InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Not My Fairy Tale ❯ The Swineherd ( Chapter 10 )

Part Ten

The Swineherd

__________________________

 

“Once upon a time, there was a young prince and he was looking for a princess to marry. His kingdom wasn't very big or very wealthy but he was very kind and loved by his people and hoped to find a beautiful princess to fall in love with. He had high hopes to court the daughter of a very rich and famous king but he had nothing material to send as a gift. The prince was an orphan and growing across his parents' grave was the most beautiful rose bush in the world.” Kagome paused, amazed at how quiet and- well, awestruck Shippo looked. He didn't even know about the story yet and he seemed to think this was going to be his favorite! He only looked at InuYasha with those hero-worship eyes.

 

`All I said was the poor prince tricks the girl into falling love with him- Why would that stand out against my favorite stories?' This wasn't one of her classic favorites- she had just read about it in one of her brother's books and it sounded like a decent boy-wins fairytale. Its moral might be a little confusing but she figured she could stick with `persistence is the key' or `nice guys don't always finish last.'

 

She smiled at the cross-legged kitsune. He began to pout the longer she held out. Seeing that little lip beginning to stick out she crumpled and giggled, continuing the story.

 

“The rosebush only bloomed once a year and only one rose of the purest red and it had the sweetest scent- it made anyone who smelled it forget all the bad things in the world and made them happy. So when the rose bloomed, the prince clipped it and sent it to the princess as a gift.”

 

“Did she love it?” He asked in a hushed voice.

 

“She did but it was only a rose and it wilted a few days after. She was upset and told her father she would have nothing to do with a man who would give her happiness only to let it die. The prince was crushed-“ Shippo's head fell, seemingly just as devastated as his pretend prince. “But he didn't give up!” Shippo's eyes shot up, blinking past his auburn bangs. “He disguised himself as a commoner and traveled to her kingdom, convinced he could make her fall in love with him if he could just talk to her. When he arrived and asked to work in the castle they gave him the job of swineherd-”

 

“Kagome-”

 

“A swineherd herds pigs. Swine is another word for pigs or even tamed boar. So it's kinda like the goose girl, only she herded geese.” Kagome cut him off knowing his question before he could ask it. The boy just grinned and fell back to the floor from where he'd gotten up to his knees to grasp her hand. “While he was in his room the princess happened to pass by and heard a lovely tune coming from the room. The prince was watching a magic pot that had tinkling bells all around the rim and they rang while showing him images of people eating dinner in the castle. The princess was so impressed that she had her handmaids ask him how much he wanted for it. The handmaids went in asked and came back all too shocked to speak.”

 

“What'd they see?!” Shippo demanded all wide-eyed and a little fearful. Even Sango and, strangely enough, Miroku seemed very interested in the answer. Poor Shippo didn't look certain he wanted to know that his new hero had done something horrible. Kagome gave him a wicked half-grin, teasing his patience.

 

“It's not what they saw, it's what he demanded in exchange for the magic pot. The princess ordered them to tell her and finally one of the maids confessed that the swineherd wanted ten KISSES as payment!” Kagome declared and was rewarded with Shippo's slow look of utter disgust- maybe he was more like Souta than she thought! She hadn't thought he was old enough to think girls were yucky but here he was making that face! Hadn't he liked that one little girl? The one who'd thought she had a shikon shard that was just a bit of quartz?

 

“Eww! Kisses from a girl for enchanted pottery?!” Kagome stifled her giggle, catching Sango covering her mouth as she grinned nearby. She heard InuYasha snort at Shippo's reaction, the monk was shaking his head in disappointment. The others were now listening in on Shippo's stories again despite the chores that needed to be done.

 

“Ahh, the ignorance of youth.” Miroku sighed forlornly. “Shippo, remind me tell you abou-“

 

Sango rapped him on the head with her Hiraikotsu before he could finish. “It's the `innocence' of youth, Houshi!”

 

Kagome turned away from the scene laughing and grateful her friend had managed to shut the fool monk up before he said something to spoil Shippo's own incorruptibility. Instead she turned teary, pouting eyes on her beloved ward and said in the most pathetic voice, “Oh, Shippo-chan . . . Don't you like kisses? Even from me?”

 

InuYasha outright laughed at this comment before choking on it. He caught the women's glaring eyes and thought better of making fun of them. It was entertaining as hell but not quite worth getting Sat over. But damned close.

