Disclaimer: Same old same old...I can dream but reality is simply "Nope."
A/N: For some reason I was under the impression that this had like recently been updated...(blinks stupidly) but it turns out it's been a whole week! AH! I have no excuse...I sit on my butt all day as it's summertime...I guess I'm just ridiculous guys...I can hear those drunken June Bugs blundering into my window--they must have claws or something b/c they sound like my cat does when she's trying to catch a bug on the otherside of the screen, this loud "Kathunk" noise...(shrugs) enough jabber--More of my warning for Inu's pottymouth. That's that. Mainly this installment is about Shimofuri and Inuyasha coming to terms with one another and beginning to trust on the simple developing likeness that Taikokajin's behavior is abhorrent. The End. But along the way, b/c I'm me, there's the Attack Of The Mushrooms to deal with, a Big Black Dog, Inuyasha Nappy Time, and A Sword Named Ribikou (that, I think means in Japanese Ri--clever. Bikou--shadow. ClverShadow.)
On The Trail
"Damn it!" Inuyasha snarled vehemently in front of Shimofuri, pausing in the underbrush, nose uplifted, making clear snuffling sounds as he tried to pick up the strange ancient demon's scent again. "That bastard's scent is so messed up that I can't follow it without loosing the bloody thing!"
"Messed up?" Shimofuri quoted, his voice emotionless and completely dry, though his gray-blue eyes smirked with obvious amusement. He'd grown, over his extensive time with Inuyasha, to take a bizarre enjoyment out of the hanyou's wild expressions, his complete and total obnoxiousness.
"Yeah," the golden eyes turned back to Shimofuri filled with a challenge. "You got something to say, cousin?" just as Shimofuri had begun to find the hanyou amusing, Inuyasha in his turn, had taken to bantering with his young cousin, treating him with a similar roughness to the way he and Sesshomaru interacted—only on the whole without drawing their weapons to prepare for battle.
"No." Shimofuri answered, blandly.
That was why Inuyasha liked this young cousin of his—he deferred to him without question.
He snorted, satisfied. "Damn straight you don't." looking ahead and sniffing again, Inuyasha ducked low to the ground awkwardly, trying to discern Garou's scent from the other mingling stenches left by feral cats, foxes, bears, weasels, rodents…that was the trouble with Garou's scent, he was unlike the other smells the forest animals exuded, and yet the scent of the furui was so quiet and similar enough to all the other mammals that it was easily lost in the barrage of other smells that Inuyasha was familiar with. Inuyasha was beginning to suspect that Garou had designed it that way, choosing places and paths to travel that were trampled by other forest creatures whose scents easily masked his own.
A musty mushroom's spores puffed under one of Inuyasha's palms and immediately were swept into his nasal passageways. The hanyou was taken by a terrible fit of coughing and sprung dizzily to his feet, clawing at his nose, moisture streaming from his assaulted eyes. "Damn it!"
He stumbled and Shimofuri stepped forward soundlessly, his strong yet thinly boned hands catching his cousin's shoulder. Inuyasha accepted the support for a moment unknowingly as he hacked and spat and continued to claw at his nose and eyes. A few sneezes and a lot of incoherent curses later Inuyasha's golden eyes cleared and, red-rimmed with irritation, he noted with surprise that Shimofuri was patiently supporting him…
The hanyou restrained a snort at the realization. Well I'll be damned…Shimo-kun could have whipped out his claws or his true form and slaughtered my clumsy ass…he was tired enough to be caught off guard by someone he was beginning to consider an ally—even though years of betrayal should've broken him of that. Shimofuri seemed to be under the impression that hanyous, like full-demons, didn't need sleep and Inuyasha was too proud and stubborn to admit he needed a rest.
He shook his thoughts off and pushed free of Shimofuri's support, wanting to thank his cousin, but deciding against it in the end. Besides, those mushrooms…he snarled disgustedly as he caught sight of the accursed fungus and kicked it. His growling became a stream of obscenities directed at the lower life form. "Stupid piece of shit! Damn the whole hell-spawned lot of you!"
