InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny's Fool ❯ Changes ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note:

Well, my muse finally got his butt in gear and helped me crank out the first chapter of my fic. This will be a MirKag/InuSan fic. Everyone will probably be OOC, but whatever I do to them is necessary for the plot of the fic.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm only borrowing them.

Chapter 1

Kagome sat near the fire in Kaede's hut, trying to force her attention to her trigonometry book.

Come on, Kagome, she told herself. Two more weeks of this and you'll be finished with high school. Don't quit with the end just ahead.

Kagome sighed softly to herself. She couldn't wait until she graduated, then she could do what she wanted. Her mother wanted her to go to college, but she really didn't have the heart. Not since she fell in love with a particular hanyou.

She looked over at the being in question. Inuyasha was sitting near the door of Kaede's hut, legs crossed and hands tucked into his haori. He was unusually quiet. His keen golden eyes were trained on the door, as if he was expectant for something. Inuyasha had been in one of his sour moods all day. He snapped at everyone more than usual, including Kagome, who went out of her way too often to soften his temper. But, try as she might, she could not get a single decent comment from the hanyou.

She wanted to talk to Sango but her friend had left to go to the hot springs. She had asked Kagome if she wanted to go, but Kagome decided not to. She could tell Sango was only asking her to be polite. Kagome resorted to staying and studying for her final trigonometry exam.

Kagome turned her attention back to her textbook, looking at the figures, but not trying to understand them. Her mind kept drifting to her future.

Inuyasha had laid a verbal claim on her, but he hadn't made her his mate. In one sense, she was glad since she wanted to finish school first. It would be difficult to be bound to him and still have to travel through the well for her education. The arguments would be immanent. At the same time, it was frustrating. They'd been together for three years, engaged in a sense for one, and Inuyasha never acted like he even wanted her as a mate. Even after they had defeated Naraku the year before and Kikyou returned to hell alone, the hanyou would still make his thoughtless comparisons about her and Kikyou. Kagome's heart sank as she thought about it. If Inuyasha did take her as a mate, would it be her he claimed or the other woman? But, then again, Inuyasha had become her protector, her provider, and her friend. He had become everything she could have desired in a mate. Both were proud and stubborn as mules, leading into heated arguments more often than not, but those only served to add spice to their relationship.

Shippou's abrupt presence made her jump. He was presenting his newest work to her. Kagome smiled lovingly at the kitsune child, praising his drawing. Last time she came back from her time, she had brought him a box of 64 crayons to replace the ones he had used until they were too tiny for his small hands to hold. His latest masterpiece consisted of a blue and orange blob beside a green and white blob that had black on top. Kagome's mind automatically associated the colors as Shippou and herself.

"I didn't put Inuyasha in the picture," Shippou said. Kagome looked down at him. "He's been so mean to you lately that I didn't want him near you."

A pang gripped her heart, but she didn't respond. Instead, she patted the kitsune on the head and cast her trigonometry book to the side. Kaede had started supper so she decided to assist her. Kagome reached in her backpack and pulled out a couple of packs of ramen. If anything could bring Inuyasha around, she was positive ramen would do it.

She watched the pot carefully, trying not to get lost in her thoughts. Instead, she focused her attention on the other voices in the room, which belonged to Miroku and Shippou, since Inuyasha was still brooding in the corner.

"Come sit by me, Shippou," Miroku said, patting the floor beside him. "Since Kagome-sama is busy at the moment, I'll keep you company. Besides, I don't see myself in that picture."

Shippou gathered his crayons and took the offered seat. He spread his drawing out in front of him and studied it. He was silent a moment, then answered. "I do like you more than Inuyasha because you're nicer to Kagome than Inuyasha is."

Miroku smiled at the kit. "It's hard not to be nice to someone like Kagome-sama. Her heart makes it easy for everyone to love her."

Kagome threw a glance in his direction but Miroku continued to look at Shippou.

