A/N: It's a crackfic. Just so you know.
Last couple of days were rather... eventful, so I didn't do much writing (but I read some HTTYD books)
On His Shoulders
Mrs. Higurashi was standing in the corridor of her house in total darkness. Only the light from the open kitchen door was breaking the darkness. The middle-aged woman had a perfect view inside the kitchen from her spot just beside the stairs.
And it was a quite entertaining view, at least to the woman.
An inu hanyou in bright red kimono, his back facing the corridor, stood beside the counter. He had his clawed hands rested on the top of the counter, claws scratching the wooden surface lightly as he tapped his fingers on it. His white waterfall of hair was swaying as he was moving his head from the one side to the other. His ears were moving too: swiveling around, twitching, laying flat just to perk up the next moment. He looked agitated, deep in thought. It would be fun to just watch the hanyou's body language as he stood in front of a bowl of chocolate cookies standing on top of the counter, but Mrs. Higurashi was more focused on something else. Something even more extraordinary than a hanyou protector of her sister standing in her kitchen in the middle of the night.
Everyone could see a youkai or a hanyou. Sometimes they were shielding themselves from the sight of regular humans and it took to have reiki to see them. But only exceptionally skilled and gifted mikos could master seeing something more odd, more eerie than the youki-wielding beings - the spirits of those beings.
And right now Mrs. Higurashi, miko of great lineage, was observing the two little figures sitting on Inuyasha's shoulders.
On his left shoulder sat a ten centimeters tall miniature of his human self. He had his tiny arms crossed and hidden in his sleeves, glaring at the occupant of Inuyasha's right shoulder - the miniature youkai self of the hanyou was standing there, his hands on his obi. Silently, Mrs. Higurashi mused that it made sense for the spirits to appear that way and in their spots. It was obvious that within the boy his human and youkai selves were warring, balancing each other. The human spirit was on his left side, closest to Inuyasha's loving heart, while the youkai spirit was on his right side, because Inuyasha was right-handed and more often channeled his youki through his right shoulder to fight, to protect those he loved. One, who knew the boy would be surprised to learn that the spirits were actually not arguing often,
But now, the spirits were arguing. Sort of. In their own way.
"I can eat one or two," said the human. He wasn't referring to Inuyasha as 'we' or 'you', indicating that the boy didn't divide himself to human and youkai in his mind. It was a good sign, thought Mrs. Higurashi. Having two or more spirits wasn't unusual, but dividing one's own mind wouldn't be goo. The spirits on Inuyasha's shoulders weren't two different personalities of the hanyou boy, they were more like two sides of the same coin. "No one will notice."
"Feh, knowing my luck someone will notice and then Kagome will sit me for stealing food," barked the youkai spirit, flashing his red eyes at the human spirit. Inuyasha's ears lowered. Mrs. Higurashi reminded herself that she had to talk to her daughter about overusing the beads.
"They have plenty of food, two cookies won't make a difference. And I so rarely have a chance to get something sweet," complained the human.
"Taking what isn't mine is stealing," growled the youkai sternly, even if his eyes were drifting to the tempting bowl of sweets in front of the hanyou. Then he answered the rest of his human companion statement "It's because Kagome brings all her sweets for Shippou," the youkai shrugged and sat down to assume the same position as the human was currently in. "The kid's going to be addicted to sugar in no time."
"Keh, I tried to warn her that kids in my time get less sugar than in this crazy era and it's not healthy," mumbled the human. "On the other hand, I've never got much sugar when I was a kid, growing up in a forest and stuff."
"And it was for the better," youkai said proudly. "This way I grew strong and don't depend on others."
"Yeah, right," human glared at his companion. "I depend on my pack, my friends. They're my rag-tag family. And family members can help themselves to a cookie or two when they're hungry at night."
"Keh!" Mrs. Higurashi grinned when she saw the youkai spirit glancing at the bowl of cookies in front of Inuyasha. The hanyou's eyes were plastered on it all the time.
"Kagome wouldn't like me to starve," the human said, trying to make the youkai see things his way. "Even if she doesn't know how many times I went to sleep hungry before."
"No food is a good punishment for a clumsy hunt," growled the youkai spirit and Inuyasha nodded his head firmly. "It makes you try harder the next time.I would never learn how to fend for myself if someone handed me everything."
A soft silence fell in the kitchen as the hanyou looked at the bowl of cookies longingly. Both his spirits were looking at it too, with a mixture of hunger and contemplation on their tiny faces.
"I guess i could wake Kagome up and ask her, but I can easily foresee myself kissing the carpet if I do that," the human said in a thoughtful tone.
"Better not," said the both spirits at the same time. Mrs. Higurashi almost burst into giggling when she heard that. It seemed that Inuyasha really didn't like the rosary. She wasn't surprised, with the command word being osuwari and the effect it had on him...
The woman decided to spare Inuyasha the internal struggle of if he should eat or not the cookies - although it seemed the struggle was over when she took the first step, because Inuyasha's hands lifted from the counter and hid in his sleeves, as if to help him resist the temptation. His tense body relaxed as he started to move away from the bowl of sweets. She walked into the kitchen; as she lost her concentration the spirits disappeared from Inuyasha's shoulders. As soon as her slippers clicked on the tiles of the kitchen floor the hanyou let out a shriek of surprise similar to a surprised dog's yelp and jumped to the top of the counter, almost knocking down the bowl of cookies standing there.
"Y-you...!" the startled hanyou stammered, his yellow eyes fixed on her, wide and anxious. "I... I didn't... I wasn't s-stealing! I mean..." he uttered, watching the woman approaching. Mrs. Higurashi's face lit up with a warm, soft smile. She knew the boy was as wild as one can be, rude and brash at times, but he was never like this towards her.
Well, the smile was calming... Until he remembered Kagome could smile and sit him still. This realization made Inuyasha pale visibly and try to explain his presence in the kitchen once more.
...Until Mrs. Higurashi stuffed a cookie in his mouth, silencing him efficiently. She giggled when she saw his eyes almost widen even more in shocked surprise.
"You're okay, dear," she assured the boy crouching on top of the counter. "You are allowed to be anywhere in the house. Or eat if you are hungry, no matter the time."
She reached her hand up and rubbed the frozen boy's ear affectionately before patting his shoulder and walking to the kettle to make herself the tea she had wanted to drink before going to bed.
Her smile just widened when she heard munching behind her back. She glanced back before pouring boiling water in the cup. The boy was sitting on the counter, munching on the cookie in his hand.
On his shoulders two spirits, so similar and yet so different, were staring back at her with the same expression pf awe, admiration and gratitude.
A/N: ...Well, that was unexpected. Especially because the note for the story was "Inuyasha having a Kronk moment."