The Celestial Tiger's Notes: I'm arbitrarily assigning Mr. Minamino a name. I have no clue if he was ever officially given a first name so I'm making one up, just like I'll be inventing everything else about him since I still haven't found even a scrap of info on him. I think he was just a token character, since they didn't even bother to explain what happened to him. I'm going to flesh him out though, since he's at least important to Shiori. For crying out loud, he's Shuuichi's father. I think he deserves some coverage.
By the way, Kurama's not going to be a brat from the stand-point of pitching tantrums or throwing things around. That's just out of character, and I don't want anybody to be turned off by thinking that I'm heading in that direction. No, he's far more cruel and devious…into mind games and emotional abuse. That takes a much greater toll than physical misbehavior. This will become a very angsty fic as he gets a little older.
On a different note, I want to take a moment to insert a shameless plug. I currently have two other stories. One is a Yu Yu Hakusho/Inuyasha crossover entitled "A Mission of Epic Proportions" in which the YYH team must go to the past with Kagome and team up with the Inuyasha group to ensure the survival of humanity. The other is an Inuyasha character introspection collection entitled "In Your Heart of Hearts." Each chapter basically delves into a different character's innermost thoughts and feelings. If you like this story, you'd definitely like my other introspections.
Chapter 2: Oh, I Am Fortune's Fool! (Shakespeare, 'Romeo and Juliet' (III, i, 141))
Shiori awoke to find her husband sitting beside her. She smiled lovingly at him but her smile faltered when she saw that there was a grave look in his eyes. "Ryuuichi?" she questioned tentatively. "What's wrong?"
Ryuuichi cleared his throat reluctantly. "Shiori…the doctor says that he needs to talk with us about something important…"
Shiori's eyes instantly widened and her heart stopped momentarily. "Shuuichi?" she breathed in terror.
Ryuuichi grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "Don't panic, sweetheart. They said he seems fine so far but they have some…concerns."
Shiori tried to sit up. "But they said he was healthy! There was nothing wrong with him!"
Her husband gently pushed her back down. "Please, Shiori. You have to calm down. Let's wait until we hear what the doctor has to say before we jump to conclusions." Before Shiori could respond, the door to the room opened and the doctor stepped in. He was instantly assaulted with a rapid fire of questions to which he held up his hands to silence them. He then approached the foot of the bed.
"There's no cause for great alarm at this point in time," he said delicately. "Your baby seemed perfectly healthy when he was born but he didn't cry at all. For that reason, we placed him under observation to make sure that there wasn't a problem. We were hoping that he'd cry when he woke up, but we haven't gotten a sound out of him. Now…sometimes this is a sign that there might be some complications. His respiration appears normal but we'd like to run some tests, just to make sure that his lungs are healthy and clear and that there are no other problems that might cause him to be so silent."
"Do whatever you have to do to make sure that our son is ok," replied Ryuuichi resolutely. Shiori nodded without hesitation.
The doctor smiled kindly at them. "Don't worry. His vitals have been textbook so far. There's most likely nothing at all wrong, but we're just erring on the side of caution."
"We understand, Doctor," Ryuuichi affirmed.
Shiori nodded as well. "Please take good care of him."
The doctor offered them a reassuring smile. "Absolutely," he said optimistically and with that, he left them alone again.
Shiori looked up at her husband. "I pray that he's alright."
Ryuuichi caressed her face. "So do I. But he's getting the best care. He's in good hands."
---
COLD! Damn, this metal was cold! Youko couldn't prevent a gasp from escaping as they laid him on a cold metal table of some sort. Now what were they doing to him? He felt almost certain that they didn't put all human infants through these tortures. He found himself looking up at a very strange device that hummed annoyingly. What in hell was this supposed to accomplish?
He seemed to be passed from one machine to the next. He kicked and struggled, but like it or not, he was helpless to prevent it. The most he could do was grimace and be as uncooperative as he could, which in the end didn't amount to much at all.
"He's a feisty little guy!" one of the nurses remarked to another.
"He sure is," the other replied. "With that much spunk, I can't see why the doctor thinks there's something wrong."
'I'll tell you what's wrong with me,' thought Youko. 'I'm stuck in this feeble, disgusting body.' He squirmed against the nurse's hold on him and she just chuckled. 'Damn it all!' he thought fiercely. 'Fate must surely be laughing right along with her, to find me here in this self-inflicted wretchedness.'
---
He didn't know which was worse, the testing or the squalling of human infants around him once he was returned to his place in the nursery. It was maddeningly loud and for just a fleeting moment, he was almost grateful that his human hearing was so dull.
He lay there sourly for a while until a nurse came in and retrieved him. 'Now what?' he thought sardonically. As she made her way through the halls, he began to feel a strange pull in the direction that she was taking him. This feeling was originating from the damned human heart that beat within his chest.
The nurse took him to a new room, and within it they found the human woman who had birthed him. A foreign instinct told him to be comforted, but he rejected it violently. This woman was no different from any other vile human. He refused to acknowledge a connection with her. But it was in this woman's arms that he was placed.
The nurse then stepped aside and the doctor entered the room, smiling pleasantly. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Minamino…we've examined this little guy inside and out and there's absolutely nothing wrong with him."
The relief of stress from Shiori and Ryuuichi was tangible. Shiori cradled at her son. "Thank the heavens!"
