InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bind a Soul ❯ Presidents to Bounty Hunters ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter 22- Presidents to Bounty Hunters

Miroku walked up behind Sango as quietly as he could. The demon exterminator was polishing Hiraikotsu, humming a wordless tune. Miroku stopped a moment to just stare at her, marveling in her strong and silent beauty.

Ever since the incident in which Kagome had almost died, Sango had been acting a bit peculiar. As a matter of fact, everyone had been acting a bit . . . off.

To Miroku, it seemed as if Sango's senses and abilities were greatly improving, and rapidly for that matter. Either that or he was simply getting clumsy. Every time he tried to sneak up behind her for a quick grope, he fell pray to Hiraikotsu before he even lifted his hand.

The monk shook his head to dispel all thoughts except groping Sango.

Ten feet, seven, three, one . . . "Don't even try Houshi-sama," Sango said as Miroku lifted his hand.

"Try what exactly, lovely Sango?"

"Don't try to grope me," she replied, never looking up from her boomerang.

Miroku sighed and took a seat across from the demon exterminator. "But it's been days since I even touched you," the monk whined, for once letting his calm mask slip.

Sango raised an eyebrow at Miroku's tone, but still refused to look up and continued humming.

"You guys aren't entertaining anymore," said Shippou coming out of his hiding place amongst the long grass.

"Shippou," Miroku lectured "We are not a source of entertainment. That is Inuyasha's purpose."

"Houshi-sama," Sango began her own lecture. "You shouldn't say stuff behind people's backs. It's far more entertaining when they are present to hear it."

"Whatever," Shippou broke in, breaking up an argument he saw coming. As funny as that would be to watch, the kitsune wasn't in the mood anymore. "How much longer until Kagome comes back?"

"I'd say about two days. Why?" asked Sango.

"I want to see this ancient youkai Myouga keeps on going on about," Shippou replied simply.

"It is very possible that we are walking into more trouble than we bargained for," voiced Miroku.

"Hai," agreed Sango. "But then again, the same could be said if we did nothing."

Miroku nodded at her observation, a pondering look on his face. "Shippou," Miroku said breaking out of his brief meditation.

"Hai?" replied the kitsune.

"Could you tell me more about youkai packs?"

Sango stopped polishing Hiraikotsu to listen to what the kitsune had to say.

Shippou looked surprised at the question, but nodded and tried to find the right words to explain it to the humans. How do you explain something that is engraved upon your instincts before you are even born?

"It really depends on what type of youkai," Shippou began "But most youkai have the basic pack structure if they are the kind to keep packs. Um, the basic pact structure consists of a pack leader and his leading female, the second in command, and then simply members of the pack."

Shippou paused, trying of think of more to add.

"How does basic pack structure apply to us?" asked Sango.

"Um, well, Inuyasha is pack leader," Shippou paused to see the reactions of the humans, but when there was none he continued. "Kagome is obviously his lead female. Miroku, you are Inuyasha's second in command, and Sango you are Kagome's second in command. Me, Kirara, Myouga and Kaede are the other members in the pack. I really can't add any more, I really didn't know that much to begin with," Shippou said sadly. His father hadn't had time to teach him all he needed to know before he was killed.

"Does Kagome-Chan know about this?" asked Sango.

"I doubt it," replied Shippou. "I don't think even Inuyasha is really aware of his responsibilities. Usually the pack leader is in his prime, and Inuyasha well . . ." Shippou trailed off. He didn't want dog-boy coming down on his head if he revealed Inuyasha's true age.

"I see what you mean," replied Miroku.

Shippou looked up at the monk in surprise. "How?" asked the kitsune.

"Ah, Myouga told me."

"Told you what?" asked Sango, a bit upset about being `out of the loop' as Kagome had put it once.

"I'm not a liberty to say," Miroku replied. "I promised Inuyasha I wouldn't. I'm sure Shippou didn't promise though, so he might be able to tell you."

"Are you crazy?" Shippou looked up at the monk. "Inuyasha will kill me if I tell anyone."

"Only if he finds out," Miroku replied, the corners of his lips curling.

Shippou frowned for a moment before turning to Sango. "Most youkai come into their prime at about a hundred years of age at the earliest," he explained. "Inuyasha is no where near his prime."

"How old is he?" Sango asked, suddenly curious. She didn't know what kind of answer she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the one Shippou supplied.

"Sixteen."

Sango fell to the ground laughing. Inuyasha was only sixteen? The demon exterminator quickly sobered up. She never thought he would be that young. She was older than he was! "And he's hanyou," Shippou continued. "The human blood should slow his aging process, though there aren't many hanyous to verify that."

"Why would the human blood slow the process?" asked Miroku.

"Well, think about it this way. Most youkai don't survive to their prime, mainly because there are too many others out to kill them. It's important that youkai reach their prime as soon as possible so as to survive. Human blood slows that, in turn slowing the aging process. That's probably the main reason there aren't many hanyous around. Other youkai are too quick to kill them off."

"You know an awful lot," Sango said, a bit shocked.

"Myouga likes to talk a lot," Shippou supplied, looking a little less than pleased with that subject.

"Indeed," replied Miroku.

^_^

"How am I going to explain exactly why I have to bring both Inuyasha and Kagome?" Souta asked his mother before they left for his school. They had to be there in half an hour.

Ms. Higurashi had not thought of telling Souta exactly what was going on between Kagome and Inuyasha, and right now, she wasn't sure how she should put it.

"You can just tell your sensei that Kagome needs to wait for Inuyasha because Inuyasha is new to the school. I'm sure he'll understand. I'll call Kagome's school and let them know that Inuyasha and Kagome will be running a bit late," Ms. Higurashi supplied.

"I guess that's okay," sighed Souta. "What's taking those two so long?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling.

