InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages ❯ A Friend in Need ( Chapter 4 )

I don't really know what that fluffy thing is on Sess's shoulder, but for the sake of this story it's a tail.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters. If I did, they would be out earning their keep and making some money instead of starring in fanfiction.

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Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages

Chapter Four

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Inuyasha's ears twitched, followed by a light snore and a giggle.

A giggle?

No, Inuyasha was not having a good dream, though he was still asleep. The giggle had come from the small figure of Rin as she crouched in front of the snoozing hanyou's face, watching him closely. Every time his ears made any kind of movement she would laugh again, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. For someone who had lived with a youkai for several months, she didn't seem to have an ounce of fear where they were concerned.

Either she finds them about as cuddly and harmless as her teddy bear Sessy-poo, or Sesshoumaru has never given her any real reason to fear him. Probably both.

Outside, the sun was just rising and light was slowly spilling through the cracks in the blinds right above the occupied couch. It had yet to reach Inuyasha's closed eyes but it most likely wouldn't take much longer before he got a rude awakening, either by the sun or Rin.

"Uncle Inu!" Rin finally whispered, poking him on the arm.

In response, Inuyasha turned over in his sleep and pressed his face against the back of the couch. He had even pressed both ears flat against his head to block out the noise Rin was making so he could continue to sleep undisturbed.

Well, no one ever said Inuyasha was a morning person!

Unfortunately for the sleep-loving hanyou, Rin found the whole 'pressing his ears to his head' thing even more hilarious than before and her giggles got louder and much more insistent. It didn't take long before they turned into all-out laughter and she finally ended up dropping to the floor while holding her stomach.

'Noisy little kid!' Inuyasha had finally given in to the world of reality and was now pressing a pillow over his head to block out all the sound. 'Can't she even sleep to a decent hour like she's supposed to? I thought humans needed more rest than hanyou or youkai!'

Small children were a mystery sometimes, even to people who know more about them than Inuyasha could ever hope to find out. The least he could possibly ask for is making it through the next month without accidentally scarring the poor kid for life! Or himself for that matter.

Once Rin had finally finished having her fun, she picked herself off the floor and leaned over the unmoving figure on the couch. Inuyasha still had the pillow over his head and was faking it for all he was worth, hoping she'd take the hint and leave him alone.

"Uncle Inu, wake up!" Of course, that would be too much to hope for the way his life was going at the moment.

The poking and prodding began once more and Inuyasha ignored it all to the farthest extent he could. Surely if he stayed there long enough without letting on that he was actually awake, she would get bored and go away, right?

Rin giggled. "I know you're awake! Papa Sess used to do the same thing!"

Inuyasha sat up immediately, not wanting to do anything like his brother if he could help it. "Fine, I'm awake, dammit! What do you want?" He stared at her expectantly.

Eyes wide, Rin clamped a hand over her mouth and sucked in her breath. "Shame on you, Uncle Inu! You said a bad word!"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "So? I'm an adult and can say whatever I want, and you can't do a darn thing about it."

"But you're not supposed to say stuff like that in front of little kids." Rin reminded him seriously. "My mommy always said so because little kids have big ears." She stopped to tug on one of hers. "Although I don't think mine are that big, do you?"

Inuyasha sweatdropped, not knowing how to answer that.

The room was silent for several moments as Inuyasha contemplated what he was supposed to do with her next, and Rin continued to think about the size of her ears. Which of course, in turn, made her think about someone else's ears.

"You have really cute ears! Can I play with them?"

The sudden change in subjects threw Inuyasha for a loop. "Huh?"

"I want to play with your ears." Rin patiently repeated as if it were the most normal request in the world. Most likely it was to her, since she'd probably asked Sesshoumaru the same thing about his tail.

"Hell no!" Inuyasha crossed his arms and gave her a stubborn look.

As if reminding him, Rin tugged on one of her ears.

"Uh, I mean…" Inuyasha tried to backtrack from his earlier rude denial. "You just can't touch my ears, okay? I don't like people touching my ears!"

Rin's face fell, and she looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror as he watched her sniffle. 'Not that! Anything but that! Scream, yell, even hit me! Just DON'T CRY!'

Rin continued to sniffle pathetically, and Inuyasha finally sighed in defeat.

Inuyasha really wasn't happy about giving in, but crying girls seemed to be his weakness in life. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to resist that soft spot he had for them. "Okay, fine! Just for a moment though and then no more. Ever!"

A squeal of happiness echoed around the room.

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"That stupid jerk!" Kagome fumed from underneath her own pillow. She had it over her head to muffle the sounds coming from the apartment above. "First he makes it sound like he's tearing apart everything in his house, and now it sounds like he's got a girl up there with him!"

