InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ Shippo's Injury ( One-Shot )

Shippo's Injury.

*~*~*~*~*

"Inuyasha! The trunk! The shard is in it's trunk!"

"Dammit! I thought it was in his arm!"

"It was, he moved it!"

"Fuck!"

Inuyasha brought his sword down, intent on slashing the possessed tree demon in half. Shippo watched as more branches appeared out of the leafy top. Each branch was a hand, and each hand had five spear like fingers. Worse, the more Inuyasha seemed to hack them off, the more they grew back.

"Sango! Behind you!"

"Shoot, Hiraigotsu!"

This, combined with an infinite number of flying roots popping up everywhere, seemed to make the tree demon invincible. On top of that, it had somehow managed to wedge itself between everyone, preventing Inuyasha from using the Wound of the Wind, or Miroku his Air Void.

"Inuyasha! It's moving to the roots!"

Shippo watched from Kagome's shoulder as she stood at the edge of the battle. Her bow had already been ripped in half by a very close call, and he could see her worry. One hit from that tree would hurt, bad!

"Fuck, how do we beat this thing if it keeps moving the damned shards!!"

"I've heard...that this type of demon...is weak against fire!" Miroku finished, tearing up a few more roots.

"But where do...find a fire big enough...to..." Sango was quickly being overwhelmed as the tree concentrated on her.

Fire? Shippo had fire. But he'd have to get really close to it to be able to have any effect.

"Inuyasha, it's up in the canopy again! The canop.." She was cut off as the insane tree suddenly made a swipe for her. Obviously, it didn't like Kagome's ability to see shards.

"Kagome!" Of course, Inuyasha saved her. "Kagome! Idiot, don't just stand there! Get back."

And suddenly, Shippo had a plan.

"I'll get you, Bastard." Before Kagome could stop him, Shippo had leapt onto Inuyasha's back, just as the hanyou was about to jump. "Take this, " He was airborn, "Tetsusaig..."

"KITSUNE..."

Inuyasha was forced to pull his own attack as Shippo appeared out of nowhere and leapt in front of him, diving straight for the tree. Once he was close enough, Shippo let loose the biggest ball of foxfire he could manage.

"...BI!" It was dead on. Starting from the bottom of the canopy, the eerie phantom flame began to work it's way upwards, leaping from leaf to dry snapping leaf, branch to branch, until the whole top was being consumed by flames. The tree roared and screamed, thrashing and twisting as the flames spread, quickly burning it to death...

Then the arm appeared out of nowhere. For a moment, Shippo's world spun, finally stopping on a view of the perfect blue sky up above.

Then it went black...

*~*~*~*~*

He felt like he was rising. Swimming, floating, drifting upwards through different levels of consciousness. At first, everything seemed black, but it was comforting. Then slightly less comforting, and then finally, it just began to downright hurt like hell!! He twitched, trying to make it go away, but it seemed like the pain was stuck there, plastered against him like a thick mud or...slime??... Something was slimy, and smelly, and...

Shippo opened his eyes and let out a tight scream as the pain suddenly shot through his body like fire. It was burning, his wounds were burning, and it smelled, and people were yelling. Big, strange, blurry people....

Something cool hit the slime, and suddenly, Shippo recognized one of the people! It was Kagome! "Ka...Kagome, it...it hurts!!" Now his face felt slimy too, and he realized he was crying. "Kagome! Kagomeeeeeaaawwwaaaaahhhh!!!"

He was wailing now, he knew, and he wanted to stop, but it hurt, it really, really hurt. And he was scared, what was wrong with him?? Why was he in so much pain. "Kagome, Kagome-mamaaaaa!!"

He was moving then, Kagome lifting him up, holding him against her soft tummy, just like his mommy used to. The pain didn't go away, but when she smiled at him, he wasn't scared anymore. Kagome was there, and Inuyasha always looked after Kagome, so he was safe with her.

"Ka," hic, "Kagome? What happened?" Hic, "Where are we?"

From somewhere in the distance, somebody 'Keh'ed. Kagome shot a glare into the darkness. Then her face was gentle again. "It's okay, drink this, it'll make you sleep."

