Koinu Taiyoukai by Forsaken Tenshi
Koinu Taiyoukai
Inuyasha characters do not belong to me but to Takahashi Rumiko.
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Koinu Taiyoukai
Dokuga Contest Oneshot Entries
Themes:Breathless, Conquest, Special Delivery, All Purpose, First Time
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This trip is taking longer than usual, she thought as she drifted through the time-space continuum. I hope Inuyasha is okay with me being a little late. At least I brought negimaki for dinner for all of them. Shippou will be so excited! At length, her feet landed on something distinctly soggy, soft, and smelled of compost. Wetness seeped into her socks and shoes, and Kagome glanced down to find herself ankle-deep in something decomposing and crawling with an assortment of bugs.
A horrified shriek of disgust split the air, sending birds resting in the surrounding trees into the sky with a rapid flutter of wings.
Barely a minute later, a young girl hauled herself out of a dry well at record speed, throwing a worn yellow bag carelessly on the ground as she sat down in the surrounding grass and peeled off her soiled footwear with her fingertips. “Oh, ew, ew, ew!” she whimpered, standing up with her now brown-colored socks and shoes held as far away as she could manage. “Doesn’t matter that it was once a tree youkai,” she muttered, “It’s dead and had bugs!” She swiftly made her way to the stream she knew was nearby in her bare feet, sighing with relief as she rinsed the—she refused to think the word corpse—“grime” off in the cool, clear water.
So pleased was she by the fact that her feet were nearly free of “grime” that she nearly missed the lone bark-like howl in the distance as she hung her soggy footwear on low hanging tree branches. It was a single, high-pitched yelp that echoed in the surrounding hills. The earth trembled as something large and with a strong youki approached, and Kagome sorely missed the feel of her bow and quiver of arrows on her back. Where is Inuyasha? she thought, panicking, He should have been here by now! Please don’t tell me it’s after the Shikon shards!
Dead twigs and pebbles bit into her bare feet, but she ignored them in favor of not becoming a midday snack. Socks and shoes in hand, she sprinted for the well clearing, deciding that if all else failed, she could jump back in. Arriving in the clearing, she slung her bag on her shoulder and waited, heart pounding in her ears, as the youki drew closer with astonishing speed. Moments later, something white and the size of the well house tumbled into the clearing, skidding to a halt in a fluffy pile with a whimpered groan as momentum carried the creature farther than it intended. Kagome blinked, no longer afraid of the youkai after seeing it in such disarray.
The youkai huffed as it righted itself, shaking out its fur and sending forest debris flying, with a good amount of twigs, leaves, and dirt stubbornly clinging to the white fur. Crimson eyes gazed inquisitively at the human girl as the youkai sat on its haunches.
Kagome’s breath caught in her chest. Se-Sesshoumaru-sama?! He’s so small and… and… oh, KAWAII!
Sesshoumaru sat before her in his true form, ears perked, nose quivering in curiosity, and head cocked to the side, but there was no mistaking the royal blue quarter moon on his forehead, nor the twin stripes of magenta that lurked at the corners of his mouth. He was situated several yards away, but he stretched his neck towards her, focused intently on the human girl. At length he stood and cautiously stepped towards her, and Kagome stood as still as she could, aware that even as a puppy, he could still kill her with no effort.
His cold, wet nose finally made contact with her stomach made its way upwards with rapid warm puffs of air and a trail of dampness on her shirt. Upon reaching her neck, she could not help but giggle and gently shoved the pup’s nose away. Sesshoumaru growled in warning and resumed his inspection, Kagome striving valiantly to remain still. His nose meandered towards her bag, whereupon he snuffled noisily at it, whining a complaint.
“It seems my son is hungry,” a low, rich voice commented behind her, and Kagome’s spine stiffened.
Hungry…? She gulped, suddenly acutely aware of how close those sharp teeth of his were to her body. Hopefully he’s after the negimaki and nothing else! The white canine was still busily sniffing her bag while alternately licking at it, whining when he was unable to get at what he smelt. A sharp growl sounded from the direction of the male voice, and Sesshoumaru whined once in complaint before retreating in his quest for food. Kagome then noticed that he had intended to simply tear her bag open with his teeth, but the stranger had stopped that particular event from occurring.
Kagome turned to see who this stranger was, and the sight left her breathless once more. The puppy had taken a seat next to the humanoid figure with striking features: long silver hair tied in a topknot, brilliant gold eyes accented with crimson, and a single ragged cobalt stripe on each cheek. His armor vaguely reminded Kagome of Sesshoumaru’s, except that it had large jointed shoulder covers that hid the designs on his white haori, as opposed to the single arc of spines over the left that Sesshoumaru possessed. His sash was colored red and violet, and his mokomoko-sama draped over both of shoulders and down his back. On his waist and back were three swords that Kagome recognized with jolt: Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, and Sou’unga.
