Work Text:
It was almost too convenient. He was adopted on the same day he was orphaned, by the two strangers that he had stolen the Shikon shards from. Inuyasha did what he couldn’t, killing the Thunder Brothers after they took Shippō’s father from him. And Kagome scooped him up and became his family, before he’d had to exert even a modicum of energy in that quest.
Traveling with them was also easy. He rode on Kagome’s shoulder. He snuggled into her sleeping bag. He let Inuyasha fish for them and ate the delicious special food from Kagome’s time. When Miroku and Sango joined them, Shippō had it even easier. He had his choice of excellent perches to ride on: Kagome’s bike, Kirara’s back, Miroku’s shoulder, and even Kagome’s shoulder while she rode Inuyasha. It was leisurely. He could just lay back and let everyone around him take care of him. He was just a child after all. He needed to be taken care of .
This was sometimes a problem, because others seemed to forget that, and asked him to do things. When they made him walk, he whined and complained until someone acquiesced (usually Kagome). When Inuyasha suggested they go hunting together, Shippō pretended not to hear him or intentionally pissed him off by scaring away the rabbits. When they asked him for help cooking, he would whine and cry about how he hurt his poor little paws on the fire. Kagome always bought it.
The gang had learned quickly that Shippō was not the most… reliable of team players.
On that day, they were heading toward another rumor of a jewel shard, and stopped on the outskirts of a village.
“No luck Miroku?” Kagome asked, drawing Shippō’s attention.
“Alas, they did not believe that the dark cloud was of any concern, something about having a shrine that protected them from harm.” Miroku sighed, defeated in his attempt to swindle his way into food and lodging for the night.
“We can make camp by the river,” Sango replied, “Perhaps we’ll have luck fishing?”
Shippō usually let everyone else catch the fish while Kagome set up camp, but maybe today he could try his luck. It seemed simple enough—the stream was shallow and he needed to wash his paws anyway.
With the help of Kirara, Shippō caught 3 fish on his own. As he brought them back to camp, Kagome gave him the brightest smile.
“Thank you so much Shippō! I’ll get Inuyasha to clean these for us.” Kagome took the fish, then rustled around in her bag, pulling something out and handing it to him. “Here, you’ve earned this.”
Artwork commission by kalcia
Pocky. It was pocky . The most magical wondrous food of the Kami from Kagome’s country. And all he had to do was get fish ? Shippō crunched on the delicious ambrosia stick (Kagome called it cookie and chocolate, but she was fooling no one) and thought about it. He wondered what else he might be able to do that would get him more pocky.
Over the next couple of weeks, Shippō hunted mushrooms (that got him pocky), climbed trees to pick some ripe cherries (that got him both pocky and potato chips). He fished more, which served both to get him lots of treats (as well as extra affection) from Kagome, and annoy Inuyasha.
Maybe… just maybe… putting in a little more effort wouldn’t be too bad.
“Kagomeeeeee” Shippō rubbed the bump on his head, practicing his well-rehearsed wail.
“I-nu-ya-sha…” came the answering call, “Osuwari!”
Inuyasha’s face bit the dirt. Shippō tried not to smirk, but he couldn’t help it. The hanyō had to stop bopping him on the head.
Okay, fine. It was because he stole one of Inuyasha’s fish, but Shippō was a growing boy after all. It was only fair he got extra fish, and it was only fair that Inuyasha got punished for picking on someone weaker than him.
It also made it clear that Shippō needed to do better.
Inuyasha was so grumpy all the time! He was mean and he laughed at Shippō for being weak. Every prank that came Inuyasha’s way was obviously deserved. But… Inuyasha always seemed to know when Shippō was up to something. It was… aggravating .
He tried throwing shrieking mushrooms on Inuyasha while he slept, but Inuyasha opened an eye and batted them away. He tried to disguise himself as Kagome and say Osuwari , but Inuyasha had grabbed him by the tail and booted him across half of Japan. He tried to make sticky rice pudding and smear it in Inuyasha’s hair, but Inuyasha caught him then too, and gave him three lumps on the head.