 

The young fox on the other hand, was suddenly so panicked by her play-acting that he didn't know what to do. The child looked any which way for some direction from his friends, anything to make his new mama stop crying but no one could help him. She didn't smell upset but her tears were right there where he could see them and she was pouting, her hands clasped close to her chest.

 

Shippo searched his companions for clues one more time. Sango's expression was caught in a sympathetic, “Oh . . .” and Miroku was still unconscious and that baka InuYasha was just laughing at the pitiful faces Kagome was making. No one could help him fix her! Before he realized it, the little kitsune had broken free of his frozen alarm and hopped into the brunette's lap and up in her arms and quickly kissed her cheek.

 

“I like your kisses, you're not a girl.” Kagome had caught the little ball of fluffy Shippo-ness and hugged him tight before his comment sunk in. For a long moment she just looked at him blankly. Then her face scrunched, her brows furrowing in befuddled confusion- how was she supposed to take THAT comment? She raised one eyebrow as the rest of the room fell silent.

 

“I'm . . . I'm not a girl?” She asked.

 

Sango silently stared, a knowing grin on her lips. Her russet eyes grew glassy as she recalled such comments issuing from her little brother's mouth. Kagome's eyes caught hers both fearful and knowing. Kagome had a younger brother too, after all, and they both recognized the age-old taunt. Suddenly the five-hundred year distance between the two girls' lives shortened dramatically and they both smiled.

 

InuYasha on the other hand, was ready to leap out of the way at the slightest ripple of tension. He honestly didn't know how the miko would react to Shippo's remark, no matter how harmless he might have intended it. The kit might need a quick rescue or the hanyou could leave him to his fate- which course of action to follow, he hadn't decided yet.

 

Kagome continued to watch the kit through shielded eyes. She was sure he didn't mean for her to take offense. Souta had made the same comment to her long ago and his excuse that that she was a sister, not a girl. Then he figured out when he was older that was a better insult to say sisters were worse than `icky' girls. But her little kitsune pup was still young and not mean enough to hurt her, or ever even tease her. What would Shippo say?

 

He didn't disappoint, that's for sure.

 

“Nah, you're like my okaa. She wasn't a girl either. Mother's're different.” He stated frankly, jumping back to the floor, hardly noticing the expectant silence that held the group.

 

Kagome could have started bawling right there. “Aw, Shippo-chan, you're just too cute!” She squealed as she wrapped her arms around him again and squeezed him close, planting kisses all over his face and head. He laughed and feigned trying to escape her loving clutches. When she finally let him go with one last peck on the cheek he about toppled over trying to wipe the imaginary kissy marks from his skin. He grinned as widely as he could, his flushed, happily excited face turned towards her like a flower to the sun. Kagome never doubted how much he loved her when she could see that expression his precious little face.

 

“Kagome!” He whined when everyone continued to laugh at him. He tried to hide his face behind his elbow but he appreciated the attention too much to run away.

 

“It's okay, Shippo-chan.” She picked up him more tenderly and placed him in her lap so she could continue his bedtime story. Maybe now that this was all out of his system he'd fall asleep more easily.

 

Sango's laughter faded and InuYasha snorted, glad Shippo didn't make him bash in his brains for upsetting Kagome. She seemed happier with the kit's response than he'd hoped. That was closest Shippo had yet come to admitting that Kagome had taken over the role of mother for the fox cub.

 

The half-demon understood his fear of saying anything aloud. If he confirmed it then she might be taken away, his words would make it real and then she might leave him like his parents did. InuYasha had felt the same about the girl from the future. He was too afraid to admit she existed in any capacity more than a lowly shard detector lest the fates hear him and take her away from him.

 

Kagome caught Sango's glance and returned her smile. Her coffee-colored eyes flicked over to the hanyou nearby and she caught him staring at the girl and pup with his dark amber gaze. He blushed and turned away, arms folded into his haori sleeves. She didn't even say anything but he gave her a “Keh” just for good measure.

 

Kagome's gaze fell once more to the kit in her lap. Her fingers brushed his bangs away from his emerald eyes, which were beginning to blink heavily. She cradled him comfortably between her crossed legs and one arm, the little kitsune cub clung to her first finger and she ran her thumb over his tiny fingers. Demon he may be but the cub was still young. Decades or a handful of years may have passed since he was born but as far as other youkai and their group was concerned, he was barely more than a five-year-old, if that. As hard to believe as it was, even InuYasha was officially over one-hundred-and-fifty years old, excluding his sealed years and he still looked like a fifteen-year-old, a teenager just like her. The possibility that Shippo could be forty or fifty human years old wasn't so hard to comprehend. She just worried that in another eighty years, would she be around to see him become a teenager, a young man, or even reach her little brother Souta's age . . ?

