Inuyasha – The Cat o’ Nine Tails
As was depressingly normal for Inuyasha, he had been
injured. And now he had to be bandaged, also as usual. His usual
irritation
over being fussed about also was surfacing. All in all, Kagome thought,
it was
just another normal day here in the feudal era. “Will you stop
fidgeting?”
Kagome asked, trying to wrap the bandage for the third time.
“I don’t know why you keep fussing over me! I’m fine!”
Inuyasha snarled back, manifestly refusing to look at her. With a
‘hmmph!’ of
irritation Kagome also turned away, which was at the moment quite
ludicrous as
she was still trying to dress Inuyasha’s wounds.
“You know, I thought Miroku was the immature one around
here,” Shippou said. “I mean, sure he’s a lecher and perverted and all,
but
still…”
Miroku’s eyebrow twitched. “I think what Shippou is trying
to say is that you two should start growing up and not fight over such
trivial
issues…”
“Why don’t you keep your nose out of this!” Inuyasha
growled, leaning over towards the monk and shaking a fist. “I oughtta –
“
“You ought to sit down and let me finish!” Kagome hissed,
pushing him back down. With a final sneer and condescending look
Inuyasha
turned away.
“It makes me wonder how we ever find any shards of the
Sacred Jewel,” Sango sighed as she finished with the last of Miroku’s
bandages.
“Maybe we would find more of them if Kagome would stop
being such a pest all the time!” Inuyasha seemed to have an innate
inability to
know when he had crossed the line…
“What?!?” Kagome yelled. “At least I don’t go into fits of
depression and jealousy every time someone else pays attention to you!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Inuyasha shot back.
“Let’s get out of here,” Miroku sighed. He, Sango, and
Shippou walked out, pushing the reed mat aside and stepping out into
the dirt
roads of the village.
“Oh. Go ahead and pretend that you don’t know,” Kagome
sniffed.
“Just what the hell are you talking about anyway?” Inuyasha
demanded, half-standing.
“You know very well what I mean!” Kagome yelled back.
“Every time you see Kouga you want to kill him because he pays
attention to
me!”
“That’s because he tried to ‘claim’ you!!!” Inuyasha
shouted. “And you’re always defending him!!!”
The noise from the shack was nothing new to anyone, and
everyone who could hear just sighed, shook their head and went about
their
business.
Several days passed while Inuyasha and Miroku recuperated
from their wounds. Inuyasha of course was never at his most civil while
recovering. At the moment, Kagome studiously avoided tending to him,
which
meant Kaede was the one the job fell upon. Kagome decided instead to go
out and
look for the herbs which would be needed for the medicines, and after a
moment’s reflection Sango and Shippou decided to join her. Together,
they
walked off into the forest, seeking the ingredients they needed.
“Kagome, have you heard the latest news?” Sango asked. “A
village near here says they are being terrorized by a demon of some
kind. From
what I can tell, though, it’s not one of Naraku’s creations.”
“Oh? How can you be so certain?” Kagome asked.
“Well,” Sango answered wryly, “one of the reasons is that
there haven’t been any people killed as of yet. Rather, it seems that
their
young women are being kidnapped in the night, disappearing for a night
or two,
and coming back completely and utterly exhausted but otherwise fine.
Whatever
had gone on during their capture, they won’t discuss it, down to the
last
girl.”
“Hmm…” Kagome said, envisioning Miroku in demon form using
a village as his personal harem, then shuddering and shaking off that
thought.
“Well, if they’re not being harmed, it means we have some time to
consider the
problem, right?”
“I think that whatever it is could be easily handled by a
demon slayer such as myself,” Sango said with a grin. “The fact that it
hasn’t
harmed any of its victims means that it’s probably a rather low-grade
demon.
It’ll probably cut and run as soon as it sees a challenge.” Sango
hefted the
large weapon she hung from her back.
“I think someone’s head is getting swollen,” Kagome teased.
“Swollen? What do you mean?” Sango asked, smiling.
“Listen to you! You sound just like Inuyasha! ‘Don’t do
anything! Don’t interfere with me, I’ll take care of this myself!’”
Sango seemed a little miffed. “I bet I can take care of it
myself, whatever it is.”
“Um, Sango, isn’t that dangerous?” Kagome asked, instantly
dropping her teasing. “I mean if it really is something powerful and we
go
alone we could get killed…”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Sango said pleasantly.
