InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Yours and Mine ❯ Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all the rest aren't mine. To bad, cause then I'd be rich.

*blah*= thoughts

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A week later, Kagome found herself shivering in the castle courtyard of Sesshomaru's isolated Hokkaido castle watching two huge white dogs and a fox running hell for leather through the near-by rice fields, carefully avoiding the freshly planted paddies.

*I heard coffee goes well with crow,* she thought, stepping aside as the three demons raced passed her. The taller glanced back at her as they passed and she stuck her tongue out at him.

*I guess I'm glad his leg-uh, arm finally grew back, but he was still dangerous without it. I can't believe I got suckered into coming here. This can't be good for my daughter. We should go home. *

The dogs ran passed again and Kagome blew on her hands, trying to warm them up.

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When Kagome came to, Shippo and Renmaru were standing over her, Shippo trying to revive her and Renmaru panicking and near to tears.

"Okasan, Okasan! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll never change again, I promise! Just please don't die! Okasan!"

Kagome sat up and pushed Renmaru away, holding her head. "I'm not dieing, child. You just surprised me is all."

"You didn't know I could do that, did you, Okasan?"

Kagome closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at Renmaru's anxious face.

"Like I said, you surprised me."

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Now, Kagome pulled her jacket closer and wondered how much longer Sesshomaru intended to keep them all outside.

*I don't remember it being this cold the last time I was here. Of course, the last time I was here, I wasn't outside. I was inside, with a cup of sake, a warm fire . . .an infinitely warmer demon lord-stop it, Higurashi! Weakness. It was a moment of weakness.*

The smaller dog pounced before her, startling her out of her reprieve, and transformed into a grinning, windblown Renmaru.

"Oh, Okasan, you gotta try this!" She waved her arms and spun around in a circle. Kagome smiled at her daughter and smoothed down her hair. "I can't; changing shape isn't something Okasan is capable of."

"Oh." The child looked sad for a second. "To bad; this it the best feeling in the world!" She bounced off before Kagome could answer, chasing after, of all things - a grasshopper. She followed it for a minute, giggling, then squealed in delight when she caught it. Sesshomaru walked towards them, and stood over Kagome in his full demon form. His massive body blocked the cold air as he leaned his head down and poked Kagome with his nose. When she merely sighed, he shifted into his human form.

*Kagome has no fear of me,* he thought, watching Renmaru catching the grasshopper. *I'm only sensing annoyance that she had to turn to me for help.*

Renmaru giggled and waved the grasshopper, trapped in her tiny fist, at her mother. "Look Okasan, I caught the bug!"

"What will you do with it now?" Sesshomaru asked. Renmaru looked down at her fist, then opened her hand and dumped the stunned, but still alive bug back on the ground.

"Nothing." She looked Sesshomaru straight in the eye and smirked slightly. "Bugs are gross." She tilted her head back until she was looking at the sky and began spinning around in a circle, humming softly. Kagome smirked.

"You wanted her to kill it, didn't you?"

"Hmm. Yes." Sesshomaru turned to face her and bowed. "It seems that I owe you an apology. For over a week now, she has successfully captured every living thing from ants to rabbits in this area, pet them and let them go. Maybe you are right; maybe she had no desire to kill."

"Every mother knows her child." The taller demon sighed softly as Renmaru collapsed, dizzy and giggling on the ground.

"Every demon kills at least once in their life, miko. She won't be able to resist the desire forever."

"That may be your experience, Sesshomaru, but I will not allow that to happen to Renmaru."

"You misunderstand, it doesn't have to be anything as extreme as say . . . another person. It could be something as small as that silly grasshopper. She just has to knowingly take it's life."

Kagome made a face and turned back to Renmaru who had finally gotten back on her feet and was pulling her hair back, signaling that she was tired of running and transforming. All of her jeweler were wards designed to hide her demon marking and her tail, but the hair ties has the strongest magic. Kagome smiled at her daughter.

*3 . . .2 . . .1 . . .*

"I'm hungry!" Renmaru announced loudly, as she finished her hair. Kagome and Sesshomaru shared a look, but diplomatically refrained from mentioning to her that her pigtails were now an asymmetrical mess. Shippo finally rejoined them, turning back into a boy. He gave his little sister a long look then shrugged and turned to Kagome.

":Me too."

Kagome glanced at Sesshomaru, who shrugged. "Sure why not; food sounds good. Go and alert the staff that the rest of us will be in shortly."

"Fine." Kagome started back towards the castle, muttering: "All I'm good for . . . glad my role has been defined . . .`go and alert the staff'. Sheeseh!"

She got to the door and realized she still had no idea what they wanted. Renmaru was an easy guess, but she wasn't sure about the other two.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"FOOD!"

"ICE CREAM!"

"YOU DECIDED."

Kagome huffed and stepped inside the sliding door.. *Fat lot of good that did.*

It was, thankfully warmer inside and she was greeted by a young squirrel youkin.

