A Pup and a Cub

Disclaimer: I DO own Inu Yasha. (Actually, I DON’T own Inu Yasha but my neighbor’s invisible leprechaun made me say it.)

A Pup and a Cub by FrustratedPhoenix

Chapter 5: Cubsitting


“Get off!” shouted Ginta as he shoved Hakkaku off him. In their wild pursuit of the wily cub, both wolf demons had made flying tackles to catch him. Kouga had simply bounced straight into the air as his two life-long friends’ heads butted knocking themselves senseless.

“I think we slowed him down,” said Hakkaku as he stared with dazed eyes at the laughing cub. Moaning, Ginta rubbed his aching skull.

Wearing only an arrogant smirk, Kouga stood before them in all his naked glory. He regarded Hakkaku and Ginta with mischievous blue eyes then cockily said, “Catch your breath old wolves, you’ll need it!”

Growling, Ginta said, “A greased pig would be easier to catch!”

“Just keep him from escaping the garden,” grunted Hakkaku, “as long as he’s penned in here we have a chance of catching him.”

Kouga’s grin grew exposing two tiny fangs. “No way am I leaving, these two idiots are too much fun to torment.”

Both Hakkaku and Ginta grew extremely nervous when they saw Kouga’s wicked grin. They knew the trouble Kouga was capable of causing. As cubs, the trio had faced the wrath of tribal elders on numerous occasions due to Kouga’s schemes. Hakkaku winced when the memory of one particular escapade involving ants, honey and a peacefully sleeping wolf warrior flashed through his mind.

“We’ll never catch Kouga this way,” complained Ginta, “Even without using the shards he’s faster than us.”

Sounding more confident than he felt, Hakkaku stated, “Then we’ll have to outsmart him.”

Kouga slowly wagged his tail in anticipation. “Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.” Raising his chin and crossing his arms the devious cub proclaimed, “I am Prince Kouga, who are you?”

“It’s us, Hakkaku and Ginta.”

“Liar. Hakkaku and Ginta are my age and no where near as ugly or stupid as you two.”

“Why you little whelp!” growled Ginta.

Hakkaku grabbed Ginta’s arm. “Stop! You can’t punish our pack leader.” As soon as the ill-fated words escaped his lips, Hakkaku slapped his hand over his mouth. Both wolf demons looked at each other in horror as Kouga grinned evilly.

“I’m your alpha, eh? That means you have to do whatever I say. Or else.”

A tense moment passed before Ginta said, “Hakkaku. Kouga doesn’t remember anything before Azarni cursed him. Wanna bet he won’t remember anything when he turns back into an adult demon?”

“Wanna bet I will?” sweetly said Kouga in a singsong voice.

Hakkaku and Ginta whimpered in defeat. They dared not risk the wrath and claws of an adult Kouga. The morning quickly turned into one of the most nightmarish periods of the two wolves’ lives as Kouga proved Hell could indeed exist on Earth.

Kouga’s first command of the morning was a demand for breakfast. “I’m hungry. Bring me food.”

“Kouga, we should find you clothes first.”

“Feed me. NOW!” The two wolves scrambled to gather a meal befitting their tiny tyrant. While Ginta distracted one of the villagers, Hakkaku stole the poor farmer’s miso soup and rice.

“Yuck! I wouldn’t feed this garbage to a human.” Kouga flung their offerings in their faces. “Bring me berries.”

Hakkaku wiped soup from his face as Ginta picked grains of rice out of his hair. Forcing themselves not to ram the discarded food down Kouga’s throat, they headed toward a nearby meadow filled with berry bushes.

Hakkaku and Ginta picked enough berries to fill a large pail and hopefully a young cub’s belly. Kouga popped a single berry into his mouth, pursed his lips, then spit the berry out. “It’s too tart. Pick berries from that bush over there.”

Hakkaku practically shredded the bush as he roughly picked Kouga’s berries. He filled the bucket halfway then offered it to the young prince. “I’m hungry. Fill the bucket.”

Noting Hakkaku’s twitching eye and flexing claws, Ginta intervened before Hakkaku could teach the young wolf cub how to fly across the meadow. He quickly filled the pail and offered it to Kouga who sniffed the berries and asked, “Are you sure these aren’t poisonous?”

“Absolutely”, replied Ginta.

“Are you sure? You’re not that bright.”

