Kagome sighed as she looked up at the old wooden seal which partially
covered the well. "Of all the inconvenient places. . .", she huffed as she
shoved her bike up over the edge of the well ". . . to stick a portal. . .
" she grumbled as she followed the bike up over the edge, then collapsed
exhausted and aching onto the cold, dirt floor of the shrine. But she
couldn't stay in that position long, the hard floor was making her bruises
ache even more, so she dragged herself up to a standing position and slowly
walked out of the shrine towards her house, leaving her bike where she'd
tossed it by the edge of the well.
"A hot bath. All I want in the world is a hot bath" Kagome mentally chanted
as she tried not to think too much of all the new cuts and bruises she'd
picked up in the fight with the Thunder brothers. It did feel good to be
home she realized as a breeze from the direction of the kitchen brought her
the scent of Oken, her favorite food. And just when she was starting to
think that this must be one of the most perfect places in the world, two
arms grabbed her from behind.
"AAAAAAAHHG", she screeched and jumped whirling around to face . . . an exuberant little brother!! =_=
"Kagome, you're back!", Sota cried happily as he jumped into her un- outstretched arms.
"Sota no BAKA, don't scare me like that!!" Kagome yelled, still nervous from the shock of being grabbed.
"B-but I was j-just" Sota started to stutter.
Oh great, I've been around Inuyasha so long I'm starting to act like him Kagome thought as she looked at her little brother's hurt and surprised face. "Sorry Sota", she tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace, "why don't you run tell mom I'll be here for dinner."
"O.K., Kagome", Sota chirped, bright and cheerful once more, and looking excited.
"In fact", Kagome thought, "much too excited to see me, I've only been gone a day or two, and hes never been like this before when I got back." Had something happened? Maybe mom got promoted, or I won that contest, or I got accepted in advance to that famous high school, or...
"Where's that dog guy Kagome?" Sota blurted. "Come on, I mean you brought him back right? He's so COOL", Sota enthused, adding in a quieter undertone "not like that moony eyed Hojo"
"Now why would I bring a weird looking, insensitive, egotistical, macho, uncaring JERK like Inuyasha back with me" Kagome yelled, in a knee jerk reaction to hearing his name (their last parting had not been pleasant). "Honestly, who would want HIM around", Kagome fumed as she stomped across the old wooden floors to her bedroom, quivering with indignance. "Bring Inuyasha home for a visit, HA!!!" she exclaimed as she dropped her heavy duty back-pack on the floor, and stalked toward the bathroom, promptly tripping over her math book-which must have dropped out of her bag when she was packing. "Oh NO, the math test!" Kagome groaned as she lay sprawled out on the floor. I didn't study at all while I was back with Inuyasha, she realized panic-stricken, I didn't even notice that the book wasn't in my bag, she wailed mentally. "But I will NOT fail another test!", she declared, pounding the floor for emphasis, then winced as the bruise she'd picked up from the thunder brother's mauling throbbed in objection to sudden, violent contact with the splintery, wooden floor. If I study all night, I can be ready for the test tomorrow, she tried to convince herself as she slowly pushed herself up off the floor, then bent to retrieve her math book. She walked over to her desk, thinking even more longingly of a hot bath as she calculated the volume of random spherical figures rotated around the x or y axis using both the Disk and Shell method.
1 a.m. Monday
"YES!!!"
Kagome declared, standing triumphantly and bleary eyed, arm raised in victory over the math text.
"I can calculate the volume of a region bounded by y=x^3-2x+1,x=3,y=0, and rotated around the x, y, or any other axis by using the disc or shell method, and I can calculate the volume of any object with cross sections of known area. I won't fail this time", she sang as she danced happily towards the bathroom (yeah, lets see how normal you are after studying Calculus till 1 in the morning, this narration comes from painful experience- although I don't have the excuse that I was off saving feudal Japan from rampaging Shikon Jewel-enhanced demons as a reason for not having studied)
Kagome threw the door to her room open and stepped. . . into something soft and squishy??? "Huh?", she exclaimed as she looked down to where her bare foot stood planted in the center of a plate of Oken. By the plate was a note saying:
Dear Kagome,
Sota told me that you were back, but in a bad mood. When you didn't come down for dinner, I saved a portion for you, since I know how much you love Oken. But I saw that you were studying so hard and didn't want to disturb you, so I left it out here, if it's cold you can heat it up in the microwave.
