The Thin Red Line
Inuyasha is mourning over the death of his ex-girlfriend.
His parents are getting annoyed and ask his older brother to find him a distraction.
What happens when his Dad hands in a job application filled in for his son to the old shrine that's looking for new employees?
InuxKag. RokuxSango. KougaxAyame. SessxRin.
Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha. I wish I did though.
Chapter One
Inuyasha's POV:
It was late. I sat quietly on my bed. The flat screen my parents gave me last Christmas was on showing some random game show and was barely audible. I wasn't actually watching it. Instead I focused on the rain crashing harshly against my window. I closed my eyes. Today was exactly a year since the accident.
I could still hear the moment her heartbeat gave out, the echocardiogram screeching at her last breath.. Her final words echoed in my head. 'Find others that make you smile, Inuyasha. They're out there. Trust me.' Right before she closed her eyes for the last time.
Kikyo.. help me. What did you mean? I can't find anyone. I don't want anyone but you.
My ears perked up on my head as I heard my doorknob turn. The door flew open bringing in the scent of who was coming in, my eyes remained closed.
"Sesshomaru," I sighed. "What do you want?"
I could feel his cold stare sinking into me. He slowly approached my bed as I opened my eyes turned my gaze at him. He threw a tie on my face.
I growled. "What the hell!"
"Father sent me in here. He said to tell you he got you an interview at the Higurashi Shine for tomorrow morning."
With that he was about to walk out. I got up about to grab at him before he turned to look at me.
"Don't think about ditching it. He's sick of you moping around the house. He wants this job to help distract you and bring you out of your foul mood."
I scowled. "You're one to talk! You never smile and barely even talk to anyone besides Rin!"
"That's my nature little brother. What's your excuse?"
With that he walked out leaving my door open. I was crushing the red tie he'd given me in my hands. Easing my grip I threw it onto my dresser.
Higurashi Shrine.. I thought that place was closed. Ugh, I don't need this right now.
I slammed my door shut and sat on my bed again. Brushing my hands through my hair I fell into my pillow. Putting the light off I forced myself to sleep. I needed enough energy to deal with tomorrow.
The next morning..
Kagome's POV:
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*
"Mmmm." My eyes squinted as I slammed on my alarm clock, switching off its horrible sound. Blinking once to check the time I saw the big red lights flashing 11:00 am. I woke up later than usual today.
Forcing myself out of bed, my eyes still closed, I made my way over to my door and pulled it open stepping into the hallway. Rubbing my eyes I looked into the corridor, taking a step I collided with my younger brother.
"Souta.." I mumbled.
"Hey sis! Wake up! Gramps says he has some interviews today and he wants your help."
With that Souta scrambled downstairs towards the smell of freshly made pancakes. Food.. I wanted some so bad. Shaking myself away I made my way to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth and washing my face, I changed out of my pink polka-dot pajamas into a pair of skinny jeans and a dark green shirt. Then I went downstairs.
"Hey Mom!" I said. A woman in her early forties turned from the kitchen counter smiling towards me. A skillet in her hands, holding a freshly made pancake!
"Good morning Kagome! Hurry up and eat. Grandpa said he wanted your help."
"Yeah yeah. I will." I grabbed a plate of pancakes from her and threw down a bunch of syrup. Cutting a triangular portion out I stabbed it with my fork, just as I was about to put it in my mouth a big crash was heard from outside.
"The hell.." I said. I grabbed my plate and rushed outside behind Souta and my Mother.
I stood gaping at the sight in front of me, a fork in my mouth. Two demons were fighting each other; one had knocked the other into the shed. Gramps was on the ground with a bucket over his head and a puddle of water where he sat.
"Gramps!" Yelled Souta. He went over helping Gramps get the bucket off his head.
I directed my attention back to the scene. One demon stood victorious stretching his right arm above his head. His eyes were bright blue and he has long black hair tied up neatly, a brown head-band firmly pushing the bangs off his forehead. He was wearing baggy ripped jeans and a brown button down shirt. Sniffing the air he turned to look right at me. Without hesitation he walked right up to me grabbing my free hand.
