InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Written in the Stars ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 3

“Yo, Dad! We're back!”

“And we brought a snack!”

Kouga rolled his eyes. The scent that accompanied his rogue offspring was anything but fresh game. For one thing, it was alive. The sound of fists meeting flesh had him turning away from his contemplation of the waterfall that partially hid his pack's den. He blinked as he saw his sons now knocked out on the ground, sporting huge bruises.

The source of the bruises seemed to be the two girls- two hanyous, to be precise- that were standing over the bodies looking very irritated.

“We are
not food!” the silver-haired one yelled, cracking her fingers in a distantly familiar way.

“You said we were guests!” the gold-haired one added, swishing her long tail in annoyance.
That one must be a kitsune hanyou… he thought vaguely. His blue gaze drifted back to the silver-haired female, and he stared at her as he got a better look at her.

Inuyasha. He'd bet his life on it. This girl was that mutt's whelp.

A mixture of regret and amusement flooded through him. He felt horrible about the way he had behaved when he was younger- when Kagome and Inuyasha had come to him with his niece, Minako. Ayame had done her best to beat some sense into him after that, and when it seemed he was too stubborn, she threatened to take their cubs away.

That's what woke him up. Soon after that confrontation with Inuyasha, Ayame had gotten pregnant- his cubs, his pack's future. She informed him in not-so-many words that if he wanted to see his cubs after they were born, he'd stop this foolish prejudice against hanyous- there was no purpose to it and besides- he had wanted Kagome as his mate before, remember? They would've had hanyou wolf cubs.

Ah, Kagome. She was probably Inuyasha's mate now- this inu-hanyou girl must be her daughter. Although she didn't look a thing like her dark-haired mother. She was breathtakingly lovely in an entirely different way. Kouga cleared his throat as he stepped forward.

“Welcome to my den, ladies,” he intoned, sweeping a gallant bow. “I am Kouga.”

The inu-hanyou narrowed her eyes as she appraised him. “You don't look like a heartless bastard,” she replied with a half grin.

Kouga heaved a bone-weary sigh. “You really are Inuyasha's cub, aren't you?”

“Got that right. Where's my sister?”

Kouga blinked. “Minako? She's inside- she and Ayame are tending to one of our wolves that is having problems with her litter.”

“I want to see her. I need to make sure you didn't drown her.”

The wolf prince winced, remembering his comment all those years ago that Minako deserved to be drowned because she was a half-breed. “Look, girl, I was younger and stupider back then. I love Minako as much as my own cubs. Probably more,” he added, giving his twin lechers a rather irritated glare.

The inu-hanyou huffed, folding her hands inside her purple haori (
haori?) and looking much like her father when he was annoyed. “Regardless- I still want to see her.”

“No problem.” Kouga turned and walked into the cave-den, leaving the two females alone with his unconscious sons.

Inusouta appeared, looking ready to do some slaughter to two specific wolf youkai. He paused, though, when he saw them laying on the ground, looking much the worse for wear. He glanced at his mate and sister, who grinned sheepishly.

“We can handle ourselves, nii-san,” Izayoi said before Inusouta could utter a word.

Amber nodded. “Yup. We're big girls now.”

Kirara ran through the bushes and came to a stop next to Inusouta so Masao could dismount. She shifted back to her tiny cat form and jumped back up on his shoulder, patiently waiting to see what events would play out next. The taijiya glanced at the two beat up wolves. “Remind me not to make you mad,” he murmured to Izayoi.

“Treat me with respect and I won't,” came the amused reply.

“Inu! Iza! It's been so long!” Minako exclaimed as she materialized from the darkness of the cave. She walked gracefully, lithely, over to her adoptive siblings. “It's so good to see you!”

Tall, dark, and demure, Minako was the total opposite of both Inuyasha and Kouga. She was quiet and thoughtful, always taking great care in considering her words before she spoke. She had trained in the modern era as a nurse for a while before settling here in Sengoku Jidai permanently. She said she was conceived here, born here, and she would live and die here. As much as she liked her adoptive mother's time, it just wasn't meant for a wolf hanyou like her.

Her black wolf ears twitched slightly as she embraced her sister, then her brother. The twins grinned at her, happy to see she was well and content. Minako's bright blue eyes- the same shade as Kouga's- landed on Amber, who stepped back slightly.

“Ah, yes. You are Amber, if I remember correctly. I'm glad to see that you survived your wounds.”

Amber nodded, somewhat surprised that the wolf hanyou would remember her. “It… had something to do with my kitsune blood,” she said lamely.

Inusouta wrapped an arm around her, giving his sister a rather stupid, love-fool grin. “She is my mate,” he informed his adopted sister.

Minako chuckled. “I gathered that. I saw how protective you were of her.” She glanced at the matching wedding bands on their left hands. “And I see you married her in a ningen ceremony as well. Good for you.”

He gave his vixen a naughty little grin. “Now all that remains is getting her with pups.”