Kagome didn’t even defend him, saying “you made your bed Shippō, now you get to sleep in it.”
He had to do something. It was no fun to pull pranks if Inuyasha could so easily detect and defend against them. But that took effort and Shippō hated effort . On the other hand...
Maybe it was time to try and improve . It wasn’t as easy as staying where he was, but Shippō could see the beautiful rewards: more successful pranks on Inuyasha!
And so Shippō started practicing his tricks, away from the camp, away from Inuyasha. He made his screaming mushrooms harder to detect and more accurate. He hid the sticky pudding in a compartment in his pocket. And finally, he started to practice his Kagome disguise on Miroku and Sango, both of whom seemed completely unaware it was the kit.
So finally the day came. He wanted to pull the ultimate prank on Inuyasha—or more to the point, he wanted to pull all of them on Inuyasha. He made a point to roll around in Kagome’s sleeping bag, to pick up as much of her scent as he could. He made a point to run ahead on the trail they were following to set the sticky pudding trap. And he made a point to rile Inuyasha and Kagome up and get them fighting with each other just enough that it would all work.
It was showtime.
Kagome had stormed off because Inuyasha said something stupid (he was reliable in that!) Shippō quickly shifted into his Kagome disguise waiting for Inuyasha to be directly under his target.
“I-nu-ya-sha…” Shippō cried, a perfect impression of Kagome, stopping the hanyō in his tracks. “OSUWARI!”
As Shippō said the words that Inuyasha feared so much, he let out a barrage of shrieking mushrooms, which hit the bag of sticky pudding he’d laid dead-on, causing it to explode all over Inuyasha’s hair.
Shippō shifted back into himself, and made to run, but… he couldn’t. The sight of the maroon-faced hanyō covered in sticky white goo was just too good. So instead, Shippō joined everyone else’s laughter, pointing at the apoplectic Inuyasha. Even Kagome had forgotten her anger and joined in.
When Inuyasha caught up to him, he got three bops on the head, but he didn’t care. It was worth it; he would never forget the image of the bug-eyed hanyō covered in sticky pudding. Maybe he would even draw a picture to commemorate it for everyone.
The effort to improve had been worth it. Maybe tomorrow he’d go practice again. There were always more pranks to pull.
It took everything he had. But he would not give up. Not now, not when the building was collapsing around them in an inferno and they were helpless without Inuyasha. Kagome, Miroku and Sango lay below Shippō’s little shield, deadly still, slowly giving in to the poison of Mukotsu. They were his family, they were his pack . It fell to him to protect. Kirara was helping too, holding the beams out of the way while Shippō worked to hold back the fire.
But it was so hard. It hurt so bad. He could feel his foxfire sputtering and trying to go out, but he couldn’t let it, not now, not ever. Not when Kagome, Miroku and Sango were counting on him. But… it was buckling. He couldn’t hold it up much longer. He was going to fail . And… and...
“Kagome????” the frantic shout of his savior echoed through the burning building.
He could hold on! Inuyasha was almost there! He would save them all!
“I-Inuyasha…” Shippō cried as the hanyō made his way to them. With one animated thrust of Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha doused the flames.
Were they too late? Shippō had kept them from burning but… but...
“Shippō… you protected everyone from the flames with your phantom fire.” Inuyasha looked proud.
“They’re not breathing!” Shippō could not hold on anymore.
He cried and his foxfire sputtered out. He’d failed . His friends had died because he could not save them. He didn’t remember being gently placed on Inuyasha’s back. He didn’t remember Myōga’s words. He did remember Kagome starting to breathe again, followed by Miroku, then Sango. And he remembered Inuyasha’s tears.
If Inuyasha had been a second later, Shippō’s pack would be gone. Shippō knew what he had to do.
It would take effort, yes. But it wasn’t enough just to do, and it wasn’t enough just to improve. He needed to be the best he could possibly be, because if he were, then he’d get all the pocky he wanted, he’d play all the pranks he desired to, but most importantly, he'd be able to protect his pack .