Ten Things I learned in Italy
Lezione uno: As long as you honk, you can go as fast as you want.
By: Neku
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, and I don't own Italy, although I do have plans to conquer it...with spoons! MUAHAHAHHAHAHA...
"Inuyasha...we're...almost...there..." Kagome said breathlessly trudging up the stairs. He mumbled a few choice words and yanked a little harder on the bags he was being forced to carry.
This was not in his plans. When he came to get Kagome, he wasn't planning on getting yelled at, sat three times, then shipped off into a crowded building with loud people that seemed to find pleasure in hurting his sensitive ears, to be followed by being forced into a small, uncomfortable chair for ten hours while trying his hardest not to think about the fact that if something went wrong he was going to plunge 10,000 feet into the ground...and that wasn't even half of it! He hadn't been able to sit down for the last seven hours! And now here he was, more tired than he had ever been in his life, in a strange place with strange people who couldn't talk right. No, things were definitely not going as planned.
Finally, they reached a door with the numbers 313 printed on the front. Kagome dug through her purse impatiently before taking out a key and all but jamming it into the keyhole. She threw open the door and ran to the queen sized bed situated in the middle of the floor. Inuyasha followed, dropping the bags and was about to join her when—
"Hold on, there's only one bed." Kagome nodded the best she could with her face buried in a pillow. "Well, where the hell am I gonna sleep, wench?" she lifted her head up slightly,
"The floor or next to me. Your choice." She mumbled exasperatedly, dropping her head back to the pillow. Inuyasha jumped a foot back, blushing furiously. Had she just suggested...
"Y-you want me to sleep, next to you?! In the same bed?!" he sputtered, not fully grasping what she was saying.
Kagome sighed; she had known this wouldn't be easy...the whole idea was crazy, but she didn't have much of a choice. Her mother had told her if she didn't bring Inuyasha, she wasn't going. And there was no way she was giving up this chance just because of some spoiled puppy.
"Yes, Inuyasha. I want you to sleep next to me. In the same bed. Now shut up and get over here before I change my mind and make you sleep on the floor." She pressed her face back into the hard pillow, finally feeling the bed sink under Inuyasha's weight. He lay there uncomfortably for about five minutes before turning on his side. Again. And again. The cheap fabric of the sheets made a zipping sound every time he moved, and it began to drive the sleep deprived Kagome out of her mind. She turned on her side to glare at him, only to find herself nose to nose with the menace. If it had been any other time she would've blushed considerably, but she was tired, hungry, and sore. She was about to speak, but Inuyasha beat her to it.
"Can we...err...go under the sheets?" Inuyasha mumbled as carefree as he could. This was stupid, why should he be embarrassed? She didn't seem to care, and he was supposed to be the apathetic one. Kagome sighed and rolled over to the edge of the bed and got up, trying to pull back the sheets. She looked over at Inuyasha expectantly and he quickly jumped off, grabbing another corner. They flipped the outer shell over together to find that that was exactly what it was. A shell of plastic-like substance. Inuyasha began to flop the hard-as-a-rock cover back and forth. "Erm, Kagome? Is it supposed to do that?"
Kagome just shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't supposed to be the grandest hotel in the country, but surely they could afford something other than plastic blankets...she watched as Inuyasha began to flop the "blanket" back and forth, obviously amused by the booming noise it made after each time it hit the bed. 'This is too much...' Kagome thought to herself before lying back down on the bed, no longer caring about anything but sleep. After watching carefully that Kagome was asleep, Inuyasha let himself go, lying down beside Kagome, careful to keep to his side of the bed.
There was something bright that was shining right at her, and Kagome found herself squinting her eyes shut tight in her sleep, slowly coming to as she did this. She groaned at the sunlight streaming through the window and rolled over, expecting to collide with her hanyou friend. She was more than a little surprised to find him missing.
"Inyassssa?" she called softly rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and glancing around. She found him sitting in the windowsill, looking out at the sea. He motioned for her to come over, and she did so.
Nothing could prepare Kagome for what she saw next. It was like she was looking into a fantasy novel. The small villages scattered all over the jutted, rocky coast. A small mist crept over the hills, giving it a mysterious effect. The water though, that really took her breath away. It was a clean, crystal aqua color. The sun reflecting off of it, giving it the appearance of gems glimmering on its surface. The waves lapped gently on the shore, foaming as they reached their destination, before wandering back into the peaceful waters. Her mouth formed a small "o", and Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk at her obvious fascination.
