A/N: Hello guys, I'm in for another update :-). I'm glad you guys like that I update pretty quickly. I just can't help it! I love this story and cannot help but want to write it. And I'm also glad you seem to love Tamako. I love her too, she is just too adorable for words {At least, I think anyway haha.} Of course, I could be biased as she's my own character.
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Chapter 8: While fathers away, Tamako will play!
It had been weeks since Tamako came to the feudal era with her father, and she was adjusting very well. She seemed to love it more here than she ever had in the time beyond the bone eaters well. Finally, she did not have to hide herself from the human population. And, at least the human population of their home village seemed to love the girl. Still when strangers saw her, they always had mean things to say. But, given the chance, Tamako would melt their hearts with her sweetness, just as she had done with the villagers in their home village.
Still, Inuyasha had refused to leave his daughter alone for any period of time. He was convinced she needed him within earshot in order to protect her from the harshnesses of the feudal world. She was still a little girl after all, only about four and a half years old by now. And she was growing up so fast, too fast for the hanyou. She seemed to get bigger and bigger every single day. He almost felt like he would miss something if he were too far from her.
But he still had to provide for her, as Miroku had reasoned with him. Miroku had come to him just the day before asking Inuyasha's help on a demon extermination job. While he'd been hesitant, after much pleading from the monk, Inuyasha finally agreed, so long as he would be back later that same night. He did nothing to hide the fact that he did not like the idea of being away from her all day. It was the first time he was really away from her for too long since he'd brought her back.
Sango had agreed to watch the child, so early on the morning that he knew he had to leave, he'd gathered his daughter up from bed, gotten her dressed and allowed her to pick a toy that she wanted to take over to Sango's to play with. Scooping her up against his side, his arm securely underneath her butt in order to hold her against his chest as he walked down the path towards Sango and Miroku's.
Looking at her fathers face, she pouted a little, her ears drooping. "Otou...will you be gone for long?"
"Not too long I hope." he assured her.
"How long is too long?"
Stopping on the path, he looked at her. Raising his finger to point at an area of the sky. "See right there? I hope to be back by the time the sun is right there. Before it gets dark. If not then, then I promise I'll be back before its bed time." he assured her again before he began walking.
Resting her cheek against his shoulder, looking up at his face. At first she didn't like the idea. Would she feel safe without her father there? Whenever her father was around, she knew without a doubt that she was the safest she could possibly be. She'd heard other kids talk about demon attacks to the village, and how her father kept them all safe.
Pouting cutely as she looked at him. "What if a demon comes and you're not here?"
Gripping her a little tighter, that had been his fear as well, but he couldn't show that to the toddler. "It'll be alright. Sango-chan used to be a demon slayer. She can take care of any mean demons that come to hurt you."
That explanation did not seem to help the girls resolve in letting her father go. "But..she's just a human, otou. Auntie Sango-chan don't have claws like we do." she said, looking up at him.
Smiling softly to her, leaning to kiss her cheek lightly. "Then you'll just have to protect the weak humans, won't you? My big girl." he said, attempting a different tactic in assuring her. "You will be fine, I promise."
That statement drew a small smile from the girls lips, looking at his face. "Really?! I can protect them?!" she asked, grinning slowly. "Yeahhh I can Otou!" she said, leaning to kiss his cheek.
Hugging her a bit more, laughing as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek. "Yes, you can protect them." he said as he walked. Seeing Sango and Miroku's hut coming into view, he stood up a bit straighter, putting on his usual mask that he used to hide his feelings in front of most people. Stepping up to the door and knocking on the frame lightly before pushing the mat door aside to step in, looking at them.
"Good morning Inuyasha-sama, Tamako-chan!" Sango said happily, moving to stand up from her seat. The twins were playing in one side of the room, and Miroku sat by the fireplace holding their son.
Miroku handed their son over to Sango as he stood up himself, looking at Inuyasha. "Good morning Inuyasha. Are you ready to go?" he asked.
