InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Coyote Tricks: Outfoxed ❯ Fox Feelings and Aftermaths ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter VIII - Fox Feelings and Aftermaths

A/N: Tear Jerker Warning - This chapter has a very tragic emotional scene recommend sensitive people have a box of hankies available.

Kit woke a little later and rose up on his elbow the stare at the sleeping Kitsune. He smiled remembering the passion they just shared. He was mostly glad that Shippo had not marked him at the end although a part of him felt sad and rejected by that too. As it was, Shippo accepting his submission meant that he had acknowledged himself as Alpha to Kit. Of course such submission and acceptance did not have to be done sexually but by doing so without the marking they had formed a special bond between them, more than friendship but less than life mates. His actions however created another problem. Up until now Singer had been at the top of Kit's personal pack, the first and only person he had considered as his Alpha. Now he wondered how he could resolve the issue if it came to conflict of loyalties, how he would tell Singer if it came up or if Singer being human would even understand. Of course, it might not come up at all, Shippo would soon go home and it was doubtful he would insist Kit go with him.

All this consideration was giving him a headache. Kit was never one to think too long about life, it was much more fun to just live it. A smile crossed his face as he quietly got up and got dressed.

Shippo laid eyes closed in the heat of the late afternoon sun just awake enough to be aware that Kit was no longer at his side but not wanting to stir just yet. He considered what had just occurred. Kit was almost a child in comparison to him and yet the young coyote had awakened feelings in him he had not felt in a long time. Feelings he hadn't even been sure he could feel again. Shippo could easily have followed through with the second and final part of the ritual and placed his mark on Kit as their passions climaxed, marking Kit as his life mate. He was not sure if Kit truly wanted to enter into that bond but by submitting as he did he had left that option open to Shippo and couldn't have objected. He had been sorely tempted to do just that but he had not. He considered his feelings and reasoning. Part of the reasoning was something the healer that had treated Kit had passed on to him. There was a lingering trace of pixie magic on both Kit and himself. The pixie they had encountered on the journey here had placed a charm on them that undoubtedly had to do with the initial feelings that had developed between them. Pixies were simple minded creatures that loved to play games and tricks on unwary travelers. They were known for casting love charms on couples often, at least according to the few scholars who understood the language and asked them about it, thinking they were helping them. Unfortunately, pixies intellectual ability to foresee the results of their matchmaking was very limited. Shippo also knew that those charms are limited and fade over time. Deep feelings didn't develop from them, only sometimes embarrassing encounters.

No that alone was not what stopped Shippo from bonding with Kit, nor did the fact that Kit was male. Male/male relationships were not unheard of among canine spirits. Shippo had male lovers before although never as a life mate. Of course life mate in his case was a relative term. Of the three life mates he had in his long life, only one had been another fox who could truly have been able to be a mate for life.

Part of the reason was the age difference. Although that meant little in the near immortal life spans of spirits, he couldn't really over look the fact that he was centuries old and Kit, although fully grown by demon standards was still a child compared to him. Hell, he had a son that was four times Kit's age. No he couldn't bond Kit to be a life mate, at least not yet. Perhaps in the future, when they both had time to consider the consequences, they might make that bond.

And there was also the main reason he was reluctant, that even now over 50 years after losing Mitsu and the kits he still wasn't ready to form another bond. The thought brought unbidden the memories of that tragic parting.

[My love, please reconsider] she had said to him.

[This is the way it must be,] Shippo said. [Until Inuyasha comes, I must be the guardian spirit for the Sunset shrine. My power is the only thing keeping the fire wards intact. The Americans will invade soon, so you need to get our children to safety.]

There had been tears but in the end she had agreed. He had spent that last night saying his goodbyes to her and little Miroku and Sango. He promised them that their half brother would join them as soon as he returned from this journey and that he would see them again as soon the shrine was safe. Two promises he would not be able to keep.

The next morning he saw them off to the forest den he had chosen for them to hide.

[Keep to the route I told you, it is longer but safest. You only have to go through one city but the Americans haven't been bombing there so it should ok] he told them. He hugged them each in turn and said goodbye one more time.

[I'll see you again soon] he cried after them as they set off down the road that led to Hiroshima.

A tear was streaming down his cheek when his senses detected something that brought him fully alert. Lifting his head he looked around as he caught the scent of human females from the trail below. They were coming up the path. He could find no sign of Kit but even more alarming, there was no sign of his clothes either! A giggle told him the girls would come into the clearing at any moment. He quickly transformed into the only form he could assume without his specially prepared leaves.

