Learning

Dinner had been a bit late that day, not that Totousai had noticed, he had been offered plenty of hors d'oeuvres while they awaited the Lord and his son. Inuyasha had insisted on bathing well and changing, so that no hint of saline could be detected by his hanyou pups or any other youkai. He would not appear with the evidence of a weak human's emotions surrounding him especially near his children, and he made sure that Sesshoumaru couldn't scent anything before he agreed to go to dinner.

They were immediately surrounded by the pups as soon as they appeared; all of them fascinated at seeing their father as a human clearly. For the boys this was a real eye-opener and for several minutes Inuyasha was inspected thoroughly, and great debates were started on which of them he most looked like. Eventually they all appealed to Sesshoumaru, who said that Inuyasha looked very like his mother and that when they turned mortal,the human pups all looked like their Papa.

After dinner however one of the twins grinned almost evilly and whispered to his brother then both took off in opposite directions when Inuyasha told them it was bedtime. They could be heard laughing and calling that Inuyasha couldn't catch them now he was human. Inuyasha looked to his father who merely shrugged and said;

"They are your pups Inuyasha; I believe you made that quite clear." He didn't bother to hide the smirk on his face. The smirk turned into a positive smile when the little girls also looked at each other and took off as well. For the next hour and a half Inuyasha played hide and seek with his children and although they did not realise it, he used the time to let them learn. They learned his more human scent and could pick out where he was, as he hunted them.

Squeals and shrieks rang out around the Palace as eventually Inuyasha caught his pups one by one; they may have had speed but he still had a lot of stamina, even for a human and far more experience than they did. Making sure that each understood that it was definitely their bedtimes and that they were to stay put, or else there'd be trouble; Inuyasha gave them all a final cuddle and for the first time knew that if they were to get out of hand all together, they would be far stronger than he, while he was human.

But as if they sensed that for themselves; the pups restrained their strength as they all had their final bedtime romp with him before they snuggled down. All were still young enough to sleep together in a pile, where they were safe and warm on the huge futon that covered the floor. Inuyasha waited with them, sitting quietly as his pups drifted off until only Kaede was left awake, her eyes glowing softly with the light from the single candle left.

"Go to sleep my little Kaede."

"Papa?" She whispered and crawled over into his arms.

"Yes, precious."

"I love you; I miss Mama, but we are here and we are never alone all together, remember? We all love you, lots and lots." Kaede didn't mind when she heard no verbal answer; she could tell in the tightened grip and the sudden scent of salt and his nose in her hair, that Papa loved them all too and she had the temerity to chuckle at him.

"I hate being human, stupid uncontrolled feelings." Inuyasha mumbled.

"I know Papa; I know." Kaede hugged him hard, understanding his emotion and realising that her Papa had trusted her for the first time with his feelings. Then Inuyasha chuckled too, kissed her and put her back into the bed. "Go to sleep whelp, and I'll see you in the morning." He got up and turned to see Sesshoumaru in the doorway, his father was holding out his arms to him and Inuyasha went to him. This was still a new situation for them, but it was already feeling less awkward and Inuyasha had to admit that he was grateful for it.

The dreadful cold ache that entwined around his heart ever since Kagome's death only abated when he was with his pups or now if his father held him. Inuyasha needed the proof that he was loved shown to him, it was not something he automatically believed and he craved touch; further proof that he was not obnoxious to everyone. The long ingrained doctrines that he was filthy, unworthy and beneath contempt still had the ability to swamp and overpower him in the dark corners of his mind.

But these times were getting further and further apart; the more he had been shown love by Kagome and the others and now he was a son with a loving father he could believe in, they had almost but not quite gone completely. He relaxed into Sesshoumaru's embrace; instinctively listening to his father's heartbeat which was always reassuring and although he was not a tiny whelp, he still enjoyed the pacifying rumble that emanated from deep within the Daiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru too knew how important it was that Inuyasha not feel cut off from physical touch now that his mate had died and he was glad that the boy had accepted him so quickly and was not shy of showing his affection. It would help to form the strong pack he wanted, with Inuyasha so young still that he was willing to please and be trained by his father. With that in mind, he asked Inuyasha to follow him to his study where he wanted to discuss his plans; then when they were comfortable, Sesshoumaru asked gently,

"Do you have any reading or writing skills Inuyasha?"

"I can read my name and Kagome's and the pups', I learned them from Kagome."

"Your mother was a Princess, did she teach you nothing? That surprises me, she was always so very proud of you." His voice was concerned and not condemnatory.