Oh, she mentally gasped, He has to be the Inu no Taishou! Her grey eyes drank in his figure, and her heart ached knowing that Inuyasha would never remember this man. Shaking herself out of her stunned stupor, the schoolgirl set her bag down on the grass beside her and bowed. When she straightened, the youkai was watching her through narrowed eyes.
“You are not afraid of me, ningen?” he asked, voice rumbling through the clearing. Sesshoumaru whined in frustration but was quickly silenced by a snarl from his father and alpha. “You feel different from a normal ningen. What are you?” Those tawny eyes narrowed dangerously as he waited patiently for an answer.
Kagome swallowed, feeling the first stirrings of fear rising in her throat. “Ano… my name is Kagome, and I am a miko.”
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Kagome stood by the well, staring in disbelief at the two inuyoukai that stared back at her. One was a young Sesshoumaru in his true form of a white, furry puppy, and the other was the frowning humanoid form of the Inu no Taishou.
“Miko? I have heard of the term, but have never come across one myself. Miko are known to purify youkai.” The Inu no Taishou’s eyes narrowed. “Should I have reason to be wary of you?” he asked somewhat rhetorically as he reflexively flexed his claws. Sesshoumaru, picking up on his father’s agitation, shifted restlessly, fixing Kagome with his red eyes as his fur bristled—more like fluffed up in a most adorable manner in Kagome’s eyes—bared his teeth, and growled in his treble, puppyish vocal range.
“N-no no!” she quickly replied, holding her hands up in a non-threatening manner. “I don’t harm youkai on principle, unless they are trying to hurt me first.” She smiled beseechingly. “I really don’t want to have to hurt you,” she said softly. How far back in time did I go?
The Inu no Taishou could tell she was being entirely truthful and relaxed. Sesshoumaru relaxed as well, following the cues from his alpha, shaking out his fur again and settling on the ground, alternately looking at his father and the human woman.
“You are different from most ningen,” the Inu no Taishou reiterated. “Why do you not fear youkai?”
Kagome relaxed and shrugged. “I regularly mingle with both a youkai child and a hanyou, as well as a taijiya and a houshi. However, they are not here with me.” Abruptly she realized not only how alone she felt—considering she was here by herself after all—but also how often she had hidden behind her friends’ strength, staying back as they fought through their battles. Without her friends here, she felt almost helpless in the face of a demon that far outstripped her in every way, and she felt both lonely and ashamed. I’ll get better, she promised to herself, feeling her resolve strengthen, I’ll no longer hide in their shadows, watching from the sidelines as they get hurt. But how to go about it? She felt her momentary determination deflate and scatter like loose dust in a stiff breeze.
The Inu no Taishou watched the various emotions flit across her face and came to the conclusion that this young woman was not someone that deceived easily, not if she allowed her feelings to show so plainly. “Toga,” he said abruptly, startling Kagome.
“Excuse me?” she asked in confusion.
“My name,” said the Inu no Taishou regally, “is Toga. The puppy beside me is Sesshoumaru.” He gestured to the fluffy, well house-sized canine that was currently licking his bits, a hind foot high in the air and exposing his parts for all to see. Kagome blushed a bright red and turned away, while Toga rolled his eyes at the sight. “Graceless,” he muttered with a subtle but undeniable undertone of fond exasperation. Sesshoumaru stopped his licking and gazed down at his father with questioning eyes. With a soft whine, he looked over at Kagome, then back at Toga.
Kagome watched with confusion as the Inu no Taishou closed his eyes and inhaled repeatedly, his nostrils flaring with each small exhalation. Opening his gold eyes once more, he stared at her and asked, “What is it you have in your pack? It is also something I have not encountered before.” The elder inuyoukai unconsciously licked his lips as he watched the miko.
My pack…? Oh, the negimaki! Dropping her still dripping socks and shoes on the grass, she set her bag on the ground and rummaged around inside until she found the two disposable plastic containers that held the rolls of beef. Holding them up, she asked, “Is it this?”
Toga approached with confident steps, bending over to delicately sniff the boxes. “Indeed. What is it, miko-san?” Sesshoumaru whined with impatience in the background.
“Negimaki. It’s marinated beef rolled with green onions,” she said. “I brought them from home just for my friends—although since they aren’t here, would Toga-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama like some instead?”
“What would you want in return?” he asked with a raised brow, clearly expecting some sort of demand.
Kagome shook her head. “Nothing,” she said as she stacked one atop the other.
