Chapter Text
KAGOME’S HOME, Year 2020
In seconds, Kagome went from feeling pleasantly relaxed to sheer, unadulterated terror. There was no possible way this could have been happening.
Inuyasha, too, was no longer lounging on the couch like there wasn’t a single bone in his body. Instead, the demon was in a near-crouch, wine glass miracled away. The twin silver points of his ears were firmly locked on the front door, only a handful of footsteps away. Kagome had purchased the house mainly because of the style – a back-split, with everything very open concept. She lived alone so there was never a need for privacy or secrecy of any kind.
Now, however, she wished there was more to it. Somewhere they could disappear.
“Could anyone unexpectedly visit you?” Inuyasha asked. Kagome gave herself only a moment to feel her heart stutter-stop at the realization the demon didn’t suspect her of anything. They were hereditary enemies and yet Inuyasha knew without a doubt that she’d never put him in danger.
She licked her lips and gave his question the consideration it deserved. “Not a human, no. My wards would be far too strong in driving them away.”
“It’s not demonic,” Inuyasha stated, his stunning golden orbs narrowing at the entryway. “I’d know.”
“Damn,” Kagome muttered, flinching when Inuyasha snapped around to look at her so quickly he nearly fell off the couch. “What?”
“What?” he hissed back, though he didn’t actually say.
This wasn’t the time, anyways.
Kagome headed towards the front door. The thick-stained glass was strangely clear, no shadow of a human standing outside. She paused, hand on the doorknob as she reached out to feel, to understand just who was there. “It’s…” She frowned. “It’s not angelic. I don’t even see anyone.”
“Maybe they left?” Inuyasha suggested.
“No, they’re right—” Opening the door, Kagome kept her free hand ready, braced for an attack that never came.
A small child stood before her, looking up shyly from big green eyes. “Hi Kagome,” he said carefully, her name sounding foreign on his tongue.
Within seconds, Inuyasha was there, shoving her back and behind him. She could feel the vibration of his chest, the growl subvocal but comforting anyways. Kagome always felt it, for some reason. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Hey! That is no way to speak to a child!”
Kagome peered around Inuyasha’s shoulder, unsurprised to see a human woman down at the sidewalk glaring up at all of them. She was walking her dog, and clearly the scene was strange enough that even her wards couldn’t turn her away. The woman was frowning, clearly unhappily, at Inuyasha.
“Shouldn’t you be answering that?” Inuyasha snapped back at her, lips curled in a snarl.
The angel sighed. Not this again.
The woman’s phone started ringing and even though none of them could hear what was being said on the other line, the woman’s hysterical screams afterwards were a dead giveaway. “My house! No, what happened? How is this—? Not my house!”
“Inuyasha,” Kagome hissed, stepping around him and poking him aggressively in the side. “Do not tell me you burned this poor woman’s house down because she scolded you!”
Inuyasha made a face at her.
Two blocks over, on a house nestled in the corner lot, a tabby cat unhappily wailed on the grass. It was extremely confused. It had been lying in a nice patch of sunlight on the floor and then, unexpectedly…
Well, it was outside. On the grass. The cat hated grass, and he especially hated whatever it was that put him out here. The stupid dog had been taken for a walk so it was time to relax, for the first time in what felt like ages.
The cat took one step on the grass, and then another. Slowly, discontentedly, it made its way to the stone of the little pathway. Come Hell or high water, the cat would get back inside.
And then, in a blink, the cat was. He sneezed, startled, claws digging into the carpet. He was back inside, only a few steps away from his beloved patch of sunlight. The cat blinked and then shrugged, or as close to a shrug as a cat could get, before he laid back down.
If the cat had explored the house, he would have realized that nearly everything was the same as before. There were scratches on the trim, drips on kitchen cabinets that hadn’t been cleaned and a large dust bunny sitting in the corner of the office that no one had dared check on in a long time.
However, if you looked in the living room about two feet away from where the cat had returned, you would see a scorch mark in the otherwise white carpet. You would even – if you had a good nose – smell a little bit of burning and a tiny hint of sulphur.
It was fine though. The ugly green couch covered it, just like it covered a wine stain and a forgotten spoon.
“Inuyasha.”
The demon rolled his eyes. “No, I didn’t burn her house down,” he snapped, eyes landing on the kid who was smiling tremulously. “It was a prank call.”
