Rule Number Ten:
Always pack appropriately, and be prepared for any occasion.
o0o
"Uggh…errrggghhh…." Kagome made one last effort at heaving her backpack over the edge of the well, before gravity overcame.
"Oh maaaan…." She moaned, looking despondently over her shoulder at her faithful yellow backpack lying mournfully at the bottom of the well.
"Kagome!"
The girl yelped loudly at the sudden shriek of her name, and nearly released her grip on the vine she was using to pull herself out of the well in the feudal era.
She leaned her forehead against the cold wall of the well. "Shippou…you scared me."
"I'm sorry, Kagome. I was just excited to see you!"
She grinned at his happily smiling face. "I'm happy to see you too, Shippou."
Another shadow appeared behind the demon kit, blocking out the sun shining into her eyes. She could vaguely make out pointed ears.
"Inuyasha! Do you think you could…woah!" He grabbed her arms and pulled her out of the well mid-request, setting her none-too-gently on the ground. "Thanks," she replied breathlessly, straightening her pleated green skirt.
"'Bout time you got back. We've been waiting around forever."
She scowled at him. "Inuyasha, I've only been gone one night! I went back to get more supplies and…oh! My bag!" She gave him her best doe eyes. "Inuyashaaaa…."
He scowled at her suspiciously from under his thick fringe of silver bangs. "Whadda ya want now?"
"My bag! It's at the bottom of the well. I sorta dropped it."
He rolled his eyes, but leapt obligingly into the well to retrieve it, and appeared before her not three seconds later, dropping the monstrosity on the grass before her feet. Well, not before her feet. Close. On her feet would probably be a more accurate statement.
Kagome bit her lip to prevent the cry of pain that threatened to echo from her being.
Inuyasha noticed his mistake at the last second, and rather than apologizing, displayed typical Inuyasha behavior, and cast the blame on someone else, someone else being Kagome. "Well if the damn thing wasn't so heavy, this wouldn't be a problem!"
She blinked the pain away, furiously biting her tongue to keep from arguing with him. 'He's baiting you, Kagome. Don't let him ruin this perfectly beautiful day.'
And it was a beautiful day, she noticed as she hefted the heavy bag over her shoulders and made her way to the village, Shippou scampering around her legs yelling at the hanyou, who trailed behind her, arms crossed and looking slightly ashamed. Slightly ashamed, but mostly irritated.
The sun was shining brightly, the weather was perfect, the slight early summer breeze carried the scent of cooking and trees, flower blossoms and grass.
'This is going to be a beautiful day!'
o0o
"This is a horrible day."
Sango nodded her head in silent agreement with the young miko's groan, and huddled more closely to Kirara.
Rain poured onto their campsite, extinguishing their fire, and turning the firm ground into mush beneath them.
"At least this strange blanket you brought with you is helpful, Kagome." Miroku fingered the nylon sleeping bag on which they all sat, marveling at the water-proof material.
Shippou peeled away the wrapper of yet another snack bar, munching on the granola happily. "Yeah, Kagome, and these snacks are delicious! And you don't need a fire to cook them!"
It was true. The entire group was, thankfully, content as far as hunger went. She had brought enough snacks in her poor, overstuffed bag to feed them all.
"And these umbrellas are quite useful too!" Sango twirled the umbrella appreciatively between her fingers.
Kagome smiled at her, and the group chatted together contentedly until the rain stopped an hour later, and they bedded down for the night.
o0o
"Come on…stupid zipper…just CLOSE! Ahhh. Much better."
Kagome got to her feet and heaved at her bulging pack. It might have been marginally smaller, due to the lack of granola bars, but if it was, it wasn't noticeable. It still bulged at every seam, and the yellow monstrosity glared at her from its spot on the ground, refusing to be complying.
Kagome heaved the pack onto her aching shoulders, and started to tip backward.
"Easy, Kagome." Miroku smiled at her, holding her upright and chuckling. "I don't think even I could bear that weight all day." He turned to look at Inuyasha, who was impatiently waiting for them to follow him out, scowling at their lack of speed. "Inuyasha. You're strong. Perhaps you should carry the pack for Kagome for a while. She has been nice enough to provide for us all…."
"Like hell, I will. It's her own damn fault. That will teach her to pack so much."
Miroku scowled at the hanyou before turning back to the slumping girl. "Here, let me carry it for a while."
