Inuyasha strode with a newfound bounce in his step, a sense of elation that made him lightheaded, and had him rushing forward. Zel slowed him down every so often, tugging his hand with annoyance when he got ahead of her. Inuyasha obliged, slowing his pace, but the second he looked back down at the girl another wave of elation rocked him.
He didn't want to admit when that simple sense of happiness became full blown giddy. If anyone noticed they didn't say anything.
Kagome clattered in her steps when the young girls kept pulling her forward, the combined force almost throwing Kagome off her balance. Kagome scolded them at first to only hear their insistent complaints at the current speed being rushed out of their tiny mouths. They're voices melded together until it kept becoming an incoherent squeal.
Inuyasha's ears kept flattening every time their voices hit a new pitch and his eyebrows rose, half impressed. Still, in the back of his mind, a quick strike of sympathy hit him when he considered the overall implications for Kagome.
They turned the block and in a second, his mood disappeared.
Zel stopped with a heavy step as the shrine came sight, and a ripple of fear went through her scent. Inuyasha crinkled his nose, his eyes falling still upon the building in the distance.
His youaki blood abruptly rushed up and his spine straightened. Jerking forward, he broke away from Zel and marched in front of the group of them. His hand fell to the hilt of his sword and he took a deep breath.
Disgusting exhaust polluted the air, and the far smell of rotting wood was in the wind. His chest tightened and his ears twitched. He could hear the rush of breathing of those behind him, and his mind shifted.
The quickest flash of Kawayou went through his mind and slipped away but not before bringing a sudden jumble of concerns to mind. He could protect his pups. But where was he going to trust leaving his girls when he went to get his son?
The thought forced some air from his lungs and the tension rushed back to his shoulders. He rotated them for a second, trying to listen to his owns thoughts.
He couldn't—no wouldn't dare—bring them demon hunting with them. And this posed the sudden question of who he would ever allow to watch over his children. Kaede, Miroku, and Sango crossed his mind for the briefest of seconds but he shook his head. No, that wouldn't do. Especially not if demons were targeting them.
A touch on his shoulders made him flinch, and he twisted around abruptly to face Kagome.
"What?" Inuyasha almost snarled and Kagome fell back a step.
"Inuyasha, we have to take them across. There isn't one to watch them here."
His brow pinched as the surprising symmetry of their thoughts but he shook his head.
"What are you planning to do with them there?"
Kagome made a motion for him to back up and Inuyasha reluctantly turned to continue walking. She didn't answer at first, and then calmly came out with "they're safer anywhere near us than alone."
He growled softly, hopping over the last step to land ahead of her.
"How do you do this?" He almost hissed at her as she past. Kagome just shrugged and lead the way toward the well house.
Meimi and Ko went silent watching the exchange, and twirled around the two adults quickly.
"Oh, wait!" Ko spoke up when she looked back down toward the well. "Are we going in that creepy shack?"
"Oh, I'm not going in that shack." Meimi stood, slammed her foot down, and crossed her arms.
Ko raced to stand next to her and shook her head.
"I'm not going either. You can't make me."
Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at them. The tension still made his shoulder ache.
"We have to." He lowered his voice and announced it with a firm nod. "There ain't anything in that shack so stop being scaredy cats."
The girls narrowed their eyes but held their ground. A voice in the back of his mind arrogantly reminded him they must have his stubborn streak and Inuyasha frowned in reaction.
"Oi, bitch." He turned toward Kagome, "didn't you ever train them to obey their parents?"
The girls listened but closed their eyes and popped their head up, taking a superior sniff in complete unison.
"Nice try Inuyasha, but you can't make them move like that." Kagome told him with a hint of tiredness in her voice.
The fatigue started to tug at her body even while her mind buzzed with alertness. Her eyes dropped down to Zel. The girl had gone still, her eyes widening to take up most of the space on her head. She drew her arms around herself, and tipped her head up to look at her mother.
Her brow had furrowed, her eyes brows up, and her mouth was open inquisitively.
A jolt went through Kagome and almost knocked her too her feet. She shot Inuyasha a quick look when her thoughts changed but the dog demon didn't notice.
Accepting the challenge, Inuyasha peeled back his lips. He suddenly dropped his arms to his side and darted forward. Snatching them up behind their knees, he threw his weight back until they dangled over one shoulder.
The girls screamed in protest, the high shrill deafening. Inuyasha cringed but gritted his teeth with determination and marched toward the well house.
Kagome's thoughts didn't stop bombarding her at the short distraction. She dropped to her feet and tried to beckon the young girl into her open arms.
'Brilliant Inuyasha,' She thought when the jolt left a lingering pain in her nerves, 'just throw that comment out there and think no one will notice.'
She knew Zel easily had to be the most observant of the four, perhaps because she couldn't speak leaving her only time to listen. But Inuyasha saying straight out 'listen to their parents'? Now of course she couldn't miss that. The thoughts made her even more desperate to hold the girl.
Zel didn't move at first, her eyes trickling over the features of Kagome's face—that alone telling her she was right.
Zel dropped her head to the dirt, stepping forward slowly until Kagome could wrap her arms around her. Drawing the girl into her arms, she buried her own face in Zel's hair and tried to calm herself with Zel's warmth.
"I was going to tell you babe," Kagome whispered suddenly unsure of any real way to broach it.
She could feel Zel's fingers curl around her shirt and clench the fabric in a fist. "We just needed to find a way to do it."
The girl didn't react. Free of words, she only leaned her body closer into Kagome's hold. The alarm that had struck her seemed to be mutual and Kagome stayed silent herself. Her mind scanned over how she actually thought the children would respond. Denial at first, acknowledgment second, and then full acceptance. That is the way they usually did things. But then Zel completely threw her.
She sounded out the rest of the world and didn't budge from the spot. Her muscles burned with anxiety that seemed to be inevitable these last few days, and she didn't know how to react. What else could she actually tell the girl, short of going into the whole story? A story they would never understand?
Kagome kept running over the ideas in her head but stopped.
An emotion ran through her in an instant, making Kagome lose her breath. It seemed…it seemed like sudden determination.
She drew back enough to see the girl in her arms and Zel slowly smirked with the new energy. She moved, tugging Kagome towards the well house.
Kagome faltered even under the weight of the emotion, as sudden confusion wracked her.
'Determination. How could she be getting determination from that?'
Kagome didn't linger on the idea long, when she could hear her other girls screaming all the way down the well. Picking herself up off the ground, she followed Zel's lead and walked back toward the well.
~*~
A/N: Wow I hope there weren't errors there. I never got a chance to reread it. But anyways, this chapter had to be done like this(even if it seems like I'm dragging out nothing). But it was needed for later implications and such.