Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story (and Hikari) belongs to me.
Play Date
Dearest Hikari,
I know we spend a lot of time in the past. But we decided long ago that we would bring you up in both worlds. I'm afraid we might have had the tendency to let you run a little wild in the past, and it is time to teach you how to get along with other children your age. Though we have all traveled frequently to visit your grandmother, we haven't done much socialization with people outside of our family. And since you WILL be going to school, it is past time we started teaching you how to behave like a modern little girl.
Good luck to us all.
Your Loving Mama
"I really don't think you should be reading your child so many scary stories..."
It was difficult, but Kagome managed to keep a smile on her face and make a non-committal sound. This was not the first comment on what she was doing wrong as a parent. She almost regretted making Inuyasha swear to be on his best behavior. In fact, she rather regretted the decision to accept an invitation to the play date in the first place. Letting Hikari play with children her own age (closely supervised) seemed like a good idea at the time. Interaction with other kids was good, healthy even. If she was going to go to school in present time, she would need to learn to behave in social situations. However, at the moment, Kagome was leaning strongly towards home schooling. Being a hermit sounded good too.
It felt... wrong being here. She worried that teaching Hikari that she had to hide her ears would make her feel like they were something to be ashamed of. It hurt thinking that her daughter may feel like an outcast. Kagome sighed, Hikari WOULD be different from the other children. Faster. Stronger. Not to mention the cute little ears she currently had hidden by four ponytails (two in front of her ear and two behind, with the ever present bows... one somehow always untied) and the whole being able to transport through time thing.
Was she doing the wrong thing? Should they give up the idea of sending Hikari to school to get an education?
"...I overheard her tell my little Kiko that there might be demons under her bed, not monsters. Demons! Really, Kagome! You shouldn't fill that precious little girl's head with such terrifying nonsense!"
Precious. The word was said with too much sweetness. At least in the past Hikari could be herself. Here she had to listen to people make disparaging comments on her hair (if ONE. MORE. PERSON. accused her of dying her daughter's hair and giving her extension, Kagome would NOT be responsible for her actions!) or her extra sharp teeth and unusually sharp nails. Did she really want to subject her daughter to all the narrow minded people in the world who would make judgments on her looks?
And she didn't need Inuyasha's keen senses to see how the parent's have been steering their children away from Hikari.
Kagome kept her eyes on her daughter as she played in the sandbox. The little girl was patiently explaining to the last child left that they would have to cross through the river (that she dug out around the box) in order to hide their smells. She looked up into the trees and grinned happily and touched her nose. Then she explained that noses help you find things... even as the last child was being called over by his mother to come to the slide instead. Kagome's fists clenched and she was ready to take her family and head back to the past to stay, but Hikari looked at her and smiled cheerfully before going back to creating her own world in the sand. Sticks became trees, rocks became boulders and houses. Kagome relaxed a little bit when the little boy lost interest in the slide and went back to the sand box with fists full grass and sticks to help fix up Hikari's world in the sand.
"Isn't that the same... cute... red shirt she wore last time we saw your little girl?"
"It's not a shirt, actually. Her father made it for..." Kagome was interrupted before she could tell them about how precious that robe was. She would probably have left out the part of him hunting and skinning the fire rat, as well as doing the tanning himself. But she never got the chance to even let them know that he had made it for their little girl.
"I do hope you have already put her on the waiting list for Zenith Tots Academy."
"What?"
The mothers around her gasped in horror at Kagome's question.
"How can you not know?"
"It is only THE school to go to."
"She'll never get in now!"
"Oh that's dreadful."
"Poor child. But then... you didn't particularly do well in school either, did you, Kagome?"
Kagome blushed. She almost felt the weight of Inuyasha's gaze on them as he growled from the trees where he was keeping watch over them. Waving her fingers in a shooing motion she tried to signal him to stay put. Finding a play group with children Hikari's age close to home had not been easy. One of the women was even an old classmate of hers, not one of her friends exactly, but a classmate all the same. Ami had introduced her to the other women of the group. Of course, Ami made it very clear that she was MUCH too young to have kids and was a nanny while she worked her way through college. The other mothers and nannies in the play group were all several years older than her, and apparently felt that it was fine to tell her how to raise her child.
