I actually believe Shippou would do that. Think about it, he's a selfish, spoiled brat who knew there would be no consequences for anything he could possibly do. Why shouldn't he indulge every whim, no matter how cruel? To me, he's basically a Sesshomaru in training.

Dinner, Dreams, And The New Moon

Shippou was astonished. Had Inuyasha's evil spell gotten to everyone?

He told Keade of the foolish thing Kagome had done, freeing Inuyasha, but the old miko actually approved! She said that if Kagome thought Inuyasha no longer needed the beads, then she trusted her judgment. And no matter how hard Shippou tried to convince her, she wouldn't put them back on!

Shippou then told Sango and Miroku of the terrible injustice perpetrated on him, and to his shock they agreed with Kagome!

"Well it sounds to me like you got what you deserved. You know how painful it is to lose a parent and how Inuyasha feels about his mother." Miroku said.

"If it had been me you wouldn't sit down for a week." Sango added.

"It wasn't fair! I didn't do anything! It's all Inuyasha's fault!" He whined.

"Shippou, part of growing up is accepting responsibility for your own actions." Sango continued. "It's your fault if you do something bad, nobody else's. And the sooner you learn that the better."

Shippou huffed and walked away. Well fine. If nobody would help him, he would do what had to be done by himself.

Scene Change

"...because I know I can trust him and it was cruel to have them on for so long. I knew, when he was facing certain death time after time to protect me, that I didn't need them. But I kept them on because it made me feel powerful. I didn't have to act like an adult or face any of my own problems, I could just blame him. I was like a little kid throwing a tantrum whenever the world didn't change to suit me. But now I want to grow up, be responsible, and treat Inuyasha the way he deserves to be treated."

When Kagome finished telling her family what had happened and how she had freed Inuyasha from the rosary, reactions were mostly positive. Mrs. Higurashi told her how proud of her she was and Souta taught Inuyasha how to give a hi-five in celebration. Only Grandpa seemed a little nervous, deciding to make some wards of his own just in case.

Souta led Inuyasha to his room to try and teach him how to play video games while Kagome helped her mother make dinner. The only incident was when the sun set and Inuyasha became human. It scared Souta quite a bit, requiring a hasty explanation from Kagome.

Scene Change

As everyone else talked over their dinner, Kagome ate in contemplative silence. The dream had done more then show her the way she had treated Inuyasha and how he felt. It had caused her to start watching how he interacted with other people, and she finally saw the answers to things she had wondered about for a long time. Like why when her mother asked Inuyasha to do something, he did it. It was because she asked instead of commanded, and after it was done she thanked him. Or why Inuyasha seemed more at ease with and forgiving of Souta then he was of Shippou. Souta genuinely wanted to be Inuyasha's friend. He looked up to the hanyou for his strength and bravery, and Inuyasha in turn enjoyed the innocent affection and hero worship from Kagome's younger brother.

All of this new insight made her realize a few things, things that should have been obvious before her dream. For one thing, Inuyasha didn't respond well to force. If he was forced to do something it only made him resist more. Kindness, on the other hand, often worked with him. If she just asked him nicely instead of screaming or sitting him he would probably do what she wanted him to do.

Another thing she noticed, Inuyasha hated unequal treatment. He wanted to be treated like an equal, which was another reason he responded so well to her mother and brother. They treated him like a member of the family. If Kagome treated him like she did Sango or Miroku, as an equal, he responded much better to her.

Part of treating him as an equal was acknowledging that Inuyasha was a sentient being with thoughts and feelings of his own. She couldn't just issue a command and expect instant obedience from Inuyasha as if he were a dog. And she needed to remember that he wasn't from her time. She couldn't expect him to react to a given situation as a modern man would.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha said.

Kagome shook her head as she snapped out of her contemplative state. "I'm sorry, what now?"

"Tell them how you punished Shippou."

"Shippou...the little fox boy right?" Her mother asked.

"That's him." Kagome said. "This morning he played a very cruel joke on Inuyasha. He used his shape-shifting to turn into a deformed version of Inuyasha's mother and taunt him about her death."

"What a horrible thing to do!" Her mother exclaimed. "What happened?"

Kagome's gaze lowered. "I spanked him."