"My name is Kouga. And you are?" He said looking right into my eyes.
"Uf mai nam is Kahgoma." There was still a fork in my mouth messing up my speech and I couldn't take it out because Kouga was holding my free hand.
"Hey! Stupid wolf! You think you can just hit me and walk away!" A voice trailed behind Kouga.
I looked away from him and saw another boy coming out from the shed. He had long silver hair flowing down his back and deep golden eyes. Wearing a white button down shirt with black dress pants and a red tie he looked.. spiffy to say the least. His face turned into a nasty scowl as he looked directly at Kouga, who was STILL holding my hand. He started walking this way and grabbed Kouga by the collar of his shirt, thankfully away from me.
This time Kouga spoke up. "What the fuck is your problem you filthy mutt! Can't you see I'm talking to a gorgeous girl- whose name I never quite caught by the way.." He said turning his eyes back on me.
"I don't care who she is. When you pick a fight with a Takahashi you better be ready to finish it. Not cut it short for the first wench that catches your eye- SHIT!"
I stood fuming next to the boy with silver hair, my fork stabbed into his right arm. He let go of Kouga and faced me, grabbing the fork out of his arm and throwing it to the ground.
"What the fuck what that for you wench?" He yelled at me.
I yelled right back. "My name is Kagome! Ka! Go! Me! NOT WENCH."
"I don't care what your name is! You don't go around stabbing people with forks bitch!" I grabbed for his tie and pulled his face closer to me.
"It's not bitch either! If you don't want to get hurt then don't go around bad mouthing people- especially girls you don't even know!"
*splash*
Gramps stood there holding a bucket- a now empty bucket in his hands. He had thrown holy water on top of both me and the boy with silver hair. Kouga had managed to distance himself away from us before he was caught up in it. Both of us stood there silently, being shocked out of fighting by the freezing cold water.
"Good. Now that you have all calmed down, dry yourselves and meet me in front of the Sacred tree in 5 minutes." He spoke calmly and walked away into the house.
Souta ran over to hand me a towel. "Here sis! And you too.. uhh what's your name mister?" He took my plate of ruined pancakes.
"Inuyasha Takahashi."
"Cool I'm Souta Higurashi! Are you interviewing here today?"
"Yeah, if that's what you'd call it. My parents want me to work for the rest of the summer."
I started patting myself dry. Kouga walked towards us and stood there quietly looking at me. 'Eh. He's cute, but he's really forward.' I thought. I rested the towel on my ruined hair, turning to Inuyasha and started talking.
"Hey, Inuyasha, why were you and Kouga fighting in the first place?" He threw me a sharp gaze. I keep eye contact with him, waiting for an answer. He turned away from me.
"Feh. I don't have to explain myself to you. Stupid girl."
"Why you..."
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned to meet my eyes with Kouga.
"Don't worry about him Kagome. He just got sensitive when I called him a half breed-" Kouga was cut short with a kick to the face.
"...half breed?" I turned to look at Inuyasha who was standing there with a sour expression on his face and his foot in the air.. half breed.. as in half demon? So his other half was.. human? A hanyou. We hadn't really discussed them much in school, but I knew they existed. I never saw one in person before.
Looking more closely at Inuyasha I saw he had claws and fangs. Not as sharp or long as Kouga's. But they were still there. And his ears were on top of his head.. his cute adorable ears. I had to suppress my urge to reach over and touch them.
"Half is all I need to kick your scrawny behind. Wolf boy." Said Inuyasha. Even thought Kouga was being too close for comfort, I helped the poor guy up. He just got kicked in the face! Inuyasha turned to Souta.
"Where is the place that old man told us to go?"
"It's this way- follow me."
Souta led Inuyasha towards the sacred tree. And I was left to help Kouga get back up on his feet.
"Thanks Kagome, you're a real sweetheart." Kouga flashed me a toothy grin and I replied back with a smile. "No problem."
