InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ La chienne ❯ La chienne- Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha, nor am I affiliated with it in any way, shape, or form.

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"…" – speech

‘…’ – thoughts

-- - change in scenery or time

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La chienne

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Shippou bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet. "What are we going to do?" His eyes were glued onto a small, black dog in front of him. "We can’t keep her… can we?" The fox demon crouched down and smoothed his hand gently through the dog’s fur. She looked up with her fascinatingly blue eyes and lolled out her tongue.

Irritated, Inuyasha snatched the kitsune’s hand away from the dog. "Of course not." He watched as the dog flicked an ear, and unconsciously mimicked the action. "We have to find away to bring her back." They had just finished eating and were debating on what to do next. He wanted to keep on moving, but the rest of his group wanted to spend the night on the outskirts of this village.

Sango bent down and gently scratched behind one of the dog’s ears. "But how?" The demon exterminator laughed as the dog’s eyes closed in contentment.

"Stop that!" Agitated, the dog-demon eased her away from the girl. "Don’t touch her."

"But she likes it!" Nevertheless, she shrugged and stood up. "In any case, we shouldn’t go anywhere until we fix the situation." She thought for a while and relented a little. "We should get some sleep, at least."

The group watched as the small canine turned to face Inuyasha. Her head cocked to the side curiously, tongue lolling out again. Then, she slowly approached the hanyou, sniffing his hand and nudging it with her head, clearing wanting to be petted. She emitted a soft whine when he didn’t do anything, and pushed against him again.

"Oh… fine." Scowling, the dog-demon grudgingly scratched the top of her head. He was careful not to cut her with his sharp claws, and gingerly moved around the ears. The dog growled her pleasure and closed her eyes.

The others exchanged amused looks, but only Miroku was brave enough to say what they were all thinking: "It seems as though you know just the right way to pet dogs. Is this from personal experience?" He laughed and avoided a swipe from Inuyasha’s claws.

The dog panted and glanced from one man to the other, something akin to amusement shining in her eyes.

"Do you think she knows what we’re talking about?" Sango bent down again. "She is a dog."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Dogs aren’t stupid. Even if they can’t understand what we’re saying, they can still get the meaning."

The monk’s eyes were gleaming. "Personal experience, right?" He dodged another punch.

Hopping on top of the half-demon’s head, Shippou pulled at Inuyasha’s shoulder. "But she won’t stay like this, right?" Her wide, green eyes stared at the small dog. "We’ll fix everything, right?" Miroku exhaled. "Of course we will." He bent down, reaching out for the dog, but before he could touch her, the half-demon intercepted.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Inuyasha slapped his hands away.

"I’m picking her up," he responded calmly, "she can’t walk as quickly as we can."

"You can’t just pick her up like that." The hanyou glowered at him.

He sighed. "Fine. Fine." Directing his attention back onto the dog, Miroku bowed awkwardly and held out a hand. "Will you allow me to carry you, Kagome-sama?"

Sango frowned. "Don’t be sarcastic." She looked up at the sunset. "Anyway, it’s getting late. Let’s spend the night here and worry about getting Kagome-chan back to normal in the morning." She dug through her friend’s pack, unwilling to let the men look through its contents. "Either of you want a blanket?"

The males stared at her. Both Inuyasha and Shippou held discontent in their expression, but the look on Miroku’s face was something far from it. "I’ll take one if we share."

She rolled her eyes and took out Kagome’s sleeping bag for Shippou. "Come on. It’s time for bed."

The kitsune walked over and allowed Sango to tuck him in. He snuggled into it and breathed in Kagome’s scent, trying to pretend she was there with him. But it still wasn’t the same, and it took a while before he could fall asleep.

The demon exterminator stood up and glanced around at the others. "What, you want me to tuck you in, too?" She held a hand up to Miroku as she saw his eyes light up. "No."