Shimofuri blinked at the hanyou's attack, no longer smirking as for the first time he caught an odor that he hadn't thought his legendary cousin possible of producing: exhaustion, not of the body but of the mind. A realization dawned on him: Inuyasha needs to sleep…
Although Shimofuri was familiar with his sister, who, as a hanyou, also showed the human need for semi-regular sleep patterns, he'd assumed that Inuyasha was different. Without really meaning to he'd pushed Inuyasha along as if he were a full-blooded inuyoukai, such as himself. Whether it was his cousin's legendary status that blinded him or Inuyasha's stubborn, rougher exterior façade, Shimofuri didn't know, but he did know that Inuyasha had hid the truth quite well…
Except, that was, for outbursts like this…but would Inuyasha sleep when he was traveling with someone he knew had been instructed to kill him? Shimofuri cringed inwardly, plagued suddenly by a guilt and compassion for the hanyou that he hadn't really known he possessed just yet. Guilt for the things he still had yet to reveal he knew to the hanyou. Compassion for his stubborn but endearing position, struggling to save his mate and pup and for holding himself with the bearing of a hero in the shell of an outcast half-demon. Others walked upon him, underestimated him, taunted him—stole his mate and pup from him, Shimofuri thought with a wince—and sniggled behind his back.
The life his cousin lead hadn't been fair or right or easy in the least—and, Shimofuri realized with a jolt—he wasn't helping correct any of it.
"Yo—Inuyasha to Shimo-chan, anyone in there?"
Shimofuri blinked again, pulled from his thoughts into the present and nodded sternly. How can I get him to know he can trust me? How am I supposed to get him to sleep? At the same time he worried about time. Sleep took time away from them and Garou was hard for Inuyasha to track—and though Shimofuri had offered his help in that matter considering that he'd been doing it for his mother for quite some time the hanyou had insisted on doing it alone.
But as he stared at his cousin's sharp, irritated golden eyes he knew that soon the hanyou would snap if the extra time for some sleep weren't taken to ease his stress at least.
Inuyasha turned back toward the narrow animal trail that they'd been following for the last day and a half—nights included—and dug his heel into what was left of the decimated mushroom, twisting it with a glee that made him look almost devilish for a moment. He made a grunting, snorting sound then and, satisfied, walked on, leading the way.
Shimofuri followed slowly, thinking as fast and as hard as he could. As soon as night fell he'd try to suggest a rest…
As the sun began to drift closer to the western horizon conversation started up between the cousins. "So, Shimo-pup," Inuyasha half grunted his last name with something that might have been a fondness, "Who woulda won, if you hadn't gotten Rin to tame that old bastard Sesshomaru down again? Me or him?"
The hanyou was sneaking glimpses of Shimofuri over one shoulder as they walked so the young inuyoukai kept his gray-blue eyes lowered, watching the path and silently picking up the faint scent that Garou had left in his wake the last time he'd passed through that area. "I could not say for certain, Inuyasha-ituko." He answered, carefully.
"C'mon Shimo-pup," Inuyasha was smirking now when he glanced over his shoulder, "We might still be on Sesshomaru's land but that lame bastard's nowhere near us. He's probably too busy with Rin to even spare us a thought!" Shimofuri was surprised to hear what he thought might've been empathy in his cousin's voice.
"What do you mean?" he asked, quietly, in a detached, uncaring tone. He was trying to determine why Inuyasha's voice had changed, what secrets it bore…but Inuyasha's answer was obnoxious, completely missing the deeper implications.
Inuyasha chuckled suddenly, his shoulders jerking with the movement as Shimofuri stared at his back, "Don't tell me that pink bitch of yours hasn't explained the birds and the bees to you yet, pup!" he paused mid-step and threw the gray-eyed inuyoukai youth a careful look, "Or was that your father's job?"
