Kazuki was in a daze after all that happened. His cheek still warm from the kiss. He was silent for the walk back to the village, the only thing on his mind was Haruna. 'Gosh, she's really pretty,' he thought.
"Don't look at me with those googoo eyes. It's weird," Haruna said. Kazuki sighed and looked down.
"Hey Kazuki, you like her, don't you?" Makoto looked at his friend concerned.
"Well, yeah. I've known her my whole life. She's never been really mean to me like a lot of the other boys," Kazuki replied, not looking him in the eye.
Makoto stood in front of him. "Not like that you idiot! I mean like like! The way my
mom and dad like each other! You'd better not. You know the rules. We can't be friends if a girl is in the way. If you like a girl, you'll be attached to her, and she'll do stuff like make you a meal, and do your hear, and maybe even kiss you again! If she kisses you, you'll be put under her spell and be her slave! I gotta grab one of dad's sutras to purify you, or else you're doomed!"
"But I don't-" Kazuki's ears sunk. It was no use arguing with Makoto. When he got back, both of his parents were waiting for him, smiling.
"There's our little hero!" InuYasha said,rubbing his hand on Kazuki's head.
"One of the villagers told us what you did, that was a very brave and kind thing to do." Kagome added.
"Wow Kazuki!" Kaede shouted. "You're amazing! I can't believe you're so strong like that!"
"Gee, thanks," Kazuki said. Just then he felt a surge of pain. "OUCH! Why'd you do that you jerk!" He saw Makoto standing there with some sutras in his hand.
"There! It worked! You're back to normal now. You're no longer under the spell!" Makoto said, pleased with the results of his experiment.
"Makoto, what on earth are you talking about?" asked Sango.
"Well when a girl kisses a guy, he's under her spell and he would have to do everything she says, maybe even get married!" Makoto tried to explain.
The adults laughed. "Makoto, it doesn't work like that," Kagome said with a smile.
"And sutras aren't something a young boy like you should be playing with." Miroku scolded.
Kazuki pouted, "Yeah, especially since they really hurt because I have demon blood in me."
"Well, it's certainly been an exciting day, hasn't it? How about we all head inside," Kagome said.
Kazuki glanced over at Haruna, who was sitting with her sister. "Umm...how are you feeling, Haruna? I hope you didn't catch a cold. But if you do, you know my dad knows a great medicine for it." He leaned in closer to her.
"You don't need to worry about me, I'll be just fine. I'm just a little chilly. How are you feeling?" she said, moving away from him.
Kazuki's face turned red as he replied"I'm a little tired, and I'm soaking wet." He sneezed.
Sango smiled at the two. "Don't worry you two, the fire will be ready soon. You'll be dry and warm in no time."
'Uh oh, this doesn't look good between the two of them,' thought Makoto.
"Kazuki," InuYasha said to his son. "How do you feel about doing some training with me? You've sure shown a lot of strength as of late."
"InuYasha, don't you think he's too young?" asked Kagome.
"Sure! I'd love to!" Kazuki beamed.
"Alright then! We can start tomorrow," InuYasha replied.
Kazuki could barely contain his excitement. "Oh boy! I'm so excited! It's gonna be great!"
"Now InuYasha, I want you to be careful with him. He's our only son, and I don't want him getting hurt. And you know he gets scared of things like demons easily." Kagome piped up.
"Oh come on, He'll be fine! I've got everything in control. Trust me." InuYasha tried to reassure his wife.
"In all honesty, we all know this could go badly," said Miroku. He and Sango imagined all that could happen. InuYasha losing his temper, Kazuki being eaten alive by demons, InuYasha underestimating the ability of his son.
Kagome glared at him. "Don't you dare do anything to my precious baby or your life will be over! Do you understand me!"
"Of course, don't doubt me. I can handle this I swear," InuYasha feared the wrath of Kagome more than anything. Things didn't go quite as well as he planned.
The next morning the two headed out to begin. "The first thing you need to know is that you're stronger than almost any human. That's why, you can't take advantage of that. So attacking a human without any reason is out of the question. Understand?" InuYasha warned sternly.
"What if they're hurting me or one of my friends or you?" Kazuki asked.
InuYasha replied "That's fine, but you have to hold back. It's not fair to pick on somebody who's weaker."
"Why not?" Kazuki asked curiously.
"Because, that's cruel. If they can't handle that kind of beating, it would be overkill to give it to them. Taking advantage of somebody like that is wrong, and that's all there is to it." InuYasha said. "Now, how about we get started?"
After a short while of work, Kazuki was on the ground, panting. "We've done enough! I wanna go home! I'm tired! And hungry!"
"Quit complaining! You're not eating until we're finished, understand?" InuYasha snapped.
Kazuki had never been coordinated. He began to charge, but he tripped. He got up and began to attack his father, as instructed, but ended up hitting him hard in the face. Kazuki looked up at his father, and he began to tear up. "I'm so sorry!" he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you dad! Don't be mad at me!"
InuYasha sighed. "If you hit an enemy, you're not gonna be sorry are you?"
"Well...maybe if I didn't need to," Kazuki stammered.
"Kid, you're really not cut out to be a fighter are you?" InuYasha said. "You're too mellow. I oughta man you up or you'll never get yourself a woman."
Kazuki was struck by this. "Do you really think so?" He asked upset. "Please tell me that's not true!"
"No woman is going to want to marry a softie who can't protect her, now is she?" InuYasha said.
Tears rolled down Kazuki's cheeks. He was humiliated at this comment. "That was really mean! I'm not soft I'm strong you said so!" He charged at his father in a rage and attacked. When he stopped, he looked up to see what he had done. His father was covered with bruises. "I'm so sorry dad! I didn't mean to hurt you that badly! I just lost sight of what I did! Please forgive me!"
"So all it takes to get you to fight is to get you mad, huh?" InuYasha said. "You're powerful, but you have to learn to hold back. You can't let your feelings get in the way like that."
"Oh, sorry about that. I'll work super hard to control myself" Kazuki said.
InuYasha reassured his son. "Don't worry too much about it, you did fine for your first time."
Kazuki beamed. "Gee, thanks! I'll race you home!" He said getting off to a running start.
"You won't beat me yet!" InuYasha said, running after Kazuki. The two ran home together and InuYasha slowed to let his son win.
"Wow! I won! I can't believe it!" Kazuki said.
"Maybe I'm just getting old," InuYasha said.
"Do you think we could train like this again tomorrow?" Kazuki asked. "I really like training with you. You're really good at fighting, and I wanna be like you when I get big."
InuYasha was flattered by his son's request. "Definitely," he replied.