A/N: Written for a dear friend and her own infamous rabbit, Miko.
This is also my 50th InuYasha fic. Can you believe it?
"A rabbit." Sesshomaru's lips thinned as he looked down at his wife. "You got Hiroji a rabbit."
Kagome smiled up at her husband. "He's been asking for a pet for months, Sesshomaru, and he worked hard to prove he was responsible enough. Even you have to admit that."
Sesshomaru made a noncommittal noise of agreement. "It is a prey animal, Kagome. His instincts will compel him—"
She covered his lips with her hand. "Shh. You're ruining the moment, Sesshomaru." She gestured to their son, who was currently laying on the floor gently petting the fluffy white rabbit that had been his Christmas present. "Our son will do no such thing. Just look at him."
Sesshomaru huffed but wisely kept any further protests to himself.
Kagome left her husband and approached their son. He was their only child—a child they weren't even sure would be possible. They'd tried for far too long to conceive and had all but given up when she'd become pregnant with Hiroji.
He was precious and she would do anything to make sure he was happy and grew up well.
"So, what did you name her?" she asked her son, settling down beside him.
Hiroji didn't even look at his mother. "Airi," he answered, careful to pet the bunny how she'd shown him when she'd presented to the rabbit to him. She was amused to see that he'd bitten off his claws so that no sharp edges could possibly hurt Airi.
And Sesshomaru worried his instincts would compel him to harm the rabbit. Kagome snorted herself as their son cuddled the rabbit. Hiroji is more like his father than either will admit. They're both protectors.
Satisfied, she reminded him of all the importance of rabbit care and then left him to his own devices, turning to take her husband with her as she left the room.
.
.
"Mom!"
Kagome woke with a start, startled to see her ten year old son shaking her with an urgency she'd never seen before. "Muaaah?"
"Mom, wake up!" Hiroji shook her more urgently. "It's important!"
"What's wrong, Hiroji?" she managed, stumbling to her feet as she heard Sesshomaru wake as well.
Hiroji looked positively panicked. "It's Airi. She's gone!"
Kagome stared at him. "Gone? How?"
She heard Sesshomaru mumble something, but it was too incoherent to make out. Her husband was certainly not a quick riser.
"I swear, Mom, I followed everything you said. I put Airi in her cage, fed her, made sure everything was clean, but she started squeaking so, well, I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to let her sleep with me so I let her out and then I turned out and she was gone!" Hiroji said in a rush.
It took Kagome a moment to process everything, half-asleep as she was. "She couldn't have gone far," she reassured their son. "Let's go look for him."
Hiroji took her hand and she followed him out of her room and towards his, determined to find wherever the rabbit had snuck off to. She was confident that once Sesshomaru was more awake, he'd join them.
.
.
"Airi! Airiiii!" Hiroji bellowed, shaking a pouch of special snacks Kagome had purchased for Airi. "Come out!"
"It's a new environment." Kagome rubbed her temples. They'd been searching for two hours and still there was no sign at all of the elusive Airi. "She might just be overwhelmed right now and hiding."
Hiroji's lip trembled at that and he wiped away tears. "I wouldn't hurt her," he told her dejectedly. "See!" He held up his blunted claws. It would be a few hours before they grew back, but Kagome's heart swelled at the sight that he'd evidently been maintaining the bluntness.
"Of course you won't, sweetie, but Airi is a rabbit, and she's new to our family. She doesn't know you as well as we do yet." She gave Hiroji a reassuring smile.
Hiroji sulked but he didn't give up. He continued to search the house for another hour before he finally collapsed by the living room fireplace in sheer exhaustion. Sesshomaru appeared then and helped her carry their son back to bed.
"Have you seen Airi anywhere?" she asked quietly as they returned to their own room.
"No," Sesshomaru admitted, running a hand through his hair. "Her scent is...everywhere. It's too muddled to track down."
Her heart lurched. He hadn't wanted the rabbit, but he'd still done his best to try and find her.
"Let's get some sleep. We'll try looking for her tomorrow."
.
.
Unfortunately, two more days came and went and the only sign they had that Airi was still alive was the empty food bowls in her cage and the pellets she left behind.
The rabbit herself remained elusive.
"Maybe you were right," Kagome finally conceded that night, noting how upset Hiroji was. Their son blamed himself but Kagome felt like it was more her own fault. Maybe Hiroji hadn't been ready for such a responsibility, after all.
Sesshomaru sighed heavily as he reached out to pull her to him on their bed. "No," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Hiroji has proven himself ready and capable."
She blinked, feeling tears well up. "I—" she stopped short, seeing a white blur suddenly move in their dimly lit room.
A moment later, they suddenly had a bunny rabbit sitting on their bed, looking rather calm as if she wasn't the reason for the uproar of the last two days.
"Don't move," she cautioned her husband, not wanting to scare the rabbit away.
Sesshomaru raised a brow as Kagome held her breath, waiting for the right moment to grab the rabbit.
And the Airi suddenly ran.
Towards Sesshomaru.
Within just a few moments, the rabbit had plopped herself into Sesshomaru's lap and settled in to doze off, looking quite pleased with herself.
Kagome could only gape.
"Should I remain still?" Sesshomaru rumbled, looking thoroughly amused.
"Just...keep a hand on her. I'll get Hiroji and her pouch so he can carry her back." Kagome would see to it that Hiroji did not let Airi out of her cage unsupervised again, though, because she was pretty sure she had at least three new silver hairs this week.
She went to their son's room and woke up, waiting for him to calm before they returned to collect the rabbit. Hiroji could barely contain his excitement that Airi was alive and well and practically bounced into their room.
"I put all of your favorite snacks in the pouch, Airi," Hiroji crooned as he quietly entered the room.
The rabbit opened her eyes and look at him, sniffing, but fortunately made no move to flee.
"I won't let you hide again." Hiroji took another step forward.
And suddenly Airi scrambled off Sesshomaru's lap before he could grab her.
"No!" Kagome and Hiroji shouted in unison.
But Airi didn't run away from the room or under the bed. Instead, she buried herself in Sesshomaru's long hair and didn't seem inclined to leave.
Hiroji looked crestfallen but then Sesshomaru waved their son over and, to Kagome's astonishment, helped Hiroji soothe his pet. Within a few minutes, Airi was coaxed back into her pouch and let Hiroji take her away.
"I was really afraid we were going to have to get him another pet," Kagome confessed, climbing into bed beside her husband.
"Hnn." Sesshomaru sounded amused. "And what would I do with a rabbit?"
"Give her back to your son," Kagome said firmly, grinning.
Sesshomaru grinned back. "Of course. I might decide she is a tasty snack if it weren't for all of those little bones—"
She smacked his arm lightly. "You're horrible."
He chuckled as he bent to kiss her. "Am I? And yet you married me."
She scoffed but accepted his kiss, content that now all would be well with the rabbit.
Little did she know that it was only the beginning of many, many other escape attempts and other rambunctious behavior that would lead to Airi's future nickname, 'Houdini.'
Life certainly would never be dull with Airi around, but it would lead to many days of laughter and more than one story of Airi's rather ridiculous antics. But from then on, whenever Airi vanished, she would ultimately reappear to settle in Sesshomaru's lap or hair.