#in my mind Rin and Kohaku and Shippo go on adventures

[dazzelmethat]

Rin and Kohaku older with some headcannons.. This has been in my sketchfolder for a while, completed it for that one anon suggestion I got to draw some more Kohaku.

I'm working out how to use a crosshatching stamp brush.

[inuyashasforest]

*taps on the mic*

*clears my throat*

Rin and Shippo as childhood friends to lovers. 

I really want you to think about this. They understand each other on levels no one else really can; both orphaned at a young age, left to fend for themselves, attempted to steal to live, adopted into the care of travelers, witnessed the horrors of war and demonic evil, and still managed to survive with a sort of innocent playfulness. 

No one really gets why they weren’t turned hard by the world, think they’re naive and childish, but they both know that the truth is they just choose to see the good in life, and never take anything for granted. Life is so boring when you take it seriously. 

It starts at the end of the series with some village shenanigans.  

This,,, got long. Strap in, kids.

So after the end of the series, Rin is living with Kaede, and Shippo is coming back and forth, training with the Fox Demons. They knew of each other, of course, while travelling with the Inutachi/Sesshomaru, but they never really got to know each other properly during that time. 

When things sort of settle down, they meet properly for the first time. Shippo, being a stupid boy, likes to play pranks on the village children. So, Rin is playing with some of the other kids, and Shippo sneaks up on them and transforms into a big monster to scare them. The other kids scream and run away, and Rin just - falls down laughing. Like laughing until she can’t breathe and there are tears in her eyes. And Shippo is left just sort of standing there like “waht in heck”. When Rin stands up, Shippo asks why she wasn’t scared, and Rin just shrugs, like “Oh, you did scare me, it was great!” 

They get on like a house on fire. They spend all their free time together playing games. pranking the Villagers, laying out in the fields and pointing out cloud shapes, etc. Instant Best Friends. They’re both sad whenever Shippo has to go back to the Fox Demons for an exam or training, but Shippo always brings her a souvenir when he returns, or shows her magic tricks and transformations because she just loves them, and they spend hours catching up. 

And they grow up together. Rin’s human, obviously, but Shippo is a shapeshifter so age doesn’t really matter to him. He sheds his smaller form, grows up with her, something that Kagome notices but never really teases him about. There’s something almost sad about it. 

Rin has a crush on Kohaku. As they get into their teens, it becomes more obvious, and Shippo doesn’t know why it bothers him, but it does. He talks about it with Kagome while he’s helping her with chores one day. She asks if he’s jealous of Kohaku, or upset that Rin has a crush on him, and Shippo just answers honestly No. It’s not Kohaku or Rin’s fault, it’s got nothing to do with him. He’s just happy to be friends with Rin if that’s all she wants, and it’s sort of the first time he realizes he’s got a crush on her. Shit. 

Kohaku doesn’t really feel the same way, though. He views Rin as more of a little sister, no less important to him, just not in any romantic way. Rin is upset, and embarrassed, and she avoids Kohaku for a while, but she bounces back eventually. And this doesn’t become a catalyst for her developing feelings for Shippo. Shippo doesn’t use it as an opportunity to tell Rin how he feels, because he thinks that would be kinda shitty. He just comforts her, makes her smile and laugh again, and they move on. 

More summers of catching fireflies and playing hide and seek (despite Shippo being a literal shapeshifter, Rin always manages to find him). All the while, Shippo is smothering his feelings for her, even though it’s getting harder and harder because she’s really pretty and really sweet and his best friend in the world, and who wouldn’t blush when she laughs??? The boy is pinning hard.

Some of the village men admonish Rin from time to time about not acting like a “respectable young woman”, when she’s got her kimono rolled up so she can play in the stream or doing cartwheels in the grass. She should be finding a husband, raising children. And she just flips them the Feudal equivalent of the bird and does as she pleases. Who wants to be a respectable young woman? Boring. 

As she grows up, though, she does start to realize what she wants to do with her life. Her training under Kaede never really lead to her wanting to be a Priestess, but she adores making herbal remedies, helping the sick, delivering babies, etc. So, she’s going to be a healer, which again, the village men scoff at. Only she’s going to be a healer for demons, because even if they are stronger, they aren’t indestructible and they get hurt and sick sometimes too, and they haven’t got many Healers, do they? They’re not all bad. Besides, maybe if a human showed them some kindness, they’d be more kind in return. She’s made up her mind, and she’s nothing if not determined. 

So, in her late teens, she decides to set out to learn as much as she can about healing and demons. Not too far from home, so she can always come back. Shippo goes along with her, because even if she can beat him at wrestling she shouldn’t be travelling alone, and besides, this idea is never gonna work like he toolllddd her a hundred times. 

And it almost doesn’t. She’s trying to put on a salve and wrap up a young bear demon’s ankle, and the mother finds them and thinks she’s hurting her cub. And Shippo, for all his teasing, intervenes, gets the mother to listen, but not without a deep slice to his shoulder. 

At their camp that night, Rin is cleaning him up, insisting that she had everything under control and he didn’t need to go and get himself hurt, but.... thanks. She doesn’t know what she would do without him. And all the while, Shippo is talking about how amazing she was, and how he was eating his words about this whole Demon Healer thing, and they both have a laugh. 

Months into their little adventures, they’re catching fish in a river. Rin’s got her feet dipped in the water, just leaning back on her hands with her head tilted back watching the clouds. Then she just sort of sits up, turns to Shippo and says plain as day “Shippo, I think I might be in love with you.” Shippo falls into the river. 

They’re not in any rush. Nothing really changes, it’s just like being best friends, only with more holding hands. They were already pretty cuddly before. Shippo kisses her for the first time at a festival back in their home village, and he’s super awkward about it but Rin just pulls him down by his kimono and smooches him some more. So - that’s nice. 

So, Rin’s on her way to becoming a Demon Healer with quite the reputation. Shippo returns to the Fox Demon Monastery. He “graduated” already, but he comes back to help mentor the other kitsune sometimes, and Rin tags along. They basically become the Cool Teacher and School Nurse. Simple life, but perfect for them. Shippo tells the kids stories about him and his friends defeating the legendary Naraku, and Rin steps in to correct him whenever he embellishes his role a bit too much. During the off season, they travel around Japan, or return to the village. 

Sesshomaru never overtly approves of Shippo as a suitable partner for Rin, but he never says otherwise. Rin says that means he secretly likes him. Shippo is still scared shitless every time he comes around. In-laws, man. Terrifying. 

They settle down together. They have a life. And even when they’re capital A Adults, they’re never above catching fireflies and playing hide and seek. Forever playful and laughing. 

But. Y’know. Rin is human. Shippo isn’t. So, I’ll leave that at that. 

I’m totally gonna write this one day? One day. Might toss out more ideas in the future, idk.