Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feelings for a Fox ❯ Chapter 13

Anyways, thanks to my wonderful reviewers, and I apologize again for taking so long. So thanks: lady-minh, Lady MoonShadow1, hen-neko-henshin , Valkyrie Nienna Helyanwe, CrimsonBlades16, Keala-Chick, Artemis the Goddess, Ivan's Kitsune, DemonLady1, Kitty, animechickie, Delphine Pryde, jade, Moon-n-Universe-Goddess, The Black Kat, kagome-angel2000, Puppy, Houndingwolf, bloodbunny, Star Silver fox, ColdFang, midnight frost, Ichigo, Angie, Illustrious Sorrow, Grimsister, fresh8, BabyTil14, Arella Hallo, Tygerfyre, silvervail, NightHawk 16, kitsune the vixen, Lady Light, tarah, Akina Tsukana, Nezumi & Lylli Riddle, Black Kitsune, Kurama no Miko2003, Red_Dragon-210, Amethyst, Midnight_001, Skittles2xtreme, kikitravel, dunken, kikitravel, ScottishFae, Karama, S1Cherry, wackoramaco87, ChibiKitsuneChanAtari , Gin Aibu, Zelinko, princessann, Lhiannan-Sidhe, and ScottishFae.

{/…/= Youko's "talking"}

{*…*= Kurama's "talking"}

Kurama's POV

~~~Chapter 13~~~

I had been avoiding her since waking up with her this morning. As soon as Kagome had left the room I grabbed my belongings and escaped. I was still blushing as I remembered the way in which I had woken up. Not that I had minded it really, but under slightly different circumstances would be preferable. Cough.

/No. No, I'm pretty sure that waking up like that under any circumstances is a great experience./

*Hentai!*

/What are you going to do about it?/

*Vshz! Never mind! We need to make sure she's not going to kill us and then try to do some damage control.*

/And sucking up. You can never forget the all important sucking up./

*Yeah. That too of course.*

We were interrupted from our thoughts by the arrival of the guys. I felt their ki as they neared the house and finally left my room to go down and greet them. I tensed when I stepped out of my door, half expecting to see her, but relaxed again when she wasn't in the hall. Kagome was still upstairs when I slipped out but her ki was drawing nearer so it would only be a while before she arrived as well.

I must admit, whatever I had expected when I walked outside it wasn't the sight that greeted me.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were snickering and casting glances at the tiny Jaganshi. Hiei stood there visibly trembling from what I recognized as him trying to hold himself back. There was a tic in his left cheek right below the eyes and you could almost see him grinding his teeth together. His hand clenched convulsively around his katana. His hair was scattered wildly around his head in a very un-Hiei-like manner, and there was a dangerously gleam in his eyes that in anyone else I would call insane. Around him zipped a russet and green blur that seemed to be chattering at him, but I couldn't quite make out what it was, or what it was saying.

"AndhekeptsayingDIEINUYAHSA!AnditallgotverypreticableandI wouldplaywithMamaandRin
whiletheytriedtokilleachotherandthatwaalwaysint erestingexceptafteritgotboring.JustlikeKougaandInuya
shawouldalwaysgeti ntofightsoverKagomebutneitherofthemevencaredwhatshethoughtandtheyjustwanted h
erasasharddetectorandtheywerejerks!AndIdidn'tlikethemverymuch,wellInu yashawasokmostofthetimeexc
eptwhenhepickedonmeandmadeKagomecryandIdidn' tlikethatandhewasabigjerkthentoo,onlymoreofajerkt
hanusualandthenhewoul drunoffwithKikyoandhewasstupidbecauseMamawasbetterthansheeverwas,becau
semamawastheonewhodefeatedNaraku,exceptifyoueverhearthelegendtheyonlymentio nInuyashaandtheon
lysaythatKagome,that'smamawasaforiegnmikowhojoinedhim andhelpedwhenshewastheonewhoactually
managedtobeathim!"(1)

I stepped out of the way when I heard Kagome running up behind me, without taking my eyes off the seen in front of me. I covered my mouth with my hand to try and keep from laughing at my poor partner. Honestly I wish I had a camera. I have never seen Hiei so flustered, even if it was in an incredibly homicidal sort of way.