Kagome sighed again and leaned out of the doorway as if she could catch sight of the human woman. She was long gone, having run off with her dog in her fit of hysterics. Inuyasha was not sorry in the least.
“It’s okay,” the kid said suddenly. “Inuyasha swears worse in my head.”
This didn’t make him feel better at all. “What the fuck,” he stated. It wasn’t a question. He checked again, trying to see if there was a celestial aura around the child. There wasn’t, so he was definitely human. Kind of off though, in a weird way he didn’t recognize.
“Please ignore Inuyasha,” Kagome requested gently, squatting down to be more level with the kid. “He’s just cranky. What’s your name?”
“Shippo,” the kid introduced, and his smile was a shy, tiny thing that Inuyasha didn’t trust for shit. His dimples were out in full force, nearly distracting from the freckles along his cheeks and nose, or the glittering of his green eyes. Inuyasha wasn’t fooled. Something wasn’t right.
“It’s nice to meet you, Shippo,” Kagome greeted. “Now, do you want to come inside? I think I have some water or milk, if you want.”
His lips trembled a little. “Do you have apple juice?”
She didn’t, Inuyasha knew, but the angel smiled anyways. “I do. Come on, let’s go get some.”
He followed them inside, slowly so to better watch the kid. Shippo took in the place with a sort of child’s fascination. His green eyes surveyed the room: the white couches and the big TV screen that was rarely used. The stacks of books on shelves filled with knickknacks from places all over the world. The beautiful kitchen, with shining appliances and an actual, honest-to-goodness cookie jar filled with cookies. Shippo struggled to get up on one of the barstools located at the kitchen island, but he managed to sit without falling. Inuyasha would even dare to say that the kid looked a bit proud.
Kagome was buried in her fridge, the door of it swinging back to close on her. She didn’t seem to mind, snapping her fingers and making a little noise of approval as the contents of the water jug changed. “Found some,” she declared, bringing it out and grabbing two cups. She almost grabbed three but Inuyasha glared that nonsense right out of her.
“Thank you,” Shippo said dutifully, taking his cup and having a long drink. Inuyasha tried to impress upon Kagome in that moment that something was off. Wrong. There was no way in Hell some human child could get past her wards.
Kagome, as usual, sniffed and ignored him.
Oh, the angel was out to kill him again. Every damnable time.
When the kid finished drinking, he put down his cup on the counter and stared at it. He stared at it and Inuyasha was an immortal being older than… Well, older than a lot of things, the earth and humanity being two of them. But he recognized that stare, the way someone hid behind a mask to shove down fear and sorrow. This was Inuyasha’s wheelhouse. This was what Inuyasha looked for in humans, the little cracks that he could pick at.
How the fuck did a child like this have a look like that already?
“Kagome,” Inuyasha started but Shippo smiled then, still tremulous. It was like at any moment the façade could crash, but he was trying anyways.
“It’s nice to meet you,” the kid said, and for some reason these words sounded just as practiced as his initial greeting at the door.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” Kagome responded. She leaned forward on the counter, braced on her elbows to be as close to the kid as she could. Everything about her radiated calmness and tranquility. Inuyasha sneezed. “You said my name, earlier. How did you know it?”
“I’ve always known it,” Shippo replied, but his gaze was focused on the grey and glittering countertop. “You’ve always been…” He pointed to his temple. He was no longer smiling.
“Okay,” Kagome said gently. “That’s okay. Can I ask you another question?”
The kid swallowed, but Inuyasha could see the moment something flashed in his eyes, a kind of realization one got as they aged, as they learned the way of the world. His little spine straightened in the chair, serving to only make him look ridiculous as his tiny feet dangled off. Still, his voice was steady when he dropped the metaphorical bomb on them. “I know all of your questions,” Shippo said. He swallowed hard once more and blinked away what could have been tears. “No, I’m not lost. Yes, I was looking for your house. It was easy to find. I’ve seen it all my life. The house with the fox in the window. And… And I know you’re best friends with a demon but that’s okay, because you’re also his best friend. And I’m sad because my dad—”
Oh shit, the thing was crying. The kid was crying.
Inuyasha put his hands up, mouthing ‘not it’ over and over while Kagome grimaced and fluttered her hands a moment, uselessly. Neither of them really dealt with children all that often. They were too…malleable. Any sort of temptation or blessing may or may not have any effect as they grew. It was largely a wasted effort, something that they decided in the year 1101 to never attempt again.