Love Mom:)
P.S. We need to talk about this "dog-boy" you've been seeing.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", Kagome wailed, falling to the floor in abject misery. "My Oken", she sobbed clenching the note between shaking fingers as her stomach growled.
11 p.m. Sunday
"How dare she leave!", Inuyasha growled as he lay sprawled apathetically in the crook of one of the lower branches of a tree overlooking the village. "How will we ever recover all the shards of the Shikon jewel if she runs home every chance she gets?" Inuyasha snarled, his voice rising with his irritation, attracting the attention of Myouga.
"You're missing Kagome already?", the tactless old flea asked.
"The jewel, baka, I was talking about the jewel", Inuyasha shouted as he stomped on Myouga, squishing the hapless flea-demon into the bark of the tree. "I don't care if Kagome leaves me", he declared crossing his arms stubbornly in front of him. "I just need her to get the jewel -that's it, just the jewel, I'm not interested in her at all"
"When's Kagome getting back?", Shippou sighed from where he'd been sitting unobserved on a nearby branch. "I miss Kagome", he declared mournfully gazing in the direction of the well. "She's so beautiful", he rhapsodized. "her eyes are so . . . "
Inuyasha started to turn a strange mottled color.
"and her legs are so. . . "
Inuyasha took a menacing step towards the love-struck young fox demon, who continued on.
"and her body is so ..."
"SHUT - UP", shouted Inuyasha as he brought his fist crashing down on Shippou's head, then delivered a kick to the demon's midsection that shunted it in a long arc into the depths of the forest which adjoined the village.
The now restless Inuyasha paced up and down the branch, muttering invectives against Kagome in specific and humans in general.
Roughly 2 hours later. . .
"That's it" Inuyasha stated flatly as he jumped the fifteen feet from his pacing branch to the ground. "I'm not going to let Kagome's foolishness stop me from getting the Shikon jewel", Inuyasha declared ominously to the empty clearing in which the tree stood.
Modern Japan
Kagome sadly picked herself up off the floor, not even bothering to clean off her foot. She trudged wearily towards the bathroom leaving small, Oken- covered footprints in her wake. But Kagome couldn't stay depressed for long, not with the prospect of a nice long soak in a hot bath. She let the water run while she brushed her teeth, then reached in the cupboard for the therapeutic herbs Hojo had given her for her "rheumatism". She was always so sore and stiff after a trip through the well. This last one had been particularly bad. In addition to all the sleeping on the ground and peddling who knows how many miles over the rocky paths of feudal Japan she'd gotten tossed all over by the Thunder brothers . When she bent over to get the bath herbs out of the cupboard, every muscle twanged or groaned in protest. "And bathing in frigid streams didn't help either", Kagome thought as she added the herbs to her bath, smiling in anticipation as she envisioned relaxing for an hour or so in her hot bath, letting her muscles un-knot and soothing her bruises. . . But a sound in the hallway snapped her out of her musings. "Hmm, I would've though that mom and Sota were in bed by now" she thought as she undressed for her bath.
Meanwhile. . .
