Of Dogs and Demons

A/N: I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update this story! I've spent the last couple months jumping from one play right into another. Which, for all you non-theatre types out there, means that, between class, food time, and rehersal, I was pulling 16 hour days compiled with non-stop drama drama. And God love her, but the last stage manager I worked with was UTTERLY incompetent. Yeah. In a nut shell, I barely had time to sleep, let alone write.

Baah, I talk too much.

Warnings: Not-a-whole-bunch-of-action alert, and some cruel and unusual bouts of Shippo toture

Disclaimer: Marti = lazy pants. Go back to the previous two chapters, if you must. Same thing.

:oOo:

Of Dogs and Demons

Chapter Two

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“Get back here, runt!”

“Hey! Wait a minute! I’m trying to help you!”

“Hold still, you little shit! I’m trying to rip your tail off!”

“You big, fat meanie!”

“Punk ass kid!”

“STUPID MUTT!”

“How much longer do you think they’ll continue this foolishness?” Miroku said irritably, watching Inuyasha chase the strange kit in circles. Sango snorted.

“Knowing Inuyasha?” she said, laying her head on her outstretched legs. “This could take all night.” Miroku let out a weary sigh and went back to watching the chase in front of him.

“Ha! You can’t get me now, you stinky dog!” taunted the kit, hanging from the ceiling fan. Inuyasha barked menacingly, but the kit simply waved his small bottom at the canine tauntingly.

“Get down here, brat, and take it like a demon!” he growled.

“No way!”

“I’m warning you!” The former hanyou snarled.

“Just try and get me, butt head!” the fox jeered. The dog crouched down and jumped, snapping at the kit’s tail. Shippo bust out laughing blew a very wet sounding raspberry. “Missed me, lunk head!”

“You—“ Inuyasha started, but stopped, an evil glimmer in his eye. “Okay, then. Have it your way, runt.” He said lazily, moseying towards the door. The kit’s eyes widened in unadulterated terror.

“You—you wouldn’t!” he stammered.

“Me? Oh, I think I would.”

“No! Wait! Please!”

Inuyasha smirked malevolently, neglecting to respond to the fox’s pleas. With mocking slowness, he balanced his front paws on the wall and nosed the switch. The kitsune wrapped his small body around the blade, screeching annoyingly as the fan began to turn. All three dogs watched in varying degrees of satisfaction and horror as Shippo spun faster and faster.

It was at this point that something very unfortunate happened. Inuyasha helpfully suggested that he let go and face the inevitable. Shippo, on the other hand, was clearly adverse to the dog’s idea, and recommended that Inuyasha become intimately acquainted with a cactus. Sadly, he attempted to reinforce this by waving one tiny fist determinedly at said cursed person. Unable to continue his battle with the fan blade with only one hand, the kit plummeted, face first, into a wall.

“Stupid…mutt…” the dizzy, aching kit proclaimed weakly.

“I’m not the one who decided to play marry-go-round with a ceiling fan, shit head!”

“Like I had a choice, dog breath!”

“Fuck face!”

“Pet!”

“Annoying little fucker!”

“ENOUGH!” Miroku hollered, snarling at the pair, who abruptly ceased their bickering.

“Miro—“

“Shut up, Inuyasha. Now, what is it that you want, Shippo-chan?”

“I was here to help you…that is, before mutt face here had to chase me around the room!”

“You expect me to believe that you’re our “fairy godfather”? Keh…I’ve never heard a bigger load of bullshit in my life.”

“Well, maybe I was exaggerating. Can’t a kid have any fun these days? I was sent here by the CDDP to help you break your curse. Doesn’t that sort of make me your—”

“Wait, the CDDP?” Sango interjected. “Who is the CDDP?”

“The Council for the Defense of Demonic People…dur.”

“I thought all the demons died out years ago…” Miroku wondered out loud.

“Nope! Just went into hiding. Some of the more prominent youkai got tired of dealing with humans and decided to go underground. Or something like that. It was way before my time. Anyway, the CDDP is one of the agencies that the founder people made to manage humans and demons. I was given your case because I’m the only youkai in the area that can do illusion—”

“Huh? Our case? What the hell is he going on about?”

“Inuyasha, if you can’t say anything pertinent, try to keep your mouth closed.”

“Fuck you, Miroku!”

“Another time, perhaps. Now, how about you start from the beginning, Shippo-chan, and tell us why you’re here.”

“Well, like I said, the CDDP sent me here to help you break your curse.”

Inuyasha snorted and headed for the door. “Good luck with that, kid.”

“Inuyasha…” Sango warned.

“Don’t you idiots get it? We’re stuck like this! There isn’t anything that punk could do to fix us. This isn’t worth my time…”

“But, Inuyasha, he just said he could—“ Miroku started.

“Are you fucking stupid?? There’s no hope for any of us! We aren’t cursed, we’re damned! The shikon no tama doesn’t make curses, it grants wishes. Kikyo wished for us to stay like this for all eternity! You can’t fucking undo that!” Inuyasha roared.

“…Expect if someone used the jewel to reverse the wish. We know, we know.” Shippo replied lazily.

“So, we’re stuck this way for…forever?” Sango asked, her voice trembling the slightest bit.