Clearly a mistake now. Hindsight was a bitch.
“Hey, hey,” Kagome tried, and if her voice could get any gentler Inuyasha was pretty sure soft fuzzy things would poof into the air and rub against him. “It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re not mad, or unhappy. Or…” Kagome looked to him for help.
Inuyasha shrugged wildly. What the fuck was he going to suggest? “Mad?” he whispered.
“I already said that,” Kagome hissed before hugging the child and rubbing at his back. “It’s okay. I promise.”
That, at least, gave him an idea. Inuyasha crouched down, making sure that Shippo could see him before he said, “You said you know us, right? Well, then you know that when Kagome promises something, it’s unbreakable. There. Fixed. You’re okay.”
Kagome rolled her eyes at him, but Shippo actually laughed a little, a strangled sound that was almost more of a sob. It seemed to help him calm down though. The angel snapped her fingers and a tissue box appeared on the counter. She offered it to Shippo.
“There,” Kagome murmured quietly, her hand soothing through his red, fiery locks. “That’s better, yeah?”
Shippo nodded haltingly, blowing his nose. “I knew this was going to—to happen. I knew but I didn’t want—” He cried a little again, face pressed into the tissue. “But I had to escape and in a minute they’ll be here and—”
“Wait, hold the fuck up,” Inuyasha cut in. He could feel his entire body tensing up, mind running with possibilities. Angels? Demons? Kagome’s house was warded to prevent anything from looking too closely but if they already knew the location, there would be nothing to stop them.
Nothing to stop them from seeing the two of them together, in the same house.
Fuck.
Six thousand fucking years and a snotty-nosed brat with a crying problem was going to ruin it all.
“Who did you escape from?” Inuyasha demanded.
“The Thunder Brothers,” Shippo answered, voice small. “They—They took me from my dad because I know things and—” He hiccupped. “They want me back.”
“Thunder Brothers,” Kagome murmured, brow furrowed in thought. “I don’t know of them. Certainly not angelic.”
“Me either,” Inuyasha replied, shaking his head.
“You don’t,” Shippo stated, and the defeated slump of his shoulders made the words somehow harder to hear. “They’re human but they…believe in things.”
Kagome hugged him again, arms tightening briefly. “Humans can’t find this house.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and pointed at the kid. The angel glared at him.
“They can. Will,” Shippo corrected. He sniffed and then lifted the bottom of his pants. Inuyasha hadn’t been paying any attention to his clothes – far more focused on everything else about him that seemed to disarm – but they were ratty, second-hand and barely kept together at the seams. They were well, well-worn. Too worn. Inuyasha frowned, noticing the stains absolutely everywhere, even on his shirt. A shining green light distracted him though, brought his golden eyes back down to the kid’s ankle. There, black and covered in grime, was some kind of bracelet, tight on Shippo’s leg.
“A tracker?” Kagome asked. The grim lines on her face suggested she knew the answer well enough. There was a burning blaze, Inuyasha could see, building behind those dark eyes. He hadn’t been witness to it very often, even knowing the angel for as long as he did.
That meant only one thing.
“I’m special,” Shippo whispered, tears back in his eyes.
With a flourish, Kagome’s hand flicked as if she was opening a sliding door. On the counter, a very large and very old bow rested. So, that was where she was hiding it. Inuyasha pressed his lips together, hating the sight of it.
“Don’t you dare,” Kagome said loftily, in that prim tone that meant she was doing her best to remain angelic even as she threatened him.
“Forgive me for not liking this turn of events,” Inuyasha growled out, gesturing towards the weapon. “Last time I saw it, things were a little tense.”
The angel glared up at the Heavens – and only the Almighty knew what, exactly, was going through Kagome’s mind – but Inuyasha wasn’t deterred.
“I’ll handle it,” he stated.
Kagome narrowed her eyes, and Inuyasha would have felt gut-punched if he hadn’t prepared himself for that fiery gaze. Six thousand years. Six thousand years and it still got him every, single time. “This is my house.”
You’re my angel, Inuyasha stubbornly thought, locking his lips. Those words would never see the light of day. The Devil could torture him for millennia and Inuyasha wouldn’t budge.
But Kagome had always been far more preceptive than he. She had always seemed to understand him, even if the sentiment wasn’t exactly correct. Her face softened minutely, her hands still carding through the child’s hair as she considered. Every time this happened, Inuyasha’s stupid human heart would feel like it was in his throat. Like Kagome would figure it all the fuck out and then smite him, or worse.