Inuyasha nodded to Miroku slowly, moving to kneel down and put his daughter down. Sighing a little as she still held onto his fire rat haori tightly in both hands, almost in a death grip. Looking down at his daughter. "Tamako..."
Instead, Tamako held onto her fathers haori, clutching it in both hands and hid her face on his shoulder. "No." she declared. The talk on the way to the hut had proved to be ineffective as a whole.
Glancing at his friends, Inuyasha held up one hand to let them know he'd be a minute before looking back at Tamako. "Now we talked about this. Its only a few hours, and I'll be right back." he whispered softly to her, kissing the side of her head. He usually didn't show too much emotion in front of other people, not even his friends. But..he needed to convince Tamako to let him go.
Shaking her head a little, she looked up at him, pouting cutely to him. "But...but...otou..." she whispered softly. "What if you don't come back?"
Looking in her eyes, she knew just exactly what to do to make her father agree with her. But this time he shook his head. "Stop that. I can't give in this time. I will come back, I promise you that. And have I broken a promise to you before?" he asked, seeing her shake her head softly. "Besides, what about those people in that village that I'm going to? They need me too. What if you lived in that village, wouldn't you want someone to come save you from the evil demon?" he asked softly.
She nodded a little, but still almost didn't look convinced. "But..but...but...what if...what if its not an evil demon? You said...not all demons are evil..."
Leaning and kissing the side of her head slowly, taking in a deep smell of her scent before he answered. "True...not all demons are evil. But, good demons don't go around terrorizing a village. Come now, Tamako, do not make this harder than it already is. You're a big girl, and I know you'll have fun here with Chiyo and Sara, and maybe even Rin will come by." he said, smiling sweetly to her. "I'll bring you back a present. How would that sound?"
The promise of a present made Tamako's ears peak up as she looked up at him, sniffling softly. "What kinda present?" she asked.
Her father shrugged slowly. "Its a surprise. Presents are supposed to be surprises. And, I promise I'll bring you a surprise and I'll be back before bed time. Okay?"
Nodding slowly in response, she leaned up and kissed her fathers cheek, hugging him tightly around his neck, breathing deeply in his calming smell. "O-Okay Otou.."
Happy that he had gotten the girl to agree, he hugged her softly, nuzzling his nose by her ear gently. "I love you to the moon and back." he whispered just softly, trying to be quiet enough so only she could hear before leaning back.
Seeing her fingers let go of his haori, he smiled in his victory. "Good. Now, I want you to be a good girl for Sango, okay?"
The young girl nodded to him, wiping her eyes slowly, watching her father stand up and walk out of the hut with Miroku.
As soon as they'd gotten out of the hut and walked a bit of a distance away, when Miroku was sure that Tamako could not hear them, he glanced to his friend. "Are you sure it was wise to bargain with a four year old?"
"Keh, how I raise my pup is my business, monk. Besides, she would have never let go if I didn't.."
A grin came over the monks face as he looked forward. "Riiight. You were so nice to her. I don't think I've ever seen this side of you before. And what was with the...to the moon and back thing? Are you getting soft on us, Inuyasha?"
This caused the hanyou to growl and glare dangerously at his friend. "Keh, you better shut up monk before I tell your wife about our last trip, when you grabbed the ass of that waiter girl." he threatened. Seeing the shocked expression on the monks face only made him grin. "Good. Thats what I thought. We have an agreement then."
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So far, the day had been pretty uneventful back in Sango and Miroku's hut. Truthfully, Tamako was bored. Sitting just outside the hut, moving her fingers in the grass a little as she looked up at the sky, looking for the sun. Seeing the sun had quite a ways to go before it got into the position where her father mentioned that he would be back, she let out a deep sigh.