"Shippou! Oh you're back! Thank goodness you're safe!"

"MAMA!!!!!"The blur that was buzzing around Hiei solidified into a ball of fur and launched itself at Kagome. I stared as I realized what Kagome was now cradling in her arms was a kitsune kit!

/…Her son's a kitsune./

*…Yeah.I had noticed that*

/…He's a FULL kitsune./

*…Yeah.I had noticed that too.*

/…So he couldn't be her biological son./

*…So it would appear.* Outside I was composed, but inside I was shocked. Kitsune children are notorious for distrusting anyone outside of their pack. Not only that but they are nearly impossible to get close to as a friend. For one to adopt a human as a mother was nearly unheard of.

/Not so unheard of after all./

*Shut up. You aren't a kit and you didn't have a choice.* I turned my attention back to the scene unfolding. Shippou started bouncing up and down excitedly. And his tail was thrashing around wildly, almost too fast for me to follow with my eyes. Kagome stared down at her son when he started to speak, and as he continued she got a funny look on her face.

"Mama!Mama!Guesswhat?!Iwaskidnappedbythisbigsmellydemo nandhetookmetoafortreetypethingyandt
hentherewereallthesedemonsandtheyp utmeinthiscellanditsoooooBORING!AndthenIrememeberedthepree
sentRingavem e,yourememberthesummoningstonesdon'tyouMama?AndanywaysIfoundtheminmytailand I
gotmyleavesandItransformedandIescapeintothistunnelthatwasalleewwwandl ikegrossandthenIfloatedaro
unandfinallyImanagedtoescapeandtransformedin tothedemonthathadkidnappedmeandIpouredphotofloint
otheirwaterandthenIme tHiei,andhe'ssoCOOLMama.He'shalffiredemonandhalfkoorime,andhehasamark
o ftheblackdragonandthewhitepartofhishairisnaturalandhehasasisterbuthe'snotte llingherhe'shissisterbec
ausetherewassomeweirdreasonthatIdidn'treallyun derstandbecauseI'mnotanadultandhehatesgettingweta
ndhelikesicecreamtoo' cepthecallsitsweetsnowandhewasanorphentooexcepthismamakickedhimoffanislan dwhenhewasababyandtheycallhimtheForbiddenChildforsomereasonthatIdon'trea llyunderstandeitherand
thenhebroughtmetohereandImethisfriendsYusukeandK uwabaraandYusukeisalikeInuyashaexceptheisn't
meantomeandhe'salotcoolert hanheeverwasandhelikestobeatthingsupwithhisfistandthenthere'sKuwabara
w ho'sokayexceptwhenhefirstsawmehethoughtIwasakittyyoukaiandhe'sabitstupidbut he'sverysensitiveand
hewascomplainingaboutmykibeingsohighandkindaseemed freakedoutforsomereasonbutthatdoesn'tmatter
verymuch.ButIstillthinkHiei isthecoolestandcanwegivehimashadowstoneandthenwecanadopthimandheca
nbel ikemybrotherorsomethingandIreallylikehim.CanwekeephimMama, PLEASE?!"(2)

"NO! You CAN'T!" Hiei shrieked almost desperately when he heard the last line. Since I didn't understand a word beyond the guy's names and 'can we keep him mama please?' I'm assuming the child was speaking of Hiei. Snicker.

"Looks like the shrimp has a groupie. That kid's gonna be psychotic if he hangs around him though."

"Possibly. Still it's interesting that he's not intimidated by him," Yusuke responded. We all ignored the two, except Hiei who turned his blood red eyes on them. For some reason their amused conversation ground to an abrupt halt.

"Shippou, darling."

"YesMama?"