"Heh, stubborn and inflexible am I?", Inuyasha muttered flattening his ears in annoyance as he jumped out of the well in one smooth leap. "Man, she's really gonna owe me for this. . ." he continued as he walked out of the shrine which now covered the well. "After I accommodate her like this by coming to her time to search for the jewel shards she'll never be abler to complain about me again", he thought to himself smugly as he curiously poked at some metal cylinders that were attached to Kagome's house, perhaps they were some futuristic sort of ladder" Inuyasha theorized as he examined the cylinders. Trying his theory, he grabbed the cylinders and jumped up . . . and came crashing down into the bushes as the pipes he had grabbed buckled and broke under the pressure of his demon-enhanced strength. "Feh", he muttered, disgustedly tossing the broken off piping over his shoulder. "Humans make such inferior goods." Spotting an open window, Inuyasha decided to start looking for Kagome, or at least explore her strange house. Easily slipping in through an open window, Inuyasha observed that humans didn't make particularly safe houses either. The room was empty, but Kagome's scent still hung in the air and he could make out the outline of her backpack on the floor in the faint moonlight, must be the girl's room. "Figures", he grouched, "any normal person would be in bed at this time of night, but noooooo, Kagome has to make it difficult.". Going through what he assumed was a door, Inuyasha spotted a bowl of cold food, a crumpled up sheet of paper, and a trail of food smeared footprints. "What the?!?" he thought "They dip their feet in food when they leave a room?? Kagome never told me about that custom.", he followed the footprints down a narrow wooden hallway, mystified at the odd customs humans developed when left to their own devices for a few centuries. The footprints stopped at one of the odd "doors", "Kagome must be in there" Inuyasha Thought as he reached for the metal knob that opened the door.
"Yeesh, doesn't anybody knock anymore?" Kagome thought in annoyance as she heard the knob turn and the door start to open. She turned, annoyed and ready to make some sort of sarcastic comment about privacy to Sota. .. .. and wound up nose to nose with a slack jawed Inuyasha. Kagome blushed a fiery red, screeched "SIT!!!", grabbed a towel, and jumped behind the shower curtain into the tub. And the shock of bare skin on frigid, icy water hit her like a brick wall. She screeched even louder, while waving her arms and legs frantically, trying to prevent herself from falling into the tub. But she only succeeded in knocking herself off balance. Kagome's screams were abruptly cut off as she fell, completely submerged into the icy water.
"Unhhh", Inuyasha groaned as he picked himself up off the floor. "She better not have killed herself", he said, looking doubtfully down into the wroiling waters of the tub.
"Prepare to DIE, Inuyasha!!", Kagome screamed, shooting up out of the water like some horrible demon, water streaming down her face, teeth chattering, and body shivering from the cold, but face steaming with the heat of her anger. Like a lobster-monster, really.
Misinterpreting the cause of her anger, Inuyasha said, "calm down Kagome, I've seen you go through the water purification ritual before -so it's nothing new" He added with a bit of a smirk.
"WHAT!!!?!"
"I'm not interested in your body", Inuyasha reiterated, thinking he'd said it clearly enough the first time.
"You break into my house, see me undressed, scare me into a tub of freezing water, and now you insult my figure!", Kagome growled her hands clenched tightly against her sides, her body shivering spasmodically.
"Of course, the waters cold", Inuyasha said, frowning in confusion. "Why wouldn't it be? It's almost winter!! Why are you being so unreasonable Kagome? I came all this way, so you wouldn't have to stop looking for the shards, you should be grateful I. . . "
"SIT!!!"
"SIT sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit SIT", Kagome screamed. She spent the next 10 minutes reciting "sit" with a manic, evil, gleeful, grin on her face.
Monday morning. . .
"Oh. . . ", Kagome groaned as sunlight hit her face. "What a horrible dream", she thought as she blearily tried to focus on some weird ovally shape that hovered over her.
"Hey Kagome, how come Inuyasha's doing sit-ups in our bathroom?"
"Eh", she came awake with a start. Last night hadn't been a dream. Inuyasha was HERE. She groaned and covered her head with a pillow as further realization hit her. . . . and he's still doing "sits' in the bathroom! "He's going to kill me as soon as he finishes those sits", Kagome realized, and shot out of bed panicked. Jumping into her school clothes, and gathering her books, she grabbed Sota and ran out of the house in record time. As she reached the front door, she looked back towards the bathroom, feeling slightly guilty. She had overreacted last night, she really should apologize to him...but he'd be so mad... and she was so embarrassed about the whole episode..."I'll apologize when I get back, she decided, stepping outside. but still feeling guilty. She felt even worse when she stepped outside and saw who was sitting, playing with pipes (pipes?!?) on the lawn. Inuyasha. Darn it, why couldn't he have stayed in the bathroom a little bit longer? Kagome gulped as she stared at Inuyasha's silent figure sitting stone-still on her lawn, then cringed as Inuyasha slowly stood up and turned to face her. His back must be hurting him, Kagome realized, and cringed even more. "I'm sorry Inuyasha, I over-reacted last night", Kagome muttered while staring at Inuyasha's clawed feet, not daring to meet his eyes.
