Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. But I will one day.
Chapter 24: Toutousai
InuYasha handed Shippou a small leather pouch, all the while using one hand to rub the side of his cheek and mumbling incoherent words to himself. "You've got three days, Shippou. After that, we're leaving for the castle with or without you. And I have no doubt that Makoto will need that sword before this fight is over."
"Three days? It'll take that long just to get Toutousai to remember who you are!" the kit complained.
"Just do it Shippou. If you're not back in time you're smart enough to find your own way to the castle."
Shippou nodded, putting the pouch into a bigger traveling bag and tossing it over his shoulder. "Alright, alright. Three days, jeez, Oyaji. I'll make it back as soon as I can, but with Tani coming with me, it'll be a bit harder. That woman is relentless if she wants to stop for the night."
"Shippou! I am not relentless! I just like sleeping through the night like normal people, instead of running when the sky is pitch black." Tani threw her traveling pack at Shippou (who gave out a prominent 'ooof' at the sudden weight) crossed her arms and pouted, turning her head to the side and glancing back to Shippou.
InuYasha rolled his eyes at the all too familiar display from the girl and rubbed his cheek again. "Just get the old man to make the sword and get back here. I don't want to waste anymore time then we already have. Haru isn't that strong, but I'm not willing to risk anything on that fact."
Shippou nodded his head, slinging Tani's pack over one shoulder and grabbing her hand with the other. He might as well head straight from Toutousai's to Sesshomaru's castle. It would take at least a day and a half to get there traveling with Tani. He loved her, kami, he loved her, but Shippou was a pushover because of how much he loved her. If she wanted to stop, he had no choice but to stop for her. It was in his nature not to deny his mate of anything she wanted, especially when she was with kit. After only three hours of walking, she was already at it.
"Shippou, can we please stop for awhile? I'm tired and hungry." The human woman looked up at Shippou through her big eyes and long eyelashes, batting them at her mate with a questioning gaze. Shippou huffed and rolled his eyes, but put down their two traveling bags and motioned her to sit down and rest. "Thank you, Shippou." She smiled.
Shippou sighed and sat down next to his mate, pulling food from his bag and handing it to Tani. "You know oyaji is gonna murder me if we're not back before they leave."
"Kagome-sama won't let him." She replied, already munching on a rice ball. Shippou reached over and stole a bite from Tani, receiving a glare from the girl in return. "Who is this Toutousai supposed to be, anyway?"
"Toutousai was a servant of sorts for Oyaji's father. He's the one who forged the Tetsusaiga out of the lord's fang."
"Eww. So… we're taking InuYasha-sama's fang to this youkai to make a sword for Makoto, right?" Shippou nodded. "And this sword is supposed to seal his youkai blood so next time he goes loopy he won't end up hurting anyone, right?" Shippou nodded again. "Why didn't InuYasha-sama just go himself?"
Shippou nearly choked on his rice ball. He narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Hmm, I dunno." He started sarcastically, "Could it be because in the past few months Makoto nearly got himself killed, Okaa nearly died giving birth to the pups, Gina DID die and now has some freaky miko/hanyou thing going on that, by the way, could kill ME, and oh, an inu-youkai and his minions are out seeking revenge for something that happened over a decade ago!"
"So?"
Shippou shook his head. "Hurry and finish eating. We've gotta get moving again, soon. I want to get there before dark, which means we've got a lot of land to cover in little time."
Tani rapped up the rest of the food and placed it back in her bag. "I'm tired Shippou."
"Hop on then, I'll carry you for awhile." Shippou wrapped the bags across his shoulder and helped Tani climb onto his back. She laid her head on his other shoulder and thanked him with a kiss to the neck.
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"Toutousai? Hey, old man! Are you in there!" Shippou dropped the bags outside the old youkai's hut and waited. "Toutousai?"
"Does he even live here anymore? It doesn't look like anyone has lived here in years." Tani stated, looking around the grounds.
"He's lived here for centuries. It's always looked like this. Now just were did that old geezer get off to…? Toutousai!"
"Heh?" Toutousia appeared from behind Shippou. Shippou jumped at the old youkai's sneakiness and glared at him. "What's with all the yelling? Who are you?"
"I'm Shippou, InuYasha's son, remember?" Inwardly Shippou cringed. This old guy probably couldn't remember what happened five minutes ago, much less years ago. How was he suppose to explain who he was?