I made my way with him towards the tree behind Inuyasha and Souta. Gramps was standing there with one uniform in his hands. As I approached I could see that Inuyasha was holding a red uniform.
"Ah, good. You're finally here. Well young man, this is for you." He handed Kouga the brown uniform.
"I want both of you to be here early tomorrow morning at 9 am sharp. Today you only have to stay for a few hours so you learn where everything is." He said.
Both Inuyasha and Kouga spoke up at the same time. "Both of us.." They turned to scowl at each other.
"Yes, from this moment on you both are employees of the Higurashi Shrine!"
Both demons looked at each other in a heated fury.
"You can start by changing into your uniforms and cleaning the shed you destroyed." Gramps walked away leaving the two to glare at each other.
Souta nudged my stomach and whispered at me "How long do you think till one of them kills the other one?" I returned my gaze to the two angry boys in front of me. I shrugged at him in response. Kouga smiled and walked over towards me.
This is getting annoying.. My shoulders tensing up.
Inuyasha's POV:
I can't believe I have to work with that idiotic wolf..
I looked over to Kagome, that stupid mutt towering over her. Her neck was still a little wet from earlier, a drop started sliding slowly down her collar bone- interrupted by Kouga who brushed it off with his fingers. I growled.
Stupid rabid diseased mutt..
My hand reached up to my right arm as I threw her an annoyed look. There was gunna be a temporary scar where she stabbed me. Damn, she broke the skin. She turned to look at me, moving her glance onto my arm.
"Hey, Inuyasha.", she said. The ears on my head perked up as I met her eyes and tilted my head in response. "Stay right there!"
I felt something tugging at me shirt. I looked down to see Souta. He looked a lot like Kagome; his eyes were a little lighter.
"What?" I barked.
"So are you gunna work here now?" he asked.
I shrugged and responded. "Yeah. Guess I am kid."
"Can you teach me to kick the way you owned the wolf man?" he looked up at me with a toothy smile. I grinned.
"Sure kid, why not? You're not too bad. Compared to your sister.."
Souta frowned a bit at my comment. "Don't worry about Kaggie, she's just not a morning person."
"Kaggie?", I said.
"Hey!" My ears perked up.
Looking over I saw Kagome coming out of her house with a small white box in her hands. Her soft, still wet hands.. she stopped right in front of me.
"Pull up your sleeve." She commanded. I backed off a bit at first but her persistent glare tore through me and I retreated into a crouch.
I sat down at the base of the sacred tree while she used some rubbing alcohol to disinfect the place she stabbed me. Souta and the wolf were talking about Kung Fu. She then started searching around in the box while a small breeze blew by. Her scent of jasmine and honey blew right through me, my whole body inclined towards her automatically. She carefully took out a red band-aid and placed it on my wound. Noticing the proximity of our faces she backed off a bit. I retreated as well, feeling uncomfortable.
"Sorry about stabbing you before like that.. I chose the band-aid to match your tie.." she whispered.
I smirked. "Don't worry about it.."
She smiled at me for the first time. She opened her mouth slightly like she was about to say something- before she got cut off.
"Hey!" Kouga stepped towards us. "Get your ass away from Kagome. She's mine." He pulled up close to Kagome, pushing me back. I growled.
"You know Kagome, that mutt kicked my face pretty hard. Maybe you can make it better by giving me a little kiss?" He winking at her. I wanted to gag.
Kagome slowly backed away form him smiling nervously. This guy was giving me a headache. I was about to pummel his face when a figure suddenly approached out of nowhere, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Kindly remove your hand from my cousin." He said. Kouga quickly backed off, retreating next to me.
"Roku!" Yelled Kagome. She got up to give him a hug. Souta also rushed over.
I looked at the guy. He was probably an inch of two shorter than me. Had jet-black hair that was pulled back at the base of his head into a small ponytail. He was wearing a purple shirt. A golden staff in his right hand.
"Hello", he said while looking over to Kouga and me. "My name is Miroku. Who might you two gentlemen be?"
"I'm Inuyasha."
"My name is Kouga." He stretched out his hand towards Miroku, who just nodded his head at him.