Toga stared at her, disbelief clear in his gold eyes. “Nothing?” he repeated with a great deal of cynicism.
The human girl smiled softly. “Special delivery, at no charge,” she murmured, “Consider it a token of my newly-created friendship with you and your son.” She peeled off the lid of the upper container, the delicious aroma flooding her nose. Toga closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent, and Sesshoumaru scurried to his father’s side, whimpering once more as his nose quivered furiously. She held out the open container towards the elder inuyoukai, silently urging him to try.
Toga plucked a roll out of the container and sniffed in experimentally while the fluffy white puppy to his side drooled at the smell. Sharp fangs easily sliced through the beef, and Kagome watched as the inuyoukai’s face momentarily expressed amazement before being blanketed by the stern façade he had initially presented her with. Holding the bitten-off roll of negimaki, he offered the delectable treat to his son, who greedily swallowed it down without so much as a single chew. The puppy turned his crimson eyes on her—or more specifically, her tub of beef and green onions.
Kagome chuckled, plucked one out, and with a glance at the carefully watching taiyoukai, held it up for the younger canine. Sesshoumaru padded forwards and snatched it from her, the girl reflexively yanking her hand back with a yelp, barely missing sloshing herself with the sauce her mother had added to complement the beef rolls. She had felt the breeze on her hand from the proximity of the puppy’s teeth as they had come together on the poor negimaki with an audible snap. A second later, Toga had Sesshoumaru on his back, belly exposed in a position of subjugation to his alpha as his father growled lowly at the whimpering pup.
It was an interesting sight, to say the least. Kagome had no idea how the humanoid Toga had managed to overturn the well house-sized Sesshoumaru. She watched as Toga released his son, and the fluffy canine belly crawled and tried to awkwardly lick his alpha under his chin to appease him. The sight conquered her heart, seeing the future stoic, everyone-else-be-damned Sesshoumaru doing his utmost best to get back into his sire’s good graces.
With a sharp bark from Toga, Sesshoumaru slunk towards the human girl and nosed her free hand gently in apology. “You are the first ningen he has met, much less miko, so he does not realize that your reflexes are not on par with our own, nor that you are overall more fragile than us youkai.”
“It’s fine,” she replied to the taiyoukai. Kagome giggled and pet the nudging wet nose, saying softly with a smile, “I forgive you, Sesshoumaru-sama.” With that, she fed the young pup, who ate the rolls of negimaki from her hand with the gentlest touch while sharing the rest with Toga.
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Kagome sat at the edge of the field, contentedly watching a young canine Sesshoumaru frolic and yip excitedly in the open space. The pup’s father, Toga, leaned against the trunk of a tree not too far away; his golden eyes, too, were focused on his offspring. The schoolgirl compared the young, carefree Sesshoumaru before her to the cool, stoic taiyoukai of her past and his future, and wondered what had happened in the intervening years—decades? centuries?—that so drastically changed him.
“Miko.”
Is my name really that difficult to learn, she thought with nine parts good humor and one part exasperation, or do all inuyoukai have a selective memory regarding me? Inuyasha never addressed her by name unless she was either in a life-threatening situation, or he was very emotionally touched by something she had done for him. Sesshoumaru had failed to even acknowledge her existence except for the few times when she had interfered with his battles with his half-brother for Tetsusaiga, and even then she was addressed with a less than polite moniker.
“Hai, Toga-sama?” she replied with a smile, tearing her eyes from the sight of Sesshoumaru rolling in the grass.
“You have power,” he stated, and her smile slid off her face in an instant.
I forgot about the shards, she thought with burgeoning panic. Will he want them? Outwardly, she answered, “I do.”
Toga cocked his head as he regarded the girl before him. “They ring false.” Seeing her confused expression, he elaborated, “They promise power, but that power will never be one’s own; it will always be borrowed. Why do you carry them?”
Kagome clasped the small jar around her neck that contained the shards. “It is my duty. I cannot tell you more, for it might change events that are yet to come.” Her grey eyes locked with his tawny ones, silently beseeching him to ask no more questions about them.
The taiyoukai straightened. “You are from the future?”
The miko nodded warily.
“No wonder your attire is strange and indecent,” he muttered soft enough the girl could not hear. Amusement curling in his belly, he said aloud, “You are indeed a strange one. You are the first ningen I’ve met that did not run away screaming at the sight of me, as well as the first miko and time traveler I’ve encountered. Are there any more firsts to come regarding yourself, ningen?”
Kagome colored prettily. “I’m just me,” she answered, dropping her eyes to the grass before turning away to watch the puppy that was now digging enormous holes in the field and sending soil and grass flying.
