in full effect, as his tiny body began to crave the delightful sweets once more. Jumping to his feet as the child's small form began to disappear into the crowd, Inu Yasha turned slightly worried, yet expectant, eyes towards Kagome.

"Hey Shippou, get back here! Keh, Kagome, do something! He's YOUR son!" Eyes narrowing, the girl in question turned to her companion, concern quickly turning into frustration.

"He is NOT my... oh, forget it, Shippou, come here! I'll give you some chocolate!" Face fault in full effect, Inu Yasha sweat dropped, expression flat as he pointed out the flaw in her plan.

"What happened to never giving him sugar?" As if suddenly hearing Kagome's voice, perhaps through the hazy cloud of sugary need his mind had been encased in, Shippou skidded to a halt and pivoted, turning on his heels, and bolted towards the girl.

"Chocolate?" Sure, sugar was awesome, and candy tasted great, but why not have both of those AND Kagome? Reaching tiny, grasping hands to clutch the firm, rectangular treat of which Kagome then held, Shippou slipped, his small fingers missing their mark by but an inch, knocking the confection forth, out of the safety of the older girl's embrace, and into the section from which they had exited not but an hour before. Screaming could be heard as the candy bar flew out of sight, and, riled up by the commotion, energetic as any child on a sugar high, the boy took off after it, not realizing where it had gone until it was too late.

Water splashing, people screaming, out of both fear and distgust, it all escaped the ears of a certain young boy, diving head-first into the pool. The constant rushing flesh and pushing crowds bothered him none, as his goal was in sight, and he was dead-set on attaining it. Skillfully avoiding a diver and a few pool toys, Shippou failed to notice as the life guard came rushing in, screaming something about poop in the pool, as the boy took a bite of the wonderfully chocolately, although a bit soggy, bar. Finally registering that people were frantically evacuating the area, Shippou looked, and saw nothing amiss other than the candy bar he then held in his hand, and the wrapper, lofting gently to the pavement some two feet away. That was when he felt the arms around him. Pulling him roughly from the pool, the lifeguard looked at him with pure disgust before realizing that the scent upon the young boy's lips was not that of one he had expected. Assuming that it was all just some sick prank, he was about to kick the boy out of the area for the rest of the day, when two teens came running in.

"Shippou!" The small boy began to squirm and struggle in the life guard's arms, pulling and tugging as if his very life depended on it. The life guard scowled; those must've been his guardians. Walking over to the two, "Shippou" still in hand, the man eyed the child warily, as if he were a dangerous insect, a spider or scorpion perhaps, ready to attack at any given moment, and impatiently awaited the arrival of the boy's "guardians". Once all were present, the guard thrust the child towards the two teens and huffed.

"Is he yours?" Kagome, fully relived at seeing Shippou safe, soon began to feel heat upon her cheeks once more, as she tried to explain that the child wasn't hers, but that they WERE taking care of him for the time being. Unfortuantely, like the woman before, this man seemed to have no regard for her words, or her person really, and simply shoved the boy into her arms, thoroughly cutting her off, and in the process, igniting a sort of fire within the boy beside her. "Whatever, just take the kid and go. You're all banned from this section of the amusement park for the rest of the day, and if I EVER catch any of you pulling a prank during my watch, or anyone else's, EVER again, you'll be booted from the park... permanently." Speech done, the man moved to physically eject the three from the pool area, when Inu Yasha stepped up.

"Bastard." The man narrowed his eyes at the boy. Who did he think he was, calling the life guard, the only person of authority there, names, and in front of a child no less! At least he could see where the kid got his attitude! That guy really needed to be taught a lesson, and that's exactly what he planned on doing.

"So, we have a tough guy do we?" Inu Yasha simply smirked. "Well, I'll show you what we do to tough guys around here."

"Keh, bring it on."

"Inu Yasha!" Stepping forward, Kagome placed herself between the two, Shippou still in her arms, as her features softened into those of sympathetic apology. "I'm sorry for the fuss, but it wasn't Shippou's fault. He accidentally knocked the candy from my hand; it was nothing intentional." Studying the girl carefully, and, eventually, seeing the honesty in her eyes, the life guard sighed, body relaxing, if only slightly, as he cursed his soft spot for women. Turning his gaze towards the ground, he spoke, a bit quietly, although still sternly, demanding attention and respect even when acting as if a preteen boy talking to his crush.

"Miss, look, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that, intentional or not, I'll still have to ban you for the day; rules are rules. Please, I'd prefer it if you left quietly." Nodding softly, Kagome smiled.

"Then we'll be going now." Turning, Kagome strolled calmly past Inu Yasha and out of the gate, pausing just long enough for Inu to glare at the man before him. Hearing Inu's signature "keh", the girl took her cue and began moving again, this time, disappearing into the distance, and out of the sight of the crowd of bathing-suit clad bystanders, and away from the, slightly reddened, authority behind them.