InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beautiful: An Adventure in Parenthood ❯ Instinct ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I own Shinnoumaru, but not anyone else. RT can totally use him if she wants though XP~

 

A/N: The next in this series of mini-chapters for the ongoing ficlet `Beautiful' - Hope you enjoy Sammi-neechan and Ronwixiv!

 

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Inuyasha didn't take kindly to being kicked out of his own hut for three days, especially by his brother, but it was something he could understand and so he grumbled about it less than he otherwise might have.

 

“I don't know why that idiot was traveling with a pregnant mate anyway… What would he have done if she'd given birth in the wild? Holed up in some cave?”

 

From nowhere a tiny seemingly disembodied voice piped up, “Actually, master Inuyasha, he would have most likely dug a den. It is what Inu do, afterall…”

 

Inuyasha slapped Myoga off the side of his face, squishing the little flea-youkai and giving a short `keh' before he glanced to the quiet hut, reluctantly curious as to what was going on inside.

 

~*~

 

Sesshomaru watched with fascinated, proud, yet concerned eyes as his mate cradled his offspring to her chest and allowed him to feed from her, before both fell asleep.

 

He knew Rin was exhausted and her milk supply was already dwindling, as the demon pup sought to compensate for lack of youki in the milk by over-eating.

 

He spent all day within the small hut stationed at the door or back wall, more often than not his hand hovered on the hilt of bakusaiga, and he left only to hunt and get water for Rin, and only in early morning.

 

He had thought nothing could trump the instinctual pull he had felt toward a child Rin; that there could be no stronger desire to protect than the one he had felt for her when she had still been a dirty, silly, incomprehensibly foolish, stray whelp shadowing his path.

 

How wrong he'd been.

 

That instinct had grown to something bordering insanity when he'd taken her as his mate, and when she became pregnant the paranoia had reached nearly catastrophic levels as he'd been unable to leave her in peace for even a short period.

 

He must watch over her.

 

Still… Through it all, his own self-preservation instinct had been strong enough to allow him to hunt comfortably, and leave to make certain the perimeter of their encampment was safe.

 

Now, he was fairly certain he had gone over the brink of insanity and his own self-preservation instinct… Even his own instinct to eat, to sleep… Had taken a backseat to making sure that his pup was well cared for and that it's mother - it's primary caregiver and food source - would remain safe to care for him as well.

 

Each distant noise brought a growl, and even the smallest brush of foreign youki against his own had his heckles raised and his eyes bleeding to red.

 

He was quite certain that if the kami themselves had joined forces, rallied against him and declared war; he would foolishly jump into battle at the cost of his own life - if only to provide Rin and the pup enough time to escape.

 

It wasn't sane.

 

Sesshomaru shook his head and growled lowly at some imagined threat - warning anything that might be out there, (though there was nothing that he could sense), to keep it's distance.

 

Abruptly realizing his own foolishness at growling at nothing a small sardonic smirk found it's way to his lips and he nearly chuckled at his ridiculous actions. He shook his head in amusement, something he never did, and thought that his father would be laughing at him, right about now.

 

If this was how his sire had felt… He certainly could no longer fault the old war-dog his actions on that fateful night.

 

His son was not an `heir', was not a future `ruler' of his lands or inheriter of his wealth… He was a tiny, defenseless, inu who scented of himself so strongly that at times he was hard pressed to tell where he ended and the pup began.

 

Unlike a mortal pup, his eyes and ears were open by the third day - not the third week - and he was far less wobbly on his four little legs by the time Sesshomaru knew it was time to move from this village with all these humans (a possibly hostile group) and back to the safety of his shiro.

 

Traveling was not what he wanted to do right now - but there was little other choice.

 

With a resolute `huff' he took the pup from his mate's breast, wrapped mokomoko around the sleeping boy and nudged Rin's cheek with his nose, nipping at her ear to wake her.

 

Rin curled away and groggily made some moan of protest, and he nuzzled her again.

 

“Can't you get concubines like any normal lord and leave your poor tired mate alone?” She groaned, still more than half-sleeping.

 

He smirked, nuzzling her again and stated in his disaffected tone, “The is not the sentiment you expressed three days ago.”

 

Rin groaned again and rolled over, now fully awake and smiling, “That was different! I wasn't tired then!” she playfully humphed.

 

Ignoring her words, he made his best `serious' face, (and he had a pretty good one, if he did say so himself) and spoke her name, “Rin.”

 

Sensing he was in no mood for games, though anyone else could have never read him so well, she finally turned over and faced him fully, “What is it?”

 

He straightened and looked away, reading the atmosphere outside the hut with all his senses before stating, “We're going.”

 

Rin's eyes widened and she glanced to her sleeping son worriedly, before forcing herself to rise up and move around more than she had in the last three days. It seemed as if his healing saliva had worked small wonders on her body, and there was far less pain and discomfort than one would have guessed - although her ankles were still somewhat swollen.

 

She gathered their few things, knowing most of what she needed was packed in Ah-un's saddle bags and Sesshomaru would surely seek out Ah-un and Jaken first thing. Rin reached for Shinnoumaru, and was surprised when she heard the deep voice of her mate.

 

“I will carry him.”

 

Wanting very much to protest, but knowing there was no arguing with that tone, Rin set her jaw and nodded.

 

It was time to go.