A Father's Embrace

Chapter Seventeen

Hiroshi

The group had been hiking though the forests of Senkogu Jidai for the entire stretch of the morning hours. After several uneventful hours of walking, they decided to take a break for lunch. Finding a small opening in the forest, they settled down. Sango and Miroku decided to find some firewood. Kagome busied herself with preparing lunch, pulling out some instant food stuffs from her bag. Kazuki worked on making a fire pit.

Maiki looked up into the sky with dismay. What had started as a warm, sunny day had slowly evolved into a cool, overcast sky. The temperature had dropped quite noticeably during the morning. The chilly breeze brushed against the girl's skin, eliciting a shiver. 'Damn, oversensitive skin,' she grumbled mentally as she pulled her favorite black hooded sweatshirt from her bag. Pulling it on, she felt much better. Leaving the hood over her head, her ears felt warmer as well, though a bit confined.

Kazuki looked up from his task, noticing the girl's new apparel. "What's wrong, shibunyo?" he asked mockingly. With his parents out of earshot, he didn't hesitate to insult her. "Trying to hide something? Is there something you are ashamed of? Your yokai heritage, perhaps?"

Kagome glanced from one teenager to the next, but did not say anything. She merely waited to see how this exchange would unfold. Maiki rolled her eyes.

"Heh! I'm not wearing this to hide my ears, baka. I'm wearing this cuz I'm cold." And for good measure, she added another, "Baka."

"Oh, I'm the baka, am I? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't we searching for this mamori-ishi for that exact purpose? To hide your yokai features? Seems to me you are ashamed of your heritage." He paused for a moment. "Of course, if I had a bastard hanyo father, I'd certainly be ashamed as well."

Kagome winced at the painful barb, but she did nothing to defend her daughter or Inuyasha's honor. Maiki seemed to seethe with anger for a moment, but quickly brought her temper under control. Slowly closing her eyes, a faint malevolent smirk formed on her lips. An almost inaudible chuckle escaped her throat before she reopened her eyes, staring straight into Kazuki's eyes.

"Y'know what, Kazuki? I don't care what you say about him. I never knew him. I never met him. He was never a part of my life. I don't give a shit about someone I don't know. So say whatever you wish about him. Because I don't care. As for my appearance, I wish to hide it for one simple reason: to get back to my normal life. Once I have that stone, I'm going back to the modern era... where you are nothing more than an insignificant speck in the fabric of time. In the future, you are long forgotten and meaningless. Not even your rotted corpse still exists there."

Kazuki silently glared at the shibunyo as she strode over to Kagome's bag. Slinging it onto her back, she replied to her mother, "I'm going to fill the water bottles. I'll be back." Then she headed off into the forest opposite the direction Miroku and Sango had taken. Once the girl was out of earshot, Kagome looked over to Kazuki who pretended to look busy by adjusting the size of the fire pit.

"Kazuki-kun, perhaps you should lighten up on Maiki a bit. It's not her fault that she is what she is. She's not used to the changes yet. She has to take in everything around her in a completely new perspective, and I can tell that it's causing her enough stress already. It would help her immensely if you didn't make it a point to remind her of what she's going through."

The boy looked up from his task, staring blankly at the woman. "I'm sorry, Kagome-baba. Did you just say something?"

Kagome's jaw dropped. 'Baba? Did he just call me 'baba'?' Before she could comment, Sango and Miroku returned, both with an armful of sticks, branches, and kindling.

Noticing the missing member of the group, Sango inquired, "Where's Maiki-chan?"

"The shibunyo went to fetch some water," Kazuki answered with a bored look on his face.

"Oh, good," Miroku replied, ignoring his son's choice of words. "Let's get this fire ready before she gets back."

Maiki stomped through the forest, in the direction of a nearby stream. She was still fuming over Kazuki's poor attitude. 'What right does he have to talk to me like that? That little brat! Didn't his parents teach him any respect? If I was so inclined to do so, I'd give him a good whooping. Heh! He's not even worth my time!'

She could see a break in the trees ahead, the sound of the flowing water grew stronger. Just before she emerged from the tree line, she heard another noise. It was faint compared to the water, but distinct. It was the crying of a young child. Instantly forgetting about her irritation, Maiki peered around the side of a large tree, eyes searching for the source of the whimpering.

Sitting next to the stream, on large a rock, was a small boy. He looked to be about seven or eight years old. He wore a simple, faded, blue kimono. His hands were balled up into fists, wiping the tears from his eyes. Slowly, Maiki approached him.

"Hey, kid. Are you okay?"

The boy immediate snapped to attention, staring in fright at the teenager. His sobs had come to a halt, but his cheeks were still stained from his tears. A mix of red and brown caught Maiki's attention. The boy's knees somehow had been scraped up, most likely from a tumble. She continued to approach the boy. He scrambled to get to his feet, fearful of Maiki.