“I could just go in and take a peek around. If it’s really something
that we
can’t handle by ourselves, we can go back and get Inuyasha and Miroku,
okay?”
“Aren’t we supposed to be gathering herbs for them?” Kagome
asked.
“Kaede has all the herbs she needs,” Sango replied. “You
knew that, you were just avoiding Inuyasha.”
“Well, I have a very good reason,” Kagome sniffed. “He is
very rude. Come on, Sango, let’s go see what we can find out about that
demon.”
“Hey Kagome! Sango! Wait up!” Shippou cried, scampering
along after them.
(Author’s Note: This is an excuse to put a TK scene into
the story early enough to not bore you. ^-^ The stuff with substance
will be
coming up later.)
Felin, the ‘demon’ who was ‘terrorizing’ the village, was
relaxing comfortably, stretched out on an animal hide of some kind that
she had
laid out on the floor of this cave she’d found overlooking the village.
Letting
her gaze sweep across the cave, she smiled as she took in the
possessions she
had so recently come into ownership of. Her gaze stopped on the village
girl
laying on the other pelts she had recently gotten. She grinned a very
catlike
grin at the girl, who was even now tied spread-eagle by four of Felin’s
own
tails. Rolling over, she brushed her black-mottled white fur and
giggled.
Felin smiled. How could she have forgotten her greatest
fortune? During her travels to gather energy, her senses had detected
something
quite strange. Investigating a bit, she found the body of what appeared
to be a
huge demon that had fallen from a cliff, quite obviously smashing
itself to a
pulp on the rocky spires at the base. It seemed to be fresh, too – the
carrion
birds and the stench were proof of that. But what had drawn her there
became
apparent. In that twisted and mangled remains of a being, there was a
tiny
shard of some pink glowing jewel. It seemed to possess great power… and
as
Felin picked it up, it somehow embedded itself in her chest.
Soon after that had happened, Felin had needed to flee from
those carrion birds she had seen earlier, which were a lot more vicious
and
predatory than they had seemed. But Felin, to her surprise, found
herself
easily outrunning them – in fact, running faster than she ever had
before, and
not even trying. In the days after that, she’d found a marked increase
in her
powers… and had set up shop above a village, tickling their women out
of energy
and growing stronger.
Felin also had the fortune to take a wealthy merchant’s
daughter on the first night. Each subsequent day, Felin had been
surprised to
find offerings of various kinds at the field where she had kidnapped
the girl.
Felin realized that they were trying to appease her with gifts, and had
changed
her plans accordingly. At the end of the second night Felin had
released the
merchant’s daughter, after furnishing her cave with the oil lamps,
trinkets,
furniture and food she had been brought. Thereafter, Felin decided to
strike
occasionally, and see what else she could wring from the village…
This girl was her third victim. Felin giggled and stretched
lazily, purring, as she strode over to the girl. “Well now, my pretty,”
she
giggled.
“Please… don’t…. “ The girl whimpered, knowing that neither
of the other two victims had been harmed but not exactly eager to find
out
exactly what had happened to them.
Felin giggled maliciously. “Don’t what? Aw, I’m not going
to do anything bad to you.” Felin knelt and removed the girl’s wooden
sandals.
“I’m just going to tickle you.”
“T-tickle???” The girl’s eyes bugged out.
“Yes, tickle!” Felin said with a smile, experimentally
stroking her fingers up the girl’s soles.
“Eheheeheheheeheheheeheh don’t!” she giggled, scrunching
her toes and wiggling her feet as much as she was able.
“Don’t? Why not?” Felin took hold of one foot, tickled the
sole until the toes flexed, then gently took hold of them and held them
in
place.
“Eeeeeeek! Ahhaahahahahahhhahaah no plehehheheheeeheeze
don’t do that!” the girl cried, swamped in giggles and tossing her head
but
otherwise helpless to move. “Don’t tihihihihihhihihihiihckle!” Felin
ignored
the girl’s pleas, as they were more or less all the same from victim to
victim.
Next she used both her hands to hold the girl’s toes, and with a gentle
sigh of
satisfaction, ran her rough catlike tongue gently along her feet. “Nohohohohohhohhohohohoho
ahhahahahahehehehehahaaahaahahaha! It tihihihihiickles!!!” This
particular
episode reminded her of the time a cow had decided her foot was
something to
eat and had licked her sole. THAT had sent her nearly across the field
giggling.
