Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. Say hello to the very talented Rumiko Takahashi who owns him and the entire cast. Hello Rumiko Takahashi. Hehehe!

By: year of the snake (at fanfiction) (aka.) crescentmoon (at mediaminer) And now Opal-Dreams on DeviantArt and Dokuga.

Summer: Walk Like a Man

Kagome smiled into the sun. Nothing compared to a day out on a stream with Shippo in this heat. Her smile widened in an attempt to blind the sun when Shippo managed to splash high enough to get her face.

She turned the warmth of it to Shippo and he pretended to faint. Soon he sputtered out of his 'fainting spell'. Kagome giggled softly.

"Hey runt, don't drown in that puddle." Inuyasha yelled from shore. He was grumpy that it was so hot that no one would listen to him about leaving the stream.

Sango lazed by the stream with her feet serenely kicking in the water and petting Kilala, who occupied her lap. Miroku was currently laying in the river, the stone bottom bruising his back while he schemed, a big red splotch on his cheek.

Rin giggled from behind her. "You can't get me through my Kagome-sama shield Shippo-san!"

Shippo jumped at her teasingly. She squealed and ducked back behind her 'Kagome-sama shield.'

While Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the frolicking children, and yes he included Kagome in that category, Jaken sighed in increasing content.

Joining Inuyasha's group had many good sides, something he would never have guessed. Some of the good things was he was no longer chief babysitter and plaything/playmate of Rin's, he also no longer had to cook fish, or hunt for food with Rin, and best of all, sometimes when Sesshoumaru left he would now let Jaken come too.

Sesshoumaru looked at Jaken as he again sighed in contentment. 'Jaken sighs a lot now. Why is he happy, suddenly?' Instead of asking he just turned back to the game that was taking place in the water.

"Oh, oh!" Kagome playfully said, "Oh, no! The Kagome-shield is buckling!" She swayed in the pretend danger. Then she pretended to collapse, careful of the rock in the water below.

"Oh no! The Kagome-sama shield is dead!" cried Rin in mock horror.

"Oh, yes!" shouted Shippo in return. "Now I, the evil fox demon, shall carry away the princess of locked up mountain!" Shippo gleefully jumped over Kagome, a shower of water off his tail marking his path. Then he transformed into a floating, giant, pink ball with legs and hands. Rin pretended to cry while she climbed on Shippo. He had her get off on a tree branch then floated to a higher one. "Inuyasha," whispered Shippo, "We need someone to rescue the princess."

"Not interested, runt. Go ask Lord Fluff-for-Brains."

Sesshoumaru growled a warning to Inuyasha.

He turned back into himself. "Uh... I don't think he wants to..." muttered Shippo nervously.

"That's okay Shippo." began Rin dejectedly.

"I'll do it!" Miroku jumped up happily, water ran merrily down his cheeks.

Sesshoumaru turned his glare on him.

"Eh... heheh... On second thought I'm too dizzy." Miroku flopped back down in the water.

"I guess we can't finish our game." Shippo moved to help Rin down.

"Evil fox demon," boomed a fake deep voice causing Shippo to jump. "I, Prince Silly-Pants have come to rescue the princess!"

"Kagome you can't be a prince, you don't look like a boy." Rin giggled.

Kagome pulled her hair up into a sloppy top-knot. "There, now I'm Prince Silly-Pants!"

"But Kagome you don't walk like a man." Shippo added.

So Kagome adopted an exaggerated cocky walk, based on Inuyasha's Yeah-I'm-Great-I-Just-Wiped-The-Floor-With-You walk.

Sesshoumaru breathed out of his nose in a small huff that if anyone had heard it would know as a show of amusement. 'She walks like Inuyasha very well.'

AN: And the Third Chapter is ended. Just a reminder, this story is one that will skip months, so you will have one entry for each season in a seasonal year. Remember, much can happen between the little parts of the year that you are seeing. Also, you may be interested to know that along with the seasonal prompt I used songs from the popular singing group of the 60's, The Four Seasons (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons). This one uses Walk Like a Man. Look it up, if you're interested.