Chapter 14 – Family

Koga was running in the dark forest in search of something to give Inuyasha to eat. 'Hn, he's so tired, but he won't admit it. This will kill him some day, that's for sure' he thought. 'It must be because he's feeding that brat; his energy is concentrated for the survival of the baby… unless he has really weakened…'

He shook his head: "Nah, that's probably not it."

He smiled at how Inuyasha could be so competitive sometimes; the wolf hadn't come to fight him, just to deliver the message the mutt's friends had given him a while ago. He then remembered that he had to tell Inuyasha that information before he continues his journey.

While jogging, he caught the scent of a boar running in the woods; the perfect dinner to fill an empty stomach. He laughed; actually, he wasn't really hungry. He lied to Inuyasha because he knew the dog wouldn't pass over his ego if Koga had told him that he was going to hunt for the mutt. Thus, the wolf would have never won the argument. 'Koga: 1 and Inuyasha: 0!'

Returning his thoughts to the wild pig, Koga approached the animal, jumped in the air and with one punch he killed the small boar, that wasn't that much little. 'That ought to do it' he thought. He only used a punch since he didn't want to completely destroy the animal to be able to eat it. He put it on his shoulder and started to walk toward the small camp to get back to Inuyasha and Takato. He shook his arm in the air: "Another victory for the great Koga!" he said, to no one in specific.

°°°

Meanwhile, at the camp, Inuyasha was staring at the fire he just made, almost hypnotically. He was thinking about earlier: why did Koga insist on going hunting? Inuyasha was sure that the wolf only wanted to show off again how powerful he was. 'Unless he wanted to be nice… Koga, nice?'

He shook his head:"Nah, that's probably not it."

'He must have fallen on his head.' Inuyasha chuckled. 'And why acting so strangely when he thought that I was pregnant? Feh, I'll probably never know the answer…'

At that moment, the wolf demon arrived at the camp. He looked at Inuyasha; it was somehow strange, but also almost normal to see him feed the baby; he smiled and felt happy that Takato had such a caring uncle. Koga realized something though: Inuyasha looked like he was in trance or something, because he hadn't notice that the wolf demon was back. He thought that maybe the mutt had detected him, but he didn't want to let it show. So he decided to start dinner by stripping the boar from it's fur.

Inuyasha realized Koga had already came back only when he smelt dinner that was cooking over the fire and that was almost ready.

The dog looked at the wolf that was facing the fire, his back turned to Inuyasha. "Huh, well…ahem" Inuyasha said, a bit shy.

Koga noticed that Inuyasha was talking to him, so he turned to face him: "Yes, Inuyasha?" he smiled.

Inuyasha thought he was dreaming when he saw Koga smile at him, but he decided to shrug it off. "Well thanks for bringing food. I-," the half-demon looked at the ground, a bit embarrassed, "you were right."

Koga, a bit lost asked: "About what, mutt?"

Inuyasha glared at the wolf for calling him 'mutt'. He took a deep breath: "About the whole thing of being too tired… You were right: I wouldn't have had the strength to go hunting and with Takato and all…"

Koga understood that Inuyasha's confession surely took all his courage to admit that. "It's okay Inuyasha, you know, I'd do anything for a friend in need." The wolf looked directly at Inuyasha in the eyes. "I have so little of them; I don't wanna lose 'em" he scoffed.

Koga didn't wait for a reply from the dog and looked at the boar, changing the subject: "Good, it's ready." He took a big chunk of it and held it to Inuyasha. The said half-demon started to drool at the sweet odour and kept staring at it.

"You can eat it, ya know," Koga said, "but be careful, it's very hot."

Inuyasha took it carefully and tried to eat, but the baby was still attached to him. Takato was finishing his own meal when Inuyasha looked at Koga and said: "Huh, Koga, can I ask you to please hold Takato while I eat… I need my two hands" he asked, a bit shy.

Koga, a bit surprised that Inuyasha asked him that, he answers: "Huh, okay. I mean… you sure? I've never held a pup that young before. Adult demons are strong, but demon babies are as weak as human ones."

Inuyasha smiled. "Don't worry," he put the chunk of meat between his teeth to lend carefully the baby to Koga, "you just have to support its head with your arm" he said the best he could, with the meat in his mouth. The hanyou placed the baby correctly in the wolf's arms. "Like this is okay. See? It's not that hard."

While Inuyasha was putting the baby in Koga's arms, the half-demon was leaning forward and the prince noticed that Inuyasha's shirt was still wide open; his curiosity took over the youkai, and while not being especially into males, he peeked inside. Inuyasha's chest was well muscled and a bit of milk was still on it from the feeding. Koga shook his head, chasing the naughty pictures in his head.

