I'm sorry I took so long to update. Feel free to maul me, after I thank my reviewers:

InuNightWalker: Thank you for the idea... and many thanks for reminding me about the foxes! Aaah!

SakuraSama:AAAAAHDORAGETITAWAYGETITAWAY...

LaughingstockStables: Oops... thanks... feel free to correct me. There's so many different spellings of these names around here that I get confused... in fact, I'm not entirely sure if Maru has a "sesshoumaru" or just a "sesshomaru" anymore... HELLLP!

Inujoey20: Thank you very much!

CrossoverFan: Why hello there, I know you! Thanks for the review... and all the comments on dev.art!

Now on to the story...

What's the point of hide-and-seek in the dark if we can smell everyone anyway? Koga had thought scornfully, while he was still counting.

Now, however, poor Koga was realizing the tricks his nose could play. Already they had been down in the cellar so often that their scents lingered everywhere. Even worse, they criss-crossed with each other often, confusing him beyond belief. Wolf, badger, coyote, and dog smells all blended together, making him slightly dizzy.

Aw, man, he thought. I have to do this the human way!

Abandoning his acute sense of smell, Koga wandered blindly around, arms outstretched, trying to figure out exactly where he was. He slammed headfirst into a bookshelf, and dusty volumes cascaded down onto his head. He swore violently. Somebody giggled nearby. He pounced, but missed. The giggle came again. He ducked down to his hands and knees and felt under a bed nearby, and felt someone.

"Got you!" he cried triumphantly. "Trust a badger to get low."

"Okay, twerp, I'm it. Everyone switch hiding places!" Shalynn called. She began to count. Instantly there was a flurry of movement as the others abandoned their hiding spots to find new sanctuaries.

So they continued for the next hour or so. Ingenious hiding places were discovered. For instance, Etoyok was found curled on top of a shelf. Topping this feat, Inuyasha hid inside a crate. Sesshoumaru even wedged himself between to beams… ten feet above everyone else's heads.

At last, just as they were beginning to get bored, the door at the top of the cellar stairs was opened. Etoyok's father poked his head in.

"Time for lunch," he called gruffly.

"But dad," Etoyok whined.

"NOW," the coyote demon snapped, and the young demons hurried up. Nobody disobeyed Etoyok's father.

"I'm first," Sesshoumaru announced, taking his place in line behind the grown-ups. Nobody dared disagree as he pulled Inuyasha into place behind him. Shalynn followed, then Etoyok. Koga pushed his friends out of the way to get in line next.

"Eew," Inuyasha said, sniffing at the food on the long table dubiously. "What is this stuff? Is it edible?"

Old Myoga, the flea demon who had been assigned to Inuyasha by their father, hopped onto Inuyasha's nose.

"Master Inuyasha," he said, his annoying voice making the others wince. "Your father says to be sure to eat the vegetables as well, not just the meat. It will make you strong, like your brother."

Inuyasha growled as Koga sniggered.

"At least the pickled radish," Myoga pleaded. "Or your father will pull my legs off and feed them to the crows!"

"Now, would that be such a bad thing?" Sesshoumaru asked, not missing a beat. He reached back and flicked Myoga away. The flea demon soared away, hitting a wall and falling to the floor.

However, when he was sure nobody else could hear, Sesshoumaru nudged Inuyasha in the ribs with his elbow.

"The pickled radish is really good. Looks like it's the only good thing," he whispered confidentially. Inuyasha had a strange feeling of foreboding.

Little did Sesshoumaru know that he had just introduced Inuyasha to his favorite food, which would eventually lead to said hanyou being pounded into the ground by a certain human girl from the future… using only the word "sit," no less.

Lunch was a disgusting affair, at least from the younger demons' point of view. They were forced to sit with grown-ups!

"All they ever talk about is food, politics, war, and Auntie Masumi's baby," Koga grumbled.

All the women were crowded around the long-pregnant fox demoness, including Shalynn, making excited exclamations and flooding her with questions.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We think it's a boy."

"Will he look just like you or his father?"

"We suspect he'll look more like his father."

"Will he be a kitsune too?"

"Of course."

"What are you going to name him?"

"We're going to call him Shippou."

"Oh, what a sweet name!"

"Babies," Inuyasha grumbled, chomping on his pickled radish. "Can't stand them. I bet that little kitsune will be worse than any."

"Only time will tell," Koga replied, tearing into his leg of mutton.

The rest of the afternoon progressed slowly and agonizingly. After being mobbed by all the my-my-look-how-you've-grown uncles and the cheek-pincher-oh-he's-so-adorable aunts, the youkai youths passed the time by playing charades, something which Inuyasha loathed but Sesshoumaru was quite good at. They also played Truth or Dare, that utterly embarrasing, humiliating game which Sesshoumaru despised but Inuyasha thrived in.

At last it was time for the final hurdle, the test of all tests, the head of the pantheon of torture:

The family dinner.

Dun dun dun dun...

Oh yes, the pickled radish comes in in the first Inuyasha movie... very funny.

The call for ideas still stands! Please review... I promise nothing but it just might help me to update faster if you make me feel guilty enough!