-:-:-:-:-CHAPTER SEVENTEEN-:-:-:-:
It was about a couple hours past noon, and Sesshoumaru's and Kagome's conversation continued as they walked throughout the gardens.
"You are missing your fox kit, aren't you?" Sesshoumaru asked abruptly, Kagome was thrown off guard by the question; the conversation wasn't directed toward Shippou at all.
"Well um…yes, I miss him a lot." Kagome said quietly.
"Rin could use another friend She's a very sociable human…" Sesshoumaru started, looking at the miko for her reaction to his suggestion. Kagome's brightened face snapped up to his, her large eyes shining.
"You really mean it? I can get Shippou back?" She cried joyously. "Oh, thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Small arms wrapped around Sesshoumaru's waist in a quick hug but the next second they were gone. It didn't escape the taiyoukai that she added his honorary title for the first time…but he wouldn't think of that now.
"When can we go?" Kagome asked delightedly, her large sparkling brown eyes gazing at the stony, and emotionless taiyoukai in front of her.
"Whenever you want." He said simply, the faster the miko got happier the faster she would keep Rin's company again.
"I'll go pack my stuff, then!" Kagome cried, jumping in place a few times before bolting off to her rooms.
'What a strange one she is…' Sesshoumaru thought as he watched the miko slowly disappear from his sight and into the castle.
…
Kagome was breathing heavily as she rounded a corner in the castle to get to her rooms; upon arrival she stuffed a few extra kimonos in to her giant yellow backpack and heaved it onto her bed, then she left her room in thoughts of finding Miroku to ask him if he wanted to come, Akina was welcome too. Kagome was sure Ah-Un must have been healed up by now so they could carry a lot of people. She ran through the castle calling Miroku's name. Just as she was about to pass, he came out of a room Kagome knew as the library up ahead with Akina behind him.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" Miroku asked, worry in his voice.
"Where's Sesshoumaru?" Akina inquired, looking past Kagome in the castle corridor expecting to see the taiyoukai somewhere near.
"Nothing's wrong, guys. Sesshoumaru said we could go get Shippou! Do you two want to come with us?" the miko asked, looking back and forth between houshi and unicorn.
"Oh, of course! I was wondering what happened to Shippou, I didn't expect to be gone from the woods so long…well I didn't expect to be gone from the woods at all." Miroku said shamefully, and then he turned his deep purple eyes to Akina.
"You want to come too?" He asked her. Miroku told Akina about Shippou before and she was excited to meet the young fox youkai.
"Positively! Miroku told me about him, he's so cute by the way he described him!" Akina exclaimed, her large violet eyes shone in anticipation.
"Ok, well we're leaving ASAP, so get ready, ok?" Kagome said quickly and looked at them expectedly. Miroku and Akina just kind of stared at her.
"Uhm…Kagome? What does 'asap' mean?" Akina quizzically asked, cocking her pale golden head to one side and her delicate eyebrows came together in genuine confusion.
"Oh. Asap, A.S.A.P—as soon as possible. Get it?" Kagome explained quickly. "Now, shoo shoo!" she waved her hands at them, "Go get ready! We need to get Shippou!" Kagome exclaimed to her two friends that instantaneously spun around and hurried to their respective rooms.
"Come one, Miroku-kun!" Akina hollered back to the houshi who was panting to keep up with her speed, and she wasn't even going near her fastest. She ran back and latched her hand to his wrist and started running as fast as she could, they flew up flights of stair and past portraits of long-ago lords until the next second Miroku was standing at the twin double-doors of his room.
He teeter-tottered around a bit until he retained his ability to walk without making himself sick with dizziness. Directing himself to his room doors, he threw them both open quickly then looked around for that crazy unicorn, but she was nowhere in sight so Miroku guessed she was already in her room getting ready.
So he entered his room, dug through the closet for an extra robe, and quickly changed into it. Then he freshened up in the bathroom for a minute before he picked up his golden headed staff and started out of his room.
One single step out of the door and he was suddenly lifted off his feet in a bridal style by someone running faster than lightning itself. His hair whipped about, stinging his face, and his loose black and purple robes flapping violently in the passing wind.
"Ah! Unhand me, demon!" Miroku squealed, wriggling in the arms and raising his staff to strike.
"Hey, keep still, will you? Or you'll fall! And don't you dare hit me with that, Miroku!" Miroku heard Akina's voice say warningly. She stopped and let him down. She placed her hands on her hips, which were sticking out to one side, and her eyebrows where drawn down a bit in an accusing look.
"Kagome said she wanted us as fast as we could go!" She told him quickly, and then she added, "And no offence, but your pretty slow," Akina said, a deliberately innocent look on her sweet face.
"Huuuh!" Miroku breathed, placing a hand over his heart to calm its rapid beating. "Hey! Wait, I'm not slow!" Miroku said indignantly.
"Oh, Miroku! just c'mon! We have to go find Shippou!" She said, brushing past the houshi and clamping her small hand to his wrist again and dragging him behind her. A few seconds later she added on speed and soon had Miroku flying behind her, his body directly parallel to the castle floor. They ran and/or flew to the open Entrance Hall doors where Kagome was waiting with Sesshoumaru and little Rin standing next to her.
"We're here!" Akina called out, coming to a stop and setting Miroku down next to her who was slightly cross eyed and staggering with his robes hanging off one shoulder and his hair out of control. Not to mention he was missing one of his sandals.
