A/N For all of you that wanted me to continue Kagome's Candy, here you are. I wasn't sure how to continue this at first, so I decided the best way is to just write short stories. This one is about Kirara mostly. It's called HEAT.
A loud THWAK! echoed through the forest, causing numerous birds, that had perched for the evening, to take to the skies in a noisy cacophony of feathers and wings. The sound was followed by an indignant "Owww!"
For within the clearing, there stood a very red-faced taijiya holding her massive weapon at the ready. Her brown eyes beamed daggers at the crouched lump of red fire-rat skin covered with white - silver hair and topped with pointy ears that were flattened down. A pink lump was gradually making an appearance among those unruly tresses as the slayer's angry voice chastised her hanyou comrade, "I told you to stop annoying Kirara!"
There was a grumble as a clawed hand moved over the pink bump and drew away quickly as a wince of pain came forth. By now, the hanyou was clearly upset. Rising to his full height, he growled and pointed an accusing finger at the innocent-looking kitty that merely mewed sweetly. "All I did was sniff your damn bakeneko! You didn't have to hit me that hard!"
Shippo, who was perched at a safe distance from the drama- on a purple clad shoulder, folded his arms into his sleeves in contemplation. Sure, Kirara was suddenly smelling very... interesting... but he really didn't understand why the idiot hanyou kept bothering her.
The shoulder the kitsune had sought shelter and protection from suddenly moved as the monk it was attached to decided a new venue was a good idea. The jingle of the rings on his staff told those in proximity that he was making his way toward the commotion.
Shippo knew that where this monk was headed was not likely somewhere he wanted to go. The fluffy- tailed youngster abandoned his perch and used the opportunity to poke the cooking fire back to life. "It always takes forever for Kagome to bathe." The kitsune noticed that during Kagome's ritual of bathing before meals, she often forgot to either stoke the fire or feed it. The result was either raw or burnt- and he preferred neither.
The miko was still enjoying her cleaning session, unaware of the trouble brewing at camp. Sure, Sango was being unusually protective of Kirara lately, but Inuyasha's blatant curiosity was even more odd. Normally the hanyou wouldn't even spare a second glance to the neko youkai, mostly because she was a cat after all, but for the last 2 days the dog had been sniffing after her, literally... well... like a dog.
Said hanyou finally decided not to pressure the issue anymore and had opted for a wide limb on a tree at the edge of camp. White ears twitched and swiveled, revealing he was still restless, but the rest of his body, mostly the knot on his head, refused to attempt even once more in fear of that damn youkai bone. The thing smarted!
Lavender eyes turned from the hanyou to the slayer and then back again. This was a puzzle for sure. Why was Kirara suddenly so delicate that she needed Sango to protect her so fiercely?
In her little kitty form, Kirara was slinking toward the edge of camp as stealthily as possible, hoping to draw as little attention as possible.
Two of the companions were too busy not speaking to one another. One was more concerned about his dinner burning than to notice the object of all the irritation was slinking away. And all of them knew the monk was more concerned with groping the slayer's rear end than anything that was going on.
"My dearest Sango," the lecherous monk reasoned, "What has Inuyasha done that should cause you to give him that terrible injury?"
To his surprise, the taijiya did not vent or elaborate. Instead she glared daggers at him before stomping off to a tree near where her and Kagome had bedded down for the night. Once there, she leaned hiraikotsu against it before joining Shippo at the fire. Stumped by the angry reaction, the monk looked to the hanyou.
Golden eyes were facing the opposing direction of camp. If he was asleep, none of them noticed.
The monk realized this was going nowhere. As he moved back to his place at camp, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the jingle of the rings on his staff.
For a time, uncomfortable silence settled over the camp. All the inhabitants wished that the Shikon Miko would return soon.
The silence sat around them for a good five minutes as the bakeneko continued to slink toward the dark edges of the woods.
Finally Shippo steeled his little nerves and sucked in a deep breath. The question had to be asked. His voice came out much braver than he felt. "Why does Kirara smell different?"
When the innocent little kitsune received no response, he felt it an invitation to continue his questioning. "I know she smells like a cat, but that's not what I mean. I mean... she doesn't smell like Kirara- don't get me wrong, she still smells nice! She always smells nice... but... why does she smell different?"