Felin took her time, sensing that this girl’s ticklish spot
lie elsewhere than her feet, and when the girl was giving up a constant
yet
steady stream of giggles she stopped her licking assault. She took that
time to
breathe quickly and gulp down air rather than waste her time in what
she now
realized were pointless pleas. Felin giggled and crawled over to her.
“Having
fun yet?” she purred.
“Please let me go…” the girl said. “I – I don’t want to be
tickled anymore.”
“Really,” Felin said gently. “I was quite gentle with you.
Were you ever out of breath? Did you ever feel like you were going to
cry from
being tickled too much?”
“No….” the girl admitted reluctantly.
Felin smiled and unsheathed one of her claws, using it to
cut away the midriff portion of the girl’s clothes, cutting out a rough
square
showing the girl’s belly and lower ribs. “Now smile!” Felin teased as
she
gently began to tickle the girl’s stomach.
“NOoHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHHOEEHEHEH EAAHAHAHANOT THERE!!!” the
girl pleaded. “AHHAAHAHH EHEHEHEHOH OH OH NOHOHOOHHO NOT MY BELLY!!!”
Her back
arched upwards, thrashing as Felin scratched on her stomach with her
fingertips. With a quick motion, Felin snagged a soft cushion she had
laying
around and slid it under the girl’s back, leaving her with nowhere else
to
move. That done, Felin traced her index fingers all around in a
circular
pattern across the girl’s midriff, savoring every laugh she drew forth
and
slowly adding more fingers as time went on.
The girl’s thrashing of course became weaker and her laughing
quieter over time. This was mainly due to the fact that her energy was
being
leached rather than the intensity of Felin’s tickling. Felin, as she
had said,
was really being fairly gentle with the girls she had snatched, and as
such
could keep them producing energy for a few days. Felin was by now
tickling all
along the girl’s sides, by far her most ticklish area, with her fingers
and
another pair of tails too. Felin had found that since she had been able
to
create nine tails in total since the incident with the jewel. They
proved very
helpful in snaring her victims.
When the girl had slipped into slumber, Felin untied her
limbs and allowed her to sleep on the pelts. Stretching luxuriantly,
Felin
stepped outside to take a look around.
“Yes, this is indeed the village,” Sango said as they
crested a hill and the buildings came into view. “There is a wealthy
merchant
who lives here, and that looks to be his dwelling.”
“Probably,” Kagome allowed. “Now where is this demon
supposed to be?” Kagome looked around as she said this. Something was
tugging
at her…
“Wow, this is a pretty big village,” Shippou said, hopping
onto Kagome’s shoulder and looking around. “Looks wealthy.”
“According to reports, the merchant’s daughter was the
first girl taken from the village. He placed offerings in an abandoned
field
outside of town where his daughter was taken for two days. On the third
day,
his daughter was found peacefully sleeping near her father’s dwelling.”
Sango
nodded sagely.
“Where is this abandoned field?” Kagome asked, still trying
to pin down what was bothering her about this whole deal.
“Let’s go into town and ask!” Shippou cried, leaping from
Kagome’s shoulder and bounding down the hill.
After a quick refreshment break and rest, Kagome, Sango and
Shippou went looking for information about this abandoned field. The
villagers
were all to eager to volunteer information about this new threat they
faced,
and heard about the unfortunate attempt to track and kill the demon.
The party
they had sent returned wounded and broken, but fortunately with no one
dead.
All of them bore welts across their bodies as if they had been whipped,
and all
of them spoke of their opponent as a cat-demon with nine tails. Sango
nodded,
taking mental notes about the description, and with a word of thanks
headed off
that way.
“Any ideas, Sango?” Kagome asked.
“It seems that this demon’s tails are its main weapon… if I
can manage to get close I think I should be able to defeat it.” Sango
adjusted
her weapons. “Let’s see if we can find out where it went from that
field.”
It took Sango about half an hour to locate a fresh yet
faint set of footprints leading off from the field. “Hmm,” Sango mused.
“It
looks like whatever it was went this way. Let’s go.” They set off
across the
field, following the trail that was seeming to direct them toward the
rocky
bluff overlooking the village. There, as Kagome pointed out, were a lot
of
caves in which a demon could choose to hide in.
