Chapter Four: With cheese please

Jaken wondered off from the nearby stream, leaving Rin and the two headed dragon to drink their fill and play in the coolness.

Sesshomaru had left him in charge of the tiny human once again and had gone on yet another mysterious mission, not feeling the need to go into any detail about it with his servant.

Jaken let out a heavy sigh. 'He only thinks of me as a babysitter for Rin. How am I going to show him I am worth so much more to him?'

All his failures in the past to secure Tetsusaiga flashed through his head, and the little green youkai gave the ground a vicious kick. Unfortunately, the rock that he had assumes was mearly a pebble turned out to be a larger rock buried deeper in the ground.

"GAAAAAHHHHHH!" He howled out in great distress.

Jaken hopped about, tears streaming down his face as his foot throbbed painfully.

"Jaken-sama?" Rin came running over, deep worry on her face. Ah and Un followed close behind and gave a huff of air, eyeing him as he continued hopping on one foot.

"I am in distress, Rin! Do not disturb me now!" he rebuked, hobbling over to plant his injury into the cold stream water.

"Gomen, Jaken-sama." Rin bowed, then flashed him with a wide smile. "I'll go and find you something sweet to eat! That will cheer you up!"

"Fine, fine..."he grumbled, tenderly poking his offended limb. "Go find something to eat."

"Come, Ah, Un. Lets go and get a treat!" The tall beast followed the young human happily, doing it's best to imitate the tiny girls skipping. Jaken could only watch with his mouth hanging open at the odd behavior and shake his head.

"Dumb animal..."

The sound of wild splashing and shouting voices from farther up the river alerted him to the fact that their were others close by. When he recognized Inuyasha's voice as being one of them, he hobbled his way up the bank and hid himself in the bushes near the stream.

Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo were all scrubbing themselves furiously with the water, their voices carrying over to Jaken as the strange comments were given.

"YOU give yourself 'Bad ass' and give us such insulting names?" Miroku sputtered out.

"OI! Stop your bitchen! Kagome put all this 'cutsie' shit on me. You ain't got nothin to complain about."

"You should have worn the 'Pain in the ass' Kanji, Inuyasha." Shippo muttered as he grabbed some dirt and sand from the shore and used it to scrape off his marking.

"Drop it fuzz ball." Inuyasha barked out, then discreetly followed the little fox demons example, pleased to see the markings were starting to come off.

They were all silent as they worked to remove the marker, then Inuyasha's ears suddenly perked up and he strained to listen.

Jaken had been starting to move closer to see if Tetsusaiga was close by and feared that he might have made a sound. He stopped mid step, his other foot raised high in the air, both arms spread out to keep his balance, and held his breath, not daring to move a muscle.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Miroku whispered, now on alert as he watched the hanyou tense.

"Maw. Just the girls talking..." He grumbled, but strangely blushed a bit.

Miroku gave a solemn nod. "Ahh. They were discussing my virility, no doubt."

Both Inuyasha and Shippo shared a droll look, then splashed the monk with a healthy dose of water and dunked him beneath the frigid water. After he came up, sputtering and coughing, Shippo made certain he was close to Inuyasha, just in case the holy man decided

to retaliate.

"F-cough!FINE! So if they weren't discussing that, sputter, sputter what were they discussing?"

Inuyasha looked rather uncomfortable, then mumbled something under his breath.

"Come again? I believe I have WATER IN MY EARS!" Miroku seethed grouchily.

"I said Kagome was just talking about the kind of father she thought I was for Aiko!" The irritated hanyou ground out.

Jaken tipped over and landed with a soft thud on the ground. 'Father? and who or what was Aiko?'

"What sort of father did she say?" Shippo asked, rinsing his little arm one last time before he was satisfied the Kanji was completely gone.

"A good one."

Both Shippo and Miroku grinned. "Well, after that last stunt, she might be changing her mind." Miroku tilted his head to the side and tried slapping the water out of his ears, shivering as it drained out and tickled.

Inuyasha shot him a hard scowl.

"Well, one thing is certain." Shippo decided sagely. "We are going to have to keep an extra close watch on our little Aiko. We'll have everyone hunting her if word gets out that the Miko has a child."

"Inuyasha, he's right!" Miroku looked worried now."Once word gets around that you and Kagome have a child, anyone who holds a grudge with you will come after her."

The hayou didn't look very pleased at that. "I hadn't thought about it that way..."

Jaken felt elated. Here was a bargaining chip he could use to get Tetsusaiga! If he could kidnap their little half breed brat, then hold it for ransom, Inuyasha would surly pay! Giddy over his plan, Jaken snuck off to circle about and come upon the camp. He would follow them and at the first opportune time, snatch the baby away!

The three men trudged soggily out of the stream, shaking and wringing what water they could off themselves before returning to camp.

Inuyasha was deep in thought as they ate their lunch, then packed up and continued. Building up his courage, Inuyasha decided to find out just what Kagome thought of him as a father.

"Oi." he grumbled softly, not wanting the others to hear.

