Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, but all others are my own .
Chapter 22:
Inuyasha swung the bat hard at the baseball. There was a crack as he connected, and the ball whizzed away into the clear blue sky, never to be seen again.
There was a collective groan when the other side realized that the half-demon had hit a homer.
"Hey, Tam!" yelled one wit. "Call the International Space Station and see if they'll send our ball back!"
Inuyasha began to lope around the bases and finally back to the home plate.
"Don't know why you bothered," groused the catcher. "You could have crawled."
Inuyasha grinned at him. Baseball was one of the few sports he understood. It wasn't that hard to hit the ball if you had decent hand-eye coordination, but it was difficult to hit it in just the right way to send it into orbit. And Inuyasha had enough power in his swing to do just that – well, not into orbit, precisely, but he'd already sent one ball into Lake Ontario somewhere between the docks and Centre Island. And it looked like this one might make it over to Scarborough.
"Okay – I guess that's the game, then," Tamisé said to his men. "I'll get some more balls on the way home tonight. In the meantime, somebody get the soccer ball, and we'll do that instead."
Tamisé believed that games were good training for his security forces. It encouraged teamwork, not to mention strength and speed, depending on the sport. The office workers were encouraged to join in with the rest, or at least to come out and cheer if they didn't want to play. Alaina oversaw the sports for the women. There were even sports that used both male and female team members, because Tamisé believed that was important too.
"We want Inuyasha as goalie!"
"Only if we can have Jon!"
Inuyasha grinned again. He enjoyed being goalie, since his speed and agility enabled him to stop almost any shot. Having Jon as the other goalie evened things up for both teams. This way, getting a goal depended more on cunning and skill than anything else.
The half-demon noticed that David would be on the opposing team. All right! If the gods were kind, he might get in a furtive shot at the creep. By accident, of course. Always by accident.
OoOoOo
"Hey, muttface!"
Inuyasha hunched his shoulders. That voice! That smell! It couldn't be – could it? He palmed the shuriken, then flung it out as he turned. Let Koga dodge that – the mangy wolf!
Koga, or rather the solidograph of Koga, dodged the shuriken easily.
"Well, I see they've taught the old dog some new tricks," Koga sneered. "But not good enough, dog breath!"
Inuyasha inwardly counted to ten. Koga's insults always got him steamed and more liable to make mistakes, which was exactly the effect the wolf demon wanted. But along with the more physical training, Kirsten had been teaching Inuyasha the psychology of fighting as well, and it was not so easy to get him riled any more.
He stood straighter and folded his arms. "What do you want, Koga? Kagome's not here."
"What have you done with my woman? She's alright, isn't she?"
"Keh. First of all, she's not your woman, you flea bag. Nor will she ever be your woman if I have anything to say about it. Secondly, she's fine. She's at school."
"School?"
"Yeah. And I have a tutor now too."
"Hasn't done ya any good that I can tell."
Inuyasha put his nose in the air. "Keh. Don't have anything to prove to you, mangy wolf."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Koga stood fuming slowly and regarded Inuyasha slyly. His insults were not having the desired effect of drawing Inuyasha into combat.
"You're… different somehow." Koga walked about Inuyasha in a circle, sniffing cautiously, blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I should hope so."
"Why won't you fight me? Are you afraid?"
"Please," Inuyasha sighed. "I've never been afraid of you. You're the least of my worries, quite frankly. If you want a fight, I'll show you what else I've been learning. Consider it a demonstration, if you will."
Koga backed off several steps and stared at him. "What else have you been learning, mutt?"
Inuyasha gave a lop-sided grin. "Ooo, interested, are we?"
He went over to the weapons rack and selected two quarterstaves. One he tossed to Koga, who caught it one-handed, staring at it uncertainly.
"Surely you know how to use a bo stick," Inuyasha jeered. "They call it a quarterstaff here, but it's essentially the same thing."
Inuyasha spun the staff to show the wolf demon he knew what he was doing, then went into a guard position. "You up for it?"
