"Maa! InuYami's growling at me!" Tsugaru whined.

"Oh, I am not!" InuYami snarled. "You're just being a baby, that's all!"

"InuYami, stop frightening your brother," Kagome ordered. "Tsugaru, just walk away. She'll stop bothering you if you don't acknowledge her." She waited until the pair had stormed away sullenly before turning to InuYasha.

"Don't look at me like that, Kagome," the hanyou said simply, flicking Myouga off of his nose. "They're just as much your kids as they are mine."

"InuYasha," Kagome murmured, sitting beside him, "I'm worried about them. I know siblings don't get along well, but those two are impossible. I know InuYami is your pride and joy, but..."

"She's what I always wanted to be: a youkai. I've taught her all I know." InuYasha sighed. "She's bound to be unpredictable. She's all demon." He sighed again. "There is a difference between a half demon and a whole demon, Kagome. A big difference. Besides, Tsugaru isn't exactly a model hanyou."

"He's your son!" Kagome snapped, causing InuYasha to jump. The white-haired hanyou faced Kagome for the first time that whole conversation.

"I know. And InuYami is my daughter." He took Kagome's hands. "I know. And I'll have a talk with InuYami as soon as I can. Tomorrow, I promise."

Kagome gazed deep into his golden eyes. "All right..." She smiled and pulled InuYasha into a hug. InuYasha did not hesitate to show this human affection like he used to. He pulled her just as close. He was just about to let out a contented sigh when his white dog ears twitched. He whipped around.

"SHIPPOU!" he barked. "GET AWAY FROM THE WINDOW!"

"Aww...Aren't you two just the cutest!" the young fox demon cooed. InuYasha snarled and flung a shoe at him. Shippou ducked neatly under the projectile and invited himself into the house. He stood up. No longer was Shippou a tiny fluffball. He had grown in the past twenty years. He now stood lean and tall, his tail bushy and long.

"Out, Shippou!" InuYasha growled.

"Haven't you ever heard of a door?" Kagome asked angrily.

"Doors are for suckers," Shippou said. "Windows are better. Besides, I don't have to knock at a window." He grinned. "So, what's the problem? What can I do to help?"

"You can leave," InuYasha grumbled, grabbing a second shoe.

"Oh, come on. Tsugaru loves his Uncle Shippou. Maybe I could get him away from InuYami for a while. We could go play fetch or whatever it is he's into nowadays."

"Tsugaru hasn't played fetch ever since I told him it's dishonorable for a dog demon," InuYasha said stubbornly. He crossed his arms over his chest. "And perhaps we should give him the talk about what some people in Kagome's world do...You know, with foxes and hounds...?"

Shippou faltered. "You wouldn't..."

InuYasha leapt to his feet and started to chase Shippou. He pursued the young demon around the room, barking and snapping. Shippou shouted, Kagome lectured, InuYasha panted, playing the part of a foxhound. After the two had raced around the room somewhere in the realm of four times, Kagome had had enough. "SIT!" she cried.

"AACK!" InuYasha howled as he fell to the ground. Shippou continued running, and when the opportunity presented itself, jumped straight through the window without missing a step. InuYasha sat up dizzily. "What...?"

"Sorry," Kagome said, helping him to his feet. "It slipped out...I'm just so used to doing it...Even though I haven't done it in almost twenty years..."

InuYasha began shouting angrily at her. He was annoyed now. Kagome shouted back, and before long, a full-fledged argument had broken out. Raised voices and angry cries rang through the house.

Tsugaru yelped fearfully and ran to his only comfort: InuYami. He pounded his fist on her door, whimpering softly. InuYami answered it. The hostility had left her gold eyes, and had been replaced with concern. She opened the door wider for Tsugaru to enter. The hanyou scrambled into his sister's room.

Tsugaru was short for his age, six. He had pale brown eyes and long, black hair. His ears were human, unlike his hanyou father's. He wore a simple blue shirt and blue shorts. Tsugaru was only visible as being part demon by his long claws and habit of scratching his ear with his foot. He jumped onto InuYami's bed and buried himself under her covers.

InuYami sighed. She was a pure dog demon, with long, white hair and piercing golden eyes. She dressed very much like her father, wearing an almost identical red kimono. Like her father, she had white doggy ears. Her fingernails were long and sharp like Tsugaru's. Her name, Kagome said, was Japanese for Shadow Dog. She sat down on the bed and stroked the lump that was her brother.

"Stop crying, Tsuga," she murmured gently. "You know they love each other. They just have their rough spots. It happens to all married couples. Don't worry."

Tsugaru poked his head out of the covers. "But Mommy Sat Daddy!" he protested.

InuYami nodded. "Aye. I heard. But then she said she was sorry. Come on. Big Sister's here, Tsuga. You need a hug."

