Allergy Season by otterbaby
Vs. Zandy
“AAACHOO!” Kagome sneezed loudly, her torso flying forward to connect her forehead with her knees momentarily. “Ouch. I didn’t realize I was that flexible until just now.” She glared at the man next to her, who had snorted slightly at her flexible comment. “Did I ask for comments from the peanut gallery?” she snapped, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve.
Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Sesshoumaru held up a tissue between two delicate fingers. “This Sesshoumaru is not a peanut, nor does he belong in a gallery. Utilize the proper sanitary measures, mate. This Sesshoumaru will not be made ill because of failure to keep oneself free from disease.”
“I am not diseased, Sesshoumaru. It is called allergies.”Kagome glared again, snatching the tissue and blowing her nose. “They are hereditary and not contagious as far as I know.” She sneezed again, this time smacking the back of her head against the headboard. “Ouch. They have not been this bad since we had Bobo.” She whimpered slightly as the ache in her head from connecting with both her knees and the headboard made itself known. Immediately, instinctually, Sesshoumaru nuzzled her, trying to make her feel better.
Rubbing his head, Kagome tried to reassure him that she was fine. Realizing this was not going to work, she resorted to the second best way to distract her mate – annoy him. “Sesshoumaru? Why are you going all crazy, formal on me?”
“This Sesshoumaru is not being ‘crazy, formal’ as you put it. I am simply behaving as I normally do.”
“Around strangers and your brother. You never act like this around me. Why now?” She wiped her watering eyes. “Is it because I am ‘diseased’?”
He rolled his eyes at her, breaking his mask. “Koneko, stop. I was only teasing. It was not meant to get this far.” He paused for a minute. “Even I know what hay fever is.” He rose from his position next to her and walked into the next room, ignoring her sounds of protest. Returning with a glass of water, and a small bottle of Benadryl, he sat back down. Handing her the glass of water, he popped a couple of tablets out and put them in her other hand. “Take this. It will help with the allergies.”
Kagome mumbled something about Benadryl not working so he got up again, and this time returned with Nyquil. Dosing her with that as well, he sat back down next to her. As he did so, three little heads poked through the door of their room.
“Daddy, can we come in?” Kaori, the oldest asked, flicking one snow white ear back as her brother poked it.
He nodded and patted the bed next to him, and instantly he had six dog eared children either in his lap or next to him. Kagome sneezed again, although not as violently as she had been before. As soon as her sneezing fit had passed, she started to sing “I’m a little teapot” much to her pups’ amusement.
“Geez, dad,” Shizuka said, looking at her mom, “What did you give her? Mom is never this loopy. Not even when she’s drunk.”
Glaring at the dark haired girl, Sesshoumaru raised his voice in warning, “And how do you know what your mother is like when drunk, young lady?”
Shizuka looked down at her hands, bouncing the pointer fingers together while she avoided her father’s angry golden gaze. “Ummm, I may have possibly snuck out of my room to one of those parties you throw occasionally.”
“Kami. You are sixteen years old and already sneaking out to parties?” Sesshoumaru wanted to reach out and strangle his pretty dark haired daughter.
Ayako, the girl in their second set of twins piped up, “’Zuka acts funny when she comes back smelling funny too.”
Sesshoumaru ignored his wife, who was saying something about robot unicorns attacking and rose, grabbing the tip of one of Shizuka’s velvety ears and dragged her out of the room. “Shizuka Taisho, if I ever catch you sneaking out again or hear of you drinking without permission, so help me I will ground you for life, and I can do that because, as much as it pains me to say it, I will be around longer than you will. As for right now, you are grounded for a month - no television, no car, no phone and absolutely no boys. That is effective as of tomorrow morning.” She looked at her feet. “Now scoot back in there so I can keep an eye on your mother.”