"It wasn't that I didn't do well, Ami," corrected Kagome, "I was just out sick a lot for awh..."
"Your husband didn't finish school, either, did he?"
Kagome's mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. She was done being nice. The play date was supposed to be a chance for Hikari to get used to kids her own age. Rage caused her aura to flare up. If they were demons they would be burnt to a crisp. How DARE they attack Inuyasha!
"Perhaps another school would suit her. Zenith is a very competitive school, only the brightest make it in. Tinker Tots might be a better bet."
Did... did she just say that her daughter was STUPID?
"I. Have. Had. Enough."
Before she could lash out (quite possibly physically), Hikari was standing before her with her hands on her hips and glaring at the women. She climbed into her lap so fast that the other women blinked rapidly and mouths opened. She pointed at the one who had made the slight against Inuyasha and made a sound that was almost a growl.
"Sit!" Nothing happened. She pointed harder and yelled louder. "SIT!"
She looked at her mother, then glared at her finger. Kagome couldn't help but grin as the little girl shook her finger to try to get it to work. She tried the command one more time before giving up and just wagging her finger at them angrily, making a tsk tsk tsk sound.
"My mommy," she snarled at them. "Mine! You be nice to my mommy!"
Kagome pat Hikari on the head (the little girl refused to be hugged while staring down the enemy, Kagome had learned to respect that. Probably got it from her father...). The little boy she had been playing with had been pulled away by his mother and was being strapped into a stroller. The little boy waved at Hikari, but her daughter did not take her eyes of the enemy for even a moment.
"I appreciate you including us in on your play date," Kagome said with not an ounce of sincerity as she set the glaring Hikari on the ground in front of her so she could gather their belongings. She hoped the choked on the sarcasm. "But I don't think we'll be able to make it next week." She slung her backpack turned diaper bag over her shoulder. "Or... ever really."
Hikari tried kicking dirt towards the women (a bad habit she picked up from her father) before tipping her head back and hollering. "DADDY!"
WHOMP!
Inuyasha landed heavily in front of them, causing the women to squeak (one screamed and one might have fainted). He scooped Hikari up and swung her into the air. She squealed in joy as he gave her a toss before swinging her onto his shoulders. Kagome took his hand and they walked out of the park. With luck, they would never run into those women again. Though she was thrilled to get away from them, Kagome still felt disappointed that the play date had not gone well. She had hoped that Hikari would make friends. That maybe she would make friends too, other mothers with kids.
They stopped for ice cream and ate it as they walked past the museum. Kagome suggested the go inside, but Inuyasha shot that idea down quickly. Her mood improved as she giggled, remembering the time she had taken him to the museum with a group of her friends from school. He had covered her eyes when they walked past some of the sculptures. By his glare and how he practically dragged her down the street, he must be remembering too.
They had just finished their ice creams and were trying to decide how to spend the rest of the day together (Inuyasha voted for going back home) when Hikari saw the pet store. With a squeal she plastered herself to the window looking at the adorable white fluff balls in the window.
"Puppy!"
"So cute!" cried Kagome as she knelt by Hikari.
"Peas Daddy!" Without taking her eyes off the puppies, Hikari grabbed onto her father's legs. "Peas!"
"Hikari..." Inuyasha's voice held almost the same whine as the puppies. Kagome almost giggled at the sight of him trying to say 'no' to his daughter. It wasn't something he said often to her. He actually looked in pain.
Kagome looked again at the puppies. According to the sign, the cute little fluff balls were Nihon Supittsu, a Japanese Spitz...quite possibly the most adorable puppy in creation, with ears oh so similar to her daughter's. They were so cute... so impossible to resist... She looked at Inuyasha, already in love with the puppies in the window. She ached to touch their ears.
