Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but my plan to own Koga one day is still under way.
A/N: Alright, first official chapter of Living life is posted! Sorry about the wait, but I've been really busy since the prologue. Speaking of which, the actual story is taking place 8 years after the prologue. So if you were expecting a fic about baby Taro in the new world with Inu and Kag, sorry to disappoint you. Anyway, I'll shut up so you can scroll down and read the story :)
Living Life
Chapter 1: A Typical School Morning
An agitating ringing aroused Taro's senses, causing him to turn over in bed and jam a pillow over his head. In his sleepy haze, something told him he should just beat up the ringing object…instincts probably.
At least, that's what he learned from his Dad.
And Taro found him to be quite right on most occasions. If something was bothering him, why not give it a good smack and end the ordeal? However, a powerful wave of sympathy swept over him that kept him from hitting the accursed object and ceasing the sound. This came from his Mom's genes, no doubt.
Using much effort, Taro cracked open his eyes to see his alarm clock was the source of the ring.
Well, he could hit this….
With glee, Taro slammed his fist on the "OFF" button. Due to the immense pressure from his fist, the glass cracked and spread across the digital frame. Now that that problem was solved, Taro readied himself to slip back into slumber….
"Taro!" screamed a female voice. "Get up for school!"
Taro groaned and rolled out of bed as his Mom walked into the room.
"Here, I have your uniform ready," Kagome said, gesturing to the bundle of clothes she held. When she placed them on the bed, Kagome picked up a pair of white shorts and revealed the back, where a hole had been cut.
"Look," she said, "I even made some room for your tail. Now you don't have to risk ripping them."
Taro nodded, happy with the new change. In past years, he had experienced the humiliation from classmates when the sound of tearing cloth could be heard. Most kids kindly overlooked this sight, but being a half demon came with a price.
Taro was 8 years old, and today was going to be his first day of second grade. And he went to school with the reputation of having blood of the dog demon flow through his veins. His tail was proof.
Ignoring all the taunts and jeers, Taro felt very unique. He had an unusual appearance, complete with amber eyes, pointed ears, sharp fangs and claws, and one, cobalt marking that streaked across his cheek on either side of his face. His hair was silver, not gray, like many silken strands of a spider's web woven together, glistening naturally. It fell to his chin while two long strands from his bangs fell to his neck line. His tail, which stuck out like a sore thumb, looked the same as his hair.
Half demon or not, Taro definitely had one of the snazziest looks in all of Tokyo.
Taro pulled off his pajama pants and stuffed his legs into the shorts. His tail slipped through the hole with ease and swished around, showing that no pant-splitting would occur today.
Taro gave his tail another flick for good measure, then leaped onto Kagome's lap and pulled her into a large bear hug, beaming. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Mommy! I can tell this is going to be a great school year."
Kagome returned the embrace, grinning from ear to ear. She didn't think it could possibly get wider, but she was proven wrong when footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and in seconds, Inuyasha stood in the doorway.
His eyes grew wide, feigning surprise as he walked into the room. "Is this really our Taro, Kagome?" he looks too old to be our youngster."
"Of course it is. Who else would have such an adorable tail," Kagome replied, stroking the furry pelt. Taro giggled as he lunged from Kagome to Inuyasha's leg, clinging to it as if it were his life support.
Inuyasha walked over to the bed, paying no mind to the chortling body that held him. "Well, I'm still not sure, so I'll have to test this Taro to see if he's the real one," he said, jostling his occupied leg.
In one swift movement, Inuyasha had flopped taro down on the mattress, crouched over him, and commenced the Tickling Technique of Torture.
Taro felt all his nerves go through a spasm as his senses picked up the giddy feeling and allowed it to spread throughout his body. No one could survive Inuyasha's deadly tickling, not even Kagome, and now, Taro was vulnerable to his father's nails. His talons crawled over Taro's skin, trailing to his most squeamish places. Every squeal and howl that left Taro's mouth was one of pure delight.
"D…..D-Dad…. Daddy……please…mer-mercy..,"he said between fits of laughter.
"So the enemy has surrendered. Well, I'm convinced that this is Taro. He can't stand the triple T." Inuyasha sat down on the floor, relieving Taro. He crawled to where Kagome sat and leaned against her shoulder.
"I was nervous there for a second. I really thought we had a 2nd grader in here."
"We do daddy, it's me!"
Inuyasha turned to Taro, bewildered. "Really? Wow, did you grow! It was only last night that you were only about that tall," Inuyasha said, pointing to a stool in the corner of the room-one that was barely 2 feet in height.
"Oh, come on Daddy, you know I'm taller than that. Why is he being so silly Mommy?"
"Because Daddy is just one big silly head that goes around in this house doing silly stuff," Kagome replied, and began scratching behind one of the "silly head's" cute puppy ears. He grunted in indignation, despite the fact that his foot had been tapping pleasantly to the gentle strokes of her fingers. It was the closest to a tail wag she would get out of him.