"Sango is lucky, isn't she, Kagome?" Shippou looked up at Kagome.

Kagome felt the heat rising to her cheeks as she caught Miroku giving her a small smile. "Yes, she is," she answered softly.

Inuyasha 'feh'-ed from his corner. Kagome took the pot off the fire that contained Inuyasha's ramen.

"Inuyasha."

One of his furry ears swivelled around, the only indication that he had heard her.

"The ramen is ready."

"I'm not hungry," he muttered.

"But-"

Inuyasha's ears laid flat against his head in irritation. "I said I'm not fucking hungry!" he barked.

Miroku flinched at the brutality in the hanyou's voice and turned his attention to Kagome. Surprisingly, she was not crying like she usually was by this time after one of Inuyasha's outbursts and that irritated the hanyou even more.

"Inuyasha, I was just-."

Another feral growl escaped from Inuyasha as he approached Kagome, towering over her with his fists clenched.

"Dammit, Kagome! I don't know why you just don't get a clue! I. want. to. be. left. a. lone!" Inuyasha all but shouted at her. Without another word, Inuyasha stormed out of the hut, slamming the door behind him.

Miroku looked over at Kagome. Her shoulders were slumping in defeat. She went back to her spot on the floor and sat, drawing her knees up and locking her arms around them. She rested her chin on her knees.

"Oh well," she muttered to herself, "I'm sure Shippou wouldn't mind having extras. At least he appreciates the things I do."

"Shippou isn't the only one, Kagome," Kaede said. "All of us do, including Inuyasha, even if he doesn't like to admit it."

Kagome buried her face in her arms. Shippou abandoned his crayons and walked over to her. He placed a hand on her leg and peered at her.

"Don't worry, Kagome," he said softly. "Inuyasha has always been a stupid jerk."

"That's not nice, Shippou," Kagome stated. Before Shippou could protest, she continued. "Inuyasha doesn't mean to say those hurtful things to me. He's just having a bad day."

"He's always having a bad day," Shippou countered. "It was one thing when Kikyou was alive, but she's dead now. Why does he take everything out on you? I mean he loves you, right? He shouldn't make you cry if he loves you."

Kagome hung her head lower, trying to hide the tears she couldn't fight against.

Miroku came over and reached his arms out to Shippou.

"Kagome-sama," Miroku said, "why don't you get some rest? You did study quite a bit. Some sleep will do you good."

Kagome looked up, tears streaming down her face. The little kitsune demon gave a low growl. He was so small, it was hardly threatening, but he got his point across anyway.

"The next time he does anything to make you cry, I'm going to hurt him. I may not be that big, but I won't allow him to hurt my mother."

Kagome pulled him into a hug and squeezed him. "Thank you, baby."

Shippou gave Kagome a kiss on the cheek before he leapt in Miroku's waiting arms. The two males took their seats on the opposite side of the fire, watching Kagome as she went to the back of the hut and snuggled under the covers of her futon.

Shippou had pulled out another sheet of paper and resumed his drawing. Miroku didn't have anything to do, no one to talk to, so he picked up a crayon. He squinted his eyes at the obscure colored quill that the kitsune child had been occupied with. Miroku turned it around, looking at it from all sides. He held it up to the fire to get a closer look. He looked at the point, then at the end, trying to figure out how it worked.

Shippou watched the monk as he studied his crayon. The kit produced another blank sheet of paper and gave it to Miroku.

"You do it like this," he said and proceeded to mark on the paper.

Miroku timidly set the tip of the crayon on the paper and succeeded in making a purple line on the paper.

Shippou grinned. "See? It's easy." Shippou turned his attention back to his own drawing.

A couple more hours lapsed and Miroku and Shippou had finished a stack of drawings. Kaede had retired for bed about an hour after Kagome and Shippou was yawning every twenty minutes. Miroku put his crayon down.

"Shippou, why don't you go to sleep?"

Shippou shook his head, wearily. "Imnot shleepy," he slurred.

