• In Inuyasha’s Forest:

    Shippo walked around proudly with the birthday gift that Kagome’s little brother had sent for him through the well. He had never met Souta, but he was sure that he was probably the coolest kid ever to give a present to someone that he had only heard about.

    “I can’t believe he gave this to me! It is so cool!” he said to himself as he sat down and looked at his gift for the millionth time. It was a Red Ryder bb-gun. Kagome had said that there was a movie in which the bb-gun was made famous, but he couldn’t remember which one it was at the moment. All he knew or cared about was the fact that he had a new toy to play with. Kagome had been a bit upset when he had opened it though, and was quick to explain that it could be dangerous if he didn’t use it properly.

    Flashback:

    “Ok Shippo, this present is from my little brother back home…he’s heard a lot about you, and decided to get you a gift! Isn’t that nice?” Kagome asked, laying the large, long gift in front of him. Shippo nodded his head furiously. He hadn’t expected any presents at all, and then Kagome had come through the well with a whole bag of them for him! This long one was the last one, and it filled Shippo with pride to know that Kagome apparently said such nice things about him while in her era that her family liked him enough to get him any gift, let alone a big one.

    Shippo ripped open the paper and saw a long box. On the box was a picture of a boy holding something in his hands, which Shippo assumed had to be in the box. He pointed to the picture.

    “Kagome…what is it?” he asked, as politely as he could. He was quite curious, and not the least bit disappointed. It looked as interesting as he imagined the future era to be at any rate… Inuyasha, whom was standing nearby, also looked quite curious. He had never seen anything like it either, and he had been to Kagome’s era many times…

    Kagome looked at the gift and slapped her forehead. “…It’s a bb-gun…my god…he gave you a bb-gun…I must speak with this little brother of mine…” she groaned. Shippo looked at her curiously.

    “What does it do?” he asked, sensing her displeasure at the sight of the gift.

    “It shoots things basically…here, I’ll take you outside and show you…it makes a lot of noise, so don’t get spooked…ok?” she said. My god…I am going to kill that boy! He knows that I hate these things and that I would never allow Shippo to get one…that’s why he wrapped it himself! I thought it was a kendo sword or something! And he knew that I wouldn’t have the heart to take away the gift once Shippo had seen it! Darn that little rat! Kagome thought to herself begrudgingly. She led Shippo, (and Inuyasha,) out into the forest a ways, making sure to tell the villagers they passed that there was going to be some loud banging noises and that it was nothing to be afraid of.

    Once the trio was far enough away from the village, Kagome showed Shippo how to hold and load the bb-gun. Inuyasha had perched himself in a nearby tree to watch.

    The first thing that Kagome had told him was to never point the gun at ANY living being. She also explained never to look into the little tube, which was where the bb’s came out. Kagome also made it very clear that it was not a toy to be taken lightly, and that he was only allowed to play with it when she was around to supervise him. It was dangerous if not used the way it was supposed to be used.

    Shippo had listened very intently, he knew that Kagome wouldn’t tell him these things if they weren’t very important. Once she was finished speaking, she demonstrated how to use it.

    She had been right, there WAS a big bang, at least for something so small anyways. After putting the safety on the bb-gun, and explaining a second time why to always do it, she set it down and walked to where she had shot at. In the tree was a small hole where it had been struck. It was then that Shippo understood why it was dangerous.

    Suddenly they heard another bang from the gun and a mark was seen on the tree next to them. Both Kagome and Shippo screamed and jumped in surprise. When they turned around, they saw a very confused and slightly traumatized Inuyasha, holding the bb-gun.

    Kagome growled and took a deep breath as she walked over to Inuyasha, whom was staring at the bb-gun with shock written all over his face. He looked at Kagome when she appeared next to him and inwardly gulped at her expression.

    “Inuyasha…did you hear everything that I told Shippo? All the do’s and don’ts?” she asked calmly. Inuyasha nodded, still a bit surprised by the force and noise of the small weird tube thingy in his hands.

    “Ok…” Kagome breathed, holding out her hand, “Please give me the bb-gun Inuyasha…” He did so obediently, not really wanting to hold it anymore. Part of him was a bit afraid of it, though he would never in a million years say it.