Tsugaru cuddled down into InuYami's arms. InuYami was barely older than he was; she was only nine. Already she had assumed the role of older sister, which can be synonymous with "supreme overlord." InuYami ran her claws through his long hair. "Stop crying...it's okay. It's okay." she murmured the phrase over and over again until Tsugaru's sobs calmed down to muted whimpers, and finally soft snores. She grinned. "I hope I'm not too much like Uncle Sesshoumaru," she muttered as she lay her brother back in his bed. "Dad says he could be hypnotic sometimes...Maybe I have some of his spirit."

InuYami padded down the stairs. She poked her head around the corner. She could see her parents lying side by side on the floor. Her father's long hair was flowing over his red outer robe while her mother stroked it gently. Then her mother's hands moved up and started to rub his ears gently. InuYami twitched her own ears. She knew how good that felt. Slowly, the youkai stepped into the room. "You guys okay?" she asked. "You scared the hell out of Tsugaru."

"Don't swear, InuYami," Kagome said. "And we're fine now."

InuYasha nodded. "Come over here, Yami," he said. "I need to have a talk with you. A sort of father-daughter thing." He glanced over at Kagome briefly.

InuYami nodded and curled up between her parents. InuYasha gently rubbed his daughter's ears. Kagome sat up and headed into the kitchen. "What's up dad?" InuYami asked. InuYasha sighed.

"It's about you and Tsugaru," he began. "There's something between you two, and your mother and I can't seem to fathom what it is. What's going on between you two? Is there something about Tsugaru that you can't stand?"

"He's just such a crybaby!" InuYami exploded. She drew her knees up closer against her chest and wrapped her arms around them tightly. "I can't do anything without him crying for Mom! Like today...I was trying to listen to the i-music thing Mom got me, and he comes over and starts jabbering in my ear...He knew I was trying to listen to my music! He knew! But he kept talking anyways!"

"InuYami, you need to understand that Tsugaru is still young. He's only six years old." InuYasha lowered his voice, and InuYami knew he was about to say something that he wasn't sure Kagome would approve of. "Shippou was like that when we found him. But he got better with time...somewhat. Just wait. Someday, you and Tsugaru will be best friends."

InuYami scoffed under her breath and flattened her ears. "Someday," she muttered. "But not today. Or tomorrow, likely. He's a stupid half demon."

"I'm a stupid half demon," InuYasha reminded her. InuYami dragged her claws through her long hair, making a face like a hungry infant. Curses...A slip of the tongue...

"Sorry...Dad," she whispered. InuYasha pulled her close.

"It's all right. Just remember, InuYami: there are some things that only a hanyou like Tsugaru or me can do." He looked up. "And one of those things is to love. Love is a mortal emotion, one which Sesshoumaru could not employ." He gazed back down at InuYami. "Just remember that."

"You mean I'll never love?" InuYami cried. Kagome glared at InuYasha over her shoulder. The hanyou rubbed his daughter's back soothingly.

"No...your mother is mortal. You have mortal emotions...You love your parents, don't you?" InuYami nodded. "And you love Shippou, don't you?" Another nod. "And Sango, Miroku, and Kilala?" She nodded again, but looked into her father's eyes.

"Well, Mr. Miroku can be a little weird sometimes," she admitted. "But I know I love Ms. Sango and Kilala."

"See?" InuYasha asked. "You do have mortal emotions. Just not mortal blood. You're a youkai, but you are also a hanyou." He sighed. "It's impossible to explain, really. I'm not even sure how it is. You're obviously a youkai...but at the same time a hanyou." He shrugged, utterly confused. InuYami's golden gaze was unfaltering.

Kagome entered the room, holding a tray out in front of her. "Some drinks for us," she declared. "Tsugaru's asleep?" InuYami nodded. "Then it's just us: you, me, and your father."

InuYami accepted the cup she was handed. She took a sip. Hot milk. Her eyes closed blissfully, and she leaned against her father's shoulder while she drank. Her parents spoke while she was dozing, and with her sharp sense of hearing, InuYami recorded every word for careful thinking-over when she was more alert.

She's beautiful. It was her mother speaking.

I know. And she's ours, Kagome. Her father's deeper voice sent soft vibrations through her body. It felt like distant thunder: natural and good.

But I can't help wondering, InuYasha...

What, Kagome?

You don't think she'll turn out like...him, do you?

Sesshoumaru? He's dead, Kagome. Long dead. I can feel his power receding from the earth. He will never rise again. You don't have to worry. InuYami is nothing like him. He was a jerk. I would know. He made most of my life miserable.

I know. But you don't think that perhaps some of his blood might be in InuYami, do you? I mean, just look at the scenario. A youkai older sibling. A hanyou younger sibling. The two never getting along.

There was a long pause from InuYasha. InuYami felt a slight shudder ripple his body, then his arms enfold her. She felt herself being lifted from the floor. There was silence all the way up the stairs, but her ears told her that both parents were present. InuYami felt herself come to rest in her bed and the covers pulled up around her. It was then that she heard her father speak.

We'll find out, Kagome, he said. We'll find out.

AN You know you liked it. R&R, 'kay? I need to know if you people want to keep reading this. God knows how many times I uploaded something and no one reviewed...