Miroku took the child in his arms. "I think you are. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll be cranky like Inuyasha and Kagome-sama will get angry at me for allowing you to stay up."

Shippou's eyes got heavy as he curled up in Miroku's arms, the warm of the adult's body lulling him to sleep. " 'Kay. Don' wan' Kag'me mad."

Miroku looked down at the sleeping fox child in his arms. A sense of longing reached his heart. All during their journey, the not-so-monkish monk would ask random women to bear his child, mostly as joke. After all, the process was so much more enjoyable, but the fact that his Kazaana could/would end up devouring him, his need for an heir to continue the vendetta was never far from his mind. Now that Naraku was defeated and his kazaana was gone, the pressure of having a son was gone. Still, as he held the kitsune, he knew he was ready for a family, ready to be a husband, ready to be a father.

That was why he proposed to Sango two years ago. She had agreed to marry him and be the mother of his child(ren) after Naraku was defeated. Now, that they had rid the world of their nemesis, Miroku was more than willing to uphold his end of the engagement.

It was Sango that was the most difficult.

Anytime Miroku brought up the idea of a marriage, Sango would always ask him to wait just a little while longer.

It was always "just a little while longer."

Miroku was getting impatient. He was trying his best, but a man can only wait so long. He had changed so much for Sango. Most noted was the fact that he had ceased groping random women. He had quit touching Kagome, even if trying to comfort her after Inuyasha's rash behavior. If anyone was groped, he would sneak a touch from Sango once every other blue moon, but he would still be rewarded with a resounding slap to the face. If she was this brutal before they married, how would she be after they married?

Miroku shuddered and quickly banished that thought from his mind. Cradling Shippou with one hand, Miroku started cleaning the table, putting the crayons back in Shippou's little backpack and arranging the pictures, making sure to keep his slightly more coherent images separate from Shippou's.

Miroku went and knelt down beside Kagome, intending to tuck Shippou in beside her, but as he went to move the child, the kitsune's claws grabbed the front of his robes. Miroku pulled, trying to dislodge Shippou's claws, only to succeed in having the little youkai elicit a sleepy groan. Miroku smiled and gave up his attempts to separate the child from him. Holding Shippou close to him, he sat at the table, absently stroking his fur. His "bonding" time was short-lived when Sango and Inuyasha returned a few moments later.

Miroku raised an eyebrow at the pair as they quietly slipped into the hut. Sango said something softly to Inuyasha, causing the hanyou to snicker. Miroku just watched. How could Sango say something to Inuyasha and get him to smile, laugh even, but the second Kagome opens her mouth as if to even breathe, he's ready to maul her? He shook his head. Something was not right with that picture, but he was too tired to pursue it.

Sango turned around and blanched when she saw Miroku sitting at the table, cradling Shippou in his arms, watching her. She offered him a weak smile.

"Houshi-sama, you're still awake."

Miroku winced at the formal usage but didn't respond to it. All he said was, "Yes, my dear Sango. I was waiting for you."

"Oh," was the only reply he got. Inuyasha slipped past the couple toward the rear of the hut. He sat down against the wall that was opposite of where Kagome was.

Miroku stood, and went to Sango, using one arm to pull her into a hug. He felt her body stiffen at the contact, but he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he pulled from the hug just far enough to kiss her.

Sango stood partly rigid in Miroku's embrace, not responding to his kiss. After a few long fruitless seconds, Miroku knew he wouldn't get anything from her and let her go, taking a step back.

"What's wrong, Sango?" he asked softly. He could see the conflict flickering on her face, but he knew not to push her. He reached up to softly touch her face, only to have her flinch and pull away from his touch.

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't feel like it tonight."

Miroku sighed and went to his futon which was right beside hers. Sango followed him, but surprised him when she slid her futon away from his about twenty feet. He stood there watching her as she made herself comfortable in her futon, turning so her back faced him. Without a word, she slept, leaving the monk to sleeping with a demon fox child.