"She was not allowed to teach me anything; I was not allowed story books or anything to write or draw. Mama only had paper to write letters if she asked and then she had someone watch her."

"Not allowed; why, surely you weren't denied the freedom to draw and colour such as all children enjoy?"

"Mama started to teach me my letters but they stopped her, she was put in a dark room with only bread and water; they said an animal shouldn't be taught anything in case it got ideas above its station. I didn't understand at first and I even asked what animal; Mama told me they were afraid that if I learned to read I might become dangerous.

She wasn't allowed to read me stories and I wasn't given books, although she did tell me them; once she started to write figures in the soil of our garden for me to copy, but when they beat me severely for it she stopped altogether. It made me too nervous to learn in any case, I wouldn't pick up a stick and draw in the sand for fear someone might see me; even for Kagome, my hand shook. "

This was a lot for Inuyasha to admit to Sesshoumaru; that he had a fear of any sort let alone one he felt was ridiculous. He was no longer the tiny pup who had little strength against humans and yet the impression had lasted until now and Inuyasha was scornful of himself. He felt Sesshoumaru's anger and thought it was directed at him because of his absurd phobia; but his father was not angry with his son.

He knew that it was only too easy to terrify a child and leave a lasting impression, he had done it often enough with Inuyasha; no, Sesshoumaru's anger was directed at all those who had added to his child's burdens by harming him and his mother, including himself. It took a while to reassure Inuyasha that he was not at fault however and that Sesshoumaru would teach him how to read and write starting the next day.

Inuyasha couldn't believe it, he would have the opportunity to learn to read; he knew the importance of reading, the whole world of knowledge would be opened to him and he would no longer feel so ignorant. He had always felt a sense of shame and masses of inferiority when he had come to understand how little he knew in comparison to everyone else, especially since his pups could all read. It wasn't as if Kagome hadn't tried, but she was so busy with pups and he with hunting and providing, there hadn't been any time; mundane housework took so much longer in the past than in the future.

The following morning the Lady bade them all farewell for a time, as she too had responsibilities of her own; but she promised that she would be no stranger, saying that the two boys and all the pups needed a female around the place every so often to keep tabs on things. Then in the afternoon, while his pups were at play under the watchful eyes of a nursemaid and guard, Inuyasha was seated at a small desk in Sesshoumaru's office.

In front of him was paper, ink and brush and an image of his name written by Sesshoumaru, ready to be copied. Inuyasha picked up the brush but was unable to stop the tremor in his hand; apart from the residual trauma from his childhood, he was not used to having something so fine in his fingers that were more used to gripping the hilt of Tessaiga.

Suddenly his hand was covered by that of Sesshoumaru who guided his hand to dip into the ink and helped him make his first marks on the paper. There was a subdued joy in Inuyasha's heart when an hour later he had copied unaided his name and the names of his mate and pups; his quiet pride in the achievement was not lost on his father who found the poignancy of the occasion cause him to offer silent apologies to Izayoi.

Nothing however was more satisfying to the father than to see the uninhibited smile of his son when his task was completed, and the paper with these first offerings was carefully placed in a folder kept in Sesshoumaru's desk. Every day after Inuyasha was to be found at his lessons, learning to read and write; his progress was steady but not rapid and reading was easier as he found it very difficult to make neat marks with the brush on his paper.

But he persevered and Sesshoumaru was a very patient teacher who found to his amazement that he really enjoyed this special time with Inuyasha; he felt that he had the chance of something that could have so easily have been lost to him. Had Inuyasha had a more conventional childhood, Sesshoumaru wouldn't have been part of this experience.

For Inuyasha's pups however curiosity over what Papa and Grandpapa were doing instead of playing with them was growing, and they wouldn't stop asking annoying questions. Eventually Sesshoumaru answered them.

"Your Papa needs to learn things that will help him to rule his land in the future."

"Papa's got land; why don't we live there then?"

"Your Papa is still too young to take charge of it yet; he is not yet fully mature." The pups looked at each other; this was a new thought for them. Papa was not completely grown, he was a pup like them; the boys' eyes gleamed with mischief as they looked at Inuyasha. He however had seen the expression too often on their faces and previously on Shippou's not to know the danger signals; so he nipped that in the bud.

"I may not be as grown up as your Grandpapa, but I am your Papa, so mind your manners boys; I still have the say in how you behave and you answer to me if you are bad."

"You too Papa, you must behave and no more naughty words like Mama hated or Grandpapa will tan your hide." The cheeky pups ran off after seeing their father's face turn pink and their Grandfather's smirk.