Shimofuri averted his eyes. "I am not naive." He assured the hanyou, and stepped forward, pressing past Inuyasha to lead the way.
Inuyasha scowled. "Okay, so she did tell you about it." He mumbled, letting his companion—hostage?—take the lead. He sensed through Shimofuri's stiffened gait that he'd touched on something bad or painful or unpleasant…or was it just that the inuyoukai was hiding something? He gritted his teeth behind the youth where he couldn't possibly see it, and fingered Tetsusaiga.
After a silence Shimofuri abruptly halted and gave one audible sniff. Inuyasha froze, tensing immediately.
"Trouble?" he barked, sniffing the air too, but finding nothing to his disgust, to hint at what might be alarming his cousin.
The gray-blue eyes were calm, without surprise. "No—but there is water nearby. Care for some fish, Inuyasha-ituko?"
The hanyou blinked dumbly for a second. "Yeah…" he followed Shimofuri as the younger demon pushed through the brush and under foliage until they had come near enough that Inuyasha's ears bent backward, trying to hide from the echoing roar of the river. He silently cursed his run-in with the mushroom spores earlier, why hadn't he scented this place earlier? It'd been a week or two since the last new moon, he knew that much…but could it really be close enough to dull his senses?
He watched Shimofuri with a suspicious glare on his cousin's back as the inuyoukai stood beside the water, silent but, somehow, he sensed, as deep and roiling as this river just underneath…the golden eyes narrowed, as if trying to pierce the stony, unaffected outer, and very prim and proper exterior that Shimofuri wore. Outrageously he even thought: Maybe he planted those mushrooms on that trail to dull my damned nose so he could lure me here…
Inuyasha swayed a little bit, tiredly, as he tried to force a manner of sanity back into his mind. Gotta stay awake, gotta stay san—for Kagome and Koinu. Kagome and Koinu…must protect…That thought acted like a steel rod on his spine and the hanyou was alert again, staring out of his golden eyes once more with a vengeance.
"Well Shimo-pup," he muttered, still maintaining a paranoid safe distance from the other demon, "You going to catch those fish or should I?" I could use a dip in this freezing river to be sure—it'd keep me awake! He started to step forward, eager to let the cold water startle his mind and body into alertness, but Shimofuri's arm rose slightly, stopping the hanyou immediately.
"I will catch them, Inuyasha-ituko." The gray eyes slid over to silently ask permission of Inuyasha, and then shimmered with a moment of hesitancy before he voiced a suggestion that made the hanyou bristle with suspicion, "Perhaps you should rest while I am hunting…"
"Like hell!" he snorted, crossed his arms in a defensive, hostile stance, turning his nose up into the air, "And leave you free to wander off? You and that idea can go straight to hell!"
Shimofuri's lips thinned into a tight line that Inuyasha read as frustration, and though he doubted the youth would try something so sneaky and dishonorable Inuyasha couldn't afford to let anything go wrong. Kagome and Koinu were the ones who would pay if he did…
"Forgive me, cousin," Shimofuri bowed deeply, "I have wronged you. You are a half-demon." his gaze was heavy on the hanyou, making him sweat, "You need rest and sleep."
Inuyasha stiffened, but there was no denying that he did need to sleep. He tried to deny it nonetheless: "And you need to know when to shut up and let me do the damn fishing pup!" he cracked his knuckles to emphasize his threat, "Or you'll get my Tetsusaiga crammed through your guts!"
The young inuyoukai's jaw tightened, eyes narrowed in irritation. "You can't trust me, cousin? It is true that my mother ordered me to kill you but it is also true that I am not my mother's slave." The gray eyes gleamed, though whether it was a silent challenge or some remaining secrets the young heir had chosen not to reveal Inuyasha couldn't say.
"Feh! You're not?" Inuyasha sneered, apparently unimpressed with Shimofuri's claim. His ears were lying flat atop his head, his golden eyes openly suspicious, nearly downright hostile.