Sango froze. She couldn't be upset at little Shippo for being curious... but she also did NOT want to be the one to explain this.
The kit continued to ask questions and back pedal as soon as they came out, but all Sango could do was stand there like a statue it seemed.
White cascading hair did not move an inch in the warm evening. It seemed the hanyou couldn't be troubled with this one, but lavender eyes slid to the side to observe the scene at the fire.
Sango seemed petrified, until welling tears reflected the evening sun as it set. Thoughts and fears tumbled together in the taijiya's head and one particular fear became overwhelming.
In a flash, Sango was gone, leaving the Kitsune to wonder what caused her to leave so fast. Shippo looked at the noodles that had been cooking and noticed they were done. Grabbing a bowl, the kitsune looked at the monk pleadingly. One lavender eye winked, letting the kit know that Miroku would not reveal the status of dinner to the hanyou until Shippo had at least eaten one bowl.
~0~
Sango sucked back the tears many times before she came to the clearing by the river where her friend was bathing.
The miko heard a rustling near the treeline and pulled her shirt to cover her naked front. Kagome barely had time to bathe most days much less clean a few of her clothes. Thinking it was either the monk or the inu hanyou, she weighed it out. If it was the monk, there was precious little she could do aside from yelling his ear off and telling Sango. If it was the hanyou...
"SIT BOY!" she shouted.
A loud crash was heard a distance away followed by loud cursing and a question, "What'd ya do that for, huh?!"
Her eyes squinted cutely as she raised her hand and waved it dismissively in his direction. Then followed it with, "Oh, I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I thought it was a perv."
A pathetic groan followed as response.
At that moment, a very sad looking taijiya made an appearance from the bushes. Brown eyes scanned the waterline before resting on her friend. Tears welled before spilling down her cheeks.
"Sango!" Kagome called to her friend, "what's wrong?"
To the young milko's astonishment, the taijiya threw herself into a hug with the very naked and still-in-the-water miko, saturating her clothing as she burst into tears. With a very bewildered look, Kagome comforted Sango, hugging her back.
"What brought this on?" she asked as she racked her brain for any time she had ever seen her beloved friend, a seasoned warrior, loose her emotions like this. Also, it made her question who she would have to either sit through the center of the earth, or beat to a pulp.
Finally the taijiya pulled back and hiccupped a bit from the sobs, "I… it's Ki-Ki-Ki… Kira-ra…"
Kagome pushed back further and nearly scoffed at the idea of Kirara doing anything to upset her friend so. "Kirara?" the miko questioned incredulously.
A few more sobs came as she nodded, not even noticing she was hip deep in steaming water, soaking her demon slaying outfit. "Sh-she-she's… in… h-h-e-heat."
At this, the miko prompted, "Why is that causing you to cry?"
Sango couldn't get mad at Kagome for not understanding. After all, she was trying to help. She hadn't planned on falling apart like this. Her father would be so ashamed of her! The thought brought fresh tears to her eyes, but it helped her to gather the pieces of herself together again. With a deep breath, she explained, "Kirara's instincts will take over. She needs to find a male fire cat to…"
"What made Kirara hot?" a small voice interrupted the two females.
Kagome ducked low, about to shout the word and cause an unwitting hanyou to kiss the ground, before she realized it was just Shippo. JUST SHIPPO! her mind screamed. JUST SHIPPO ASKING ABOUT KIRARA IN HEAT!
The kitsune came through the underbrush and bounded to them. Once he was standing on the water's edge, he blinked his big, innocent green eyes and pursued, "What made Kirara hot?"
Before thinking it through, Kagome corrected, "Shippo, Kirara isn't hot, she's in heat."
Scrunching his little nose, he wondered what on earth was the difference. Kagome nearly face palmed now that she thought it through.
"Shippo," Sango corrected through her tears, "it means that Kirara is wanting to find a boyfriend so they can ask the Kamis to give them babies." The taijiya mentally gave herself a pat on the back for that explanation, certain it would appease the young kitsune's curiosity without giving him any more detail than necessary.
Green eyes rounded largely as he replied, "Oooh," seemingly understanding now.