A chorus of some obnoxious euro pop song about some candy or another sounded from the bedroom followed by peels of giggles from the three girls still in the room with their brothers and mom. Shooing the dark haired teen back into the bedroom with her siblings, Sesshoumaru set his head against the cool wood of the door frame. He actually felt bad grounding her, which surprised him. Five hundred years ago, he would not have even though twice about killing her for such impudence. Five hundred years and eighteen years of marriage softened him. Pulling out his cell, he pressed speed dial seven, calling his adopted son. He hoped the seven-tail picked up. Sesshoumaru loved his children dearly, but with his wife under the weather, they were getting on his nerves.
“Shippo, hey,” the silver haired demon spoke as the Kitsune answered. “Are you free this afternoon into tomorrow morning?” A pause was heard while Sesshoumaru listened to the answer. “Kagome is suffering from allergies and I need someone to watch the kids for me.” Another pause, then, “Yes, I will pay you for babysitting and yes, you can bring Kagome’s obnoxious brother with you.” Sesshoumaru listened to his adopted son, and then sighed, “I do not care what you do, Shippo, just refrain from destroying my home and that includes the grounds.” The demon snapped the phone shut, effectively ending the conversation.
Twenty minutes passed and between bouts of sneezing and annoying songs about llamas, the tales of ducks and purple dinosaurs, Sesshoumaru wished the night time part of Nyquil would kick in and knock his dainty mate out. Shippo and Souta showed up just as Kagome was starting up on an irritatingly infantile song about Friday. Sesshoumaru met them at the door, practically begging them to take the pups so that they would stop encouraging his mate. Shippo laughed and called out to his adopted siblings, who flew out of their parent’s room to greet him. Catching Kaori and Shizuka in his arms, Shippo used his tails to catch Ayako, Daisuke, Shiro and Hikari. “Hey, munchkins, ready to go have some fun?” He looked at his father. “I am taking them to the carnival that I work at. Obaa-san told me to bring Souta along. It is a youkai-hanyou carnival so you do not have to hide your cute little ears.” He tugged on one of Hikari’s ears which caused the eleven year old to giggle. Letting go of the twin girls, he scooped Hikari up onto his shoulders and turned out the door. While shutting the door, and ushering the teens up the walk, Shippo could barely contain his excitement.
Kaori looked at her older brother sideways, blue eyes sparkling, “We are not going to a carnival are we, Ship?” When the ginger shook his head, Kaori had to grab hold of her brother to keep from falling over laughing. “Shippo, you are going to get us grounded again.”
“Nope. You will not get grounded for this, I promise.” When they all looked crestfallen, he chuckled. “Tonight is the Tanabata festival. I feel bad because momma’s allergies are so bad this year she is bedridden. I was planning on getting everyone out to see this but, oh well. Here are some paper slips to write your wishes on. I will tie them to a tree later tonight.”
“If it is not going to get us grounded, why did you lie to dad?” Daisuke looked at his brother, confusion barely visible in his unemotional face.
Shippo raised an eyebrow in a gesture so much like Sesshoumaru that the girls barely stifled their laughed. “I am a trickster. It is what I do. Besides if I told father where we are really going then he would naturally assume I am taking you guys elsewhere.”
They reached the festival and were in awe of the brilliantly colored decorations. The seven of them decided to purchase some paper cranes and some paper kimonos as they were supposed to promote health and ward off bad health.
As the sun set the siblings gathered up on a hill to watch the fireworks. As the fireworks boomed and twinkled above them, Kaori leaned back and whispered a wish to the stars. Once the fireworks were over, the small group went back home. Upon entering the spacious house, they heard silence and laughed, knowing the Nyquil finally knocked their mother out. What surprised them though was a very masculine sneeze that broke the silence followed by their father’s voice grumbling, “And I thought she said allergies were not contagious.”
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Omg, this was fun to write. Written for the Second Annual Fanfiction tournament. Message TangerineDream to vote
Word count 1525
Prompt - hayfever
Vs. Zandrellia