Shimofuri forced his expression to be calm, stony, removed. I am not bothered by what he is saying, and my mother has no plans of taking his pup away from him and letting his mate die…but his thoughts were empty and without the least conviction. Instead, when his gaze focused once more on the hanyou's vibrant, intense golden eyes—which mimicked his powerful, vivacious soul just underneath—he felt more guilt rush through him.
His jaw clenched hard as emotion returned to his face, exposing a rather devastated young dog demon that was left with little in his world that made sense. Why can't I make myself hide the truth from him? He isn't family—he isn't like Tsukiyume or Mother. Mother gave me life, Mother raised me, nursed me, held me…I am Mother's heir…but his mother was…
Go on and think it. She's a monster. She loves only Tsukiyume and I. Everyone else she uses and throws away, even her own kin like Inuyasha—even my own father…
The inuyoukai lifted his face with a grim new determination. "Lord Inuyasha," he dipped his head in a show of respect, addressing the hanyou formally, "I have no desire—or even the slightest interest—in killing you, whether my mother commands it or not…" he ignored Inuyasha's critical, unconvinced glaring, "I understand that you would not trust me—you are not a simpleton, despite what my mother thinks…"
A twitch started just under the hanyou's right eye, "So," he snarled, "Pinky Bitch thinks I'm dumb does she?" he snorted, "Wonder if she'll still say that when I'm beating the shit out of her."
"What my mother thinks is unimportant." Shimofuri shot back, impatiently, "What is important is that in order to come out of this situation alive and well—"
"Feh!" Inuyasha interrupted though he made no further protest when Shimofuri paused with an angry, expectant glare that effectively silenced the hanyou's blustering.
"As I was saying, cousin, we must—or should work together. We should trust one another." The young heir held himself erect, tall and proud, trying to appear older and wiser than he truly felt while facing down his cynical, bad-tempered half-demon cousin…about to tell him something that would likely be akin to signing a death certificate.
Inuyasha noticed the change, sensed that something interesting was coming, and shifted his stance slightly. His ears swung forward, facing Shimofuri with open curiosity.
"It is because I am going to trust you, cousin, that I reveal this." He pinned the hanyou with his young but very somber, very deep blue-gray eyes and confessed the depth of his mother's vendetta: "My mother wanted you dead so she could claim your pup as her own."
For one, brief, surprising moment there came nothing from the hanyou: it took him a moment to connect the dots. Send me off to do her dirty work, rescue her kid that she lost to this monster, kill the monster for her, and then her son, who conveniently came with me, kills me when I have my back turned…then she takes Koinu…The golden eyes darted up, wide at first with the shock as it made sense—far too much sense actually—and then narrowed in the potent paternal rage of any father, dog demon or not.
The explosion came microseconds afterwards…
The heavily armored man bowed low before her, his metal-shielded body clanking and clunking awkwardly with the movement. His gray hair was bound high in a samurai-like topknot, his face; she thought cruelly, resembled a wrinkled prune. "Lady Taikokajin." He murmured her name in a rough tenor monotone.
"Face me." she ordered with one tiny dip of her head in his direction for acknowledgement. She was in a hurry. "What are you called?"
The guard—from her brother's palace in the northern-most parts of the Middle Lands—ducked his head down again, paused before answering the inuyoukai woman. Taikokajin was a regal, proud, distant beauty. He could see her pink eyes glittering as she took him in from her safe, serene distance, like rubies caught in the snow, he mused. His lord was her brother—Sasugainu Koshoshiro—and though they shared the same features and the same surname taken from their father, he found the woman far different from Sasugainu. He hadn't the slightest idea which sibling was older, though Taikokajin seemed timeless; untouchable while Sasugainu was earthly and warmer in comparison…
He'd heard so many strange tales about her that when her messenger, a man by the name of Kentaro, ran through his lord's lands, he'd volunteered to serve in Ketaro's stead just for a glimpse of the demon lady. He'd always wondered why a female demon had been allowed to rule the Middle Lands when she clearly had a male blood relative—and that she ruled with two children but was without a husband or mate…
He was gaping at her, and not even aware of it.
