A Father's Embrace

Chapter Fifteen

Departure

"But mother! I want to come too!"

"Sachiko, I told you 'no'! You don't have enough training yet."

"But Shippo-san used to go with you all the time when you went hunting for Naraku!"

"Yes, but Shippo is also a yokai."

"That's not fair!" The girl turned to her other parent. "Father!"

"Listen to your mother, Sachiko."

The ten-year-old pouted, stomping off towards Rin's hut. She sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall outside the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. She blatantly ignored Yuri when she invited her to play with Kiku and Takara. Watching Sachiko's silent protest, Rin stifled a bemused grin, and calmly approached the exterminator as she finished preparing for their departure.

"Don't worry, Sango-san. She'll get over it. Isamu and I will take good care of your girls while you and Miroku-sama are gone."

"Thank you so much for agreeing to watch them on such short notice, Rin-sama," the exterminator said with a bow. "I hope it's not too much trouble."

Rin smiled warmly. "Oh, not at all! Yuri and Kiku are simply delighted that Sachiko and Takara will be staying with us for a while."

"Well, just in case anything should happen, or you need to find us for any reason, I'm going to leave Kirara here with you. She'll be able to track us down if you need anything." At the mention of her name, the neko mewed as if to confirm her mistress's offer.

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

Miroku tied the few supplies they had gathered for the trip into a knapsack. "There, that ought to do it. How about I head to the well to see if Kagome-sama and Maiki-san have returned yet?"

"Okay," replied his wife. "Kazuki and I will check over our weapons while we wait."

At the Bone-Eating Well, Kagome hefted herself over the edge. Once on the ground, she reached in, offering Maiki a hand.

"I got it, mama. This doesn't seem as hard as it did before, especially now that I don't have to carry Kunkun out of here."

"At least hand me your bag then."

The daughter reluctantly replied. Kagome accepted the large, black bag from her daughter, and pulled it over the edge of the well. When it was free from the wooden structure, Kagome fell backwards onto her bottom under the unexpected weight of the bag. Maiki climbed over the edge, and sat on the well.

"You should have let me carry it out of the well," the teenager said dryly.

"Are you sure you didn't forget anything? This sucker is heavy!"

"Didn't seem that heavy to me. And I didn't pack that much. I couldn't stand being home any longer to pack anything more! I swear, if Nana tried rubbing my ears just one more time…"

Kagome struggled to hide her grin. "But your grandmother just adores your ears!"

"Heh! See? Now that is exactly why I can't go around looking like this for much longer! If not because people will want to run tests on me, then because they'd never keep their hands off me!"

A nostalgic expression slowly overcame Kagome's face as she thought back to the days of her teenage years. Maiki's aversion towards people touching her ears reminded Kagome about how Inuyasha was overly guarded when it came to his ears. Not wishing to allow past memories to cause her to get all emotional, she changed the subject.

"So, Maiki, do you think Kunkun will be alright with your grandmother?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine. It's Nana I'm worried about," the girl replied with a grin. Then, thinking back to earlier in the day, when Kagome had taken the ferret from Sachiko and Takara, her smile faded. "I felt so bad that I wouldn't let Sachiko watch him while we're gone. It's just that all his food and stuff is back home and it would just be too much to bring here."

"I understand," Kagome tried to reassure her daughter. She stood up, brushing the dirt off of her skirt and handed the bag to Maiki. "And Sachiko understands as well, even though she is also disappointed." Maiki sighed as she slung the bag over her shoulder with ease.

"Ah! Kagome-sama! Maiki-san! I'm glad to see you're already back! Are you both ready to go?" Miroku greeted as he approached the two women.

"I think so," answered Maiki. "Mama?"

Kagome took a deep breath to settle the butterflies that had suddenly taken flight inside her stomach. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

"Alright then. We'll head back to the village to pick up Sango and Kazuki and then we'll be off!" beamed the monk.

Sango emerged from her hut after just having donned her yokai exterminator outfit and replacing her kimono over it. As she strapped Hiraikotsu to her back and slung her knapsack over her shoulder, Miroku appeared from behind a fellow villager's hut with Kagome and Maiki in pursuit.

As her husband approached, he inquired, "Are you and Kazuki all set?"

Sango nodded. "Yes. But Kazuki went to pray at Masuyo's grave before we left. I told him that we'd meet up with him there on our way out of the village."

Miroku nodded, then went inside the hut to retrieve his own satchel. Kagome followed him inside to claim her bag with all her supplies. When they returned to Sango and Maiki, Rin had come out of her hut to give the departing group a small pouch of remedies for the trip. The slayer was thanking the healer for her generosity.

"Remember, Rin-sama. We are heading north to northeast. If anything should happen, Kirara will help you find us."

"I will remember that. But I'm certain that everything shall be fine. I bid you a safe journey and take care."

"Thank you, Rin-sama," Sango replied, giving the healer a warm hug.

