InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Matters the Most ❯ Naming Names ( Chapter 54 )

A/N: Hey everyone! ^_^

Don’t have much to say right now, so I’m not gonna say much. ^_^

-Tryst/Punishment of the Inu - ^_^ I’m glad you liked it. Lol, the middle pup does seem to have a sort of... interesting personality. Lol. ^_^ I’m glad I can give you ideas though-- whatever helps keep the stories rolling, right? ^_^ Lol, I can’t tell you! If I told you then I’d go giving away all the plot, and there’d be no story left! ^_^ Lol, that’s just my way of saying I have absolutely no idea. ^_^ -- You thought of something bad? Ooh, what’d you think of? Now I wanna know! I can use all the ideas I can get. ^_^

-golden kitsune - Lol, are you sure? Cause you better be sure-- cause once I start going... woosh! You may never get me to stop again. ^_^ Lol

-Crazy-Inuyasha-Girl - Thanks, as always! ^_^ I’m glad you’re liking it! ^_^

-FXL - ^_^ Glad you’re enjoying them! ^_^ Oh no! You can’t kill Naraku! What’ll happen to my story if you do?! EEP! ^_^ Lol, we’ll just have to wait and see I guess... but Naraku ain’t anything at all if not persistent in his plans. I can’t see him just leaving Inu alone to live his life with Sess... No, more than likely he’s gonna have to make an appearance before the end. Lets hope the pups are okay though! ^_^ Lol, yeah, I kinda thought that, considering how sore women can get just from feeding them milk, Inuyasha would likely be beyond sore if he was constantly supplying them with blood from his chest... so I decided I needed to give him an alternative instead. ^_^ I’m glad it worked. ^_^ -- Actually, I have no idea what the naming their children after a month is about. All I know is that I heard that it used to apply to some Japanese cultures a while ago, and I figured I’d use that in my fic, rather than just have the babies be named right away. I don’t know if I could’ve made that work anyway. I actually dont’ know if I’ve made it work anyway, but hopefully it came out at least moderately well done, so... ^_^ Oh? Your name means bitter? Interesting. My name means something like to ensnare or captivate. No idea if that’s accurate though. People do tend to be fairly attentive when I’m around, but I think that’s mostly because they’re fascinated that such insanity can exist in one person. And maybe a little scared for their own personal safety. ^_^ Lol, jk! ^_^ Arigato again! I’m glad you’re liking it! ^_^

-Skullz - Alright, I’m funny! ^_^ Lol, and for once it happened when I was trying to be! ^_^ Lol, jk. Yeah, I suppose you have a point-- if it did bother you that much, you wouldn’t still be here, now would you? ^_^ I’m glad it doesn’t bother you that much, cause I would hate for you to stop reading. ^_^ Hope you enjoy this chapter-- I think your review just came up like fifteen minutes ago, so hopefully that’s soon enough for you. ^_^

Thanks so much takari_lover for nominating me for Helum’s Favourite stories award! ^_^ I won!!! How cool is that? ^_^

Well, got nothing else to say. Hope everybody likes the next chapter! I’m not certain if it came out entirely right, so please let me know what you think! ^_^   ~*~   Naming Names

‘What’s wrong with it?’ Inuyasha demanded loudly, glaring daggers at his brother.

Sesshomaru frowned agitatedly at him.

‘Why would you wish to name our son something like that?’ He said, traces of disdain entering his voice at the aforementioned name. Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed even further.

‘Well then you pick something if you think you can do so much better, jackass.’ The hanyou said, crossing his arms in front of him and lifting his chin in blatant challenge.

Sesshomaru mentally sighed.

They had only gone through maybe eight names, and already he was exhausted. He half wished their father and Inuyasha’s ningen mother were there to help them in this, because it was really becoming too much effort for him to deal with the stubborn hanyou he called mate.

After a moment of silence in which he probably should have been putting thought into what he wanted their son to be named, but was beyond the point of doing, he finally threw one out at random, hoping Inuyasha didn’t like it.

