Encounters with Obakemono by tenchi no mai

Me-kurabe (Staring Contest)

This was written in response to MontiK's challenge.

Theme:  Me-kurabe     

Due:   August 16, 2009

Required Word Count:  700

Actual Word Count: 1933 (story only)

Universe:  Canon

Rating:  T

Warnings:  None 

Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media.   Only the plot to this story and my original characters, Shun and Hayato, are my intellectual property.  I do not make any money from the writing of this story. 

'Italics' = thoughts 

Me-kurabe (Staring Contest)

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes.  Inuyasha and Shippo were at it again.  She wasn't sure if she was more upset with Souta or Inuyasha.  Souta for introducing the game to Inuyasha on his last visit to her time, or Inuyasha for bringing it back to the feudal era and trying to prove that he was the best at it. 

Shippo was standing, feet apart and braced, on a tree stump with his arms crossed on his chest, green eyes sparkling, staring intently at Inuyasha. 

Inuyasha was sitting crosslegged in front of Shippo, hands in his haori sleeves, Tessaiga held possessively against his  shoulder, and starting to growl.  

"Inuyasha, it's not fair if you are going to try and intimidate Shippo just because you are getting frustrated.  Why don't you just give up?"  Kagome stood, grabbing the water bottles, along with her bow and arrows.  

"It's okay, Kagome, I've won the last three staring contests with Inuyahsa, and I'll win this one too.  He always gets distracted by something or other."  Shippo's grin widened as he noticed Inuyasha's right eye starting to twitch.  He knew that Kikyo's soul collectors had been flitting around through the trees for the last few minutes tyring to get Inuyasha's attention.  Shippo's demon senses had picked up on them the minute they got within 100 feet of the campsite.  He also knew that Inuyasha hadn't been able to sense them until they were much closer.  He was going to win this contest also, all he had to do was hold on for another minute or two! 

"Keh..." Inuyasha suddenly jumped up, turning away from Shippo, and sped off after the pale, slithering soul collectors. 

Kagome felt a shiver run down her spine  The eerie snake like shinidama chuu never failed to creep her out.  It wasn't just their sudden silent appearance, or their blank soulless eyes staring at her,  it was also the fact of what the shikigami did.  Stealing the souls of recently deceased young women was so wrong.  She slowly shook her head as she watched Inuyasha depart through the trees. 

"Shippo, do you and Rin want to come with me and help fill the water bottles?"  Kagome threw off her disgust with the soul collectors and decided to think about more pleasant things.  Maybe they would be able to forage some fruit for dessert while they were walking back from the river.  Miroku had said something about some orange trees when he had returned with the firewood.  She grabbed her shawl from the big pocket in the backpack; if there were oranges she could use it as a furoshiki to carry them back. 

~*~

Sesshoumaru sat under a tree in his usual posture, with one knee raised and a hand resting on it.  This was his favorite thinking pose.  He watched the miko search around for something before grabbing her shawl then taking Rin and Shippo with her to get water.  

He was about to send Jaken with them when he realized that the kappa had disappeared again.  Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes; Jaken had taken to making himself scarce ever since the pebble throwing incident after he had met the Kashambo.  Maybe the kappa was smarter than he gave him credit for.  It appeared he had taken the miko's basket.  Hopefully he was searching for some vegetables to go with dinner and not causing any more problems. 

Sesshoumaru unfurled his jyaki and searched the surrounding area finding it clear of any troublesome youkai.  He would be able to monitor the miko and children from here, but could be with them in seconds if there were any problems.  The miko had been complaining lately about him being overly protective.  Apparently she still did not understand youkai, especially inu youkai, when it came to their intended mates.  The remark about being overly possessive was especially irritating.  She was his intended mate, therefore she was his to protect as well as his to possess.  Evidently some further lessons for the miko in youkai customs and behavior was required. 

~*~

Miroku had started the fire for cooking dinner and it was now burning brightly as he fed more wood to the flames.  It would probably be about the right temperature when Sango returned.  Kagome told him that she had taken Kirara with her and gone to hunt some small game for dinner. 

He paled when Sesshoumaru released his jyaki and it bit painfully against his holy powers.  At close range it was comparable to being slammed into a rock wall.  Miroku knew that Sesshoumaru used it as a warning system and to be able to monitor the surrounding area, but it was still physically highly uncomfortable, especially when you weren't expecting to have it crash into you.  He also knew that Kagome and, to a slightly lesser extent, Sango would feel the release of power. 

Deciding to vacate the immediate area of the campsite, hoping to lessen the effect of the jyaki on his nerves, Miroku nodded to Sesshoumaru, then followed Kagome and the children towards the river. 

~*~

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes further as he watched the monk stride out of the campsite in the direction the miko and the children had gone to get water.  It wasn't that he didn't trust the miko, because he did, she just somehow always managed to get herself into awkward situations without someone to keep an eye on her.  The one he didn't trust was the monk.  He was a lecher of the worst sort, always trying to put his hands on females that were not his to touch. 

Slowly trailing after the monk, he could easily follow him even if he wasn't youkai by the merry jingling of the rings on his shakujo, Sesshoumaru listened intently for a loud "smacking" sound.  Not hearing anything other than the children laughing, he stopped at the top of a slight rise where he could keep an eye on the monk, yet remain unseen. 

A short time later the group emerged from the trees by the river and headed back along the trail towards camp.  The miko was in the lead, followed by Rin, then Shippo, with the monk bringing up the rear.  Seeing nothing was amiss, Sesshoumaru returned to the campsite, noting the slayer had come back with several rabbits that she was in the process of spitting to cook over the fire.   