"We're going back.", Inuyasha gritted out, wasting his most ferocious scowl on the top of Kagome's head. He'd tried being understanding, coming to Kagome's time so she could attend "school" (whatever that was). What did he gain for his consideration? Kagome thinking she could walk all over him! To hell with it, if she wasn't going to be reasonable, he didn't have to be either. They'd go back to his time, and stay there till they'd gathered all the shards of the Shikon jewel. Then and only then would he let Kagome return to her precious "school". His course of action decided upon, Inuyasha picked Kagome up, his arm around her midsection, and looked around for the shrine which housed the well.
"I apologize, and he punishes me!", Kagome thought as she struggled furiously to get out of Inuyasha's powerful grip and back onto her feet.
"You don't understand Inuyasha", Kagome reasoned, "I must go to school, my entire future depends on me going to school, and studying." No response. Kagome resorted to begging, "Please, Inuyasha as soon as the school week is over I'll come back and help you find the shards. But I'm begging you, don't ruin my life in this time."
Inuyasha bit his lip, "Aaargh, she wasn't going to cry was she?"
Unable to see Inuyasha's face, Kagome was becoming increasingly furious. "He didn't even bother to respond! He's not even listening!", an increasingly agitated Kagome realized. "I can't miss this math test or any more school" she thought with a mixture of panic and anger towards Inuyasha. "I have to get to school ", she resolved, looking around for something to free herself with. Her eyes fell upon the pipe that Inuyasha had been playing with, the *hot* water pipe. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling at all remorseful about last night. Already close to the ground from the uncomfortable way Inuyasha was carrying her, it wasn't much of a stretch for Kagome to reach down, grab the pipe, and before Inuyasha could notice what she was doing, bring it swinging (with as much force as she could muster from her awkward angle) into Inuyasha's stomach. The blow surprised Inuyasha more than it hurt him, but he loosened his grip just enough for Kagome to wriggle free. A rush of anger inspired adrenaline allowed Kagome to grab another, substantially larger pipe, and in one smooth motion slam it full force into Inuyasha's body, sending him flying way into the distance in an arc whose trajectory resembled that of Shippou's the previous night.
"M-O-R-O-N", Inuyasha shouted at Kagome as his voice and figure slowly faded from view.
Chapter 2 Is Kagome being stalked? Can Shippou and Myouga convince Inuyasha to protect Kagome before its too late?
"AAAAAAAHHG", she screeched and jumped whirling around to face . . . an exuberant little brother!! =_=
"Kagome, you're back!", Sota cried happily as he jumped into her un- outstretched arms.
"Sota no BAKA, don't scare me like that!!" Kagome yelled, still nervous from the shock of being grabbed.
"B-but I was j-just" Sota started to stutter.
Oh great, I've been around Inuyasha so long I'm starting to act like him Kagome thought as she looked at her little brother's hurt and surprised face. "Sorry Sota", she tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace, "why don't you run tell mom I'll be here for dinner."
"O.K., Kagome", Sota chirped, bright and cheerful once more, and looking excited.
"In fact", Kagome thought, "much too excited to see me, I've only been gone a day or two, and hes never been like this before when I got back." Had something happened? Maybe mom got promoted, or I won that contest, or I got accepted in advance to that famous high school, or...