"Kagome..." He groaned. Then he sighed in defeat. "How much are they?"
The price, as it turned out, was a little too high, and they had to use another scoop of ice cream to tempt the little wailing girl away from the window. Just as they were finishing their second treats and Hikari's tears had finally dried, they saw the library. The play date may have been a failure, but they could at least make this a family fun day.
"I love the library!" Kagome gushed as they pulled Inuyasha up the stairs. "Mama used to take us to storytime when we were little."
Hikari, apparently, loved the library too. Once inside, she ran to the bookshelf shaped like an alligator and stared at the books in awe. Kagome pulled out one of the brightly colored board books and handed it to Hikari to look at, but she would only look at books that had pictures of dogs in them. Inuyasha pulled them out one at a time and handed them to his daughter. But he looked... sad.
"You okay?"
He looked away. "Think I'm too old to go to school?"
Kagome hated those awful women for making him feel bad about himself. "Inuyasha..." she said gently, "You don't have to go to school."
"Think I'm too stupid?" His voice sounded hurt, not angry. And that only made Kagome angrier at Ami and her group.
"Daddy!" scolded Hikari. "Daddy NOT stupid! Stupid not a nice word!" A librarian reminded Hikari that she needed to use her inside voice. "But..." the little girl looked worriedly at her parents... "But this my only voice..."
"You're not stupid, Inuyasha. 'Inside voice' means you need to talk quietly, sweetie." She kissed the top of Hikari's head before reaching out to squeeze Inuyasha's hand. "If you want to go to school, you can. But don't feel you have to prove anything to anyone. You are a very smart man. And I love you just the way you are."
"Hikari will be going to school soon." He dug out a book with puppies on it and gave it to his delighted daughter.
"Well... not THAT soon."
"I want to be able to help her with math," he said softly. "I want her to come to me for help. I... want... I NEED to be able to teach her."
Kagome gave Hikari another book to add to her growing pile, then tugged on a lock on Inuyasha's hair. "You teach her every day. Hikari comes from two worlds. Only you can teach her about your world." And after today, Kagome wasn't too sure she wanted her little girl growing up in this one. "Ancient History wasn't a class I excelled in," she teased.
A voice had them all sitting up.
"It's time for storytime! Follow me down to the story corner."
Inuyasha's and Hikari's ears perked up and eyes widened, Kagome grinned. It was adorable. She stood up and followed as Hikari followed the librarian like she was the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Children seemed to appear out of thin air as the area was suddenly filled with excited children and smiling moms (and two other fathers who all seemed to nod at each other in some secret man code). They sat down and listened to the first story. Hikari laughed when the other children laughed. She counted to five during the rhyme as the other children counted to five. She didn't know the words to the song, but she sang anyhow with sparkling eyes, hardly able to keep still in her excitement.
It was only when the puppet was brought out that Hikari cried and threw herself into her father's arms. Everyone was so startled by the outburst that the bear puppet stopped in mid sentence.
"She... she... bear..."
Inuyasha was rocking her back and forth and soothing his daughter, but he looked just as confused as Kagome. Hikari certainly wasn't scared of bears. In fact, a healthy fear of bears actually would be a little nice. She grabbed onto Inuyasha's hair and pulled herself up to his ear, watching the librarian in horror as she whispered.
Her father bit his lip trying not to smile.
"No, sweetie," he said. "She isn't putting her hand in a dead baby bear. It's just a toy." A few parents made gasping noises and some of the children cried 'ewwwwwww'.
Hikari needed convincing. She didn't leave her father's lap for the rest of storytime. In fact, she looked very suspiciously at the librarian, even after the puppet was put away. After they sang the good-bye song, Kagome took Hikari by the hand and told her to say 'thank you' for the stories.
"Would you like to see the puppet?" the librarian asked.
Hikari's eyes filled with tears as the lady picked up the bear puppet. "It's dead..." she whispered hoarsely and turned to her mother.
"No no no. It is full of stuffing and... oh dear..."