"Breath." The kitsune froze for what was probably a millisecond to cock his head to the side before he drew in a deep breath and let it out in an explosive sigh. "Good. Now answer me one thing baby. While you were at the compound did you eat anything?"

"Yeah!They broughtmethisweirdfoodthattastedallfunnyandtheircookneedstobeFIRED!"(3)

"I see." She pulled the kit closer in a hug. When he buried his face in her neck she looked over his head, and her face hardened into a look of cold fury, even as she reassuringly stroked his back.

/That's a little scary./

*For once, I agree.*

Do you know how disturbing it is to realize that a woman can sit there and be all sympathetic while they're secretly plotting to kill someone. It's like when you're little and your mom or some other female in the family is mad at you and they start yelling and the phone rings and they suddenly sound all happy and cheerful when they pick up the receiver. Not that my mother did much yelling but I had this aunt who was all crazy. I mean have you ever heard of Kitty? Yeah my aunt was like that. She could've been a heavy metal female vocalist with the way she could carry on then be all suddenly sweet when the phone rang. Creepy.

"Listen my kit. I know you've just gotten back but I want you to do me a really big favor."

"AnythingMama!"

"I want you say goodnight to your new friends."

"Goodnight? Butit'snotmybedtimeyet!It'snotevennoon!"

"I know that darling but I need you to go to sleep and you won't wake up until to tomorrow when you do."

"ButI'mnotTIRED!" the little ball of energy whined pathetically in the age old tradition of a child getting ready to start wheedling for an extended curfew. It was a very cute scene, except the next words that came out of Kagome's mouth made us all straighten up and grow serious.

"Shippou," she admonished gently, "you've been drugged. The only antidote I know of will make you go to sleep and it's important that we counter the effects of it immediately."

"Um…OKAY!" He literally bounced over to the guys and jumped from one boy to the next as he obeyed his mother. "ByebyeYusukeitwanicemeetingyou.AndbyebyeKuwabarapersonwhoitwasokaytomeetex ceptyouhoughtIwasakittyyoukaiandthat'snotrightatall.AndBYEHIEI!IREALLYLIKEY OUAREYOUGOINGTOSTILLBEHEREWHENIWAKEUP?!"(4)

"Hn," Hiei looked desperately at Kagome since it was obvious Shippou had firmly planted himself on the fire demon's shoulder and wasn't planning on moving till he got an answer.

"Oh I'm sure you'll see Hiei again soon dear." That seemed to satisfy the kit as he then scampered back to his mother's waiting arms.

"Mama?"

"Yes Shippou?"

"Who'sthat?" the child pointed a slightly clawed finger at me while he sniffed the air.

"That's Kurama. He was protecting me while Hiei was saving you." The kit's eyes widened and he launched himself at me. I barely managed to catch him time and I staggered under the sudden attack.
"AFOX!HE'SAFOXMAMA!IHAVEN'TSEENANOTHERFOXINTHREEYEARS!WHE RE'DYOU
FINDHIM?Hey,whydon'tyoulooklikefox?Yousmellhuman,exceptnotbutyo uaren'tahanyoulikeInuyasha
was."(5)

As he spoke the kit chased across my shoulders, sniffing my hair and examining me closely. It was during this time that he even found some of my seeds, which managed to put back exactly where I had left them. Hm, he has a great potential to be a thief with unconscious skill like that. He raced down and paused once more in my arms, which I hadn't even had time to lower. I stared down into intelligent green eyes that met mine with an open curiosity. I waited dutifully, completely prepared for anything he was going to say next.

"Are you gonna be my new daddy?"

Except that.

I raised my head to glare at my idiotic friends who had burst out laughing at my expense. Even Hiei seemed amused now that he wasn't the target of the overly energetic kit's attention. It was my turn to give a helpless glance at Kagome who seemed interested in how I would handle her son's question. No help from that quarter. I added her to my list of people who are currently deserving glares and even worse later, at the fist opportunity I can find to get even. Then I turned my attention back to the squirming bundle in my arms.