"That's ok, Miroku." She waved a hand of dismissal. "I'm totally used to it. I carry this thing all the time. It isn't that bad, really!"
She smiled and ignored her aching shoulders.
Miroku shook his head. "If you're sure, then…"
'Inuyasha's right…I pack too much. Serves me right.'
o0o
"Are you sure you can make it, Kagome? You're looking very tired." Sango studied her friend, anxiously looking for signs of pain in the girl beside her.
"I'm fine, Sango. I'm just trying to make sure I keep my footing and not fall down this hill."
She looked behind her at the hill they were scaling. 'Ugh, for a little hill, this is awfully steep.' Her foot slipped slightly on some loose gravel and she quickly redistributed her weight over her knees, trying to keep her balance on the incline. 'And rocky…just what I need.'
She turned forward again and followed Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha leading the way ahead of them, Shippou perched on Miroku's shoulder.
'Nearly…there…and….'
"Ahhhh. The top. About time."
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.
The sound seemed to echo downward, rolling down the hill in a roar of anticipated disaster.
Kagome froze as everyone turned to look at her. "Oh no…"
Without another moment's warning, random articles began to make their escape from a large tear in the seam of Kagome's bag, and worked their way down the hill, heading straight for the river at the bottom.
She turned and watched in horror as her possessions skidded, jumped, and tumbled their way through the rocky terrain, a few stopping along the way, the rest rolling until the end of the line, meeting their watery demise.
"No! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" She felt tears prick at her eyes. "My things!"
She scrambled to get the nearly-empty pack off of her back, set it on the grass at the top of the hill, and began to make her way back down again.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and went after her, which was convenient, as she quickly lost her footing, and was soon tumbling down the hill along with the rest of her things.
A flash of red and silver, and Kagome came to a stop, courtesy of the hanyou. He scooped her up and leapt to the bottom of the hill before setting her in the grass again.
Kagome stared down at her lap and skinned knees.
"Stupid move, wench."
She sat silently, and Inuyasha smelled the onslaught of tears threatening to spill over.
He panicked. "Don't cry! Damn it! It's just some stuff! It's no big deal!"
She sniffled slightly. "I know."
"So what the hell are you crying for? We can pick up what's still dry, and whatever's in the creek you can do without."
She nodded and sniffled again, still staring at her skinned knees. "I know. I'm just… being silly." She wiped at her eyes again, and looked up to give Inuyasha a watery smile.
He frowned. "What's the problem? You've ruined stuff before? They're just possessions."
Her chin wavered, but she nodded and turned around, heading for the incline, where Sango and Miroku and Shippou had already begun to pick up her things among the rocks.
"Kagome…" Shippou held up a small package. "What's this?"
She smiled softly at him, and wiped again at her eyes. "Crayons. I picked some more up for you, because I knew you lost your last set."
"Awwww, thanks, Kagome! You're the greatest!"
She continued scanning the ground, searching for an item she fervently hoped hadn't ended up in the river.
"Fascinating." Miroku held up one of the cans of soda she had brought with her. "The last time I dropped one of these that you brought back, it exploded everywhere. This one survived."
She smiled at him, "I brought it back for you. I know you love trying new flavors."
He grinned back at her. "How thoughtful of you. Thank you, Kagome."
She nodded and went back to searching the ground. 'It has to be here…it just has to….'
"Oh, Kagome, you brought back more hair ribbons! Are these the ones I asked you for?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I got the sturdiest ones I could, so your hair wouldn't fly in your face while fighting."
"Wonderful! Thank you, Kagome!"
'Please don't be in the river; please don't be in the river.'
She took dragging steps toward the water's edge, afraid of what she'd find.
"Oh no."
There, submersed in water and mud, sunk beneath at least a foot of water, was…
"My photo album."
She bit her lip to keep from crying, and reached into the water for the soggy book.
Inuyasha approached her from behind.
"So what? It's a book. You ruin your books all the time, and you just replace them. Granted, you scream and yell for a little while, and usually end up blaming me for it, but you replace them."
She shook her head sadly, staring at the tiny album in her lap. "Those were school books, Inuyasha." Her voice cracked and she swallowed. "This…this is irreplaceable."
He could tell she was on the verge of tears, and he knelt down beside her.
