Title: Puppy 101
Authoress: Ladya C. Maxine
Rating: T
Summary: A mysterious spell has been brought upon the inu brothers and the unthinkable happens: they turn back into pups! Until the rest of the gang can find a way to break the barrier Kagome volunteers to take the chibbis back to her time to ensure their safety. The question is: is her time safe from them?
Warnings: um…extreme cuteness? Some swearing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Any and all unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be used. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain.
A/N: While doodling on a piece of paper I ended up drawing a cute chibby picture of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru and was SO in love with how they look as kids that it inspired me to write this fic. Yeah, I know it isn't really original, but I hope you guys like it anyways.
Puppy 101
By Ladya C. Maxine
"Damn it, Shippo, give me that!"
"No! I found it first!"
"You don't even like nachos!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Kagome! Inuyasha's bugging me!"
"Inuyasha, leave him alone!"
"He started it!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Kagome!"
"Inuyasha, sit!"
WHAM
"Damn it! What the hell was that for?"
Swearing under her breath, Kagome fumbled through her backpack to produce another bag of chips, tossing it into the crater Inuyasha now laid in with an exasperated expression.
"Now stop acting like such a baby," she scolded.
"Yeah, you really should act your age," Shippo giggled smugly from Kagome's bicycle basket, clutching his precious though now badly wrinkled bag of nacho chips close to him.
"Aw, shut up, brat," the white-haired youkai grumbled, getting to his feet with an audible POP as his spine relocated itself. Rubbing his scratched chin, he glared over at the remaining two members of their little group. Sango had suddenly taken up a fascination with the sky while Miroku pretended to be cleaning his staff.
"You always take his side," he grumbled, turning back to the uniformed miko as they continued on. Despite his tone he opened the small pack and greedily began to stuff the crunchy treat in his mouth.
"Shippo just a kid; he needs someone to look out for him," she responded smoothly, walking ahead.
"Keh! You're still mad about your metal cart, aren't you?"
"It's a bike! And yes, by the way, I am still mad at you. I told you not to touch it. In my time we have people who specialize in fixing them."
"I was only trying to help," he defended, wincing despite himself as he took in the…twisted nature of the contraption's frame.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time to repair it himself…
Kagome glanced out of the corner of her eyes to catch the sour yet dejected look on his face as he fell silent, walking a few feet away from her. The snow-white ears were drooping and his eyes were downcast. She simply couldn't stay mad at him when he went into beaten puppy-dog mode.
"It's not as bad as it looks," she said softly, offering him a small smile.
Actually, it was. It was going to take some days before her bike would be ready for use again. On the plus side, it was a good enough excuse to go home to her time for a few days. She was determined to finish their quest of gathering the shards and truly enjoyed being with her friends here in the feudal age, but she missed her real family, and the modern conveniences that were painfully lacking in this age. After her first few trips back in time she had come to appreciate the simple things in life like the microwave and hot baths a lot more.
Having been travelling for the past two weeks, they had been fairly unsuccessful in finding any new shards, and Naraku for that matter, when they happened upon a large bear youkai. Though shard-less, it had been a proud mother of two young cubs. A proud, protective mother that had been determined to eliminate what she saw as a threat to her young. In any other circumstances it would have taken a single swipe of Tesseiga or one toss of Hiraikotsu, or, when all else failed, Miroku would have used the Kazaana. However, it would have been cruel to destroy her and leave the young ones alone.
So it had been an unusually long battle to drive the creature back. It had worked but not before the enraged demon had taken a swipe at Kagome, who had stayed back with Shippo and her bike. She had been able to duck, bringing the kitsune with her. Her bike had not been so lucky and had been, to put it simply, folded in two. Pleased to have gotten the best of the group, the bear had lumbered off, her cubs merrily frolicking after her.
The fight that had followed afterwards, however, had been even longer and uglier than the first.
She wanted to go home to get the bike repaired. Inuyasha, as always, wanted to continue their journey, hell bent on finding more shards. Many insults and many 'Sit!'s later, Miroku and Sango had managed to break it up for the day. The night was spent with the two glaring at each other until bed time.
The next morning Kagome had awoken to a strange sound and found, to her horror, Inuyasha in an honest, but pathetic, attempt to bend the bike back to its original shape. To make a long story short, she sat him enough times to create a two feet deep hole in the ground. Miroku later noted that that had been an all time record. Inuyasha refused to talk to him ever since.
'He's so stubborn! Now it's going to take longer than before to get it repaired!' she thought before releasing a deep sigh. Well, at least she could spend some time with her friends and family in modern Japan.
"Maybe it's for the best that we take a break," Sango spoke up when the silence in the group dragged on for too long. "We need to rest and regain our strength. Besides, maybe Kaede has some advice for us on how to continue."
"Yeah, Inuyasha was looking pretty drowsy when fighting that bear youkai," Shippo noted from the basket, stomach full with junk food. "Hanyou can't keep up with full demons like--Ai! Kagome!"
"Inuyasha!" she frowned at the dog-demon, who was holding Shippo by his tail, fist raised and ready to deal more than a couple of blows to the kitsune's head. "Put him down!"
He looked ready to argue so she took a deep breath, a sure indication that he was about to be sat. He quickly complied, dropping the small kit carelessly onto the hard road and stomping off, muttering and cursing under his breath.
"That wasn't very nice of you either, Shippo."
"But it's true," the kit pointed out as he was lifted back into the basket.
"Inuyasha is much stronger than a normal hanyou. You hurt his feelings when you say things like that."
"Keh!" the white-haired male scoffed up ahead.
