InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Simple Question ❯ The Missing Kit ( Chapter 7 )

A sigh, too soft to be heard by the two at camp, came from the young miko as she watched her friends from the sidelines. She sniffed delicately, rubbing the stray tears from her eyes, holding her son tighter.

 

“That was so romantic.” She whispered.

 

Next to her the hanyou stood, the water she had gone to fetch in one hand, the string of fish he caught in the other. His voice was full of sarcasm and scorn but he spoke softly, not willing to break up the moment his friends were having, even if he didn't understand why he felt the urge to be considerate to the bouzo who made him uncomfortable at every opportunity.

 

“What's the big deal? She asked one simple question and he turned it into some big speech. There was a simple answer, ya know. She said, `Is this about sex?' He shoulda said, `Keh, no.' And that woulda been the fucking end of it.” The hanyou snorted softly.

 

“InuYasha,” the young woman began exasperatedly, “this is that whole `mood' thing again. Yes, it would have been simpler to just say `no.' But he wanted to convince her, make sure there was no doubt in her mind. And considering how deceitful he can be the explanation might have been the difference between her believing him or not.” The young miko said, trying to be patient.

 

At the hanyou's skeptical look she continued, “Sometimes people need more than just the answer, and women especially like understanding things completely. It goes a lot further to convince someone when you let them know the reasons behind the answer. In fact there are times when knowing the thoughts behind a decision mean more than the decision itself.” She nodded to emphasize her point.

 

The hanyou looked frustrated and almost confused, as if Kagome's explanation were a cliff and he was barely hanging on. “Like when?”

 

“Like uh… Let's pretend there is this man. He loves a woman named Reika. But Reika is a beautiful hime who will never be his, in fact he hasn't spoken to her since they were children. But at the same time he knows this other girl, Ami. Ami is his friend, he can count on her, she is a wonderful person and loves him deeply. One day the man realizes that the Reika he loved is long gone, the child that blossomed in his fantasies into a wonderful woman is nothing more than a dream. The real Reika changed long ago, becoming a cold and conniving hime. So he decides to move on with his life and take a wife. He chooses Ami. She's pretty and strong and he knows the two of them get along well enough to have a good marriage.” She stopped to make sure InuYasha was still listening and saw him nodding his head slightly, everything made sense so far.

 

“But when he asks her to marry him Ami asks why he has chosen her. He has two options, InuYasha. He can say, `I chose you because I can't have the woman I want, but you'll do.' Or he can say, `I got tired of loving a dream and ignoring the happiness that has been in front of me all this time.' Which one do you think this man should choose?”

 

InuYasha put the water and fish down and crossed his arms into his haori sleeves as he immediately opened his mouth. “Whichever one is the truth.” He was going to say more but Shippou's wide eyes and frantic hand gestures stopped him. For a moment he thought the kit was trying to play that game Kagome had taught them, Charades, but after a moment he started to understand what the pup was mouthing at him.

 

He sat back as if slapped. Is that how she sees shit? What the fuck is wrong with women?! Thinking quickly, InuYasha opened his mouth again, on a completely different track than before.

 

“Women like to assume shit. He spends time with the Ami chick, he's her friend, he obviously cares about her. Just cause he's got a crush from his childhood to get over doesn't mean she's second best. Hell, she might just be more important in his mind. Maybe the hime was just like training or some shit for learning what real love is. She needs to stop assuming the worst about everything.” He crossed his arms within his haori sleeves. It felt more comfortable to address things under the guise of arguing over hypothetical situations, but he still felt defensive. InuYasha also prayed he was right in thinking Kagome was using this metaphor the way he thought she was, otherwise Shippou would be in for a beating later.

 

“But how is she supposed to know one way or the other if the man won't speak his mind?”

 

“She could open her mouth and fucking ask.” InuYasha pinned her with a molten glare.

 

“But what if he doesn't want to talk about it?” Kagome persisted. This little chat of theirs was proving educational and she was eagerly digesting all of her new information.