She slumped to the ground, album soaking her skirt, and covered her eyes with her hands. Inuyasha reached for the book and pulled it to him.
On the first page were tiny, black and white photos. Two smiling faces peered back at him from each one, happy and obviously in love.
"My parents." She didn't look up. She couldn't bear to see what ruined state the precious photos might be in.
Inuyasha looked at her. "But I thought your dad was…."
"He is." She swallowed again. "Those were…before he died. Those," she stopped again and swallowed hard before finishing, "are some of the only pictures I have left of him."
She looked up at him finally. "I always carry them with me. So that…so that when I'm scared, or when I'm upset, or when I'm homesick, I can look at them. And…it takes the pain away."
Inuyasha turned through the pages. An image of a young Kagome laughing with who he now knew was her father. Pictures of a tiny Souta, hugging his older sister. Her grandfather laughing at something a small Kagome said, her mother holding a little Souta on her lap, Kagome and her father holding hands, standing in front of Goshinboku, watching the sunset.
He looked at the girl sitting despondently beside him, desperately trying not to cry.
"Kagome?"
"If I…If I was never able to get back to them, for some reason…I wanted to have them with me. It's just that…the well is so unpredictable. What if it closes, and I never see them again? Or, what if something happens while I'm gone? I just feel like…if I have a piece of them with me, even if it's just a little photograph, I won't ever forget them. These are…my memories. I need them." She wiped at a few tears that crawled their way down her dirty cheeks. "Does that sound silly?"
Inuyasha thought back to all the times when he was young, wishing he had his mother with him…wishing she hadn't died and left him alone…wishing he had something of her to hold on to…wishing she could hold him one last time…wishing he could just remember her face.
"Not at all, Kagome."
She looked up at him, startled, expecting some snide remark about how ridiculous she was, but receiving, instead, empathy and understanding.
He shrugged uncomfortably under her disbelieving gaze. "You know…you can still see the pictures. It's just the book that's in bad condition…."
Kagome forced herself to finally look down at the album in his lap and realized that he was, in fact, right. The pictures held up fairly well. All she really had to do was dry them off before the water could do some serious damage, and put them in another book.
Inuyasha had already begun to pry his claws beneath the photos, gently working them out of their slots. "If you leave them in this nasty book, though, who knows what'll…oof!"
Arms wrapped firmly around his neck, she muffled into his hair, "Thanks, Inuyasha."
He blushed but allowed her to hug him, and when she pulled away, he shoved the album at her. "Yeah, well…I'm gonna go…help the others pick up all your shit." He stalked away, still blushing.
She finished taking the photos out of the book and dried them gently on her skirt before picking herself up and heading back toward the others. The hillside was now clear of her possessions, and Sango, Miroku, and Shippou waited at the top of the hill for her.
Inuyasha walked the rest of the way up the hill next to her, carrying several cups of ramen and some bags of potato chips with him. She grinned. "I see you found what I brought back for you."
He blushed again and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a thanks, turning his head away and continuing his trek up the incline.
"All that stuff in your bag…most of it was for us."
She turned to look at him.
He shifted his shoulders and continued quietly. "The only thing you brought that was specifically for you was that photo album. Everything else…was for one of us, or the whole group."
She stared at him. "Well…you're my friends. I like bringing you things. And a lot of it was for me too…."
"But you share it with all of us. Right down to your blankets and the first-aid kit."
"Of course. Like I said…you're my friends. You help me all the time. It's the least I can do to return the favor."
They climbed in silence for a moment.
"That's a lot of weight to carry around."
She nodded and looked ahead. "You guys are worth it."
He grinned slightly to himself, shaking his head, and continued climbing.
By the time the two joined the others at the top, Kagome found her bag reloaded with almost all of her possessions, save the ones that were lost to the water, and the seam repaired.
Sango smiled. "I found your sewing kit."
Kagome thanked her and bent to heft the heavy-again bag onto her shoulders when a clawed hand beat her to it.
She turned to see a blushing and scowling Inuyasha holding her bag slung over one shoulder.
"You're too damn slow as it is, without all this weight on your back."
He started walking before she could say anything, and they all stared after him.
She smiled and shook her head before following his lead, the other three behind her.
"Very, very worth it."
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Next:
Rule Number Nine:
Eat what's on your plate. You don't know when your next good meal will be.
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Thank you for reading.