Authors Note:
Beware: The following chapter contains too many words! -laughs- I couldn't help it! Enjoy!
I wanted to say 'Thanks' to everyone who reads my story! I'm glad you guys like it! And remember to review!
"Ouch!" Hoshiko rubbed her little hanyou ears. Her legs were still on the stairs while the rest of her body had landed on the hard dirt. The shock had been so sudden all her thoughts were finally catching up to her. The first one that hit her was: What the hell?
"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" Mrs. Higurashi said while walking down the stairs to inspect the small girl. "Let me help you" she extended her hand towards Hoshiko.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the creature standing in front of her. 'Don't.. let.. Fear.. Control you?' she said to herself in a low voice. "W-who are you?" Hoshiko refused to take her hand and crawled away. She decided that being cautious was better for now.
"I am Mrs. Higurashi, you must be a friend of my daughter's" She said, looking at her dog ears. She smiled so sweetly, it didn't seem like she could do any real harm. Hoshiko stood up and brushed the dirt off of her kimono. "Your daughter?"
"Yes, Kagome. You do know her, right?" Mrs. H gave her a confused look. "Oh, yes! I know her!" Finally Hoshiko felt safe. Mrs. H led her into the house where Inuyasha and Souta were playing video games. Inuyasha didn't know how to play so he kept cursing at the television. Besides, the claws made it hard to use the controller.
The little hanyou smiled at Inuyasha, trying to seem completely innocent. She didn't think that she'd find him so quickly and especially not unharmed. "What the hell are you doing here, Hoshiko? Weren't Sango and Miroku taking care of you?" he said at the sight of her. He figured that she'd be stubborn enough to follow him however seeing her there gave him a slight shock.
"Um, yes, they were." she replied with a fake smile. He raised an eyebrow at her, "Then?"
She broke into a nervous laugh, "Well, you see, I.." Hoshiko knew very well what Inuyasha would do to her if she told him she had disobeyed her orders from Sango. "Well? What happened?" he asked, his patience was merely a myth and now he was proving it to be true.
Her ears perked up and she held her breath as she let her story flow from her lips. Inuyasha didn't punish her like she thought he would. She was expecting a huge bump on her head the second she blurted it out but to her great amazement Inuyasha didn't even get up.
"Hm" he turned around to keep playing with Souta. "Are you hungry?" She blinked in confusion, "A little" she said. "Well, Mrs. Higurashi makes the best cereal. You should try it."
"I will…" she turned to Mrs. H, who was sitting on the couch, watching Souta beat Inuyasha and smiled up at her. "Come this way." she said, walking towards the kitchen. "…father" Hoshiko whispered in her smallest voice yet Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound of that name. A tiny smile formed at the end of his lips then he shook it off and concentrated on moving the little figure in the "magical box".
Hoshiko took the bowl from Mrs. H and stared at the circles inside. They swirled around in a sea of white water. She took what Mrs. H called a "spoon" and started to place the mini circles in her mouth. "Wow, this really is good!" she beamed, then stuffed another spoonful in her mouth joyfully.
Suddenly, as soon as Hoshiko took a step into the living room, a man walked down the stairs.
He wore a white jacket that went below his waist, it had a small patch on one side that said, "Dr. Lee, Pediatrician" He mumbled something to himself as if he needed to take a mental note on it. Then he looked up at Inuyasha.
She froze next to the doorway until Inuyasha stood up to talk to him, "How is she?" she heard him ask, "She should be okay soon." the man said, "It's best she takes plenty of rest and never misses her medication. I'm sure with you around, she will be up and walking in no time." He smirked at the dog demon and patted him on the back. 'What did he mean by that?' the hanyou scratched his head.
Inuyasha nodded and let Mrs. Higurashi pass to talk to Dr. Lee. "What's wrong?" Hoshiko asked him, Inuyasha took hold of her arm and walked outside without saying a single word. He sat down on the grass underneath an enormous tree. It could of reached 100 feet if she knew any better. She marveled over it for another second before he said, "Are you going to stand?"
"Oh, no." she plopped down next to him.