"Is master Sesshomaru ready for his lunch?" she asked softly, reaching for Kagome's jacket. Kagome glanced out the window. Sesshomaru was kneeling on the ground at Renmaru's level, trying to explain something to her. The child was wearing her stubborn face, which meant she wasn't hearing him.

"Hai, we all are."

The servant bowed. "The table will be set in five minutes. The fire is lit in the parlour if you'd like to thaw out while you wait."

"Hmm, in a minute." She returned to the courtyard.

A petrified rabbit was attempting to conceal itself in the flower bed and Sesshomaru was trying to get Renmaru to chase after it, but she was refusing. Shippo was trying to point out her lack of interest, but the older demon was waving him to silence.

"I don't wanna!"

"Why no?" he asked. Getting that first taste of blood was a rite of passage for all demons, and often a necessary one, but she was adamant in her refusal.

*As stubborn as her mother.*

"I'm TIRED." She ran to Kagome and threw her arms around her legs. "Okasan, I'm sleepy."

Kagome nodded and picked her up. It was serious if she was announcing it. "Okay, right after lunch you can have a nice long nap."

Renmaru nodded against her mother's shoulder. "'Kay."

Sesshomaru stood slowly. "You spoil her." Kagome made him not reply, just turned and started back towards the castle. Renmaru raised her head and stuck her tongue out at Sesshomaru, then snuggled her face down in her mother neck. He huffed and Shippo laughed.

"Sorry old man, but you can't force her to kill something. She's been raised human, she has no taste for blood."

"I wasn't trying to force her." *it was more like an encouraging nudge.*

By the time the two older demons sat down at the table, Kagome was already hard at work trying to get Renmaru to drink some tea, but the child was falling asleep in her seat. Sesshomaru sat beside Kagome and watched her spooning tea into the child while his plate was brought.

"Miko, stop torturing the child."

"Shut up," she hissed.

He huffed and looked down at his plate. "What the hell is this?"

"It's a steak, baka. Just eat it."

Shippo held out his empty plate. "More please." Kagome smiled and shook her head.

"Did you taste it?"

"Yeah."

She left off feeding the child to serve Shippo and Renmaru immediately fell asleep, snoring loudly.

"Chikushiu, Sesshomaru! What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. Shifting so much in the last week is something she's never done and it's taken a lot out of her. Also, she exercising and breathing clean air for once in her life."

"Hmm. She used to shift a lot as a baby, but only when she got really upset."

His eyebrow slid up. "Hmm."

The three ate without talking, Renmaru's snoring the only sound. Finally, Sesshomaru asked:

"Why have you not told her that I'm her father?"

Kagome stiffened. "It's not relevant. And anyway, I think I already told you she's not yours."

Sesshomaru bristled and Shippo got ready to run. "WHAT?"

"Oh, get a grip! Do you even realizes what you've done to her!?"

"I'm training her!"

"No, you're not. What you've done is utterly destroy any chance she had for a normal life. How long do we have to stay here anyway?"

He smiled, showing his fangs. "Until her training is complete."

"And when will that be?"

"Whenever she's fully trained." His tone made it clear that she should already have known the answer to that.

"And who decides that?" Shippo didn't miss the calmness of his mother's voice, but Sesshomaru did. He smirked and she exploded.

"YOU!? You are not, I repeat, not her father and therefore you have not right to dictate how her life is to be spent!"

Sesshomaru glared, but remained calm. "Kagome, whether you like it or not, I am Renmaru's father. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is what we're doing. The hard way-well, I take the choice out of your . . . capable

hands-"

Kagome stood and Shippo growled at the demon lord. "How dare you use my child to threaten me! I am her mother and I know what's best for right now. She has to go to school. Its the law. I will endure your presence for one more week, and then I'm taking my children and going back to Tokyo so they can continue going to school and I'm going back to work."

"If you stayed here with me, you wouldn't have to work." He lowered his voice to an enticing growl, so she wouldn't miss the double meaning. She smiled unpleasantly and stood, picking up a still snoring Renmaru.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Me being totally dependant on you for every stitch of clothing and every crumb of food. Hell will freeze first."

She swept out and Sesshomaru growled low in his throat. *Bitch. You submitted to me once and you will subjugate yourself to me again.*

Shippo looked after his mother and pushed his plate away. *I hope she realizes dogs love a good chase; especially when their ready to mate. Let the battle of wills begin.*

***

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I put Sesshomaru's castle in Hokkaido. Well, it's Japan's northern most island and it's mostly farmland with very few large towns and no big cities. Its the perfect place for demons to hide out.

Chikushiu-means damn or dammit depending on the context of the sentence.

I know Sesshomaru and Kagome seem to be fighting a lot, but Kagome feels that she and her child are threatened by Sesshomaru and so she's going to fight with him. Also, she's 26 not 15 anymore. She's an adult with responsibilities and Sesshomaru isn't respecting that. Ah, men.