He then looked at the taijiya and her fully clothed self, hip deep in the water that was steaming around her. Shrugging, he guessed that the reason behind the tears and the bouts of anger from the woman was that she was jealous. Maybe she was trying to get into heat by going into the water.
He beamed at Sango brightly as he came up with a response, "So, if you want to get her out of heat, just give her a bath in the river, Sango." The kitsune gave himself a mental cheer, thinking he had solved the problem.
Kagome chortled and responded, "It doesn't work that way Shippo."
"No?" he asked and watched as both women shook their heads sadly. He huffed and kicked a rock on the path. "Aawe," he whined. "I thought that if that would work for Kirara, maybe it would work for Miroku, too."
At this, Kagome laughed out loud, nearly falling over. Sango tried valiantly tried to hold in her laughter, but when a mere snort escaped, the battle hardened demon slayer erupted into laughter. Her mind conjured images of the group lifting and carrying Miroku to a source of water and then tossing the hentai monk in the river that ran off the mountainside- it should be cold enough.
At the raucous laughter coming from his two traveling companions, the kitsune was at least glad he made them happy again. He was only further confused by Kagome wailing in laughter, "They do tell men to take a cold shower!"
Sango was confused by the word "shower", but knew what the meaning was. Allowing the respite and healing power behind their shared laughter, the taijiya allowed a new fit of giggles to bubble out.
The confused look on Shippo's face brought their attention to him as he asked, "If it doesn't work that way, why are you in the water?"
Sango looked down at her now drenched clothing and a new fit of giggles burst forth. She replied through tears of laughter, "I-I.. don- don't… know!"
Shippo gave up. He would never understand this. As far as he knew, Kirara was hot and needed a boyfriend to cool her down, Sango was not hot and wanted to be, Miroku would be amusing in a cold river, and only men could take "cold showers" to stop being hot. The kitsune decided to leave the miko and taijiya to their amusement.
After the laughter died down, Kagome asked, "So, what is this about Kirara in heat?"
Sango's face fell and she responded sadly, "Well, she will leave to find a male fare cat to begin a family." The taijiya pulled herself from the water and began to remove her soaked clothing and at least wring it out. Tears began to pool in her brown eyes as she loosened the bindings on her saturated boots. "She will leave me and I will never see her again." With this, the taijiya began to openly weep.
Kagome had pulled herself from the water and wrapped her body in a fluffy towel, hair still dripping from the thorough wash she had given it. Her bangs were already beginning to puff out. Forgoing getting dressed in favor of comforting her friend, Kagome came to Sango and pulled her into a hug as her mind mulled over the problem. The demon slayer seemed to know so much about demons, so what she said must be true, but Kagome still felt this small demanding voice in the back of her mind saying that this simply wasn't so.
After a time, Sango's sadness ebbed and Kagome took this as her cue to get dressed. As she pulled out a pair of cotton pajama bottoms, her undergarments and a top, her thoughts kept returning to the thought that under all that demonic flare, Kirara was a fire cat. Images of her overfed, overly lazy cat Buyo stalking around the grounds in his carefree manner kept assaulting her mind. At this point, she was pulling her bottoms on as her free hand reached for the short sleeve top, her cat owner brain had put two and two together. Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth as she decided how to begin the discussion. "We better get back to camp. Inuyasha is probably ready to chew on tree bark… I hope the noodles haven't burned again," she suggested, earning a somber nod from the taijiya.
As they began the trek back to the campsite, the sneaky Kirara was just crossing the path, thinking she was home free. The powerful nose of the hanyou had not discovered her missing scent- either that or he didn't want to get a hiraikotsu to the head again. Just as she was about to dash off to discover the scent of a male bakeneko nearby, she bumped into something hard and strong, like a thin tree. Before she could utter a disappointed mew as her eyes caught sight of what she ran into, her taijiya friend and master had lifted her from the ground and tucked her in her arms.
"Kirara," Sango admonished, "you shouldn't sneak off like this."
Kagome saw the longing look in their friend's kitty eyes as she uttered a defeated meow. This was too much. She had to set them straight. Clearing her throat, Kagome began to speak, "You know I have a cat at home, too, right?"
Sango turned curious brown eyes to her friend and nodded, wondering where this was going. Kirara was beginning to struggle to be free, but Sango only gripped tighter.
