Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

Warnings: Possible OOCness due to the fact that I have to keep 10+ characters straight. Things might just slip by. Also, I have not been able to finish YYH or Inuyasha, so some things might be inaccurate. If they are, please tell me and I will fix them.

italics thoughts

After their exciting first meeting, the two groups settled down to hash out a strategy and, in Kuwabara's case, eat. Actually they all wound up eating, because Yusuke and Inuyasha refused to leave ramen lying around. So they all sat around in front of Kaiede's hut, munching on noodles. Inuyasha and Kuwabara sat on the steps, growling at each other like the testosterone-ridden guys they are. Yusuke was on Kuwabara's left, the opposite side from Inuyasha, watching with interest to see if they were going to get in a fight. Hiei, who was on Yusuke's left side and could face Kuwabara, was adamantly pretending to not be doing the very same thing. Sango, Kagome and Botan were sitting in a little semi-circle near the ramen pot, which was in the center of the rough circle the two groups made. Shippo was next to Kagome, obliviously slurping down his noodles. Kurama had been sitting close to Hiei, but had quietly migrated until he was sitting behind Shippo, watching his child and listening to the girls talk. They were behaving fairly normally, chatting with Botan, who was talking about her teammates and what they were doing in the Warring States era. Kurama was impressed at how much information the two strange girls were able to gather without really prying. I am not sure whether to complement them on their skill at subterfuge or groan at Botan's cluelessness, he thought. Or should I simply put it down to girl talk?

The meal was uneventful, unless Kurama's slightly irrational behavior counted as an event. He hovered over Shippo like a pleasant red hawk for the first half of the meal. After watching him eat the ramen for a while, a frown started developing on Kurama's face. He carefully watched the other member's of the new group, taking in what they were eating and how they were talking to one another. Then he started interrogating Kagome about Shippo's eating habits, sleeping habits, stress levels, how often she replaced his clothing, and just about any thing that would be necessary in taking care of a child. She replied as well as she could, but had to admit that more often than not, she was too busy surviving to really pay attention to how much fruit Shippo ate in a day. Everyone else started paying attention when Kagome started getting red in the face. Kurama was just so polite that she could not possible argue with him. But everything he said and did made her want to hit him over the head with something VERY heavy. As the other conversations died down, everyone could hear the discussion.

"Everyone needs proper nutrition, Kagome. Especially children. Demons have different needs from humans as well. Ramen is certainly not a proper meal."

"He eats other stuff too! I bring vitamins and those gummy vitamin C things. I've been more worried about keeping him alive, you know."

"I know, but he needs proper care."

"Well, I've been doing the best I can. Leave me alone, will you?"

Things went on like this for a while, with Kagome getting redder and redder and Kurama more and more polite. Shippo watched interestedly for a while, but then realized that no one was get sat and went back to eating. Inuyasha finally finished his bowl – he had been competing with Kuwabara to see who could eat the most – and sat back against the steps with a contented sigh. He patted his bulging stomach and stretched up, perking his ears automatically for any strange noises. He noticed that everyone else was paying close attention to Kagome and Kurama's altercation, and stared listening closely himself. A frown started growing on his face, and his ears began pricking up indignantly. Finally he interrupted the two, "Shut up, fox." Kurama turned around to face him, an incredulous and puzzled expression on his face, the kind that says "Who, me?". "I am just trying to find out how my child had been taken care of while I have been unable to care for him" he replied.

"No you're not. You're trying to make trouble because you're a fox and making trouble is what you do." Inuyasha smirked at Kurama's slightly hurt expression, and continued "Don't give me that! You know it just as well as I do." He leaned back and rubbed his side on the step. "Fussing might be a your foxy way of showing affection, but we're not all foxes here. So lay off." Kurama's mouth twitched up a bit, and he sat back down without saying a word. Yusuke, who had been rising to defend his friend, was caught half-way up with his mouth open. Kuwabara broke the silence with, "Urameshi, if you don't shut your trap you'll start catching flies." Yusuke sat back down a little heavily and closed his mouth. He opened it again a second later and was about to say something, but across the circle Miroku spoke before he could. "Why Inuyasha, I never knew you had it in you!" "Had WHAT, monk?" "An intellect, of course." "I'm not stupid!." Inuyasha snarled back. "I'm just usually too busy trying to save your hide from your latest crush to say anything." He considered for a second, thought of something, and opened his mouth to say it. But when Inuyasha noticed Kurama staring avidly at him, he shut his mouth hastily. I've got to remember that fox! He thought. Stupid fox. Now I'll have to start watching my mouth. He may acknowledge that I got him on that one, but that just means he'll be even more anxious to catch me doing something stupid.

The next hour was fairly lazy. Inuyasha and Kuwabara were suffering from bloated stomachs, and Yusuke had decided that they should all take a break to tease them both. Hiei looked more annoyed than usual at the delay, so Yusuke reconciled him to it with "If you want to carry Kuwabara after he throws up, fine. I ain't stopping you." After Hiei conceded that it would be wise to remain in one spot for a while, Yusuke wandered over to where Kurama sat watching Shippo and Kilala playing tag. He sat down by him in silence for a few minutes, then launched the conversation with, "So, what are you going to do about him?" Kurama thought for a few second before replying, his face serious and contemplative. "I have no idea. He seems happy here. I can not simply bring him home with me." He glanced over at Yusuke, whose face betrayed no emotion. "On the other hand, I can not simply leave my child." Yusuke took a deep breath, and said "I figured you were going to say that." He stood up and turned to leave, brushing some grass off the back of his pants. "I just want to say, be careful. You're good, but if you get that hanyou onto your tail he won't come off it until you're pounded meat." Yusuke stopped and looked at Kurama, who looked hurt. "Don't give me that look either. You bicker with the girl too much and he'll stick that sword of his a foot out your other side." He paused for a second. "Not to mention, that girl isn't exactly helpless either. And both of them trust themselves to be right." "You mean, both of them are childishly arrogant?" Kurama inserted. Yusuke paused; after a few seconds, a sigh escaped his mouth and he grinned wryly. "Yeah. But I wasn't gonna say it."