"How long do you think it will take for your bikylel to be fixed, Kagome?" Sango intervened, trying to change the subject while simultaneously slapping Miroku, who had attempted to steal a touch while they had all be distracted.
"It's 'bicycle', Sango. And a week maybe," she sighed, looking sadly at what remained of her bike as she walked, the back wheel wobbling drunkenly over the road. "Perhaps two. The entire frame is twisted."
"Can't you get a new one?" Miroku asked, rubbing his red cheek and grinning at Sango sheepishly.
She shook her head.
"Not at the moment. Bikes are very expensive and we don't have the money right now at home. Mama had to take an extra night job. Grandpa even started selling charms at the malls."
"Malls?" Shippo blinked.
"Uh…it's like a market, only everything is in one big building and there are lots of stores where you can buy different things like clothes and shoes and household appliances and jewellery. There's also an arcade and movie theatre and food court."
She smiled at the three blank looks she received and went on to explained the terms.
Shippo sighed when she was done.
"I wish I could go to your time. It sounds like a lot of fun."
Ruffling his hair lovingly, she looked up to see the small village in the near distance. Inuyasha was still sulking up ahead.
'I better make it up to him or he'll give everyone a hard time while I'm gone.'
Handing her bike over to Miroku, she started to jog towards the hanyou when the white ears perked up, a sign that he had detected something. She faltered but didn't see anything suspicious in the area, nor did she sense any shards.
"Inuyasha?"
"Don't move!" he commanded, hands on Tesseiga's pummel.
Behind her Sango and Miroku had also noticed the hanyou's caution and tightened their grip on their weapons as Kirara transformed, growling as she took her place next to her mistress. For many seconds they all stood still, waiting mainly on Inuyasha, who was as tense as a bowstring. His senses hadn't failed him, as they soon found out.
Kagome gasped when an odd feeling enveloped her. It felt like heavy air yet it wasn't smothering and she felt no malicious vibes in it but it was uncomfortable all the same. Before her very eyes the world was turning light blue as the mist began to thicken. She heard Shippo's squeak of fear from behind her and Inuyasha's curse somewhere up ahead.
"Inuyasha!" she shouted, waving her arms before her in hopes of fanning away the veiling mist. It didn't really help.
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha's voice drifted through the swirling clouds.
"Inuyasha, who's there?" she shouted, no longer able to see him at all.
The sound of Tesseiga being drawn and transformed was her reply.
"Inuyasha!"
The only warning she got was the first wave of air before it was followed by a stronger, more violent gust as a loud explosion ahead shook the very road they were on. She heard the others cry out in surprise somewhere in the mist though a loud yelp up ahead got her full attention.
"Wha?! ACK! You bastard!"
"INUYASHA!"
A second blast threw her off her feet and she landed with a hard smack on the unforgiving road. The mist thickened until she could see nothing but blue. Soon the blue darkened until everything went black.
The world fell silent as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Something cold was laid on her forehead and she winced, trying to slap the offending thing away.
"She's coming to," a relieved and familiar voice said from somewhere above her. A warm hand tapped her on her cheek lightly. "Kagome? Kagome, please wake up."
"Huh?" she blearily opened her eyes to find a blurred figure looking down at her. The image began to sharpen until Sango's worried features became clear. "Sango…?"
"Does anything hurt, child?"
Kaede walked over holding a small bowl of something steaming.
"I…no…I don't think so…" Gingerly, she allowed Sango to help her sit up. In truth her head throbbed a bit but for the rest she was okay. Looking around she found herself in Kaede's hut. "Huh? What happened?"
"Miroku and Sango brought you in yesterday evening. You've been unconscious for almost an entire day," Kaede informed, seating herself down before the younger miko and handing her the bowl, which turned out to contain freshly cooked broth. "Drink this. It's good for your head."
"Thank you," she said, accepting the bowl with slightly unsteady hands. "Where is everyone? I…" She gasped, almost dropping the bowl. "Inuyasha! The mist! What happened to him?"
Sango and Kaede shared a funny look.
"Well?" she persisted, fearing the worst. "Is he injured? Is he…?"
"No, no," Kaede soothed her. "That boy is too hard-headed to be killed. And he only obtained a few scratches that should heal soon. It's just…"
Sango was biting her nail, remaining silent.
Kagome narrowed her eyes suspiciously at their strange behaviour.
"You see, Kagome…it's like this--"
"No, Inuyasha! Give that back!"
Miroku's frantic cries startled all three as footsteps raced pass the hut's entrance outside.
A few seconds later they passed again.
"Drop it! I'm serious!"
And again.
"Bad boy! Bad, bad boy!"
And again.
"That's not a chew toy! Gaah, no! Don't bury it!"
Confused at the monk's choice of words, she shot the two inquiring looks and to her surprise found them both trying to smother their smiles.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?"
They didn't need to answer as the shades before the door burst inwards and a small red blur tumbled into the room followed by an exhausted looking Miroku. His hair was riddled with twigs and dried grass, his robes torn, he was covered in a film of dirt and he was hopping as one of his sandals were missing.
"Kagome, you're up!" he exclaimed, relieved though she barely heard him.
All she could do was look at what was now shielding itself behind Sango, Miroku's stray sandal dangling from its mouth.
Large, gold eyes peered around the youkai exterminator before the white mane was trashed from one side to the next as he shook his head, chewing on the already damaged sandal. The white hair and yellow eyes, not to forget the doggy ears, were unmistakeable. It was undoubtedly Inuyasha, however…
"We don't know what happened but…" Sango picked up the squirming hanyou and placed him before her. "Kagome, he's turned back into a pup."
Tbc…
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