Taikokajin's face, a serene mask, twitched, contorted. Her pink eyes hovered on him, drilling into him suddenly, becoming sharp like nails. Moments ago she had treated him decently, without real thought or care, now he had angered her, irritated her.
Her pale, uncolored lips moved again but still the man stared a moment, not registering that she had spoken, that she had asked him another question…finally his trance ended and he blinked, quickly coming to his senses. "My name, lady, is Ikamu."
The pink eyes narrowed in disgust. "Your name should be Sakana with the way you gape just like a fish—or Baka for your lack of intelligence." She half-growled.
Ikamu bit his tongue, held himself silent. He bowed slightly, mumbled something that he hoped was an apology, and cleared his throat to deliver the message that had been delivered from Lord Sesshomaru to Kentaro to Lord Sasugainu and then had finally passed into his keeping… "Lord Sesshomaru sends word that he will kill Inuyasha…"
Taikokajin sat up, paying close attention. The bright pink eyes glimmered in their mask of pale white, hope played in their depths.
"…But not when you, or anyone else, commands it."
The pink eyes narrowed dangerously and suddenly Taikokajin was anything but lovely or serene. She was a rumbling volcano of unrest—a promise of violence. Ikamu didn't risk turning his eyes on her again, merely waited for her to release him…chills coursed up and down his back as the time between his last words and his quick glance at her response to those words lengthened steadily.
A growl rose from her suddenly, and Ikamu could feel the waves of wrath rising from her, just as if the vibrations themselves were the emotion, reaching him through even the thick metal of his armor. Finally, just when he thought he couldn't restrain his shivers of fear any longer, she spoke.
"That bastard!" silently he gaped as the lady jumped to her feet, her long, dignified green and yellow kimono rippling about her elegantly in stark contrast to her irritated, jerky, stiffened steps. He risked looking up and saw that the pale face of distant, untouched beauty was now a reddened mask of fury.
Ikamu looked swiftly down again—but not before she'd caught his gaze. He could feel her bristling glare directed straight back at him. Fear blossomed within him as he wondered if she would slay the messenger for the message he carried…
It was that fear alone that spared Ikamu from Taikokajin's deadly and fierce wrath. She stared at him for a long moment, inhaling that terrified scent and her fury dissipated into mere anger once more. The messenger was a stupid fool, she thought—but more importantly he thought of her as a goddess and her emotion scared the hell out of him.
The mask of rage faded into simple annoyance and she barked impatiently at him, "Get out, damn you!"
Ikamu did exactly as she wished, stumbling over his feet, his armor weighting him down as he sprinted out of her court, out of her sight. It was only after he was gone that Taikokajin's face relaxed and took on a smug, smirking expression. Little fool, little wretched fool…and to think men consider themselves so proud and mighty…
She turned to where Mitori, the maid she'd chosen currently to attend her, was sitting, her timid gaze pointed at the floors. "Get dinner prepared, Mitori." She snapped, stomping past the small woman, "And summon Inuyasha's mate to attend."
"That fucking bitch!" the hanyou spat out, looking almost rabid as he began pacing in a fit of rage, unable to keep still. Obscenities began pouring from his mouth like vomit and Shimofuri cringed, knowing that soon, after the initial shock and rage wore off, the suspicion, the cursing, would be turned on him.
But for the moment the tirade continued—unceasingly aimed at his mother who was many miles away and completely unaware of his fury.
"That sneaky bitch sure as hell better not even touch Koinu or I'll fucking tear her ass to shreds! Damn that bitch! She thought she could try that kinda shit with me! I'll send her packing straight to hell so fast her head will be stuck in her ass!"
