A Child Buried in White

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, when they had been running for some time without so much as a peep out of her husband, nor any clue where they were.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Inuyasha muttered when the wind blew past, and he held tighter to Kagome's legs. Kagome squinted around, trying to get a grip of just what was going on. She shook her head when her ears popped. She thought she saw something when she reopened her eyes. A flurry of fine powder whipped around them, and Kagome stuck her hand out to point off to the left. Slowly, the form of a person became visible through the haze. Inuyasha could probably make out the figure better than Kagome could, judging by the low growl she both heard and felt through his back.

When Kagome could just make out the dark eyes on her otherwise white form through the haze of snow whipping past, white hair and long kimono, the figure spoke.

"Hello there." Her voice was soft and even despite the snow fluttering around, and the wind tugging at the pair's clothes.

Inuyasha sneered. She looked opaque enough, but her kimono was crossed backwards as a dead person's should be. He watched her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, unaffected by the wind that had his own sweeping into his face, however, and he knew that this was no corporeal being. She had no scent.

"Have you seen my child?" Yuki-onna asked gently, her gaze sweeping over the pair. Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome squeezed her husband's shoulders and spoke before he had the chance to.

"I'm sorry miss, but we haven't seen any children along the road. Have you been looking long?"

Even without viewing his face, Kagome knew her hanyou's lips were twisted into a sneer, giving her a sideways glance and wondering where her brain was, as he always did in these situations. He was good for not voicing this, however, as the woman nodded. She clasped her hands together and stared directly into the Miko's eyes.

"It has not been long, but if you have not seen him, then it cannot be helped." Her eyes turned off to the side.

Kagome squeaked, tucking her face into Inuyasha's shoulder as the wind came up furiously in the other direction, chilling her to the bone. Just like that, the storm died down and the woman was gone as well. Inuyasha stood up out of his defensive posture and Kagome looked out over his shoulder, examining the white expanse that lay before them. They had been travelling through some sparse forest, but as Kagome looked around, the only patches of forest she saw were well over a kilometer off from their position. Inuyasha had a very good sense of direction, there was no way he would purposely take them off course and up into…

She looked up into the mountains above, and the valley off a ways. It was no wonder her ears had popped.

"Kagome, why d'ya always gotta do that?"

"You don't listen," she mumbled, disinterestedly as she pushed away from her husband's shoulders, turning her head around, trying to get some sense of her bearings.

"What?"

"I'm pretty good with spirits, I told you before, if you'd been listening." She had probably told him each of her ghostly encounters from high school at least twice, but he was never good at remembering anything she told him.

"I heard ya, yeah, but I still don't like how calm you—"

"Inuyasha? Do you know where we are?"

Inuyasha's ears flapped back and forth with her words as his eyes scanned his surroundings through the small bits of flurries that remained.

"Shit," he swore, "yeah, I know where we are, but goddammit, I been runnin' in the wrong direction this whole time." They were way off course now, and there was now no hope of reaching Kaede's village by sundown. How could he be so stupid? He usually had a great sense of direction but that damned Yuki-onna…well, there was nothing he could to about it now but get back on track. They were pretty far up the foothills now, and now they had to go all the way around. Dammit.

The crash of the snow was deafening, and hard to ignore for either of the pair, but Inuyasha judged it as a small avalanche, and too far off for it to effect them directly. It was when the roar of snow quieted that Inuyasha swore. Shouting voices. Voices calling for their loved ones. He was following the sounds of the voices when they spotted a man frantically digging through the snow and a child standing by, looking right around scared to death. The man hardly looked up when Kagome spoke, quickly asking who had been buried.

"M-Miko-sama, it's my two eldest sons," he relayed. Inuyasha's ear twitched atop his head for a moment, listening for movement beneath the snow before sinking his claws into the compacted powder. He dug into a snow, and one second he was pushing a mass of snow through his legs, and the next, he had a boy pulled out of the snow by the front of his Mino coat. He deposited the boy beside Kagome, who saw to the shivering, scared boy right away. He listened under the snow, eyes scanning the surface, until he heard something clawing their way up, and he dove into the snow, digging as he had done for the first boy. He grabbed hold of some limb, and for a moment, he was angry that the man brought such as small child out here. The arm he held by the elbow was so small…but then, the man had said his "eldest" sons, hadn't he?

