Animalistic Natures by NicoRavenPen
First Meetings
Animalistic Natures
Chapter 1: First Meetings
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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it’s characters…
A/N: Lol, well I don’t really know where this came from! ^^ Felt like doing a zoo fic where the youkai are the creatures in the zoo. And it’s kind of odd because they are in their human forms, for the most part, but nobody questions them being caged. Neither the humans nor the youkai. (Maybe out of boredom on their part?) Who knows, why…but I thought it could make for entertaining events so here I go! Hope you guys like it! And sorry in advance for the rude language from Inuyasha. There’s really no way around it with him.
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Kagome hummed as she got off of the bus, readjusting her light sweater and waving politely at the driver.
“See you tomorrow, Kanako-san!”
As she neared her work she took in a deep breath, readying herself for another day in her own little personal paradise. Or personal hell, depending on how she looked at it.
She headed through the front gates, into the employee entrance and over to the women’s locker rooms. As she changed into her uniform she whistled a jaunty tune, determined to start the day off with a good start.
She punched in with her badge and then headed to the front desk to wait for her partner. There was a line of children and their parents just waiting on the other side of the line at the counter, waiting for the zoo to open and she could feel their excitement in the air. It rubbed off on her like it always did; part of why she loved her job.
“Kagome!” called Sango, a co-worker of hers and also her surrogate sister. She walked right up to her, smiling wide. “There you are, ready to go?”
“As always,” she grinned. They waited around a few minutes and watched as the gates were opened and the children came pouring in. It was always fun to see their faces.
“Well, come on, the animals await,” joked Sango. They set out to their jobs, feeding the creatures in the exhibits.
“They can wait a few minutes more.”
“Ahhh but don’t forget we’ve got a new Inu today. The illustrious Tai.”
“Oh that’s right!” exclaimed Kagome, stopping in her tracks. “I had completely forgotten about it!” She started walking again, her mind reeling with newfound excitement. It was always fun to meet a new addition to the zoo. “I wonder what he looks like. Do you think he’s big?”
“Oh he’s bound to be,” Sango chuckled. “Did you know he’s actually related to the mutt?” That was Sango’s friendly little nickname for the half breed in their Inu exhibit.
“Really?”
“Yup, same sire.”
“Well, whadya know,” she murmured, her curiosity piqued.
“Yeah maybe we should head over to the Inu’s exhibit first, see what’s up.”
“Yes, let’s!” With renewed vigor, Kagome and Sango took off to see the Inu’s, only to be intercepted by Miroku, Sango’s fiancee and one of the animal handlers.
“Ohhh, you girls heading over to see the Tai?”
“Of course,” Kagome grinned, practically pacing in her excitement. “I totally forgot he was arriving today.”
“Naturally, he is a fine specimen,” he began as he looked Sango up and down as if it were normal, “I’m sure you girls will appreciate him, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Kagome, playfully.
“Oh, right,” Sango punched his arm, smirking when he flinched and wrapped a hand around the pending bruise.
The girls started walking past him when he stopped them again.
“Oh but you won’t find him with the other Inu,” he began, catching their attention. “See, the two got into a fight, literally tearing into each other. Could barely be separated.” He chuckled to himself at the memory. “Soooooo the Tai has been placed in another exhibit. Far from the hanyou.”
“Really?” The girls gaped at him. “But I thought they were related?”
“Ah yes, but that also brings in the dominance issue. The hanyou believes that he should be the dominant Inu because he has been here longer, but the Tai seems to disagree. He is much older and a full blooded Inu, so he has a natural dominance.”
“I see,” Kagome murmured, tapping a finger on her chin. “Well where is he?”
“Right this way,” he grinned as he took the lead on the pathway.
The girls followed him across the circle walkway to an exhibit within sight, and for the Inus probably within earshot. But is was far enough that they couldn’t really ruffle each other’s feathers too bad.
As they got closer the girls began to look around anxiously for the new arrival. The exhibit was rather large in order to contain the large beast, and it was mostly a wooded area, with a small flowered clearing and a water source. As far as they could tell he was nowhere in site.
“Miroku, where is he?” Sango asked anxiously.
“Oh he’s there, don’t you worry about that. I’m sure he’s a little irritated so we should probably leave him be for now.”
“Yeah I guess,” Sango shrugged, her excitement filtering down to nothing. “Well, nature calls, literally.” She and Miroku turned away and headed back to their work, chatting. But Kagome stayed behind for a bit, her large curious blue eyes searching. She could have sworn she saw a flash of white.
A frown graced her face as she concentrated, determined. The chattering behind her slowly died away the farther away the others got, and once it was completely gone she was about to turn away and join them. But then a flash of white landed before her from one of the trees.
Gasping, she fell back a step, her hand coming up to her hammering heart. Before her was the most beautiful creature that she’d ever seen. And he was most certainly a large creature. His features were elegant and porcelain, his golden eyes boring into her own. His silver hair fluttered in a breeze, swaying behind him like a curtain, and a large white pelt hung over his shoulder.