The doctor grinned at them. "Well…now that all of that's over, I think it's high time he got something to eat. We had to withhold feeding him because of the tests. I'll be he's starving."
Shiori chuckled lightly and looked down at her baby. "I bet you are hungry after all of that!"
Youko hadn't thought about it. He'd been so angry that he hadn't even considered this body's hunger. But now that it was brought to his attention, he noticed it…a pain in his stomach. Perhaps this underlying pain had added to his foul mood without his realizing.
The nurse handed Shiori a bottle and left but the doctor remained. Shiori then brought the nipple of the bottle up to her son's mouth and coaxed him to take it.
This was by far the most demeaning thing yet! Did they actually expect him to lower himself to the point of accepting their patronizing? That would be as much as acknowledging that he needed them! He turned his head away from the intruding object.
"Come on, Shuuichi," Shiori cajoled. She tried again only to press the nipple against clamped lips. She frowned and then looked up at the doctor.
The doctor looked thoughtful. "It's not unusual for babies to reject being bottle fed. Have you considered breast-feeding him?"
Youko froze inside. He was not about to close his mouth around a vile human teat!
Shiori sighed. "We were hoping to bottle-feed so that my husband could help. But…if it's the only way he'll eat, I suppose it'll have to be that way."
The doctor nodded and turned toward the door. "I'll leave you to it, then. Call a nurse if you need anything."
"Thank you, Doctor," Ryuuichi said and when the door closed, he returned his attention to his wife and son. "Well…let's give this a try."
Shiori looked into his eyes. "Are you alright with this?"
Ryuuichi smiled resignedly. "I'm alright with whatever works at this point."
Shiori offered him an apologetic smile and then proceeded in her attempt to breast-feed their son. To their dismay, this effort was met with even more resistance than before.
Youko turned away fiercely, flailing his arms in an attempt to bat away the unwelcome flesh. He grunted his displeasure and squirmed with all of his might.
Shiori finally gave up and sighed forlornly. "Why won't he eat?"
Ryuuichi leaned down and caressed his son's head. "What's wrong, little guy? The doctor said you were fine. Please don't do this. Please…"
Tears began to form in Shiori's eyes. "I know they said he was fine, but there must be something wrong."
"Try the bottle again, sweetheart," said Ryuuichi softly. "Maybe he's just in a bit of shock after all of those tests. With patience, maybe he'll take to it."
Shiori tried again and again only to be fought at every attempt. She finally pressed the nurse's button and by the time a nurse got to the room, Shiori was in tears. "He won't eat," she choked out desperately.
"He's spitting the bottle out?" the nurse asked with concern.
"He won't take it at all," responded Ryuuichi. "We can't even get it into his mouth. It's like he doesn't want anything in his mouth at all. We tried bottle-feeding and breast-feeding and he won't have anything to do with either."
The nurse frowned and sighed. "Well...his tests all came out clear. There's no reason that he should be doing that. If you want, we could try a few other things. I have to tell you, though, that if he doesn't eat soon, we'll have to put a feeding tube into him."
Youko suddenly began to rethink his abstinence. They were going to keep torturing him, thinking that something was internally wrong with him if he didn't start acting like a normal human baby. He could not abide by having them shove their medical instruments into his body.
Aside from that, no matter how reprehensible it was to be 'fed' by these contemptible creatures, refusing nourishment was foolish. The whole reason that he had debased himself like this in the first place was for his own survival. It would all be in vain if he allowed himself to starve for the principle of pride.
Youko was ripped out of his thoughts when a drop of moisture fell on his cheek. It had fallen from the face of the woman who was holding him. She was crying. 'Disgustingly weak,' he thought to himself disdainfully.
Shiori was miserable. "Isn't there anything else we can do before resorting to that?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion.
The nurse held out her hand. "Hand me that bottle. I'll get a fresh one...maybe he's just really picky." Shiori nodded and handed her the bottle, daring to hope that it would work.
When the nurse returned with a fresh bottle and handed it over, Shiori took in a deep breath. "Please...take it," she whispered. Ryuuichi echoed her sentiment and they both held their breath as Shiori brought the nipple up to their son's mouth.
Youko swallowed as much pride as he could and allowed the tip entrance. The gasp of excitement from everyone in the room made him want to spit it right back out but he couldn't risk the chance that they might take it as a sign to start jamming things into him.
He sighed in resignation and began to draw from the object within his mouth. The liquid was bearable but not altogether pleasant. Still, he found himself once again without a choice.
Shiori and Ryuuichi were overjoyed. They poured over him and cooed and prattled endlessly now that their fears had been lifted. Even the nurse was greatly relieved but she soon left them to have some proper bonding time.
After he had ingested all that he could stomach, Youko had to endure the nauseating affections of these two humans as they fussed over him. They identified themselves as 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' and spewed all sorts of repulsive sentiments. He detested being pawed at and cuddled but he knew that he couldn't fight it right now.
To make matters worse, that damned feeling was back...that foreign instinct to be comforted by their presence. He suppressed it, determined to triumph and smother it for good some day.
He was overly grateful when sleep once again tugged at the corners of his consciousness. He had given up on the idea of resisting sleep in the presence of his human adversaries. Sleep afforded him the only break he could get. At least in slumber, he could achieve some measure of peace, so he welcomed it this time.