"Hmmmm…InuYasha… I remember him." Shippou grinned. He actually remembered! "Yes, InuYasha. Such a nice kitsune. A bit short, and whiney, but then again maybe all kitsunes are like that…"
"That was me, you old geezer, Shippou. InuYasha was the stubborn inu-hanyou with the big shiny sword. Do you remember him or not?" Shippou growled out, a bit more annoyed at being confused with InuYasha then being called short and whiney. All kitsunes are like that. Hhmp.
"A sword you say? That wouldn't be the Tetsusaiga would it?"
"Yes! Yes, the Tetsusaiga! InuYasha is the one who broke the Tetsusaiga and you repaired it. InuYasha sent me to get you to make his son a sword with his fang." Shippou reached into his bag and pulled out InuYasha's fang, handing it to the old youkai as he carefully looked it over.
"InuYasha sent you to give me this?" Shippou nodded. "And… you are…?"
Shippou nearly growled. "I'M INUYASHA'S SON! THE SHORT, WHINEY, KITSUNE!"
"So you want me to make you a sword with this?"
"Not me, his other son, Makoto."
"So this sword is for Makoto?" Shippou nodded and sighed. Maybe the old geezer was finally understanding. "And…who is this Makoto?"
"INUYASHA'S SON!"
"InuYasha has a son?"
This time Shippou did growl. "YES. InuYasha has three sons and one daughter. I," Shippou pointed to himself, "was sent here," he pointed to the ground, "to give you the fang," he pointed to Toutousai and the hand holding InuYasha's fang, "so you can make my brother a sword, like the Tetsusaiga."
Toutousia blinked at Shippou. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Shippou glared at Tani who was now rolling on the ground laughing so hard she had to hold her sides to keep them from aching so much.
"So you'll do it?"
"Ehe… yes. Yes, I will. Come back tomorrow around noon. Your sword should be ready by then."
Shippou's tale twitched as he grabbed his bag with one hand and helped Tani to her feet with the other. She smirked and pranced out in front of him, occasionally glancing back only to turn back around giggling. He smirked to himself, dropping the bags and running toward the girl. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around in the air, stopping and turning her to face him. She slapped his shoulder with her hand and crossed her arms in a pout.
"Baka."
Shippou nodded. "Yea, but you love me anyway." He leaned down and kissed her lips, rubbing his hand across her belly. Tani was the kind of woman that wasn't going to show a bit of pregnancy until the last couple of weeks. She had a slight bulge around her stomach, but not enough to really notice unless you were looking for it. Shippou let out a heavy sigh. He'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't worried. He worried for Tani like InuYasha did everyday for Kagome while she was pregnant for the second time. But carrying a kitsune was much easier then carrying and inu pup. Kitsune were very small at birth, to make it easier for their parents to hide them if danger were to come. Tani would be fine. Their kit was going to be fine. Shippou would just have to remember that. Tani's yawn finally broke Shippou from his thoughts.
"Can we please fine somewhere to stay for the night? I'm tired." She laid her head on his shoulder and leaned against him.
"Sorry, Tani, but we're gonna have to sleep outside again. The nearest village is too far away to go just for the night. Besides, I want to be close to Toutousia's because as soon as he gets that sword finished we've got to head back." Tani pouted, but eventually gave in, unrolling her and Shippou's mat on the hard ground and almost instantly falling asleep as soon as she laid down.
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Shippou tapped his foot as he waited once again outside Toutousia's hut. It was already noon and the old youkai told him to wait outside a bit longer. They didn't have any longer! They had to get back as soon as they could with the stupid sword. What's with Oyaji and swords, anyway? Shippou asked himself. I mean, it would have been a lot easier and less time consuming for him to ask Toutousai to make charm or something with his fang that could seal Makoto's blood.
Tani sat on the ground next to him with a very bored expression on her face. Shippou was mumbling to himself again, the old guy was too creepy, and she could have sworn she saw some type of cow flying above her, which now had her ducking for cover from what it might 'drop' down on her. She reached down and grabbed a hand full of dirt, letting it slip through her fingers as she watched it get carried away by the wind. Yup, she was bored alright. With no one to talk to, and, unlike Shippou at the moment, she didn't see the point in talking to herself. So, she did what any bored-out-of-her-mind woman with a youkai for a mate would do. Tani picked up a rock her hands had stumbled upon and chunked it toward the grumbling Shippou, quickly acting as if a nearby bird had her full attention the entire time.