Burying her head in Kagome's skirts, Hikari began to sob.
Inuyasha snatched the puppet from the librarian (for which Kagome later apologized profusely) and sat down beside Hikari. He held it out to her and quietly asked her to smell it. After a bit of sniffling, Hikari was finally able to bring herself to sniff the puppet (with eyes firmly shut). But no amount of coaxing could get her to touch it. The librarian smiled, then walked away for a moment. When she came back she handed Hikari a book about making puppets.
Some of the parents came over and said hello, introducing themselves and their children. Hikari joined the other children at the coloring table. A little boy next to her said he was coloring blood on the pony picture he had. His mother was about to apologize for him when Hikari dug around in the crayon box and gave him a color that worked better for blood.
The woman whipped out her cell phone and asked if they'd like to set up a play date sometime.
As they left the building (Hikari proudly holding her very first library card and her very first borrowed book), Kagome took their picture. The camera hadn't left her purse during their original play date. That was a memory she hoped she could leave behind. But this one was one she wanted to keep. Hikari posed with her book and her card and Kagome took pictures. Then Hikari made Inuyasha sit on the ground while she sat on the steps and held the book like the librarian had and began telling the story about the baby bear who was turned into a puppet.
This. This was a moment she wanted to cherish.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
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Inuyasha was getting sick and tired of people telling him he how to raise his child. It was bad enough those clucking hens in Kagome's time kept picking on her about Hikari, now they had to listen to the stupid wolf tell him all the things he was doing wrong as a father. Too bad he promised Kagome that he wouldn't fight with the mangy wolf today. It was hard denying Kagome anything.
A play date with the wolf demon children was a bad idea.
"She's just going to be bait for some rampaging demon if you don't teach her how to fight," Kouga said.
"Shut up, wolf." Usually he'd be more enthusiastic about fighting with his mate's ex-suitor, but he was too busy watching his daughter.
The wolf cub brothers were playing a racing game. Not only was Hikari the youngest (not counting Kouga's newest son that Kagome was cooing over), but she also had less demon blood in her. She may be faster and stronger than a human, but she was no match for a full blooded wolf demon, even a cub. The brat Ban had been slowing down to let her catch up, but the bullying of his brothers made him leave her in the dust as well. Literally. Hikari was sitting on the ground coughing on the dust the wolves left behind. Inuyasha was torn. He didn't want to hurt her pride, but all his instincts called out to him to pick her up and take her away, to shield her from this pain.
When he took a step forward she shook her head at him. Then she stood up and brushed herself off. Instead of coming to him, or going to her mother, Hikari frowned in the direction the others had run off in and bolted after them.
"She's got spirit," Kouga said approvingly.
Neither father mentioned it when they saw Shippo trip up the leader while under the disguise of a log. The fox tail was a dead giveaway though. That caused the three in the lead to all fall over themselves in a hilarious domino effect. Only Ban, who had been trailing behind, was left standing. And his sudden dramatic fall that knocked over his brothers all over again wasn't fooling anyone. Inuyasha really wanted to dislike the little punk, but he had given Hikari a chance to catch up. There was a faint glow of pink surrounding her as she gave a burst of speed and passed the pile of wolf cubs. Ban's 'clumsiness' kept knocking over his brothers before they could give chase.
"Hmmmm," said Kouga thoughtfully, "Ever think of an arranged marria..."
"No."
"Why? She's not too young to start thinking of a suitable..."
"NO."
He would not let his little girl marry a demon. Especially a wolf demon. A demon would think her too weak, and would treat her that way. He would not let anyone look down on his baby. Just look at how Kouga would talk about hanyous. What sort of vile comments would he make about the daughter of a hanyou? Would she be a target of hatred like he had been? The thought made him sick. Humans and demons alike shunned him, hated him, and very often tried to kill him. He didn't want his little girl to have to be strong to survive. Last week had had decided that it was time to start teaching Hikari to be independent and learn how to take care of herself. So, against Kagome's wishes, he had taken his daughter on a hunt just a few days ago. He didn't need Kagome's scoldings to make him feel bad... the sight of Hikari crying hysterically over the rabbit begging him to fix it just about broke his heart and would haunt him forever. He couldn't bear to see her cry like that ever again. Hikari was filled with a light of such love and joy that he couldn't tolerate the thought of seeing that light dim. And he would demolish anyone who tried!