 

“Fuck, woman. I can guarantee he doesn't wanna talk about it. But what I've learned the past two years traveling with you crazy bitches is that you expect men to fucking read your minds and know what the goddamn problem is. Even if the guy doesn't answer your question the fact that you asked at all brought to his attention that there was a fucking problem.” InuYasha glowered at her as he thought of a way to simplify his point.

 

“It's like when we're traveling. If I'm out walking in front I can't see when you humans get tired and want to stop. You ask me to stop and all of a sudden I'm aware there's a problem. Even if I say no and force you guys to keep moving I know that we'll have to stop soon so I start thinking about where to set up camp and trying to find things like signs of game and water. When men realize there's a problem we start working on a solution. Don't fucking assume that just because you have a problem we know it.” Shippou was torn. It was a good point his papa made, but wrapped in his usual tactful delivery Shippou wondered if he was about to get sat.

 

“If you want your problem solved open your big fat mouth instead of sitting there getting mad and depressed and ready to cry because I didn't magically fix whatever the fuck is wrong.”

 

Kagome's eyes glittered in the failing light of sunset. He had crossed the line, it was no longer hypothetical.

 

“Osuwari! I try to explain things to you and what thanks do I get? You yelling and screaming at me! Osuwari! And who said women want men to solve their problems?! Osuwari! We're not all weak helpless little flowers sitting around waiting for big strong men to come flying in to save the day. Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!”

 

By now the two had attracted the attention of the couple around the fire. Sango stood up and put a few feet between her and Miroku, coming over to see what was wrong when Kagome stomped back into camp, lugging the water back with her. Just behind her Shippou came running in with the fish InuYasha had caught.

 

Kagome set about making supper without a word, determined to avoid the hanyou at all costs. For his part InuYasha stayed away from he camp, equally determined to save himself from more face plants into the unforgiving ground.

 

It took Shippou a couple laps around the camp pretending to chase after Kirara before he was able to slip InuYasha's food away from the others undetected. Before the put the bowl down on the opposite side of the brush he used his tiny nails to snag a particularly succulent morsel from the simple stew his mama had made. He popped it into his mouth and snickered softly, old habits die hard. But he stopped himself after one bite, after seeing firsthand how hard InuYasha worked to keep them fed he felt guilty about stealing even that much.

 

~o~o0o~o~

 

Kagome scanned the trees as she awoke, looking for signs of the hanyou. She frowned when she couldn't find a single trace or red among the brilliant green canopy. She sat up in her sleeping bag and stretched, absently noting that Shippou was gone as well.

 

Wait…WHAT?!

 

The young woman looked about, frantically searching for her kit. She slipped her shoes onto her bare feet and headed toward stream Shippou had led her to yesterday, hoping she would find InuYasha fishing for breakfast, hoping he would be able to find Shippou for her before the kit got himself in trouble.

 

So sick with worry she didn't hear the running water until she almost stumbled into it, the young miko was met with a curious sight.

 

Up stream a ways she saw InuYasha crouched by the water's edge. His lips were moving and his hand was extended, pointing at different things under the surface of the water. When he shifted a bit she saw Shippou crouched on his shoulder, leaning over to make careful observations as the hanyou continued speaking. Periodically she saw the hanyou pause and the kit nodded.

 

InuYasha was teaching Shippou how to fish.

 

Kagome smiled, the scene before her tugging on her heartstrings. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she didn't have to, InuYasha's actions always spoke louder than his words. Oh how she wished she could be a part of that picture.

 

Shippou suddenly leapt from InuYasha's shoulder head first into the stream. The hanyou stood up, a mirthful smirk on his face as he watched Shippou splash around, vainly trying to snag the slippery fish that easily evaded the eager youngster.

 

As the noises coming from the kit became less amused and more frustrated the hanyou crouched back down and lifted the child by his tail.

 

Coughing and sputtering the kit thrashed in InuYasha's hold, apparently upset about something. Kagome crept a few paces closer but still could hear nothing. InuYasha's face went from amused to annoyed as the kit continued with his tantrum. With a dry look InuYasha opened his hand and let the kit fall back into the chilly water. Without a backward glance the hanyou left the kit in the stream and vanished into the foliage.

