Chapter Three: Acceptable
A/N: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its character.
A/N part 2: And sine some of you have expressed concerns on the reason behind the youkai being in cages I'll answer it! ^^ It's not meant to be derogatory to them, or to say that they have been cruelly captured by humans, I honestly only meant this whole little story to be taken in a humorous way. There really isn't any grand reason why, I just thought it could be good conditions for funny chapters and it will give me good, quick, funny little things to write when I'm in a writing mood and can't think of anything to write! :D If you like, imagine that the youkai have become bored with their long lives and decided to allow themselves to be contained for a change of pace. If you like! ;) As I said there really isn't any reasoning!
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Kagome and Sango both groaned in irritation as they worked in the kappa exhibit. For some reason the youkai were all a bit disgruntled today, and the kappas were no exception to that.
As she got yet another piece of fruit slapped to her bare leg she stomped her foot, scolding the angry kappa before her.
"Jaken! I don't care if you're having a mood swing, you are being ridiculous! Now stop this at once!" She turned her glare to the rest of the group. "And that goes for all of you!"
A loud and high-pitched protest met her ears as more food was slung in her direction. The only good thing was that because the kappa were all so small they really could only reach her legs. Of course that didn't mean she was happy about her bare legs being slime-ified with old fruit juices and the like.
"Kagome, let's just get out of here. If they're gonna be little jerks than we don't have to deal with them. Just let them have their food and let's get out," she called from across the small swampy exhibit.
"Yeah, let's go." She gave one more little glare to the squealing kappa before her before turning and stomping away.
As they left the exhibit they were both silent, feeling in the pits of their stomachs that today was going to just be one of those days. And it wasn't even a Monday.
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They headed next to the wolf exhibit. They both walked in with two buckets each, since there was a large group of wolves to feed. It was actually one of their largest exhibits, mostly because the alpha of the pack had insisted on his entire pack being included.
As they neared the feeding area outside of the den a burst of wind brushed by, as was customary, and Kagome found her hand firmly encased in another's. She frowned, looking down at the spilt bucket in the dirt.
"Kagome! It's been too long!"
"Ah yes, because lunch was such a long time ago," she mumbled. "Koga, can you please release me?"
"And how is my mate-to-be?" He grinned feral at her.
"I've told you before, Koga, I'm not your mate-to-be and I'm sorry but I can guarantee you I won't ever be." She knew it would fall on deaf ears, as it did every day she brought them their food. He held onto her hand, leading her to the feeding area. Sango snorted as she followed behind.
"Kagome!" came twin cries as Ginta and Hakaku ran forward to greet the miko.
"Hi guys," she smiled, genuinely happy to see the two. They weren't nearly as pig-headed as Koga was. But as they neared Koga wrapped an arm around her possessively and began to growl at them.
What the hell? she thought, irritated.
They backed away, taking the hint from their alpha, but some of the others came out as well hearing the sounds. His growls only heightened as he released her to stand before her. Rubbing the bridge of her nose she took a hold of Sango's arm and led her away while he was unawares, leaving the food buckets where they had been standing.
"Come on Sango, I give up."
"Yeah, what the heck got into him?" She looked back at the snarling pack as they walked away.
"Must be having a mood swing," she mumbled a reply, feeling tired already.
"Hm."
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The girls were so busy feeding the youkai their dinners that they barely had time to eat their own. They shoveled it down quickly before heading back to work once more, electricity in the air around the zoo.
"Ugh, I really don't wanna feed Naraku today, Sango…"
Sango patted her sympathetically on the shoulder, a sad smile on her face.
"I know, Kagome, I know. But like the Tai, he won't take food from anyone else either. He's got high standards."
"Riiiight," she groaned. "Is that what you call it? The little horn-toad."
"Well he does have a thing for you. Part of the reason why he's here I think."
"Ugh, don't remind me. I never should have gone to help out at the other zoo. He never would have followed me here then."
Sadly, Naraku wasn't originally at their zoo. Kagome had gone to fill in for a sick worker at another zoo for a week and while she was there apparently he had taken quite a liking to her. He'd actually requested to be sent to their zoo after that and was immediately shipped out. He seemed to think he was entitled to whatever he wanted and that being the case he expected as much.
"Poor, poor Kagome," Sango sighed.
They prepared his food, quite carefully since he was very picky, and headed into his exhibit.
Kagome tried to creep in quietly, but Sango didn't bother trying, knowing it was pointless. Naraku had a 'Kagome radar'.
And sure enough within moments he was there before her, but today he was anything but happy to see her. His nose was clamped delicately between two fingers, a frown on his handsome face.
"What is it that you reek of?" His tone was arrogant.
"Excuse me?" Sighed Kagome as she set down his bucket.
"You reek. Of kappa and rotten fruit. And wolves." He turned up his nose at them, sneering as he ambled closer, burying himself further in his pelt.
Kagome leveled a flat stare at him. So now she reeked, did she?
With a twitch of his nose he sighed.
"Well at least you do not smell of Inu. That would surely dampen my mood today."
"Are you saying you were in a good mood before?" she asked, frowning.
"I must admit I was looking forward to seeing you," he muttered airily as he began to walk away. "But now I think I wish you had not come." He disappeared in the trees and Kagome and Sango looked at one another, their eyes dulling.
