DISCLAIMER : I do not own any of the characters or the story of 'Inuyasha' that is owned by Rumiko Takahashi. Any original characters are of my own creation.
A breeze blew, stiff and chilly disrupting the silver hair of the half-demon boy standing on the hilltop. Golden eyes studied the figures in the meadow below, resting in the lush green grass, laughing and eating. Two human girls, one lecherous monk, and a small fox demon; these creatures made up the group he traveled with to find the shards of the Shikon Jewel.
Sniffing the air delicately, the half-dog demon's ears swiveled slightly as they listened for enemies. They had plenty of those, and few friends it seemed. The breeze made a flap of his red robes fly in the wind, catching the eye of one of the girls below, who waved and called out to him.
"Inuyasha! Come down from there and have something to eat, I have Ramen!" Inuyasha screwed up his nose and made a derisive sound, but inside his chest his heart swelled a little at the thought that the girl cared enough to bring some of his favorite human foods from her home. But the hanyou was hungry so he sped off down the hill, narrowly missing running over the small fox demon that shook his tiny fist at the older boy.
"Gah! Inuyasha watch where you're going," he huffed, scampering up to sit on the shoulder of the monk, a calm looking fellow in navy blue robes, with black hair pulled into a tight pony tail at the base of his neck, and shiny gold earrings in his ears. Inuyasha dismissed the little fox with a sneer which didn't go unnoticed by the tiny demon's surrogate mother, Kagome.
"Now you be nice to Shippo, or I'm not giving you anything," she glowered, hands on her hips, lower lip jutted out. Inuyasha flopped to the ground, arms and legs crossed a defiant look on his lean face, fangs slightly bared.
"Fine!"
"Fine!" Both teenagers ignored each other for a few minutes before Kagome huffed and placed a cup of Ramen Instant noodles into the half-dog demon's claw. Shippo leapt from the monk's shoulder to Kagome's and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha.
"Miroku, when did Kaede say we were to return to the village?" Miroku, the monk, glanced at the other girl, a pretty thing with long black hair. Shrugging a little, he helped himself to more food and sat eating, swallowing before answering.
"She said before the next new moon, that it was very important we get back before Inuyasha turns human again Sango." Sango, a demon slayer, crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow as she looked over at Inuyasha who busily shoveled noodles into his mouth, slurping noisily.
"What's so important about getting HIM back?" Miroku shrugged again, not knowing the old priestess' thoughts or plans. Kagome sat a little ways away, her knees pulled up to her chest, arms crossed over them. She wore her school uniform, a white and green sailor suit affair with a ridiculously short skirt, knee high stockings and shoes. She had to go back in a week for yet another exam.
It seemed like only yesterday that she had been pulled from her world through the Bone Eater's Well in her grandfather's shrine, where she lived with her mother, grandfather, and little brother Sota to feudal Japan where she learned that not all was as seemed to be. Last she had checked, her history books made no mention of demons occupying Japan at any point in time, but they existed here.
She had been enlisted by Kaede, a village priestess to help Inuyasha retrieve the Shikon No Tama Jewel and in doing so; it had been shattered making their journey arduous and fraught with danger. In the short time she had been traveling with her companions she had found herself growing strangely attached to Inuyasha, and was developing feelings for the strange boy that she didn't necessarily like or want to have.
He was too difficult, too stubborn, too abrasive...too handsome? Kagome blinked as a hand was waved in front of her face, and Inuyasha's constantly scornful yellow eyes came into her field of vision, a noodle hanging from his mouth which he sucked up right in front of her, wiping his face on his sleeve.
"Daydreaming again, huh? I swear Kagome, you think too much."
"And you don't think enough," Shippo chirped from his perch on her shoulder, making an exclamation of pain when the half-demon bopped him on the head with a closed fist. Kagome leapt to her feet, her eyes full of fury.
"Sit boy! How many times have I told you not to hit Shippo!" Inuyasha was flung to the ground by an invisible force, face-planting into the grass. Lifting his head instantly, he and Kagome began hollering at each other, him yanking on the charmed necklace Kaede had lassoed him with the night he had met Kagome. The necklace enabled her to perform a simple subduing spell that ensured he never got too out of hand. Although, Inuyasha far from needed it to listen to Kagome, half the time she was the only one who could control him it seemed.
When he lost possession of his father's sword, his inheritance the Tetsusaiga, he became a full demon and the fear was that he would lose himself to his demon blood fully. Kagome was the only one who could talk him into picking the sword up and becoming the annoying boy they cared about once more.
Miroku, Shippo, and Sango watched in amused silence as Kagome whacked Inuyasha hard on the arm and the hanyou gave chase, growling ferociously the whole time. When Inuyasha finally tackled Kagome, they were some ways away from the others, Kagome out of breath, Inuyasha barely feeling the effects of the run.
"You damn girl, stop bossing me around, he asked for it!"
"Shippo is five times smaller than you, you big bully!"
"If it wasn't for this necklace, one of these days..."
"Pfft you're all talk!" Kagome screamed up at the half-demon boy, her cheeks flushed with the running and her high emotions. Inuyasha stared down at her, their noses less than an inch apart, his face changing from a sullen grimness to something else. Kagome realized suddenly that he was straddling her, and she scooted away on her back swiftly, leaping to her feet, nervously chattering the whole time.
"Oh well, we should really get back, got a long walk ahead of us if we want to make it back to the village in two days! Two days is when the moon is new again, right Inuyasha?" She had started to walk away when she felt him grab her hand and yank her back. Keeping her eyes lowered, she steadied her breathing before lifting her head slowly, looking up at him through her thick black lashes.
"Inu...Inuyasha?" The half-dog demon's face was conflicted, and he was gripping her wrist a tad too tight for her liking. Neither did she think his red cheeks and close proximity such a good thing either. Pulling her a little closer, Inuyasha tilted his head so that their faces were close.
"Kagome...You drive me goddamned crazy." Kagome swallowed hard, as he leaned closer...closer...
"Come ON you two we don't have all day!" Both teenagers jerked apart as if someone had set a torch to their clothing, faces beet red, looking guilty as the trio they had left behind walked up, Sango hiding a smile, and Miroku not bothering too. Inuyasha stalked off, ears practically flat on his head.
Kagome followed the rest of them taking her pack and bicycle from Miroku, head lost in thought once more. It was becoming increasingly apparent that while Inuyasha still had conflicted feelings for Kikyo, the priestess and un-dead Guardian of the Shikon No Tama that his emotions were growing increasingly conflicted for her as well. One part of the time he acted as if she didn't exist and Kikyo was all he wanted in life; the rest he couldn't seem to bare to be apart from her.
It was becoming way more than she could handle and she wished sometimes that none of this had ever happened. But then again...there were more times that she was insanely glad that this adventure had found her. Blowing out a sigh of exasperation, she trudged on, her thoughts turning to her school exams once more as they headed towards Kaede's village and whatever news she had to tell them this time.
