Chapter 8
Shippo folded his arms in a stubborn gesture of defiance and glared at the rest of the group. "No way," he said, daring them to insist. "There's no way I'm doing it. Not in million years would I do something that crazy!"
"Come on, Shippo," Kagome pleaded. "We have to know what's going on in there, and you're our one chance of knowing!"
"What, you think I'm going to let that wolf-creature catch me and take me there?" Shippo demanded. "No! Never! Absolutely not!"
"You're not scared, are you?" Miroku teased.
"No!"
"Are you sure?" Sango wanted to know. "You seem scared."
Shippo glowered at her. "What if I need you guys while I'm in there? It's not as if I can hop on out and tell you!"
Kagome understood. "I have something for that," she said, opening up her bag. "They're called walkie-talkies, and you can have one while we have the other. You'll be able to talk to us on them, just as long as you stay out of sight and other people's hearing while using yours." Quickly, she gave everyone a lesson on the use of walkie-talkies, and Shippo began to look thoughtful.
"Well, how 'bout it, Shippo?" Miroku asked hopefully. "Willing to try it?"
Shippo looked at the walkie-talkie he held and smiled a little. They were fun to play with, there was no doubt about that. If he could keep in contact with his friends, and still have a chance to play with them, then he was willing to try it.
"All right," he said, sighing. "We can try. How do you think I should be found? Scared, lost, and hungry; or sleeping and too cute to resist?"
Everybody smiled.
Space
Inuyasha threw a mental rope around his temper and reined it in tight. This meal was beginning to fray his nerves, and he had a bad feeling that if he snapped in Kimi's sight and hearing, he'd end up with a collar on literally as well as figuratively. He could tell that Sesshomaru was close to breaking point, but he was keeping himself calm, he said, by imagining clawing the woman to death. He shuddered mentally. He wasn't as bloodthirsty as Sess, but if he had to keep this up much longer, he'd probably want to do the same.
A knock at the door interrupted, and Kimi bade whoever it was to enter. It was Tala, and Sesshomaru actually growled. He hated Tala for bringing him here and had sworn to kill him as well.
"Sesshomaru," Kimi said in reminder and subtle reprimand. He subsided. "Tala, what is it?"
There was a little bundle in Tala's hands. "A little demon, mistress," he said quietly. "I found him asleep out in the forest, and it looks as if he's come a long way."
Inuyasha nearly choked when he saw that Tala held Shippo. He'd been wrapped up in Tala's jacket, and at the moment looked as if he were deeply asleep. He was, as Kagome would have said, too cute for words.
"Oh," Kimi breathed, delighted with the little fox kit. She reached out and stroked his hair, fluffing the ends of it. Inuyasha had noticed that if someone had hair, she had to play with it. The other day she had combed his out for him, much as Kagome had done. She had done the same for Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha was now bound by his word of honor to never say anything about it to anyone, anytime. If it hadn't been for the fact that he'd destroyed Yura of the Hair past the point of return, he would have suspected some kind of re-incarnation.
"Thank you very much, Tala," Kimi said, providing a cushion for Shippo to lie on. "Leave him here, please."
Tala did so and left, leaving the three alone with Kimi.
"Well, it looks as if we have a new one," Kimi said, regarding Shippo lovingly. "Isn't he precious?" she gushed, looking to the brothers for agreement.
Inuyasha almost burst out laughing as he imagined Sesshomaru agreeing that Shippo was precious. He covered his mood by remarking that he was awfully small.
"Well, he's still young, isn't he?" Kimi countered. "He'll grow." She began fixing a plate for him, and held it near his nose until he wiggled, sniffed, and woke.
Inuyasha had never seen Shippo curl up and tremble before when it was only a pretty lady facing him, but that was what he did. Kimi hastened to reassure the little demon, and a few minutes later, Shippo was on her lap and nibbling away at the food she gave him.
That little sucker is such an actor! Inuyasha thought. He's got her right in the palm of his hand! After a moment of thought, Inuyasha lifted a sweet dumpling with his chopsticks and deposited it on Shippo's plate. He knew that Shippo liked them, and he deserved a bit of reward for coming straight into danger.
"Thank you very much!" Shippo said happily, abandoning his vegetables and digging into the dumpling.
Inuyasha almost chuckled. He was such a typical kid, and now he saw what his friends' plans were. Shippo was a spy in the enemy camp.