Looking up towards the hut, her ears twitched as she heard the baby crying up a storm. Man he was loud. Too loud for her ears. Listening carefully, trying to drown out the babies annoying crying. Satisfied with not hearing any demons or anything nearby, she moved to stand up, glancing around. Quickly running up to the trees and glancing upward. These trees led to a section of the forest that the villagers named after her father. Inuyasha's Forest. Her dad had told her the story about him being pinned to the sacred Goshinboku tree, and had been explained to her that the well they'd come from was made from the wood from this tree. Her father had taken her to visit the tree a few times in the past, but not too often. She could tell it hurt him to bring up past memories of things.
Though she was still too young to understand many things, but she was starting to. The demon blood that ran through her veins caused her to grow up a lot quicker than some human children might in both body and mind. She already looked more and more like a five year old every day. It was only a few months advanced since she only had half demon blood. But, she was still very naive about things.
Walking to the edge of the trees, she started to move into the woods and walk towards the Goshinboku. She liked that tree so much more than other trees. Her father had told her that it was the place where he first met her mother, so it held a special place in both of their hearts. She was a bit more careful this time when wandering into the woods. The last time had been when that monk found her and tried to purify her. She did not hear anyone on the dirt paths around the woods, and she didn't particularly smell our any demons either, so she thought she was safe.
Once she reached the old tree, she looked up at it slowly, trying to imagine her father against the tree. Sighing a little, she moved to sit on one of the roots that were above the ground, moving her feet back and forth as she looked down at them. She only sat on the Goshinboku for a few minutes before sliding off the root and onto her feet, starting to walk a bit away from it. She wanted to look around for herself, and she thought so long as she was within a good distance of the village, she would be just fine.
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It actually wasn't long before Tamako found herself lost in the woods. She could not remember the direction in which she had come from, or which way the village was. Every tree sort of looked the same. If only she could find the Goshinboku tree.
Whining softly as she plopped down onto the ground. She'd been walking forever, most of the time lost in thought. But, the past half an hour she had been in sort of a panic. She'd only expected to be gone for an hour or two, tops...hopefully not long enough for anyone to worry. But, she'd been gone for nearly five hours.
Looking up at the sky slowly, trying to find the sun throughout the trees. She couldn't see it, but it was slowly becoming twilight as the sky was getting darker very slowly.
"Well, what do we have here?" she heard a deep voice behind her say, making her twirl around quickly, astonished that she had not caught the scent of someone else to begin with. Of course, she was in a panic mode and scared already, this stranger in front of her only made her more afraid, making her ears twitch and flatten on her head as a growl rose in her throat, almost trying to mimic her father to intimidate the man standing there.
"Ohh, its only a pup. But a hanyou pup...mmm, you'll be lovely for dinner." the man behind her said. She could tell instantly that he was a full demon by his smell. What stood behind her was a wolf demon. He was very large (comparatively to her, anyway), with short black hair and red eyes, his fangs were showing with his grin. His usual wolf tribe demon armor showed off the muscles of his arms and legs. But, the color of his fur indicated that he was not apart of Kouga's tribe. His fur was darker, more of a black color.
She tried not to show fear, she only growled at the demon in front of her, bearing her own little fangs. "You better not! My otou will be mad..." she said with a growl. While she tried not to show her fear, her scent reeked of fear.
Her statement only made the wolf chuckle, looking down at her. "Oh really? Well, little hanyou, your otou isn't around, now is he? If he cared about you, he would be around. Of course, you're only a half breed. What youkai in his right mind would care for the likes of you?"
His words hurt her a little, but she knew that wasn't true. She'd been out wandering when she shouldn't have. Her father had no idea where she was, and probably wasn't even back to the village yet to find out she was missing.
The man went out to grab the child, but another voice stopped him. "Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! This is my land, my territory, and we do not attack or eat humans here! Even half humans!"
The voice of the second man made Tamako's eyes avert from the one trying to hurt her, looking up at the other demon just a bit away from him. This demon was also a wolf demon, but different. He had brown fur, his brown tail flicking a little. And his long brown hair was tied up into a tight pony tail. His cerulean eyes focused on the demon in front of him, Tamako blinked a little and blushed slowly. She figured, this demon was the safer of the two to be around.
