InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Miko for Youkai ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

A Miko for Youkai, Part 2

 

 

“Let's go.” Inuyasha pushed off from the railing of their deck with Kagome holding tightly to his neck. Kazuki had his lunch box in one hand and his backpack in the other. He jumped off seconds after his father. On the deck, Shippo and little Mayumi waved bye-bye.

 

Shortly before they got to the school, Inuyasha slowed down. Usually he and Kazuki made this trek alone. Inuyasha would drop his son off at the kindergarten in the town below their mountain, then head off to the University for his own classes.

 

“Now, don't wiggle so much,” Kagome said, as she tugged a tight-fitting cap over Kazuki's real ears as well as the place where his human ears would be, if he had human ears. She stuck a baseball cap over the top so the cap wouldn't look so odd. When they had first registered Kazuki, they had told the school he had a physical condition which necessitated him always wearing the cap. “And don't forget—human children are weaker than you are. Be gentle.” She repacked the things in his backpack and made him slide both arms through.

 

Kazuki kicked one foot back and forth in the dirt. “I know, mama,” he said, impatient to get to the playground.

 

“Uncle Shippo will pick you up in the car after school. You have a note in your backpack to give to your teacher. Don't forget.”

 

“I know,” Kazuki repeated. “Can I go now?” He could see some of the other kids already starting to line up outside.

 

Kagome gave him a kiss and shooed him towards the school. Kazuki started to run, thought better of it, and walked very quickly towards his group. Kagome watched him go and sighed. Inuyasha keh'd.

 

Inuyasha and Kagome ducked between two buildings so Inuyasha could transform into his spirit state while Kagome opaqued her own presence with a spiritual barrier. They streamed up the mountain, then away to the place where Fenn was waiting.

 

It was a beautiful fall day. Kagome tugged on the two strands of Inuyasha's hair that served as her anchors, and Inuyasha plummeted to earth, touching down gently at the last possible moment. He solidified as she cast away her barrier.

 

“We don't have any specific time schedule, do we?” Kagome asked.

 

Inuyasha shook his head, wondering where she was going with this. They still had a fair way to travel before they reached Fenn and his problem youkai.

 

Kagome smiled. “It's not often that we get time to ourselves these days,” she remarked. “No Kazuki, no youkai, no baby. I thought we could take a little break, you know?”

 

Inuyasha did know. He broke out into a grin of his own. “Good idea,” was all he said. But he pulled Kagome in close under his arm and sniffed around for a likely spot. He found one, with wildflowers and lots of morning sun, and he laid Kagome down in the soft grass. Fenn could just wait.

 

 

 

“They're not very—symmetrical,” commented Kagome, as she surveyed Fenn's wild youkai, who skimmed back and forth across the swamp that Fenn called home.

 

“That's what I've been trying to tell you,” said Inuyasha. They stood on the edge of the swamp and watched the small, ugly creatures as they dipped and soared above the dark water. Few had limbs; in fact, except for their size, they closely resembled the swarms of youkai that manifested wherever Naraku was close by. “They aren't exactly warm and fuzzy.”

 

The youkai had noticed them. They paused in their flight and gathered together in a cloud which moved as one towards them. Inuyasha tensed, and drew Tetsusaiga, pushing Kagome behind him. He didn't like this; it reminded him too much of the bad old days. Where was Fenn?

 

“I'm right here,” Fenn said, stepping out from behind Kagome.

 

“Damn it!” said Inuyasha, “Don't do that!” He slammed Tetsusaiga back into its sheath and turned around to face the smiling youkai.

 

“I admit, they're not much to look at,” said Fenn to Kagome, ignoring Inuyasha's muttered curses. “But they've never been this physically present before.”

 

“That's because they're ready to step up to physical food instead of just energy,” said Inuyasha. “They need to be destroyed before they start attacking other creatures.”

 

Kagome certainly didn't want these youkai to attack any of her little youkai, or Kazuki, or the occasional pizza delivery kid.

 

“I really don't think that will happen,” replied Fenn.

 

“Yeah, why?” asked Inuyasha, still not convinced that the youkai were as benign as Fenn seemed to think they were. They looked hungry to him.

 

“Because I'm not like that,” Fenn answered.

 

Kagome tilted her head, considering the matter. Fenn had a point. Fenn was capable of great harm, but he would never hurt anyone. If his youkai were like him. . . .

 

Fenn laughed softly. “Thank you for believing in me, Kagome,” he said, garnering a puzzled glance from Inuyasha. Kagome hadn't spoken aloud.

 

“You'd better not be doing what I think you're doing,” he growled.

 

Fenn shrugged. “Sorry.” He turned back to Kagome. “But even I don't know for sure. You say I would never hurt anyone—sorry, Inuyasha, I'm not doing it anymore, that was what Kagome was thinking before—but that's not exactly true. I've lived a long time. I have done things before, and I can't say I won't do things in the future. But I am a greater youkai and I can choose what I do. I want you to help me find out if these youkai that came from my excess energy have a chance at survival. If you say they do, then I will believe you. If you say there's no chance, then I'll help Inuyasha to get rid of them, agreed?”

 

Kagome wasn't sure how much she would be able to do, but she was willing to give it a try. All creatures deserved a chance, didn't they? “I need some space,” she said, waving Inuyasha and Fenn back. Inuyasha grudgingly obeyed. She stepped out into the swamp, feeling the water seep through the bottom of her shoes and soak her socks. It was cold. Holding both arms outstretched, she let her own natural power flare, lighting up the dank swamp to any eyes that could see. Of course, the youkai shied away. They were youkai, after all. She expected that. She took another step forward, and felt the mucky bottom of the swamp suck at her shoes. Suddenly she was up to her knees in the water. “I'm Ok,” she told Inuyasha, feeling him start to move towards her with her heightened senses. He stopped at her words.