I acted as though I was carefully considering his question. Then I smiled down at the waiting kit, who as it turned out was harder to keep a grip on than you would imagine with the way his tail wagging was shaking my arms.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact I am."

The laughter in the background sputtered to a halt as the three sets of eyes regarded me with varying degrees of shock. Then the choking sounds Kagome was making registered and the laughter sputtered back to life, only this time aimed at her. She gave me a glare of DEATH that I pretended I didn't see. I focused on the kit to see how his reaction was. He seemed to mull my words over very carefully ,and he raised his nose to sniff me one last time. I was actually nervous about how he was going to take that.

"Hey congratulations Kagome! You've just acquired a second child!" Yusuke announced.

"That would only be the case if she had acquired one of you two," Hiei corrected him snidely. Kuwabara began protesting but Yusuke seemed more interested in what was going on with us.

Shippou started to yip and bark at me, shifting over into the tongue of fox demons.

"Are you gonna be good to my mommy? And you're not gonna try to replace me?" I was startled by his question not really expecting him to ask me such things directly. I allowed my form to change, suddenly becoming Youko.

I also shifted into the kitsune language. "I promise. If the two of you will have me I will always care for her and I will consider you as my own kit." I changed back into my human form. He seemed to come to some sort of decision and gave a tiny nod to himself.

"I like you."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now why don't we all go inside so we can fix you up that antidote, okay?"

"Kay!" In a sudden burst of energy I found the child sitting on my head. I blinked. Then he began to race back and forth across my shoulders once again as he started jabbering so fast that I didn't even bother trying to make out what he was saying. I gave a gentle smile to the fuming woman who's glance promised she'd deal with me later. We all walked inside the house.

As soon as we walked in the door Kagome swept Shippou into her arms and hauled him up the stairs, telling us to wait for her in the kitchen. "Come on Shippou, let's get you ready to sleep."

He kept staring at us speculatively over her shoulder. I wondered what was going on in that head of his. And I wondered exactly what Kagome was going to do to me when she got back down.

Speaking of which… I began to fidget nervously when she walked into the kitchen and flicked on the radio. Then she began to dig out some ingredients which she carefully arranged on the counter. Oh great. Now she's the one who's staring at me speculatively. Maybe I should get an eyeball implanted in my head. It would really help at the moment.

~Not really.~

*Hiei?*

~Her powers neutralize the effect of my jagan if I try to use it on her directly.~

*Figures.*

~You really meant what you told that boy. You really found your mate in her.~

*Yeah. I guess I have. I feel as though I've known her forever rather than a couple of days.*

~Treat her well fox. She has a large burden to bear. And I'm not talking about that kid of hers either.~ I nearly laughed at the grimace in his mental voice.

*What do you mean Hiei?*

~…Perhaps you should ask her.~ I was going to press the issue, but-

"HEY KAGOME!"

We all turned to stare at the new comer.

Her black eyes sparkled at us as she turned to take us in and she was grinning hugely. She was not much taller than Hiei, not including his spiked hair. The girl was clothed in skin tight black pants and a shirt that matched, except there were slits along one arm showing off her arm, and no sleeve on her other arm. Her knee high boots were laced up the front and I noticed the daggers that were tucked inside. Around her waist was a curious belt that looked like a bunch of blades and slender cylinders that were connected together by a string. The hair on the left side of her head was pulled up into a bun that seemed to be held into place by yet another hidden blade. And the rest of her hair was bound in a braid that started at the bun but worked diagonally across the back of her head so that the finished braid fell across her right shoulder.

"Where in the hell did you come from?" Yusuke asked surprised. I admit even I hadn't sensed her approach, and I couldn't feel any energy even seeing her right in front of me.

"The ninth layer. It's my favorite." I raised a curious brow at her response.

"Hey, lady, could you answer the question?" Kuwabara asked.