She leaned out of the window, getting a good look around the coast. "It's so..."
"...Beautiful." Inuyasha finished for her, staring out over the distance. Kagome looked up at him and nearly gasped. He looked so wonderful, bathed in the quiet morning light. His silver hair glistened in the sun, and his tan skin seemed to glow, making him seem cherubic and untouchable. Kagome blushed, what was she thinking? This was Inuyasha she was talking about here. But she couldn't help it, he just looked so...handsome sitting there that she just had to touch him, to make sure he was really there. She leaned towards him to get close enough to rub his cute little ear, when said hanyou decided to take that moment to turn around, leaving their mouths a breath away.
They both sat there for a quick moment, lips nearly touching and completely shocked, before both turned away, heat rising to their cheeks. Inuyasha mumbled something and promptly leapt out the window. Kagome was too much in her own little world to notice at first. She fingered her lips absently; unable to keep her mind from wandering to what could've happened. If only she had leaned in a little more, Inuyasha would've--
Inuyasha...
It was then that she realized that Inuyasha was no longer in the room.
Kagome rushed to the other side of the room in a panic, searching frantically for the obnoxious hat that she had forced him to wear. She found it in a corner of the room, and snatched it up quickly; running to wear Inuyasha had leapt. She peered out the window, but could no longer see him. Looking down at the distance to the ground, she decided that to jump would be suicide, so she flew to the door, nearly knocking the cleaning service lady out in the process. The young miko had already run down the hall to the small elevator before she realized her rude mistake. She looked hesitantly from the elevator to the maid. 'To be polite, or to save Inuyasha from the Italians...' Kagome had just made up her mind to run back, when the elevator door opened. She jumped inside, shouting a quick 'scuzi' back to the befuddled maid as the door closed.
'Well that was embarrassing...' Inuyasha thought absently. 'Wait, no it wasn't! It was her fault for being so close! Why am I even still dwelling on this!?' He let out a 'feh' and stomped further down the sloping hill. The hanyou had only intended to go away for a few moments, but the sounds and the scent of this strange land were surprisingly calming to him, despite the fact that Kagome's era was a lot more polluted than his own. There was a sharp, citrus-y scent that seemed to get stronger the farther away from the hotel he went, and he was intent on finding whatever was making such a tempting aroma. He came to a small drop off, and leapt easily down to the next platform of many that made up the cliff. He landed on a hard, almost slippery surface, and looked down to see worn, checkerboard tile floor. There was a chair and table, well overgrown with vines and small grasses. He inched closer to the set, holding out a clawed hand when he heard a soft 'oomph' coming from behind him. He didn't even have to look back to see that it was Kagome.
"What to you want, wench?" he asked disinterestedly, pulling his hand back away from the table to fold across his chest.
"I...am not a...wench...and I –ouch- came to give you your-- eeps!" his ears twitched slightly at the sound of her losing her grip, but he made no move to help. She slowly lowered herself the remainder of the way down, and stomped over to the impassive hanyou.
"Thanks for the help, Inuyasha." She grumbled, brushing off her clothes.
He shrugged, "not my fault you're a clumsy bitch."
The words had barely escaped his mouth before he realized what he had said. He turned wide-eyed back at the fuming girl, an apology just forming on his lips—
"Sit."
--And went plummeting facedown into the ground. Kagome walked daintily around him, having just seen the mysterious table and chair. She pushed some of the vines off, tearing at the ones that wouldn't be removed so easily. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
"Inuyasha, look at this." She whispered excitedly.
"I can't." he choked out, his voice laced with venom. She shivered at his tone, 'whoops, I forgot...'
"Er...yeah...well, when you get up, you gotta see this." Her hands across the tabletop.
On the small, round table was a heart, with "Isabella mi amore, Antonius 1785" Crudely carved into the hard surface. Next to that heart was another, reading "P M Amare". There were others similar to these engraved in various other locations. After some while of reading these faded exclamations of love, Kagome became aware that Inuyasha was standing patiently behind her. 'Oh yeah, he can't read...'
"Inuyasha, this one says, "per sempre il vostro." Which means something like, "I am always yours". Ooh, and this one says, "I love you Isabella. From Antonius 1785. It's from 1785! They were so romantic back then." She looked back at Inuyasha, who had a frown on his face.