Her eyes remained glued to his, never straying, never blinking. His demanding aura wouldn’t allow it. And then he tilted his head in a very canine-like way, considering her, breaking the trance she was in.
“He-hello,” she started, gulping. He blinked, his eyes flicking downwards and then up, quickly sizing her up. “I’ll be one of your caretakers.”
He turned halfway as if preparing to leave, but his eyes never left her.
“Well, I suppose I should get to work, huh?” She chuckled nervously, pulling down on the hem of her uniform, for once feeling how short it really was. “I’ll be seeing you later I guess. I think I’m assigned to you today.” She smiled shyly once more before turning and walking away, all the while with golden eyes boring into her back.
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She’d been to the Kitsune’s exhibit and then to the Wolves exhibit, and now it was time for the first of the Inus.
“Hey, think you can handle the mutt’s on your own? Miroku and I were gonna have lunch together,” Sango grinned.
“Oh yeah, no problem. Inu’s just a big baby anyways. You guys go have a nice lunch.” She grabbed the bucket of food and opened the gate, wedging her way in before shutting the gate behind her.
“Inu!” she called. “Inuyasha! I’ve got your food!”
She heard a grumbling from up a large tree and found the Inu sitting up in the branches, a pout on his face.
“Aww what’s wrong Inuyasha?”
He grumbled some more, ignoring her.
“Is it because of your brother? You didn’t get hurt did you?”
“He’s my fucking half brother and no I did NOT get hurt,” he snapped.
“Tch! No need to be like that Inu, I was just a little worried about you.” She stared up at him through the branches. “Now come on, I’ve brought your food. Ramen, just the way you like it.” She brought the bucket over to where he usually ate, settling it down as she sat on a large tree root. Eventually he gave in, slumping down onto the ground beside her and grabbing his food. As he slurped his noodles Kagome snuck glances over at the exhibit across the way, which didn’t go unnoticed by the hanyou.
“Oi, what the hell do you think you’re looking at?”
She snapped her eyes back to him, blushing a little.
“Nothing!”
“You were looking for that frickin’ ass hole, weren’t you?”
“No! I wasn’t! Well okay I was, but I’m just curious, Yasha!”
“Ugh, just get goin’, I’m sure you’re anxious to see the pretty boy,” he spat, tossing her his empty bucket. “Tell the prick I said hello.”
She sighed as she grabbed the bucket and stood up, heading towards the gate.
“I’ll be back with your dinner later,” she murmured.
“Feh.”
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As she went to the exhibit she glanced around, once more searching. Eventually she gave up, knowing that if he didn’t want to be found he wouldn’t be. Inuyasha could be like that and he was just a hanyou.
She sighed as she went through the hidden gate into the exhibit, a bucket of raw meat in her hands. They honestly had no idea what he would eat, since every youkai’s preferences were different and he had never specified as much. In fact from what she had gathered he’d never said a word since being brought there, other than to scorn Inuyasha.
“Um, I brought some meat with me, if you’re hungry,” she called aloud. “We weren’t sure what you’d eat, but I figured being an Inu youkai you would more than likely appreciate red meat.” She set down the bucket in the clearing and sat down, a little afraid and unsure of what to expect. “If you don’t like it I can get you something else but I need you to tell me.”
She was alone for a while, sitting in silence, but eventually he came sauntering towards her from among the trees, his twitching nose tilted upwards and his eyes on the meat.
“Oh there you are,” she muttered, her voice coming out as a breathy gasp. “I was worried you were going to ignore me.”
He said nothing, glancing from the meat to her.
“Please, feel free to have some,” she smiled hesitantly. He watched her as he came closer, once more tilting his head, his eyes calculating. Eventually he sat on the other side of the bucket, across from her. Taking a single hand from his sleeves, he leant down and skewered a piece of meat on a pointed claw. He brought it to his nose, sniffing it delicately before placing it slowly on his tongue, his canines sinking into the red flesh.
“Well? How is it?” She sat in silence, waiting, before his deep timbre of a voice resonated through her.
“It is acceptable.”
She shivered, surprised at how deep and rich his voice was.
“Oh-oh good,” she muttered, a little shaken, her voice taking on a higher pitch. “Well I’ll leave you to eat then,” she smiled hesitantly as she stood, brushing off the back of her khaki shorts. She stood before him, unsure, before bowing to him slightly, feeling for some reason or another that she should. “I’ll see you at dinner then,” she muttered before hurrying from the exhibit.
When she was sure that she was safely out of the exhibit she leaned back against the door, her hand covering her beating heart once more.
Goodness gracious he was indeed a fine specimen!
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A/N: Well that’s it guys! Hope you like it so far! Lots more to do! For the most part I plan for this to be a series of one-shots, somewhat connected, but not entirely. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I will continue it shortly! Promise! ;D