"I did. Oh, OH! You mean that! Well ok, how do I explain this." The girl who looked about sixteen-ish walked over to Yusuke and placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke to him with a completely straight face. "You see dear, when a man and woman love each other very, very much-"

"AAACK! Get away from me!" he shrugged off her hand and stepped away wide eyed. The girl just broke down into a fit of giggles and wandered over to hop up on the counter where Kagome was still mixing the herbs.

"Aww, and I was soooo hoping to be able to give someone 'The Talk' today. How disappointing!" she giggled again.

"What are you doing here in the Ningenkai?" Kagome asked her curiously.

"I heard Shippou had been kidnapped, and I was going to save him but Muki said Koenma would probably have her second in command save him and that he could handle it. So instead I brought him a present. Looky! I discovered cable the other day, and I was flipping through channels and I saw this show called Pokemon. And it bright and cute and MINDNUMBING! But I saw this adroable lil' fox type thingy and I immediately thought, 'Shippou!' Isn't the little Vulpix adorable?" A stuffed toy suddenly appeared in her hands and she danced it through the air in front of Kagome's face. "That and I need to pick up a few things at the store. I'm going back to the Makai tonight though. I'm staying at Muki's again."

"Poor Mukuro. I know how your visits usually end up. She's going to have to do her usual job and then when her demons are finished searching the castle for all the corpses she's also going to have to do a body count."

"And tonight we're going to have a big bonfire!" Rin agreed happily. "That's why I need to go shopping. Mukuro agreed to let me clean up her ranks if I agreed to bring the marshmallows. Are you coming? It's gonna be soo much fun! We're gonna eat smores and tell ghost stories and I'm going to make all the demons sit around and sing Kumbahyah."

I nearly choked on that one. I'm pretty sure by that point we were all listening to the conversation with glazed expressions. I know I was. Just think of how powerful someone had to be to so casually announce that they were going to force an entire demon compound to attend a bonfire of a pile of bodies that they were responsible for. Who on earth is this girl?

"There's something incredibly wrong about forcing demons to sing degrading human songs."

"Aww come on! You know they start to enjoy it once they get past the whole total humiliation thing. Besides, who's gonna stop me?"

Kagome sighed, but her voice was indulgent when she spoke, "Good point. If Mukuro doesn't no one will."

"Exactly, and I- Hey! Someone tried to mark you!" the stranger squeaked, her attention focused on Kagome's neck.

"Mark me?" Kagome said blankly, pausing what she was doing.

"That's when certain species of youkai try to claim a mate. They mark them."

"I don't know what you're talking about Rin."

"You were bitten by a demon Hun. How can you forget something like that?"

"Oh that. Kurama just went all vampire on me in his sleep last night."

A number of eyes swiveled to stare at me with interest. Vaguely I wondered what the odds of getting swallowed by the ground at this particular instant were. Too slim I decided. I kept my gaze impassive and my mouth shut.

Meanwhile the newcomer, Rin, as Kagome had named her was examining it closer.

"Hey it's still bleeding. Haven't you accepted him? Or denied him? That's always an option contrary to popular belief."

"She can't." The smooth male voice that had cut into the conversation seemed to be coming from the radio that Kagome had flicked on. The rest of us jumped up reaching for our weapons when we heard the voice. A huge smile lit up both of the female's faces. We relaxed when we noticed that the women weren't surprised. Except for Hiei who was gripping the hilt of his katana and staring at the black box with a slightly paranoid expression. He's apparently been under a lot of stress lately.

"Hey Grandpapa Fluffykins!" Kagome gushed. "When did you get all technological over there?"

"… Go to Hell."

"Why Fluffy I'm hurt you'd say such a thing to me!" Kagome spoke in an injured voice.