‘Akira.’

Not that there was anything wrong with that name, of course, he was just too exasperated to be paying proper attention right now (something very unlike him, but the past few weeks had been incredibly exhausting (both mentally and physically) and he had very little energy left for this) and did not even know if he liked that name for his son.

‘No!’ Inuyasha almost immediately snapped back at him, as Sesshomaru had expected. It was Inuyasha’s typical rebuttal response whenever Sesshomaru rejected one of his names-- to reject whatever name was offered up next. If he had been the type, he might have rolled his eyes at his brother’s childish antics. Some things, it seemed, really didn’t ever change.

Rin, who had been watching the whole exchange from her spot kneeling on the ground just in front of them, bit her lip as she looked between the two Inu’s-- caught between laughing at the whole situation, and being sympathetic with Sesshomaru.

After all, Inuyasha really could be quite the unreasonable idiot when he wanted to be, and right now he was displaying that in perfect form.

‘What’s wrong with Akira?’ She asked slowly, trying to help out the elder brother a little, knowing Inuyasha’s antics were likely giving the demon a headache by now.

Even someone of Sesshomaru’s patience had their limits, and Inuyasha was the perfect person to push them right over those limits and halfway into whatever lay beyond.

Said hanyou shot her a savage glare at her question, and then reached over to take his rather unhappy son from the girl, holding the boy out again at arms length for her to look at the same way she had done for them.

‘You think of something.’ He said again as the male squirmed and pouted unhappily in his grip, yet for some reason refrained from crying or screeching like his younger brother probably would have done. Rin frowned slightly and cocked her head slightly to the side.

She was more than half-tempted to suggest that they name this pup after their father, but she could imagine the amount of confusion that would cause in the inu household.

Besides, she didn’t think Inuyasha would go along with that.

Still, he seemed deserving of a name at least somewhat as noble as that one.

He was hardly a pup, but it was obvious just by his reactions thus far that he was likely going to turn out with at least some similar aspects to the dog lord.

And Sesshomaru for that matter, if his nonchalant attacks on his little brother were anything to go on.

Not that his little brother wasn’t asking for it on some occasions, but the pups did tend to strike out at him sometimes for seemingly no other reason that to remind him who was top dog. a “just in case” kind of thing.

It was a little funny to see, actually.

Until the younger son started squalling at the top of his lungs again that is...

She must have been contemplating these things for too long, because the next second Inuyasha huffed loudly, and drew his son back down against his chest.

‘See? It’s not that easy!’ He said, his tone harsh yet slightly satisfied-- as though he had expected her to be unable to come up with anything-- and it made Rin frown.

‘Arekusu.’ She blurted out suddenly, making both her and Inuyasha freeze.

Arekusu.

Now what the hell had made her say that?

Revered wild air spirit.

It was the name of one of the lords Naraku had sent them out after one time. He was dead now, but he had been true enough to his name in the short time they had known him. But still, he had been a sort of wind demon-- like Kagura -- so the name seemed more fitting of him than... a couple weeks old Inu pup.

Still, it seemed that Inuyasha was actually considering this name...

The hanyou certainly hadn’t jumped up to reject it immediately, and that was definitely a good sign.

The half-demon frowned slightly down at his son, and then looked up at her, his face pulled together in consideration, before her turned his attention back to the pup in his arms.

Another frowned, and then he turned toward Sesshomaru, who didn’t seem to be paying all that much attention to them at present.

‘Well?’ Inuyasha demanded loudly, his face darkening at Sesshomaru’s obvious lack of consideration in this matter, causing said demon to turn and look at him, slowly raising one eyebrow.

Inuyasha glared angrily. ‘You better start paying more attention, you idiot, or you’re not gonna get any say in their names.’ He threatened, making Sesshomaru narrow his own eyes slightly, but the older mate opted not to say anything. He just wasn’t in the mood to fight with his brother anymore at the moment.

‘What have you thought of now?’ He questioned, making Inuyasha scowl all the more.