"Stakes?"
"Oh – how about loser licks the winner's feet?"
Koga laughed mirthlessly. "You're on…loser."
"Don't be too sure of yourself."
The demon and half-demon came together in a flurry, staves crashing against each other. Both were nearly equal in speed, although Koga had a slight advantage, being somewhat taller than Inuyasha. Both men had a great deal of physical strength as well, but Inuyasha had put on a fair amount of muscle. He had also spent a great deal of time with this particular weapon, recognizing its usefulness. It was also Tamisé's weapon of choice and one that Kirsten wielded to great effect.
Inuyasha had another advantage: he was fighting with a clear head and a great deal of strategy. Koga usually had the exact opposite effect on him, which diminished the half-demon's power considerably.
Within moments, Inuyasha had disarmed Koga and knocked him over the head with the quarterstaff, driving the wolf-demon to his knees.
"Start licking," he said with a grin.
OoOoOo
Tamisé and Jonathan had taken the families on an outing to the zoo. Inuyasha and Kagome had gone along as well. Inuyasha was not happy with the concept of shutting up wild animals and wasn't sure he'd like the place at all.
But where else was he going to see an ellie-fant? Kagome had told him about the beast, but he had doubts about its existence. It sounded just too weird to be real. And a jer-aff was another he'd like to see.
The group took a long path around to the see the kangaroos and other strange beasts, then wandered up another path to see the polar bears. Inuyasha had been suitably impressed so far. He enjoyed the polar bears, who had decided that it was time to frolic in the water instead of napping. They had a hard time convincing him that even greater delights awaited.
Oh yes! The seals! Inuyasha could have watched them all day. They were beautiful, graceful creatures, in the water at least, and possessed a fine sense of humour for animals. It was only the promise of seeing the giraffes and elephants that drew Inuyasha away from these fascinating animals.
The giraffe was all he could have asked for. A stranger animal he had never seen. He thought that they were pretty creatures with their golden coats and brown spots. In fact, all the African animals were interesting. He liked the zebras, but was told it would not be a good thing to try to ride one, no matter how much they looked like horses. The Hamadrayas baboons were fun to watch. They differed from the macaques he was used to, but had many of the same social characteristics.
And then – the elephants. Inuyasha's jaw dropped when he saw them, and he was impressed with their sheer size. They weren't pretty like the giraffes, but they had their own charm with their long, flexible trunks. However, the trunks reminded him uncomfortably of Naraku with his many tentacle-like appendages, so in the end, he was happy to leave them behind.
The group ate at the African restaurant and rested their feet for a while before going through the African pavilion. By this time, the children were getting a bit tired, even though they had been riding most of the way in a wagon that the men took turns pulling. So it was decided that the African pavilion would be the last stop before heading home.
The gorillas were both inside and outside that day. They watched the gorillas in their outdoor enclosure for a while, but the animals were not up to much besides sleeping. Inside, however, was a different story.
"And let's just move right along," Tamisé said with a grin when he saw what a couple of the gorillas were up to.
"I know what they're doing," Colin piped up. He used a word that caused Fawn to grow red in the face.
"Where'd you learn a word like that?" Tamisé demanded of his son, staring over his head at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha was frantically making 'not me!' gestures and looking rather embarrassed himself.
"But, Daddy, don't you and Mommy do that a lot?"
Out of the mouths of babes. Jonathan couldn't help it any more and began to laugh uproariously. Even Kirsten and Kagome were giggling.
Tamisé quirked an eyebrow upwards. "Fawn, we should start locking our door."
"No doubt," she said wryly. Fawn was definitely not amused.
The group began to move on, but Inuyasha sneaked another peak at the gorillas.
"Inu-YASHA," Kagome said, tugging on his arm. "Are you looking for pointers or something? Come on."
"From a monkey? Keh!" he replied, smiling down at the dark-haired girl, who blushed charmingly.