Kagome, Sango and Shippou reached the base of the bluff and
began to follow the rocky trail upwards. It was at that moment that
Felin had
decided to get up and look around, and as the two of them searched,
Felin
popped out of her cave, peeking around.
“There it is!” Sango cried as she leapt forward, unleashing
her battle cry and the weapon that hung from her back at the same
instant.
Felin just barely saw it coming, but with her enhanced
reflexes managed to leap aside, albeit with a catlike yowl of surprise.
“Hmm…”
Felin mused to herself as Sango retrieved her weapon for another try.
“Looks
like the village sent more idiots after me… but why only two, and why
females?”
A slight grin curved across her face, and as she landed her tails
whipped out,
seeking targets.
“Kagome! Sango!” Shippou cried. “Look out!”
“Move it!” Sango yelled as she attacked again and dove out
of the way. Felin, too, dodged aside and made a grab for Sango. One of
her
tails curled around Sango’s wrist, stunning the demon hunter.
“Sango!” Kagome cried, drawing an arrow from her quiver and
nocking it. Her shot was spoiled as she, too, was forced to scurry away
from
the questing tails.
“Kagome, Shippou, run!” Sango cried. “Get away!” Sango’s
struggles became more and more useless as Felin’s tails entwined her.
Sango
also felt some odd… sensation… where the tail was wrapped around her,
but her
current combat adrenalin rush caused her to ignore it for the time
being.
“Come on, Shippou!” Kagome said, turning to run.
“Ah! No! Kagome!” Shippou wailed, dangling in midair with
one of Felin’s tails wrapped around him. “Grrr! Never mind me! Just
run!”
Kagome turned tail and fled, chased by a few more of
Felin’s tails. By thwacking them with her bow and generally fleeing at
high
speed, she managed to escape, and made tracks for the village to warn
Inuyasha.
Felin frowned. “One got away…. Shoot.” Felin turned her eye
on the still-struggling Shippou and Sango. “You two are going to answer
some
questions I have, is that clear? Come on.” Felin wrapped the pair of
them
back-to-back in her tails and set off for her cave.
Shippou was the first to notice the almost imperceptible
sensation. “Sango, do you feel that? This tail feels weird! Almost
tickly!”
“Tickly?” Sango asked blankly. Casting an eye at Felin, who
was currently ignoring them, she asked in reply, “What do you mean?”
Shippou stopped trying to pull free with a sigh of defeat.
“Maybe it’s just because the tail is fuzzy. It feels like it would
tickle.”
“Tickle? Be serious, Shippou,” Sango said a little too
quickly, as once Shippou had brought it to mind and the combat rush had
worn
off, she had indeed felt the tickly sensation from the tail.
“I am being serious!” Shippou replied.
“Silence,” Felin commanded. “Come along now.” Felin pulled
the pair of them into her cave and began her preparations. Shippou she
tied
with cords and bundled onto a pile of pelts next to the sleeping girl.
Sango,
however, was to receive more attention than that.
“Now tell me,” Felin commanded as she stood over the
struggling Sango, “who sent you here? It couldn’t have been that
village – they
already learned not to leave their women in my sight.”
“Demon!” Sango spat, turning her head aside.
“Well, I’m going to get an answer whether you like it or
not…” Felin replied. “Watch, and learn.”
Sango was wondering just what this demon intended to do as
she knelt and began to remove her shoes…
Kagome fled back towards the village where Inuyasha and
Miroku were staying, urgency speeding her flight. That demon now had
Shippou
and Sango, and who knew what it would do to them…
Abruptly Kagome skidded to a halt. That strange feeling
she’d had before was unmistakable! It was a shard of the Sacred Jewel!
Kagome
berated herself for not paying attention beforehand. If she’d alerted
Sango and
Shippou, they might not have been caught off-guard… Kagome slid down a
hill and
took off running again. She had to reach Inuyasha before anything too
dire
happened to Sango…
(Author’s Note: This TK scene is the result of a guilt
trip; I wasn’t going to elaborate on Sango for the time being, but…
this is 7
pages into the document with only one TK scene, so now you get another.)
Sango
at the moment wasn’t even close to being in a dire situation. However,
her
current situation was a rather
ticklish one. At the moment, that accursed cat’s tail was wiggling
across her
belly, delving into her navel and rubbing along her lower ribs.