Inuyasha let out a tense breath and shook his head. He began heading towards the tallest tree—only to be stopped by a tugging at his pant leg. The half-demon glanced down to find his hakama bottom in Kagome’s mouth. "What do you want?" She whined through the material, plainly wanting for him to take her with him. "Can’t you sleep with Shippou?"

Her eyes widened as she pleaded silently.

Miroku watched the exchange with interest, and decided to give Kagome a boost. He sat down and remarked casually, "She can sleep with me, if she’d like."

The hanyou stiffened and shot a suspicious glare at the serene monk. He abruptly bent down and scooped the canine up. "She’s not going anywhere with you, pervert." He turned and took a running start towards the tree he’d chosen, completely missing the smirk Miroku shared with Sango. With some difficulty, he managed to jump up and perch himself on a suitable branch.

Inuyasha set Kagome in front of him and warned her. "Don’t fall off. It’s a long way down."

She looked back and cocked her head to the side.

When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to do much else, Kagome barked softly and padded her way onto his chest.

"H-hey. What do you think you’re doing?" Inuyasha reached down and lifted her. "You can sleep up here, but there is no way you’re sleeping on me." He gave her a look and placed her back onto the branch.

Confused, the dog shook herself and stared at the half-demon. She then stood up and confidently resumed her position on top of him. She lay down, nuzzling into the warmth of his chest.

He glared at her. "Even as a dog, you manage to annoy the hell out of me, you know?" She blinked at him and sneezed. Inuyasah shook his head and begrudgingly let her stay where she was. Her weight was actually kind of comforting, but the fact that Kagome was a dog still didn’t sit too well with the half-demon. He said, more to himself than to her, "I can’t wait until you turn back."

Kagome growled softly and drifted off to doggy-dreamland.

--

--Earlier—

"Inuyasha, haven’t you found the scent yet?" Kagome stared down at the dog-demon, who was down on his fours, searching for any trace of a youkai scent. She crouched nearby, stifling a yawn. "Or should we move on?"

The group had been tracking a suspected shard-carrier through the Musashi region. At first, it’d been easy, since it’d left a trail of destruction after it. However, about halfway through the search, the trail had disappeared. Either the demon had quenched its thirst for violence, or the shard had exchanged hands. Whatever the case, following the Shikon shard had become a lot harder. It was only through Inuyasha and Shippou’s superior senses, that they’d even gotten this far.

The trail had lead into a large village, where it had vanished again. That was partly because of the bustle of human activity, and also partly due to the occasional overload of smells that engulfed either Inuyasha or Shippou. The shard-hunting party had split up in hopes of broadening the search area. Kagome went with Inuyasha, and Sango had dragged Miroku with her to follow Shippou.

The presence of several geisha houses prompted her to pay close attention to the perverted houshi.

The hanyou glared up at her. "It’s kind of hard to sort through the stink of humans." At his callous comment, several of the people who made up the surrounding crowd gave him affronted looks, and walked away. "And you being here doesn’t help much either."

The girl hid a smile. "Because I’m distracting?"

"Because you stink the place up even more."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. Things were still a little tense between the girl and the hanyou- since Kikyou’s last visit, emotions had run a little high, and Kagome was glad to be able to talk with Inuyasha alone for a change.

He straightened and shook his head. "Nothing." He turned and led the way through the throng of people.

"Why can’t you just admit that you like my scent?" Kagome prodded him gently. "You said it before."

"Really? I don’t remember." They finally reached a relatively empty area on the outskirts of the village, and he took in a deep breath. "Fresh air."

Frowning, she elaborated. "You don’t? It was before we met Miroku-sama, remember? We rescued Nazuna-san, and then got trapped in a hut? It was when I found out that you turn huma—"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha turned and covered her mouth. "I remember, okay? Just don’t say it so loudly."

Kagome grinned at him. "So you do remember."

He scowled at her. "Yeah. But I also remember that I wasn’t well. Maybe your scent was strong enough to keep me awake- like smelling salts."