OoOoOo
Kagome watched indulgently as Inuyasha got Ryan strapped into his car seat. He was teasing and tickling the child into obeying him, allowing Ryan to pull the cap he was wearing down over his eyes. Inuyasha thrust his hands out in front of him and pretended to be blinded. Ryan screamed with laughter as the half-demon bumped his head against the roof of the car and pretended to be knocked out, slumping over the back seat.
She had never thought Inuyasha could be so good with children, especially since he was always coming down tough on Shippo. He let Colin and Ryan get away with many things he would never tolerate from the little fox-demon. He was unfailingly gentle with the boys and the baby at all times.
In fact, Breanna loved him so much, she had given him a name. Every time she saw him, she would hold out her pudgy arms to him and call "Ahdah! Ahdah!" until Inuyasha came over and picked her up. He had learned to change her diapers without too much fuss and loved giving the baby what Fawn called 'raspberry bellies'.
Fawn and Kirsten had even let him babysit the children with Kagome one evening when they had to go out and it had been Nanny Frances' weekend off. He was better than Kagome at giving the baby her bottle and settling the children down for bed.
Kagome loved watching him play with the baby, and it was only a small step from there to imagine what he'd be like with his own children. Inuyasha would be an involved father - there was no doubt of that. Her heart would sometimes clench within her as she thought of who the mother of his children might end up being. The thought that Kikyo might be that mother was becoming intolerable. But put herself in that place? Was that what she wanted?
OoOoOo
Inuyasha was channel flipping while Jonathan got them something to drink and some popcorn. The ladies had taken themselves off to bed an hour ago, but Inuyasha wasn't tired and neither was Jonathan, even though it was getting late.
An image caught his eye, and he stopped. His jaw dropped open. Good grief! They showed THAT on TV?
Jonathan came back with a bowl of popcorn and plunked it down on the coffee table.
"Jeez, son! I asked you to find a movie, but not THAT sort of movie. Can't you find the Space Channel?"
"What – what is that?"
"I'd think it'd be obvious," Jonathan said dryly.
"Do you watch those things?"
Jonathan shrugged. "I used to sometimes, but not so much any more. Here, hand over the remote."
Jonathan found the Space Channel and groaned. They were showing the first Terminator movie. Oh well, it was a good movie and if Inuyasha couldn't handle certain scenes, he would just have to leave the room.
But Inuyasha sat through the entire show and didn't move. He even applauded at the end when Sarah Connor terminated the Terminator.
When it became apparent that the Space Channel was running a double bill, and the next Terminator movie was going to come on, Inuyasha insisted on watching it as well. If he was disappointed that there were no naughty bits in the second movie, he never mentioned it, not that Jonathan would have cared. The mutant had fallen asleep about mid-way through the second movie, and Inuyasha had ended up carrying him upstairs to his bed.
The half-demon laid Jonathan carefully on the bed next to his wife, and stood regarding them for a moment. How stupid he had been to think any of those thoughts about Kirsten! These two belonged together, just like him and…Kagome.
Inuyasha left the room and went silently down the hall to Kagome's room. He stood in the doorway and looked in at her as she slept. He did not move for some time, and when he did, it was to go down the stairs and out the back door.
He burned with a heat that came from inside him, and now he was mature enough to understand what it meant. The gorillas earlier, the bits of that movie he had accidentally found - all of those images whirled inside his head until he felt quite dizzy. Inuyasha found the creek more by instinct than any sort of navigation. He stared down at the burbling water for an instant, then without further thought, shed the clothes he was wearing and stepped down into the cold water.
It was the middle of the night, and quite unlikely that anyone would be in the park, so Inuyasha had no fears of being disturbed. He let his hair cascade about his shoulders as he bent to dip water into his hands and sluice it over his warm skin. The water was not quite as clean as the streams back in his time, but clean enough to be used to cool him.
He sat down and let the water flow around him, and watched the long strands of his hair float about him. The moon was nearly full tonight, and the sky was crystal clear without a cloud in sight.