"Well, Buyo, that's his name… well, he's lazy and fat, but he's still a cat," she explained. Deciding that walking helped her think, she began to move again down the path, the taijiya walking as well. "Buyo likes to disappear when he hears another cat mrowing or if a female cat comes around. He'll be gone for a day or two, but he always comes back home. Cats… well, they don't mate for life." At the thought of further explanation, the miko gave a crimson blush as she finished, "They do what they do and then they go their separate ways. The female raises the kittens, but she comes back home."
The two females came back to the campsite, both engrossed in their conversation. Miroku, having a better sense for the female mind, even though he was an incurable hentai, immediately noticed a grumpy, white haired hanyou stalking toward the two. It was more than obvious he was going to complain about being hungry and say something stupid, causing Kagome to make him kiss dirt. It was also obvious the miko was helping the upset Sango to calm down- and a less agitated Sango meant less lumps for this hentai monk. Stopping Inuyasha in his tracks, the monk came up with a brilliant idea, "Inuyasha, we have been eating ningen food quite frequently this week. Perhaps a bit of meat would be a wonderful addition to dinner?"
Inuyasha looked at the taijiya and the miko. He loved that wonderful, flavorful ningen food. It was tasty and hot… and seemed to be the only thing the wench could cook right… but some meat would be a good addition. "Feh," he scoffed noncommitally as he began to turn. He then turned back and pointed his clawed finger at the monk and grumbled, "But you better not let the wench cook it. She'll burn it for sure. Bouzu, since this was your idea, you cook it!"
Miroku shrugged, "Sure Inuyasha, whatever you say."
As Miroku played damage prevention, the girls were still speaking. Sango furrowed a brow and commented, "I was taught that all youkai mate for life."
Kagome looked down at the ground and thought on this a moment before responding, "I've noticed in our travels that some of the youkai that take human form do mate for life, but the ones that don't tend to follow the same tendencies as the animal they truly are. Like those lizard youkai- you noticed they lay their eggs, we saw the clutch a while back." She waited for Sango nod the affirmative, showing she did remember. "I noticed that the mother didn't stay around to raise them- just like most ordinary lizards."
Directing her gaze to Kirara, she finished, "I think that in the same way, a cat would be like a cat."
A movement out of the corner of the miko's eye caught her attention. The red of his fire rat robe always stole attention. He seemed to be preparing to go somewhere- possibly to hunt, his ears twitching as a butterfly decided to seek a momentary refuge on his left one. The miko added, "Just as dogs will be dogs."
As if to emphasize the statement, the hanyou decided the ear was just too itchy and flopped down on the branch, squatting down, and brought the left leg up to use claw tipped toes to scratch at the annoyance in a very dog like way.
Sango's attention was drawn as Kagome's. Noticing the hanyou doing something so amusing, she snickered along with her miko friend, causing clueless amber-gold eyes to widen in question. "I see your point," Sango agreed.
"What?" Inuyasha quested the two giggling girls.
Kagome waved her hand dismissively and responded, "Oh, it's nothing to worry about, Inuyasha. You just proved my point by being yourself." This earned a stifled sputter from Sango and the eavesdropping monk as well.
"Feh," Inuyasha responded, "whatever! I'm going hunting for meat." The hanyou lept down from his perch in the tree, landing next to the monk.
At this, Sango and Kagome looked at the white haired inu as he began toward the edge of the clearing. "Oh no," Kagome cried as she headed toward the pot of ramen, expecting the worst. But the pot had been moved off the fire and the noodles were not over or underdone. Looking up again, she asked, "The food's ready Inuyasha. Why are you going hunting?"
But he had already taken off.
Miroku came up to the girls and explained why he had sent their friend off for meat, allowing the women a chance to deal with whatever the problem was.
Suddenly, a very large portion of very cold water fell from a branch above Miroku's head, just as Sango was explaining the problem.
SPLASH!
The monk was drenched from his head to his shoulders. Water trickled down his robes, forging freezing trails down his body in rivulets. "Ahh!" he cried out, as he gave a shiver in response to the dousing he just received. The kitsune stood at the thickest width of an overhanging branch, holding a large bucket. Whe he had gotten it from was anyone's guess, but the brim was dripping water on the now drenched form of Miroku.