 

“What happened to the swineherd, Kagome?” Shippo asked, cerulean eyes staring up at her just before they closed in a huge yawn.

 

“Well the princess wanted the magic pot but tried to get out of kissing the swineherd by offering money or letting him kiss her handmaids instead but the prince was stubborn, and the princess finally gave in and made the maids stand around them to hide the two from view so no one would see the young man kissing her. So she got her new pot and he got to kiss the princess. Now the days passed and the princess grew to love the company of the swineherd though as a princess she really shouldn't have spoken with a commoner like him as often as she did. But she couldn't help herself, he made her happy and treated her like an equal, not someone whose every command had to be obeyed.”

 

“Then one day, while walking with her handmaids she heard more music coming from the swineherd's room. Again she asked for whatever played the beautiful songs. Again the prince in disguise demanded kisses in return for the enchanted rattle he had made but this time he wanted one hundred kisses from the princess. The princess was appalled by the audacity of the young man and tried to get out of it but he insisted and was so sweet when he pleaded and praised her beauty and kindness and how one kiss was worth his weight in gold or silver until she finally gave in. The handmaids circled around to hide the couple from view and for every kiss she gave him he thanked her. She hadn't gotten far before he confessed his love for her. The princess was surprised but every time he said `I love you' he would kiss her and she found that in the time she had known him, she had fallen in love with him too.” Kagome paused to sigh her love-sick sigh, one everyone knew very well by now and she scowled at everyone who dared roll their eyes at her.

 

“All you have to do is kiss a girl to make her fall in love with you?” Shippo asked between yawns. His eyes were starting to get noticeably heavier as he struggled to stay awake.

 

“Yep. A kiss can tell a girl everything about the person kissing her. She can tell if he's funny, passionate, conceited, or gentle. If it's everything she was looking for then she knows that the one kissing her is the one she will love forever.”

 

“That's a lot of kissing to do to find the right one . . .” He murmured his eyes finally falling closed.

 

“Yeah, it could be, if you don't know what you're looking for . . .” Kagome smiled softly and decided the kit in her arms was already too far gone to hear the rest of the story. She could continue it tomorrow. He probably knew the ending already anyway.

 

The rest of the group had grown quiet, as Kagome shifted Shippo to her arms and stood to place him in her sleeping bag. The chores were finished, dinner eaten, futons unrolled and all they had to do now was watch the little fire crackle and chat amongst themselves. “So what did happen, Kagome-sama?” The monk asked, his head resting on his fist, his eyes lingering not on the storyteller but the lips of another female.

 

“The king came down and caught them kissing. He then banished the princess for being wanton in her ways and nearly had the prince killed before he revealed his true identity. The king spared him and he went after the princess. When he found her he told her who he really was and that he would still have her as his wife if she could forgive his pretending to be someone else. She did and they got married. Happily ever after.”

 

“It's too bad her father couldn't forgive her, it was a mistake, after all.” Sango pointed out. Kagome nodded solemnly but then she smiled.

 

“I'm sure by the time the first grandchild arrived, the king would have forgiven her. Nothing like a child to win over a cold heart. My mama would give anything for-” Kagome almost choked on her tongue, her hand flying to cover her mouth before she said anything more to deepen her embarrassment. It was well-known that Mama Higurashi was eagerly awaiting grandchildren but Kagome didn't need to remind a lecherous monk or an easily scared-off hanyou of that fact. She had enough trouble keeping things sane as it was without setting herself up for easy shots like that.

 

Sango's eyes laughed and the monk's look brightened as he caught on. InuYasha snorted at the girl's gasp of horror. She was right, after all, any parent would give anything to see their children and grandchildren. Even he knew that. Why would Kagome's mother be any different than the centuries of mothers before her?

 

“We've had this discussion before, Kagome-chan! It may be different in your time but girls our age are married or promised here.”

 

“Sango.” Kagome hissed but she could see the older girl was laughing at her, all the while strictly avoiding eye contact with a certain monk. Now they were BOTH blushing! “And I stress again that in my time I'm way too young to be married and my family doesn't believe in arranged marriages like some do. If Mama wants to see grandchildren she'll have to wait or she can just accept Shippo as her adopted grandson.”

 

“But she's never seen Shippo so it's not the same.” Sango protested. Her russet gaze dropped before slyly raising to meet the other girl's. “Besides, wouldn't she want a child with your eyes and your husband's . . .ears?”