He had made sure they were awake an hour ago but they still hadn't come downstairs. Actually, Kagome had seemed quite mad at him when he knocked at the door. Well at least I knocked!

"Inuyasha!" Souta heard his sister scream as his hero came racing down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What did you do?" Souta asked.

"Nothing," Inuyasha replied, trying to look innocent.

Kagome could be heard making her way down the stairs, giving off a very youkai like growl.

"I think I should warn you," Inuyasha said as he moved over to the door. "Your sister is well-" He broke off when Kagome entered the kitchen.

"Oh my," gasped Ms. Higurashi, bringing her hand to her mouth. "What happened?"

Kagome quickly closed her mouth to hide her fangs and put her hands behind her back. "It's the spell," Kagome muttered quietly, barely opening her mouth.

"What spell?" asked Souta.

"I'll explain to you later," Ms. Higurashi told her younger son. "I'm sure your new features won't draw too much attention dear."

"Yeah," Kagome sighed. "I just have to remember to keep my mouth shut."

"Don't forget about your claws," Inuyasha said with a smile.

Kagome face reddened, leaving Ms. Higurashi to wonder just what had happened upstairs.

"I won't forget!" she shouted back at him.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to shout back but Souta had grabbed his hand and was pulling him towards the door. "School now, fight later," he yelled, letting go of his hand long enough to grab Kagome, and he was back to pulling the two teenagers out the door.

"Don't forget your bags!" Ms. Higurashi said, running up to the couple to hand them their stuff.

"Thanks mom," Kagome smiled, this time being careful not to show her fangs.

"Have fun dear. And remember, if things get too rough at school you can always just come home."

"I'll remember," Inuyasha said happily.

"I'm sure you will," Kagome muttered.

"Come on," Souta prodded. "We're going to be late."

"What's the rush?" asked Inuyasha.

"We're up first," Souta sighed.

"What exactly have you been telling everyone?" asked Kagome.

"I already came up with a cover story," Souta said, addressing the issue. Inuyasha, you're a bounty hunter that comes from a very isolated portion of Japan."

"Bounty hunter?" asked Inuyasha, unfamiliar with the word.

"You hunt down bad people for a living," Kagome explained, looking at Souta to continue.

"You just moved to Tokyo. Since you're not old enough to live on your own, my mom offered you a home and you accepted. You are, by law, my big brother."

Souta nodded his head, quite pleased with himself.

"Not bad," Kagome complimented him.

"Why thank you."

"What exactly do I have to do?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just talk a little about yourself, answer any questions and try not to go too much into detail," Kagome replied.

"We're here," announced Souta, taking Inuyasha's hand and pulling him towards his class. "My sensei wanted to meet you before class started since he knows all the other guests coming."

"Oh, okay," Inuyasha replied, taking Kagome's arm so that she matched his and Souta's pace.

Souta stopped just outside what Inuyasha assumed was his classroom door. The human pup took a deep breath and opened the door, pulling Inuyasha and Kagome in with him. "Sensei, this is Inuyasha-niichan," Souta introduced him. "Inuyasha, this is Sumato-sensei."

"Please to meet you," Sumato replied, nodding towards the hanyou.

Inuyasha nodded in reply but didn't say anything. "Souta told me you were a bounty hunter." From the adult's tone, Inuyasha assumed he didn't believe Souta's story.

"In a sense," Inuyasha replied.

"How's that?"

"Someone pays me to find something and I find it."

"Aren't you kind of young to be working," the sensei asked, looking Inuyasha over.

"Not where I come from," Inuyasha replied. He was beginning to not like the man.

"What exactly is it that you find?"

"Pieces of a jewel," the hanyou said, being careful about his words.

"That must be difficult."

Inuyasha didn't reply. Kagome took over from there afraid Inuyasha would try to strangle her teacher. "He's very good at it."

"Kagome-Chan!" Sumato greeted her. "It has been a long time since I last saw you."

Kagome nodded. "I was so sorry to hear about your father," Sumato gave her a pitying look.

"It was a long time ago," she replied.

The school bell rang before anyone could say anything else. Students rushed through the door to find their seats, the guests standing around the classroom.

"Welcome," Sumato addressed the group. "Today is going to be very delightful," he continued. "We have guests that are presidents of multi-million dollar trading corporations," he nodded towards a guy in a suit standing by the window, "To bounty hunters," Sumato nodded towards Inuyasha. Some of the adults chuckled but the children turned all adoring eyes towards Inuyasha. "We will be starting with Higurashi Inuyasha."

The children clapped ecstatically, the adults smiling politely. Kagome pushed Inuyasha towards to front of the class. Souta stood up to introduce Inuyasha. Taking the hanyou's hand, Souta pulled him to the front. "This is Inuyasha-niichan. He just moved here from a very isolated part of Japan. My mom adopted him last week. Before he came here, he hunted pieces of a jewel for an old woman who supplied food and shelter in return."

He must be thinking of Kaede, thought Inuyasha.

"Now," continued Souta. "He lives with my family."

"Inuyasha-San," a little girl raised her hand. "What happened to your parents?"

Souta took his seat since he was done introducing Inuyasha. "They're dead," Inuyasha replied.

Another hand went up. "Why did you come to Tokyo?"

Inuyasha was going to have to think quickly. "Parts of the jewel I was looking for are here."

"Why are you wearing a school uniform?" asked another little boy.

"Because I have to go to school," Inuyasha replied glumly.

The questions kept coming until the sensei said they needed to go to the next guest so they wouldn't run out of time. Inuyasha waved and took Kagome by the arm, quickly leading them out of the room.

"What's the hurry?" asked Kagome, trying not to giggle.

Inuyasha growled but only continued walking. It was going to be a long day.