Plushies, Watercolors, and the THING in the Closet by RebaJean

Indigo

Inuyasha clomped in the kitchen door, muddy footprints and trails of dirty water following his path.

"Inuyasha, stop. Don't make me s-t you," Kagome yelled. "Mama just cleaned."

"Keh," he muttered.

"Go take a bath; wipe off with these towels first," Kagome tossed him some towels and hurried off down the hall.

Toweling his hair, Inuyasha climbed the stairs. "Like a little dirt ever hurt anything." Still he had not gone to his own apartment. Kikyo would have been much less accommodating than Kagome.

Inuyasha passed through the bathroom into the tub room. The tub was half full of a dark blue liquid. "Kagome! The tub is full of ink!" he called.

"Don't do anything!" Kagome ran up the stairs and slid into the bath. "Leave it alone. That's indigo dye for one of Mama's projects. Go take a bath at your own place." She tugged him back out into the hall and toward the stairs.

As he passed Kagome's old room, Inuyasha noticed the huge mound of white fur on her bed. What was Sesshoumaru's moko-moko doing there when he was no where around? The hanyou's thoughts slowly mulled the possibilities.

Inuyasha rushed home and returned in under five minutes, too quickly for Kikyo to berate him about the mess he left for her to clean. Inuyasha looked around and sniffed cautiously. Neither Kagome nor her mother seemed to be nearby. He stealthily entered Kagome's room and gathered up the fluffy fur. Sesshoumaru could use a fashion make over . . . and Inuyasha was happy to provide his assistance.

Inuyasha deposited the moko-moko in the tub and poked it up and down with the wooden dye paddle. That should do it; he left it submerged to soak. He wanted to be across the city when Kagome found it.

In the park, several kilometers away, Inuyasha could hear the miko's scream, "Sit!" He fell to the ground laughing in spite of the force driving the breath out of his lungs. The distant cries continued, "Sit, Sit, Sit . . ."

Half an hour later, a much battered and begrimed hanyou dragged himself out of the head high hole in the dirt, still snickering. It was worth the pain. Too bad he wouldn't be around to see Sesshoumaru's reaction.