Inuyasha's blustering ceased and he seemed to have begun to think the situation over, pondering its different possibilities over in his head. His gaze was glazed over, unfocused. The golden orbs seemed muted momentarily, and Shimofuri decided to speak up, clearing his throat gently…it was a mistake.
There was a flash of movement as Inuyasha turned his stare on Shimofuri and his lips curled savagely. "You…"
"Inuyasha-ituko, I—" the said hanyou was unwilling to let the demon finish.
"You little shit!" his clawed hands fumbled for Tetsusaiga, ripped the legendary sword straight out of its sheath. There was a flash of light that momentarily spared Shimofuri from having to stare at his cousin as the hanyou came at him, shoulders hunched, eyes screaming for blood…
Well this seems to be ending badly…he noted that Inuyasha's eyes were flickering different colors, seeming to be caught between the normal amber and a orange-red shade that gave the half-demon a werewolf like look of bloodlust that made Shimofuri's guts clench up. Tsukiyume has never done anything like that before…as he watched a discoloration—one mark on each cheek—pulsed, alternately flashing and then fading away again. Shimofuri recognized them for what they were: the crests of a youkai. Inuyasha's demon blood marked him not as Sesshomaru's did, with two delicate maroon-purple streaks, but with single blue-purple slashes…like ripped and jagged flesh.
Though he doubted it would work, Shimofuri tried speaking reasonably to his cousin again—while backing away from him of course, "Inuyasha-ituko, I revealed to you what I did as a display of trust…"
"Fuck trust!" the hanyou snarled, but he did stop his approach, though Tetsusaiga was still drawn and glinting in the light dangerously. The youkai markings had faded and Inuyasha's eyes had taken on the usual amber appearance again. Shimofuri hardly dared to hope it meant his cousin was withholding foolish violence.
"I felt that you should know the truth, cousin." He bowed a little to Inuyasha, though accomplishing that was hard, considering that the half-demon was brandishing a very powerful sword and Shimofuri didn't want to be hewn down at such a tender age, "I felt you needed to know that my mother is not likely to hold true to her word."
Tetsusaiga was still held up high and threatening. "You coulda mentioned something a little earlier, ya think, Shimo-kun?" he snarled.
Shimofuri bowed more deeply this time, forcing himself to trust in the volatile hanyou to play fairly and not strike him when he was so vulnerable. "With this reaction from you it didn't seem wise."
That seemed to catch Inuyasha's attention. Tetsusaiga dropped, resting against the ground, and when Shimofuri looked up he noted that his cousin appeared dull, tired, almost…despaired? In the hanyou's sweat he could easily scent the exhaustion. Inuyasha fretted over his mate and child, his strained and stressed mind, his lack of sleep, his difficult position with Shimofuri and Taikokajin, the troublesome task of hunting a demon whose scent he couldn't seem to hold onto…abruptly Shimofuri pitied the hanyou, and found himself saddened too at the thought of his own losses—Tsukiyume, the father he had barely known, the human monk who'd fathered Tsuki…and his mother's treachery, the shame he felt growing inside at her actions.
A thought that he hated—but somehow couldn't deny—filtered through his mind as he stared at Inuyasha: We have both been wronged by the same woman here…my mother.
Shimofuri reached down to his belt and began to untie the black sash that held his own smaller, rapier-like sword in place, having come to a tough decision…
Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga uncertainly, "What are you doing, Shimo-kun?" he barked, scowling.
"I am leaving you, cousin, with my sword." He held up the sheathed blade for the hanyou to see, the sash still tied through it.
"And why is that?" Inuyasha's lips turned downward into an even fiercer scowl, "Where do you think you're going?"
Shimofuri cautiously tossed the blade—sheath and sash and all—just before the hanyou's feet. They landed in the dirt with a little cloud of dust. Inuyasha didn't spare the thing one glance.
"I am going to fins us both some fish, Inuyasha-ituko. My sword is your assurance that I am not leaving you and that I won't attack you while you are resting here."