 

“It's all right,” she murmured, knowing it was her tone and not the words that mattered. Slowly, cautiously, the youkai fluttered closer to her. These youkai were like their own little youkai in that sense—not scared of her miko powers but shy because she was human. Perhaps there was a chance for them, after all.

 

A snake-like youkai twisted around her, never quite touching. It had gorgeous eyes. “Ah, ah!” she reprimanded it, when she felt the first tingling sensation which meant it was trying to draw off some of her energy. “Believe me, you won't like it,” she added, letting her aura flare just a little. The creature flinched, and flew off, but not before giving her a reproachful look with its pretty eyes.

 

She felt them. They were thinking curious thoughts at her, tinged with hunger, true, but also filled with wonder, and amazement, and budding intelligence. They wondered whether she was connected to their friend Kazuki, and when she thought back that she was his mother and Inuyasha over there was his father, she sensed their confusion. They didn't understand about natural birth yet, either. Kagome felt laughter bubbling up inside her. Oh, Inuyasha wasn't going to be pleased to find out they could read minds too!

 

 

 

They didn't get much farther than that the first day. Inuyasha's cell phone rang, startling the youkai away from Kagome's influence. They scattered across the swamp and disappeared into the mist.

 

“It's Shippo,” said Inuyasha, causing Kagome's heart to speed up as she immediately thought of all the things that might have gone wrong with her daughter.

 

“Is Mayumi Ok?' she asked.

 

“Yeah, she's fine. The school called. They want us to go down there and get Kazuki. He and some other kid were fighting.”

 

They made it to Kazuki's school in record time. Inuyasha materialized almost right outside the front door, earning him a slap on the head from Kagome. “What? Nobody saw,” he protested.

 

Two scowling little boys sat on chairs facing the Principal's desk. She looked up as Kazuki's parents walked in. So did Kazuki, catching their scent before he saw them. Inuyasha glanced briefly at him, then turned his attention to the Principal, who was talking to the children.

 

“Biting will not be tolerated in this school,” she was saying in a stern voice.

 

Kagome paled. Kazuki had bitten another child? This was bad, very bad. She turned her head to look at Kazuki, but he kept his eyes trained on the floor in front of him. Inuyasha didn't seem very upset. He probably thought it was great that his son won the fight, knowing him.

 

“All right, now. You both lose recess for the rest of the week. Shake hands now.” The Principal waited while the two boys faced each other and reluctantly shook hands. “Now go back to your classroom. I want to talk to Kazuki's parents.”

 

The boys ran off.

 

“I'm sorry I had to call you away from your meeting,” the Principal began.

 

Meeting? Shippo must have told her they were at a meeting when he answered the phone at home. In a way, they were. “That's all right,” said Kagome. “I apologize for Kazuki. He knows better than to bite.”

 

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

 

“Oh, he didn't bite. The other boy bit him,” explained the Prinicipal. “The school nurse swabbed his arm and put a band-aid on it. We called you because it's protocol whenever anyone gets hurt.”

 

“I see,” said Kagome. She glanced questioningly at Inuyasha, who tapped his nose. He had known the whole time.

 

“What did they do?” asked Inuyasha. He had a hard time believing Kazuki let himself get bitten in the first place.

 

“Oh, the usual little boy rivalry,” said the Principal. “They started calling each other names, and it escalated into a wrestling match. While they were rolling around on the ground, the other boy bit Kazuki. I think Kazuki was more surprised than hurt. The teacher said he didn't cry at all, just grabbed his arm and sat down at his desk. She saw the teeth marks and sent him to the nurse. Even though Kazuki was the child who ended up getting hurt, I had to punish both of them for fighting.”

 

“Names?” asked Inuyasha. He wasn't going to let it go so easily.

 

The Principal obviously didn't want to go into detail. “Oh, silly things, like `white hair boy' and `hat boy' and things like that.”

 

Silly things like Inuyasha had had to endure all throughout his childhood. “Was the kid picking on Kazuki because he looks different?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

 

“You know how children are,” the Principal said. “I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it. Kazuki called the other boy `brown hair boy' right back. He wouldn't take his hat off even when the boy dared him. That might have been what started the fight.” Her eyes drifted up to Inuyasha's bandana, which snugly covered his ears in an adult version of Kazuki's headgear.

 

Inuyasha growled subvocally. Kagome took over. “Thank you for calling us. We will talk to Kazuki tonight about fighting. Maybe I could come in and talk to his class, if you think that would help.”

 

“I'm sure his teacher would love to have you,” replied the Principal, relief evident in her voice. These types of meetings generally did not go well. Parents tended to get upset when things happened to their children. The father seemed a little upset, but the mother was making an effort to be supportive. Hopefully she could talk her husband out of suing the school system. “The children would enjoy learning about Japanese culture.”

 

Kagome hadn't even been thinking in terms of Japanese culture, but that would work, too. “Come on, Inuyasha,” she said, dragging his arm to leave. On the way out, they stopped by Kazuki's classroom and peeked through the doorway to watch. School would be finished in another hour, so they decided to wait. Of course, Kazuki scented them immediately and looked up, eyes wary. Kagome made a point of catching his gaze and giving him a smile to show him she understood what had happened. Kazuki smiled back, then returned to his puzzle. Next to him, head bent over the puzzle they were putting together, was the little boy who had bitten him.

 

“You know,” she whispered to Inuyasha. “I'm very proud of Kazuki. He could have hurt that boy but he didn't. He didn't let his temper get the best of him.”

 

“Keh,” replied Inuyasha. “He gets that from you.”