Kagome and Rin burst out laughing and Sesshoumaru smirked and moved out of Miroku's way as the monk's knees gave out and he fell to the ground, his staff balancing upright on the marble floors for a few seconds before loudly following suit after its dazed owner.
"Whoops!" Akina said cheerfully and helped the houshi back to his feet, she disappeared for a second before returning with his sandal and fixed his robes. Miroku knelt down, still slightly swirly-eyed and yanked up his staff from the ground to help him keep his balance.
…
Once they where all packed up on Ah-Un everyone got on the two-headed dragon and Sesshoumaru summoned up his youkai cloud, he easily picked up Shippou's scent. But what he didn't tell the others of his group was that his idiot of a hanyou half-brother and the taijia and her demon cat where also with Kagome's kit.
oOo
Inuyasha, Sango, Shippou and Kirara slowed to a trot.
The hanyou they where relying on lost the scent of his older half brother, but Inuyasha didn't tell them this. Finally they stopped because a certain kitsune had to use the 'facilities'. As Inuyasha set him down, Shippou jumped from one fox-footed leg to another, his small face looking in this direction and that, searching for a suitable place to relieve himself.
"Wheretogowheretogowheretogo?" Shippou chanted until he finally settled on a spot and ran like the wind to it as if there was no tomorrow.
Sango chuckled and turned to the hanyou: the only friend she had left along with Shippou. Kirara was still on Inuyasha's shoulder. Sango frowned slightly and walked toward them.
"Kirara?" Sango called quietly, holding out her hand to her fire-neko. Kirara's eyes got bigger and the crème colored fur of her coat bristled up and the skin above her muzzle wrinkled in a snarl. Sango quickly withdrew her out stretched hand.
"Kirara…what's wrong?" Sango said nervously, and reached out her hand again.
Kirara hissed quite loudly and her usually soft fur now bristled violently on its end, she jumped from one of Inuyasha's shoulders to the next, getting farther away from her former mistress. Inuyasha looked weirdly at the neko sitting contently on his shoulder, then back Sango.
"Sorry, Sango." Inuyasha said.
"It's not your fault, Inuyasha. I just don't know what's gotten into her lately…" Sango trailed off and gazed at her former companion, the black striped tails of the neko where peeking out from behind the other side of Inuyasha's silver head.
"Aaah!" Shippou exclaimed, exiting the bushes from his potty break.
"So," Sango began, starting a new topic, "Which direction are we headed in, Inuyasha?" Sango asked
"Eeer…" Inuyasha mumbled guiltily and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh I don't really know…I…I lost his scent." Inuyasha mentally cursed himself.
'How could I have lost that bastard's scent? He was so close! It must have gotten blown away, it is pretty windy…and it was some time ago…' Inuyasha thought. Suddenly… 'Wait…that's it!' Inuyasha straightened his back until he was fully extended and took a few good whiffs from the surrounding air.
"Wait, I got him!" The hanyou cried triumphantly to the others. "Kagome…Miroku…Rin—blech, and Jaken! And a female I don't recognize." Inuyasha said excitedly, this time he crouched down and allowed Sango on his back and took the fox kit in his arms along with Kirara who was still keeping her distance from Sango.
oOo
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin yelled at the taiyoukai, the rapidly passing wind effectively drowning her voice. "How much longer?" She cried. They had been flying for hours! Sesshoumaru, who was a good ten feet in front of the two headed dragon, let his lead fall until he was standing on his cloud side by side of the dragon youkai. He reached over and put his hands under her arms and lifted her off of the dragon and he set her on his waist. He smiled down at her—a warm smile.
"Not much longer now, Rin." He assured her and took a delicate sniff of the passing air; it was hard to catch a scent so high and moving so fast in the air, in fact, only high class demons could even attempt to. Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose slightly at his half brother's scent.
'When does he ever take a bath? Once a month?'
"Is Kagome-chan going to be happy again when we find Shippou-chan?" Rin asked innocently, interrupting his thoughts and looking happily up at her foster father with her large brown eyes.
"Yes, Rin. When she gets her son, she'll be happy again." He told her, looking ahead and sniffing the air again to make sure they where still going in the right direction, Sesshoumaru knew his weak little half brother already picked up his scent and was making his way to them as they spoke.
"Son?" the little girl asked, "Rin did not know Kagome-chan had a son. Who is Kagome-chan's mate?" The girl as innocently
"She doesn't have a mate, Rin" Sesshoumaru replied smoothly, "the kitsune is her foster son, like you are my foster daughter." He explained patiently.
"Oh, I get it." Rin said, catching onto the analogy of Sesshoumaru and herself.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome yelled at the demon next to her. "How much longer?" the miko repeated Rin's question, not hearing the answer he gave her. Sesshoumaru thought it undignified to yell in return so he set Rin back down next to her after telling her to relay to Kagome what he'd said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama said we are close!" She screamed into the wind, her hair blowing over her face.
'good.' Kagome thought. 'Here I come, Shippou.'
oOo
"Don't worry, Kagome. I'm coming to save you!" Inuyasha said to himself, his voice drowned out by the passing air whistling in their ears. In his arms Kirara mewed happily, Shippou yawned in his sleep, and Sango was also contently drowsing, her face pressed gently onto his back.
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A/N: Thanks for reading!
JA NE!