He was surprised when he saw the snowy-white hair sitting atop the tiny face that stared up at him for a brief second with wide blue eyes, before they fell shut and the child fainted. This was a child, but it was a fox kit, and not a human boy like he had been expecting. Inuyasha stared for a second, he couldn't just leave them, so he tucked the child under his arm and started to listen, once again, for any signs of movement.

"Over here!" He called to the father as he located more muffled sounds under the snow. The man looked up and clambered over the snow as quickly as he could as Inuyasha plowed through the snow one-handed until he could grab the collar of his happi jacket and drag him out of there. The father pulled the young boy into an embrace. Inuyasha's brow quirked, noticing that the boy's scents were identical. A set of twins, about twelve years old. The man looked to Inuyasha to thank him, but his eyes widened when he really took a second to take in the young man's appearance. White hair, yellow eyes, and two triangular ears sitting atop his head. His eyes fell to the little demon the larger held, presuming it to be the demon's own child, given the white hair. The man swallowed thickly, turning his gaze away and gratefully breathed a word of thanks to the demon who had helped dig out his boys.

Inuyasha turned back towards Kagome with the other two children before tilting his head down. He looked down to the little fox he held, noting that, unlike the boys, who also carried the scent of their father, and a feminine scent he assumed was their mother, this kit smelled only of himself. As if he had not had contact with a parental figure in weeks or more…but…he was so small, how could he..? Kagome had then seen the little child tucked under Inuyasha's arm, scared at why he had passed out so quickly.

"He's just the type scared of his own shadow, didn't expect to see a bigger demon draggin' him outta the snow." Foxes, were, in fact, preyed upon by many larger demons, and it was no wonder the little boy thought he was going to be eaten. And he did seem very little. If Shippo was six or seven when Kagome first met him, this child was about the same age as Sango's twins. What were they going to do with the boy? They had to get the two human children home and warm, but they couldn't just leave the kitsune out in the snow without knowing where his den was, Kagome reasoned. Inuyasha, then, made a quick decision that they would just have to wait for him to wake up and tell them where he lived. He tucked the tiny boy into the extra fabric of his suikan. He decided to bring it up later as Inuyasha pulled one shivering preteen onto his back, and the father took the other. Kagome carried the smallest of the boys, the younger brother that had been at his father's side so that they could hurry faster.

The man had been out hunting rabbits, Inuyasha noticed, seeing the rabbits strung across the man's back.

"Yes, that's right," the man said hurriedly. He had been taking his boys on a hunting trip, and he would rather not say much more, though his curiosity got him then.

"What is a Miko and…well, what are you two doing all the way out here?" Kagome didn't miss the way he referred to Inuyasha, but answered readily.

"We were on our way back from a trip, but we were blown off course by the Yuki-onna, so we've had to go around. She spoke to us when the storm was at its thickest, asking for her child."

"The Yuki-onna you say? It couldn't have been ours." The man shook his head as he trudged forward.

"You all know the one that gave us an extra day's travel into this stupid place?" Inuyasha griped.

"Well, I know of one, but she wouldn't go blowing travelers off course. She causes an odd summer storm from time to time, but if you are not caught out in it, there is no harm done. In fact, there is usually a few animals that froze to death for an easy catch the following day. Although, some don't feel as…warmly towards her…but she certainly doesn't go about asking for a child if one should come across her."

"Do you think she caused the avalanche?" came a voice from Inuyasha's back. The man in front of Inuyasha grunted.

"Yoshio, don't say that. The avalanche happened on its own."

The man's responses made Kagome curious, but she said nothing on the subject until they reached the man's small village, set against a rock face. They all hurried inside the man's house where they surprised his wife and daughter when the lot crowded into the tiny space. The woman had some hot water set on already, and gave the boys that to drink, since they had no tea. They worked to get the boys warmed further and thanked the pair. As they walked back out with the man, they realized the time.