"Feh! Like hell!" now he nudged the blade at his feet with a frown, unimpressed and disbelieving, "This little thing you'd leave with me in a second. Then you could go join that damn Lady Pink Bitch of yours…" he didn't add what they both, silently, knew he was thinking right after those words: and steal my pup away.
Shimofuri lifted his nose proudly into the air. "I would never stoop so low as to leave you after I have pledged my word to you. I will stay with you until my sister is rescued—you forget, cousin, that I had reason to stay with you through until the end." He pinned Inuyasha sternly with his gray-blue eyes, "And as for my blade—it is far from meaningless to me, and I would not give it up unless I were dead."
"How am I supposed to believe that?" Inuyasha demanded, growling irritably, though his amber gaze was interested and sharp—he wanted to accept what Shimofuri was saying as the truth.
"Look at the blade." The young heir ordered, his voice calm and expressionless, though his eyes were bright—too bright. As Inuyasha snatched up the sword and unsheathed it, reading the characters engraved on the base, Shimofuri explained it aloud, "It is Ribikou—the sword that my father forged for me."
Inuyasha sheathed the blade, nodding slightly. His ears twitched and flicked forward and backward, a silent show of his uncertainty. "Your father huh?" he grunted, "And where is he now…?" though the hanyou's keen stare on the inuyoukai made it clear that he already suspected…
Shimofuri lowered his gaze. "My father—Haiseishoku—is dead…"
"Yeah, sorry to hear that, so is my old man." The hanyou dropped Ribikou gently to the dirt just as Shimofuri startled him into looking back up with a deep, pained growl. He raised one eyebrow, "Shimo-pup?"
"You do not understand, Inuyasha-ituko." The young demon pursed his lips, "My mother killed my father for loving me, or so the rumors have always said."
Ears turned backward, face carved into a scowl; Inuyasha's mouth fell open, struggling to find something to say—but there was nothing. He could scent the pup's genuineness, his shame and grief. Only the very best of actors could have pulled off such an act, and from the way that Shimofuri's face often revealed the truth when he was trying so hard to lie, Inuyasha doubted his young cousin was a good actor at all. He would've trusted the demon with the first part of Ribikou's story alone—he knew that he'd never willingly leave Tetsusaiga with anyone else, though no one but he could touch it and use it. The unusual death of Shimofuri's father only added to Inuyasha's assurance…and to his distant but growing curiosity of the pup, as well as his obvious desire to cut down Taikokajin for her cruelty…
He sheathed Tetsusaiga, the sword slimming down into its untransformed, dinged up katana shape as it slid home. With noticeable respect he picked up Shimofuri's discarded Ribikou and began to tie the sash about his waist. "You might want to go hunt those fish up, Shimo-pup." He mumbled, quietly, "You and I have a lot to do still and—as I think you can understand—I want to get back to your Middle Lands and give your bitchy mother a little piece of my mind." He growled the last part out, unknowingly bearing his teeth at the sash as he finished tying it and looked up.
"Go on," he barked, seeing Shimofuri still watching him hesitantly, "I'll make a quick fire."
The bluish eyes narrowed at him, "Cousin, I am not foolish. Sleep."
Inuyasha crossed his arms, "Feh! You want your sword back or not, pup?" he threatened, though his amber gaze glinted with a docile annoyance that was bordering on amusement. "Now get going or I'll do it and I won't share pup."
Shimofuri nodded once, "As you wish, cousin…" the young inuyoukai turned his back on the hanyou and, for a moment, an invisible wind seemed to gust about his body…and then, where a young man had stood before a blue-black furred dog the size of a large horse now shook its pelt out.
For a moment Inuyasha blinked at the change—and wondered why Shimofuri was so much smaller than Sesshomaru was in his true form—but his mind drew blank when the dog glanced back at him over its big-fuzz covered shoulder. Despite himself the hanyou's white ears turned backward in an instinctually defensive manner and he scowled at the bright, intelligent dog's gaze.
