Summary:
Kagome, Yuka, Eri, Ayumi and Hojo are going on a winter ski vacation but the only way Kagome can convince Inuyasha to let her go is to invite him as well. What happens when Hojo and Inuyasha spend one week together with Kagome?
Chapter 1: Ar-rival(ry)It was December and Kagome frolicked around in the first snow fall of the year. Snow always meant Christmas and Christmas was just such a magical time of the year. There was so much love and joy in the air that it was simply contagious. This year however was special because she and her friends had planned a ski trip together over the course of their Christmas break. Now all that was left was asking for a week off from their shard hunting. A task that was definitely more difficult than it sounded.
"Please Inuyasha!" Kagome begged with her hands folded together, lips pouting and eyes wide. "I promise I'll bring you enough ramen to last the entire week anyways so it'll be like I never left." Kagome tried again with a different approach.
"No." Inuyasha crossed his arms and firmly objected to her plead for a week off. "What are you doing in that week that's more important than collecting shards and preventing Naraku from completing the jewel?"
"I know the quest for the shards is important but I have another life Inuyasha. Besides, it's winter and demons won't be as active now that it's so cold. Pleaseeeeeeeeee! I've already planned this and I think I deserve a break."
Inuyasha simply scoffed. Glancing at Kagome, with her big chocolate eyes and overall puppy-dog expression, it was progressively getting harder and harder to say no. Trying a different tactic, "What are you doing anyways?"
"I've planned a ski trip up north with my friends at a resort! It'll be Yuka, Eri, Ayumi, Hojo and I. It's going to be amazing fun!" Kagome replied, eyes brightening as she spoke of her vacation and hoping that Inuyasha's interest meant the possibility of letting her go.
At the mention of Hojo's name, Inuyasha let out a small growl but quickly covered it up. "Ski? What's that?"
"It's basically a pair of long pieces of wood that you put onto your feet and you can go down snow hills really really fast!"
"Sounds dangerous." Inuyasha stated, slight concern in his expression.
"No, it's a lot of fun. So can I go please!"
"Fine." Inuyasha finally relented. Kagome jumped for joy and embraced Inuyasha. Inuyasha didn't return the hug and simply grumbled. "BUT…" Kagome released Inuyasha seeing that there was another condition to her leave of absence. " I get to go with you." Inuyasha stated firmly.
Kagome looked a bit bewildered at the proposition but simply shrugged it off. It couldn't hurt to simply bring Inuyasha along if it meant no grief on her leaving. "Fine."
Inuyasha smirked. There was no way this Hobo guy would spend one week alone with Kagome.
Three weeks later, Kagome finally managed to pack everything and had Inuyasha haul it all down the shrine steps and now the two of them were waiting for Yuka's van to come pick them up.
Inuyasha grumbled at the gloves and boots he was forced to wear. Sure it was cold outside but nothing that he couldn't handle. But Kagome insisted that it would look awkward if he wore a coat and scarf but not boots and gloves.
"Ohh, I'm so excited Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, jumping up and down eagerly.
"Feh. How long is this car ride going to take?"
"If the road conditions are good, it should only take about two and a half hours."
"That long! I'm sure I carried you and all this stuff, I could get there faster."
"Oh be patient Inuyasha. You were the one who wanted to come anyways."
And just as Kagome finished her sentence, she saw Yuka's van pull up and Kagome smiled, waved excitedly and quickly ran over to the van and gave hugs to all her friends. Inuyasha growled when it came time for Kagome to hug Hojo but everything was quickly packed into the van and before they knew it, they were off to their winter vacation.
Yuka drove and alternated driving with Eri who sat in the passenger seat. In the second row, Kagome was sandwiched between Hojo and Inuyasha and Ayumi sat in the back row along with the food cooler.
The first hour consisted of the girls catching up with the news around school for Kagome's sake and then singing Christmas carols along with the radio. Moving into the second hour, Kagome visibly yawned catching the attention of both Hojo and Inuyasha. Hojo opened his mouth to say something but Inuyasha beat him to it. "If you're tired, you should just sleep Kagome." Inuyasha said gently and patted his shoulder as an indication to use it as a pillow. Kagome smiled and mouthed a silent thank you before laiding her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha smirked proudly at Hojo who had clearly thought of offering the same proposal.
The trip promptly took two and a half hours as planned and when they had arrived at their destination, Inuyasha marvelled at the beautiful scenery that he beheld. The moutains, covered in fresh, glistening snow and the pine trees clustered together finished off with the traditional brick chalet painted a picture of perfection. Inuyasha gently nudged Kagome who was still asleep on his shoulders and softly whispered her name. Kagome finally woke up and saw two golden orbs starring lovingly back and was almost mistaken that there weren't Inuyasha's but who else had that mesmerizing golden colour? Kagome gasped as she took in the landscape. It was absolutely beautiful, giddy with excitement, Kagome broke into a huge grin which Inuyasha reciprocated with a smile. Nothing made Inuyasha happier than seeing Kagome happy.