The slayer broke away, and started to head out. Miroku followed up behind Sango, pausing a moment to bow in respect to Rin. Behind the monk, was Maiki, who glanced and nodded to the healer, a silent 'thank-you' for her help the prior day. And finally, Kagome passed Rin, offering the younger woman a grateful smile. And, under the mid-day sun, the group of four left the village.

Just as Sango had said, they found Kazuki offering a silent prayer to his deceased brother. Kagome and Maiki stopped several feet from the gravesite, while the boy's parents approached him. Miroku and Sango stopped when they had flanked him, and they bowed their heads. Silence overcame the area, except for the sound of the light breeze that swayed the tall blades of grass.

Finally, after several moments, Kazuki spoke, but only loud enough for his parents to hear. "Why must I go with you? My responsibilities lie here in the village, to watch over Sachiko and Takara while you are gone. I cannot let happen to them the same fate that was dealt to Masuyo."

Sango exhaled deeply. "I understand how you feel, Kazuki. But your sisters are safe with Rin-sama. She is more than capable of handling lesser yokai should they attack, especially with Kirara's help. And stronger yokai wouldn't dream of openly attacking the village, knowing very well that Rin-sama is still under Sesshomaru-sama's protection."

"But I'm their brother. I should be the one protecting them."

"That is understandable as well," replied the monk. "But we need your assistance more with this journey. The northern regions are far more dangerous than Musashi territory. Far stronger yokai lurk in the mountains. Some are friendly. Most are foe. Hopefully, our mission won't take too long, and we can return to safer regions with little to no incidents. Remember, it is always better to have many fighters and not need them, rather than to have too few fighters and be faced with strong opposing forces."

"Yes, father."

"That's my boy," the monk replied while patting his son on the back. He then turned to the two women waiting behind them. "Shall we?" Kagome and Maiki nodded, and the quintet departed from the grave, heading towards the hillside at the far end of the valley.

The sun was slowly approaching the horizon when the group decided to break camp. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any trouble during their first day of travel. They had found a small area in the forest that was alongside a gently flowing stream. Miroku and Sango were busying themselves by setting up a spot for a fire in the center of the camp. Kazuki had headed over to the river to catch some fish for dinner.

Meanwhile, Kagome and Maiki had intied three rolled-up bundles that had been attached to the shibunyo's bag. They unrolled the first bundle, laying it out flat, and began setting up the small two-man sized pup tent. When they noticed what the mother-daughter duo where doing, the husband and wife watched curiously. Using a fist-sized rock, Maiki pounded the stakes into the ground, securing the tent into place. Then they started working on the second tent.

"I don't know why I never thought of bringing one of these with me all those years ago," Kagome mused. "It would have really helped during all those rainy nights when we couldn't find shelter."

"But… they're so small," Miroku stated bluntly.

Maiki grinned. "Well, they're only meant for sleeping in. You can't really do much else in them."

Slightly smirking, the monk shot his wife a sorrowful, but lustful look. "Pity." Sango caught the look, her cheeks painted pink with a small grin.

While Kagome and Maiki worked on setting up the third tent, Sango retrieved a couple pieces of flint rock from one of the satchels and attempted to start a fire. Miroku had headed over to the stream to see how Kazuki was faring with catching dinner. Kagome noticed the difficulty Sango was having with the fire. She quietly headed over to her own back and dug out a box of waterproof matches, then hunched down next to Sango.

"Remember these?" she chirped as she shook the small cardboard box, match sticks rattling inside.

Sango's face lit up. "Kagome-chan, you are a godsend!"

Kagome returned the exterminator's smile and proceeded to take a match from the box, striking it against the side of the container, and carefully lowered it to the kindling. Slowly at first, the flame ate at the twigs and brush. Gradually, the fire grew stronger and brighter, as the thicker branches and logs caught fire. At that time, Miroku and Kazuki returned from the stream, carrying five long sticks with a gutted and scaled fish skewed onto each one. As they waited for the fish to cook, Kazuki noticed the three tents that had been erected at the edges of the camp.

With a cocked eyebrow, he asked, "What are those things?"

"They're pup-tents. We'll be sleeping in them," Maiki stated matter-of-factly. The boy gave her a strange look. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing. Just an odd name for them, especially coming from you."

Maiki was confused momentarily, before she realized his jab. 'Pup-tents.' "Heh! Very funny," she scoffed, despite the grin that desperately tugged at her lips. Why she almost smiled at the insult, she did not know. Kazuki caught the quirk at the corner of her mouth as she tried to squash her slight amusement. Seeing the inner conflict of the shibunyo, the junior slayer couldn't help the small smirk that formed on his own face.

A few things to note:

Inuyasha is not a full blooded yokai. He's still a hanyo, but his yokai blood has taken over.

Kagome feels no ill will towards Inuyasha. She is not angry at him.It was said that she could no longer depend on him, but that is because he is unable to.All Kagome knows is that Naraku did something to Inuyasha to incapacitate him (we don't yet know what that is).This allowed Naraku to get close enough to Kagome to nearly kill her and take the jewel, and that is why she fled.

Maiki is Inuyasha's daughter, not Naraku's.And Kazuki and Maiki are not going to be a couple.