Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.
Kirara's dilemna
The fishing expedition had been so entirely successful that Kirara had happily devoured her share and more while still in her full-sized form.
Which left her with a dilemna, when Ginta announced that he was ready to start the evening patrol.
She blinked at the announcement, and turned her attention to Kohaku, who was nodding. "I don't think Kirara and I will be up to all night, but we can keep going for a while."
What? She gave him a long, disapproving stare, ears swiveling back. She was tired!
"We agreed to patrol with Ginta," he told her. "It's his territory, his patrol, so we should try to keep to the hours he's most comfortable with." He added, "I'll carry you, if you're tired."
Oh, wolf stink! She couldn't! She was full of fish, even relative to her large size. If she tried shrinking with her currently-full belly, she was going to be a engorged, helpless ball of fur!
She'd been sitting all this while; now she lay down, rolling flat on her side in a silent declaration of rebellion. This was a perfectly good place to sleep!
"Kirara? Are you okay?"
Of course she was! She yawned, licked a paw, scrubbed an ear, and then wriggled into a loose curl, sweeping her tails over her belly. Nap time, kitten. She closed her eyes.
She heard him sigh. "Okay, Kirara. I guess you can catch up when you're rested."
What! Kirara listened to him walk over to the wolf youkai. "I'm ready if you are, Ginta-san. Tell me what you want me to do—just remember I'm human."
Hey, mangy wolf! Don't you be dragging my kitten to a night hunt!
"Um, okay. On a night like this, we prowl dusk until moonset, den until just before dawn, and then prowl again until the sun's close to high. Is that okay?"
"Let's go."
He wasn't! Opening her eyes, Kirara rolled onto her belly, watching the retreating pair of two-legged hunters moving away. He was! Silly kitten! It was way too early to declare his independence of her! And she certainly wasn't going to trust his safety to a mere wolf!
She allowed herself a silent hiss as she pushed herself to her feet. Grumbling softly, she stalked after them, and roughly bumped Kohaku's legs as she caught up with him. He yelped and grabbed fur to balance himself. Ginta looked back, flinched under her gaze, and promptly looked away. Kirara had to be content with that, and with the furtive scratch to her ear.
Such was the life of a mother.
Author's Note: This was written for the LiveJournal community "Inuyasha's Unsung Heroes," for the prompt 'Engorge.' It was originally posted on March 8th, 2012. It won the contest.