 

Kagome's mouth dropped open but she forgot to breathe. Her face was instantly swamped in a heated blush from slender neck to silky bangs. A cold realization hit her.

 

She was going to have to kill the slayer.

 

Sango's eyes darted between her best friend and the object of her not so subtle teasing. InuYasha seemed to have fallen into a sullen brown study, it didn't look like he'd even heard her taunting. She rolled her chocolate eyes at the lack of irritated hanyou response but Miroku ended up surreptitiously catching her gaze instead. He looked quite amused, mirth dancing in his sapphire eyes. The taijiya had the grace to blush before casting her own glance down.

 

It took a few minutes before the silence grew heavy and awkward, to the point that even InuYasha awoke from his musings and found the thick quiet somewhat intolerable.

 

“What's wrong with all of you?” He barked, seeing the monk and slayer trading sneaking glances like a pair of love-sick children, Kagome mutely glaring holes into the back of the other female.

 

“Never mind!” Kagome cried before the others could answer- thank the kami InuYasha hadn't heard Sango's last comment! She leapt on the chance to have everyone completely forget her dear friend's insinuation and continue the night as normal.

 

Miroku smiled charmingly and asked Kagome in a reserved, in no way suspiciously ecchi manner. “Kagome-sama, at what age in your time is it appropriate to marry? I'm sure you've mentioned it before but it slips my mind.”

 

Kagome frowned at him, doubting his `slippery mind', but when he just raised his eyebrows innocently she decided to give him a cautious answer. “Usually after school, either high school or college. One ends when you're about seventeen or eighteen, the other when you're twenty-one or even older.” She cocked her head to the side, one finger to her lips in a contemplative manner. “Some girls, if they're promised, will go ahead and get married after junior high and even skip high school. With my grades the way there are now, I don't know if I'll be able to get into a decent high school let alone be accepted into college. It doesn't leave me with too many options- except to go home more often so I CAN STUDY.” She stated emphatically. “No one here would want me to be penniless and rely on Mama forever or have to get some terrible, low-paying part-time job with no future other than just to survive- That's why I need to keep going to school in my time-“

 

InuYasha snorted and put in his two-cents but it was an old argument between the couple. He spoke automatically. His heart just wasn't in it- neither did it seem, was his full attention. “Why the hell do you need to go anyway? It's not like they're teachin' you anything useful.”

 

“That's what you say now but in my time these things are very important! Here in the past a girl doesn't have many options, live with her family, become a nun, or marry- or a rare few can become a slayer like Sango.” Sango nodded her thanks for the acknowledgement. “I don't have that option-” Kagome soon realized she was arguing with the back of InuYasha's silver head and paused, wondering what was really going on the half-demon's mind. He obviously wasn't listening to her. “InuYasha?”

 

“Nan-da?” He hummed in a toneless, distracted way.

 

“Something wrong?”

 

The teenager suddenly tensed, his head ducking into his shoulders as he flinched. Then, just as unexpectedly, he straightened, gracefully rose to his feet, and left the room, throwing a “Keh” over his shoulder for good measure.

 

“That . . . was unusual.” Sango asked. Kagome glanced her way, still frowning, but only shook her head.

 

“Something's bothering him, I'll go find out what.” The girl volunteered and followed her inuhanyou outside leaving the monk and his taijiya alone with the sleeping kitsune.

 

The girl from the future followed the glow of silver through the night. InuYasha's brilliant white hair gathered the light of the waxing moon and reflected like a new coin. Not to mention his soft aura glowed in her miko's sight, her mind forever knowing where her hanyou was as easily as she could find Shippo's youki or Kaede's or Miroku's senki. That hazy cloud in her mind was as easy to follow as a firefly. Her gaze rose to the trees. “InuYasha?”

 

“Quit followin' me, wench.” He dropped from the sky in front of her but she was getting to the point of expecting such actions no matter how off-guard he might catch her.

 

“Tell me what's wrong.” She demanded, pointing a finger at his chest.

 

“Keh, nothing. Mind your own business.” The hanyou turned his back on her and began to walk away.

 

Kagome pursed her lips. She had the feeling she upset him and she wasn't about to let him go off and sulk about something he probably misinterpreted! She marched up behind him and rounded on him, dragging his focused attention on her rather than whatever mistaken thoughts were running through that thick brain of his.

 

“What did I do this time? Huh? Why won't you talk to me? Civilly?”