"That’s not what you said." She teased him, and laughed when she spotted the subtle redness in his cheeks. She decided to drop it and spare the hanyou any further embarrassment.

The girl sat down on a protruding rock that rested in the shade of a tall tree. Inuyasha walked over and took his seat on the floor. They rested in silence, just being content with the brief moment of peace. Neither of them noticed the suddenly interested entity hidden within the leaves above.

"Hey, Inuyasha?" Kagome stared off into the sky.

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"What’s it like?"

"What?" His expression turned quizzical.

She brought herself out of dreamland. "I mean, having your senses. What’s it like, being able to smell everything?"

He shrugged carelessly. "It’s not that great all the time."

"Why not?" Kagome slid her backpack off her shoulders. "You’re always complaining about your senses when you’re human."

Inuyasha made a face. "That’s for survival, idiot. If I can’t sense danger before it gets too close, then I’m dead. But sometimes, it just gets annoying."

The girl nodded in understanding. "Like when we were fighting Kotastu, right?"

"Who?" He frowned in confusion.

"That painter with the shard in his ink, remember? It was just after we met Miroku-sama. You couldn’t fight properly because the ink stank so much." She smiled at the memory. "But I still think it’d be cool to have your senses."

The half-demon shook his head. "You wouldn’t say the same thing if you could smell your world." He scowled. "Everything’s too noisy there, too."

Kagome blinked blankly, and then nodded. "I guess so. The pollution can get a little thick." After a while, she announced loudly. "I still wish I could have your senses… for a while, anyway."

Exasperated, Inuyasha looked up and was about to ask her what exactly she expected him to do, when she was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. "Shit… Kagome?" He hopped to his feet and reached out for her. "Kagome? What…?" Agitation put an edge on his voice. He waved a hand through the smoke and couldn’t feel anything solid; she simply wasn’t there anymore.

The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing an empty seat. "Kagome!"

He hopped around the rock, searching for any sign of the girl, but other than the pack she’d left on the floor, there was nothing. He swore thickly and tried to ignore the growing anxiety. Gods be damned, if this was some sort of a prank…

And that was when he heard the snuffling. Alarmed, the hanyou placed a hand on Tetsusaiga. "Who’s there?" Movement drew his eyes down to the dirt. "What the hell?" he breathed.

At his feet was a small, black dog, slightly smaller than Shippou. For a moment, his mind tried to process why and where, exactly, the dog came from. But then he got a whiff of its scent and realised why it smelled so familiar. "Oh… no. No, no, no." He shook his head, trying to think of some other reason. But there was none. "Shit." He crouched down, not quite believing what his senses told him. "Kagome?"

The dog looked up at him and panted cluelessly. Its eyes bore the unmistakable hue of Kagome’s eyes. The dog’s ears were shaped like his own, and its short, black fur shone with a blue sheen. It had a tail- a short thing that was wagging rather enthusiastically. Inuyasha stared down at it… her, and silently panicked: What was he supposed to do now?

"Isn’t she cute?" A high-pitched, female voice piped up from somewhere near Inuyasha’s ears.

The half-demon was careful not to move until he was sure of where the voice came from- and then he reached up with faster-than-human reflexes, snapping the thing up in his hand. It squealed, and immediately started to fight back. For such a small thing, it had unbelievable strength. He brought it to his face, and was shocked to find he was holding a tiny girl.

A tiny, winged girl, who was a little larger than Inuyasha’s hand, to be more precise.

And she wasn’t taking her sudden captivity docilely, either. The girl struggled and kicked at her captor. She succeeded in freeing her hands and punched vainly at the half-demon’s fist. "Let me go!" Her long, blond hair hung down and tickled the half-demon’s knuckles. "What did I do to you, huh?" Her Japanese carried a distinct accent that was nothing he’d ever heard of.

Getting over the shock quickly, Inuyasha glared at her, his anger rising. "What did you do to her?" His voice was low and underlain with a growl. He was not in a happy mood, and she knew it.