The kitchen fell into complete silence except for Inuyasha's chewing. "Spanked him?"

"I was just so angry that he tried to hurt Inuyasha like that. He's lost his parents too so he knows how painful it feels. I wanted to make sure he never did anything like that again. Even though I think he deserved it, I still feel bad."

Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "Kagome, you know my feelings on physical punishment, but from what you tell me in this case it was justified."

Kagome smiled. "Thanks Mamma."

After dinner was over Kagome and Souta cleared the table. Then Inuyasha approached Kagome.

"I didn't know you felt bad about punishing Shippou. If I had I wouldn't have brought it up. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kagome suddenly looked up. "Inuyasha, you just apologized to me."

"Well, I figured that since you've taken the beads off and decided to be nicer to me, I should treat you better too. That's why I said a lot of the things I said before, I hated being controlled so much. Now that you don't have power over me, I don't have anything to be mad about. And you stood up for me this morning. Nobody has ever taken my side before." He said.

Kagome nodded. "Lets make a deal. From now on, we'll both try hard to not say or do things we know are hurtful to each other and treat one another with respect. We should also try to be more open and tell each other how we feel. Okay Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha smiled. "Deal." He blinked as Kagome wrapped her arms around him, then relaxed.

Scene Change

Crying.

Kagome opened her eyes and sleepily tried to rub Shippou's back, thinking he was having a nightmare, before she remembered when and where she was. She sat up in her bed and looked for the source of the sounds, her eyes resting on the sleeping bag she used in the feudal era. She had laid it out on the floor for Inuyasha after he and her mother told her he would not be sharing her bed (Though Mrs. Higurashi trusted Inuyasha not to try anything, he was still a boy. Only when Kagome reminded her that Inuyasha often slept next to her in the feudal era did she relent and allow them to sleep in the same room). Inuyasha lay on it, curled up into a ball and whimpering softly in his sleep.

Kagome got out of bed and sat down on the sleeping bag. Reaching out a hand she started to stroke his back.

"Inuyasha," she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Inuyasha wake up. You're having a nightmare."

Inuyasha opened his eyes and quickly tried to rub away his tears as he sat up. "Kagome...what is it?"

"You were crying in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?" She asked.

"Nothing. And I wasn't crying." He said and turned his head away from her so she wouldn't see fresh tears falling.

"Inuyasha, it's okay." Kagome reached around him and turned his head back towards her. "Now, what was it?"

Inuyasha's lip quivered slightly. "My mother." He offered no resistance as Kagome pressed his face gently against her shoulder. He started to speak again, occasionally interrupted by sobs.

"One day a wandering monk came to the castle where we lived. When he found out about me he told the other people that lived there that they were risking their souls by letting me live. They had always hated me and my mother and were just looking for an excuse to get rid of us. That night they broke into our room and dragged us outside. I tried to fight them, but I was too small. The monk gave a speech about how noble it was of them to cleanse the taint I represented. He told them to make sure we suffered, the half-breed and his demon's whore mother. They threw us in the river with heavy stones tied around our ankles. I got free and tried to get her free, but by the time I did it was too late. I'll always remember that blank and bloated look on her face as I buried her. It looked exactly like Shippou's copy this morning!"

Kagome rubbed his back, tears gathering in her eyes. "Inuyasha, it wasn't your fault. It was the fault of that monk and those terrible people. There was nothing you could have done." It scared her to see Inuyasha like this, in pain and so vulnerable. He had always been the strong one. But now that he needed her she wasn't going to let him down.

Inuyasha cried himself back to sleep in Kagome's arms. Then she laid him back down and zipped the sleeping bag up to his neck. She knew that in the morning he would probably deny all of it, but she would know the truth and would be there in case he needed a shoulder to cry on again.

Scene Change

Shippou's tail twitched as he searched through the bushes near Kaede's hut. Where could it be? He was about to try searching inside the hut again when he saw what he had been looking for; the rosary.

Shippou smiled wickedly. So Inuyasha thought he could use some kind of spell to steal Shippou's status as Kagome's favorite did he? Well, he would just see about that!

To Be Continued.

Couldn't happen you say? Well, remember that Inuyasha is more open with his feelings while in human form.