"Is everything okay, Koga?" Inuyasha asked, a bit confused about the demon's action.

The wolf could feel his cheek burn, as he answered: "Yeah, everything's fine." To change the subject, he asked: "Is it normal that the brat is that warm? I mean, it feels like he's burning up."

"Yes, it's normal, Koga. Babies always need to be this warm or else they could get sick, even demon ones."

"Oh" the wolf demon simply answered.

Inuyasha sat back and replaced his shirt from the feeding. The other demon sighed inwardly; no more dirty pictures in his mind.

Inuyasha started to eat, still looking at the demon.

Koga didn't move because he was afraid the baby would break. The hanyou saw Koga's uneasiness and chuckled: "You know wolf prince, babies are weak, but they don't break that easily."

The prince wolf laughed nervously: "Just taking precautions…"

Takato was now looking at that stranger that his uncle had given him to. Koga looked at the kid: "Hi there. My name's Koga, I'm a full fledge wolf demon. One day, you'll surely be as powerful as I am!" he said proudly.

The baby didn't seem to be listening; the wriggling thing behind Koga was much more entertaining. Inuyasha noticed it, so he swallowed his bite of food and said: "You know Koga, it seems that in Takato's opinion, your tail is way more fascinating than what you're saying."

Koga looked down; he smiled and approached his tail about a foot from the baby's grasp.

"You know wolf, I wouldn't even think about doing that if you want to keep your fur intact." Inuyasha took another bite.

Koga turned his head toward Inuyasha: "Huh? What are you talking about?" At that moment, he unintentionally brought his tail into Takato's reach. The baby giggled and caught a large portion of Koga's furry tail and tugged.

Koga yelped at the not-so-nice feeling. "Yeouch! Damn, that hurts! Let it go!" But Takato didn't want to let it go. Koga was starting to get agitated. "Let it go! Let it go!" He was swaying his tail from side to side fiercely.

Inuyasha dropped the piece of meat he was eating on the ground to help Koga.

"Koga! Calm down, you'll hurt him!" Inuyasha tried to hold Koga down.

"Argh it hurts! Can't-" Koga said with tears in his eyes, as the precious fur on his tail was being striped, small chunks at a time.

Inuyasha took carefully Takato's small hand and opened the little fist, finally slackening Takato's grip on the tail.

Koga sighed; the pain had finally subsided. He made sure his tail was staying as far as possible from the baby's grip, as long as he would be in his arms.

"Now Takato, you're a bad boy. Don't do that again! Okay?" Inuyasha said sternly, looking at the baby in the eyes. The baby looked at his uncle and, his lower lip trembling, and started to cry.

"Aww come on Inuyasha, he's just a kid. Don't be so hard." Koga said, comforting the baby by rocking back and forth, like Inuyasha had done earlier. That ended calming Takato and the crying slowly stopped.

"See Koga, you're getting the hang of it," Inuyasha smiled. "You'll see one day, you'll make a great parent."

"Yeah, I don't have the choice since I must produce an heir to give the example to my pack. With Naraku and his love for destruction, my pack is reducing way too fast" the wolf said sadly.

A silence installed itself and Inuyasha had finally finished eating. "Hey aren't you hungry?"

Koga looked at him: "No."

"Then why did you told me you were going to hunt and said that you were hungry?"

Koga chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, you were so preoccupied with Takato and you seemed so tired, I told myself that if I would have told you the truth, you would have never let me go."

Inuyasha frowned. "Hey you lied to me? That's not nice, you're not giving the good example to the kid, ya know?" he laughed, changing his mood.

Koga became serious: "Listen Inuyasha. I did it for your best; what if a demon had attacked you and caught you off guard while you were running? You certainly wouldn't have been able to save you or the kid. What would Chikara had said if you came back to her with her…" he hesitated to say it: "…dead child? Huh?"

Inuyasha gulped; he didn't think about that one. He had forgotten about Takato; in his mind, the baby was strong, just like him.

Koga sighed.

Inuyasha looked away: "I'm sorry Koga."

The wolf smiled: "Don't worry about it."

The night was becoming cooler. Inuyasha looked at Takato, who was still in the demon prince's arms. "Ya know Koga, I'm finished eating. I can take back Takato now; besides, it's getting chilly and I should cover him up."

Koga, who had been sitting in front of Inuyasha, passed around the dying fire to give the sleeping child. Afterward, he put more wood on the fire so it would keep them warm in the cold night.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had carefully enveloped Takato in his thick blanket and reattached him to his front. Koga who was staring asked with a concerned voice: "Why are you putting that belt on again, you don't intend to continue the road, don't you?"

"No, don't worry; it's just that since we're outside, I don't want him waking up in the middle of the night and start crawling away, that's all."

