"Where ya'll sneaking off to?" Shippo asks, leaning against the wall. His tail swishes behind him leisurely.
The trio look at each other and seem to elect Megumi to answer his question.
"We need to get back to Jujutsu High and meet up with Yuta and the others. I need to check on Tsumiki as well. She hasn't been answering her phone." Megumi stands with his shoulders squared. There's resolve in his demeanor, as though he honestly believes that he can just sneak out of the estate, and no one would notice.
"And you expected to take on the guards… how? You must know they are full-fledged demons trained in Sess's army." Shippo pushes off the wall and holds out a hand. "Actually, I'll answer that. No. You can't. You think those little curses you fought in Shibuya were the shit?"
"I didn't know we were prisoners here," Megumi argues. "We should be able to go if we want to."
Shippo sighs. "Is that any way to talk to your brother? No respect."
"Brother?" Yuji and Nobara exclaim, both grabbing a hold of Megumi's jacket. They tug, willing Megumi to look at them.
"He's not my brother."
"Uh… didn't Satoru like kind of take you in?"
"Yeah, but what the hell does that have to do with you calling me brother?"
Shippo walks over to them, places his hands on his hips, and leans down until his nose is a hair's width away from Megumi. "You have long eyelashes," he comments, a wiry grin on his face.
Megumi jerks back, cheeks flushed pink.
"We don't have time for this."
"Satoru pretty much raised you and your sister. Kagome raised me." He stands upright. "And they're mates, so with those facts, we're brothers. You think any of you would be here if we wanted you dead?" His eyes turn to slits. There's still blood smeared on his clothes and face. "I don't go out of my way to kill humans. If anything, I'm pretty damn fond of you lot."
"Something is wrong with him," Nobara whispers, though she may as well be shouting.
"My hearing is better than humans," Shippo quips. "At any rate, if you wanted to check on some people, all you had to do was ask. But sneaking out? Nah. No way the guards let you go. And if you start a commotion here, Sesshomaru will not take that so lightly." Shippo wraps his arms around himself and shivers. "He can be kind of scary when he wants to be."
Nobara scoffs. Her hand drops from Megumi's jacket and she puts on a nonchalant front.
Shippo frowns.
"Next time you die, it will be your last." He points to Nobara. "Sesshomaru may have brought you back to life once, but he won't do it again." Ignoring that Sesshomaru can't bring a person back more than once, Shippo watches with satisfaction as the words sink in and the reality of their situation grabs a hold of them.
"Uh, Shippo?" Yuji starts, "We need to check on Tsumiki and check in with Yuta and the others. Could you take us?"
Finally, someone with some sense around here. Shippo smiles and grabs Yuji by the back of his neck. "C'mon let's go. All you had to do was ask." He glances at the rosary beads. "Sure hope you don't mind having a permanent necklace on."
"Permanent? This doesn't come off… ever?" Yuji touches the subjugation beads and winces as it shocks him.
"I mean InuYasha is over 500 years old and he still has his."
"Wait…you said Kagome-san raised you? Isn't she human?" Megumi asks, following behind them.
"Is she?" Shippo questions. Does merging with the Shikon Jewel do anything to extend her lifespan? Is she considered something else now? Or is she simply still just a human? His tail swishes with more agitated movements. "Does it matter?"
"Of course it matters!" Nobara hurries to his side. Her stomps echo throughout the halls.
They make it outdoors. Shippo nods his head in acknowledgment to the stationed guards and leads them towards the barn.
"Well, she ain't a demon and she sure as hell isn't a curse," Shippo says, "Alrighty, now, before anyone freaks out. I got to know who is afraid of dragons?"
"Sh-Shippo? Could you please remove your hand?" Yuji asks, rudely interrupting Shippo and not answering the damn question.
He, not so gently, pushes Yuji into the barn. Ah Un raises their heads and lets out a loud snort. Their eyes glow in the dark.
"Hey Ah Un!" Shippo waves. "Up for a quick trip below?" He pats their heads. Hopefully Sesshomaru won't be too upset if he notices them gone for a bit.
"That's a fucking dragon," Nobara says behind him.
Yuji scrambles back.
"Oh, and Megumi, you can't have Ah Un. Sesshomaru would throw a fit." He taps his chin. "And you better not try to take the baby dragon when it hatches. That's for the kid… kids?" He lets Ah Un out of their stall, though the two-headed dragon could just as easily get out if they wanted to.
"Are we riding on that? How about Buyo Jr. instead?" Yuji turns to Megumi. His eyes are wide. Pleading.
Shippo is offended on Ah Un's behalf.
"You can ride down, but you won't be able to get back here without one of us." Shippo points to Ah Un and then to himself. "Hope you didn't think the barrier around here worked the same as Tengen's weak ass ones."
"I don't believe Kagome-san raised you. You are way too disrespectful to have been raised by someone as kind as Kagome-san." Nobara sniffs, jutting her chin out.
"Ya know, she's with Satoru, right? Dad is kind of a dick." Kids these days are so naïve. It's crazy how much they cling to their youth with all the shit they've seen. Hell, just from today alone. He gets why Satoru is always praising his students. As uncomfortable as it is to admit, at their age, he would have cracked.
Ugh, he was such a crybaby back then.
"Say Kagome did raise you. How old were you then? You said InuYasha is over 500, so demons must live a long time," Megumi says. The shadows near his feet shift and the nekomata pops out, landing on Megumi's shoulder.
"50? I was a little runt. Kagome was about 15 back then." He motions for them to move out of the barn. Ah and Uh trail behind him, most likely happy at the chance to get out and fly around. "Don't ask how old she is now, I don't know."
"Kagome-san is like 24 now," Nobara whispers, cupping her hand over her mouth as if it will stop Shippo from being to hear. "I have more questions than answers."