"Stupid girl. The youkai mating ritual is deeper than human marriage. It's a binding of souls. The mark won't heal unless you accept or deny the Youkai who bit you, yet you can do neither in your current state. I meant exactly what I said when I told you to go to Hell. You will need to retrieve the piece of your soul that was stolen from you to revive the walking corpse that disgraceful hanyou had the nerve to choose."

"Yeah, Inuyasha was a bit odd."

"Do not speak to me of my moronic half brother. He stole the sword that should rightfully have been mine and he has insulted my line. His name is not to be mentioned in my presence."

"Of course Papa." The girls smiled to each other.

"And Kagome?"

"Yes Fluffy?"

"Address me in such an manner again and I will rid you of that insolent tongue."

"Uh huh, I love you too Grandpapa Doggy!"

"…………" Then the quiet music on the radio came back on.

"He's right though. You need your soul back. Not just because of the whole bite thing. I cornered Koenma before I came here and the truth of the matter is he's terrified that Karasu, who he's only just confirmed was the demon who escaped," she rolled her eyes at this before growing grim, "may have merged with Naraku's reincarnation."

Translations for those who care:

(1) And he kept saying 'DIE INUYAHSA!' And it all got very preticable and I would play with Mama and Rin while they tried to kill each other and that was always interesting except after it got boring. Just like Kouga and Inuyasha would always get into fights over Kagome but neither of them even cared what she thought and they just wanted her as a shard detector and they were jerks! And I didn't like them very much, well Inuyasha was ok most of the time except when he picked on me and made Kagome cry and I didn't like that and he was a big jerk then too, only more of a jerk than usual and then he would run off with Kikyo and he was stupid because Mama was better than she ever was, because mama was the one who defeated Naraku,except if you ever hear the legend they only mention Inuyasha and they only say that Kagome,that's mama, was a foreign miko who joined him and helped when she was the one who actually
managed to beat him!

(2) Mama! Mama! Guess what?! I was kidnapped by this big smelly demon and he took me to a fortress type thingy and t
hen there were all these demons and they put me in this cell and it was sooooo BORING! And then I rememebered the present Rin gave me, you remember the summoning stones don't you Mama? And anyways I found them in my tail and I
got my leaves and I transformed and I escaped into this tunnel that was all eewww and like gross and then I floated around and finally I managed to escape and transformed into the demon that had kidnapped me and I poured photoflo into their water and then I met Hiei, and he's so COOL Mama. He's half fire demon and half koorime, and he has a markof the black dragon and the white part of his hair is natural and he has a sister but he's not telling her he's his brother because there was some weird reason that I didn't really understand because I'm not an adult and he hates getting wet and he likes ice cream too 'cept he calls it sweet snow and he was an orphan too except his mama kicked him off an island when he was a baby and they call him the Forbidden Child for some reason that I don't really understand either and
then he brought me to here and I met his friends Yusuke and Kuwabara and Yusuke is like Inuyasha except he isn't
mean to me and he's a lot cooler than he ever was and he likes to beat things up with his fists and then there's Kuwabara who's okay except when he first saw me he thought I was a kitty youkai and he's a bit stupid but he's very sensitive and he was complaining about my ki being so high and kinda seemed freaked out for some reason but that doesn't matter very much. But I still think Hiei is the coolest and can we give him a shadow stone and then we can adopt him and he can be like my brother or something and I really like him. Can we keep him Mama, PLEASE?!

(3) Yeah!They brought me this weird food that tasted all funny and their cook needs to be FIRED!

(4) Bye bye Yusuke. It was nice meeting you. And bye bye Kuwabara person who it was okay to meet except you thought I was a kitty youkai and that's not right at all. And BYE HIEI! I REALLY LIKE YOU ARE YOU GOING TO STILL BE HERE WHEN IWAKE UP?!

(5) A FOX! HE'S A FOX MAMA! I HAVEN'T SEEN ANOTHER FOX IN THREE YEARS! WHERE'D YOU
FIND HIM? Hey, why don't you look like a fox? You smell human, except not but you aren't a hanyou like Inuyasha
was.