When Shin continued to look grumpy, Kagome figured he was just hungry. Bouncing him on her hip, she went over to her yellow backpack. Kneeling down, she rifled through it. She offered Shin some jarred applesauce on a spoon, at which he turned up his snub nose. She offered him some mashed carrots, some mashed peas. Some leftover homemade rice pudding she’d bottled-up just before leaving Edo. But he turned up his nose each time. Side-eyeing Sesshoumaru, who was watching this comedy of errors unabashed, she offered Shin her breast, which he grudgingly accepted.
Wincing a little in discomfort, Kagome blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Well, that was like pulling teeth…”
But Shin detached almost as soon as he’d latched. Kagome glanced down at his furrowed little brow. She followed his blue line of sight over to Sesshoumaru. While watching her breastfeed, he’d snagged one of those strange, oversized blood-plums from a sort of urn nearby and eaten half of it in a single bite. Kagome had the chagrined impression that this was the demonic equivalent of eating popcorn at the zoo.
Shin squirmed and whimpered against her, reaching toward him. Kagome looked doubtfully between them. Tugging her kimono shirt back into place, she stood and crossed over to Sesshoumaru. Uncertainly, she held Shin out to him.
“Um, I think…maybe he wants some of that blood-fruit, too?”
Sesshoumaru took Shin from her one-handed. Shin transformed in a rush, all unsheathed claws and glinting fangs. Sesshoumaru dropped the half-eaten blood-plum into Shin’s grasp. Curling all four sets of claws inward, Shin gobbled at the blood-fruit with unnerving demonic relish.
“Now I see what you mean,” Kagome said to Sesshoumaru, “about those being an inuyoukai delicacy.”
Using his youki, Shin flipped over in Sesshoumaru’s lap and started pulling down more blood-plums from the potted shrub. He’d eaten about four of them, smearing his face with pulpy crimson gore, when Kagome started to become concerned. Shin showed no sign of stopping. Or even of slowing down.
“Is it okay for him to keep gorging himself like that?”
“Probably not,” Sesshoumaru said.
He gestured toward the planter—incidentally, it seemed. But at once, astonishingly, Shin desisted. As he rasped the last of the blood-red pulp from his face with an overlong demonic tongue, Kagome glanced to Sesshoumaru, wary yet impressed.
“How’d you do that?” she asked him.
“I scent-marked it.” Sensing her bewilderment, the demon lord elaborated, “I claimed the rest of the fruit as mine. He can either challenge me, or accept the claim.”
Kagome nodded, digesting this. “I guess it would be pretty silly for him to try to challenge you over some plums.”
“Indeed it would be.” Glancing down at Shin, who had curled his fur around himself and begun to drowse, Sesshoumaru said, as if musing aloud, “Still, I half-expected that sort of foolishness.”
“Shin’s not a fool,” Kagome said defensively.
“No,” Sesshoumaru replied, “but he is bold to the point of it.”
At the unmistakable warmth in his voice, Kagome’s hackles fell. Combing her fingers through her baby’s silvery, silken hair, she smiled.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Revised 6/18/24
loling at his “probably not” his nonchalant parent approach is 10/10 love him xD
XD glad you enjoyed that line, mim! Thanks so much!! <3
LOOOL I LAUGHED SO HARD AT THE “probably not” line sdglksjdgdksg
Also “Kagome had the chagrined impression that this was the demonic equivalent of eating popcorn at the zoo.” — Hahahaha, love it.
I seriously can’t get enough of them family bonding. Their dynamic is so interesting and we keep on learning more and more about Shin! I’m so hooked.
Thank you, bella! So glad you’re enjoying these familial scenes! Love hearing the lines that stood out to you <3
I LOVE these chapters! I wish they were longer. What a great family moment
Thanks, Kathy! Glad you’re enjoying the chapters <3
I am soaking in all this family bonding, eating it up! And leaving no crumbs, just like baby Shin here😊
What a great start to 2024🩵
Aww thank you, Maya! So glad you’re enjoying this family bonding time <3
Shin’s boldness and exuberance must definitely be all Kagome 🥰💕
And I bet Sess has always been a composed princeling since he was a pup 🤣
Haha I can’t help but imagine he was too! XD
Thanks for sharing, oskorreia! <3
TBH, Shin’s boldness and exuberance reminds me of Inuyasha. Since he and Sesshoumaru share a sire, I.m not surprised at his behavior, lol.
I just need to reiterate how much I love that being around Sesshoumaru calms Kagome down as a mom. And yes, I too love his very blasé, very laid-back parenting style. I think if they spent more time together, her overall stress/anxiety about Shin would go down, both because Sesshoumaru knows the answers about demon stuff and because his confidence would sort of reset her danger meter lower. You know how they say that dogs pick up your vibes? Well, clearly here, kagome is picking up Sesshoumarus vibes instead lol
“I just need to reiterate how much I love that being around Sesshoumaru calms Kagome down as a mom. ” – yay this makes me so happy to hear! I think they complement each other very well 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Jorogumo! Hope you enjoy the next chapter <3
Papamaru is hands down one of my favorite things and yours absolutely never disappoints Char!
Aww thank you, M-Yan! Papamaru is too much fun!! <3
Hhehehehe CUTE. Shin is either very quick-witted or he instinctively knows the subtleties of pack dynamics. He makes me think he’s gonna grow into that shrewd little kid who asks polite but difficult questions, that’s how he’ll challenge Sess 🤣🤣
Shin’s got spunk all right XD Thanks for sharing your thoughts, friend! Hope you enjoy the next chapter <3
“How’d you do that?” she asked him, wary but impressed.
“I scent-marked it.” Sensing her bewilderment, Sesshoumaru elaborated, “I claimed the rest of the fruit as mine. He can either challenge me, or accept the claim.”
Kagome nodded, digesting this.
– She’s been absorbing everything Sess tells her so diligently that I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to scent-mark too XD Or imitate his inuyoukai ways so she could talk to her baby.
Play hard and eat well, Shin. He’s a mighty healthy babe all right. I think he was also pretty stifled in the village, unable to exert himself as much as he needs to. Pups need to play! Let loose those jittery energies(before someone else gets bitten😈)!
“Play hard and eat well, Shin. He’s a mighty healthy babe all right. ” – yep he’s a growing boy! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the scene, Inupapa! Hope you enjoy the next <3
This must be a very new experience for Sess, having a child who so readily trusts and touches him so comfortably 🥹💕 Even Rin maintains a respectful distance from him.
Yep very true! Shin knows no boundaries XD
Thanks for sharing! <3
The whole feudal world could burn and I’d still be content to stay in this little snowy haven with them 😄 It’s a different picture than what they made in the last winter, but also very much the same.
I also wonder if this blood plum has some hidden meaning in inuyoukai culture? The last time they shared the fruit it had the air of a rite… like a marriage rite… and it turned out there’s other youkai here so… technically… there were witnesses 🫣
So glad you’ve been enjoying these cozy winter scenes, Kova!! 🙂 Love hearing your theories & hope you enjoy where the story goes from here! <3