Chapter two

Inuyasha braced himself for the tackling from three little children. The first crawled out from under a table and ran forward, wrapping his arms around Inuyasha's waist. This one was the oldest, Imek. He was nine years of age and already held Inuyasha's appearance, with his long silver hair and his sharp copper eyes and dog-ears. The second to appear was the smallest, Fujita. Kagome's little girl, with her black hair but was cut short, she had her dark eyes but also possessed the dog-ears, but also had a long tail to match. It wagged happily as she hugged Inuyasha's leg, since she was only three that's all she could reach. The last was the middle child, the quite one. Jiro, who was only of the age six, he was the independent one, he had not silver or white, but gray hair that tied back into a small pony-tail on top the back of his head. He showed no sign of being a quarter dog-demon; his ears weren't pointed, but rounded much like Kagome's. His eyes were bright blues, but nothing seemed odd or out-of-place in his irises or pupils much like normal Yokai would have. He bared no fangs or claws, birthmarks or furry limbs or extensions. All in all, he seemed the most human of the bunch.

Jiro came out of the kitchen and smiled. "Dad!" He ran up and gave him a quick hug. "I was just helping Miroku-sama in the kitchen." Even at his age, he had a strange dexterity to cook, he himself did most of the cooking for the family, but not by chore, by choice.

"Oh no," Inuyasha groaned as he began to walk into the kitchen, leaving the kids to grapple Michiyo. Inuyasha turned the corner to see Miroku going to town on an eel. "Miroku, why don't you wait until Jiro fixes dinner for us, you are destroying it more that skinning it." Inuyasha said as he neared him.

"Well I have to learn sometime." Miroku replied sighing as he placed the knife down. "I don't think Sango wants to cook now that she's pregnant with our fourth child." He said with a soft sigh. "She's tired most of the time, I want her to relax some."

"Yeah, Kagome was the same way with our third pup." Inuyasha said as he examined the ruined eel. "But I really do think you should let Sango do the cooking, yours will kill her." He picked at the eel, chopped and cut in some parts and unscathed in the other. "I don't even think Jiro could save this."

"Ok, I get it." Miroku hung his head in defeat.

Giggles and laughter were heard in the other room as the kids played with Michiyo. "Over here, Michi-chan!" And, "Let's go outside, we can play tag!" were heard, along with the sound of the doors sliding open. Michiyo willingly let herself be dragged along by the totters as she smiled at them brightly. She enjoyed playing with her cousins as much as they enjoyed playing with her. The children had a sort of attachment to her, not that it bothered Michiyo any. They had known Michiyo all of their lives and just accepted her as a part of their family, not that they knew any better. Michiyo loved that they had accepted her, it made her feel belonging and needed. It was nice to know that even though she never knew her father, there were still people out there that were willing to call her a part of their family and loved her. She was grateful for the home that Inuyasha had given her, though she sometimes missed her 'mother' but she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay for long. A human couldn't raise her and give her proper training and other essentials, though she knew that the woman had loved her, it just wasn't enough. Knowing this, the woman let Inuyasha take care of her, and looks forward to Michiyo's occasional visits.

As they stepped outside, they noticed somebody coming into the front gate, a man who seemed just a couple years older than Michiyo herself. He had a sandy orange hair color that he tied into a ponytail with a turquoise ribbon and bright green eyes. He wore a turquoise Kimono top with white leaves printed all over it, with a fur vest over it, while he wore navy blue bottoms and walked on fox-like legs.

He smiled and waved when he saw Michiyo. "Hi there, Michi-chan."

Michiyo smiled and waved back as the kids mulled him. "Shippou! Shippou!" They yelled in excitement. "Will you play house with us?"

"Well," Shippou said with a slight blush. He and Michiyo knew that they would be paired up as 'Mommy and daddy', as always. He glanced at Michiyo, who had a sheepish smile spread out on her face, and just shrugged agreeably in response; she had no intention to disappoint the pups, seeing how she's hardly ever around for them. It made her feel guilty, which was her excuse to doing pretty much whatever they wanted her too.

"Alright, I guess we owe you that much." Shippou admitted with a small sigh. He looked up at Michiyo with an embarrassed look. "Shall we go, Mom?"