“Ahahahahahhehehe!!! Hhehheheehhahaha! No pleheheheheheeeeeeze don’t!
Don’t
tihihihihihihihihiiiiickle!!!” Sango begged.
“Ah, the sweetest sound,” Felin giggled. Sango had taken
quite some working on to even make giggle, let alone admit she was
ticklish.
But once broken, like all others, she laughed as hard as the rest of
them.
Sango
noticed that the demon had produced a small vial of something or
another. After
a moment’s contemplation she decided to use it, whatever it was, and
took out
an art brush, dipped it in the vial and wiped the excess off the sides.
“Ready,
my ticklish little warrior?”
“Nohohohohohohohohohoho stop you fiend!!
Ahahahhahaheheheehheha I’ll geehehehhe get you for thiiihihihihiihih
this!!!”
Sango tossed her head and wished mightily for one good shot to smack
this
smart-aleck cat upside the head.
“I could be dishonest and say that by telling me what I
want to know I’d free you.” Felin carefully held the toes of Sango’s
left foot
still and began to paint along the base of her toes, stroking up and
down,
missing no crevice. “But as I just mentioned that would be a lie. I
want to
tickle you some more first and then I’ll listen to whatever you have to
say.”
“GYAHAHAHAHHHHHEHEHEHHEHEAHAHAHAHAH!!!!” Sango cried as the
oil made contact with her soles, creating a tingly, tickly feeling that
felt
like a bunch of tiny fingers crawling along her toes. Felin was paying
no mind
to the frantic attempts she was making of scrunching her toes, and once
finished, scooted over to the next foot. “No! Please! Not more!” Sango
cried.
For Sango, it was a delaying game. If she could stall long
enough before telling about Inuyasha, it would give Kagome a chance to
get back
and tell him so he and Miroku could come and defeat this demon. And,
Sango
reasoned, if she played along with this, it could buy her extra time.
Not that
it required too much acting, really, but the begging was all for show.
So Sango
said to herself, as she erupted into laughter once again from the
application
of oil onto her rather sensitive toes.
Felin put the brush and oil away and smiled at her work.
Sango giggled for a few minutes more, goaded by the oil and the tail
tickling
her belly, while Felin waited for the oil to take full effect.
After the sheen of the oil became less pronounced on
Sango’s toes, Felin wiggled her furry fingers and grinned. “Ready?” She
placed
her fingers in between Sango’s toes and began to wiggle them.
“GYAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHHEEHHEHHEEHEHAHAHAHAHA AAAAH
AAHAHHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!!” The moment she felt Felin’s fingers, Sango
arched her
back and exploded into hysterical laughter. Felin’s ears twitched and
she
smiled, tickling the undersides of all ten of Sango’s toes and giggling
as she
sparred with the wildly wiggling digits.
Sango had thought that keeping this demon at bay would not
be too taxing. Too late she was finding out how wrong she was, and as
she
laughed hysterically, her senses were able to pick up on the fact that
her
energy was being leached away as she laughed. If she was to save
herself, she’d
have to give in, and soon…
“Come on now. I’m ready to listen,” Felin said with a
feline smirk.
“GYAHAHAHAHAHHHEHEHEHA OK OK HAHAHAHEHEHEHE
STHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAP I GIVE!!! AHAHAHEEHEHHEHEEH!!!!” Sango cried,
breathless. “I
giihihihihhve! I give!” she giggled helplessly.
Felin stopped tickling her toes and kept the tickling on
her belly to a bare wiggle. “Fine then. First, I want to know why
you’re here,
and who sent you.”
“We’re here… because we’d heard that you were terrorizing
the village…” Sango said, regaining her breath. “No one ‘sent’ us, we
came to
liberate the village from your tyranny… and when the rest of my party
finds out
that happened here, rest assured that your time will be limited.”
“The rest of your party… and who would they be?” Felin
asked, eyeing the silent Shippou who was huddled next to the sleeping
girl and
apparently trying to awaken her.
“When Kagome returns with Inuyasha and Miroku, they will
slay you and free the village from your reign. So if I were you, cat,
I’d cut
and run while I still had the chance.”
Felin chewed on her lower lip, considering that. She got
the feeling that these people she mentioned were true fighters, not the
disorganized rabble that the village had thrown at her before. If it
was true,
she might indeed be in some trouble. Felin made a fast decision.