“I’ll fucking handle it,” Inuyasha snapped again, fingers twitching with unease. He looked to the kid. “Where are they?”
“I don’t—” Shippo wiped at his face and clenched his little jaw. “They’ll be here soon. Very soon. There’s no—”
“Works for me,” he interrupted, letting his eyes flare a startling, demonic red. He truly wasn’t sure what the kid saw when he looked at him, but it didn’t matter. Not right at that instant.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Kagome reminded him but Inuyasha was already walking away, already storming out the front door.
Two humans stood on Kagome’s lawn, looking horribly confused and torn. One of them held a cell phone tightly in hand, their eyes studying it before staring at the house, eyes glazing over from the wards. Well then, the little brat was right.
“You,” Inuyasha growled, feet all but shaking the earth as he stalked forward. “Who are you?”
One of them looked utterly terrified, instantly taking a step back. The other stuttered, greedy and desperate, pushing out, “We’re looking for—”
But Inuyasha never let him finish that sentence, his hand shooting out to grab the human by the neck. He lifted him into the air, the man’s feet dangling as he gasped, scared.
Not scared enough. Not pissing himself terrified, thinking death was around the corner. That was what they deserved. That was what they got for coming and ruining his perfectly nice dinner with his angel and making his evening a little bit more like Hell.
And Inuyasha fucking hated Hell.
With a snarl, Inuyasha let every bit of him shift: his teeth and claws elongating, his eyes burning red with purple irises. Coloured scars oozed from his face like they were being cut, right then and there, merciless and bloody. “You aren’t looking for anything,” he growled, making sure that every word held an emphasis that rattled in their little minds. “You will not ever touch the child and you will never, ever come back here.”
The human that was not in his grasp fainted. Inuyasha would be pleased, but it felt too fucking good to let loose for a moment, and there was nothing ever pleased or happy or nice in this form. He threw the other human onto the lawn.
“Inuyasha!”
Like a switch being flipped, he was suddenly back. It was a strange way to describe it, considering Inuyasha had never left or went anywhere. Still, it was the only way to make sense of how her voice triggered him back, back to the same-old, same-old: a demon with golden irises and unmarked skin. Spinning around, he rolled his eyes at her, all for show. “Did you have to?”
Kagome sighed at him, gesturing to the world around them. For the first time, Inuyasha remembered that he was out in the middle of the street, at a perfectly normal walking hour. Anyone could have seen him.
“Oh.” How in the world was he going to play this off? Demons didn’t exactly go around saying thanks. He went back to his usual line. “Thwarting me again, are you?”
“Oh hush,” Kagome admonished. “And come inside.”
Inuyasha looked around for the so-called Thunder Brothers, noting that the only awake one was trying to slap the other back to consciousness. For Heaven’s sake, he just wanted them gone. With a snap of his fingers, the passed-out human woke up screaming and then, after much stumbling and swearing, the two were gone.
He smirked up at the angel. “You can’t say I’m not effective.”
“You’re something, alright,” Kagome answered, but there was a smile in her eyes. When he re-entered the house and came to the kitchen, the bow was long gone. The child still sat on the barstool; his teary green eyes focused on his lap. The ankle tracker was no longer on, something Kagome must have gotten rid of the moment Inuyasha stepped outside.
Kagome hesitated before reaching him, and Inuyasha could see the very second that her mind was made up. Angel or not, natural caregiver or not, she was going to do everything she could to make Shippo feel better. The very start of it was pouring him some more juice. “Here,” she murmured, pushing the cup into his hands. “Want to watch some TV for a bit? Unless you want…” Floundering, she gestured at Inuyasha to say something.
He shook his head. He’d definitely only make the child cry more.
Shippo didn’t seem to notice their struggle, or if he did, he didn’t point it out. Maybe that was something children simply didn’t notice in adults. The kid nodded though, struggling to get off the seat before dejectedly sitting on the couch. He looked absolutely miserable, and Inuyasha had seen some miserable humans in his life before.
Kagome waved at him to go downstairs, brown eyes wide and desperate. Inuyasha made a face at her but did as she asked, knowing she would follow behind just as soon as she had set Shippo up with the television. Goofy, high-pitched voices floated from it moments later. Some sort of cartoon, he imagined, and then there was Kagome’s soothing voice speaking to the kid in low tones.