"Bah, you are not the pups father, so why would you care for a no good half breed?" the first demon asked.
The second only shook his head. "I don't know the pup, but, this is my territory, and you are treading in dangerous waters, Yuji. Get the hell off my land before I kick your ass." he said with a growl.
"Ahh, right. You were infatuated with a dead human miko, weren't you, Kouga? Thats weakness. Humans are weakness. This pup is weakness. Feed your own before you side with a no good half dog demon."
Shaking his head, Kouga looked up at Yuji slowly. "I. Don't. Care. Now stop pissing me off, got me? Or do you want my pack to tear you apart?"
This threat seemed to resonate with Yuji as he just growled. "Fine. But this is not over, Kouga."
And in that instant, he was gone.
Tamako stood shocked, almost afraid to say anything. Her eyes looked up at Kouga slowly, blinking a bit to him. Now that the one demon was gone...would this one hurt her instead? He'd said he didn't hurt humans...so was he one of the good demons her father told her about?
They stood there in silence for a minute before Kouga walked over to her, kneeling in front of her and looking at her face. "Hey there, kid. What are you doing out here all by yourself anyway?" he asked. Kagome had definitely made him softer, too, just the way she had done to Inuyasha. Well, not exactly the same way, but close enough. He'd loved the human girl, and still did in many ways. But he'd long ago given up on her coming back. It'd been five long years since the battle with Naraku, there was no way that she was coming back. Most people thought she'd died in the battle. And while he'd known that wasn't true, he couldn't help but admit that she did in fact disappear seemingly into thin air.
Blinking slowly, Tamako gulped a little, looking at him. "I...I got lost. And...and my Otou went to another village for work and...and I don't know how far I went and...and I wanna go home." she said, pouting cutely up at the demon before her, hoping the same tactic that worked on her father would now work on him.
Sighing, Kouga nodded and flashed her a small smile. "Well here, let me take you home, okay? The woods is no place for a pup to be all by themselves. My name is Kouga, by the way. I'm not going to hurt you. Will you tell me your name?"
"T-T-Tamako..." she said slowly, wiping her eyes as she looked up at him.
Holding out his arm to her, he smiled softly. "Well Tamako, you're in good hands." he said. At first he wasn't even putting two and two together. There were plenty of dog demons around, there was no way this kid could be mutt-face's kid. At least, so he thought.
Feeling Tamako take his hand and come into an embrace, Kouga held her and picked her up as he stood, holding her onto his side, much like her father did. And in an instant, she felt safe in his strong arms.
Laying her head on his shoulder, looking up at his face, a small blush on her cheeks as she smiled. "Thank you Kouga." she whispered to him.
Starting to walk off in the direction of the nearest human village, figuring thats where she lived from the smell of her scent trail. He only walked. While he was still fast without his shikon jewel shards, he didn't want to scare the kid. "No problem. We don't hurt humans on my land. Especially miniature ones."
This made Tamako giggle, shaking her head. "I'mma be a big strong demon when I get big!" she declared.
Grinning a little. "Oh really? Well, I'll be sure to steer clear of the strong scary demon then."
"Noo, I won't be scary. I wanna be a nice demon. I wanna be a miko like my Okaa. But Otou doesn't like that idea."
The statement made Kouga blink a little. A miko like her mother? She couldn't be. "Who...who are your parents?" he asked curiously.
The question caught her off guard as she looked at Kouga. "My okaas name was Kagome. She's gone now though...I never really met her before, but everyone tells me how nice she was. And...my Otous name is Inuyasha. He protects the village just by the forest named after him."
Her answer made Kouga stop in his tracks, gripping the girl in his arm. Looking down at her, his cerulean eyes made contact with her golden speckled chocolate ones as she blinked in confusion. "Y..You're Kagome's child?" he asked in a stutter. Of course, why couldn't he see it before? Those were Kagome's eyes staring back at him. She had so much of Kagome's face in hers. And the ears atop of her head looked just like the mutts.
