Author's Notes: Thanks to skiff of haven for the tongue twister idea! (sorry it's a bit belated!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any nursery rhymes.
The Mother Goose Escapades
No. 46
She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So, if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
It was a normal day, normal like any other day. Kagome was in feudal Japan, currently facing a large demon with the possibility of horrific defeat. The hanyou bounded to her defense, as usual, and she fought with everything she'd learned in her experiences.
Something was off about this demon.
It was indeed a strong demon, stronger than most. Actually, it gave all appearances of being sent by Naraku – it was huge and stomped around and mucked things up, all the while being invincible to the attacks thrown at it. But all of that was normal. It was the look in the demon's eye that was not normal.
The demon looked intelligent.
This was highly worrisome. It was one thing to butcher a mindless minion, or a creature bent on taking over Japan, the world, the universe. It seemed quite another to take down a beast that should have known better. And after a few moments of the battle going on a little longer with nothing particularly exciting happening, save Kagome's skirt catching on fire (Miroku very generously put it out for her), the demon simply sat down.
In a huff, actually.
It also created a rather large crater, and a good amount of shaking of the ground. From her current position of upside down, Kagome frowned at the demon.
"What's the big idea?" Inuyasha yelled.
"Stereotypical sparring stimulates sweat." The demon's voice was surprisingly refined. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Miroku's eyes widen and Sango's jaw drop.
"What the hell are you talking about?" The hanyou snapped, his irritation very apparent. "Stereo what now causing what?"
"Stereotypical sparring stimulates sweat," the demon repeated, crossing it's forelegs. It then went on to say the phrase several times in a row, quite accurately. Then it smirked at Inuyasha. "Say that ten times fast."
"Huh?" Inuyasha was truly baffled now, but refused to back down. "Stereotypical sparring stimulates sweat, Stereotypical stparring simulates sweet, Steratypical stparring stimulates sweat...wait, shit, no, I mean..."
"You lose," the demon announced, and shifted it's gaze. It blinked at Sango, ignoring Inuyasha's howls of protest.
"Me?" Sango practically squeaked.
"Huffy halfbreeds hop high." Once again, the demon repeated the phrase swiftly and accurately. Then it glared at Sango. "Ten times fast," it demanded.
"Um..." with a nervous glance at Inuyasha, Sango began. "Huffy halfbreeds hop high, huffy halfbreeds hop high, huppy halfreeds hop high, huppy halffbreeds hop hiff, er..."
"You lose as well." The demon looked pleased, almost joyful as it cocked it's head towards Miroku. "Lovely ladies launch libido." As expected, the phrase was fast and correct, but a blushing Miroku looked at a glaring Sango. "Ten times fast," the demon reminded.
"Ah, hah hah, lovely ladies launch libido, lovely lavies launch libido, lovely lavies launch linido, luvely landies launch libidu, luvely lavies launch linido –"
"Enough!" demanded the demon. "You have lost!" Kagome, who had still been sitting on the ground at this point, watching her friends as they expressed anger, frustration, embarrassment, and a whole host of other emotions due to the strain of the tongue twisters. She smirked sadistically – this entire thing would come to an end.
"Hey, demon!" she shouted as she scrambled to stand up. It shifted right, looking her straight in the eyes. Refusing to shudder, Kagome squared her shoulders and spoke with precision.
"Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat." For a moment she paused, breathless, then looked triumphantly at the demon. "Say that ten times fast!" she challenged.
"Pish posh, child's play," the demon mocked. It cleared it's throat and paused, grinning evilly at the group. Then – "Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boyt, toy boyt, toy boyt, toy boyt, I mean toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boyt, toy boyt, toy boyt, no no, toy boat, toy boyt, toy boyt, no toy boyt, eeeeerrrrrrrrraaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!"
And then the demon exploded in an exciting mass of fiery show, leaving no remnants behind.
Actually, there was one part left. As the group cautiously crept towards the crater the demon had been sitting in, Shippou suddenly squealed in squeamish delight. Writhing about on the ground was all that was left of the demon – a long red tongue with several knots in it.
"So it really can happen," Kagome said, awed. "The top tongue twister totally ties tangles in tongues."
"How did you know it would work?" Sango asked, impressed.
"I didn't," Kagome shrugged. "I've never even done the toy boat one correctly before. Maybe it was the miko powers!"
"Feh," Inuyasha snarled. "Fortunately finishing fiendish foes by dumb luck."
"Well, you couldn't do it," Kagome pointed out. Inuyasha glared at her.
"Well, now, what should we do with this little part left?" Miroku quickly tried to stop another battle before it started. He acknowledged the tongue with a tap of his toe.
"Better destroy it," Sango recommended. Inuyasha did so, mostly to prove his usefulness to everyone, or at least, himself. Kagome giggled.
"What's so funny?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Oh nothing, just thinking of this other one I heard once..."
"Tell us!" Shippou exclaimed.
"It's kind of a riddle too," Kagome grinned. "It starts off with, Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear..."
And the group continued on its way once again.
--
In another place, a demon was cursing two particular words rather unsuccessfully. (Mostly because it still couldn't say them ten times fast...)
Author's Notes: Ahahahaha, boy was this one fun to write! I really think I was just throwing in as many actual tongue twisters (and my own made up ones) as much as possible! So much amusement, hehe! I certainly hoped y'all enjoyed it as well! But on a more somber note: 46 here, 4 left...