"Where's that dog guy Kagome?" Sota blurted. "Come on, I mean you brought him back right? He's so COOL", Sota enthused, adding in a quieter undertone "not like that moony eyed Hojo"
"Now why would I bring a weird looking, insensitive, egotistical, macho, uncaring JERK like Inuyasha back with me" Kagome yelled, in a knee jerk reaction to hearing his name (their last parting had not been pleasant). "Honestly, who would want HIM around", Kagome fumed as she stomped across the old wooden floors to her bedroom, quivering with indignance. "Bring Inuyasha home for a visit, HA!!!" she exclaimed as she dropped her heavy duty back-pack on the floor, and stalked toward the bathroom, promptly tripping over her math book-which must have dropped out of her bag when she was packing. "Oh NO, the math test!" Kagome groaned as she lay sprawled out on the floor. I didn't study at all while I was back with Inuyasha, she realized panic-stricken, I didn't even notice that the book wasn't in my bag, she wailed mentally. "But I will NOT fail another test!", she declared, pounding the floor for emphasis, then winced as the bruise she'd picked up from the thunder brother's mauling throbbed in objection to sudden, violent contact with the splintery, wooden floor. If I study all night, I can be ready for the test tomorrow, she tried to convince herself as she slowly pushed herself up off the floor, then bent to retrieve her math book. She walked over to her desk, thinking even more longingly of a hot bath as she calculated the volume of random spherical figures rotated around the x or y axis using both the Disk and Shell method.
1 a.m. Monday
"YES!!!"
Kagome declared, standing triumphantly and bleary eyed, arm raised in victory over the math text.
"I can calculate the volume of a region bounded by y=x^3-2x+1,x=3,y=0, and rotated around the x, y, or any other axis by using the disc or shell method, and I can calculate the volume of any object with cross sections of known area. I won't fail this time", she sang as she danced happily towards the bathroom (yeah, lets see how normal you are after studying Calculus till 1 in the morning, this narration comes from painful experience- although I don't have the excuse that I was off saving feudal Japan from rampaging Shikon Jewel-enhanced demons as a reason for not having studied)
Kagome threw the door to her room open and stepped. . . into something soft and squishy??? "Huh?", she exclaimed as she looked down to where her bare foot stood planted in the center of a plate of Oken. By the plate was a note saying:
Dear Kagome,
Sota told me that you were back, but in a bad mood. When you didn't come down for dinner, I saved a portion for you, since I know how much you love Oken. But I saw that you were studying so hard and didn't want to disturb you, so I left it out here, if it's cold you can heat it up in the microwave.
Love Mom:)
P.S. We need to talk about this "dog-boy" you've been seeing.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", Kagome wailed, falling to the floor in abject misery. "My Oken", she sobbed clenching the note between shaking fingers as her stomach growled.
11 p.m. Sunday
"How dare she leave!", Inuyasha growled as he lay sprawled apathetically in the crook of one of the lower branches of a tree overlooking the village. "How will we ever recover all the shards of the Shikon jewel if she runs home every chance she gets?" Inuyasha snarled, his voice rising with his irritation, attracting the attention of Myouga.
"You're missing Kagome already?", the tactless old flea asked.
"The jewel, baka, I was talking about the jewel", Inuyasha shouted as he stomped on Myouga, squishing the hapless flea-demon into the bark of the tree. "I don't care if Kagome leaves me", he declared crossing his arms stubbornly in front of him. "I just need her to get the jewel -that's it, just the jewel, I'm not interested in her at all"
"When's Kagome getting back?", Shippou sighed from where he'd been sitting unobserved on a nearby branch. "I miss Kagome", he declared mournfully gazing in the direction of the well. "She's so beautiful", he rhapsodized. "her eyes are so . . . "
Inuyasha started to turn a strange mottled color.
"and her legs are so. . . "
Inuyasha took a menacing step towards the love-struck young fox demon, who continued on.
"and her body is so ..."
"SHUT - UP", shouted Inuyasha as he brought his fist crashing down on Shippou's head, then delivered a kick to the demon's midsection that shunted it in a long arc into the depths of the forest which adjoined the village.
The now restless Inuyasha paced up and down the branch, muttering invectives against Kagome in specific and humans in general.
Roughly 2 hours later. . .
"That's it" Inuyasha stated flatly as he jumped the fifteen feet from his pacing branch to the ground. "I'm not going to let Kagome's foolishness stop me from getting the Shikon jewel", Inuyasha declared ominously to the empty clearing in which the tree stood.