    Once the gun was safely in Kagome’s hands and away from Inuyasha, the girl spoke once more, “Sit.”


    End of Flashback

    Shippo laughed at the memory. Inuyasha had eaten dirt once again. It was one of Shippo’s favorite things to watch. After that, Kagome had let Shippo use the bb-gun, but she observed him like a hawk. Inuyasha had also been watching the kit closely. After being taken aback and surprised by the object, he understood why Kagome apparently didn’t like it, and was as determined as she to make sure Shippo used it correctly, and with supervision.

    Not that Kagome would ever ask Inuyasha to supervise Shippo after that incident, but still.

    After they were done, Kagome had unloaded the gun of all the bb’s that hadn’t been used, and had made sure the safety was on before heading back into the village. When they reached Lady Kaede’s hut, Kagome made sure to tell her that Shippo was never to use the bb-gun if she wasn’t there, and that she was going to leave it in Kaede’s cabinet. Kaede had agreed, understanding the situation, and had bid Kagome farewell, for she had decided to go to school the next day.

    Inuyasha complained the whole way to the well…Shippo could hear the sits and yells from the village…

    But then, of course, Shippo couldn’t help himself. He looked at his prize once more and smiled. He wanted to shoot his toy gun, and Kagome hadn’t been there. Kaede had been in another hut helping a little girl that had gotten sick, so Shippo had snuck into her hut and into her cabinet, and had taken his gift once more, and a handful of bb’s to go with it.

    “I’ll show Kagome that I am responsible enough to do this on my own. She’ll be so proud!” he said out loud as he stood up once more. He had shot a bunch of his bb’s already, but had decided to go a little further into the forest in search of a better landmark to shoot at. All he could smell at this point was the scent his gun made when he shot out the bb’s. he didn’t know what made it, but it made smelling anything else impossible…

    He paused his musings when he heard a noise nearby. Curious, he walked into the bushes and peaked out the other side. All he could make out was a furry, brown wolf’s tail…

    *~*~*~*~*

    Koga had sniffed out a herd of deer near the village that Kagome could often be found at. He had been stalking them for a few days, and was intending on killing them as food for his pack. Then, after he had cleaned up, he was going to go see his Kagome and whisk her away with him. Hakku and Ginta could take care of transporting the food to their den.

    He was hidden quite well, crouching within the bushes at the edge of the clearing the deer were currently feeding in. He was downwind from them, so they had yet to detect his scent. It would be a perfect kill…

    Shippo panicked when he saw the tail. He knew that he should leave, but he wanted to help. Where there was one wolf, there were more, and Shippo was still pretty close to the village…he didn’t want any of the villagers to get hurt if they ventured out that far…

    Then Shippo got an idea. He would aim his bb-gun and shoot near the wolf…enough to probably scare it off. If not, he would fire a second time. The noise would frighten it away, and if it left, then its pack would leave too.

    Shippo quietly cocked his bb-gun and aimed it to the left of the wolf’s tail. He didn’t want to hit it, just to scare it. He took aim and fired.

    Too bad he forgot the kick would jerk it a little if he wasn’t prepared…

    Koga howled in pain as something small hit him in the back really hard. He wasn’t seriously injured, but he was in pain. He jumped up quickly to get out of the way, in case he was hit again, and forgot that he was crouched about five feet below a tree branch…

    He knocked himself out cold.

    Shippo’s jaw dropped when he saw Koga jump up from the bushes…and hit his head hard on the branch above him. When the wolf prince fell back to the ground and didn’t get back up, Shippo didn’t know whether to cry or run away, or both.

    “Oh my god! I killed him! Kagome’s going to kill me! (Inuyasha might be proud,) but Kagome’s going to kill me! She’s going to be so mad, she told me not to play with it without her, oh my god, she’s going to take it away from me and tell everyone in her era how bad and irresponsible I am, and then she won’t want to come back because I never listen to her and then she’ll stay away for a long time, and oh no!” he rambled, beginning to cry horridly. He dropped his bb-gun and cried, thinking he was going to cause Kagome to hate him.