"Ready when you are, Dad." She walked over to them and they all ran into the yard where they 'built' an imaginary house, with invisible furniture and food all built in. While the children ran around the yard, Shippou and Michiyo felt absolutely ridiculous; Shippou was seventeen the very next day and felt silly to be married to Michiyo in a little child's game. And Michiyo who was now fourteen was married to Shippou, of all people while riding an invisible horse to 'work' as a baker—that's what the pups decided for her—in a game of house, which she was clearly too old for.

It wasn't like she hated Shippou, in fact; it was the complete opposite. She had always admired him and enjoyed his company. She was close to Inuyasha and Kagome, but the one that she trusted most, the one she talked to when she was feeling down was Shippou. She would consider him her best friend, but whenever she thought about it, it made her cheeks flare up suddenly, a notion she never really understood. Was she just embarrassed to admit that she had a boy as her friend? But she couldn't understand what was so bad about that. She didn't understand her own feelings so well, she wasn't afraid to admit that. Sometimes Inuyasha would tease her about Shippou, but he wouldn't exactly state what he was teasing her about. She tried to ask him but he only responded "don't play dumb, you know what I mean." And then he would leave with a wink. It made Michiyo mad that she didn't understand herself or anybody else, for that matter. But for now she cast these things away, and concentrated on going to work on her imaginary horse while her 'husband' stayed at home and took care of the kids, though she didn't understand while it had to be her that had to do the hard labor.

After hours, she finally gave up and told the pups she was tired, Shippou as well. They ignored their whines and headed inside. They ate a quick meal and had some tea before Michiyo decided she would go on a walk in the forest. She headed to the door before Inuyasha caught her.

"Where are you going off to so late?" He asked. He was beginning to sound more like her father than her uncle, not that she knew what her father would sound like.

"I'm just going for a walk, uncle."

"Well take Shippou with you."

"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself!" Michiyo argued. But Inuyasha wouldn't have it. He called over Shippou and asked him if he would go on a walk with Michiyo. Over the years Inuyasha has matured, it only showed in the most inconvenient times.

The sudden thought of being alone with Shippou in the forest at night set her heart off like no other. She clutched her chest, as her face grew red out of confusion and some other emotion she couldn't get a name on. She looked down at the ground as she tried to catch her breath when she heard his paws patting the ground as he stepped closer to her.

"Are you ready?" He asked when he noticed her looking down, clutching her kimono. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you ok?"

Michiyo jerked her head up and looked at him, the crimson on her cheeks began to spread across the rest of her face. "Yes." She stuttered. "Let's go." She then turned and slid the door open, practically storming out of the house. She walked fast, as if she expected she could run away from this feeling. She could hear him catching up as she opened the gate, her heart beat faster and for some reason, she began to run. She pumped her legs and ran into the forest, jumping over tree roots and fallen trees. She could hear a call behind her from Shippou, but she kept running. Why am I doing this? He's my friend! She thought as she closed her eyes; big mistake, seeing as how she couldn't stop her legs from running. Her foot caught a small root and she came tumbling down. She let out a yelp as the branch bent her ankle in an uncomfortable way. She lay there with her arms over her head as if Shippou wouldn't be able to see her that way. This is silly! She told herself.

Soon enough, Shippou was kneeling down beside her.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he gingerly turned her over.

"Ow!" She yelped as the root twisted her ankle. Shippou carefully pulled on her foot to get it out of the loop. Michiyo flinched but held her pain in.

"Can you walk?" He asked as he helped her up. His hands hovered around her to catch her if she fell. Michiyo put a bit of weight on her left foot. She gave out another yelp and pulled it back suddenly, catching her off balance as she fell over. Her heart nearly stopped as Shippou caught her, wrapping his arms around her holding her close for a second before letting lose a bit.

"Sorry," Michiyo said softly into his chest.

"It's alright. We should go back to the house."

"No, I wanted to go for a walk and that's just what I'll do." She pulled herself out of his arms and began to limp away, wincing with every step, but otherwise pretending it didn't hurt.

She held her breath as Shippou crept up behind her and picked her up gently in his arms.

I guess alot happened in this chapter " I hope I did ok on this one. We get to see how this does in chapter three!