He did.

"Remember, we were fighting the tree demon?"

Shippo thought a moment, and then nodded slowly. Kagome was beaming at him, pride shining in his face.

"Well, you killed him, ne Inuyasha?"

There was another snort, but Shippo didn't hear it.

"I...I did it?" He heard himself squeak. "I...did it."

Kagome was still beaming at him as she nodded, but then she frowned.

"But don't you dare try that again, okay? You had us all really worried! You've been out for most of the day!"

She bent down and kissed his forehead, "I never want to see my cute little fox-cub injured, okay?"

She smiled at him again, and Shippo smiled back. Then the drug over took him, and he was asleep.

*~*~*~*~*

Shippo's second wakening was much like the first, accept it didn't hurt quite so much. He also noticed that he wasn't lying flat on his back, but being cradled between a strong arm and a warm, firm stomach. Definitely not Kagome's. The thought alone was enough to startle him, just slightly. So he opened his eyes to see who it was, and was met by the stern, serious face of...

"I...Inuyasha?!?"

Shippo's poor little head began to reel. This was the last person he'd expected to find himself next to. Could it really be Inuyasha? But, what happened to Kagome?

Golden eyes fluttered open, and Shippo watched as the irises slowly widened, taking in as much light possible in the dark. His blink was followed quickly by recognition. Obviously, he'd been dozing.

Shippo winced. As far as he knew, Inuyasha didn't like him. He didn't like soft and mushy stuff, he didn't like whining, and he HATED kids. This wasn't going to be fun, and despite knowing the consequences, Shippo began to squirm and cry out.

"Kagome! Kagome? Where's Kagome! I want...I want-"

"Shhhhhh!" Inuyasha was hissing. His hard eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he pressed a firm finger to Shippo's lips to keep him quiet.

"Kagome's sleeping. Do you want to wake her up?"

Shippo chewed his lower lip, debating. He didn't want to wake Kagome, but the pain was coming back, and he didn't want to be with Inuyasha when it did. He'd yell at him, and swear, and Shippo didn't know if he could take that right now. He already felt scared enough as it was. What could he do?

"Shit," Inuyasha cursed as his free arm reached for something beyond Shippo's sight. He fumbled with it for a minute more while Shippo took in the surrounding area. After a moment, he realized he was in a tree, with Inuyasha.

Somehow, just knowing that, made him feel slightly safe again, like he was up in his own little word, alone...accept for Inuyasha. His thoughts were interrupted again as he brought whatever it was he'd been fooling with into view again. Shippo saw it was a small cup, the same one Kagome had let him drink out of before. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Inuyasha brought it up to Shippo's lips. Then noticed Shippo giving him a strange look.

"What?" Shippo didn't answer, just continued looking at Inuyasha, who finally got annoyed. "Keh! Here, Kagome said to make you drink this!"

Shippo nodded slightly and pulled himself up just enough to be able to drink. Inuyasha quickly took the hint and helped him, almost drowning him when he tried to pour it all into his mouth. At first, Shippo thought he was doing it on purpose, and the fox cub began to cough. When he finally stopped, still clutching his stomach in pain, Shippo was about to give Inuyasha the meanest glare he could offer, when he saw it. Inuyasha was, gently wiping the spilled liquid away from Shippo's mouth and looking down at him with...that look he sometimes gave Kagome when he knew he'd gone to far and accidentally hurt her with his words. A few seconds later, they tried again, and this time, Shippo managed to finish the potion without sputtering.

He watched as Inuyasha seemed to sigh with relief, and leaned back into his tree. "Good. Go to sleep Shippo."

Shippo, however, wasn't feeling sleepy quite yet. "Inuyasha?"

A flat, "What."

"Did I really kill that demon tree, all by myself?" He wanted to hear Inuyasha say it. Wanted to have dog boy admit that he'd done something Inuyasha could not.

He was in for quite a surprise.