She stopped for a moment. "Hey, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Let me see those cuts of yours. They need to get cleaned up or else they'll get infected." She took another step towards him. He didn't try to move again, but he didn't look any less frightened either. "Don't worry. I promise I won't hurt you. If I do, I'll..." thinking, her eyes darted to the water, "...I'll let you push me into the stream. Wouldn't that be funny to see?"

The boy seemed to calm a bit, a ghost of a smile touching his lips as he thought about the promise. Maiki cautiously approached him. Pulling her mother's bag off her shoulders, she knelt down in front of the boy. She inspected the scrapes, but didn't yet touch the boy, not wishing to scare him after the small amount of progress she had made so far. There was too much dirt on his knees for her to get a good look at the extent of his wounds. Pulling open the bag, Maiki pulled out the first aid kit and a clean rag. She dipped the rag into the cool water, then ringed it out and turned back to the boy.

"Now, this might sting a little bit, but I've got to clean out those scrapes. I'll let you hold my free hand while I wipe away the mud. If it hurts too much, just give my hand a squeeze and I'll be gentler, okay?"

The boy nodded. Maiki offered her left hand to the boy, who hesitantly took it in both of his hands. The teenager then began to work on cleaning the wounds, gently dabbing at them. A few times, she felt the boy tighten his grip on her left hand. After several careful minutes, the dirt and blood were gone. The cuts weren't that bad. A few layers of skin had been scraped off, accompanied by a few scratches.

Maiki set aside the sullied rag, and popped open the first aid box. She applied a bit of antiseptic cream to each knee then retrieved two butterfly bandages from the kit, placing one on each knee. The boy had watched her with deep interest the entire time. When she finished, she placed everything back into the bag, then looked up at the boy.

"There. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" she beamed.

The boy grinned shyly. "No."

"So, what's your name?"

"Hiroshi."

Maiki smiled. "I'm Maiki." There was a momentary pause. "Wanna tell me how you scraped your knees up like that?"

Hiroshi sniffled. "I was playing... with my ball... and it got away and fell into the stream. And I tried to run after it, but I tripped and fell and now it's gone."

The teenager's smile fell a bit. "I'm sorry to hear that. I can't get you your ball back, but I might have something to cheer you up." Digging into her mother's bag, she finally came upon what it was she was looking for. Pulling out the treat, she peeled the wrapper off the chocolate bar and handed it to the child. "There you go!"

The boy accepted it, with a look of confusion. Maiki explained. "It's candy. A treat. You can eat it. It's safe."

Cautiously, Hiroshi bit off a small corner of the bar. As it melted in his mouth, his eyes lit up excitedly. Ravenously, he wolfed down the rest of the candy and when that was gone, he efficiently licked his fingers clean. Maiki couldn't stop her giggles at the boy's antics. When he finished with his snack, he bowed as best as he could from a sitting position.

"Thank you, kind ninja-sama."

Maiki blinked. "Ninja? No, I'm not a ninja."

Hiroshi rose his head, a confused look on his face once again. "Not a ninja? But you wear the robes of a ninja."

A bemused grin flashed across the teenager's face. "Oh, no, no. This is just a shirt I put on cuz I was cold. I'm not a ninja."

It was at that moment that the boy noticed Maiki's odd eye and hair color. "You're-- You're yokai?" he breathed in a half-astonished, half-weary tone.

"Um, no. Not quite. I've been told that I'm actually a shibunyo." To demonstrate, she pulled the hood off the top of her head, revealing her dog-like ears. Hiroshi's eyes lit up once again. Before Maiki could stop him, he reached out and touched one of her ears. Just as quickly as he had done so, he pulled his hand back.

"Fuzzy."

Maiki was too stunned by the sudden action to even think about being irritated by his boldness. Regaining her composure, she shrugged it off. He was just a kid and didn't know any better.

"So, Hiroshi-kun, do you live near here? If you want, you can join me and my traveling companions for lunch and then maybe we can escort you back home if you'd like..."

The boy suddenly slid off the rock, and rose to his feet. "No, it's okay. My home isn't far from here. I can make it back on my own. Thank you very much for helping me, Maiki-sama." He gave her one last respectful bow before running off upstream.

Maiki sighed, watching the boy as he left her line of sight. She really wished he had accepted her offer. She didn't want anything to happen to him before he returned to his village. Accepting the fact that she couldn't do anything to change the outcome of the situation, she returned to her mother's bag. Pulling out the empty water containers, she began the task that she had originally set out to do.

Hiroshi - generous

Baba- a very impolite word for 'old woman'.

If you ever get the chance to watch the show in Japanese, you'll hear Inuyasha say "Kaede-baba" or "Myoga-jiji" (old man Myoga). Kagome, who has better manners, will say "Kaede-bachan" (subtitled as Grandma Kaede) and "Myoga-jichan" (Grandpa Myoga).