Tired, the sprite stopped struggling. "I just granted her wish." She glared back. "You have a problem with that?" Her high-pitched voice bordered on the annoying.

"What wish? I never heard her wish to be a dog." Inuyasha tried to control the pitch of his voice. He glanced down at Kagome, and found her to be staring at him rather curiously. She panted. "Well?" He shook the girl, returning his attention to her.

She squealed. "She wished she had your senses!"

Inuyasha was caught up in a sudden rush of speechlessness. When he found his voice again, it came out unnaturally high. "So you turned her into a dog?!" His jaw clenched, and he swallowed thickly. "Why didn’t you just give her better senses?"

She managed to obtain a look of haughty embarrassment. "I used up my magic getting a pretty rock from some fire-breathing horse. It’s easier to turn somebody into something that has all of the desired characteristics, than to enhance each area." She spoke matter-of-factly.

"So why didn’t you just turn her into a demon?" He unintentionally squeezed her in his agitation. "Something that looks human?"

The girl’s face went blank. "But a dog is so much cuter than a demon! Demons have claws and fangs and… ugh." She made a face and fidgeted. "Can you let me go, now?"

But Inuyasha was distracted. "Wait… " Something the fairy had said flicked on a light in Inuyasha’s head. "What did this ‘pretty rock’ look like?"

"Pink and sharp." She answered quickly, perhaps thinking that if she satisfied his questions, he’d let her go. "I had to put the demon to sleep and gouge it out of his leg." The girl shuddered.

He stared at her. "You’ve got the shard."

"Shard?"

"The shard we’ve been looking for. Give it to me."

"No!" The fairy pouted. "I found it. I want it." A sudden keenness shone in her eyes, and she lowered her voice. "But if you’ve got gold, I’ll trade you for it." Inuyasha slowly increased pressure in his grip until tears were in her eyes. She shrieked. "Fine! Here!" She gestured with her hand, and with a soft flash, the shard appeared in the half-demon’s other hand. He let his grip slacken. "Now can you let me go?"

The hanyou pocketed the shard. "Not until you fix her." He looked down and noticed that the dog was wandering off. Inuyasha reached over and pulled Kagome back to him with his unoccupied hand. "Now."

She gaped at him. "But I gave you the rock!"

"I don’t remember promising to let you go." The half-demon smirked at her. "Now fix her."

"I can’t." She looked down. "Not like this, anyway." She managed her most trusting smile and honeyed her voice. "But if you let me go, I can try. I promise not to run."

"No." His expression was flat. "You think I trust you?"

The girl fought for control, but her temper got the better of her. "What do you think I am? A common leprechaun?" She huffed in indignation. "For your information, mister, I’m a fairy. And unlike leprechauns, you can trust a fairy to keep her promise."

Inuyasha stared at her hard, then begrudgingly released his hold on her. At first, the fairy plummeted through the air, but after a while of struggling to straighten her wrinkled wings, she shot back into the air. Her delicate wings were shaped strangely- almost like butterfly wings. And they weren’t any single colour; they shone with the brilliance of many hues that glittered and disappeared with the tiniest movement.

Snapping out of his daze, the half-demon sharpened his reaction. He kept a hand ready to catch her again if she tried to escape, but true to her word, the fairy returned to his side. She was wearing a tiny dress that seemed to shimmer with the sheen of dewdrops, and her wings fluttered almost too quickly to be seen. She crossed her arms and waited.

"So change her back." He picked the dog up and presented her to the fairy.

She sighed. "I can’t."

"What?" The hanyou resisted the urge to seriously injure her. "Why not?" He set Kagome gently on the ground, and watched as she settled over his feet. Her warm weight was somewhat comforting, though also disturbing. "Well?"

"Because I’m not allowed to interfere with wishes. It’s the Law."

He muttered darkly to himself. "Then I wish she was human again."