“Just eat the berries.”

“You try one first.”

“The berries are fine, now eat the berries!”

“Nope, not until you try one.”

“Kouga! Just…”

“Give it to me” yelled Hakkaku snatching the pail. “I’ll taste the damn berries!” While glaring at Kouga, Hakkaku gobbled a fistful of berries. “Mmm! These aren’t too baaaaaaaaaaccckkk!” Hakkaku clutched his throat and rolled his eyes as he stumbled backwards then collapsed on the ground.

Hakkaku held his breath and lay completely still. “If my plan works the little shit will leave my carcass to rot and then I can escape to the den. To Hell with Ginta!”

Not fooled for one second, Kouga calmly walked over to the faking wolf demon. He kicked Hakkaku hard in the gut and said, “Yup, he’s dead and he smells really rank. Ginta, start digging so we can bury him.”

Clumps of earth scattered everywhere as Ginta furiously dug Hakkaku’s grave with his bare claws. “If that ass doesn’t stop pretending he’s dead, I’ll bury him alive for ditching me with Kouga.”

Hakkaku had fallen asleep while Ginta was digging. He jerked awake when he roughly landed in his own grave. Hakkaku panicked when he realized Ginta was pissed enough to actually bury him. As Ginta flung dirt and pebbles on top of him, Hakkaku moaned dramatically. “What…what happened? Where am I?”

Ginta monotonously said, “Kouga…Hakkaku lives…It’s a miracle.” Leaning towards Hakkaku, Ginta punched Hakkaku’s shoulder hard and said, “You had us worried…Buddy.” Then Ginta slugged him again.

Kouga glanced down at Hakkaku lying in the grave. “You’re alive. Good.” Raising the pail of berries Kouga dumped them onto Hakkaku’s face. Tossing the bucket to Hakkaku Kouga said, “Now, pick some edible berries; I’m still hungry.”

Two pails of discarded berries later Kouga finally deemed some worthy of being eaten. Sitting on the ground with the pail between his legs, the hungry cub happily munched the berries as juice dribbled down his chin.

As a tiny peace offering Kouga had offered some to Hakkaku and Ginta but neither wolf demon wanted to eat or look at berries ever again. Too busy daydreaming about tying Kouga up with bright red ribbon and leaving him on Naraku’s doorstep, Hakkaku didn’t notice that a still very pissed-off Ginta was pointedly ignoring him.

“Iwanasory.”

“Huh?”

Swallowing a mouthful of berries Kouga repeated, “I want a story.”

“Don’t know any,” snapped Hakkaku.

“I WANT A STORY!”

“I know a great story,” said Ginta, “about a wolf demon who flirted with his pack leader’s girlfriend.”

“Gross. Sounds kind of mushy. Is there any fighting or blood?”

“There will be if the alpha ever finds out about his so-called friend’s betrayal,” said Ginta as he stared coldly at Hakkaku.

Hakkaku gulped. “Sounds too girlie. How about a song instead?”

“I s’pose.”

Hakkaku started singing every drinking song he could recall. Never one to be angry for too long, Ginta joined his old friend during a particularly raucous ballad. Kouga clapped and laughed. “Sing the one about the ding-a-ling again!”

After Kouga ate his full, the three Ookami headed back to the village. Ginta stole some children’s clothing for Kouga, but the cub took one look at the clothes then shredded them. “I want my pelt; ningen clothes are smelly and uncomfortable.”

Hakkaku gritted his teeth. “We’ll make you a pelt tonight but for now you need to wear something, even if it’s only human clothing.”

“No. If you aren’t wearing human clothes, I don’t need to.”

“Kouga,” pleaded Ginta, “we would if we didn’t have a choice.”

“If we wear ningen outfits,” asked Hakkaku “would you wear one?”

“Sure.”

“Great! I’ll go steal some clothes and we’ll change,” said Hakkaku.

“Let me,” said Kouga. “You guys undress and I’ll be right back.” Before they could protest Kouga had run off.

“I have a bad feeling about this, Hakkaku.”

“What’s the harm if it gets him to wear clothes. Besides, he probably wants to make up for behaving like such a brat. You know Kouga. He never apologizes but he’ll do something nice as a gesture. Be thankful he didn’t order us to traipse around buck naked.”

They were hiding their nakedness behind some bushes when a fully dressed Kouga returned. The eager cub dropped his bounty then grabbed their fur pelts and sped off into the forest.

