InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Bits ❯ A Tale of Tails ( Chapter 37 )

"I. Am. Not. A. Dog!"

They only laughed harder. They were all laughing. Even Kirara was laughing in her way, sprawled halfway between her side and her back, all four, black-tipped feet paddling the air, and both black-tipped tails twitching. Only Sango was not laughing, cheeks flushed and smelling vaguely ashamed.

Which was as it should be. They hadn't gotten the story out of him!

He bounced to the other side of the tree and sat with his back to them.

Stupid humans. Stupid youkai. Laughing at him, just because something in that pack the medicine-seller mosquito man had been carrying, or something in the grass he'd tracked that thing through--he didn't know which--had made him totally lose control. Didn't they understand how he hated it? Hated losing control over himself and his instincts, just as he hated how his body changed once a month. Hated it! And they thought his acting like a dog, going around on all fours like a dog, attacking with his teeth like his dog, trying to drag Sango out of danger with his jaws like a dog--they thought it was funny! Funny!

He kept himself from turning and yelling at them to shut up with an effort of will. He wouldn't let them see how angry their laughter was making him--he'd already come close to losing it already with his previous reaction. The laughter was starting to die down, after all. Just keep control, keep control. They'd go to sleep, and in the morning, there'd be danger, and he'd prove to them again that they couldn't do a thing to keep themselves safe from Naraku and all the other dangers without him. And it would be their turn, to feel ashamed of themselves, and to feel sorry for the way they'd laughed at him...

"Inuyasha?" came Kagome's voice, as the laughter died to occasional chuckles. "Come down?"

"Feh!"

He'd come down when he was good and ready. Which was not yet.

He heard her rummaging through her yellow bag. Moments later, there was a 'pop', and an incredibly delicious scent rising on the air. "Potato chips? Your favorite?"

He hadn't known that she'd had any left. Anger forgotten, he bounced down to the ground, ears pricked forward, salivating.

"I want some, too!" He saw Shippo jumping up and reaching for the bag, and his temper snapped. Oh, no, he wasn't! He lunged, grabbing the bag from Kagome with one hand while slapping back the kitsune with the other. A pivot and another jump brought him to the edge of the clearing.

"Inuyasha!"

He stopped, cringing, ears going flat. He knew what would happen next, and he hated it, stupid hanyo, stupid kit, damn it damn it damn it damn it--!

She sighed. His shoulders relaxed a bit. The kitsune wailed, and she murmured to the child, but he didn't care, as he realized that she wouldn't 'sit' him. Relaxing a bit more, he turned his attention to the bag, sniffing, then carefully reaching in to remove a single, pale gold chip. They'd had dinner, so he wasn't very hungry, so he could ignore the urge to shovel the chips into his mouth. Delicately, he nibbled on the chip, savoring the lush taste of fat and the tang of salt. Eyes half-closed, he finished that chip, and carefully withdrew another. He ate that. And another. And another.

Something thumped on the ground directly behind him. He jumped and whirled. There was nothing there. He stared, sniffing, finding nothing new. He felt bewildered--and a bit embarrassed, keeping his gaze firmly away from the others, even when a snicker emanated from Shippo. He settled down, turning his attention to the bag still half-full of the yummy chips. (Not as yummy as ramen, of course. Nothing was as yummy as ramen.)

He had just extracted a smallish chip from the bag when the thump came again; this time a bit to the left, rather than directly behind. He whirled, saw a flash of white, and snatched for it, spinning. It eluded his grasp, whirling away from him. He followed it, growling, turning, trying to grab it, but it remained beyond his reach, no matter how fast he moved. Finally, panting and dizzy, he paused, growling, angry and baffled by his enemy. Mind befogged, he heard giggles, and wondered why they were laughing, rather than fleeing in fear. After all, an enemy too swift for him to catch was even more dangerous to them--

Thump! He whirled to his right, saw the flash of white again, and dug his claws into the ground to keep from chasing it.

Thump! He whirled to his left.

Thump! To his right again.

Thump! To his left--

Right. Left. Right. Left.

He froze, finally, realizing that his enemy was taunting him. The foe rapped the ground again, but this time, he leaped straight up into air, claws glowing as he spun, ready to strike out at the faintest sign of his enemy. Nothing. He snarled, temper rising, bounding off a branch to move higher still, pulling out Tessaiga, determined that this enemy wouldn't get away with this, he would shatter this foe into the tiniest of tiny pieces--

"Inuyasha, stop!"

The fear in the monk's voice penetrated the haze of rage. Dropping down to a branch, Inuyasha peered down, ears still flat and hackles still raised, a rolling snarl still issuing from his throat. Everyone was on his or her feet, all three humans--and the cat--staring up with alarmed expressions.

"There isn't any enemy," said Miroku. "It was--it was just a trick. It got out of hand--we're sorry..."

Trick? His eyes fixed on the form of the kitsune. The boy looked up at him and smirked, waving the captured bag of potato chips. "You're just a dog, you're just a dog!" he sing-songed.

"He magicked an illusion of tails on you," said Sango. "You were--chasing your tails."

Tails? Tails!?

He screamed at them, and then bolted.

Since even in his rage and humiliation, he didn't really want to shred them.

Even the kitsune.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

He hadn't stayed away, of course. He still had to protect them. But, it was only now, as the sun rose, that he hadn't met any attempt to approach him with a snarl and a threatening, non-powered swipe of claws. His ears flattened, but he remained in his four-footed stance, only his low growl letting Kagome know that he was still upset. He pulled away when she touched his ear, growling louder, digging his claws into the dirt.

"We shouldn't have laughed about what the medicine seller did to you," she said quietly. "We should have stopped Shippo. After sleeping, I'm not sure why we--at least me and Miroku--found it even a bit funny."

He continued to dig his claws into the dirt, but his growl faded. Behind him, Kagome sighed. "You know, your actions yesterday say something really special about you."

He blinked, and his ears relaxed, one swiveling to focus on her voice. "Even though you were going by pure instincts--dog youkai instincts--you still tried to protect Sango. That really says things about your heart. Good things. I'm proud of you, Inuyasha."

Proud? He craned his head to look around at her, then snapped it back to its original position before she could make eye contact. "Keh!"

Her fingers reached out, and this time, Inuyasha let her scratch the base of his ear. Scratching the other one as well, she dropped down to sit beside him. "Forgive us?"

He was silent a moment. "Keep the kitsune away from me?"

"We'll try."

He sighed, leaning against her a little. "Maybe."

They sat in companionable silence awhile. "You know what?" Kagome asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "I'm really glad you ended up with dog ears, rather than a dog tail. I like your ears."

He snorted softly. "So does your mom."

She giggled. "Your ears are just so much more pettable, than any tail or tails could be."

He leaned against her a little more. Still mad, still hurt.

But at the moment, happy.

Author's Note: This was written for the Inuyasha Fanfic Contest (iy_contest) community on LiveJournal. It was originally published on September 22, 2009. It won first place.