Modern Japan
Kagome sadly picked herself up off the floor, not even bothering to clean off her foot. She trudged wearily towards the bathroom leaving small, Oken- covered footprints in her wake. But Kagome couldn't stay depressed for long, not with the prospect of a nice long soak in a hot bath. She let the water run while she brushed her teeth, then reached in the cupboard for the therapeutic herbs Hojo had given her for her "rheumatism". She was always so sore and stiff after a trip through the well. This last one had been particularly bad. In addition to all the sleeping on the ground and peddling who knows how many miles over the rocky paths of feudal Japan she'd gotten tossed all over by the Thunder brothers . When she bent over to get the bath herbs out of the cupboard, every muscle twanged or groaned in protest. "And bathing in frigid streams didn't help either", Kagome thought as she added the herbs to her bath, smiling in anticipation as she envisioned relaxing for an hour or so in her hot bath, letting her muscles un-knot and soothing her bruises. . . But a sound in the hallway snapped her out of her musings. "Hmm, I would've though that mom and Sota were in bed by now" she thought as she undressed for her bath.
Meanwhile. . .
"Heh, stubborn and inflexible am I?", Inuyasha muttered flattening his ears in annoyance as he jumped out of the well in one smooth leap. "Man, she's really gonna owe me for this. . ." he continued as he walked out of the shrine which now covered the well. "After I accommodate her like this by coming to her time to search for the jewel shards she'll never be abler to complain about me again", he thought to himself smugly as he curiously poked at some metal cylinders that were attached to Kagome's house, perhaps they were some futuristic sort of ladder" Inuyasha theorized as he examined the cylinders. Trying his theory, he grabbed the cylinders and jumped up . . . and came crashing down into the bushes as the pipes he had grabbed buckled and broke under the pressure of his demon-enhanced strength. "Feh", he muttered, disgustedly tossing the broken off piping over his shoulder. "Humans make such inferior goods." Spotting an open window, Inuyasha decided to start looking for Kagome, or at least explore her strange house. Easily slipping in through an open window, Inuyasha observed that humans didn't make particularly safe houses either. The room was empty, but Kagome's scent still hung in the air and he could make out the outline of her backpack on the floor in the faint moonlight, must be the girl's room. "Figures", he grouched, "any normal person would be in bed at this time of night, but noooooo, Kagome has to make it difficult.". Going through what he assumed was a door, Inuyasha spotted a bowl of cold food, a crumpled up sheet of paper, and a trail of food smeared footprints. "What the?!?" he thought "They dip their feet in food when they leave a room?? Kagome never told me about that custom.", he followed the footprints down a narrow wooden hallway, mystified at the odd customs humans developed when left to their own devices for a few centuries. The footprints stopped at one of the odd "doors", "Kagome must be in there" Inuyasha Thought as he reached for the metal knob that opened the door.
"Yeesh, doesn't anybody knock anymore?" Kagome thought in annoyance as she heard the knob turn and the door start to open. She turned, annoyed and ready to make some sort of sarcastic comment about privacy to Sota. .. .. and wound up nose to nose with a slack jawed Inuyasha. Kagome blushed a fiery red, screeched "SIT!!!", grabbed a towel, and jumped behind the shower curtain into the tub. And the shock of bare skin on frigid, icy water hit her like a brick wall. She screeched even louder, while waving her arms and legs frantically, trying to prevent herself from falling into the tub. But she only succeeded in knocking herself off balance. Kagome's screams were abruptly cut off as she fell, completely submerged into the icy water.
"Unhhh", Inuyasha groaned as he picked himself up off the floor. "She better not have killed herself", he said, looking doubtfully down into the wroiling waters of the tub.
"Prepare to DIE, Inuyasha!!", Kagome screamed, shooting up out of the water like some horrible demon, water streaming down her face, teeth chattering, and body shivering from the cold, but face steaming with the heat of her anger. Like a lobster-monster, really.
Misinterpreting the cause of her anger, Inuyasha said, "calm down Kagome, I've seen you go through the water purification ritual before -so it's nothing new" He added with a bit of a smirk.
"WHAT!!!?!"
"I'm not interested in your body", Inuyasha reiterated, thinking he'd said it clearly enough the first time.
"You break into my house, see me undressed, scare me into a tub of freezing water, and now you insult my figure!", Kagome growled her hands clenched tightly against her sides, her body shivering spasmodically.