 

“You didn't do nothin'.”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes at the new debate on semantics. “Then what did I say?” He glared down at her, for moment, lost in her rich, earthy brown eyes. All she wanted was for him to stop ignoring her but that was all he wanted to do! Why'd she have to be so damned distracting! He had to catch himself before he said or did something they'd regret. He shook himself from his Kagome-induced trance, banishing contented thoughts of forever-

 

“Damn, nosy wench.” He muttered, crossing his arms into his haori sleeves, nose in the air as he looked down on her. “You claimed Shippo.”

 

“Uh . . . What?” Kagome's brows furrowed, the confusion evident on her overly expressive face.

 

InuYasha repeated it slowly for the human girl's mind to catch up. “You claimed Shippo as your son. You said your mother would accept a youkai- a bratty little fox kitsune as a grandchild into her family.”

 

Kagome's confusion grew. “Wha- well, of course. Shippo-chan treats us all like a family, he looks to me for protection, it's only natural that I look after him like a little brother or- or-“ Kagome was a little uncertain on actually say the rest out loud, especially to InuYasha. It felt kind of strange but she knew the little cub saw it that way. He was too young to see it any other way. She was his family. “Or my own child, if that's what he wants. And he is not a brat.”

 

“There you go again, coddling him-“

 

“You're just insulting him out of habit anyway, he's not even here to get all fired up and play with you like he normally does!”

 

“Play with me?!”

 

“Yeah, play. It's not like either of you mean it but you are much stronger than he is and you get a little too rough with him-“

 

“Who says he doesn't deserve every lump on his-“

 

“InuYasha.” Kagome closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to halt the headache brought on by InuYasha's ill-will and damned antagonism. She knew what this was really about, why didn't he just say it? “You don't have to take it out on Shippo-chan, he has nothing you don't have. You were both left alone, at a young age, and both of you found families, he just happen to find his a little earlier in his life than you did. You both have this family, me and Sango and Miroku, and Mama and Souta and ojii-chan if you want. You have everything Shippo-chan has. You don't have to be jealous.”

 

“I'm NOT jealous!” He roared. Kagome winced at the volume of his voice but she couldn't keep that look InuYasha hated so much out of her eyes, that look of sadness and sympathy.

 

“Good, cause you don't have to be. You don't have to make a big deal about me calling Shippo-chan family. Really, you should know me well enough by now to not be so surprised by this.” Kagome wasn't sure if she should be exasperated or truly heartbroken that InuYasha didn't consider himself a part of this pack they had formed- or that he didn't really think of them as a family . . . Were they still being held back from him, limited to a `friends only' level? Was she no closer to him after all this time than she was when she first unsealed him? When she cried for him? When he cried for her?

 

It was a few minutes before the boy answered, Kagome was just about to give up on him and return to the warm indoors when his voice rose above the music of crickets and cicadas. “Your soft heart is gonna be the death of me. Not everyone is as open-minded and tolerant as you are. It's a rare and damned strange thing that a human would want to call a youkai family.”

 

“Then you don't know me very well.” And that made her sad but she would just have to try harder for him. Someday, hopefully soon, he'd understand her `soft heart'. “Besides, it seemed to work out for your mother. I'm sure she was happy for as long as she was with your father, and with you . . .”

 

“Keh. They all died. It didn't get them anywhere but the underworld. If that's the price of your stupid, naïve, easy acceptance then-“

 

Kagome shook her head- she wasn't going to let him finish that sentence, she wasn't going to let him threaten her. `I won't change just to make him feel better.' She couldn't close her heart off like he had so much practice doing. She relied too much on those close to her and she knew everyone needed something like that, everyone needed a person they could depend on and she happened to be that person for a lot of people.

 

“InuYasha, no . . . I'm going to keep loving Shippo and Sango and Miroku, and you . . . And I'm going to help everyone I can, I can't change the way I was raised just to keep from gaining enemies- I'd rather I didn't gain any at all but I'm not going to stop being a good person- Even . . . even Kikyou treated everyone equally, enemy or ally. It's something else we have in common. You're going to have to accept that part of me, someday . . .” She couldn't meet his gaze anymore. The brunette turned away, staring morosely at the dark ground and began to walk away. “I've never asked you to change, I never want you to. But how could you ask me, to not be tolerant, to not be humane . . ?”

 

“Dammit, Kagome! Humanity is NOT tolerant! Only you are.”

 

“Fine.” She whispered and continued walking away, crying inside. Why did InuYasha have to lead such a horrid life, to the point that he could say such a thing?! No wonder he couldn't believe anything she said! After all, she was only human.