"Get out of here pup—I'm not going to sleep damn it!"
The dog turned its head away from him, black fur glinting an almost iridescent blue in the dying sunlight, and loped off, following the course of the river into the darkened woods.
Endnote: I haven't noticed how many have reviewed lately...but I know it's A LOT! I'm going to do this as quickly as I can to get this posted, so my answers will be quick and short, if there's anything at all, but of course, as usual: THANK YOU EVERYONE!
The computer just ate a lot of my reviews...so this is going to be really brief, though I am glad to report that as of now my AOL is working for the moment...last time I posted for I Miss You yesterday I think it wasn't. Sorry about this...
THANK YOU: lynnie1-23 (What can I say? My bad...and she's weak, that's my only excuse.) SomeoneInThePastOfEarth, kirarakitty, Yami Chikara, sarah (soon...) SlummyRedDragon, InuAndMiroku'sGirl Sango, orangepencils (he's not Dracula exactly, but he does suck the life"blood" of hanyous, through their souls, so I guess he is a parasite...or just a tweaked Kikyo (smirks)) Tiamath (thank you!) Shikou(Don't be sorry! That you're contemplating fanart for my story is enough of an honor to me! I bow to you (and all others who've had plans of doing the same for this little story of mine) You honor me! I am unworthy!) Prophet WolfStar (Your review with the comment "I've got the pussy..." made me laugh so hard! It reminds me of a great joke that the computer ate when I was thanking reviewers the first time...(grumbles) so I'm low on time now, but someday I gotta share it with everyone, it's just a GREAT joke...) The Moonless Night (Never feel bad about the fanart...it's certainly not an assignment! I'm honored that anyone thinks about it even! Thank you!) Sesshomaru13 (she strikes back next chapter a little...) NefCanuck (hehe...and next chapter we get more of Rin! (winks)) angelpup, Inuadmirer (I'm glad I can help alleviate some of it...you read I Miss You? I can't recall seeing a review, but then again I'm not the smartest tool in the shed where memory is concerned...) froggiesrcool (hey! You reviewed SWFM Thank you! The pluralization thing I've been told about before...but my sense of grammar and anal-retentive English speaking heritage make me, out of habit partially, pluralize them that way...sorry (sheepish grin) Nice name, Froggies ARE cool too! I love 'em!) Simonkal of Inyu (thank you! Writing isn't a "gift" like my mother always tells me when she pushes me to get something published, it's actually something that can be practiced and improved, so, though styles may differ, you could very well write "as good as" me! There have been many times when I realize I stink at this--just the other night I was reading something of mine and cringing the whole way through...ugh...what you said about Koinu "biting the hell" out of Momo made me laugh! I could just about see it too...and more and more of my reviewers, yourself included, are seeing Taikokajin as crazy...all i can say about this is that I'm LOVING everyone's reactions...I wanna giggle right now just thinking about it...hehe...) Heather (hehe...you tagged her! Just wait till next chapter...) TheDarkAngel101, Bubba2007 (hey! Thank you! I hope to hear from you again soon! And don't worry, I didn't hear what you said (smirks)) fanfiction1 (hehe...just as you get caught up I post a new one! (shakes her head) if you like Tsuki now I think you'll adore her later...unless my current plot-plan dies before I write it, next chapter does twist my original plan a bit, but I saw the oppurtunity and took it...I'm babbling now but you'll get it later. I think you might be like my oldest reviewer...(shakes head again)...wow...and whee! More Rin next chapter!) Preview Time:
Shimofuri cut straight to the chase, remembering that time was of the essence. "Lady Rin, I must ask something of you…"
She smiled, grinning dazzlingly, genuinely amused at him. "Anything, Shimofuri-sama." She allowed the smile to change, twist into a tease, "You're the one who came and alerted me, after all, when my mate was so eager to stain the walls with blood again." (Tiamath I think it was your review that made me write Rin's comment here...(snickers))
Until next time!