“Hey! Come back here!”

“He just wants to make up for behaving like a brat,” mimicked Ginta in a high-pitched voice.

“Shut up!” growled Hakkaku. “At least he brought us something to wear.”

Both wolves snarled when they held up the human clothing. “Damn the mongrel! These are women’s clothes.”

Hakkaku and Ginta were still naked when Kouga returned. “Why aren’t you dressed, yet? Don’t you like the clothes I picked? I stole the best outfits.”

“They’re very nice Kouga, but we want our old clothes back,” said Ginta.

“No. The deal was I’d wear ningen clothes if you did.”

“Bring us our pelts, Kouga,” sternly demanded Hakkaku.

Pouting Kouga said, “Maybe I don’t remember where I buried them.”

“You buried them,” screeched Hakkaku. “Why you little…” Hakkaku couldn’t think of anything to call him so he stood there opening and shutting his mouth in anger.

Kouga started to undress.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Ginta.

“Well, if you guys aren’t going to wear ningen clothes then neither will I. I kinda like not wearing anything.”

“Oh no you don’t,” yelled Hakkaku. “Keep your pants on. I don’t care if I have to wear women’s clothes but you will not run around naked.” Tossing a pile of clothes to Ginta, Hakkaku said, “Get dressed.”

“Hakkaku…”

“Ginta, I don’t care anymore. And I’ll be damned if the brat doesn’t do this one simple thing.”

Ginta felt trapped; he could either follow the orders of a despotic child or a temporarily insane, cross-dressing demon. Ginta did the only thing he could to please both demons, he picked up the female human’s outfit and dressed himself.

As they explored the fields surrounding the village, they started to draw an amused crowd of humans. Just when Ginta believed he could not be humiliated further, a farmer pointed to him and said to the others, “That looks like my wife’s favorite dress.”

Kouga, who always enjoyed being the center of attention, was having a great time whereas Hakkaku was swimming in denial. Hakkaku kept walking as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Ignoring the laughing humans, Hakkaku chanted to himself, “None of this is happening. It’s just a bad dream. I’ll laugh about it when I wake up.” He firmly believed repeating this mantra would make it true.

Too embarrassed to pay attention to Kouga, Ginta didn’t realize what he had agreed to until it was too late. While dancing in the middle of the field with a delusional Hakkaku, Ginta thought he saw the monk. “Miroku. I think that’s his name. No, I won’t beg for his help. If he can handle Inu Yasha, we can certainly handle Kouga.”

As Ginta twirled Hakkaku, he thought of a brilliant plan. He dipped Hakkaku thus ending the dance. “Kouga, did you know that Hakkaku is a champion hide-and-seek player? He holds the pack record for staying hidden the longest. Wanna play? If you aren’t up to the challenge I’ll understand; Hakkaku is tough to beat at hide-and-seek.”

Kouga frowned at the implication that he couldn’t handle the competition. “Aaahaha!” thought Ginta. “He’s taking the bait; Kouga never turns down a challenge.”

“Okay, but if I find you both within an hour you and Hakkaku have to kiss every old woman in the village.”

Ginta gulped then remembered that he had no intention of sticking around to be found by the annoying runt. “You’re on.”

Kouga hopped down from the cow he had been sitting upon, turned around, closed his eyes and started counting to a hundred. Ginta grabbed Hakkaku and they ran as if Naraku and all of his incarnations were chasing them.

Kouga stopped counting and looked up to see them running into the forest. “Sheesh. I wondered when those wimps would finally get the guts to leave.” He stripped off his clothes then shouted, “It’s Kouga time!” Chin held high and tail wagging excitedly, Kouga proudly strutted into the human village.

As Hakkaku and Ginta raced through the forest, a naked Inu Yasha ran past them toward the village. The wolves stopped running and looked at each other.

“I don’t want to know” stated Hakkaku.

“Come on, we’re wasting precious escape time,” said Ginta.

As they reached the Goshinboku they noticed the monk stuck at the top of the tree. They stopped long enough for Ginta to shout, “Miroku! Official pack business has come up. Kouga’s staying here. We’ll back in a few days.”

Hakkaku added, “Don’t kill Kouga. If an accident happens…we’ll understand.” Then they raced toward the den leaving a pissed monk in a tree.