Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine, but his daughter technically is. That's weird.

Kagome was just hanging up the last of the laundry when she heard the sound of sniffling. She turned to look. Izayoi was running towards her, trying very hard not to cry. Instantly on guard, Kagome hurried to her daughter and knelt down. At seven years old, Izayoi had thick ebony hair that seemed to always be in her face, rosy cheeks and wide amber eyes. Normally she had a happy smile on her face, but today she was dirty, bruised and upset.

"What happened?" Kagome asked. Izayoi sniffled again, tears welling up and spilling onto her cheeks.

"I-I was picking flowers, and boys from another village saw me. They were ok until they saw my eyes." She hiccupped.

"They said a lot of mean stuff about you and Daddy and said I'm an a-abombitation." She stumbled over the word, but Kagome got the gist. Izayoi looked down at her bare feet.

"I told them to stop and pushed one. But they," She had to stop. Kagome pulled her daughter into an embrace.

"Shhh." Kagome soothed, stroking her hair. She tried to sound calm, but she was troubled.

What's Inuyasha going to do when he finds out? She cringed. She could just see Inuyasha whipping out the Tessaiga and storming off in a rage to find the ones that hurt his precious little girl. Or maybe he'd insist on egging their hut, or something.

"Come on baby, let's go get you cleaned up." She stood and took Izayoi's hand. "Don't tell your Daddy just yet ok?" No sooner had the words left her mouth when a red and white blur dropped into their path.

"Don't tell me what?" Kagome gulped. Inuyasha's golden gaze was fixed on her and he was not happy.

"Izayoi, go see Granny and wait there for me. Your mom and I need to talk." Izayoi didn't hesitate, she never did when Inuyasha told her to do something. Once she was out of hearing range, Inuyasha crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Waiting. Kagome took a breath.

"Some boys from another village realized Izayoi has demon blood and they beat her up and called her an abomination. I was going to tell you, but I needed some time to figure out how. Please don't do anything rash, I'll take care of it ok?"

Kagome expected the grinding teeth, the anger in his eyes and the growl emanating from his throat. What she didn't expect were his next words.

"Kagome, do you trust me at all?"

She blinked, stumped by the question.

"Of course." She managed to say.

"Apparently not enough to parent my own daughter." Inuyasha snapped, "Did you ever think that maybe, I know what she's going through?"

"Inuyasha, I know," Kagome started to say. They still bickered fairly often over trivial things, but this was the first time in a long time where Inuyasha seemed genuinely angry with her. He cut her off.

"You don't know. You have no idea what it's like, to be hated for what you are. I will handle this, don't interfere." He stalked off.

Normally Kagome would bristle at being spoken to that way and probably 'sit' him, but she was still stuck on his question and the hurt in his voice.

Do I really not trust him?

She trusted him in ways of course, she'd trusted that he'd come for her when she was trapped inside the sacred jewel. She trusted him to always have her back in battle and she trusted him to always love and support their family. But she'd encouraged their daughter to keep a secret from him. Kagome felt a twist in her gut.

"Izayoi, come here." Izayoi scrambled up from beside Kaede and hugged Inuyasha's legs, pressing her face into the fabric. He noticed that her tiny hands were still shaking a little. Inuyasha gave a playful growl and scooped her up with one arm, making her squeal with delight. Waving carelessly at Kaede, he took off at a run. Once up to speed, he took a flying leap and landed neatly on the big branch of their favourite tree. Sitting down, he carefully tucked his daughter securely on his lap, and looked down at her.

"Are you ok?" Izayoi shook her head.

"Why do they hate me?" She asked tearfully, "I didn't do anything!"

"No, you didn't." Inuyasha agreed, "They don't like you because they're afraid of you."

"Why?" The little girl was dumbfounded. She was scary?

"Humans don't like what they don't understand. And they are scared of you because you're stronger than they are. You're still young and only a quarter-demon, but already you're faster and stronger than the other kids." Izayoi blushed a little at the compliment but she still didn't understand why they hated her just by looking at her.

"But I was just picking flowers!" She protested.

"I know," Inuyasha said, "It doesn't matter what you do. People are going to hate and fear you and there's nothing you can do about it. People may call you a monster and an abomination, but you don't have to prove them right. And you don't have to waste your time with people that think you don't belong." Izayoi thought about that for a moment. Her little fists bunched the fabric of his fire-rat robe, creating starburst wrinkles.

"Where do I belong?" She asked finally.

"You belong right here," Inuyasha said firmly, "with your mom and me." Izayoi smiled. One small tooth poked over her bottom lip, likely the beginning of her own set of fangs.

Kagome watched them from afar. Inuyasha said something that made Izayoi squeal with happiness and throw her arms around his neck. She felt a knee-jerk reaction of fear, but forced it down. Inuyasha would never let her fall. She was safer up there in that tree than anywhere else in the world. She turned and headed back to their hut, reining in her curiosity. She was absolutely dying to know what he'd told her, but she wouldn't ask.

I have to trust him.

An hour later, Inuyasha returned with Izayoi sleeping peacefully in his arms, snoring gently. Kagome's heart swelled. She stood and gently brushed her daughter's hair out of her face.

"She just loves you, you know." Kagome mused. "You're her hero." In the dim firelight, Kagome could see Inuyasha's cheeks tinged red. Even now, he still had a hard time accepting compliments. Inuyasha gently laid Izayoi in her bed, careful not to wake her and turned to Kagome.

"I'm going to teach her how to fight." Inuyasha said, his tone dared Kagome to argue with him. "She needs to know how to protect herself."

Great, Kagome thought wryly, she's going to grow up to be feisty one, just like her Dad. Placing a hand on either side of her husband's face, she tugged him in for a long kiss.

"I'm sorry," She said when they broke apart. "You're right. She's your daughter too and I should have trusted you. Do you forgive me?"

His lips against hers was answer enough.

"I don't think I forgive you yet," he whispered impishly against her ear, when they came up for air. "I think you owe me one."

Kagome grinned. Suddenly, she was in the mood to show her husband just how feisty she could be.

FIN

Author's Note: I love love LOVE the idea of Inuyasha as a daddy. I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading!

Shooshkipoo