 

A growl followed her as he leapt and landed in front of her, blocking her escape. She wiped her eyes and tried to walk around him but he grabbed her wrist and she was forced to stop and look up. What more did he have to say?

 

“You're weird.”

 

Kagome scowled at the inuhanyou and wrenched her hand from his. “You're a jerk!”

 

“Baka!”

 

“ME? You're the idiot!”

 

“Bitc-“

 

“Osuwari!” InuYasha slammed into the dirt. Kagome bent down, balancing on her toes to glare at him on his level. “I'm sorry. Maybe I should go home . . .” Kagome slowly stood, wondering if Sango would lend her Kirara to go home for a day or two. She was starting to miss her family. Her other family-

 

“Keh! Like hell you will!” The incantation wore off before she could get very far. He again ran after her. “Oi! Kagome!”

 

She spun on heel to face him down though he still towered over her. “InuYasha! Did I do something wrong? Something so bad you just can't forgive it? Do you really hate being a part of something, of not being alone so much you want us all to just disappear, and leave each other?! You really can't stand being happy or seeing us happy can you?!”

 

The hanyou's ears flattened at her harsh voice and he cringed in the face of her wrath. This had gone too far, she wasn't being reasonable anymore. Of course he liked their pack and he liked having friends. It was strange to spend so much time with humans that looked on him as an equal. It was frightening to know so many people knew his deepest secrets now and that losing any one of them would cause the greatest pain he'd ever endured, worse by far than dying himself was the thought of Kagome dying . . .

 

“Call the pup yours, I don't give a damn.” He muttered, looking away.

 

Before he could tear his amber eyes from her, however, she saw something. Something she'd seen before but had happily seen less and less of it. His ears were drooping, his face shadowed, features lost in the darkness. He looked ready to run and not come back. He was alone again. He was sad again.

 

She wasn't getting through to him.

 

She clasped his hand, her heart fluttering in sudden desperation. She didn't want to lose him. “InuYasha . . . You're a part of this family too. Sango and Miroku think you're incredible and Shippo loves you as much as he loves me. Why do you think he wants to play with you so much? You know how much we need you. Haven't we always stood beside each other? Always forgiven . . . everything and loved unconditionally? You don`t have to be lonely anymore, I'll be your family now.” She couldn't get him to look at her but she sighed and stood on tiptoe, leaning on his arm. She laid a soft kiss on his cheek and let him go, walking back to the hut.

 

The fire was dimming, the others were probably already heading for bed. “Good night, InuYasha.”

 

The half-demon was caught between the instant defense of saying he WASN'T lonely and the abrupt shut down of every bodily function when her lips touched his skin.

 

`Whoa.' He whirled, eyes following the miko's white shirt and pale legs through the darkness. The scent of her tears was even more obvious to his senses. Why did he always doubt her? Why did he always make her cry? He already accepted her ways, so why did it make him so angry to hear it over and over again? Just because the cub got everything back right after he lost everything, but he didn't? Was he really jealous of the spoiled kitsune?

 

He snorted at the ridiculousness of that thought. `Like hell.' He glanced up at the thick sliver of the moon- how long had he been standing there like an idiot? He realized Kagome had a good head start on him. He trailed after her, followed her inside and settled by the door to watch as she scooted into her sleeping bag. She carefully wrapped her arm around the sleeping fox pup already inside and laid down, closing her eyes without another glance at the quiet hanyou.

 

It was a while later, long after her breathing and heartbeat had dropped to a slow, steady murmur that he was able to tear his gaze from the girl. She wanted a family. She wanted a hanyou and a kitsune youkai in her family. She wanted the forsaken taijiya and the cursed lecherous monk as her sister and brother. It went against everything he'd learned, all he'd ever experienced in his life but it fit with exactly who she was. And he had to give her what she expected if it would make her happy. If she would stay with him . . .

 

This time, he thought he could mean it. It wasn't just a fantasy for the strange girl from the future. She really wanted this. She wanted them to be a family. Maybe a family she'd stay with even after her obligations to reunite the Shikon no Tama and destroy Naraku were complete. If not for him, then at least for Shippo? She knew the pup didn't have anything else in the world but her, Sango, and Miroku. She wouldn't leave the kid behind knowing he was so attached to her. She would stay if they were a family. Even if something happened to him, which he fully expected to lose his life one way or another, after eradicating Naraku from this world or escorting Kikyou's soul to hell, he wanted to be able to see Kagome no matter what for as long as he could.

 

“You can be my family.” He conceded to her dreaming figure. “The brat too.”