Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, but I do own Makoto. Yay Makoto!
Chapter 39: Reunion
"Come on, Gina! Please?!" Eight-year-old Mehiji tucked his ears out to the side of his head and poked out his lower lip, opening his eyes wide to look up at his twin sister.
"Mehiji, you know what Okaa-san told me," she crossed her arms and glared at him with her silver eyes.
"Just this once? I wanna know when they're gonna get here," He whined.
Gina sent a scrutinizing glance to her brother. "Okay, okay," she sighed, her eyes became unfocused as she started to concentrate. Mehiji flopped to the ground next to her and waited. After a few minutes her eyes finally refocused, a slight frown on her face. "They're late. Makoto won't be here till this afternoon."
Mehiji banged his fists on the ground at his sides. "He's always late!" he complained.
"Stop being a baby, Mehiji, they're still coming. Go play with Takeshi or something, and," he gave him a meaningful glare, "don't."
"Don't what?"
"Just…don't. I know what you and Takeshi are going to be up to, and you'll only end up getting into trouble again." Gina said sternly.
"Aw. We wouldn't have gotten in trouble if you would have warned us!"
"No, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble if you didn't trick Okaa-san into 'sitting' Oyaji for no reason. Shippou told you what would happen."
Mehiji grumbled and jerked at the collar around his neck. So he had Takeshi pop into InuYasha's form and do a few things to make Kagome mad… and waited till the real InuYasha was conveniently located in the rice fields nearby helping the villagers fertilize, what was the big deal? It didn't really hurt his Oyaji, it never did, just, made him need a bath. And it wasn't like he wasn't going to get one, anyway. All they did to Takeshi was send him home to Shippou and Tani. What did they do to Mehiji? Pft. Collared him with a stupid submission spell. Now, Kagome wouldn't agree to send her baby boy falling face first into the dirt, but she did put a strong enough spell on the collar that it jerked him around quite a bit. Then adding to the humiliation by making the incantation word, "No, no." Kagome had promised to take it off as soon as he had learned his lesson. That was two weeks ago.
Gina looked at her brother, sitting next to her and growling at himself, and shook her head. Okaa had said Mehiji had way too much of their Oyaji in him for his own good. Gina could never see her father so stubborn and pig-headed; although Shippou and Makoto had sworn it was true. She sighed and looked past the trees to the sky toward the north. She really was disappointed that Makoto and Kita were going to be late, maybe even more so than Mehiji. She just chose to be more sensible about it. Gina had seen them in her vision, they were just about to leave the den, but something happened between members of the pack and Kita had to stay and take care of it. Gina couldn't be entirely sure, but it seemed like Jax and Mina's pup was getting sick again.
They'll be here this afternoon, for sure. Gina reassured herself. She missed her older brother so much. Sure, she had Shippou and Mehiji, but Makoto…knew her. They didn't even have to try to understand each other. She just had a bond with Makoto that she would never have with anyone else, and it killed her that she only got to see him every once in awhile. Gina propped her knees up and laid her head down on top of her folded arms. She smiled, looking at the kimono she had chosen to wear. It was long flowing white, with silver branches and pink sakura blossoms. Kita had made it for her last time they came. Mehiji gave a grunt, stood up, and walked away. She rolled her eyes, already anticipating the trouble her twin was about to get into. His subdue spell was sure to get a workout.
"Takeshi, you were supposed to be the lookout!" Mehiji yelled, grimacing from being drug around by his ear.
"I told you he would know it was me! I'm only seven, I can't hold a form perfectly for that long!" the young kit yelled from the other side. Shippou was in between them, hands firmly grasping the upper arm of his son and his brother's ear. He barged into his Okaa and Oyaji's hut without bothering to announce himself. Kagome looked up at him from her spot next to the fire pit, stopped mid-stir in her pot of stew.
"Shippou?" she questioned, then her eyes narrowed as she looked at Mehiji. His head was tilted to the side to keep his ear from being dislocated from his head. He had a huge guilty grin on his face, showing off his fangs. He raised one hand waved his fingers.
"Hi, Okaa." He gave a nervous laugh and ran his hand through his hair.
Kagome looked back to Shippou. She didn't even want to ask. He had something sticky coating him, matting his hair down and making his clothes stiff. "Do I want to know what that is?"
"No, no you don't." Shippou stated simply.
"It's not our fault! We set that up for Makoto, not you." Mehiji retorted.
"That's enough, Mehiji." She shook her head, "Just go to your room for now."
Mehiji's eyes went wide, "But Okaa! Makoto is supposed to be here any minute!"
"You should have thought of that before, now go." He opened his mouth to rebuke, but Kagome cut him short, "No, no." Shippou stifled a cackle as his baby brother was suddenly jerked by the neck.
Mehiji growled and leaned backward against the pull. "Okaa…" he looked pleadingly to Kagome. Kagome just shook her head. There was another pull on his collar, this time harder, and Mehiji silently obeyed and went to his room. "Okaaaaa!" Shippou snickered as he heard the faint 'thump' of Mehiji being pulled down into a sitting position.
Kagome turned and sniffed. "I think you need a bath before they get here." She told Shippou, twitching her nose, "Augh, and get out of my hut!"
"Okaa…!" Shippou whined.
"What is with all the whining coming from here!?" InuYasha yelled.
"Oyaji!" Mehiji's voice echoed from his room, irritated.
"Oi! Your own fault, pup!" InuYasha hid his smirk.
"Oyaji! Okaa! Shippou! They're here!" Gina slid open the front door with a big grin on her face. Kagome squealed loud, causing her hanyou to flatten their ears from the sharp tune.
"What about me!?" Mehiji yelled.