"I wouldn't want you two traveling at night, and I would offer you refuge in my home, but it's difficult to fit my own family, and certainly wouldn't be comfortable. I'll see if anyone will let you stay the night." With that, the man left them to race off to his neighbors. It really was standing room only with the two boys sitting down and their mother starting on their supper. Kagome tapped Inuyasha's shoulder asking about the boy they had picked up. He opened the front panel of his clothes to reveal that the child was still unconscious, breathing deeply. That fainting spell must not have been the only reason he passed out. The little tyke must really be in need of a warm place to sleep.

"He's a white fox, Kagome. That means he's supposed to live in cold climates. We can probably drop the little guy off anywhere, and he'll be just fine." Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but he probably has a den around here somewhere, and parents that are worried sick about him," she returned. Before he had a chance to tell her what he guessed about the kit's parents, they heard a commotion outside, and ran out to investigate. They weren't the only ones who had heard the noise, as more of the neighbors had also stepped outside to witness whatever was going on. In front of one house was the father of the twin boys, hands held up defensively before him as a man held up one finger towards him.

"Are you out of your mind? You willingly brought a demon into our…" he paused as he caught sight of Inuyasha from the far corner of the village. The hanyou's expression shifted unconsciously, exposing his fangs defensively.

"He came with the Miko, and they saved both my sons. It would have taken me so much longer to dig them out without—"

"Don't you remember Hoshiro and those Kitsune, three years ago? You're lucky we don't kick you out like we did him. The Miko can stay, but that monster she brings with her has to go." He said, nodding to the Miko, as if that were a good solution, allowing only her to stay the night. Kagome's brow furrowed at the man's declaration.

"H-hold on. Inuyasha has to stay with me, he knows the way a lot better than I do. Where I go, he does," she said, defiantly. The man's face twisted, but it was another man across from him, having emerged fully from his house that spoke.

"I don't care if it is your guard dog! Get that monster out of here!" Inuyasha bristled at that, a low growl finally reaching Kagome's ears. She placed a hand on the center of his chest, instinctively trying to calm him and make his growling cease. She was pissed, having someone not even dignify her husband as anything more than a thing. He was not and 'it'. He was a being with a hell of a lot more compassion and dignity than those who referred to him as such.

"Now wait just one second!" She said, pushing away from her husband, and what was now forming into a crowd, stalking towards them, continuing, "I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by while you talk about my husband like that when he has done nothing wrong!"

"Did she say her husband?!" Kagome heard a woman ask in surprise. Then came the shocked whispers from other members of the small village. Kagome felt very small suddenly; it seemed as if the eyes of every single person in the village, even the father of the twins were staring at her in shock and even…disgust? The whispers came and all Kagome could do was look on at the crowd, mutely. The man who had once forgiven Inuyasha's being for the good deed of saving his children now looked on in confusion, unable to figure out what to do in this situation. That she had married a demon was unthinkable, to them. Who would want anything to do with a demon, like that? A demon's strength is ferocious, and judging by the beads at his throat, one might assume she had merely employed him to rely on his strength. That seemed acceptable, in their minds, but to marry one? What sort of filthy woman would do such a thing?

"Leave this place, you foul woman," came a sudden shout as a rock came zipping past her side. The villagers didn't question who had thrown the first rock, as a handful of them also stooped to collect rocks. Kagome took a step back, knowing she couldn't dodge what was thrown at her so quickly. Suddenly, her vision was purely red and snowy white.

Inuyasha stood before her, the brunt of the assault pelting his body. He snatched one of the larger rocks, glaring darkly into the crowd. He clenched his fist, around the rock, opening it again to let a fine gravel fall from his palm. It was a warning to them as the assault stopped. He had the strength to really fuck up this village if he wanted, but he wasn't going to.

"C'mon, Kagome," he said over his shoulder, never taking his glaring eyes from the crowd. Kagome lifted her head from where she crouched behind him.

"Let's get out of here. Don't take me too long to figure where I ain't wanted." She looked up at him, glaring defiantly towards the crowd before her brows knit and she gave a similar glare over his shoulder.

"Don't think about it, just eat it," Inuyasha said, skewering some sort of small critter, already gutted and placing it over the fire. Kagome looked down to the meat, trying not to notice the decidedly squirrel-like shape of the animal, though failing. Inuyasha had found some hibernating squirrels, and that was going to be their only meal on such short notice.