Rubbing at his face, Inuyasha wondered how any of this could have happened. It was only supposed to be an easy evening. Some wine, some complaining, some bragging and they would spend the whole time on the couch. Kagome would get as drunk as him, but the wine always brought a flush to her cheeks, something that irritated her about her human corporation. As the night turned into the next day, darkness all around, the angel would start to slouch just like he was so that they were almost touching. In moments like that, Inuyasha forgot about everything. He forgot about Heaven and Hell, their respective duties. He forgot about the fact that he was never supposed to befriend the angel, was never supposed to talk to her for any longer than it took to thwart or disable her.
He forgot that they shouldn’t touch, or laugh, or do any of the things they would inevitably end up doing.
Inuyasha glared up at the ceiling, imagining that the strength of it would continue up and up and up, until She felt it. Until She knew. Inuyasha had expressed his grievances to Her a long time ago, millennium ago. She never answered. Inuyasha hadn’t honestly expected otherwise.
“What do we do?”
Kagome’s rushed words startled the demon from his thoughts, a little surprised to notice that the angel was already downstairs and by his side. She pushed at him to go deeper into the room where her second kitchen – because of course she would have a second kitchen – sat. The basement, at least, was a lot more concealed than the upper floor. Inuyasha couldn’t see Shippo so unless the kid decided to snoop, he wouldn’t be able to see or hear them either.
Inuyasha snapped his fingers, the unfinished bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape appearing on the counter space with two clean wineglasses. He poured the drink by hand, giving himself a moment to deliberate. He didn’t know what the fuck to think.
“Inuyasha,” the angel hissed. “I’m serious! What do we do?” She took the wine readily enough though, taking a very large sip that was very unlike her indeed.
It made his stomach clench, knowing that he had to say something. If only to help her. “We… I don’t know. Talk to the kid? Figure out why the fuck he’s here? Why the fuck he knows our names? Why the fuck he managed to get past your wards in the first place? Why those two assclowns were—”
“Yes, a lot of questions, yes,” Kagome replied, irritated. “But none of that helps the boy. He’s so young, Inuyasha. He’s – what? – maybe eight? His soul is still so new.”
“Is it, though?” Inuyasha questioned. He was unable to help himself from adding the lingering doubt he had into his words, testing. “Is his soul new? Because there’s something wrong with him.”
“Inuyasha—”
“Don’t condemn me like that, angel,” Inuyasha growled, lips curling. “You know it, too. His aura is off.”
“He’s human, though.” The words were a lot less heated than before, but Kagome had never backed down from him in the past. He didn’t expect it now, either. “We would know if he was one of ours.”
“Maybe he’s something different.”
“But he’s human! His soul is—He’s human. I’m not wrong.”
Inuyasha downed his wine and refilled his glass with a wave of his hand. “Alright then. What do you think we should do?”
For a long moment, the two of them were silent, stewing. With every second that ticked by, the angel seemed to wilt, shoulders sagging inwards until she was leaning on the counter for support. “Ask him questions, I guess,” she finally murmured. “He has to have parents, right?”
Inuyasha raised a brow at her. “You know that’s not always true. He cried when he mentioned his father.”
“We have to ask anyways.”
“Yeah.”
The angel stared into her empty wine glass, mulling something over. Inuyasha waited, knowing that sooner rather than later she would talk, would empty out whatever thoughts were taking space in her head. Kagome always preferred to think something through before speaking. It had made their little tête-à-têtes amusing because no matter what, the fast pace would trip her up and she’d say something un-angelic, or rude, or whatever it was she worried about.
“He’s…” Kagome licked her lips before continuing. “He’s so sad, Inuyasha. Sadder than a child should be. It’s this huge, gaping loss. I can feel it.”
Inuyasha sighed. “All we can do is ask and then figure out what’s best to do for him. We’re ethereal and occult beings. We can’t take care of him.”
“Obviously.” The words were sharp but that only meant Kagome had been considering that option already, and knew how wrong it was to do so. She would always be owned by Heaven, always in service to the Almighty and Her message. Child-raising wasn’t a part of that.
“So we go ask.”
Kagome stared at her glass for a moment more before putting it down, straightening her spine and rolling back her shoulders. Inuyasha couldn’t see her wings – well, he could if he tried, but the effort made it far from worth it. Still, he could almost imagine them, the way the white feathers would blind and spread and frame her. Proud, a bit too prim. She led the way upstairs, feigned relaxation taking her over as she approached the couch.