"Oh, okay." Finished with reviving the fire, instead of going to sit at the opposite of Inuyasha, he sat at about four feet beside him. That way they could talk and not fear to wake the little one.

A silence installed itself between the two demons. Koga was the first to speak: "So, um, Inuyasha…"

"Yeah?" Inuyasha answered, already getting a bit dozy.

Koga sat legs crossed and put his elbow on his knee, supporting his head nonchalantly. "Do you want to get a mate and have a family?"

Inuyasha, confused, asked: "You mean, right now?" He looked at the sky.

"No, I'm just asking if you want one or not."

"Oh, well, certainly not right now; with Naraku, you can never know his next attack. But after… sure, I mean, I'd be glad to have kids. The problem is the mate" he said, with a sad tone.

"But why? I mean, you pick a girl, wham-bam and viola, you have a kid on the way" Koga casually answered.

Inuyasha was a bit shocked at Koga's immature answer and blushed. "Damn Koga, it's not like this! I'm not a certain demon wolf prince with every girl at my feet, ya know."

Koga scoffed: "Come on Inuyasha, don't tell me with your good looks there's not even one woman that was interested in you… besides Kagome of course."

Inuyasha didn't answer; he tilted his head forward, his bangs covering his eyes. "Nobody wants a half-demon as a mate; humans hate me and full demons laugh at me. Sometimes, I feel so lonely, even with my friends."

The wind blew strongly in the trees' branches, just like Inuyasha's feelings at the moment. With the end of summer coming and being outside, it was much cooler than inside the castle.

Inuyasha shivered: "Is it just me or it's cold out here?"

Koga blinked, he didn't feel a change in the temperature. "Nope, I think it's you. I'm okay." He glanced at Inuyasha: "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should come closer to the fire."

"Must be because of the fatigue, that's all." Inuyasha scooted closer to the fire; but still, he felt a bit cold. He held his arms close to his chest to try to warm himself. "But it's strange, I never felt cold like that. I just hope that Takato won't feel it; I don't have anything else to cover him with…" he said, putting a hand on the belt with Takato underneath.

Koga looked at Inuyasha; he got up and sat beside the half-demon, closely at his left.

"What- Koga?" Inuyasha stuttered.

"Isn't it obvious? I mean, you said you were cold" the wolf simply stated.

Inuyasha didn't feel comfortable being right beside Koga and that close to him. "Yeah, but I said I was cold, not in hypothermia" Inuyasha said sarcastically.

"Aww come on mutt, don't be so shy, I just sat beside you, I didn't kiss you."

"Don't call me mutt… and WHAT!"

Koga frowned and harshly whispered: "Shush! do you want to wake the baby? Hey, it was just a joke, ya know…"

Inuyasha groaned in response. He thought for a second; why Koga was acting so strange again? What did he want? Inuyasha had to ask. "Koga, what do you want?" he said bluntly.

"Huh?" was the confused answer from the wolf.

"Don't 'huh' me. You know; since you arrived, you've been playing mister nice-guy. What do you want in exchange… Kagome!"

Koga was surprised and a bit hurt to see that Inuyasha thought that he was faking his concern. "What! You mean you think I want something else?" the wolf said, annoyed. "The day I'll want something, I'm gonna ask directly. I'm not the kind to hide what I want, Inuyasha. I thought you knew that."

Inuyasha looked at Koga, remorse written all over his face answered: "I'm sorry Koga, I shouldn't have accused you in the first place." Inuyasha took a breath. "It's just that I thought you were acting a bit weird, that's all… Can we change the subject?" he said sleepily.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

No answer.

"Inuyasha?"

No answer. He looked at the dog demon that actually had already fallen asleep. 'Oh well, looks like I have no other choices than to talk alone.' He chuckled. 'Sleep well Inuyasha. Don't worry, I'll protect you two.'

He was yanked out of his thoughts when he felt a weight on his left shoulder; Inuyasha was leaning against him. Koga hesitated, but then decided to pass an arm around the hanyou's shoulders to hold him, making sure he wouldn't fall during his sleep.

°°°

After a few hours, Inuyasha had moved again and now he was sleeping on his side, his head on Koga's lap. The wolf himself was starting to get sleepy; he looked one more time at Inuyasha to see if everything's okay. He saw that the mutt had a protective hand on the baby; he smiled and then he leaned backward to lie on his back. He looked at the stars in the sky and slowly his eyelids shut to sleep in a peaceful sleep, still staying alert, just in case an attack would happen.


- makes a small dance - Woot! I just love you guy (well... those who reviewed :P ) Anyways, I just love my story Okay, I have the intention to post chap 15 (which, again, is already written) The only chapter that isn't done yet is chap 16, so yeah, I'd better get to writting. Reviews are always welcomed!