"It was the only thing I could find out here, without going too far." He mumbled, turning the skewer to heat the other side.

"Is it okay to let the barrier down, now?" Kagome asked. They were backed up against a rock outcropping to keep the wind off, but Inuyasha told Kagome to keep herself and the kit inside of a barrier to keep out of the elements until he could get the fire high enough. He shoved some brush under the rock to serve as a slightly warmer place to sit, and loaded firewood up on one side, but they still had very little in the way of shelter. Inuyasha knew Kagome couldn't keep the barrier up all night. If it were him, he could hunker down against a tree, but with Kagome…she didn't even have that sleeping bag with her in snow halfway up to his knees.

"Stay close to the fire." He gave, nodding. Kagome shivered and clutched her shoulders the second the barrier was down, letting her feel the brunt of the elements. The kit seemed less affected, but as Inuyasha told her, white foxes were meant for this weather. The little boy had woken not long after they left the village and had cried, struggling to get away from Inuyasha, still believing the larger demon planned to eat him. Inuyasha gave him to Kagome, and the kit went quiet, surprised at being passed off to a human woman with a soft, soothing voice. He was probably too young to understand the significance of her robes, as he did not seem to fear her as he did Inuyasha. While Inuyasha was away and Kagome set the barrier up, she tried to talk to him, but he had not spoken a word yet.

"He might not know how to talk yet," Inuyasha commented, testing the meat.

"You said he's probably around three, so—"

"Some demons are slow learners when it comes to talking. Ask Myoga. I didn't start talking until I was two, and I'm half human."

Kagome looked at him curiously, before nodding in acceptance. She stretched her hands out to warm them against the fire. The little fox sat patiently in her lap, watching the food cook. He must have been raised extremely well, not to fuss except when he thought his life was in danger. He looked pretty smart, maybe he was just not willing to talk to strangers, or even just shy. She patted him on the head before rubbing her hands together again. She looked over to Inuyasha, who was testing the meat a second time.

"Inuyasha, how are you doing? Your feet are a little pink, doing all that walking barefooted."

Inuyasha shrugged, twisting his foot a little to look at it. A little pink, sure, but if he were a human his toes would be long gone to frostbite.

"Yeah…I'll be fine. This ain't the first time I been stuck out in the snow." He picked up the water container which had been placed near the fire. He shook it, hearing that the snow had melted into liquid. He handed it off to his wife, setting it back when she declined.

"So what are we gonna do about this little guy, Inuyasha? I can't get him to talk to me." Kagome said when Inuyasha handed her a skewer.

"If he won't talk, we find somewhere good to drop him off at," Inuyasha said giving her a shrug.

"We can't do that! He's just a baby! His parents are probably worried sick, already, we can't just leave him somewhere that could be far from his home!" Kagome gave him the most offended look, squeezing the small fox to her chest, as if to hide him from the hanyou who just wanted to dump him off somewhere. Inuyasha scoffed, scratching his chin, and thinking of how to tell her what he suspected.

"Kagome, the kid is…well, I didn't smell a bit of an adult's scent on him when I found him. Not his mother's, and not his father's." He turned down to his dinner, which was not even large enough for him to call a snack, and took a bite.

"So…" Kagome started. She looked down at the boy, showing him the meat, and tearing off a bite-sized portion for him. He sniffed at it, contemplating, before he took it and popped it into his mouth. Kagome tore off another piece for him.

"You're saying he might not have any parents?" Inuyasha didn't reply; he just took a swig of some water to wash down the last of his meal.

"Then why don't we—"

"Don't even finish that thought, Kagome." Inuyasha sent her a glare, and waited for it to register with her before he tilted his head up to look at the sky. Overcast. It would be too dark for Kagome to tell, but the world was always a touch brighter when there was snow on the ground, plenty of light for him to see by even with no fires and no villages nearby. Even with the moon and all the twinkling stars covered by the dingy grey clouds. Not that the moon would cast much light, tonight.