Toga considered the female before him. She was from the future, and knew what was to come. However, he would bet his coffers that she would never reveal the future willingly. Her perception of youkai was so different from the rest of the ningen population that it was actually refreshing—and a miko, no less! Perhaps she would have a different angle on how to tackle a “developmental obstacle” he was working on with Sesshoumaru.
“How old is Sesshoumaru-sama?” she asked. Toga grinned; it was the perfect segue to his idea.
“Just over fifty summers,” replied Toga proudly. “He should be learning how to change into a humanoid form, but he has been stubborn.”
Kagome stifled a snort. Sesshoumaru in the future essentially looked down on everything human, so why not a humanoid form for himself as well? “Why do you need one?”
“It started as an exercise in control,” Toga explained, “Only those powerful enough and with enough focus and will could maintain that form. Taiyoukai soon found that this secondary form was more practical. For instance,” here, the Inu no Taisho pulled Tenseiga easily from its sheath and twirled it with a flourish, “Opposable thumbs are so extraordinarily useful.”
The miko stared at Toga in disbelief. Seriously? Opposable thumbs? Once the idea sunk in, like a dam about to burst, her closed lips quivered before succumbing to her mirth. Well, opposable thumbs are useful… all purpose, if you will.
Both canines stared at her quizzically as Kagome collapsed in the grass, clutching her sides. Toga grunted as he sheathed Tenseiga, and Sesshoumaru ambled over to sniff the chortling miko. Kagome shoved the puppy’s nose away gently as her laughing quieted, an idea forming in her mind regarding Sesshoumaru’s resistance to an alternate form. Crawling over to her yellow bag, she pulled out a can of peanut butter she carried around when she wanted a small snack. Twisting the cap off, she slowly wafted the nutty treat before the curious puppy’s nose.
Sesshoumaru whined, looking at Kagome indignantly with his lurid red eyes when she yanked the jar away before he could lick it.
“Nuh-uh,” she said, screwing the lid back on. “If you want some of this, you need to use hands.”
The canine grumbled, sending a pleading glance at his alpha. Toga chuckled. “I’m not helping you with this one, Sesshoumaru.”
The puppy growled, whined, begged, and performed all sorts of other measures to entice Kagome to hand over the jar, but she steadfastly refused. When he went so far as to nip her arm for her apparent disobedience, she zapped his nose with a small shock of reiki as a warning. Because Toga did not react in any way to save him from such treatment aside from chiding him for his lack of forethought, Sesshoumaru grudgingly understood it was an object lesson: do not mess with miko. They can hurt.
At length Sesshoumaru huffed, closing his eyes as he concentrated. Youki flared around his form, obstructing the adults’ view of him. When the youki dissipated, a small boy of about five years of age stood before them. He had silver hair that fell to the middle of his back, gold eyes like his father, his mokomoko-sama curled around his right shoulder and down his back, his ancestral markings on his face, and had a pair of floppy white ears peering out of his hair and a softly swishing tail. He was also completely nude.
Kagome flushed even as she internally squealed over young Sesshoumaru’s utterly exponential cute factor. Sesshoumaru with hanyou-like ears and a tail, she thought. If only I had remembered to bring my camera! But I don’t want a picture of him naked! That’s too much like pedophilia for my taste…
Toga had inspected his son’s transformation with a critical eye, and deemed him passable for a first attempt, aside from the ears and tail. Yet even he could not hold back a soft chuckle at the sight his son made.
Sesshoumaru wobbled on his two feet, gravity eventually getting the better of him as he crumpled into the grass. After several attempts in as many minutes, the young taiyoukai was able to semi-steadily stand. He held out his small, clawed hand demandingly. “Mine!” he barked, indicating the jar of peanut butter that Kagome held hostage.
“Be nice and say please, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Kagome gently admonished, keeping her eyes firmly fixed upon his face.
The young taiyoukai scowled and sulked for a small while, tail twitching in aggravation before he relented as grudgingly asked, “Please?”
Kagome grinned and handed over the jar with a soft, “Of course.”
Sesshoumaru flopped down on the grass, tail swishing excitedly as he struggled to twist open the lid. His coordination in his current form leaves much to be desired, Toga thought, but at least he’s achieved it.
The young taiyoukai gave a yip of success as the lid came off, and he swiped a hand into the creamy treat and licked it off his fingers delightedly.
Kagome smiled at the young youkai and shouldered her bag. “I should try going home,” she said to Toga.
The taiyoukai eyed the female. While it would most certainly be to his advantage to keep her with him for her knowledge alone, she had done him no harm and actually did him a great service regarding his son. A fair trade: her freedom for her aid regarding my son. With this thought in mind, he replied, “Safe journey.”
Kagome smiled and headed back to the well.