"They make me realise how much I missed of your growing up Inuyasha; your pups are a mixed blessing sometimes." Sesshoumaru truly felt this until he became aware of the silence from his son. "You too missed out on all of this Pup; you do very well with your little ones considering you never had anyone from whom to learn."

"I had Mama for a while, she would never tolerate bad behaviour from me, nor would anyone else; they all disciplined me, but I was a good pup in the main. In comparison to me my pups are spoiled I know; but I couldn't ever treat them like I was, even if they are a bit too boisterous."

"Your pups are fine children Inuyasha; their tutors are pleased with them and they are well liked around the Palace."

"Keh!" Inuyasha knew the pups were alright and over the following month everything settled down into some routine until the twins caused more trouble with their thoughtless actions. Souta and Shinmaru were still curious about their father's lessons and spent a lot of time spying out around their Grandfather's study.

Their stealth and patience paid off when one day, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had gone down to the library to study some of the old manuscripts leaving the study empty. The twins briefly glanced at each other before rushing in and taking quick looks around; they struck gold with some screwed up paper in the waste bin that was covered in black ink. Grinning at each other they scurried off and ran to find out what treasure they had unearthed, in a far corner of the garden.

At first they weren't sure what they were looking at, the letters and numbers that covered the paper were childish scrawls in comparison to the elegant hand writing of their Grandfather; and even they could write neater, without nearly so many ink splotches. There was no one younger than they who would be practicing writing skills in the Palace; the answer hit them both at the same time, the one who was learning to write was their own father.

This was too good to keep to themselves and they rushed off to find their sisters and show them how babyish their father's writing was. The girls too were shocked to see the evidence in front of them and yet they couldn't see how it could be anyone else's practice paper.

"I have never seen Papa write anything that I remember." Kaede said, followed by Kizume;

"He never read us stories like Mama did, even when we asked him to."

"He always tells us how important it is to do our lessons but he never even learned to read. How can he tell us what to do when he didn't?" Souta was most disgruntled and put out; he the most out of both boys hated the regimentation of lessons. The girls were not quite so quick to judge, Izamai thought hard;

"There must be a reason that Grandpapa is teaching him… we shouldn't say anything about finding this. It's not our business." The eldest pup was a mature little girl and she knew that her father didn't want people knowing that he was illiterate and only just learning, so she sternly reiterated her concern and got them all to agree.

Sesshoumaru could scent that the pups had been in his study, but couldn't see that anything was any different so put it down to the fact they may have been looking for him or their father. He and Inuyasha had had a pleasant time in the library and Sesshoumaru had prepared a shelf with scrolls that would be easy for the first time reader; as Inuyasha progressed the whole library would be opened to him.

At least once he could decipher the words, he would be able to read anything; unlike a small child learning, Inuyasha would be able to comprehend any of the books. A small private alcove with a curtain to keep that privacy was set with a desk purely for the time when Inuyasha wished to work and further his education. That time was a little way off yet but it was good to be prepared and Inuyasha had something to aim for that was encouraging for him.

Dinner that evening was strange, Inuyasha could tell the pups were hiding something as they kept glancing at him then looking away. He began to think that he had something on his face or clothes and if anything they were making him nervous. Sesshoumaru didn't know what to think either, it was unusual for all the pups at once to act strangely; he couldn't determine that anything had happened though there was nothing very strange in their scents, except for a slight apprehension.

However the conversation wasn't lacking; Inuyasha was always interested in the pup's activities and had promised to take them tracking in the forest the next day. All of them enjoyed this when it happened, the pups could all track well and the freedom to leap through the tree canopy and almost fly, just like their Papa could do was a real treat.

The end of the day would be a feast, consisting of the animal that they had all helped to hunt and then there would be bedtime sleeping under the stars, while they pretended to be on the hunt for shards, just like Mama and Papa and their friends. Usually Mama and Papa would tell stories of their trip so this would be the first hunt in a long time and the first with their Grandpapa and without their Mama.

Early to bed for all was a given if they were to start their trip fresh and ready, so there was no long story time just a whispered 'go to sleep' from their Papa. But Shinmaru was feeling mischievous;

"Read us a story Papa; just a little one." Inuyasha looked shocked; he had never been asked this before so he said;

"I don't read you stories Pup; that was your Mama's special time, anyway it's time to sleep."

"But I'm not tired yet Papa, please read to us, please." The little wretch was grinning from ear to ear and he waved the stolen paper under Inuyasha's nose. "You can't read can you Papa? Ha, Ha, Ha; you write worse than a baby too, you were naughty Papa and skipped your lessons when you were a pup didn't you? We can read and write better'n this."

TBC