The half-demon smiled as a dog howled some distance away, a lonely, inconsolable cry.
"Likewise, brother," he murmured. Raising his head, he howled back an answer and was rewarded with a series of quick yips. He grinned to himself.
If the gods were kind, he would not be waiting much longer for his woman. Being patient was hard to bear, but he knew now that things would be that much sweeter when Kagome came to him of her own accord. Even still, it would be some time before he could claim her completely.
It had been a night much like this one when Inuyasha had been prowling the shrine grounds, unable to sleep. Kagome's mother had been similarly afflicted, and they had wandered the gardens together, speaking of nothing and everything. Inuyasha sometimes treated Mrs. Higurashi rudely, but it was only the pain he still felt at the loss of his own mother. For her part, she never treated him with anything but kindness, as if she understood completely why he was like that.
But on that night, the two of them seemed in perfect accord as they moved quietly along the paths. They had ended up speaking of Kagome, of course, and it was the first time that Inuyasha had begun to articulate his feelings for the girl.
Her mother had smiled gently and asked him to promise two things to her: first, that he would never push Kagome into anything she wasn't ready for and second, that he would accept whatever decision Kagome made about their relationship. Inuyasha had agreed readily; it was not in his nature to coerce a female no matter what. In exchange, Mrs. Higurashi promised Inuyasha that she would not stand in their way if Kagome chose to be with him. And furthermore, if matters had reached that stage, she would allow their betrothal when Kagome reached her next birthday.
Kagome's birthday was not far away now, just a matter of a few more weeks. He still had not given her the necklace he had bought, and thought to keep it for that day. It would be wonderful to give it to her as a betrothal gift, but he would have to wait and see how things fell out.
The thought of Kagome wearing the necklace and nothing else caused the half-demon to sink lower into the cold water. Good grief, but he had been getting licentious thoughts lately! He was becoming as bad as Miroku!
Suddenly, he leapt from the water and shook himself all over. Well, there was another cure for that. Inuyasha began the calming movements of the Tai Chi he'd been taught. But even that was not good enough. Some of the movements stretched themselves out and before he knew it, he was dancing under the nearly full moon to a music only he could hear.
His hair swirled out behind him and he laughed exultantly. He felt just on the edge of reaching… something, but he couldn't quite grasp it. He would not let it upset him – whatever it was would come to him in time.
Inuyasha could not know what kind of image he was presenting. Anyone who had seen the half-demon dancing under the moon would have thought they had come upon an elf or some otherworldly creature. They would have been enthralled by the near perfection of his body as he moved, long silver hair curling about him, concealing then revealing as the natural dancer inside took him over.
He danced until the sky began to lighten and the first birds carolled out their greetings to a new day. Suddenly, Inuyasha came to a halt. He had not meant to stay out all night, indeed, he had not even been aware of the passage of time. As the sun peeked over the horizon, Inuyasha did a Sun Salutation, feeling the cool wetness of the dew against his bare belly as he slid into the Cobra position.
It took some time to find where he had dropped his clothes. Inuyasha used his t-shirt to towel himself off and pulled on his pants. Just in time too: he could hear the first of the early-morning joggers coming along the path. This one had his dog with him.
The dog was not on a lead and had run ahead. The animal stopped when he saw Inuyasha standing motionless beside the creek. Then, he bounced over to make a greeting. Inuyasha patted the black-and-white head of the border collie and spoke quietly to the animal in a manner that the two of them understood very well. He sent the dog off just as his master came into sight.
"'Mornin'!" the jogger called out.
"A pleasant day to you," Inuyasha replied. He bowed before he disappeared into the trees, leaving the jogger to wonder if he'd seen anything at all.
Thanks for reading, everyone.
I used the following music as inspiration for Inuyasha's dancing. All songs are by Enya from her "A Day Without Rain" CD:
Wild Child
Flora's Secret
Lazy Days