“Aren’t any of you listening?! I told you, that’s why I’m here. Geez, you guys are awful slow for people who’ve lived for so long.”

“Who’re you calling slow?” Inuyasha demanded. “It should be awful simple, baka. Kikyo used jewel. We turned into dogs. Jewel disappeared. We’re screwed. Easy as fucking cake.”

“Don’t tell me…All this time you’ve spent with Kagome, you don’t even know who she is?” His inquiry was met with blank stares. “Oh, come on.”

“I’m afraid, Shippo-chan,” Miroku commented, almost succeeding to keep his offense from tinting his voice, “That we don’t what you’re talking about.”

“She’s Kikyo’s reincarnation! Surely you’ve noticed the similarities between the two?”

”Kagome is nothing like Kikyo! Kikyo was a deluded, vicious bitch! Kagome—she…she’s nothing like that miko wench.” Inuyasha finished lamely. Sango sighed heavily.

“This is getting no where. How’s about we move to the living room. Shippo can tell us exactly what’s going on…without interruptions.” She said, giving a pointed look to Inuyasha.

“Whatever.” He replied, and stalked down the hall irritably.

Once they had all settled into the living room, Shippo coughed importantly and began his story.

“Inuyasha was right about the jewel. Soon after Kikyo cursed all of you, she battled a very powerful demon and died soon after. The jewel was burned with her corpse, and as far as everyone was concerned, it ceased to exist. That is, until twenty-four years ago and Kikyo’s spirit was reincarnated. The jewel, it seems, followed its protector’s spirit.”

“So, you’re saying that Kagome has the shikkon no tama and we never noticed?” Miroku asked.

“No, you probably wouldn’t have. She doesn’t even know she has it. It’s lodged dormant somewhere in her body. At least, that’s what everyone thinks.”

“Okay, the jewel still exists. What does that have to do with you being here?” Inuyasha snapped.

“The higher ups want the jewel destroyed. Too many youkai want it. And the only way to get rid of the jewel permanently is to make a pure wish.”

“I still don’t see how that has anything to do with us.” Inuyasha complained.

“CDDP has a theory that if we can trigger a strong enough emotional reaction in Kagome, the jewel would sort of force the jewel to retract Kikyo’s wish. That’s a pretty pure wish, don’t you think?” Sango narrowed her eyes.

“What sort of emotional reaction?” Shippo suddenly looked nervous. He squirmed around in his seat for a moment before he began to answer.

“Well…uh…you see…that’s is…that’s where Inuyasha comes in.” Shippo stammered.

“Me? Why me?”

“Well…the CDDP thought that you’d be the best candidate to…uh…ah, man.”

“To what?” Miroku said, tilting his head to the side.

Shippo’s eyes darted back and forth between Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, his face becoming increasingly red. Finally, he exploded, spewing out words in an almost incoherent flood.

“TobreakthespellInuyashawillhavetomakeKagomefallinlovewithhimbecauseheisalreadyinlovewith—Oh, PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!” He finished, covering his head with his hands. The three dogs, however, blinked at him.

“…What did he just say?” Sango asked.

“Hell if I know.”

“I believe he said something along the lines that, in order to trigger the retraction of the wish, Inuyasha has to woe Lady Kagome.” He paused, letting a huge, perverted grin seep across his face. “And, that Inuyasha is in love with—”

“I ain’t in love with nobody!” Inuyasha interrupted. Sango’s ears perked up.

“Come to think of it, you’re always hovering around her when she’s home.”

“And watching the clock on her bed when she’s gone.” Miroku added.

“And all but ripping out the throat of that one guy who tried to steal her purse that one time in the park…”

“Not to mention that overbearing Hojo character…”

“Or that you get angry with Miroku when he pulls his perverted stunts on her.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m a monk of high morals, who is above crass sexual exploits.” Miroku huffed indignantly.

“Hah! I don’t think there’s a woman on this planet left that hasn’t been groped by you!” Sango rebuffed, jumping down from her position on the couch to face Miroku on the floor.

“I find it highly unlikely that I could’ve done so to every woman on the planet—”

“You’re damn near close!”

“Well…” Sango growled and made a point of looking as far away from Miroku as physically possible.

“You’re missing the point here!” Inuyasha bellowed at Shippo. “I’m not in love with Kagome!”

“Oh, well, that’s too bad.” Shippo said with a sigh, producing a leaf from his pocket and spinning the stem between his fore and middle fingers. “I guess that means that you’ll be stuck this forever. Not to mention what will happen to poor Kagome once the rest of the demon world finds out she has the shikkon no tama…” Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean ‘poor Kagome’?”

“The CDDP can’t keep a story like this under wraps forever. It’s only a matter of time before demons will start taking an interest in Kagome. I don’t doubt that someone will eventually try to rip the damned thing right out of her.”

Shippo smirked. He didn’t even have to look up from his leaf twittling. Oh, no. He had the former hanyou right where he wanted him.

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A/N: I hate the way this chapter turned out, per usual. So, tell me what you think. Be brutal, shower it with e-petals of fanfic love, rip it to shreads, whatever.

Love to my 'viewers: I'm dead tired, so love comes in bulk today. If you reviewed my story, (which had to be quite awhile ago *humasive sweat drop*) you get a nice, big chocolaty ebrownie. X3