Prov 22 - Unexpected Discoveries
Greedy eyes watched as Kagome and Inuyasha returned from the well. Shippou waited until all the adults were gone before he pounced on the bulging yellow backpack.
His little hands rummaged through the contents. Ramen. Another set of that special green kimono she wore. Nothing interesting that caught his attention.
Until he chanced upon a small assortment of packets in a side pocket.
What were these? There were about five or six of them: little circular rings enclosed in the clear material Kagome called plastic. The kitsune’s fingers tore open one of the packets. Shippou fingered the ring, tugging at it. Suddenly, his face lit up. He knew what they were!
They were balloons!
He unrolled it, grinning gleefully. Once, to celebrate his birthday, Kagome had brought back a few small, brightly coloured bags. She blew air into them and like magic, they became huge and floated in the air. She had laughed at his fascination and told him they reminded her of himself - he still didn’t know why.
These balloons were different, though - they were all clear and long. But at least they were easy to inflate, with their wide openings. He remembered blowing through the narrow openings of the other balloons until he was blue in the face but they refused to grow.
As he was inflating and tying his second balloon, Kirara happened by.
“Kirara!” Shippou cried joyfully. “Look! Balloons!”
The cat demon mewed and batted at one with an inquisitive paw. She gave chase as it drifted away, pouncing again and again.
Once the kitsune had inflated them all, the both of them played crazily, whacking the balloons around like maniacs.
The others soon returned to the campsite. Kagome squinted over at Shippou and Kirara.
“Shippou-chan, Kirara, what are you two playing with?”
“Kagome!” squealed Shippou, rushing over to her, a balloon in hand. “Thanks for bringing more balloons for me!”
She took it out of his hand, examining it closely. “Balloons? But I didn’t - ”
Her face changed abruptly. Turning rapidly crimson, the young miko dashed around, snatching up all the balloons under the puzzled gazes of the others and ran into the forest to dispose of them. Kirara made a sound of protest as her new favorite toy vanished from her game mid-paw.
“Hey! How come you won’t share your balloons with us?” Shippou’s whined when she came back empty-handed. Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha all shot her quizzical glances. “They’re not balloons,” she mumbled. “They’re condoms.”
Later that night, Kagome had the unenviable task of explaining what a condom was to the other adults.