After the rock making contact with the back of Shippou's head, he looked up only to see a flying four-legged creature going right over him and the hut. He took a quick sniff to make sure nothing…crude… had fallen, shrugging his shoulders and started to carry about with his grumbling and foot tapping again. Tani smirked as she reared her hand back with another rock firmly in place, only to let out a loud gasp as she was suddenly sent backwards to the ground. Shippou pinned down her arms, making her drop the rock from her hand. Her mate looked down at her and shook his head as a parent would do a disobedient child and clicked his tongue.
"Tani, Tani, Tani." He sighed. "You really shouldn't be throwing stones at your mate, you know."
Tani giggled. "And why is that?"
Shippou smirked. "Because I just might to decide to do something about it."
"That that would be…?"
"Ahem." Before Shippou could answer, Toutousai stepped up behind them with the sword wrapped up in a piece of rugged brown cloth.
"It's done?" Shippou asked.
"That it is. A fine piece of work, if I do say so myself. Much thanks to the power behind the fang, this sword may well be Tetsusaiga's match, if not its superior."
Shippou reached out to grab the sword that was offered to him, but pulled back at the last second. "I'm youkai. Will this sword allow me to carry it?"
Toutousai nodded. "Very much so. This sword can distinguish between friend and foe"
He took the sword from Toutousai and carefully unwrapped it. The first thing he noticed was the scabbard, made of a glossy black youkai skin covering a redwood holder. Whatever youkai the hide was from was tough and served it purpose well. Shippou let his eyes wander to the hilt. The same glossy black hide was used on the handle, but interwoven to create a better grip, the hilt itself and the bunt of the sword made of a metal of sorts that seemed to change colors as Shippou turned it in his hand. He took it out of the scabbard to find the blade made of the same metal.
"Does it have a name?"
"Touken. But the bearer should be warned. The sword will keep the hanyou from raging into his youkai form, but it will also allow his true nature to come forth. Heed this warning; it should not be ignored, for there is a darkness inside us all that can easily take control when given the right moment."
Shippou looked back down at the sword in his hands. Your true nature will come forth… He thought to himself. What was that suppose to mean? True nature? Makoto was a hanyou. Wasn't that his true nature? And was with all that talk about 'darkness inside us all'? Shippou laughed inwardly. The old geezer is senile. Who knows what's going through that cobwebbed head of his?
"Thanks, Toutousia. I'll be sure to tell him." He rewrapped the sword in its cloth and gathered his and Tani's bags. "Come on, Tani."
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"Home, home, home!" Tani chanted as she swung her and Shippou's hand into the air.
"Don't get too comfortable. We're leaving again as soon as Oyaji sees fit, which is probably right when he catches our sent in the village." Shippou smirked as he heard the girl next to him let out a loud sigh. "As soon as we get to the castle you can sleep all you want. Sesshomaru has plenty of servants; you won't have to do anything."
"Shippou!" Cho, followed close behind by her two younger sisters, ran up the path from the village. The three young girls threw themselves at Shippou and clung to his haori. "Shippou, Oji needs you! A bunch of youkai attacked Oba and the babies!"
Shippou handed the bags over to Tani and pried the girls loose. "Where's Makoto and the others?"
"They're helping Oji, but there's so many!" Hana replied with watery eyes.
Shippou sighed and bent down on his knees, grabbing the girls' hands in his own. "I've got to go help them now, okay? Sango, Miroku and the others will be fine, but I've got to see what's happening. We'll all be back as soon as we can, I promise." When the girls nodded he stood back up and turned to Tani, holding one of her hands in his and cupped her cheek with the other. "I'll be back. Take the girls to Kisho and Mai's and tell them what's going on. Don't leave the village for anything." He gave Tani one last kiss on the cheek and turned to leave only to be stopped by her voice.
"I love you, Shippou."
Shippou smiled. "I love you, too, Tani."
A/N:
Awwwww……
Next Chapters: A small fight to glance at what is to come, Makoto gets his sword, Kita's confrontation with Sesshomaru, the fight with Haru and his son, and the battle of the Westernlands.
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