 

Kagome hurried forward and scooped the child out of the stream, cuddling his soaked and shivering form to her tightly. Her eyes burned in anger, she wanted to find InuYasha before her fury had a chance to fade.

 

She stomped back into camp and saw InuYasha finish polishing off a cup of ramen that Miroku and Sango must have made when they awoke to find half their company missing.

 

“InuYasha!”

 

He stood as she came within arms reach, the dregs left in the ramen cup forgotten.

 

“How could you?! I saw you drop my baby in that freezing cold stream! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!” Confident the hanyou had gotten her message Kagome turned and pulled a towel from her bag and handed it to Shippou.

 

Neither Sango nor Miroku felt like stepping into the middle of this particular argument seeing as how neither knew what was going on.

 

Five stunned pair of eyes turned to regard the hanyou prostrated on the forest floor as a threatening growl ripped through him, sending shivers down their spines.

 

Without warning InuYasha leapt up and threw Kagome against the nearest tree, not hard enough to injure her, but by no means gently. He pinned her against the rough bark without a sound as the others looked on with stunned expressions.

 

Kagome's breath left her in a rush as she realized his fangs had grown and the faint jagged lines on his cheeks warned her that this was the hanyou's youkai blood lashing out. His red eyes lifted to look into her own, his narrowed in anger.

 

“Don't you EVER undermine my authority again, bitch.” The gravelly voice growled out.

 

 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 

A/N: I won't be on my computer for the next few days and since I had this finished I decided to put it up earlier than later. Yeah, I wasn't asking if anyone cried, I wasn't going for that…lol. It's just that I write my own Christmas cards and 9 out of 10 times my mother and aunts end up sobbing and I was trying to avoid that(for now hehe) … And while this next section is somewhat a response to Leila-chan I figure others would also appreciate the heads up.

 

(Un)fortunately(depending on your mindset) this story is probably just taking off. When I first dreamt up this idea it was a one-shot. By the time I hit 30 pages and hadn't gotten anywhere near the lemon I realized I should make it a fic on it's own. Back then I figured the story might run 20 to 30 chapters. Back then I also planned on having at least the first bonding done by chapter 4 or 5…IF I stay on course for my new outline the first bonding should be chapter 9-ish. Unless my inspiration up and dies on me this thing might very well end up huge(in terms of the number of chapters, I realize the chapters themselves are fairly short). On the UP side, the couples will be together before the end! Lol no waiting for the last chappie for lemons for my readers. =)

 

 

*waves to Jessica and Kaz1167 and Arlyn* I hope the wait wasn't too long, and I hope you liked this update too hehe

 

I hope Ch.6. wasn't a let down Wendy, I know you said you expected to see Inu go nuts. But I think maybe Ch.8 might make you smile too…oopsy, said too much =) *evil cackle*

 

UsakoSerenity aka Adrianne - You have the knack for telling me that I have done exactly what I set out to do when I first dreamt of putting this story down. It's flattering and gratifying and you have no idea how big my smile got as I read your words. I'm glad my updates can brighten your day, your review has definitely brightened mine.

 

Alatero - No worries, I wasn't expecting tears. I just wanted to know that it didn't seem fake or boring. I loved hearing from you(what's not to love about a positive review that tells me it's ok that life happens? Lol) and I can only hope you're with me till the end.

 

Cricket42 - I'll cross my fingers and hope you stay ungrounded and able to read hehe

 

Bulma - girly-girl moments are allowed! Embrace the froo-froo! Hehe I'm glad you like my writing, cause I'm pretty sure I like you lol =P

 

JASG - I am trying my damnedest to do things as seamlessly as possible. My initial goal was for people to think to themselves that Rumiko Takahashi could have written this story. Keep that in mind when you wonder why Inu doesn't call Kags `honey-poo-lamby-pie-muffin-doodle' =)

 

*waves to inuyashaloverr* I'm thrilled you still like it =)

 

 

 

5