"Of course, the waters cold", Inuyasha said, frowning in confusion. "Why wouldn't it be? It's almost winter!! Why are you being so unreasonable Kagome? I came all this way, so you wouldn't have to stop looking for the shards, you should be grateful I. . . "
"SIT!!!"
"SIT sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit SIT", Kagome screamed. She spent the next 10 minutes reciting "sit" with a manic, evil, gleeful, grin on her face.
Monday morning. . .
"Oh. . . ", Kagome groaned as sunlight hit her face. "What a horrible dream", she thought as she blearily tried to focus on some weird ovally shape that hovered over her.
"Hey Kagome, how come Inuyasha's doing sit-ups in our bathroom?"
"Eh", she came awake with a start. Last night hadn't been a dream. Inuyasha was HERE. She groaned and covered her head with a pillow as further realization hit her. . . . and he's still doing "sits' in the bathroom! "He's going to kill me as soon as he finishes those sits", Kagome realized, and shot out of bed panicked. Jumping into her school clothes, and gathering her books, she grabbed Sota and ran out of the house in record time. As she reached the front door, she looked back towards the bathroom, feeling slightly guilty. She had overreacted last night, she really should apologize to him...but he'd be so mad... and she was so embarrassed about the whole episode..."I'll apologize when I get back, she decided, stepping outside. but still feeling guilty. She felt even worse when she stepped outside and saw who was sitting, playing with pipes (pipes?!?) on the lawn. Inuyasha. Darn it, why couldn't he have stayed in the bathroom a little bit longer? Kagome gulped as she stared at Inuyasha's silent figure sitting stone-still on her lawn, then cringed as Inuyasha slowly stood up and turned to face her. His back must be hurting him, Kagome realized, and cringed even more. "I'm sorry Inuyasha, I over-reacted last night", Kagome muttered while staring at Inuyasha's clawed feet, not daring to meet his eyes.
"We're going back.", Inuyasha gritted out, wasting his most ferocious scowl on the top of Kagome's head. He'd tried being understanding, coming to Kagome's time so she could attend "school" (whatever that was). What did he gain for his consideration? Kagome thinking she could walk all over him! To hell with it, if she wasn't going to be reasonable, he didn't have to be either. They'd go back to his time, and stay there till they'd gathered all the shards of the Shikon jewel. Then and only then would he let Kagome return to her precious "school". His course of action decided upon, Inuyasha picked Kagome up, his arm around her midsection, and looked around for the shrine which housed the well.
"I apologize, and he punishes me!", Kagome thought as she struggled furiously to get out of Inuyasha's powerful grip and back onto her feet.
"You don't understand Inuyasha", Kagome reasoned, "I must go to school, my entire future depends on me going to school, and studying." No response. Kagome resorted to begging, "Please, Inuyasha as soon as the school week is over I'll come back and help you find the shards. But I'm begging you, don't ruin my life in this time."
Inuyasha bit his lip, "Aaargh, she wasn't going to cry was she?"
Unable to see Inuyasha's face, Kagome was becoming increasingly furious. "He didn't even bother to respond! He's not even listening!", an increasingly agitated Kagome realized. "I can't miss this math test or any more school" she thought with a mixture of panic and anger towards Inuyasha. "I have to get to school ", she resolved, looking around for something to free herself with. Her eyes fell upon the pipe that Inuyasha had been playing with, the *hot* water pipe. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling at all remorseful about last night. Already close to the ground from the uncomfortable way Inuyasha was carrying her, it wasn't much of a stretch for Kagome to reach down, grab the pipe, and before Inuyasha could notice what she was doing, bring it swinging (with as much force as she could muster from her awkward angle) into Inuyasha's stomach. The blow surprised Inuyasha more than it hurt him, but he loosened his grip just enough for Kagome to wriggle free. A rush of anger inspired adrenaline allowed Kagome to grab another, substantially larger pipe, and in one smooth motion slam it full force into Inuyasha's body, sending him flying way into the distance in an arc whose trajectory resembled that of Shippou's the previous night.
"M-O-R-O-N", Inuyasha shouted at Kagome as his voice and figure slowly faded from view.
Chapter 2 Is Kagome being stalked? Can Shippou and Myouga convince Inuyasha to protect Kagome before its too late?