A group of young women hikers entered the clearing.

"Oh look," one said pointing to the rock.

"It's a fox," said another

"Oh, it's so cute!" said a third.

Shippo fox looked at the girls for a moment then turned and bounded off into the woods. Leaving the girls wondering what type of fox had 5 tails. From a tree overhead a raven cried in something that sounded suspiciously like laughter. The raven watched the girls with interest for a second but when he noticed they had bathing suits already on under their clothes he decided to follow after the fox.

Shippo fox pulled up short when a large bird flew over his head and landed directly in his path. The bird transformed into Kit who was laughing so hard he barely had time to materialize his clothes around him before he collapsed to forest floor.

"It's not funny," Shippo said transforming back into his natural form.

"Oh (gasp) yes it is! (snort) You should have seen the look on your face." Kit said as he burst into a new round giggles.

Shippo watching the young coyote's antics gave up a grudging grin. "Ok maybe it was a little funny, can I have my clothes back now?"

"Alright (giggle)," Kit said. Making an effort to get under control, he reached into his ether space pocket and extracted a neatly folded set of clothes. He handed them to Shippo he then sat and watched his friend get dressed.

"You know," Shippo said as he placed the fundoshi cloth on his shoulder, "I've told you a lot about me but I still don't know that much about you. Tell me about yourself."

Kit stood up and locking his hands behind his head looked up at the sky. "Well let's see, where to begin? I was born on a reservation in Texas. You know that my father is Coyote, one of the great lords of the People. My mother was Spring Rain, a young shaman. They say she was great in both power and beauty. My father was entranced with her and would visit her in dreams or in his coyote form. Eventually he fell in love with her, a very rare thing among the People, and took on a mortal avatar so he could woo her. He became a young man her age named John Coyote that came to study the shaman arts. She soon fell for him too. She found him funny and beautiful." Kit said. Then looking over at Shippo he continued with a big grin, "They say dad is a great joker, he loves practical jokes. Singer says I take after him."

"You don't say," Shippo said sarcastically as he worked his tail into the hole of his recently reacquired jeans.

"Yea, well anyway they got married. My aunts say that mom must have known early on who dad is. At least when I was born she was the only one that didn't seem surprised by the ears. Dad gave me the charm I wear the next day so only the immediate family and tribe elders knew about me. I always used to wonder as a kid why nobody would play with my ears like mom did. It was because they couldn't see them."

He paused to laugh. "I was a real terror when I learned how to control the charm. About thirty years ago I was at a sci-fi convention when this revivalist preacher came storming in making a ruckus and trying to break up the Dungeons & Dragons tournament. He was yelling about how it was the devil's work and we were all going to hell. Then I let him see through the charm. He almost had a heart attack, he turned sheet white, threw his Bible at me and ran screaming from the hall yelling `Demon, Demon!'"

They both laughed at the image. Shippo had finished dressing and they started walking through the woods in the direction of the Resort.

"Anyway," Kit continued on a sadder note. "I was still a little kid when my parents died. It was some freak car accident. Of course, dad didn't really die, just his avatar. I was left with my aunts to raise but I guess I was too much for them. Dad appeared to Spirit Singer in a dream and asked him to take me in. He came down from Colorado and convinced my aunts that I would be better off here with Singer's teachings and the help of the elves. And that is how I came to be here."

Shippo looked off into the distance. "I lost both my parents when I was just a child too," he said. I was lucky enough to be taken in by some good people, people who I'm trying to help now. I'm glad to see you were too."

They came out of the woods onto a path that lead to Kit's cabin.

"So what do you want for dinner?" Kit asked.

"Oh I don't know, frogs legs?"

Their laughter drifted into the evening.

A/N: I found this chapter extremely hard to write. As a male and fairly new to writing, it had not really occurred to me that you can get so emotionally attached to characters that it pains you to do them harm. I found myself having to withdraw from the family room to write the description of Shippo's goodbye to his family, a male pride thing about tears. If the tragic death wasn't essential to understanding Shippo's reasoning I really would have stopped and not written it. For the information of those who don't know the history, the Allied forces did not bomb Hiroshima prior to dropping the Atomic bomb partly because they wanted to study the impact of the A-bomb unclouded by other bomb damage. The people of Hiroshima were uncertain why their city was not being fire bombed like so many others but kept expecting it to eventually happen. When the `Enola Gay' came the city defenders did not even consider it a threat since it was only one plane and so they thought it was a scouting mission and not a bomb run.