He sighed deeply and let the smell of the flowers rise up to his nose. "It's all my fault she's like that." he whispered, hiding his eyes between his silvery bangs. "Who?" she asked, "Kagome…she was badly injured because I wasn't there to help her. And now she is her bed, completely helpless."
'My instinct was right' she thought, 'poor Kagome is hurt'
"I don't know her that well since I was injured when she was around but I can sense that she's a strong girl. If that um, man, says she'll be okay and Mrs. Higurashi trusts him, why haven't you?" Hoshiko replied.
He lifted his head to look at her, Hoshiko looked so serious it made him smile. She smiled back before spotting the smell of daisies. "Daisies!" she said. "Huh?" he watched her run across the hill towards the smell, "Come on" she yelled at him.
He lifted off the ground to follow the ecstatic hanyou.
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Meanwhile..
Sango had been screaming for about half an hour now. That's when she had first noticed that Hoshiko was gone.
"I told her to stay here, didn't I? Yes! I told her to not run away, to stay in the village and what does she do? She runs away! Inuyasha will get mad, Kagome will get worried and I'm getting worried! Why didn't she stay in the village?"
Sango kept walking back and forth in front of the hut. Shippo and Miroku had watched for the first 20 minutes when they found it amusing yet Sango's rambling hadn't faded so they decided to visit the river bank.
"Do you think Sango has calmed down yet?" Shippo asked Miroku. He took a bite out of his apple from his right hand then turned around to take another bite out of a pear from his left hand. The fruit slushed noisily in his mouth as he chewed.
"I don't think she has." Miroku replied as he took a chunk of nectarine from within the cloth bag they had taken with them. "What else is in here?" he peered into it. His entire head was almost swallowed by the bag when Shippo started to stammer. "M-Miroku, w-we sh-should be getting b-back."
Miroku looked at him curiously, "Why?" The kitsune's gaze was locked onto a black haired maiden that was traveling towards the village. 'Kikyou again!'
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"Hoshiko! What is it?" Inuyasha called after her. "Just try and keep up!" she managed to wink back at him before sprinting down the hill. He gave her a playful look and started to run faster.
She tripped on Inuyasha's left foot and plummeted down onto the grass. She shrieked a bit. Inuyasha had tripped also and now both hanyous were rolling down the hill. When they finally hit the bottom, she began to laugh hysterically. Watching this, Inuyasha did the same.
"You have to admit.. That was fun!" she said swallowing some more air. He nodded then uprooted some grass to throw at her. She saw this and jumped out of the way. She shook her head. "Too slow"
He glared at her with a mischievous smile. As he stood up he felt grass slid down his head. He gasped to find grass all over his hair. "That's it, you'll pay for that!" He sprinted towards the girl with dirt in hand. After he hurled it at her, Hoshiko did an astonishing back-flip and escaped the dirt.
She ran back up the hill then stopped. Inuyasha grabbed her in a head-lock and rubbed her head roughly. He smirked evilly and heard Hoshiko scream, "Ah! Inuyasha! Stop it, you're messing my hair!"
Kagome's laughter made him stop. He looked up to see her in a wheel chair. She looked so happy now. Hoshiko ran past Inuyasha to the miko. She took hold of a daisy as she ran and brought it to her. Kagome smiled as she took the flower from Hoshiko.
"Here Kagome, I hope you get better soon." she beamed.
"I didn't think you could get up so soon." Inuyasha said when he reached the girls. "I couldn't, but I begged my mother to take me out." Hoshiko saw as a large smile appear on his face, 'maybe..' Her instinct hadn't been wrong before so maybe it was right again, "Well…I'll go back in the house, I really want some more of that 'cereal'" She skipped towards the house leaving Inuyasha and Kagome absolutely alone.
"Heh, kids." his fake smile made her laugh again. "Feh, what are you laughing about?"
"Oh, nothing. Come sit with me." she panted the ground next to her. He laid down and breathed deeply. His hair glistened with the morning sun which made Kagome blush a light pink.
Inuyasha saw this and blushed also. "Could you take me off this wheel chair? It's starting to get uncomfortable." He lifted her off gently and placed her on the grass. His blush had grown a shade darker.
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"Kikyou…I don't know where he is!" Miroku was barely able to speak through the lack of air. Kikyou had grabbed hold of his neck and pulled him a couple inches above the ground.