Nodding a little bit, Tamako blinked. "Uh...yeah." she said. Reaching inside her shirt slowly and taking out the golden locket that she wore with her parents pictures in it. Opening it and showing him slowly. "My Okaa and Otou." she declared.
Looking at the image in the locket, Kouga was at a loss for words. He knew Kagome would never just leave her child willingly. So, this meant she had survived the battle with Naraku, but died at some point after Tamako was born. That also meant that the mutt had been with his woman. A growl came up through his throat at that thought. But, he instantly silenced it at the smell of slight fear on the child.
"Y-Yeah...yeah, I knew your mom...a long time ago..." he said, sighing a bit.
Her face brightened with this comment. "You did?! Wow! My okaa knew a lotta people!"
"Yeah...she did. She was a very amazing woman." he said with a sigh. The past was the past, he might as well not dwell on it. He'd thought he'd gotten over Kagome years ago, anyway. Even still, he had yet to take another mate, or even to lay claim to a woman to be his mate. In the back of his mind he'd always waited for Kagome to come back and to be with him.
"Come on, we better get you home before your dad pisses his hakama." he stated.
Blinking a little, the child looked at him and tucked her locket away within her shirt, giggling a little. "Otou wouldn't do thaat. He shouldn't be back until the sun gets tooo...there." she said, pointing in the general area that her father had pointed earlier.
Looking up, he saw that the sun was getting close to that point, he nodded a bit. "Alright well...we'll get you back before the sun gets to there." he said, starting to run towards Kaede's village, though not at top speed.
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Sango hadn't instantly known that Tamako was gone. But, she did find out quickly around dinner time when the child wasn't there. And she was in a panic. What would happen when Inuyasha came back and Tamako wasn't there? He surely would flip out and use it as a reason never to leave the girls side. But she also had no idea what to do. She didn't know how long the girl had been missing, and she couldn't leave her own children by themselves to go look for her. So instead, she'd informed one of the village men about it, and a few went to go look in the surrounding woods for the missing child.
All she was left to do was wait. She just hoped they returned before Inuyasha did.
This was too much to hope for, though. Miroku and Inuyasha were already most of the way to the hut before the villagers found the girl. Walking through the village, he could sense something wasn't quite right. The way the villagers looked at him in sympathy and fear made him nervous. What in the hell were they looking at, anyway?
Arriving at Miroku and Sango's hut, Inuyasha looked forward, seeing Sango spring up quickly and rush to greet him.
"Oh Inuyasha! You're early! How was the extermination? Did everything go okay?" she asked, attempting to stall the hanyou from the inevitable.
Nodding slowly, looking at the slayer. "It went fine. How is Tamako? Did she behave?"
Gulping nervously, Sango glanced towards her husband slowly, almost trying to tell him something was wrong. "Uh...y-yeah...yeah she um...she's fine. She's...she's been a perfect angel all day..." she said.
Growling low in his throat, he took a sniff of the air, but he could not smell his daughters scent. Not too fresh anyway, it was at least hours old. "Sango...what in the hell is going on? First the villagers walk around me like I'm going to explode at any moment, and now you're lying to me. Where is Tamako?"
Looking at him, opening her mouth slowly to come up with an excuse, the look in the hanyous eyes told her that he did not want excuses. "Well...um...you see...I uh...I was inside and the girls were all out playing. The twins came back and Tamako wanted to stay out here and play in the grass. So I said fine fine, as long as she stayed there..." her voice trailing off.
"But...?" Inuyasha finished for her, a growl slowly starting to raise in his throat. "Where. The. Fuck. Is. She?" he demanded, almost becoming scary.
With a deep breath, Sango shook her head. "I..." she started to say, until she was interrupted.
"Otouuu!" Tamako's voice rang as she saw her father. She was still in Kouga's arms as he walked towards them. The sound of her voice made Sango sigh in relief, looking towards her. But, seeing Kouga...she knew that would not go well.