    After sobbing for a few minutes Shippo walked over to Koga, hoping that there was something that he could do. When he saw Koga breathing normally, he nearly dropped dead himself.

    After a few remaining sobs, the fox kit couldn't help but scowl at the unconscious wolf, “You deserve it for always pestering Kagome...but at least I didn’t kill you…”

    Shippo had a hard time getting Koga back to the village. He had even used his fox magic to turn himself into Inuyasha in order to have an easier time dragging him, but Koga was heavy. Once Shippo got Koga to the village, Kaede had immediately ordered some people to pick him up and take him to her hut so that she could look at his head. Shippo couldn’t help but be relieved. After a few minutes of sitting outside the hut, (he had not wanted to bother Kaede while she tended to Koga’s head,) the elderly woman slowly made her way outside and to the kit.

    She sighed as she sat next to Shippo, “So, ye took the toy from my cabinet did ye? And accidentally hit poor Koga?” Shippo looked at the ground in shame.

    “Yeah…I wanted to play with is so badly…and I thought that if I used it responsibly on my own, that Kagome wouldn’t mind and would let me use it while she was away…I saw a wolf’s tail in the bushes and I didn’t want any one from the village coming out there and getting hurt…so I thought that if I scared it, then it would go away and it would be safe…I never meant to hit him…honest, I was aiming to the left of him but I forgot that the gun jerked if I didn’t hold it tightly enough…and then it hit him in the back…and THEN he jumped up in surprise and hit his head on a low branch…I was scared when he didn’t get back up…I thought that I had killed him!” Shippo wailed out that last part, wanting Kaede to understand how sorry he was. He was surprised when the old woman began to chuckle.

    “Shippo…Koga is a demon just like ye…ye should know that a hit in the head like that wouldn’t kill him…but I understand yer fear. Ye were a bit on the responsible side when ye thought enough to bring him here for care as well. I am sure that Kagome will forgive ye if ye apologize for disobeying her request…especially since no one was seriously hurt…But I think that Koga deserves an apology from ye as well, ye did hit him in the back with a...'bb' after all…” she said kindly. Shippo nodded solemnly. He was about to say something when Inuyasha came tearing through the village angrily.

    “Where the hell is that flea-bag of a wolf? What is he doing here!” he yelled, sniffing the air with determination. Shippo gulped.

    “He…uh…is in the hut…I kind of nearly killed him…I was playing with my bb-gun and-”

    “Shippo? Why were you playing with your bb-gun? I told you only to use it while I was here with you…” came Kagome’s voice from behind Inuyasha. Inuyasha stepped aside to reveal the girl, whom looked a bit hurt.

    At the site of his adoptive mother, Shippo started bawling again, “I’m so sorry Kagome! It was an accident! I didn’t mean to shoot Koga in the back! I thought he was a wolf, well, he is a wolf, but you know what I mean! I was trying to scare it off but the bb-gun jerked and I hit him, and I know that I shouldn’t have been playing with it, but I really wanted too and when Koga knocked himself out I thought I killed him and then he was alive and I brought him here so that Kaede could look at his head and I AM SO SORRY!” It all came out at once as he ran to Kagome and hugged her leg guiltily. He was sobbing uncontrollably when he felt himself being picked up. He kept his eyes on the ground sadly.

    “Shippo…come on, look at me…please? I’m not going to yell at you…” she said soothingly. Shippo obliged solemnly and looked her in the eyes. He was surprised to see a gentle smile on her face.

    “Shippo…I won’t lie to you; I am disappointed. However, I am also proud of you for owning up to it and bringing Koga here to be taken care of…” she said. She gave Shippo a hug and a light kiss on the head.

    “Now…I am going to have to take the bb-gun away for a while…this can’t go without some sort of punishment…do you understand?” she asked. Shippo nodded.

    “I left it in the woods,” he said softly, “I didn’t bring it back with me when I brought Koga here…” Kagome gave him another hug and set him down. She proceeded to the woods while Inuyasha spoke with Shippo.

    “Hey…kid…” he said, looking at him seriously.

    Shippo sighed and looked up at him. Inuyasha grinned, despite himself.

    “Not that what you did was right…” he began, “but good aim…”