Shippo sat there, staring at the television without really watching it. Inuyasha could tell.
“Shippo?” Kagome asked, in the exact same tone as she used before. Gentle. Soothing. “Can we talk to you for a moment?”
The kid sniffled a little but nodded, sitting up a bit more like he knew exactly what kind of conversation it was.
“Do you mind if we ask you how you were able to find my house?” Kagome asked quietly, sitting down beside him with a foot of distance between them.
“It took some years, but after a lot of sleeps, I knew exactly where it was,” the kid explained, even though that was no explanation at all. “And then I could feel it, when I got close. And then I saw the fox.”
Inuyasha sat down on the table across from him. He didn’t bother to try for Kagome’s level of sweetness. “What do you mean? How did sleeping help?”
“Dreams.” Shippo stared at the couch cushion, fingers idly tracing invisible patterns. “About you. About Kagome. About a lot of things, but mostly you guys.”
Unable to stop himself, Inuyasha glanced Kagome’s way. “What are the dreams about?”
Shippo frowned. “Things that are going to happen.”
“Like the future?”
The kid nodded.
Kagome put her hand down, close to his leg. She didn’t touch him though, simply tried to be comforting in the only way she knew how, the only way she had seen humans do for years and years. “How did you know it was the future?”
“The ones not about you,” he answered. For a stubborn moment, it seemed like it was all he was going to say. He sniffled again. “They’d be about my mom or my dad. The dream. And then it would happen when I was awake, but later.”
“How much later?” Inuyasha interjected.
The kid shrugged. “Sometimes right away. Other times after a while, I don’t know.”
“Okay,” Kagome soothed. “So you saw us. Do you…know what we are?”
Not who they are, Inuyasha thought, since that much was obvious. Shippo was some sort of seer, maybe, and he had proven to know their names from the moment he knocked on their door.
Shippo pointed to Kagome. “I told you before. You’re an angel. He’s a demon. You’re not supposed to be friends.” He smiled, but it was that small and tremulous thing from before, a little wobbly. “It’s okay though. I never told anyone.”
Kagome did a good job of hiding it, but Inuyasha could practically feel her gasp. Her angelic aura fluttered, fierce and protective and sad for the child. Inuyasha didn’t wince, but it was a near thing. He didn’t have to imagine the way that Kagome was already wondering how to make him better, how to make the child happy once more. This child that was protecting them by not sharing the secret, even though in doing so nothing would happen. No human would care. There were other demons and angels, of course, that occasionally visited but the chances were…low.
Still, Kagome was practically extending her wings around the brat.
Inuyasha held himself back from reacting, from growling out in jealousy. He was thousands and thousands of years old. He was not, and would not be, jealous.
“Why did those humans – the Thunder Brothers – put a tracker on you? Where are your parents?” The questions were said lightly, an attempt to be delicate.
Shippo visibly choked up, teary-eyed, but he answered in a wobbly voice. “The men took me when I was coming home from school. They heard… They knew about my dreams. My parents… They didn’t know they were real. They told people things I thought. They figured it out and took me.”
“And your parents?” Inuyasha questioned.
Kagome shot him a glare that he ignored. Shippo made a little sound of distress, shrugging helplessly. “Home,” he whispered tremulously. “They’re…” He shrugged again, like he didn’t know what else to do. Like it was the only thing he could do. “Home. Together.”
“Okay,” the angel murmured, finally closing the distance between them. Her hand went to his shoulder, soothing up and down his arm. “It’s okay.”
“Can you take me home?” Shippo asked brokenly. He didn’t hide his tears, and Inuyasha pressed his lips together for only a moment before willing a brand-new tissue box into his hands. He held it out, ignoring once again Kagome’s look. This one was softer than the one before.
“Of course we can take you home,” the angel replied. “Where do you live? We can bring you right away.”
Inuyasha sent her a sharp glance, assessing. She couldn’t mean snapping there; the miracle would be duly noted in her file to Heaven. Even Inuyasha couldn’t get away with it. How the fuck could he explain reuniting a child with his parents as an evil act? Unless he was the Antichrist, that sort of thing would be seen as helpful, and demons were never, ever helpful.
“It’s fine,” Kagome said, as if it was that simple. “I’ll deal with it.”
Inuyasha snorted but kept quiet.