"Hey there, mutt-face." Kouga said with a grin as he walked over, holding Tamako to his side.
A louder growl came from his throat as Inuyasha looked to Kouga's smug grin, and seeing his daughter in the wolfs arms. "Kouga. Unhand my pup if you know whats good for you, wolf." he spat, resting his hand on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga. He would not hesitate to kill the wolf then and there.
But it was Tamako's voice that interrupted his thoughts. "Noo, stop Otou!" she said, looking at her father reaching for his sword. "Kouga saved me!" she beamed, hugging onto the wolf demon almost adoringly.
The growl was still in his throat as he looked at Tamako. "You. We will discuss this later, young lady."
"Aww, come now mutt, don't be so glum. The kid is actually really cute. Besides, good thing I was there to protect her while you were off doing kami knows what. Find another claimed human girl in some other human village, huh?" he asked, trying to provoke him a little.
Shaking his head, Inuyasha glared at Kouga, bearing his fangs. "No. Not like its your business. Now, unhand her this instant."
Tamako pouted. "Otou! Be nice!" she yelled at him, almost sounding like her mother. The reminder of Tamako's mother made Inuyasha stop in his tracks. He almost expected a 'SIT' to come from her lips. Sighing a little, he tried to compose himself and keep his anger in check as he walked up to the wolf, glaring into his eyes.
The smug look on Kouga's face only grew with Tamako's words. "Yea, mutt, be nice."
"And stop calling him that! Be nice too, Kouga." she demanded. The shock in the wolfs eyes caused a grin to come to Inuyasha's lips.
"Yeah, you be nice too, Kouga." Inuyasha repeated.
Kouga took in a deep breath and only smiled. "Alright." he said, looking at Tamako and rubbing her back. "But, you should go with your father, kiddo." he told her. Hearing her protest a little, it was the first time Inuyasha heard Tamako protest about having to come to him, which broke his heart a little bit.
But, before he could say anything, Kouga kissed his daughters cheek softly, smiling to her. "Don't worry, pretty girl. I'll come back to visit." he whispered to her, only igniting Inuyasha's anger even more.
Tamako smiled happily, looking at him. "Okay! If you promise." she said. Seeing him nod, he knelt to put her down and she ran up to her father. Reaching to take his hand and looking up at him, smiling.
Glancing back at Kouga just in time to see him wave and hear his "Take Care," and watch him take off. Tamako pouted a little. She'd instantly made a friend with Kouga.
It took a few minutes for Inuyasha to take a deep, calming breath and collect his thoughts to calm down. Looking down at Tamako slowly. "What did I tell you about wandering off?! You nearly gave me a heart attack. And poor Sango too. You apologize for running off." he said. He wanted to just scoop her up into his arms and hug her to death, but he knew he had to reprimand her for her actions. He had to be the responsible parent.
Tamako blinked and pouted. "I...I'm sorry Otou. I just wanted to go see the tree...and...and I got lost." she said, her ears drooping as she gave a sad look to her dad. Seeing him not budge, though, she looked up at Sango. "I...I'm sorry Sangochan. I didn't mean it..."
Sango only nodded slowly. "Thats alright, Tamako. I'm just glad you're safe. Next time, stay within the area of my hut, okay?" she warned. And when Tamako nodded, she looked at Inuyasha. "You better get her home. I bet its been a long, long day..." she said slowly.
Agreeing with her, Inuyasha took his daughters hand. "Alright. Come along."
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Once they reached their hut, they walked inside. The walk to the hut had been very quiet, neither of them saying a word. Inuyasha was just trying to sort out his feelings, to figure out what to exactly...do about this. He could not let her go around in the woods by herself and think its okay.