"Yeah, I think he's trolling us. Gojo-sensei said not to trust those foxes."
"I don't know if he's telling the truth or not, but these demons are close to Kagome-san. There has to be some history there for them to go out of their way to help us just because it makes her happy."
Shippo looks at Ah Uh and shrugs. It doesn't matter if they believe him or not. "If you kids are done talking about me, can we get a move on it? I do like to get my beauty sleep." This is actually ruining his plans for the night; this little sneak out plan they tried to concoct. He was going to go back out and find some more curses to exorcise.
His blood lust is simmering down, but it is still there under the surface waiting for something to ignite it.
"How good are your ears?" Nobara questions.
"Very good," Shippo says with a wide smile. "Now Yuji, you ride with me. Get on." He grabs Yuji and tosses him onto Ah Un's back.
"Hey!" Yuji grumbles, struggling to sit upright. "I would have gotten on. You didn't have to throw me."
Shippo ignores him. "Nekomata, try to keep up. Really not trying to be out all night on this endeavor." He's torn. On one hand, he wants to go out and exorcise some more curses. His blood is damn near screaming at him to do so. On the other hand, he wants to stay near Kagome because he knows this shit is bothering her.
He lets his mind wander as they set off to Jujutsu High.
When they get to the school, a lump form in his gut. Damn. Guess he does like Satoru after all. Feels wrong being here without him.
"Have you been here before? You knew where to go," Megumi questions.
Shippo instructs Ah Un to make themselves comfy in the forest. The two-headed dragon trots off with a noticeable pep in their steps.
"I came here with Dad."
"Really? I've never seen you."
"You saw me, you just didn't know it was me you were looking at." Shippo tilts his head to the side. "You met Yakeru, so you know some things he can do. Some stuff is universal to us red foxes." He leaves it at that. No way he is going to spell it out for them. If they don't know he can transform, then that's their fault. "Where's this Yuta?"
"I'm right here, but who are you? What are you?" Yuta steps out from the shadows with his sword drawn. There's a haughty look to him.
"Ah!" Shippo exclaims, "You nearly scared me with that zombie look on your face." Shippo fake cries, relishing in the disbelief written on everyone else's faces.
This Yuta guy is a problem. He didn't sense him at all. Shippo narrows his eyes.
"Yuta-senpai," Megumi says, throwing one more look of confusion over his shoulder at Shippo. "This is Shippo. He's… a demon, but he's on our side for now."
"For now?" Shippo balks. "Unfortunately, mom has taken a liking to you, and she'd be all sad if something happened."
"Demons have mothers?" Yuta sheathes his sword, though his face continues to look like a dried-out grape. If he keeps it up, those frowns are going to turn into permanent wrinkles.
"Kagome-san is his mother. Allegedly." Megumi sighs. "I don't know if Gojo-sensei mentioned to you about Kagome—"
"Ah, his girlfriend that fell from the sky into his lap." Yuta's face brightens and Shippo is sickened to his stomach. Ugh, the frowny face fits him better. He looks like some kind of Frankenstein with a smile on his face.
"She fell from the sky?" Yuji and Nobara repeat.
"I can't get in contact with Tsumiki," Megumi continues, completely ignoring the elephant in the room. Or maybe Megumi is too desensitized to the stories Satoru tells others.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that Kagome just fell from the sky and ended up in this world. While Shippo did not fall out of the sky, him and the others were pulled into this world by other means.
"Yuta, I gotta ask, who hurt you?" Shippo throws an arm around Yuta's shoulders. "Like, why do you look like some demon ate your parents in front of you as a child?"
"You eat humans?" Yuta's eyes twitch.
He eats humans, but not in the way Yuta and the others are thinking. "Nah, can't say I've ever thought to eat them." Shippo presses his nose closer to Yuta's cheek. He sniffs. "You smell funny. Like you are steeped in curses. You a curse fucker?"
"Shippo!" the trio shouts, scandalized.
Shippo blinks and pulls away from Yuta. Sigh, he needs to hurry up and bring Satoru back home. These kids are so damn boring.
"Yuji, what is that around your neck?" Yuta changes the subject. "And Megumi, we can all head out and look for Tsumiki. Though it may be better for Yuji to lie low for a bit since you are supposed to be dead and all."
"Right," Yuji says after a moment. "This is some necklace Kagome-san put on me to keep Sukuna even more in check. It sent him to the ground."
"It only works for Kagome. Don't bother trying to use it yourselves," Shippo quips, inspecting his claws. "And Yuji is coming with us. I'm keeping an eye on all of you." He conjures a sheet of paper with markings on it. "We'll have to return here for Ah Un after we find Tsumiki."
He glances at the paper and then conjures more. Enough for all of them. "This won't hurt ya." It's the only warning he gives them before slapping the papers on each of their foreheads. Smoke emerges from where they were standing, and left are the bodies of weasels.
"Ah! What the heck did you do to us?" Nobara exclaims, but it sounds like a series of squeaks. Her brown fur puffs up in anger.
Shippo laughs, scooping them up in his arms. "This is way more fun."
"This is awful," Megumi grumbles.
"Are you sure he is on our side?" Yuta questions.
"Be nice before I feed you all to Ah Un," Shippo quips, sniffing the air. "Where would Tsumiki be if she isn't here or at the house?"
"We have an apartment a couple blocks from here."
"Wonderful, we will start there. And if you guys behave yourselves, I might turn you back."
Their groans draw out a chortle from Shippo's throat. Poor, naïve kids these days. All they have to do is remove the paper from their foreheads. Not that he'll tell them that. This is way more fun.
A/N: This chapter ran away from me. Working on the next chapter of Wish I Could Curse You. Probably write another side story with Satoru and Kagome. Take care of yourselves! And thanks for reading :)