"Fuck, yeah and yourself too. Stupid fox, what were you thinking!!" Inuyasha was staring at him now, jaw clenched in anger. "Do you know how fucking close you were to getting killed. Three inches up and we would have buried you this afternoon, in two fucking pieces!"

Shippo's eyes gaped wide as fear clenched him. His eyes began to water, and he couldn't help the wild howl that was building up inside him. Inuyasha's eyes grew equally wide as he watched. Cursing, he stuffed the edge of his sleeve into Shippo's mouth to keep him from bawling, all the while, hissing at him to be quiet. It didn't do much good, only muffled the kit's cry's a bit as Inuyasha struggled to think of a way to shut him up. Finally desperate, he pulled Shippo up to his shoulder, and hugged him.

It wasn't a very comforting hug, to be honest. Inuyasha was stiff, and hard as a board to be against, and the slight pressure on his stomach hurt a bit...but the shock was more than enough to make Shippo stop his sobbing. Inuyasha was...was ...

They stayed like that until Inuyasha was sure the kid was quiet, before awkwardly letting him back down and setting him once again against his stomach. Gods that felt strange. Inuyasha clumsily patted Shippo's head, nervous eyes seeming to dart everywhere at once. Everywhere but meeting Shippo's gaze.

"Look, it's okay, y...you're safe. Just, don't do it again!"

Shippo would have laughed at the situation, if the shock hadn't completely overridden his senses. Finally, he found his voice. "Wh...what do you mean? Everybody else fights, even Kagome and Kirara fight. Why can't I fight!" He scowled, "I hate being left out! I hate being weak, I-"

"Stupid, you're a kid. You're not supposed to fight!"

It took Shippo to find his voice after Inuyasha's vehement outburst. He hissed back defensively. "What? So what if I'm a kid! I still want to help."

Inuyasha gave a frustrated sigh before turning his sharp golden stare back to Shippo. This time, his voice was less sharp.

"Dammit Shippo, you're a kid. You're not supposed to fight, you're supposed to be protected, so you don't get hurt. That's what being a kid means. You get it now?"

"...No, not really..."

Inuyasha growled briefly in annoyance. "Then forget it. Go to sleep."

Shippo realized he wasn't going to get much more out of the dog-demon just then, so he snuggled into Inuyasha's body heat and warm robes. It felt nice, not quite gentle like Kagome, but stronger. He still felt safe.. protected.

Who would have thought? And from Inuyasha no less. The cold hearted, angry half demon who hated everybody...

"Inuyasha?"

"What is it now?" Came the annoyed reply.

Shippo paused for a moment, carefully wording his question.

"Inuyasha...when you were a kid...who protected you?"

There was a long pause. Shippo felt Inuyasha stiffen, holding his breath for unknown reasons. The silence dragged on, filled only by the wind swishing in the trees. Finally Inuyasha let out a giant snort.

"Keh, get some sleep, fox."

And Shippo knew his answer. Slowly curling up again, he let the sleeping drug overcome him. He took in one deep breath.

"Arigato, Inuyasha..."

And he was asleep again.

*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes and gazed down at his charge. Stupid fox, making him soft. They were all making him soft. Staring down at the plump, happy, cub in his arms, he realized, there was nothing he could do to stop it either.

A slight shifting below distracted his attention. He looked down to find Kagome staring back up at him, patched moonlight reflecting pale off her eyes and skin, and felt himself almost melt off his branch. Almost...

"Inuyasha, is everything okay?"

He nodded once, and then decided she might hear him better than see him.

"Of course, wench." Indignant, he shifted the warm ball on his stomach to press tighter against him. Like he'd ever let anything happen to them. He looked back down to see Kagome smiling at him with those eyes. The ones that made his heart beat fast and his stomach do flip flops. Gods, he really was going soft!

"Alright." She said and snuggled back under the covers. He has almost just relaxed again when her sleepy voice, once again, called back up to him. "Inuyasha?"

"What?" What was with all these people saying his name all the time?

A slight gentle sigh from below.

"Arigato, Inuyasha, for everything..."

At first, Inuyasha just held his breath...

"Keh!"

...the feeling was mutual...

*~*~*~*~*

The end.