With wide, innocent, green eyes, the kitsune asked the monk, "Did that help with your heat?"
At first, the two female companions were astonished at the sudden downpour that only appeared above their hentai friend, but at the kitsune's words, they both turned a lovely shade of pink and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Miroku was thinking about the saying "No good deed goes unpunnished" at the moment as he looked down at his soaked purple robes. His hair was dripping into his face as while the two elegantly arched, black brows came together. "My… heat?" the monk asked. Both women turned back to their dinner and began serving themselves, trying to ignore the situation.
As Shippo tried to jump down from the tree without getting caught, but was snagged by the back of his little vest by the end of the ringed staff. A cool breeze brought a small shiver to the dripping monk as he brought the kitsune down, human nose to brown kitsune nose, and asked, "What is this about heat?"
"Ummm…" Shippo uttered as he realized he was really in trouble. He had to think fast. Little youkai always had a trick or two up their sleeves, what could he do to get away? Finding what he wanted in his small pocket, he yanked out leaf and very special ofuda. With a slap to the forehead, the kitsune disappeared.
Miroku blinked at the end of his staff. Shippo was there… and then he wasn't. Unfortunately, trixters always have a give away and Miroku saw the little prints on the ground leading away from his person. "I've got you now, Shippo!" Miroku cried as he took off after the invisible kitsune.
An EEP was heard as Inuyasha came back through the clearing. It was clear that dinner had been finished a while ago and the hanyou had been duped into doing something completely pointless. At first, he was rather put out by the monk being such a royal pain, but when he saw him drenched with small sticks and leaves stuck to him as he tore throught the woods shouting and chasing absolutely nothing, Inuyasha just shrugged and laughed.
Once he arrived to where the girls were, he briefly wondered where that new-scented Kirara was. Scenting the air in his doggy fashion, the hanyou crouched down and took off toward the clearing on the other side of camp. He heard a bakeneko mrowing in the distance. It was deep and low, and the hanyou could smell from where he was that it was a male. "Kirara, get back here, " he barked out.
Kagome looked at Sango, who now seemed a bit more at ease about Kirara sneaking off. Part of her knew she would be back. The taijiya's eyes became watery as the part of her that was worried cried that Kirara was going to leave her forever. That was soon squashed as the hanyou decided to jump up into a tree and squat down, looking very much like a dog sitting on it's haunches. His ears were pointed ahead and one would twitch as he gave a low growl and barked out, "Ki-la-la! Ki-la-la!"
It sounded like a dog barking at an intruder and both females erupted in a fit of laughter as they tried to keep the noodles in their mouths. Inuyasha barked again, causing them to erupt once more.
This went on for a while. By the time the monk arrived back with a sleeping kitsune in his arms, he was still damp, but he understood what had happened. A smirk stretched onto his face as he took in the scene. Inuyasha was perched in a tree, looking and barking like a dog and the girls were laughing until the were holding their sides and rolling on the sleeping mats. He had caught Shippo and immediately recieved the whole story- straight from the fox's mouth as it were. After much explaining, the kitsune now understood what was really going on. He laid the small bundle of fur on Kagome's sleeping bag and gave a wide yawn. "Ladies," he informed the giggling young women, "I think we need to get some rest."
Kagome wiped tears from her eyes and then replied, "Alright Miroku."
Sango crawled onto her mat and pulled a light blanket over herself as Kagome called out, "Inuyasha, leave Kirara alone and go to sleep."
Responding with a growl, he replied, "No, there's something after her."
"Inuyasha," she called sweetly.
"No!" he demanded, "I said I would protect everyone in our group, and that's what I'm doing." He added in a lower tone, "That stupid cat is up to no good, I just know it!"
"Inuyasha," she tried more firmly.
"NO!" he shouted and then began to bark again.
A growl came from Kagome, but the only response was a momentary swivel of a white ear in her direction.
BARK! BARK! BARK!
"SIT BOY!" she shouted. With the command, white and silver streaked to the ground like lightening and the resulting crash could be mistaken for thunder. He was on his head in a very odd position with one arm raised at an angle and the other lowered at an angle. Gravity took over and the rest of his body fell like a tree in slow motion. THUMP!
In the sounds of crickets and hunting owls, a whimper came through the night time stillnesss. "Why does she always do this to me?"