“Can you tell me where you live?” Kagome asked. “What your address is, or your town?”
“In Lions Bay,” the kid answered automatically. “8764 Lions Bay Avenue.”
Inuyasha squinted for no particular reason, other than he was trying to think about where the blessed place was. It took him a moment to realize that it was on the opposite side of the country, a solid two days of driving, more with stops.
Never mind. Snapping was definitely the best option.
“That’s fine,” Kagome assured. “We can go there. I can take you right now.”
Shippo looked up at her, a sort of sad hope shining in his green eyes. Inuyasha frowned, unsure as he watched him. That didn’t seem…right. Not the right response.
“Right then,” the angel said. She smiled at Inuyasha before he could even say anything, her hand winding around the child’s shoulders. “I’ll be back momentarily.” She closed her eyes, took a breath, and then snapped her fingers.
Inuyasha blinked at her. Blinked again. She was still there.
To her credit, Kagome didn’t even have to open her eyes. She knew something was wrong, the curve of her lips descending. She shook her head and snapped her fingers again, sharper.
Nothing.
There was a stab of disappointment in the child’s eyes, disappointment that shouldn’t have been there. Even if he knew something was wrong… He should have been confused. Not disappointed. Not like he already knew.
Unless he did.
“It’s divine,” Inuyasha said slowly, leaning forward until he was in the kid’s space. “Whatever helps you to see, it’s divine.”
Shippo swallowed. “I didn’t know.”
“But you knew this wouldn’t work,” the demon pressed, eyes narrowing.
“I saw it—”
“In a dream.” Inuyasha scowled. “Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”
Kagome seemed utterly flummoxed, still staring at her fingers. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Divine intervention, angel,” Inuyasha reminded her. He hated how his voice was soft. He cleared his throat, lowering his gaze to the ground. “That means above our paygrade.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Kagome insisted. “They would have told me. I would have known. If anything came from Her—If there was a new Creation upon the humans—”
“But he’s not new, is he?” Inuyasha growled and rubbed at his face. The pieces were all clicking together, old and fuzzy but punched in with enough effort. He was so over this, over the whole Great Plan, and he hadn’t been an angel since… Well, since before humanity, at least. “Can’t be. He’s a fucking Prophet.”
“A Prophet?” Kagome raked her dark gaze up and down the child, stunned. “He’s so young.” She frowned, a hand carding through his fiery red hair. “They still would have told me. It can’t be.”
“I am.” Shippo wrapped his arms around himself, legs already curled up tightly to his chest. The position was so familiar – so similar to Kagome, to earlier on that very couch, so child-like and small – that Inuyasha did a double-take. “It’s why I see things.”
“You couldn’t have said this before?” Inuyasha snarled. He stood up, pacing towards the kitchen before stomping back. Divine creation or not, he didn’t like leaving Kagome there to flounder by herself.
“Things have to happen a certain way,” the kid answered. In that moment, he sounded older than any eight year-old had in the entirety of the human race. His green eyes were fixed solemnly on the TV, unseeing. “And some things can’t be changed no matter what you do.”
He sniffled and Kagome sighed, hugging the child like it was natural. Like only fifteen minutes ago, she hadn’t been terrified of interacting with a kid. “It’s ineffable.”
“Oh fuck ‘ineffable,’” Inuyasha snapped. “The Plan.”
“The Great Plan.”
“Fuck that, too.” The demon smirked, pleased with himself. It didn’t even dampen when Kagome turned her long-suffering gaze to him. “What? How long have we been on this earth? Shit, this isn’t even our first Prophet. There’s no Great Plan. Even if there is, it’s not happening yet.”
“He hasn’t come into his power fully,” Kagome argued. “There’s no way! A child? Inuyasha, this doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, he’s here. He’s in our house.” Inuyasha pointed at the ground and then winced. He hoped like Hell that she didn’t catch his slip-up. “So if there’s some big ineffable plan, then this has to be a part of it.”
Shippo twisted from his position on the couch, the better to look at him. “I don’t see—I don’t see far, I don’t think. But I have seen what happens next.”
Inuyasha waved out his hands, big and wide. “Then what, runt? What’s next?”
“Inuyasha!” Kagome scolded but Shippo didn’t seem to care or mind. Maybe he really was used to him thanks to the version of Inuyasha that lived inside of his head.
“You take me home.” Shippo sniffled into a small smile. “You and Kagome make sure I get home.”