"Inuyasha…I remember what we…what I had said when I was drunk, last night. About having a baby, and I just think—"

"Kagome, after all that's just happened, you still want to give that thought, now?" Kagome was at first confused by his words, and then she lowered her head. He might be right. After Yuki-onna, the avalanche, finding the little one, being kicked out by the village…their priority was surviving until the sun warmed the air again. However, the matter of the little boy still needed to be discussed. That could wait until after he was asleep, however.

Inuyasha sat back against the rock overhang, pulling his robe off and getting Kagome to sit between his legs. She leaned back against him with the quiet little fox against her chest as he wrapped his outer layer tightly around them to serve as a blanket. The kit was so well behaved, but he looked so frightened whenever he looked at her with big blue eyes. It was a relief to her when she saw his eyes close and felt his breathing fall into a calm, even rhythm.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, looking through black bangs to see his eyes tilt towards her, "about this little guy, what are we going to do?"

"Like I said."

"Inuyasha we can't just—"

"When I said that he didn't smell like his parents, what I meant was that he didn't smell at all like his folks. If he had had any contact with a parent, slept in the same den as them or anything like that in the past few weeks, I would know about it. What that means is that he's been living alone for some time. He may look small, but he can probably take care of himself. He ain't skinny or dehydrated, so he's been doing fine."

"Kagome, I know what you're thinking, but we can't bring him back to the village."

"And why not," she whispered harshly.

"Just…look it's bad enough with me and Shippo there. They tolerate the two of us but I know they definitely don't like when Shippo brings his friends around, and having another—"

"Inuyasha, do you really think—"

"Kagome, get some sleep, okay. If you wanna take the kit back with us then…" he trailed off, "Sleep. This was only supposed to be a day and a half trip. We can't stay out another night like this. I don't need you draggin' your feet come mornin'." Kagome didn't miss the way he looked up at the dark sky.

"The first night is tomorrow?"

Her only response was a grunt. She turned her head into his chest, listening to the soft thumping of his heart. Had she..? Had she just gotten Inuyasha to agree to adopt a child?

The sound of Inuyasha throwing a log onto the fire from where they sat woke her every once in a while, but sleep was quick to take her seconds after she identified the sound, snuggling back into the hanyou's chest and shifting the sleeping fox closer to hers. The sound that got her attention came near dawn, when a low growl came rumbling from her husband's chest. She looked up to notice the wind was howling out past the outcropping and the snow was falling thickly. 'Yuki-onna' Kagome guessed, from the way Inuyasha was squinting into the distance. She knew he must be able to see her through the white flurry, since Yuki-onna possessed no scent and no demonic aura. It wasn't long before Kagome saw her too.

"Kagome, put up a barrier, Inuyasha said, shifting out from behind her. The movement woke the sleeping kit, who looked around wearily, before he realized he still did not know where he was. Inuyasha stood out before his wife, growling.

"We ain't seen your kid, okay, so just leave us be!" he barked out when the snow woman got within what he presumed was earshot. She just came closer, her expression was not the impassive face of a wondering spirit as it had been the day before. She now looked concerned, worried about something.

"Please, help me find him, then. He wondered off, and it has been nearly two days."

Two…days…?

That didn't make sense to Inuyasha. He assumed that this Yuki-onna was the type who died looking for her child in the frozen wilderness, but…two days? It takes a lot longer than that for a Yuki-onna to manifest into one like…

"Mama!"

With that small whimper, the gears in Inuyasha's head clicked into place. The reason the kit had no scent of his parents was because—he whipped his head around to see Kagome struggling with the little kit trying to get away once again. She repeated again and again to the little boy that it wasn't safe, but he wasn't listening. Inuyasha's gaze turned down to the little boy, he was no longer scared, now he looked angry—determined to get away from Kagome.

"Let him go, Kagome," the hanyou said. She looked up to him in bewilderment, meeting his eyes whenever his flapping hair didn't fly into his face. Realization dawned onto Kagome, though her assumptions were not correct. Her eyes were open wide in the horror of what she thought Inuyasha was suggesting. He wasn't that kind of person!

"Inuyasha! We can't give her a child, who knows what she will do to—"

"He's her kid." Inuyasha's voice was even, firm, and direct.