‘Arekusu.’ He shot back as though it were supposed to be an insult. ‘And I didn’t think of it, Rin did.’

Sesshomaru looked at his son, currently snuggled up and trying to sleep again in his mate’s arms, and then back up at Rin.

‘Arekusu.’ He said slowly, trying the name out.

Rin offered him an enthusiastic nod.

‘It means “Revered wild air spirit.”’ She said.

Inuyasha blinked.

‘O-kay...’ He said slowly. He wasn’t exactly certain what air had to do with anything or why it was included in the name in the first place, but he wasn’t about to complain. The name had a kind of nice ring to it... and it seemed fitting enough of his son... so he could always overlook that one little falling out.

After all, he’d been screwed over in the meaning of his name, so it was only fair if his children had the same complications as well.

Honestly, his father had a real sick sense of humour to have come up with “Dog-Demon” for a hanyou.

Sesshomaru, who had been watching his mate carefully this entire time, noticed the way his face darkened somewhat, and he continued to eye him carefully-- trying to ascertain if his reaction was to the name itself, or some other aspect that had nothing to do with what was currently going on.

Judging by the expression on his brother’s face when he had said the name though, his mate was not only considering it, but perhaps even liked it a little.

‘It is... suitable.’ The demon said slowly, carefully, waiting...

Inuyasha looked up at him, his head cocking to the side for a moment as his ears drifted upward to perk toward his voice, and then he grinned widely.

‘Alright. Arekusu then.’ He said, slowly moving to set the pup down on the ground, where he instantly let out a loud yawn and curled back into the crook of Inuyasha’s leg as his hanyou father then moved on to put his little brother through the same torment he had just endured.

As soon as the younger demon was picked him, he instantly started whining loudly, his golden eyes narrowed and looking caught between tears and anger at being disturbed against his will.

Although everything as of late seemed to be against the little demon’s will and got on his bad side.

Inuyasha frowned disapprovingly at the male, and then pulled his son closer to his body, wrapping him tightly in his arms.

For long moments the hanyou was silent, just staring at his son, and Sesshomaru let him because... well, he didn’t know why... somehow it just seemed appropriate that Inuyasha named this particular pup. And it was quite obvious that that was what Inuyasha was now attempting to do as his golden eyes grew dark in concentration.

Even the pup was silent under his harsh stare, his own golden eyes wide, and the finger of his right hand wound tightly around the index finger of his left as he continued to stare up at his bearer in something akin to awe.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Inuyasha spoke.

‘Inuko.’

Barely above a whisper, and all but lost in the warm autumn breeze, but Sesshomaru caught in nonetheless, and he looked up at his mate, his cold golden eyes narrowed slightly... because he knew how uncomfortably Inuyasha had been with his name near the beginning... he didn’t really understand why his mate would wish a similar fate upon their son like that...

‘What?’ Rin asked loudly, shaking the air around them and very nearly causing Sesshomaru to jolt slightly, though Inuyasha seemed completely unphased, the little bubble that had former around him at the boy in his arms refusing to burst just yet and expose him to the outside world as he looked up at the girl.

‘Inuko.’ He said slowly. ‘His name is Inuko.’

Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow at his mate.

‘Were you planning on giving me a say in this?’ He questioned in a slightly cold tone.

‘No.’ Inuyasha returned shortly, the bubble around him suddenly dissolving almost audibly as he fixed his mate with a curt look, and Sesshomaru couldn’t help but smile softly at his brother’s blatant refusal in the manner.

He actually didn’t mind all that much.

The name seemed... fitting of the boy somehow.

‘Dog-child?’ Rin asked slowly. Inuyasha nodded, eyeing her in a way that dared her to criticize his choice in any manner.

Rin stared at the pup for a moment, and then smiled broadly. ‘Hello Inuko.’ She said, leaning over to hover in front of the pup.

The inu’s eyes cracked open from their formerly closed position, and then widened considerably as he stared up at her in the same way he had Inuyasha, yanking roughly on the finger he still held captive in his grasp as a small gurgle escaped his throat.