"Mm?" Kagome gave him a questioning look and smiled at him.

He just about decided to forget about asking but his curiosity won out. With a deep breath, he muttered, "I heard what you said to Sango."

"About what?" Kagome gave him a blank look, obviously forgetting what she has said only an hour ago.

Inuyasha felt his face burning an even darker shade of red. Dammit! She was going to make him say it.

"You know, about you thinking I might be a good father..." he squirmed with discomfort now. She was suddenly looking just as uncomfortable, and he nearly blurted out that she should forget he asked.

"What about it?"

'Shit! I really want to know!' he thought. "Is that true?"

"That I think you might make a good father?" she asked.

"Mm." he nodded, not wanting to meet her eyes. What if she told him he was lousy? What if she thought he was the worst father around? He wanted a kid someday, and though he didn't want to admit it, he'd daydreamed a time or two that he would have a little family with Kagome. Oh sure, it had been a silly fantasy, but it was one he liked to call up when he started worrying about what would happen after they collected the rest of the shard.

When a soft smile curve on her lips and she nodded a bit, he felt the tension drain out of his shoulders and back.

"Yeah, I do."

That flash of his fantasy crept into his mind and he felt suddenly warm and content. He'd make sure he proved to her just how great a dad he could be. That probably meant he wouldn't be able to be such a hard ass. He frowned a bit.

'Hmm... that just might kill me...'

He gave her a slight nod.

"I'll try to behave... " He vowed bashfully. They walked on in silence for a bit, content in saying
nothing for the moment.

"We might want to stop in the village up ahead." Miroku called out from behind them. "I have this feeling that they might be in need of our services."

"Oh really?" Sango gave him a doubtful look. "Do you mean to dispatch a demon or make an egg of your own?" she ground out.

"Sango," the monk gave her a solemn look and frowned a bit. "I can not believe you would be so cruel as to say such a thing. I have curbed my lusty ways, if you will be so kind to notice. Why, I haven't ask a woman to bear my child in at LEAST a week!"

"That's because we haven't been to any new villages in a week." Inuyasha pointed out.

"HUSH!" Miroku shot him a hard look. "My point is, it should not always be assumed that my mind is consumed with shallow thoughts at all hours of the day. For once, I would appreciate you all giving me the benefit of the doubt. I am, after all, an honorable monk and your friend."

Sango looked a bit sheepish now, realizing that indeed, she did always think the worst of his thought process. She reached a hand out to touch his arm.

"Forgive me, Miroku. It was thoughtless of me."

Miroku looked over at her and smiled softly. "You are forgiven. You've such a kind heart, it fills me with such sweet joy to-"

The sudden thump of her boomerang to his head cut him short, as his hand had strayed once again to her behind while he was busy making his grand speech.

"...Why the hell did I fall for that little speech... such a jerk..." Sango grumbled, shooting a death glare at the incapacitated monk.

Kagome and Inuyasha both sighed.

"I'll snag him." Inuyasha grumbled out and went back to retrieve his friend as the rest of the group continued on.

"Miroku, when you gonna get smart?"

The man was rubbing at the tender bump now forming on his head and grinning sheepishly.

"Ahh! With such a lovely woman around, I'm afraid my hand and mind forget logic and follow the ways of desire."

Inuyasha's nose scrunched up a bit. He thought Sango was lovely? Sure she was nice enough, and the exterminator could really kick some serious demon ass, but when it came to looks, Kagome had her beat hands down as far as Inuyasha was concerned.

Not that he would ever admit that to anybody.

"Yeah, well. You keep that up and you won't have to worry about the void in your hand. Sango will either chop it off herself or kill you before you have to worry over being sucked into oblivion."

His friend shot him a winning smile. "Ahh! What a way to go!"

The hanyou shook his head in distress. "She really smacked you good this time, didn't she?"

Kagome, Sango, Shippo and Kirara had continued to walk on, knowing Inuyasha and Miroku would catch up sooner or later.

"Does it really bother you that much when he does that?" Kagome asked, a bit of a blush touching her cheeks. "I mean, I know it isn't appropriate and everything but..."

Sango looked behind them to be sure that neither the hanyou or monk were present. Shippo and Kirara were farther up the road, chasing after a brightly colored butterfly and oblivious the females conversation.

"Truth?" she asked, a bit of a blush gracing her own cheeks as Kagome nodded. Sango smiled a bit, giggling. "It doesn't really bother me that much. Mostly, it just takes me off guard, and I strike first before I think. But in a way, it seems like his own little way of showing affection." She scowled a bit then looked up at the blue sky and sighed. "I just hate it when he does that to some other woman."

"But he doesn't. I mean, he still asks them to bear his children, but you are the only one he fondles." Kagome had meant it to be comforting, but as she heard her own words, she felt ridiculous.

"Listen to me! Talking like it's a good thing." Both woman burst into a fit of giggling.

"Oi! Sango! Kagome! What's so funny?" Inuyasha called out as he carried the monk over the hill top and hurried to catch up.

"NOTHING!" They shouted at the same time. It would remain their little secret.