"He's…a kitsune, she can't possibly be his—"

"Mama!" The boy growled, and this time it was much louder than a whimper. The young woman heard the word, but her instinct to protect the child—whatever motherly instinct she had—felt conflicted. She saw that the boy was looking out past Inuyasha, where the Yuki-onna stood. Suddenly the white-haired woman's eyes opened wide, and a relieved smile touched her lips. Kagome's brown eyes lowered to the little boy. Trembling, she released her hold on the boy.

He scampered out past Inuyasha, directly to the woman who stooped to catch the boy as he leapt into her arms. He gripped her in the best hug he could, and she held the tiny child tightly to her chest.

"Koji, Koji, Koji," she repeated, "I was so worried. You can't just run off like that."

"I sowwy mama," the fox said, rubbing his face into the white fabric of her chest.

"You're alright, just stay close to your den when mama's away, okay?" and with that the woman lifted her head to the couple standing by, Kagome clutching her husband's arm. She regarded the pair with a nod before turning around and setting off. The sun crested the horizon, nearly blinding Inuyasha from the glare off the snow with the storm breaking all at once. When the pair's eyes adjusted, the Yuki-onna was gone, along with her young son.

"Inuyasha, should we let them…"

"Yeah…c'mon. We gotta get out of here." Inuyasha stooped for Kagome to get on his back. She still stared off in the direction the ghost and demon went off. She still didn't feel right.

"But you said she was just a ghost," Kagome mumbled after some time.

"I said, well, more ghost than demon. She's capable of taking care of the kid, I suppose, but if I hit 'er with Tessaiga, it wouldn't do anything." Inuyasha said, looking straight ahead, happy to see more bare ground than patches of ice and snow.

"But he's a fox."

"Yeah, well, you were about ready to adopt the kid. What's to say a demon can't adopt another demon. Looks like she'd had him for some time, too, him callin' her his mother and all."

"A…a fox!" Something clicked with Kagome then.

"When we were back in the village, someone said that they had some foxes in the village, you don't suppose—"

"They were his real parents? Probably. If they was lookin' for shelter in a human village, they were probably injured. That's probably how she got ahold of the kid, after they died from whatever. Took pity on the kid."

"That's terrible…" turning down an injured mother and child, purely because they were demons.

"Yeah, though you and me both know that evil demons exist…an isolated village like that…" Inuyasha trailed off. No, it wasn't just isolated villages. It was pretty much all human settlements that were like that. That would be like that. Towards not only demons, but those associated with demons. They had kicked someone out for trying to help Koji's mother, and the way they treated Kagome the second they found out she was married to him—the strange white-haired beast with an eternal scowl on his face. He gripped Kagome's legs tighter to his waist as he ran.

It would always be like that.

"Inuyasha, I need to stretch my legs." Inuyasha set her down. They were a day late, but they could make it home before nightfall even if Kagome walked the rest of the way.

"Inuyasha, you think the two of them will be okay?" Kagome asked, wrapping her scarf a little tighter around her shoulders.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. She looked really worried about him, so she'll take good care of him."

Kagome sighed. She looked at Inuyasha with a smile. He caught her expression, and gave her a confused look in return.

"Then, you made a good judgement call." She watched Inuyasha's face scrunch slightly with the…complement..?

"I would have never thought to let him go. She was his adoptive mother, after all." She said, softly, reaching out for Inuyasha's hand. He looked back at her. Her hand was cold, but the feel of her small hand in hers was familiar and made him feel that comfortable warmth in his chest. His expression went soft, looking at her gentle smile.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

"You're going to be a great father." She smiled, starting to squeeze his hand, but losing her grip when his expression dropped. He pulled his hand away from hers, shaking his head.

"Kagome," he said firmly, opening his eyes to hold hers, making sure he had her full attention. With all that had happened those few days, those few weeks…he realized something. It wouldn't work out for him—for them—there was too much going against them. They couldn't—

"That's not going to happen. We can't have kids. Not now; not ever."

...

Inuyasha changed his mind. He thinks he had a reality check.

Sorry to leave you guys with this, but I'm going to be pulling a hiatus after this. It might be another couple months before I update this, life got really real recently, school, and just life in general. Not bad, considering I published two long chapters back-to-back just two weeks ago. I still have one more part to complete this arc, but it's pretty sad towards the end. Chapter 30 should be fun, though.