‘Can you hold him?’ Inuyasha asked her. Rin nodded and brought her arms up to wrap around the boy, whose gaze seemed to have shifted from her face, to the small clip she was wearing to hold her hair back a little today.

Inuyasha then leaned forward to pick up the last of the pups.

He stared at the small female in his arms for a moment, before moving and holding her out to Sesshomaru.

‘Here.’ He said simply.

Sesshomaru frowned slightly and took the girl offered to him, before staring at his mate, waiting for instructions as to what exactly Inuyasha wanted him to do with her.

‘You name her.’ The hanyou said simply, watching as his mate’s eyes widened nigh on imperceptibly at his command, and he looked down at the small pup curled safely in his arms.

Why in all the seven hells would Inuyasha wish for him to name their only daughter? The daughter that he, technically, had absolutely no claim over?

‘She’s your daughter too.’ Inuyasha said as if reading his thoughts. ‘You name her.’

Sesshomaru looked up at Inuyasha a moment, his cool yellow eyes locking with Inuyasha’s deeper golden ones, and he suddenly realised that there was something deeper behind this than just naming their child.

Inuyasha could still feel how shaky Sesshomaru sometimes was with the idea of their daughter being Naraku’s... he was trying to force Sesshomaru to accept her... to bond with her more than he had... He was trying to make him connect with the girl.

And, he realised a moment later that Inuyasha didn’t really want him to name the girl.

He needed him to-- he needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sesshomaru truly accepted her as his own.

And this certainly seemed like the best way to go about doing that.

Staring hard at his mate for a moment more, Sesshomaru slowly lifted the girl and, as had been the ritual with the boys, held her out at arms length to study.

And she stared back at him with the same wide-eyed sort of fascination she always held for him, her heard tilted slightly to the side and her koinu ears trying to lift up, but still being to heavy to make it all the way, and surviving only half the journey there before stopping so that they drooped pathetically to either side, making her look very much the part of a lost puppy.

Which he supposed was actually quite the accomplishment, considering during the first few days of her life, the things hadn’t been able to lift at all really, and then they had begun to twitch and move about out of her control. Now it seemed she was at least getting the basic workings of them at least.

But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

The moon on her forehead had as well.

It was something that he hadn’t really noticed before, which was understandable considering everything that had been going on in the past few weeks, but now that he did notice it... he was also noticing that it seemed to be following the phases of the real moon.

When it had first been a crescent, it was now almost ready to begin the sickle stage-- just exiting out of the late stages of being full...

It was actually quite fascinating to see, considering he had never come across a birthmark that possessed the ability to do something like that before...

Sesshomaru mentally shook his head and turned his attention to the rest of the small female, taking in the way her dark hair seemed to frame her pale face perfectly-- her crimson eyes flashing silver again for a moment as they continued to stare fixatedly back at him, her two tiny hands tightly wrapped around his much large thumb against her chest.

Sesshomaru slowly brought her closer toward him, and one of said hands uncurled and came up to reach out toward the moon that adorned his own forehead, tiny claws stopping just inches short of their destination as her face scrunched up in what appeared to be concentration.

And Sesshomaru came to a deciscion.

Looking away from the girl, he turned his eyes up to lock with Inuyahsa’s, suddenly understanding why his brother had been so quiet and seemingly subdued after naming their other pup, meeting the fiery gaze that stared intently back on him, waiting for whatever he may have come up with...

‘Her name’ He began slowly, lowering the girl down to rest in his arms, his eyes never leaving Inuyasha’s. ‘Is Tsukiko.’ ~*~  

Glossary

Ningen - Human

Akira - Intelligence, Brightness

Inu - Dog

Hanyou - half-Demon

Arekusu - Revered Wild Air Spirit

Inuko - Dog Child

Tsukiko - Moon Child ~*~  

A/N: Well there you have it-- the pups have names now. ^_^ Lol, were they what you expected?

Thanks so much to everyone who voted for/suggested a name! You guys were a huge help to me! ^_^!!!!!!!!