A Father's Duty by Aubrey Simone

The Ears of an Inu

Pre-Note: Well, I saw R0o's art, titled It's Your Mother's Fault (http://www.dokuga.com/gallery?func=detail&id=4189) and couldn't resist … Don't worry, she's been notified of my inspiration! Enjoy!

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"Tou-san! Tou-san!"

Running as quickly as her little legs could carry her, the dark-haired, adorable inu youkai dashed across the beach, calling for her father as loud as she could.

He had been watching her as she played with some of the other children, and he began to walk toward her, silver hair drifting in the breeze. She could see his golden eyes even from the distance, and she already began to feel better at the reassurance she could clearly make out in his expression.

Without stopping, she launched herself into her Tou-san's long arms, wrapping her much shorter arms around his neck as he hugged her briefly to his chest. "What ails you, pup?"

His deep voice was soothing, and Mikoto resisted the urge to sniffle as she stared into his face. "The other kids were talking about my ears," she mumbled, valiantly fighting back the tears even as they stung at her eyes.

Her father's eyes flicked to the sides of her head, where her ears were glaringly obvious even amidst the unruly tangle of her thick black hair. "What about your ears?"

Now, she did sniffle, swallowing before responding, "They said that my ears are too big!" Unable to hold back any longer, she allowed a large, hot tear to slide down her cheek, which her Tou-san quickly cleared away with one long finger.

"You get your ears from your father, Mikoto," a calm, melodic voice responded. The little youkai turned to see her mother walking over to them, her sandals in her hands and her feet bare, covered with warm sand. "You'll grow into them."

For a moment, Mikoto watched her mother uncertainly, and then, turning to her father with a quizzical expression, cocked her head to one side. "Is that true, Tou-san? Your ears don't look big…Does that mean you grew into them?"

Her father's sharp eyes flicked to her mother's, and, after a moment, he turned back to her, nodding. "Hai, pup, you get your big ears from your Tou-san, and yes, you'll grow into them." He paused, almost thoughtfully, and then added, "But you get your big head from your mother, and that's what I'm worried about." Grinning, he leaned closer, whispering, "She still hasn't grown into hers."

For a moment, everything was silent.

"Sesshomaru!"

Her Tou-san laughed, and then held her close and ran away from her spluttering mother.

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End Note: And there you are! I'm tempted to start an artwork inspired one-shot and drabble series, so I'll probably be adding more to this at some point, assuming my professors cut me a little slack from time to time … At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this little bit, and be sure to check out R0o's original picture!

p.s. – Yes, for those of you who are waiting for it, I will have the first chapter of my new story, An Artist's Touch, out tomorrow afternoon, so be on the lookout!

p.p.s – Mikoto belongs to R0o, just in case anyone was wondering.

p.p.p.s – I took a little creative liberty when I wrote this, so if it doesn't seem like exactly what might have happened in the picture, it's because I've tweaked it a bit.

Much Love,

~Aubrey