Chapter Text
“Don’t you dare insult me! I’m not a boy—I’m a girl!”
“Oh, you’re a girl? Even better!” Kagome squealed as she cradled the tiny ball of defiance who was squawking about how vehemently opposed she was to be squished to death by well meaning arms.
Sango sighed in amusement before her smile fell as she glanced around the desolate fortress. Dust and cobwebs adorned every eave. The building itself was in dire need of repairs. There was no movement other than what was occurring in the courtyard.
A sinking feeling settled in her gut.
“She said she’s the leader,” Sango whispered more to herself than her friends. She barely noticed how Inuyasha glanced over at her or how his eyes followed her gaze. She simply drifted towards the main house and began climbing the steps while Miroku trailed after her like the devoted puppy he not-so-secretly was.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly as Sango slowly moved through the smaller than expected home. There was hardly any furniture and what was there was filthy. Just coated with evidence of disuse.
”That little girl is the leader,” Sango repeated shakily.
“So she said.”
“There’s not a soul around here Miroku,” Sango declared, her voice laced with concern. “She’s the leader of the Thunder Demon Tribe because everyone else in the tribe is gone. There is no tribe left. It’s just her.”
Miroku glanced around and walked into what must have been a once ornate dining hall.
“That poor thing is living here by herself,” Sango breathed and it sounded like tears might be blooming, “And she’s so small. She can’t be very old.”
”She has her dragon companion,” he tried to soothe even as he began to realize he knew exactly where this conversation was heading.
“Who is also very small!” Sango protested as she glanced around the space in mild horror. Wilting a bit, Miroku turned his gaze back to the courtyard where Kagome remained occupied with the squirmy worm of a girl in her arms.
“She does appear to be around Shippo’s age,” he observed softly, “But demons age very differently. It’s very possible she’s much older than we-“
He trailed off as Shippo launched a box of crayons at her. Her eyes sparkled like fireworks as she cradled them in her hands like they were the most precious treasure.
Oh hell.
“On second thought,” he mumbled as his spirits sank. He glanced back at Sango whose concern was evolving into something much more determined.
Miroku let out a good-natured groan and predicted precisely what would come next before it even occurred.
Sango abruptly rushed out of the house just as Kagome placed Soten on the ground with a pat to the head.
“What joy,” he groaned as he watched Sango drag Kagome a few steps away and began to whisper urgently. Kagome’s hand flew to her mouth and she looked so impossibly sad as she looked up to the house.
He knew. He knew what was to come as surely as he knew the sun would rise. He didn’t need an explanation. He could see the future in Kagome’s firm nod and accepted his fate even before her shoulders’ squared.
He reluctantly marched down the steps just as Kagome moved to explain the situation to Inuyasha who looked about as resigned and knowing about this development as Miroku felt.
“More mouths to feed.”