“Consider this
your lucky day, girl,” Felin snapped, breaking a capsule of sleeping
gas under
Sango’s nose and holding it until she fell unconscious, then, releasing
her
tails, she quickly gathered the few things she had brought here and
abandoned
the rest, fleeing into the sunlight.
“Are you sure it was a shard of the Sacred Jewel?” Inuyasha
asked as they ran at the best possible speed towards the village Kagome
had
mentioned. Inuyasha of course was stubbornly ignoring his injury, as he
was
prone to do. “What did this demon look like? How did it attack you?”
“I already told you all of that! And I didn’t get to see
exactly where the shard of the jewel was!” Kagome replied. “That can
wait until
we rescue Sango, got that?”
“She’s right, Inuyasha,” Miroku said. “We must first make
sure that Sango is unharmed.”
“Fine, whatever,” Inuyasha said, hand on the Tetsusaiga as
he sped towards the village, Kagome and Miroku trailing behind.
“Looks like she already left,” Inuyasha said some time
later, sniffing at the cave. The girl had already been returned to her
family,
and the possessions returned to the owners. “So, Sango, are you going
to tell
us what she did to make you weak and drain your energy?”
Sango blushed uncharacteristically and looked away as she
stammered, “She t-t-tickled me.”
Miroku blinked. “She tickled you.”
Inuyasha straightened up, a quizzical look on his face.
“Tickled you?”
Kagome shot her a strange sideways look. “The demon tickled
you.”
“Well, it’s true!” Shippou piped up, speaking in Sango’s
defense. “It was very intense! I’m surprised Sango was able to last!”
Shippou
nodded sagely while speaking the last.
“Yeah right. Intense tickling my foot,” Inuyasha sniffed.
“Well,” Miroku said thoughtfully, closing his eyes, “we DID
find her here without her shoes and missing a couple of pieces of her
clothing…” His eyes opened. “So you’re ticklish, Sango?” he asked,
sneaking a
quick tickle on her sides.
“Aahahahahahaha hey!!!” Sango whirled and slapped Miroku
square across the face, then clapped her arms to her sides and hopped
over
towards Kagome. Kagome, caught in the moment, giggled and wormed her
fingers
under Sango’s arms, causing her to jump away with a shriek and dance
over
towards Inuyasha.
Inuyasha stared blankly at the quick chain of events.
Kagome was giggling, Sango was glaring at both her and Miroku. Miroku
felt his
cheek and pronounced, “It was worth the pain.” (Author’s Note: Sorry
about the
cheap line, but it fit too well not to use ^-^)
“If you’re all done, maybe we can get on with tracking this
demon? I’ve got her scent, so we can start whenever you quit fooling
around.”
“Inuyasha, are you – “ Kagome began. Inuyasha’s stare
pinned Kagome to the wall with a flat ‘NO’. “It was worth asking,” she
giggled.
(Author’s Note: Sincere apologies about how fragmentary
this story is. This was the first original TK scene I had in mind but I
got
carried away with plot. ^-^;)
“All
right now,” Inuyasha said as they made camp for the night, “I want a
few things
explained to me about this ‘demon’.”
“We’ve already explained it fully, Inuyasha,” Kagome
sniffed. “I know exactly what you are doing.”
“What?” Inuyasha blinked. “What I’m doing?”
“You know very well what I mean!” Kagome said,
unconsciously scooting herself a little further away from him. “You are
looking
for an excuse to tickle me.”
Inuyasha gave her a perplexed stare for a few moments.
“Actually, I wanted to know why this ‘tickling’ stuff is such a big
deal to the
both of you.”
Sango cast a glance at Miroku and shifted away from him,
too. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand,” she said with a somewhat
frosty
tone.
Inuyasha frowned and sat straighter, if anything more determined
now to pry the information from either of them than before. “What is so
terrible about laughing some?” he asked, unconsciously flexing his
fingers and
drawing both girls’ attention to the claws on the ends of his hands.
Reflexively both scooted back further until they were back-to-back.
Miroku hadn’t moved at all during that time and Inuyasha
had merely sat up a little straighter. But this acute reaction to being
tickled
piqued both of their interests… Just to see what else he could do,
Inuyasha cracked
his knuckles and assumed his sinister demon grin –
“SIT!!!!” Kagome bellowed, scampering aside. Inuyasha piled
face-first into the ground as Miroku and Sango looked on in no little
shock.