The fairy shook her head. "Wishes granted cannot tamper with existing wishes."

He was half ready to catch her and squeeze her until she changed her mind, but Inuyasha stayed his hand. There was a stand-off between fairy and hanyou, when a shout broke into his concentration. "Hey, Inuyasha!" Distracted, the half-demon turned his head to find the rest of his group walking towards him. Miroku waved. "Have you found anything, yet?"

"Yeah. I’ve got the shard, and I’ve also found a problem." Inuyasha sensed a sudden movement, and shot his hand out to catch the escaping fairy. "Some promise, fairy." His growl was low and menacing.

She crossed her arms crossly. "You took your attention off me. The Law says that if a mortal pays no attention to a fairy, all promises may be bypassed." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"This time, I’m not letting you go until you turn her back."

By this time, the other three had reached the shade under the tree. They stared curiously at the tiny fairy. "What is it?"

Annoyed, she glared at them all. "Not ‘it’. I’m a fairy!" Shippou poked her. She giggled spontaneously. "Stop it! That’s ticklish!"

The kitsune quickly lost interest in the fairy. "Where’d Kagome go?" He turned his head and looked around for her.

Inuyasha growled and shook the fairy. "You can thank her for turning Kagome into a dog." He pointed at the canine lying across his feet. She raised her head and panted at them curiously.

The others gaped at her. "What?" Sango bent down and stared at the dog. "This is Kagome-chan? But… but… how?" She reached out gingerly and stroked her head.

"Ask her." Inuyasha rattled the fairy.

She sighed. "It’s not my fault. She wished it, and I granted her wish."

Miroku blinked in confusion. "But why would Kagome-sama wish to become a dog?"

"I’ll explain later." Inuyasha tightened his hold on the fairy. "First, you have to tell me how to fix her."

But before the sprite could answer, a sudden realisation had struck Shippou, and he hopped excitedly to Inuyasha’s shoulder. "You granted her wish? Does that mean you’re a… a… genie?" He eyed her eagerly. "Like in that story Kagome told me, with the lamp?"

The fairy recoiled in disgust. "Genie? You mean genius, right? You think I’m a genius?" She shuddered. "They’re even worse than leprechauns! Stupid, smelly things that can only use magic when their masters tell them to… They’re power-obsessed and always male." She shook her head. "You silly twit, I’m a pure-blood fairy from Ireland." Her chest puffed out proudly.

"For something so small, this "fairy" certainly has a lot of energy." Miroku closed in for a closer look. "And you say she turned Kagome-sama into a dog?" He looked up to Inuyasha for confirmation.

Sango rose, now carrying the dog in her arms. "So just turn her back." The dog sniffed her enthusiastically.

The fairy sighed. "I can’t. I told him already: I can’t interfere with granted wishes. And only the wisher can undo the spell by wishing to be normal again."

"That’s kind of hard, isn’t it?" Inuyasha flicked her unkindly. "Especially since she’s a fucking bitch."

She glared at him. "If I had all my magic, you wouldn’t be treating me like this." She turned her head and addressed the others. "But the spell will wear off eventually."

The demon exterminator shifted her hold on Kagome. "When?"

The answer was absurdly simple: "When the wisher is satisfied." The fairy shrugged. "She wanted to experience his senses, so when she’s satisfied, she’ll go back to normal."

Shippou sniffled sadly. "I want Kagome back." He eyed the small dog and pouted. "A dog can’t make food."

And this was when everybody realised exactly how bad their situation was. It wasn’t until now that they fully understood how crucial Kagome was to their group. With her gone, there was nobody to take care of their injuries. There was nobody to seek out the Shikon shards. Their most convenient source of food was gone as well. Their unquenchable source of enthusiasm and optimism was now contained in the body of a dog.

Miroku walked over to Sango and bent his head to look at Kagome. He was studying her, trying hard not to shift his gaze onto Sango’s chest. "Maybe one of my Ofuda spells can help." He brought one out from in his robes and gently stuck it on Kagome’s soft fur.

