"I wanna be like Sesshoumaru when I grow up." Everyone in the room turned to look at the little kitsune standing in the doorway of Keade's hut and puffing out his tiny chest in that self-important way children have.
Inuyasha's reaction was to instantly jump to his feet and growl out a few insults before giving the little demon a couple of good whacks until Kagome put a stop to it.
"Inuyasha SIT!!!! You shouldn't hit children like that!!!" The young miko also got to her feet and went to crouch down next to the small sniffling fox clutching his head. "Why do you want to be like Sesshoumaru-sama, Shippou-chan?"
"'Cause he's strong, smart and can take care of people! Plus he actually knows how to protect his pack!" Most of this was directed at the, still cursing, figure lying immobile on the wooden floor boards and spoken with emphasis that made the growling steadily increase in volume.
With his peace spoken and a sore head to prove it, Shippou ran away from Kagome's comfort and Inuyasha out the hut's doorway.
At almost the same instant, the curse lifted and the hanyou once again jumped up to go give the kitsune a piece of his mind and another couple of bumps on the head. But, before he could Kagome snatched his sleeve, Inuyasha expected another sit command, but when it didn't come he looked down at her.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on Shippou-chan. And before you completely ignore me, remember your brother's ward, Rin-chan? Do you think she has ever gotten a whap on the head? Maybe Shippou wants that from you."
When she put it that way, even Inuyasha couldn't help comparing the beaming human girl to the sobbing kitsune he'd just beaten. Damnit, his brother was a better guardian to a human child than he was to Shippou.
While he worked this out, Kagome had let go of his hoari and gone to sit back near the other side of the hut, giving him a choice.
The young miko looked up just in time to see the bamboo flap come back down and didn't try to repress the small smile the stole across her face. Somehow, it didn't seem likely that Shippo was getting anymore hits this evening.
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