"Roku, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in weeks." asked Kagome.
"Well I came back from training with Master so I'll be around more often. Also your Grandfather called me in to update some of the seals at the Shrine. He fears they may be growing weak. Did your Miko senses pick anything up?"
'Miko? She's a Miko?' I looked over at Kagome whose eyebrows were now pulled together. Her head fell down.
"I'm not strong enough to notice specifics things like that just yet.." She whispered.
Kouga walked over to her, wrapping his arm around his waist. "Don't worry babe. I'm sure you'll be able to detect them soon enough!" He said. My muscles tensed up.
Miroku pushed his staff into Kouga's left foot. "Distance yourself." He said smiling. Kouga took a forced step back, removing his arm from Kagome. My muscles relaxed.
'I hate that stupid wolf. I can't believe I have to deal with this bullshit. Damn Father.'
I felt another tug. It was Souta again. "What now?" I growled.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"It's 12:50 squirt."
"AW SHIT!" He yelled. I stumbled back a bit.
Quickly after Kagome grabbed Miroku's staff and took a swing at Souta- who ducked swiftly avoiding it.
"Souta! I told you not to curse!" she yelled.
'She's too damn feisty for being so tiny..' I thought.
"Sorry sis! But Sango is gunna kill me if I'm late today." Souta ran off into the house. Miroku leaned on Kagome's shoulder while she tried calming down.
"Hey Kaggie.. I can take Souta to class today. You can just relax at home." He said with a goofy smile on his face.
"Ha, Right. So you can grope Sango? No way, besides you have to stay here and work on those seals. Ayame is taking them there today anyways. You can come pick them up with me once you're done here."
Miroku's whole face lit up. "I'm holding you to that!"
I looked at Miroku and Kagome. "Who's Sango?"
Miroku just stared off into space as Kagome started talking. "She's our neighbor, her family owns a Dojo a little bit away from here. She teaches some of the classes there. Souta is in her division, along with her little brother Kohaku. They're best friends. Sango is one of my best friends too."
"Who's Ayame?" Kouga spoke up from behind me.
"She's Kohaku's babysitter. Someone needs to watch him when Sango is at the Dojo."
"Inuyasha! Kouga!" I turned my head to see the old man walking towards us. He spoke to Miroku as he was walking towards us. "Good to see you, Miroku. Please get started on those seals, lest some demons should reawaken."
"Of course." Said Miroku. He turned away and started walking towards a large wooden house. It had a sign outside that was inscribed: 'The Bone Eater's Well'
I felt shocks run up my spine. This place was too creepy. The old man retuned his attention to us.
"As for you two, I have a special job for towards. Once you're done you may check in with me and return home. Follow me." He said. Kouga and I started walking behind him. Leaving Kagome there.
Kouga turned around and yelled towards her. "Catch ya later Kagome!" She just nodded and turned back to walk into her house.
The old man opened a huge shed. A cloud of smoke flowed out. I covered my nose. He spoke up.
"Both of you will change into your uniforms inside the house. Then come and clean out this place. It's your job to take your uniforms home and clean them everyday if they get dirty. Be cautious in here, many items are antiques. You break it; money gets deducted from your paycheck. So don't fight in here."
With that he walked away.
Great. Now I have to work with this asshole in this shitty place. I started unbuttoning my shirt and headed for the house to change into my red freak uniform. Once we were out we started cleaning the shed out.
I sneezed.
Ugh. My head feels light. I don't know if my nose can take this abuse. I sneezed again.
I kept dusting off and cleaning things. Ignoring Kouga and working around him.
I don't wanna work here dammit.
End of Chapter One
Kay! That's it for chapter one! I'm trying to focus on bringing in the characters for the few chapters. But I'll be putting in more InuKag moments soon enough! Please bear with me.
And I had no idea what to do for the title but hopefully it works its way into my storyline.
Please review and gimme whatever feedback you may have! I'll be super grateful(:
I'm planning on updating every two days. Hopefully school doesn't get in my way.