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Chapter 3 – Brain Teasers

"Hey, no! Stop cheating!" a boy yelled out, throwing a tightly wound leather ball high into the air. Another boy, a bit older than the first, jumped into the air, catching the ball before it hit the ground. "How can you cheat, if there are no rules?" he laughed. He was then tackled to the ground by yet another boy sending the ball spiraling, once again, in the air.

The game they were playing looked a mix between football, soccer, and basketball. There were no rules, except to get the small ball passed the designated goalkeepers. A lot the older boys in the village played this nameless game, Keitaru included. The young men were very particular at who got to play; a lot laughed at the odd girl or younger boy that asked to play. Everyone, however, wanted the young hanyou on their team. They would literally fight hours for which he'd play with. Keitaru didn't care. He humbly acknowledged that he was better than all of them combined. He didn't try to be narcissistic, it was the truth. He was faster than all of them. Right that minute he outran them all in the scuffle for the loose ball.

"Kozue! Heads up!" he shouted to his teammate, giving the ball a mighty heave in his direction. The boy, Kozue, caught the ball, only to be smashed to the ground by four other guys.

Okami watched their game from afar. It looked like fun, but she had a feeling that youkai weren't trusted much in the village. Especially wolf youkai…

"Okami-san! Watch it!" a voice called out, ripping Okami from her thoughts. The large ball was careening towards her head. She half-heartedly smacked the ball right back in the direction of the boys, hitting one right in the head.

"Néne?" Keitaru said, lightly kicking the twitching boy. He turned in surprise towards the young woman who reduced a powerful goalkeeper to a writhing, bloody and bruised mess.

"Two bowls of water"

"Hai"

"Eight cups of rice"

"Hai"

"A pinch of salt"

"Hai"

"And that, my friend, is how you make boiled rice."

The black haired girl smiled in delight. "That's it!" she squealed. Sango smiled slightly at the young woman. She had never really learned how to cook, it was a shame, but she was willing to do anything to impress her love. She had come a few months back to visit them, mostly Shippo, a grown woman. The last time they had seen each other, both were just little children. Little, arguing children…and Sango was sure that the girl would be a bit surprised by how mature the little fox had gotten.

Shippo was just surprised at how much she had 'grown up.'

"Who are you?"

"Don't you remember me at all?"

"Obviously not. So…who are you?"

"I'm Souten, stupid!"

"Souten?"

"Yes! You still don't remember me?"

"Not really…"

Given it had taken him a few days to remember where he knew her from, he still quickly developed feelings for the brash girl with the black hair tied up in buns. He almost never saw her without her hair like that. It was strange, like they were plastered to her head in that particular shape. Granted, she looked absolutely stunning on those rare occasions that she let her hair down. She had a type of tomboyish charm and confidence that took his breath away. Literally. She actually knocked the air right out of him one time. It was alright though. He'd deal with it.

"I used to love you."

"You did?"

"Yeah…when we were younger…I wanted to leave with you…but I knew I couldn't…"

"It was just one day…"

"That's all it takes."

She was brave, he'd give her that. He was completely taken aback by her response, all he was expecting was a slight blush, or, an 'I'm sorry', something to get him to have a better idea about what type of girl she was. Many girls from the village professed their love to the red-haired young man, but they were nothing really. Nothing much to him, anyway, except maybe a good night. Not that he was a slut or anything, no, not at all, but he had been around the block a few times.

"Souten…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still love me?"

The question still echoed in his mind…even to this day.

"I don't know."

Her answer stung him deep in his heart. Here he had fallen for what he believed to be the perfect girl, practically spilling out his heart, and she wasn't sure of her own feelings. What does it mean, "I don't know". He just didn't understand it.

"I don't know…I don't know you anymore, Shippo-san…"

What was there to know? Wasn't he the same as always? No…he was older. He grew up, in his mind and heart. He remembered the small kiss on the cheek she gave him, along with a wide smile.

"But it's okay, see. 'Cuz I'm here now. I'm sure I'll get to know you just fine."

Shippo couldn't help but smile at the memory. She may have been an adult, but she still had something girlish and young about her. It just got him to become more attracted to her, and eventually even fall in love. He loved her…and was not ashamed to admit it…not anymore.

"You love me?"

"Yeah…I guess I do."

You have to be brave. You have to take risks. That's the only way to get ahead in life; the only way to make progress. You could soar as high the clouds, or crash and burn in a blaze of glory, but the only way to ever find out was to take that first big jump.

"Well…I love you too."

"Souten!" Safaia shouted out. She was quickly becoming attached to the young woman, and followed her around whenever she had the chance. That is, when she wasn't tailing her Oniichan. "Souten!" she shrieked again, as she was quickly turned upside-down by Shippo. "Make him stop! Make him stop!" The young kitsune held her upside-down by her ankles. Souten looked at the two of them, amusement lacing her stern glare. "Sango'll be mad as hell if you two break anything!" she groaned. Meanwhile, Safaia was chanting "Let me go!" over and over again. "Drop the girl, fox!" she finally said. Shippo let her go, leaving her to land less than gracefully on her back.

"Ow! You stupid, smelly old fox!" she yelled playfully. She really did like Shippo; he was the next to next best thing to Keitaru-ni.

"I'm sorry, was I misbehaving?" he laughed, with a devilish glint in his eyes. The intended receiver of his statement didn't respond however.

"Yes you were." Safaia said matter-of-factly. Shippo looked slightly surprised by the young voice. He smiled evilly and looked her in the eyes.

"Oh really now? Well, what are you gonna do about it?"

She gave him an angry glare and stomped out to annoy her parents. Once he was sure the girl was out of earshot, he gave Souten a soft kiss on the lips. Well, at least he tried. What he ended up with was a mouthful of flour. The woman was trying her hand at making dumplings, and that hand was right in his face.

"Tryin' to steal a kiss?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah." he said lustfully. "What are you gonna do about it?"

The next thing he knew, his shirt was lying in the flour, and he was lying on the floor.

"He's doing much better today." the kind-hearted miko said to her. Okami could just feel the waves of worry evaporate when she spoke to her. "He should be alright in no time." She couldn't help but grin broadly when the older woman said that. "Thank you so much, Kagome-sama!" she said, barely containing her happiness. "Is he awake now?" Okami dared a peek into the back room of the small shrine, but all she could see was a wall of blankets.

"I put those up so nosy villages wouldn't disturb his rest." Kagome laughed cheerfully.

Okami sweatdropped. 'Caught in the act…'

"Of course!" she laughed awkwardly. 'His hair is just like hers'…pretty and brown…' She felt herself smiling at the uncanny resemblance between mother and son. 'What the hell…I don't like him…' She quickly shook the thought out of her head and sighed to herself. 'Of course I don't!'

"ACHOO!"

"Bless you, Keitaru."

"Thanks…"

That's chapter 3. It was supposed to be out by Valentine's Day, but, I had a lot of work in those few weeks, so I couldn't get much work done. Meh. Bye-bye.