“What?” Kagome asked, becoming defensive at the same time she began to
blush a
little.
Inuyasha looked up. “What was that for?!?” As he sat up, he
grinned. “Oh, wait. Never mind. Gee, Kagome, does being tickled really
bother
you that much?”
“No.”
“Oh
no? Then how about you prove it to me?” Inuyasha snickered.
“You wish.” Kagome dusted herself off haughtily.
“So you’re afraid of tickling.”
“I am not!”
“You sure seem like it.”
“Will you shut up? I’m not letting you tickle me, because I
know that’s what you’re getting at!”
“Because you’re scared. No need to explain, Kagome, I get
it now,” Inuyasha said, all but sneering, his tone and expression
calculated to
play a specific purpose. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about any
bad
tickle demons coming after you – “
“Will you get off it?!!?” Kagome demanded. “I am NOT afraid
of being tickled!”
“Coulda fooled me,” Inuyasha replied.
Kagome was silent for a moment, vein throbbing in her
forehead. “I am NOT and I’ll prove it to you!” With swift suddenness
she had
scooted over, flipped her shoes off and placed her socked feet in
Inuyasha’s
lap.
Miroku, Sango and Shippou blinked in surprise. “Hey, Sango
– “
“Don’t even try,” she growled.
“Go ahead and try to tickle my feet,” Kagome said with a
sniff. “I bet I won’t even smile.” With a sarcastic sideways look
Inuyasha, who
had not expected this to go nearly so well, cradled her ankles under
his one
arm and lightly traced one claw up her sole.
Miroku and Sango watched Kagome’s eyes pop and her mouth go
into a tight, compressed line. “She’s doomed,” Sango said, deadpan.
Miroku had forgotten his own plans for Sango and was now
watching the spectacle taking place before him. “I think Inuyasha is
learning
something Kagome would have him not know.”
Kagome had balled her fists, holding them close to her
chest, and was trying to fight down the smile that threatened to curve
along
her face. Almost casually Inuyasha took hold of the toe of one sock,
and before
Kagome could react, had whisked it off and traced his claw along her
bare sole.
“Gyaahahaaa – hey! Stop! Don’t!” Kagome implored through
clenched teeth, trying to squelch the giggles that were squirting out,
wiggling
her foot wildly in a vain attempt to pry free of Inuyasha’s grip.
Inuyasha wore a self-satisfied smirk as he ran his claws up
and down her sole. “Well? Are you gonna give up yet and tell me why you
hate
being tickled so much?”
“Yeeheheeheheeheehees!!! Now just stoppit!!!
Hihiheheehehehehee!!!!”
“What was that, Kagome? ‘Sit’? I didn’t quite hear you!” he
teased, sparring with her wildly wiggling toes.
Kagome went into a spasm of giggling insanely and trying to
beat on his arm and jerk her legs free. She was too busy laughing
hysterically
and rather too surprised at the moment to think of activating the
rosary.
Inuyasha tugged her other sock off and grinned. “Are you
ready?” he asked, tickling her soles with his claws all at once.
“Ready, go!
Iron Reaver ‘Sole’ Stealer!”
A sweatdrop appeared on Miroku, Sango and Shippou’s heads.
“I do NOT believe he just said that,” Shippou sighed.
Kagome was too busy dealing with being in hysterics to
worry about corny humor. “GYAHAHAHAAHHAAH!! HAhaHA STOPPIT!!!!
NOHOHOHOHOH
MORE!!!”
“Aw, what’s the matter Kagome? Is the ‘intense’ tickling
too much for you? Hm?” Inuyasha continued to tease her over her loud
shrieks of
laughter for the next few minutes, until….
“YEheheheeh
you jeheehehehehrk!!! SIT!!!!”
Inuyasha crunched into the ground again as Kagome retrieved
her socks and shoes, then scampered off next to Sango. A giggling
Sango, Kagome
realized suddenly as she turned to see Miroku with her wrists in hand,
poking
her belly. Of course it did not last too long as Miroku, trying to sit
on her
legs to keep them from moving, earned a kick to the groin for his
trouble and
rolled aside, stunned for the moment.