Yusuke, in the interest of embarrassing his friend, measured both Kuwabara's and Inuyasha's stomachs with a string he had in his pocket, and started loudly predicting how long it would take them to get back to their normal sizes. Kuwabara was incensed, but to full to do much about it. Inuyasha knew that the idiot was just being stupid. Besides, he had a secret weapon in any food war. He digested food at a faster rate than any human or youkai. Sure enough, when Yusuke measured their stomachs half a hour later, Inuyasha's stomach had gone down half an inch, while Kuwabara's belly had gone down much less. Inuyasha sat smugly on the ground in front of the steps, his legs folded, looking like a bright red Buddha. If there ever was a statue of Buddha with a gleaming predatory smile and several visible fangs.

While Inuyasha beamed his self-congratulations to everyone in sight, Kuwabara was struggling to sit all the way up. He finally gave up and lay back against the steps, shouting insults at Inuyasha's ears, the only part of the hanyou that he could see. The ears twitched amusedly. Their owner was obviously not taking him seriously, and he eventually became incoherent with irritation. Yusuke was sitting on the ground, laughing at his friend and the ear-splitting grin on Inuyasha's face. Hiei had tried out various perches: the windows, the roof, the porch. He just could not get comfortable. He finally realized why he was not comfortable; almost half of their party had disappeared. Kurama is gone; the girls and the priest are as well. This should be very interesting...

Kurama had noticed that the girls were gathering up supplies and slipping off. He smelled soap in their supplies, and when they headed in the direction of the river he had noticed earlier, he assumed that they were going to take a bath. But when the priest slipped off after them a few minutes later, he started wondering. His son noticed him staring after the disappearing purple robes, and said "Uh oh. Miroku's going to spy on them again." The small kitsune turned back to his crayons, and continued in a matter-of-fact tone, "The last time he tried that Sango knocked him out for three hours. It was really embarrassing." Kurama blinked down at his child. "Because he shouldn't be acting like that?" "YES!" Shippo cried, turning back to face him, a joyful expression on his face. "You understand!" He leaned against Kurama's side, and whispered "I'm so glad you're back. It's really hard when the people raising you are younger than you are." "I know." Kurama whispered down at his son. He looked off at the forest, and an idea struck him. "Do you think Miroku has gotten to the river yet?" Shippo looked up at Kurama's face, and grinned as he realized what Kurama was planning. "No. He's still waiting to make sure that the girls are in the river. There's still about five minutes." Kurama picked Shippo up and started quietly off in the direction of the river; they were about to have some father-son fun.

Kagome and Sango kept a close watch all throughout their bath, but Miroku never showed up. On the way back, Sango seemed deep in thought, than said "I wonder what happened to him. His hiding skills aren't that good...I'm sure that I would have spotted him if he was there." "I know." Kagome replied. "Maybe he decided to be a gentleman for once." At Kagome's ridiculous statement, Sango stopped and looked her in the eyes. Kagome looked at Sango's skeptical expression and sighed. "I know it's not that likely! But can you come up with any better reasons?" Sango silently shook her head and the two started back down the path towards the village. But their silence was broken by a strange voice; "Actually, I can." Sango and Kagome jumped and turned to face the speaker; it was that strange fox-boy who claimed to be Shippo's father. Kagome bristled and launched into a tirade "Oh yeah? What's your reason, that he didn't get there because you got there first? You pervert!" She was cut off by the sight of Shippo jumping up onto the boy's shoulder, but started again with "You sick creep! teaching your son that kind of behavior! And you think I take bad care of him!" She finally noticed that he was laughing, and opened her mouth to scream at him, but Sango interrupted her with "I take it that you do have a reason for being here?" Kurama's eyes sparkled as he replied, "Yes. Kagome's first statement is correct; Miroku did not spy on you because we got to him first." Shippo burst out with "And you should see all the cool knots that Kurama taught me! Come one!" With that he jumped down from Kurama's shoulder, landing in front of his feet and racing over to Kagome. He grabbed her and Sango's hands and started yanking them towards the bushes behind Kurama. "Miroku looks like you guys did back when that scary bug-demon put you all into cocoons! It's really funny!" Kagome and Sango shared amused looks and let the little fox kit pull them across the path and through the bushes next to Kurama. There was a small clearing on the other side of the thicket, and the sight that greeted Kagome and Sango was enough to send them into gales of slightly vindictive laughter. Miroku was tied to a tree branch near the middle of the clearing, so heavily swathed in ropes and knots that he did indeed look like a cocooned butterfly. His sheepish expression only added to the hilariousness of the situation. "Well," Kagome said when she could breathe again, staring up at rope-swathed priest, "What do we do to him now?"

That's the end for now, folks!

Next time on DTKS: Sango's favorite way to cut ropes!