Chapter Text
"Daddy!" Moroha called out excitedly while she ran to him. As she grew out of the toddler stage, Moroha became more and more rambunctious and hyper, which Kagome blamed on the demon side of her lineage. It seemed like she was always running and jumping, and there was always a fair amount of scrapes and bruises on her. Moroha squealed and lept into his arms, clinging to his front.
"How was your day? Have fun with your cousins?" Inuyasha asked with a laugh after catching his daughter and holding her close.
"Uncle Inu!" Two more girls cried happily before she could answer, though, jumping onto his back and shoulder and climbing up his red clothes like little monkeys.
"Towa! Setuna! Go back to Aunt Rin! This is my daddy!" Moroha whined with a prominent pout on her face while clutching his chest harder.
"But our Daddy is never here!" Towa replied sadly, and her twin nodded with tears in her eyes.
"Your daddy is practically our daddy, too!" Setuna said, to which Moroha made an unhappy growl sound over.
"Now, girls! Let's not bother Uncle Inuyasha!" Rin scolded as she approached from the house, and despite their audible complaints, both of her daughters complied by jumping down from their perches.
"Next time, why don't you girls come to our house? We can all play games together as demons, okay? No human mommy's allowed!" Towa and Setuna's eyes sparkled at the idea, and they both nodded enthusiastically. After they said their goodbyes, the two were on their way home. Inuyasha moved Moroha to sit on his shoulders. She reached her little arms down to grab under his chin for security. He had one rule for shoulder rides, which was no ear grabbing. That applied to every kid who had the pleasure of getting these special rides, too.
"Hey, Daddy?" The girl spoke up with a curious voice after a long stint of silence.
"What's up, Moroha?"
"How come Uncle Sesshomaru is never home with Aunt Rin, Towa, and Setuna?" He secretly cursed his half brother. Both Inuyasha and Kagome knew this would probably come up at some point, but it didn't make it any easier. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Well, I guess Sesshomaru is busy and doesn't have time."
"You go on missions and stuff with Uncle Miroku, but you're always with me and Mommy!" Inuyasha stopped walking. 'Damn him!' He thought to himself.
"Your uncle is a mysterious person. I don't know what he does all this time, but it's gotta be important if it keeps him away from his family. I doubt he wants to be. I know being gone from you and mommy is torture for me!" He felt her hug his face a little tighter as he continued walking.
"Oh yeah, Mommy is gonna be mad at me." Well, that was never a good sign.
"Oh geez! What did you do, Moroha?" He asked with a groan, unsure if he even wanted to know.
"I tore my yukata again and scraped my knee." Inuyasha couldn't help but let out a breath of relief.
"Again? She just fixed it recently, didn't she?" He felt her nod against the top of his head. "Well, she'll probably be a little miffed, but she won't be too mad. But ya gotta start being more careful!"
"Sorry! Towa challenged me to a race, and I fell! I won in the end, though!"
"That's my girl!" He said with a laugh, and they shared a high-five. She inherited his inability to back down from any kind of challenge, and she certainly shared his stubbornness about losing. The rest of the journey home was a queit one, except for the occasional question from Moroha, but what can you expect from an inquisitive four year old? Not that he minded in the slightest. Inuyasha could listen to her for hours. Hearing her talk about tearing yet another kimono and hurting herself did give him an idea, though. One he had to discuss with Kagome later tonight.
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"So I've been thinking," Inuyasha spoke up, breaking through the comfortable queit he and his wife had been enjoying. It was late in the evening, dinner had been eaten, and the couple did their usual routine of talking before going to bed. Kagome was mending a brand new tear in one of Moroha's kimonos. Even as barely a toddler, she was already proving to have her father's inclination for mischief. The girl in question was currently fast asleep on his lap after a day full of playing with her cousins. Kagome looked at him with piqued interest. "I think it's time to get Moroha her own robe made." She glanced between what she was working on and the red garment he so famously wore.
"When you say robe, do you mean -?" He nodded in affirmation at her question.
"Yeah, I mean one made from fur of the fire rat like mine."
"Aren't those rare? And it's kind of far, isn't it? And why so suddenly?" Again, he nodded, then looked at his sleeping daughter and ran a hand through her hair.
"She's growing up, getting older. As a quarter demon, she's gonna need proper protection. Her life is so different compared to mine that it hadn't occurred to me that she would need one until today, but I still think it's important." Kagome frowned at the prospect. She wasn't sure if she liked the idea of their four year old already in need of any form of protecting because that meant she would be in situations where she might HAVE to be protected. Kagome sighed.
"I understand where you're coming from, I really do, but she leads such a peaceful life here. The idea of her needing something like that feels scary, like we're condoning and putting her in difficult or harmful situations."
"The fact of the matter is that she's part demon, and even raising her in a loving environment doesn't mean we can shield her from everything. Hell, my mother was a princess, and before she died, I lived on a huge estate, but I've worn my robe of the fire rat my whole life, and I probably wouldn't be here without it."
Kagome looked down at her daughters small kimono that she had been diligently working on and hugged it close. A hand gently touched her cheek, making Kagome look into his golden eyes that gazed back at her softly. "There's something else too," Inuyasha said in a low, tentative voice. "It's true that getting the fire rat cloth is difficult, and a long journey," He paused as he considered his words. "Which is why I want all three of us to go."
"Three? Y-you mean -?!" She looked between him and their daughter tucked snuggly in his arms. Inuyasha nodded.
"Yeah, I want you and Moroha to come with me, and there's a few reasons why. First off, they'll need her measurements, and it'll be easier if she's there. Second is that I'm glad she can have such a peaceful village to live in, but I want her to see more of the world, too. I wish I'd had someone to really show me things, ya know? The only traveling I did was in constant fear for my life." Kagome smiled and leaned into his touch.
"I agree! It was the same for me when I was first coming here. We only went anywhere in search of the jewel or Naraku," She didn't miss the small wince his face made at the sound of that name or how his ears pinned themselves back slightly. "It might be dangerous for her, but there's no place safer in the world than with us! Plus, I can't deny that it'll be nice not to constantly mend clothes because she inherited your energy!" Inuyasha blushed and snorted at her defiantly.
"Yeah, whatever!" He mumbled to himself, then glanced outside. "It's getting late. We should get her to bed properly."
"I'll prepare the futon," Kagome said as she stood and walked to where they kept it. She first put away the garment and her sewng supplies, pulled the bedding out of the large chest in the corner and rolled it out, then did the same for the comforter. Inuyasha laid Moroha down and tucked her in. "I was thinking... Why don't we go the back porch and enjoy some alone time, puppy?" She said in a seductive whisper while her finger traced up and down his arm. In a heartbeat, she was swooped up into his arms as he rushed to the back side of their house as fast as his legs could carry them both. Kagome squealed with happy excitement.