Kagome and Sango took stock of the two of them facedown on
the ground. Sangon pronounced, “I hope you two have learned a little
lesson.”
“Nope,” Miroku proclaimed. He wore a large grin of
superiority. A grin that turned into one of surprise as Kagome poked
him in the
ribs. “Hey.”
“Aha!” Sango proclaimed, tackling him to the ground
ferociously. “I know what that look means!”
“Yes!” Kagome cried. She proceeded to scoot up next to
Miroku and wiggle her fingers under his arms.
“Ahahahahah! Hey! Kagome! Don’t!” he exclaimed, surprised
completely. “Don’t! Ahahahahehehehehahaa!!!” His laughter became louder
as
Sango wiggled her fingers against his sides and ribs.
Lucky bastard,
Inuyasha thought sourly as the two girls made him thrash and kick with
laughter. Inuyasha shook his head. Wish to be ticklish? Yeah
right.
Miroku had lost his staff as Kagome mercilessly tickled
under his arms, digging into the folds of his monk’s robes to tickle
him, as
Sango scooted down, tickling his sides, they executed a quick swap so
Kagome was
across his stomach and Sango on his legs. A smart-aleck comment was
forestalled
by a quick tickle to his ribs by Kagome, who enjoyed digging in.
“Ticklish,
Miroku?”
“Yeheheheheehehehes stop it! Sahahahahhaahhatstop!!!
Ahahahah – NO! NO!” he implored as his sandals and socks went flying.
The next
thing he knew Sango’s nails were running along his soles, causing his
bare feet
to flex wildly. “GYAHAHHAHAHAHH!!! SANGO!! AHAHAHHEHEHEHEH STOP!!!
KAGOME!!!
HAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHHAAHAHAHAHAH NO NOOOHOHOHOHOHO NO!!!!”
“Learned a lesson yet?” Sango asked, still giggling as she
raked her nails up and down his soles.
“I think just a bit longer!” Kagome giggled, redoubling her
attack on his sides and ribs.
It was quite awhile later when they stopped and let him get
up, as he panted and retrieved his shoes and staff. “So, learn
anything?”
Kagome asked with a smirk and giggle.
“Yep,”
Inuyasha said. “Next time, we tie you up.”
“That isn’t even CLOSE to being funny!” Kagome shrieked.
There was a rustling from the nearby bushes, after the
stunned silence from the shriek.
“Who’s there?” Miroku demanded, getting his staff and
standing upright. “Show yourself!”
“It’s the demon!” Inuyasha said, picking up on the familiar
scent and giving chase.
With a yowl of distress Felin abandoned her spying and
hopes for some vengeance and a shot at the particularly powerful energy
of the
one girl… Instead, she took off running into the forest.
“I don’t think so!” Inuyasha declared, chasing her through
the treetops with incredible agility, far outpacing Kagome, Sango and
Miroku.
Felin, glancing back, saw that she in no way could outrun Inuyasha.
Turning
around with a snarl, Felin unsheathed her own claws and prepared to
give
battle, but was unprepared for Inuyasha’s turn of speed – “Iron Reaver
Soul
Stealer!!!!”
Felin just barely managed to dodge aside, earning a graze
across her chest as she did so, but – “No!” she wailed as her shard of
the
Sacred Jewel, freed from her body, went spinning into the forest.
“Aha!” Inuyasha cried, watching it fall. “It’s mine now!”
Felin, who was watching, decided that escaping intact was preferable,
and
leaving Inuyasha to the shard, sped off into the night, quietly. “All
mine,”
Inuyasha said, picking it up with a grin as the others ran up.
“Excellent! A jewel shard!” Sango said. “Great!”
Kagome opened her small container of jewel shards and held
it out. “What?” Inuyasha asked, looking blankly. They met eyes for a
moment,
and Kagome’s blunt stare won out. Inuyasha dropped the shard into the
container
and looked away with a sniff.
“Don’t sniff at me,” Kagome said, turning and putting the
container away. “It’s not very – EEEEEEK! AahHHAAHAHAH!!!” Kagome
twisted away
from the claws that suddenly appeared on her sides and stomach, turned
and
faced Inuyasha. “Why, you -!”
“Well well well… if it isn’t Inuyasha…” a voice sneered
from the depths of the forest. Inuyasha turned to see the voice’s owner…
“Kagura..."