"You still have ten minutes left!" Kagome answered as she cut the corner, slipped open the front door, and took off down the path. Gina was much faster as she ran ahead; jumping low branches and rocks and bouncing her feet off the side of trees to gain more momentum. She was in the village before anyone else and smiled when she caught a whiff of Makoto's scent on the breeze.
Makoto entered the familiar village with one arm wrapped around his mate's waist and the other lugging a bag over his shoulder. He smirked and shook his head, stepping a few feet away from Kita before a silver/black blur glomped him to the ground.
"Makoto!" Gina giggled as the two tumbled down in the grass. "I missed you so much!" A few of the villagers in the surrounding fields stopped to look on as the rest of the family gathered around. Kagome was just jumping off of InuYasha's back as Shippou, Tani, and Takeshi arrived. Miroku, Sango, and the girls arrived a few moments after.
"Hey Gin-Gin, how's my favorite sibling?" Makoto ruffled her hair as he stood them both back up.
"Okaa said in one more year she's going to train me!"
Makoto laughed. "Good luck with that. Okaa isn't all sunshine. She can get a temper on her if she doesn't get her way."
"Makoto!" Kagome scolded. She elbowed InuYasha, who had started cackling behind her.
Makoto walked over and picked Kagome up, twirling her in the air before pulling her into a big bear-hug. "You know I still love you, Okaa-san." He turned to InuYasha. "Oyaji. Still letting a pathetic human girl get the best of you, ehe?" he ducked from a blow aimed at his head. "But, you have grown slower!"
"Why you…"
"Where's Mehiji?" Makoto ignored InuYasha's angry glare.
Shippou huffed and jerked his head in the direction of the hut. "Stuck to the floor of his room." Makoto raised his eyebrow questioningly. "Pulled one too many pranks," Shippou's lips turned up in a smirk, "Okaa put a submission collar on him."
Makoto couldn't help but laugh. He was laughing so hard his sides started to ache. Kita shook her head and poked him in his stomach to silence him. "Aww, come on, Kita! The little brat got what he deserved."
"He's no more of a brat then you are at times," she said in a stern voice. "Maybe I'll get Kagome-san to make you a collar."
"Keh," Makoto crossed his arms and turned his face away. Sulking, much like a certain older silver-haired hanyou.
"MAKOTOOOOO!" Mehiji was running up the path at full speed. Makoto barley had time to brace himself before the boy plowed into him. "It's about time you got here! Why are you always so late?"
"Oi, brat, some people have responsibilities to tend to," he ruffled the boy's hair and set him back down on the ground.
"Well, come on! Let's all go to the hut; Sango and I made enough food for everyone tonight." Kagome's broad smile never left her face. Her family was back together again, even if it was for only a short time.
The rest of the evening consisted of eating, story telling, questions, and laughter. Makoto couldn't help but laugh out loud as Mehiji told the stories of his latest pranks, and Kita was more than impressed when Gina told them about how far she had gotten with using her miko powers. Makoto couldn't help but notice that Kagome kept smiling the entire time. He missed that most of all.
Miroku stood up and held out his hand to Sango who graciously accepted his help. "Well my friends, it's time for Sango and I to retire."
Sango gave Makoto and Kita a final hug for the night before the two slipped out into the twilight air. Their girls left one by one soon after their parents, and then it was only the family together in the small common space of the hut. Gina snuggled against Makoto's chest in his lap as he smoothed his hand over her hair. She looked up and giggled, looking to Kita and back to Makoto with a knowing gaze. Makoto eyed her, but she shook her head and raised herself up enough to whisper in his ear.
"I haven't told them anything," she said loud enough for only him to hear.
Makoto nodded and whispered a "thanks" in her ear before clearing his throat. "Okaa, Oyaiji," he started, "Kita and I…" Kagome squealed, but covered her mouth when her son looked at her. "are having a pup." The squeals returned and all the hanyou and youkai in the room groaned in annoyance.
"Sorry," Kagome said as she rubbed InuYasha's ears. Being right beside her, he had gotten an ear full of the shrill sound. "All I have to say is it's about time! I was starting to wonder if you two would ever give me grandchildren."
"Well, the pack is really getting stronger now, and larger. We figured it would be safe enough for a pup now," Makoto rubbed Kita's stomach.
Gina looked up with worry. "How are Jax, Mina, and the pup?" she asked.
"They're fine, now. It was a bit of a scare this morning. The poor thing," Kita answered. Jax and Mina were two of her original pack that stayed loyal to her father. They had a pup together not long after Kita and Makoto became the alphas, but it was born prone to seizures quite often.
"A wolf and an inu!" Tani squealed. "You could bet one thing, it's going to have very cute ears!" InuYasha, Makoto, and Mehiji all shook their heads.
The rest of the week was full of more stories and laughter. Kagome, Tani, Kita, and Sango spent most afternoons chatting about the unborn pup; what Kita should expect, if she wanted a boy or a girl, and if she had any names picked out yet. InuYasha, Shippou, Makoto, and Miroku spent their afternoons bickering and teasing Makoto on how, exactly, the unborn pup had came into existence. Kagome used Mehiji's submission word on nine different occasions, including the incident when Takeshi and Mehiji decided Shippou's tail would look manlier without fur, and when the two decided that Makoto would look better with purple hair.
Finally Kita and Makoto had to say goodbye, Makoto still grumbling and fiddling with the cloth tie Kagome gave him to keep over his hair until the dye wore off. After many tears from Kagome, a 'keh' from InuYasha, snuggles from Gina, and roughly ruffling Mehiji's hair, Makoto grabbed hold of Kita's hand and set off to rejoin their pack.
A/N:
Aww. T.T And that's the end, folks. Hope you enjoyed it! I'm already working on a new, darker fic, hopefully coming out this summer, so keep a lookout for it. Byes!