Hikari, suspicious of her sudden lead, turned around to see the pile of wolf cubs fighting. She glared at them, in a familiar way that made Inuyasha smile, and commanded them all to 'sit'.
They sat.
Kouga dropped his head and sighed and Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh. She lectured the boys on fighting (fighting bad... bad bad bad) and told them to play nice. They looked confused for a moment, as if the word 'nice' was a foreign one. His smile faded a bit. Not every demon they came across would sit when she says to. Were they doing her more harm than good by playing along? Of course, the wolves were just acting on instinct. But Miroku and Shippo were bad about indulging her. It could be dangerous if she thought all that all she had to do to stop a rampaging demon was to point at it and tell it to 'sit'. She was going to have to learn to defend herself enough to run away. Maybe even send herself to the future to escape... once they took the rosary off of her. But Hikari seemed to be born without fear, and running away was just not an option.
He couldn't bear to put her in a position where she would learn fear, though.
Maybe Sango could help and teach her to fight as a human would fight. Sango was a strong fighter. Already she was teaching her own daughters the basics. Suki was enjoying the demon slaying training perhaps a bit too much, and Yuki seemed reluctant to fight at all. She and Miroku have been talking about training new demon slayers and bringing the home she grew up in back to life. Though Naraku was gone, there were still other dangerous demons out there. He hadn't asked before because he hadn't thought to send Hikari to her to learn to fight... but... would a girl with demon blood be welcome with those training to be new slayers? Of course Sango adored Hikari (what wasn't there to adore?), but that didn't mean that others would feel the same way.
"Dirty hanyou!"
Inuyasha's head snapped up and he growled at Kouga's second oldest son. It was Shippo, however, who knocked the cub into the dirt.
"Who's dirty now, wolf snot?" the kitsune snarled.
"What's a 'hanyou' mean?"
Ban blushed at Hikari's innocent question. He looked at her, then he looked at Inuyasha, then at his father. "Um... it means..." he looked nervously at Inuyasha again. "It means one of your parents is human... like your mama... and one of your parents is a demon."
"I'm a hanyou?" She pointed to herself with wide eyes.
The adults stopped talking, only Inuyasha's swear word was heard. They never taught her the word. He hadn't wanted her to feel the pain and humiliation he had felt growing up. The wolf had promised Kagome... PROMISED HER... that he would never say that word in front of her child. But it was his son who spoke the hated word, not Kouga. But Inuyasha still held him responsible. After all, the cub had heard the word somewhere.
Inuyasha went to his daughter and knelt beside her. "It's okay, baby," he said, "Daddy is a hanyou, too."
Her eyes gazed up at him, then she smiled and patted him on the cheek. "Okay," she said, then wiggled to get down. She glared at Kouga's second oldest son, who was getting the cold shoulder from his siblings. Then she trotted over to Shippo and excitedly told him that she was a hanyou just like her daddy. She pat his hand and told him it was okay if he wasn't a hanyou too, because she still loved him.
Wisely, Kouga's mate was gathering up her reluctant sons to take them back home. Kouga was apologizing profusely to a furious Kagome. And Inuyasha watched as his little girl proudly told anyone who would listen that she was just like her daddy.
He hoped he remembered this moment forever.
Hey Pup,
You are going to be a great warrior someday. You are already a great hanyou.
I love you.
Daddy
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
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Author's Note:
Thank you all for your reviews. I really appreciate them. I'm debating if I wanna do what I'm thinking of doing for the next couple of chapters. It is a tough decision. Part of me wants to write it, but part of me is worried about the flames I'll likely be getting over it. Decisions decisions.