"That's just stupid if you ask me. Why would anyone write that crap?" Inuyasha growled, turning his back to her and beginning to trek up the hill. Kagome sighed,
"Guys today just don't understand romantic stuff." She stated flatly, walking towards him slowly. Inuyasha was about to rebut that he wasn't from this era at all, when he heard her whisper softly, "I thought it was romantic, anyways..." he paused and closed his eyes, waiting for her to get closer.
"I'll give you a ride up, Kagome." He breathed out exasperatedly. She stood frozen where she was, looking at him with a raised brow. 'Was he...was he being nice?'
"Get on my back, I'm hungry and I ain't got all day!" Kagome sighed and shook her head; there was always an ulterior motive.
"Put it on, Inuyasha."
"No way."
"It's your fault I forgot the hat down there, and you are not going out like that!"
"I don't care! I'm not wearing that! It makes me look like a girl!"
Kagome sighed exasperatedly. "First of all, it doesn't make you look like a girl, and second of all, if you don't put it on, you will be staying at the hotel, and I will eat dinner alone." The silver-haired boy grumbled and sat down on the rock-hard bed. Kagome awkwardly climbed up behind him, taking the black bandana and tying it tightly around his head. He turned around to give her one last glare, and she couldn't help but giggle. He looked exactly like a menacing punk rocker or something, all he needed were a few piercings and tattoos and the picture would be complete.
"Stop laughing. You're not making this any easier." He snarled. She covered her hand over her mouth and started to offer explanation, but he held up a hand for her to stop, reminding her of the reason he was wearing the damned thing in the first place.
They walked together out of the room, locking the door on their way out. The elevator was waiting for them when they got there; no one had used it since they had come back from their little escapade.
Inuyasha fidgeted uncomfortably in the new clothes he was being forced to wear, they were much tighter than anything he had worn in his life. He would have much preferred to walk around Italy in his hakama, but Kagome wouldn't hear of it, insisting that he tried to blend in as much as was possible. Why anyone would willingly wear these strange clothes he couldn't figure out. He was currently dressed in dark "jiins" and a black "wife-beater" paid for courtesy of Mrs. Higurashi. And the worst part? He was going to have to wear this kind of thing for the whole trip...
"Inuyasha, are you coming or not?" Kagome poked her head back in the elevator, waiting for her companion to come back to his senses. He grunted and walked swiftly out the door of the lobby and onto the street. Kagome ran after him, casually leading him the way the hotel manager had told her to go.
"The person at the desk said that we should watch out, and that we would find a little restaurant a little while along the road in this direction." She said, pointing to the twisting road in front of them.
They had walked for a few minutes before hearing a beeping noise off in the distance. Well, it was more Inuyasha hearing it, but he dismissed it as a strange bird. That is, until it got closer and closer, and pretty soon Kagome could hear it too. The beeping noise became accompanied with a loud roar. Whatever was making that noise was coming up around the next bend, and it was heading straight for them!
Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by her waist and leapt to the side of the road, just as a motor scooter whizzed by, going so fast that they could feel the wind from the bike seconds after it had gone out of site.
"That was frightening..." Kagome said, eyes still wide with surprise.
"What the hell was that!?" Inuyasha shouted, gesturing fiercely to the speeding biker.
"That, Inuyasha, would be what the manager was telling me to watch out for...let's stay on the side of the road for the rest of the walk..."
"Fuck that, get on my back. I'm hungry and pissed now." She nodded and climbed on his back, keeping a careful watch out for other motorcyclists the rest of the way to the restaurant.
Hola! I'm finally back! ; I'm so sorry it took so long, but school's been evil lately...and taking up all my time. I'll be updating I'm Sorry and Childish Fantasies ASAP; I just wanted to finish this chapter first.
The events taking place in this story are based off my own travels, so I'll be posting pictures of the trip for a visualization thingy...hehe
To see the picture of the window they were looking out of, http:www. Deviantart. Com/ view/ 10884952/ of course, delete the spaces...whoosh!
Anyways, reviews really do make me write faster! So
Until next time, ciao!
PS. I don't speak Italian, all I know is what I learned while I was there, and the little that I studied pre-trip, so if I get something wrong, let me know and I'll change it as soon as I can! Thank you!