Taro sat there looking from Inuyasha to Kagome, and wondered what made them decide to be together for the rest of their lives. It wasn't hard to figure out Kagome was mortal, despite the fact she was a reincarnated priestess with incredible miko powers. Unlike Inuyasha (even though his hair had been combed through) Kagome had changed a lot after high school.
Her body had become longer and curvier, with the exception of her pregnancy. The long, wild hair had become a short, flowing cut that brushed the tops of her shoulders. A brush had been acquainted with her bangs, which now looked glossy and smooth. Her eyes had grown slightly smaller from age, but the emotions that swirled around in those blue orbs would always be there. The angelic skin gave her complexion an unearthly glow, seemingly radiant wherever she went.
Kagome abruptly stood up, grabbed Inuyasha's wrist, and walked out of the room. "Change into your uniform while I make breakfast," she said, and disappeared down the stairs.
Taro quickly pulled on the rest of his clothes, applying his white shirt and black tie, tied his shoes, and headed down to the kitchen. Immediately, a spicy aroma awakened his senses, and he sniffed deeply, savoring the warm smell. Realization struck him, and he bolted into the kitchen. Taro glanced at the table and spotted it-the bowl filled to the brim with steaming noodles and broth, like a holy gift from the heavens.
"Ramen!" taro squealed, hopping into the chair and beginning to scoop it up into his hands.
Kagome was by his side in a flash, slapping his hand away from the soup. "Don't even think about it mister. You're patient enough to wait for your chopsticks, so use your manners and keep your hands to yourself."
"Maybe he doesn't have any," Inuyasha stated. "After all, he got my genes in etiquette, so why should this surprise you?"
"He unfortunately got your love for ramen as well, and I know now he will stop at nothing to get it everyday. I mean, you can hardly call ramen a meal, let alone breakfast. I bet Taro wouldn't mind having a well balanced meal for once, wouldn't you?"
"No," Taro answered bluntly, too busy staring at his bowl to be polite.
Kagome looked slightly put out. "Oh, okay." She quickly took the chopsticks and slapped them on the table, attempting to show her annoyance with this decision. "Fine, go ahead. Eat the ramen for its worth."
"Thanks," Taro said, not getting Kagome's sarcasm. This made Inuyasha chuckle.
Kagome whirled on him. "You're the one he gets it from! Coming home from work, sitting on the couch, slurping up that-that-flavored water crap!" Kagome pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha.
"Gasp Kagome that really hurt," he said as he grasped her hands and gave her fingers a tiny slap in that 'naughty girl manner'. "Shame on you."
"Oh for the love of….," Kagome trailed off as she began making Taro's lunch.
A few minutes later, the sound of a doorbell resonated through the house. Taro was quick to answer as he hopped off the chair and bounced to the door. He flung it open and a wide smile spread across his face.
"Shisai!!" Taro cried as a young boy wearing the same school uniform skipped into the house. He had long brown hair tied into a ponytail that hung limply down his back, like his mother. But his violet eyes that held a sense of peace and holiness within them were definitely his fathers.
Kagome walked into the entryway, followed closely by Inuyasha, and squealed at the woman in front of her.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome hugged Sango with so much force Sango had to keep her footing so she wouldn't fall over. Her hair came down to her elbows and had a slight curly nature. Miroku, the man next to her, had gotten a buzz cut and his hair now stood up in little spikes.
Miroku came over and hugged Kagome as well, rubbing his hands up and down her back in a friendly manner…..too bad his right palm had to meet her buttocks.
Each of them felt a large force pulling on them from behind; Sango dragging Miroku backwards, and Kagome being shoved behind Inuyasha protectively.
"Haven't dropped those methods, eh pervert?" he said, his quirky smile of remembrance at Miroku's ways going unnoticed.
"The habit is skin deep my friend. Besides, Sango has learned to cope with it, haven't you dear?" Miroku said as he slung an arm over Sango's shoulder.
She shrugged it off, clearly annoyed. "Oh yeah, it's perfectly fine with me if you grope women daily. If you were getting paid to do that, we would be millionaires by now."
"But we're not, so just think of it as a reflex and we can live on happily."
"Oh that helps a lot."
"At least I'm not asking them to bear a child."
"God forbid," Sango said with disgust.
Taro and Shisai looked on at this spectacle silently. "Shisai, what does it mean when you grope someone?"
"I think it's when a man hugs women," he replied.
"But me and Daddy hug Mommy all the time and she doesn't say anything."
"Hmmm….maybe it's a certain, sensitive part you need to touch."
"Like your bottom?"
"Possibly."
"Do you think there are other parts?"
"Well, I would imagine-
"OK, who's ready to go to school today," Kagome yelled, interrupting the conversation the grown-ups happened to stumble upon. "Taro, get your stuff for school and meet us at the door. We'll all walk to school together."
Taro did as he was told, heading into the kitchen for his lunch. Before he could reach for his lunchbox, a clawed hand slapped down on the lid.
Inuyasha smiled, and rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a Styrofoam cup of ramen and slipped it into his lunchbox. "It's from my secret stash, but we'll just keep this a secret from Mommy, okay?" He winked at Taro and ruffled his hair.
Taro winked back, grabbed the lunchbox and headed out the door, bringing his book bag with him.