There was no effect.

"Mortal spells won’t do anything." The fairy stuck her nose up. "You can’t tamper with fairy magic."

"Shut up." Inuyasha shook her threateningly. "I’ve killed plenty of demons; snapping you would be easy."

She silenced herself.

The monk sighed and looked up. "Out only option is to wait the spell out." He shook his head. "Let’s hope she gets back to normal before we miss a shard."

The dog noticed the suddenly quiet atmosphere and whined softly. She didn’t like the scents her friends were emitting; they made her anxious and edgy. Kagome ‘woofed’ and eased herself out of Sango’s hold. She ran a few circles around the group, enjoying the feel of wind over her back and then stopped to paw at Shippou’s leg.

The boy looked down and hesitatingly reached down to pet her. Should he treat her as he would a person, or should he play with her and enjoy the feeling of having a dog? The dog looked at him invitingly before running off. Shippou let a grin spread across his face before he laughed at her playfulness and chased after her.

The others stared after the pair and Sango let herself smile. "It doesn’t look like Kagome-chan’s unhappy. We’ll just have to wait and make her comfortable."

Impatient, the fairy stared squirming again. "That’s nice. Can you let me go, now?" She delivered a hard punch to Inuyasha’s fist. "There’s no point in keeping me, right?"

The hanyou glanced down and glowered at her. "This is all your fault. Why should I let you go?"

Surprisingly, it was Miroku who defended the fairy. "She’s right, Inuyasha. Keeping her would be no use to us; she’d just annoy us and slow you down." He rolled his shoulders. "Just let her go."

Inuyasha saw the sense in that and gave a final, threatening squeeze before releasing her. The fairy straightened her wings quickly and turned to bow to Miroku. "Thank you." She shot a dark look at her former captor and resisted throwing an insult at him. "I’m going back to Cannaught. I thought travelling the world would be fun, but I ran into you." She made a face at Inuyasha and with that parting remark, turned around, flying quickly off into the distance.

"Fairies are strange creatures." Sango remarked softly before stretching.

The half-demon scoffed. "I’m glad there aren’t many of her here." He looked around and exhaled. "I say we get away from here and get closer to the hag’s village before we stop."

Sango shook her head. "It’s better if we stay here; we won’t make much progress before the sun sets."

Miroku nodded his agreement, and look up to find the sky darkening. "Let’s eat something, and then we can decide what to do next."

Out voted, Inuyasha scowled and walked off to find Shippou before he and the dog got into too much trouble. The other two watched him leave and exchanged looks.

"How do you think he’s taking it?" The girl set Hiraikotsu and began searching for firewood.

Her companion followed suit. "He’s not happy, but maybe this’ll be good for them both."

She looked up. "What do you mean?"

Miroku shrugged. "Kagome-sama has not been very happy lately. I think it’s because Kikyou-sama has been visiting Inuyasha frequently. And he’s taking her for granted." He sighed. "Maybe now he’ll be able to fully realise how important she is."

Sango stared at him, surprised.

"…What?"

"You were able to say something thoughtful without ruining it with something perverted."

He closed his eyes, pained. "Yes, Sango-sama. I can control myself."

She just smiled and returned to setting up camp.

--

Translations

Hanyou – half-demon
Hakama - man's formal divided skirt
Houshi – a low levelled priest / a monk
Kitsune – fox (demon, in this context)
Youkai – demon (loosely translated)
–chan – suffix: denoting friendship; familiarity, mostly for girls
–san – suffix: denoting respect; politeness, equivalent of ‘Mr.’, ‘Mrs.’, etc.
–sama – suffix: denoting respect; politeness

--

--The title is simply "The Bitch" in French. I’m sure you can figure out why.
Just had to get the concept of Kagome turning into a dog off my chest before I get on anything else.

Till next time…
Ja!—