Kagome walked into camp with several of the water bottles.  Rin and Shippo followed each carrying one of the containers.  Miroku struggled with Kagome's shawl, which held a large number of the satsuma, or mandarin oranges, that the local area was famous for.  Jaken reappeared with the missing basket containing mushrooms as well as sweet potatoes.  Looking over at Sango, Kagome grinned.  "It looks like we will have a decent dinner tonight after all." 

Shippo was once more bragging to Rin about winning the staring contest with Inuyasha when the hanyou dropped into the campsite with a wild boar piglet.  Dropping it by the fire, Inuyasha glared at Shippo.  "I heard that, brat!" 

"Yeah, so, it's the truth!  I won the last few times!"  Shippo glared right back at  him. 

"Will you two stop it!  This is so juvenile, Inuyasha.  It's not that important."  Kagome didn't want to have to listen to this nonsense all night.  

'Yes, childish is a good way to describe Inuyasha's behavior.'  Sesshoumaru internally smirked.  'The kits actions can be overlooked, as he is only a youngster, however Inuyasha should know better by now.' 

Miroku decided to add his two coins worth.  "Now Kagome, you are aware that staring contests go back a long time.  There is a famous story, or legend, about Taira no Kiyomori and a staring contest." 

Kagome searched her mind for an historical reference. "Wasn't he a samauri general and the grandfather of one of the Emperors?"

"Yes, he was.  Kiyomori was quite ruthless as the head of the Taira clan.  He was notorious for his brutal and merciless treatment of anyone who opposed him.  It is told that he eventually went mad and often had visions of hell.  Supposedly, one day he went out into his courtyard and it was completely filled with human skulls, all rolling back and forth.  He was undisturbed and looked around for the culprit.  Then the skulls began to roll together and piled up as high as a mountain.  They all glared at him with human like eyes.  The story continues that Kiyomori was unperturbed by the scene, grunted at them and stared back.  The skulls then vanished without a trace."  Miroku added a few more pieces of wood to the fire. 

"Well that is one strange story, Miroku."  Sango laughed as she continued turning the rabbits on the spit.  Kagome had added another spit with the suckling piglet and was nodding her head in agreement as it began to cook and the smell permeated the air around the camp. 

Inuyasha had plopped down on the ground some distance from the fire and was staring at Sesshoumaru.  Kagome poked Sango in the ribs with her elbow and nodded towards Inuyasha.  

"Inuyasha, I wouldn't do that if I were you, or did you forget what happened the last time you tried to start a staring contest with Sesshoumaru-sama?"  Sango couldn't resist teasing the hanyou.  It had taken him a couple of days to recover from the swipe of claws when he had startled the demon lord in the hot spring. 

Sesshoumaru turned his head, raising an eyebrow at Inuyasha.  Gold met gold in a clash of ice and fire; Inuyasha quickly realized that he wouldn't win this time either.  

As he stared into his half-brothers eyes a strange thing happened.  Time seemed to stand still and a different pair of warm golden eyes was looking intently down at him.  He saw the love and affection that was always missing from Sesshoumaru's usual icy glare.  When his vision slowly widened, he noticed that there was no indigo crescent moon on this forehead and only one dark blue stripe on each cheek.  The long white hair was more like his own in color than Sesshoumaru's silver locks, and there was a huge smile on the males face.  'A fine baby boy, Izayoi!  I shall name him Inuyasha.' 

Inuyasha shivered, then blinked and the hallucination wavered and slowly disappeared.  He was once again staring back into Sesshoumaru's annoyed golden eyes.  In a whisper that was heard by no one except his half-brother, Inuyasha questioned, "I wonder, what was father like?"  Turning away from Sesshoumaru he stared with puzzled golden eyes into the fire trying to make some sense of what had just occured. 

Sesshoumaru's eyes flickered in surprise when he heard the barely whispered question.  He was debating the answer as Inuyasha turned away to stare at the dancing flames. 

Rising from his spot under the tree, Sesshoumaru looked over to the miko, indicating for her to accompany him. 

Kagome followed Sesshoumaru some distance from the campsite before he stopped by the river and sat down under one of the orange trees.  While attempting to sit beside him, she was quickly pulled into his lap.  

Sesshoumaru put a crooked finger under the miko's chin and tilted her head up before he gently kissed her oh so tempting mouth.  Pulling back from the kiss, he looked intently into her deep blue eyes, enjoying the way she stared back at him. 

As Kagome gazed back into the endless depths of Sesshoumaru's warm golden eyes, a fleeting thought crossed her mind.  ' Now this kind of staring contest I could get used to.'

~*~

Fin

Authors Note: 

Furoshiki are a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that were frequently used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods. Although possibly dating back as far as the Nara period, the name, meaning "bath spread", derives from the Edo period practice of using them to bundle clothes while at the public baths. Before becoming associated with public baths, furoshiki was known as hirazutsumi, or flat folded bundle. Eventually, the furoshiki's usage extended to serve as a means for merchants to transport their wares or to protect and decorate a gift.

Although there are still furoshiki users in Japan, their numbers declined in the post-war period, in large part due to the proliferation of the plastic shopping bags. In recent years, it has seen a renewed interest as environmental protection became a concern. Furoshiki are, however, commonly used to wrap and transport lunch boxes (bento) and often double as a table mat for the lunch.

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)