She smirked and released her grip on him. "Maybe you are telling the truth, but wherever he is, I will find him!"
He gasped for air as he stood on all fours. Then he stared up at her with a hateful look. "What do you plan to do to him?" he yelled.
"It's nothing, really. I just wanted to chat with him." her smirk grew bigger which made him uneasy.
He stood up to face the priestess, his gaze showed fear for Inuyasha. 'What is she up to now? Inuyasha hasn't done anything, well, not that I know of.' He looked around for his little kitsune friend yet didn't see him. 'Coward!'
Kikyou turned her back and started to walk away. Behind her, she left nothing but a scared Miroku. All their food and supplies had been thrown into the river by Kikyou. She didn't seem to be in the best mood.
Shippo had escaped by running into the bushes. He decided to run back to the village, "He's strong enough to take care of himself, but I'm not!" he sobbed. Sango was shocked by this yet if she ran out there, Kikyou might not take mercy on the unfortunate hentai. "Hm, I guess you are right. We'll wait for a while if he doesn't come then we will have to and get him." she said. Shippo grabbed hold of Kirara with a worried look. The two-tailed kitten growled softly.
Miroku came stumbling into the village, like some time before, except this time he didn't have a red mark on his face. He tripped on a rock, which made both Shippo and Sango feel pity for him. They walked out to greet him.
"What happened, Miroku? You alright?" she asked him.
"Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine. Just I'm now worried for our dog demon friend. Kikyou has suddenly gotten an interest in him. She didn't tell me why." he replied. And somehow his hair was wet.
She tilted her head a bit, "Why are you wet?" He frowned, "Kikyou might be dead but she finds throwing monks into the river funny. I guess her sense of humor is still in tact." He lowered his head and walked into the hut.
His friends laughed in mockery to the unlucky guy, "That is funny!" she smiled.
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Back in modern time…
"Now can you tell me what happened to you?" Inuyasha asked the miko next to him. She looked confused.
"I already did, I fell off a cliff."
"No, the truth."
She sighed and finally gave in. "Fine, I was attacked." she didn't dare to look at him. She figured he'd get enraged by this and she was right. Inuyasha's hands turned into fists as he yelled, "Who did this?"
"It was…Naraku" she whispered. He heard the hated name and clenched his teeth. He whispered the name with pure hatred and anger in his voice.
'How dare he touch Kagome? Does he really think I will let him get away with this? Naraku better start saying his last words…'
Kagome saw flames forming in his eyes. She touched him gently on his arm, "I'm fine, Inuyasha. You should stop worried about what happened but what's going to happen. I might not recover in another few days and you must go back. Sango, Miroku and Shippo will start to get worried about me. And Hoshiko too."
He nodded halfhearted, "But I want to stay here with you, to make sure you are alright." A smile grew on her face and she kissed the hanyou on the cheek, very softly.
His blush became a dark colored crimson. He stared at Kagome and blinked continuously. He didn't understand her spontaneous actions.
"Thanks for caring so much, Inuyasha!" she beamed. He nodded again, too shocked from what had happened to even move.
Hoshiko, of course, was standing on the side of the wall of the shrine and was listening to every detail in their conversation. She made sure that she covered herself in dirt so that her scent would fade enough for her to be in hearing range. Hoshiko was scared by a boy who tapped her on her shoulder, "Hello."
"Oh, hello." she looked back at the couple, "Why are you spying on my sister?"
His voice sounded familiar, in an odd way. If it was any deeper then he'd resemble her uncle's voice. She looked back, "I'm Hoshiko." she moved her bangs out of her eyes, "I'm a hanyou and that's my father." she pointed at Inuyasha. His jaw dropped, it was quite predictable. Yet she loved boasting about her father and the fact that demon blood ran in her veins.
True, hanyous were teased on by having both human and demon blood. But she found it as a blessing to be both. Her father taught her that being a "half-breed" meaned she'd have to become stronger, mentally and physically. This she took very seriously and took much pride into it.
"Hoshiko! Go back into the house!" screamed Inuyasha, the little hanyou scampered inside without hesitating. If there was one thing she was afraid of, it was Inuyasha.