. : Muichi Motsu : .
: . By Akikazu . :
. : Chapter Nine : .
"Okaa-san I wanna come too," Shippo whined.
Kagome had been in the process of sneaking out of the Sesshomaru's palace when Shippo had caught her, only a yard or two from the kitchen door. The young kitsune bounced around her tugging on her sleeve and using every other trick that children use to get their parents to agree to them.
"Shippo, it's way too dangerous. You have to stay here."
Shippo pouted cutely and gave a firm tug to the sleeve of her haori. Kagome narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She was not going to crack under the pressure of her kit's cuteness, nope, she was immune to it.
"If you don't let me come I'm gonna tell Sesshomaru-sama," Shippo warned.
Blackmail however she would fall to.
"Fine."
Shippo grinned and jumped around in excitement.
"Yay! … Kaa-san where are we going?"
Kagome smacked her forehead in exasperation and slid the kitchen door open soundlessly. She looked around carefully before tiptoeing outside, Shippo following her closely.
She had been at the palace for a month but she had never been out of the palace without an escort, and never out side of the palace walls. She was going stir crazy, and she had almost no privacy. Someone was always with or coming for her. She didn't need to be pampered so much she was almost nearly heal, the wounds would only be able to kill a normal human at this point.
"Momma, I don't think we should be out here without a guard," Shippo announced fretfully as they made their way of the palace grounds through the servant's door, which was considerably smaller than the main and secondary gates.
Kagome stopped for a second to hug Shippo to her side, running a small hand through his dark auburn hair gently she looked directly into his worried eyes.
"It'll be fine Shippo-chan, I'll protect you no matter what."
Shippo frowned and wiggled out of her arms. Kagome let him lose with a shrug and continued walking.
"I'm more worried about you," Shippo whispered.
Kagome spun around joyously, they were out! There was an area of cleared land around the palace walls but beyond that there lay a vast forest.
"Isn't it wonderful Shippo? All this clean air and untamed land. There is nothing close to this in Ningenkai!" Kagome exclaimed gleefully.
Shippo took in a breath of clean air and perked up immensely, the air here was almost like that of the Sengoku Jidai. He ran after his adopted mother and joined her in her frolicking till the both fell to the grassy ground in exhaustion.
It took Kagome a lot of effort to get onto her hands and knees, and as soon as she did she launched herself at her kit, tickling him mercilessly. And he soon slipped away from her grasps and returned her ministrations, making her melt into a bundle of laughing humanity on the ground.
"I surrender Shippo! Onegai, stop I can't breath."
Shippo stopped wide eyes, as Kagome gasped for air, coughing up blood painfully. He rushed to her side hugging her larger frame tightly.
"Kaa-san, should I get Sesshomaru-sama? Kaa-san please tell me what to do," Shippo begged.
His hand was wet and Shippo pulled his hand off her back, it was soaked with blood.
"Kaa-san! I'm going to get Sesshomaru-sama, don't die okay!"
Shippo jumped to his feet and dashed off towards the servant's door. He had barely taken five steps when a small frame crashed into him, bringing him to the ground, covering him.
He struggled wildly and was about to call out in distress when he heard a hissing nearby.
"Little miko in the woodsssss, come out to be my feassst."
"Shippo be still," Kagome commanded from above him.
A scaly tail came between their bodies and lifted Kagome away from him. A large snake youkai that looked exactly like what it was. It held Kagome close to its face, or rather, close to it's two feet long fangs that dripped a yellow poison.
"The ssscent of your blood isss very powerful, miko."
"Shippo get back into the castle!" Kagome screamed.
Shippo scrambled to his feet and ran to the servant's door. He whimpered when he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground.
He gained access to the courtyard easily and ran into the palace. He ran through the palace looking frantically for the youkai his mother thought of as a brother.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" He cried at the top of his lungs.
The silver haired inu youkai appeared at the top of top the elegant staircase and glared down at the disturbance in his household, his eyes softened marginally when he identified his 'nephew'.
"Yes, kit?"
"Kaa-san and I went outside and now she's gonna get eaten by a giant snake!" Shippo shouted.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he was gone in a heartbeat.
"Kagome…"
He went out the kitchen door and took the palace wall in a single jump. As soon as he cleared the wall he could see them. The snake was hovering over his imouto's prone figure. He could smell the acidic tang of the snake's poison as it dripped from its fangs to Kagome's wrist, burning the skin it came into contact with. It must have been very painful but his brave little imouto only moaned quietly.
"Aniki."
Sesshomaru saw red.
His whip formed and was wrapped around the snake's mouth, snapping it close. The snake reared back, beady black eyes glaring at him.
"No one touches what belongs to this Sesshomaru."
The snake's eyes widened and Sesshomaru yanked on his whip, letting it rip the snake youkai apart.
Sesshomaru was soon by Kagome's sign, lifting her into his arms. She groaned and her eyes opened to look at him.
"I'm in trouble aren't I Aniki?"
Sesshomaru would have smiled if the situation had not been so dire. The impact of her actions hit him fully, Kagome would never be happy looked up, no matter how he pampered her, now matter how many gifts he piled onto her, she wanted to be free. She was a miko, a child of nature.
It was time he introduced his insurance.
It was time to bring Epsilon back.
: Kurama :
It had been a clam month, after the whole Sensui, Lord Sesshomaru incident the Makai had been tame, no escaped demons, and no supernatural incidents.
So now he was back in the Hijikata's classroom, it seemed like Hijikata was intent on immersing the class in legends, because here was listening in on another one.
"…Today class I'll be tell the legend of a youkai called Epsilon…"
: Koenma :
This was not good.
He really couldn't deal with this kind of stress.
However, adding another member to the Reikai Tantei, even if it wasn't permanent, was appealing.
The only problem was how the team would take it.
He would have to call the team in later.
Kami, he was dead.
. : End Chapter : .
: . Author's Note . :
Yes, a chapter! Long overdue, but you really shouldn't complain…
Shippo seemed a little wimpy in this chapter, but he's untrained so… I really didn't want to 'unleash' his powers on you guys yet.
Kagome was a little easy to beat up too, but she's injured and was providing a distraction. She's still drained from the binding of Epsilon, which did happen a month ago, any way she drain so she couldn't use her miko powers. Plus she's been locked inside, miko does equal child of nature in my book and she's been locked inside since she got there. Very little, if any, purity to be found in the Makai too.
So you get to learn about Epsilon next chapter, he also probably makes his return… Maybe… If you're lucky… And if I'm not lazy… Fat chance huh?
See ya
. : Review Responses : .
Shabopo – I'm glad it's different from all the other fics out there, it's what I've been trying for. Shippo was just nervous, hyper, and jumpy.
Peeka-chan –Illusions Youko could probably do being a thief and all, and I don't want anyone to be able to "teach" Shippo exactly what to do. I'm kinda anti-Inu Yasha…
Ryukotsusei – We can't have Kagome dying just yet, I have BIG plans for her.
LKLTB – 0.o … And I thought I'd get flamed for the Koenma deal.
SunStar Kitsune – And over and over…
: . Thanks to . :
chinadoll27
shadow miko