What was next?
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They both ran from the exhibit, panting, as they shut the doors quickly. The dragons were quite unhappy today. When the Inu Tai had come along he brought with a two-headed dragon, who still wasn't used to any of the workers or handlers.
Today when they went to bring it its food it quite literally charged them, having just woken up.
Kagome groaned in frustration, stomping her foot.
"I'm so sick of this! What is wrong with everyone today?"
Sango leaned her head back against the door, her eyes closed.
"I am so done with today. Can it be Friday yet?"
Kagome hummed in agreement.
"Yeah, but you know we don't get weekends off anyways. And Saturdays are the busiest days."
"I know, but for some reason Fridays seem so much better…"
"Yeah."
"Well at least we only have one more left."
"Oh that's right, the Tai. Thank goodness."
They both trudged along, anxious for the day to be over with.
When they entered his exhibit with his food they both settled in the clearing, leaning against each other's shoulders as they waited.
"Oh this place feels so peaceful," Sango murmured, her eyes half-lidded.
"Mmm, I like it here. It's my new favorite place," agreed Kagome, her head bobbing a little.
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When he entered the clearing intent on his dinner he stopped in his tracks, for there were both of the women, asleep where they sat, leaning their heads against each other's. They both breathed softly as they dozed, their hair blending together over their shoulders.
He observed them as he sat and ate his food, noting the similarities and the differences. Where his preferred caretaker had soft, delicate features the other had slightly rougher features. She was of course just as humanly attractive, but in a different way. He observed the calluses on her hands and decided that she must indeed be of rougher quality than his miko.
Hearing a soft sigh come from said miko, he turned to observe her once more. A bit of her bangs covered her eyes and he itched to move them, but ignored his impulses. If she wished to have imperfectly trimmed hair then so be it. With a raised eyebrow he watched as both girls slowly fell back onto the grass, still completely out. He couldn't deny how odd it was that they seemed so comfortable in the midst of a dangerous predator such as him. He nearly smirked. Nearly.
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A soft murmur drifted to his ears and from the slightly quickening heart rate he could tell that the miko was waking.
Kagome stretched in her spot, rubbing her cheek on her shoulder and yawning before she remembered where she was. She sat up rather slowly, shaking Sango's shoulder who simply ignored it and continued to snooze, rolling onto her other side.
As she reacquainted herself with the world surrounding her she glanced about, her eyes landing placidly on the youkai nearby.
"Good evening," came his deep rumble.
"Mmm good evening," she murmured. "Have you been there long?"
"Hnn."
She glanced over at his food bucket.
"Oh, did you eat it all already?"
She heard a sound come from him then that could only have been a chuckle.
"You have been asleep for quite a while."
"What? Really?" She glanced down at her watch, and her eyes widened. It had been two hours! "Crap, we're probably gonna get in trouble for that, sleeping on the job and all."
"You seemed to require the rest."
Kagome chuckled as she ran a hand through her hair, straightening the mess.
"You have no idea. Today was just one of those days, if you know what I mean."
He nodded.
She sighed as she stretched her long legs, reaching for her toes.
"Ohhh you've really got a nice place here. I have to admit this is my favorite exhibit. It's further away from the others, more solitary, and there's more space here."
Again he nodded.
"It is acceptable."
She chuckled to herself at his answer.
"I suppose it's really not that great, being here, huh?"
"It is acceptable," came his reply with a miniscule smirk.
"Is there anything that you would like, or prefer? I can usually get anything others ask for. Kaede, that's the owner of the zoo, likes me a lot. Considers me her grand-daughter. So if you have anything that you want, just let me know."
He was silent for a moment before he glanced at the bucket near his foot. Following his gaze, Kagome took his hint.
"I'll see what I can do," she smiled.
"Hn."
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The next day, Kagome was all smiles as she entered the Tai's exhibit, a package and a blanket in her arms.
Unsurprisingly, he was there waiting for her, curious perhaps with what she would do, or bring.
She smiled and sat down her package before spreading out the blanket. Afterwards she opened the package, which to his intrigue turned out to be a large bento box, several tiers tall. After it was all set out she sat on the edge of the blanket and looked at him, waiting.
There was a strange happiness in her smile, something that he wasn't used to in his life. It was genuine.
Taking the hint, he moved closer, kneeling on the blanket.
"I wasn't sure what you would like, so I made food that I liked and even mixed in some raw meat for you, just in case. But I figured it would be better than a bucket," she giggled to herself.
"Hn." She offered him a pair of chopsticks and began to dig in herself, plucking food from different containers and delicately eating them, one by one. Truthfully he was pleased with her table manners. She wasn't crude and sloppy like his half-brother or even like most humans in this time and day.
He glanced at all of the different food options before selecting a piece, chewing it slowly to allow the flavors to speak for themselves.
"Did you make this?"
She glanced up, seemingly surprised that he spoke.
"Hm? Oh! Most of it, my mother helped me with the onigiri simply because they take time to mold."
"Hn."
"Do you…like it?"
A smirk that she was beginning to see as customary with him adorned his beautiful face. And she already knew what he was going to say.
"It is…acceptable."
A/N: Well hopefully you guys liked it! As always, R x R! :D