Though, in the safety of their home, Inuyasha pointed to one of the seats by the fireplace. Seeing her sit down, he moved to sit next to her, his hands in his haori, looking down at his daughter. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Tamako blinked up at him, pouting. "I...I was bad, Otou. I...I shouldn't have gone...I'm sorry." she said, her ears lowering before looking up at him. "I won't do it again, I promise! I was just bored and.." she started
"Being bored does not mean you can run off into the woods!" Inuyasha interrupted. It was the first time he'd ever really raised his voice at his daughter. It wasn't quite yelling, but louder than he usually did, which still made her ears pin to her head.
"I...I-I know papa. Please...I sorry...I...I won't do it no more I promise." she said as she looked up at him.
Sighing a little, Inuyasha nodded. "You better. The woods around here are dangerous. What would have happened if Kouga hadn't showed up at the right time? Huh?" he asked. He hated to admit it, but the wolf did save his daughter, even if he wasn't exactly sure how he'd done it. Slowly reaching to bring Tamako into his lap, hugging her softly, resting his chin down on the top of her head.
"You cold have gotten hurt, or killed. Kami you're to much like your mother and me for your own good..." he whispered. It sounded like something he would have done, and her stubbornness came from both himself and Kagome. Rubbing her back slowly, he closed his eyes. "I could have lost you.."
Looking at her father as she sat in his lap, moving to cuddle into his chest. "I'm sorry Otou. I won't do it again." she promised again, looking up at him, seeing his soft nod.
"Can...Can Kouga come and visit sometimes, Otou? I like Kouga...he's so nice. We...we played I Spy while he brought me home. And he saved me from an evil demon that was gunna hurt me." she said, feeling her cheeks heat up in a soft blush.
Looking at his daughter, he blinked, sighing. "Kouga and I aren't exactly...friends. So I don't know..." he started to say.
"Pleaaase? Please Otou? I like Kouga! He's my friend." she declared.
Glancing at her a little, seeing the look on his face. What harm could it really do? The wolf hadn't ever really harmed Kagome or anyone else, he was just a little...over excited, too excited for his liking.
"Fine. I suppose thats fine. Just keep the wolf in line, got me?"
Giggling, Tamako nodded. "Okay Otou." she said.
Sudden realization dawned on her as she looked up at him, smiling. "Otouu...whats my surprise?!" she asked happily.
"I don't know if I should give it to you now...you weren't a good girl for Sango..." he started. But, seeing her face starting to curl into a frown, he smiled to her. "But, here it is." he said. Slowly taking a small cloth wrapped package from his haori and offering it to her. Once she took it, he kissed her head slowly, rubbing her back lightly, watching her open it.
"Oohh thank you Otouu!" she said happily before she looked down at the package. Slowly starting to open it carefully. What was wrapped in the small bundle was a comb that was meant to put in a girls hair when it was up. It had three pins and the decorative part fanned out like a japanese fan. It was black and on the fan part it had small intricate flowers etched into the comb, and colored in whites, golds and reds. Along the top of the comb were several pearls as well.
A smile formed over her lips as her eyes lit up. "Its so pretty, Otou!" she said, looking up at him and hugging him tightly, which made him smile.
Nodding a little. "It is. I thought of you when I saw it. The villagers insisted I bring it to my lovely daughter in thanks for helping them. See? Some people can be very nice." he said. Taking the comb from her and gently bringing her hair up, using the comb to push through it to keep it held up, smiling. "Beautiful." he said to her.
He wanted to give her nice things like these all the times. His mother had grown up in nobility, and he wanted his daughter to grow up like that as well. Even if he knew he couldn't always provide it for her, he knew the villages he saved were more than happy to provide some goods and money for their services, and the monk always seemed to get extra things. While he didn't think to take advantage of the village, the small comb he had acquired had been worth the look in his daughters eyes.
He would give her everything in his power. He knew that.
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A/N: Welllll, I decided how I wanted to bring Kouga in! :-D. Kouga to the rescue! Such a hero lol.
Also, this chapter I think is quite a bit longer than the rest. There was just so much I wanted to do in this! I hope you've enjoyed!