As the group headed to school, Taro and Shisai walked ahead while the adults fell behind.
"It's a beautiful day," Sango commented, "which means it will be a good day for Shisai and Taro."
"Ever the optimist, eh Sango? Too bad that will only go for Shisai. I can already tell today won't be a favorite for Taro," Inuyasha said.
"And here we have Tokyo's biggest pessimist," Kagome sighed. "Why so negative all of a sudden?"
"Kagome, you and I both know Taro's never had a great public appearance because of his heritage. School is just another bump he's learning to hurdle. Sometimes he trips, but most of the time he's too scared to try and jump over at all."
"Well I try to look on the bright side of these issues. Besides, the civilians learned to cope with you, so Taro just needs some time."
"I bet you Tetsusaiga they only accepted me because I can fight their fears," Inuyasha grumbled. Whenever they needed help, Inuyasha would get a call from the police, asking for his strength. Inuyasha never refused in a life or death situation, but he couldn't help feeling this was the only reason they treated him with kindness.
Kagome rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, they like you, they'll like Taro."
When Kagome put it into words like that, it was hard for Inuyasha to stay gloomy. He then entered a sense of peace….until the blare of a car horn turned his, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango's attention to the scene in front of them.
At the intersection, a taxi was shooting down the road, beeping its horn before it passed through the green light. The reason for its honking?
Right where the taxi was about to drive through, Taro and Shisai were crossing the street, not seeing the incoming taxi…..
Inuyasha lunged forward, grabbed both boys' shirt collars and pulled them back on to the sidewalk. The beeping ceased and the taxi passed through the intersection safely.
"Ok, another rule of the road. Wait until you have parental supervision before crossing the street," Inuyasha ground out.
Taro and Shisai both muttered "sorry" as they looked down at the ground.
"Now boys, thank Inuyasha for saving your sorry skins," Miroku scolded.
"Thank you Inuyasha for saving our sorry skins," the boys said in unison.
After much hassle, with Inuyasha keeping a firm hold on taro and Shisai when they came in a 10 foot range of a traffic light, the elementary school yard finally came into view.
Shisai wasted no time in saying good-bye to Miroku and Sango before he ran into the yard. Taro, on the other hand, stayed rooted to the spot. He seemed a little nervous.
"Taro, come on, go follow Shisai. You'll be fine," Kagome said.
Taro shook his head, scuttling behind Inuyasha's leg.
"Come on taro, Shisai's fine, stick with him and you'll get through the day," Sango encouraged. Still Taro stayed behind the safety of Inuyasha.
Finally, Kagome gently took Taro's hand and led him to the yard. "Come on honey, they won't bite," she said.
Some will, Taro thought, remembering he wasn't the only half/full demon attending school.
As they neared the yard, Kagome spotted a little boy with red hair, sitting alone underneath a tree.
"Taro, look! He seems nice. He even has a tail like you." This seemed to make Taro a little more confident.
Once they neared the tree, the boy looked up at taro and smiled. "Hi, my name's Shippo. What's yours? That's a nice tail. I like it. You like mine. I like mine. You've got silver hair? That's neat! I wish I had silver hair. Actually I don't. I lied. I like red hair. You like red hair? I like red hair. Wanna be friends?"
Kagome smiled. The abnormally peppy youkai was exactly what taro needed for today. She bent down and kissed Taro on the forehead. "Bye sweety. Daddy and I will pick you up in a little bit, okay?"
Taro nodded and sat down happily next to Shippo. Kagome walked back to Inuyasha. Immediately he pounced on her.
"Are you sure Taro likes him? What if he's just putting on that sweet kid appearance? What if he's really a brat? What if he unscrews the bolts on Taro's desk, or glues the pages of his textbooks together, or puts arsenic in his juice, or-
"Inuyasha!" Kagome squealed. "Don't be ridiculous! That's never going to happen." She then smiled. "I never knew what a worry wart you could be."
Inuyasha snorted, but he knew Kagome too well. She was as nervous for Taro as he was, possibly even more. If he had a worry wart, hers was fit to bursting.
Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango began to leave the schoolyard. Miroku and Sango conversed, but the thought of Taro's school day plagued Inuyasha and Kagome's minds, keeping them silent. If Taro was any bit nervous, it was miniscule to what his parents were feeling.
A/N: runs around in circles whooping. Finally!!! God that felt like an ETERNITY to get finished. But now that it's done, time to get work on Chapter 2! That is, if I get reviews. I'm not going to waste my time posting chappys if nobody is planning on reading them. So for those who want the story to stay, please review, possibly suggest it to other fanfiction fanatics. By the by, if the descriptions seems a little off, its because I'm following the manga, not the anime. Its not like I haven't seen the anime, but the manga is the original and I'd rather use that. Okay, time to eat. Good bye!
Wait I'm not done. For any people who felt the urge to do the math of the ages and crap, then all of you know that if the rest of the cast aged, Shippo should not be in elementary school. Well, too bad, he's there and he's staying there. I couldn't figure out another character. So deal….please. 'Kay, R&R.