'A very happy girl from the sound of it.' An evil little voice in her head added.

"That was NOT funny." She muttered to herself, annoyed.

From the other side of the room, Sango groaned loudly. "Kagome-chan, I'm really starting to worry about you! This is the first time I've ever heard you talking to yourself first thing in the morning." She sat up and gave her friend a pointed look. "Are you sure the whole thing with Inuyasha isn't getting to you?"

"Yes!"

It was then that a loud squeal could be heard from the upstairs apartment, and Sango's eyes widened. "What the heck was that?"

"Probably one of Inuyasha's illegitimate children." Kagome muttered humorlessly. "What else could it be? He was probably so depressed over losing his job that he went out and picked up a woman to spend the night with him. They're probably up there doing strange stuff right now."

"Kagome-chan, shame on you! Your imagination is more perverted than Miroku's sometimes!"

Instead of defending herself, Kagome planted the pillow more tightly around her head and tried to tune out any sounds from the apartment above. Darn the people who didn't make this building completely soundproof!

Sango, with a wry smile, watched her friend trying to block out all the noise. She knew it was partly her fault for planting those kinds of ideas in Kagome's head, even if it was originally just a joke on her part. Now she felt she ought to try and fix the damage somehow.

"I think you should just go talk to him and find out what's going on." Sango finally suggested. "It's probably a lot more innocent than you think."

Kagome shook her head under the pillow. "No way! Then he'd think I was some kind of stalker or something for wanting to know."

"Just tell him all the noise is getting on your nerves."

She hated to admit it, but Kagome knew that was a very reasonable excuse for going to talk to him. Now if she could only get up the nerve to go through with it.

"Maybe later today, Sango-chan. Right now I'd rather forget he exists."

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"Good morning, ladies!" Miroku called cheerfully from behind the counter inside his small café. The morning rush had started, and all the early birds (which included the entire neighborhood population of women over sixty) were coming in for a cup of coffee.

Of course, the chance to flirt with a young, good-looking man like Miroku every day couldn't have been an attraction for them. They were just there for the coffee.

"Good morning, darling!" A small, white-haired woman called to him in what she probably thought was a flirtatious manner as she sat down at her favorite table. "I want my usual coffee this morning. Do you thinkyou could give me some sugar with it?"

Miroku gave her a disapproving look. "Now Fuketa-san, I thought you told me that your doctor said you shouldn't have anything sweet like sugar."

The older lady smiled sweetly. "Who said I was talking about sugar for my coffee?"

Miroku sweatdropped and forced a smile on his face when he realized what she'd meant by that statement. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait until Shippo comes in for his shift to get a kiss. They happen to be out of stock at the moment."

Fuketa-san frowned at him. "But he can't be over sixteen! That's younger than my grandson!"

"That should be perfect then." Miroku mumbled. "At least he won't have to worry about any funny business from those old hands of yours."

The irony of the situation just didn't seem to strike Miroku as odd. He, the neighborhood pervert, was actually worrying about the fact that they wanted to use on him the same stunt he uses to give so many women grief. Maybe that means the saying 'what goes around, comes around' isn't that far off after all.

Miroku managed to keep his cheerful face on for all the customers, chatting with them and even occasionally flirting to keep them satisfied and happy. Despite the strangeness of the situation though and the fact that all the women were much older than his tastes ran, Miroku really did enjoy his work. In truth, he seemed to be born for it.

It wasn't much later that the phone in the back room rang, and Miroku excused himself to answer it. For once he didn't bother to use his seductive voice since it was too early to be anything but a business call.

Or so he thought.

"Miroku!" A desperate voice nearly shouted from the other end.

The café owner stared at the phone in his hand. "Inuyasha? Is that you?"

"Listen Miroku, I really need your help! I-"

"No." Miroku interrupted Inuyasha before he could get any farther with his request. "I told you I'm not loaning you any money unless you work for it. Especially after you hung up on me yesterday!"

"I'm sorry about that, okay? And this isn't about money!"

Miroku nearly dropped the phone when his rude friend actually apologized to him a second day in a row. Was the world about to come to an end?

"So if this isn't about money, then what could have you so worked up?" Miroku had managed to finally find his voice again. "Girl trouble?"

Inuyasha's voice was dry when he answered. "You could say that."

Now this problem sounded intriguing to Miroku. "Say no more my friend, you have come to the right person. As soon as Shippo shows up I'll head over to your place!"

Without waiting for an answer Miroku hung up the phone and scrambled to make himself presentable. He knew very well he could have helped Inuyasha over the phone, but could he really pass up a chance to visit the building that housed the charming Sango?

Miroku smiled at his reflection in the mirror before walking back outside.

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On that note, I'm sure you realize that the next chapter should be especially interesting with Miroku involved!