Amber slapped him with her furry tail. “Stop that! There are other people around!”

“So? The more who know you are mine, the better.”

The twins on the ground moaned as they gained consciousness. “What the hell just happened?” Taro groaned out.

“Felt like we got run over by Father when we get in his way.” Jiro rubbed his head.

Izayoi nudged the closest one with her toe, which happened to be Taro. “So you're not dead… too bad.”

They flashed her identical charming grins. “It takes more than that to get us down,” Taro replied, licking his lips.

“But not very much to get us up,” Jiro finished with a saucy wink at Amber.

Minako whirled on her cousins, her eyes flashing blue lightning. “You teinoushas [morons]! This is my sister and my brother's mate! How dare you treat them like you are bitches in heat?”

The wolf hanyou stalked the identical perverts and proceeded to kick them both hard enough to send them flying into the den. “You're lucky
I'm dealing with you and not my brother, or you'd be neutered!” she hollered, completely out of character, as they sailed away into the darkness.

Everyone stared at her, completely stunned. Minako flashed them a pretty smile, her ears flattened slightly. “So what brings you here?” she asked brightly as if nothing had happened.

Masao whistled, impressed. “Remind me not to make
her mad either,” he murmured to Kirara. The cat mewed in agreement.

-----------------------------

Kouga nodded thoughtfully as the group finished their story about their quest to find the last few jewel shards and bring them back to Kagome. Minako sat on one side of him and Ayame, lovely as ever despite bearing a litter of three, sat on the other. Kouga's only daughter, Yuri, was currently up in the mountains being trained by Ayame's pack. The twins sat in the corner of the cave, tending to their wounds and casting nervous glances at their cousin.

“So you see,” Izayoi was saying, “any help on where the last shards might be would be greatly appreciated.”

“Indeed,” Inusouta added, the tai-youkai tone back in his voice now that he'd calmed down. “Mother is due to whelp another sibling in about four months, so we would like to return sometime before then.”

The ookami prince blinked at the black-haired hanyou- who actually resembled Minako quite a bit with his black dog ears- and then threw his head back and barked out a laugh. “Kagome's pregnant again? After how many years?” He shook his head in wonder. “Why she'd want more clones of that mutt I'll never know,” he said as he smiled.

Inusouta and Izayoi glared. “That `mutt' is our father,” Inusouta growled.

Kouga held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, relax. I've always called him that- even before… well, that's history. It's all in good-natured fun. He calls me a mangy wolf, I call him dog-shit- everybody's happy.”

Amber let a smothered giggle escape before she could prevent it. Inusouta gave her a Look. “What?”

“It's just that… you called his sons `wolf- sh'… you know. That same term, but instead of dog, you used wolf.”

Ayame giggled. Minako sighed. Kouga roared with laughter. “That's about right,” he managed to wheeze between chuckles. “I've had that same opinion of them myself.”

“Uncle,” Minako said quietly, placing a hand lightly on his arm, “shouldn't we be focusing on helping them find the shards?”

He nodded. “Ah, just like old times. Only this time I don't have any.”

Izayoi blinked large gold eyes at him, leaning forward so that her rather abundant bosom pressed against the “V” of her haori, pulling one of her oldest tricks on the old wolf. “Onegai, Kouga-sama… don't you have any idea where we could start searching?”

Kouga's eyes locked onto the young hanyou's face and narrowed slightly. “I'm not my sons, little girl. I'm not swayed by feminine wiles.”

Ayame gave an amused snort and punched her mate in the arm. “Well,” he amended, “only my female's wiles.”

Taro and Jiro crept cautiously closer, staying on their best behavior (which wasn't easy) so that they didn't end up getting reacquainted with Minako's temper. Two pairs of eyes locked on Izayoi, who hadn't sat back yet. “We've heard of a jewel shard a few days' journey from here,” Taro piped up.

“Yeah,” Jiro nodded. “We can take you there.”

Kouga bonked the nearest one- Jiro- on top of his head. “Bakas! Don't think I don't know what you're plotting!”

His sons blinked innocent eyes at their father. “Honest, Dad!” Taro exclaimed, actually serious for once.

“It's to the north, said to be held by the neko tribe in the mountains,” Jiro added.

Kouga narrowed his eyes. He couldn't scent any deceit or ulterior motives, yet… “Fine. They will head north to the neko tribe, but you two will stay here. You are not to bother them, got it? Or I'll neuter you both.”

Crestfallen, they sighed. “Hai, sir,” they chorused lamely.

Izayoi winked at Kouga. “You're no fun,” she said with a laugh.

Inusouta glared at his twin. “Iza… behave.”

Gold eyes twinkled as her silver ears twitched merrily. “Never, brother dear. Not if I can help it.”

The twin ookami youkai exchanged a glance. “Ooo, I like her,” Toga murmured.

“I think I'm in love,” Jiro declared.

Masao groaned. “I think we're all in trouble.”