Once at the resort, the group checked in and drove up to their cottage and began unpacking their belongings into their respective rooms. Just as Kagome was reaching for the last of her bag, a gloved hand reached for her bags instead. "Let me Kagome." Kagome smiled and said a quiet thank you and watched as Hojo tried to carry her bags along with his own equipment. It was a funny sight indeed since he almost lost his balance halfway through the trip from the car to the door but he tried to act as if it didn't happen and glanced sheepishly at Kagome who was walking slightly behind him. Kagome smiled at the sweet endeavor, shaking her head at his antics because he could clearly use help and she was left carrying nothing. Once inside, Inuyasha gruffly took Kagome's bags from Hojo and took them to her room despite Hojo's protests that he could do it. Inuyasha had seen the little interaction between Hojo and Kagome and was not pleased that this weak human was trying to impress Kagome and failing quite miserably at it too.
A few hours after unpacking, Kagome proposed hitting the slopes.
"But Kagome, we haven't eaten since breakfast and it's nearly one o'clock now." Yuka complained. "Besides, I'm tired from driving and so is Eri probably."
"Fine, we'll have lunch first and then we'll hit the slopes." Kagome said excitedly.
Eri yawned. "After lunch, I'm taking a nap. I was up late last night last minute packing." Yuka quickly nodded her head in agreement.
Kagome turned to Ayumi. "Count me out Kags, I want to finish up with my math homework first."
All five heads turn incredously at Ayumi. "You brought homework with you to our winter break?" Yuka cried out.
"I just have some math to finish and I'm all caught up and I might as well finish it early on rather than later while the lesson is still fresh in my mind." Ayumi replied sheepishly.
"I'll go if you want Kagome." Hojo volunteered at which Inuyasha snorted.
"Thank you Hojo but if no one else is coming then I'll just stay here as well and play cards or something." Kagome sighed in slight disappointment.
"We'll hit the slopes tomorrow Kags, I promise." Yuka said. "Now, let's get some food into our stomachs."
During lunch, Hojo kindly set the table and when Kagome sat down to eat, he pulled out the chair for her before taking a seat beside her. Inuyasha scoffed in disgust at the entire act. That is, until Kagome blushed and offered a timid thank you. Inuyasha growled and sitting across from Kagome, had to endure a lunch with Hojo constantly offering Kagome little compliments and just about worship the very ground she walked on.
Kagome was mindful of Hojo's actions and thought them to even be very sweet. It was almost too bad that Hojo had no idea that she had absolutely no feelings for him. Not wanting to hurt his feelings though, she responded with small smiles and thank you's to acknowledge his compliments. Kagome did notice however, half way through lunch the glares that Hojo received from a certain half demon sitting across the table. Kagome smirked, this will serve Inuyasha right for not treating me with enough respect.
Lunch ended and Ayumi, Eri and Yuka all retired to their rooms leaving Kagome alone with Hojo and Inuyasha. Fishing out a deck of cards, Kagome asked, "Okay, so what games can we play?"
Inuyasha knew only the card games that Kagome had taught him and remembered a certain one that he played with Shippo sometimes while Kagome was back home. "What about the slapping one?"
"Oh, slap jack, sure." Kagome replied. "Do you know how to play Hojo?"
Hojo shook his head. Inuyasha smirked, thinking, "I know something that Mr. Wimpy-human doesn't."
"Well, we each get an equal amount of cards and you don't look at them. We take turns flipping them over into one pile and each time, the person will count from Ace to King. If the card flipped over is one above or one below the number called or is a Jack, then everyone has to slap the card pile. The last person to slap it last has to add the pile to the cards they have in their hand. The object of the game is to lose all your cards. Once you do, you have to correctly slap one more time before you're done. And if you slap at the wrong time, you also add the pile to your hand." Kagome explained.
Hojo nodded in comprehension and the cards were dealt out.
"Ace."
"Two."
"Three."
"Four." Kagome and Inuyasha both slap the pile as a five appeared. Inuyasha smirked again when Hojo lost.
"See Hojo, the card flipped was a five and the number called was four and five is one up four so you have to slap it." Kagome explained.
"Oh I get it." Hojo replied and picked up the pile and added it to his hand.
The game continued until Kagome finally got rid of all her cards and it was a battle between Hojo and Inuyasha. Both were intensely concentrated in the game and were furiously flipping over cards and calling out numbers.
Hojo looked at his stack of cards, he had about two thirds of the deck while Inuyasha only had one third but he was determined to win against him. After all, Kagome was watching and he couldn't let her down. Inuyasha on the other hand knew that he was winning. "Stupid Hobo can't match my super fast reflexes." Inuyasha thought cockily. Lost in his thought, Inuyasha missed slapping a Jack and angrily picked up the pile before refocusing on the game.
Kagome almost laughed out loud at the intense competition between the two males in a simple card game. Obviously, this game meant more to them than simply the game itself. It was odd and amusing to know that they were playing to impress her. In the end, Inuyasha won and triumphantly threw up his hands and stuck out his tongue at Hojo. "Real mature Inuyasha." Kagome thought and rolled her eyes.
Hojo, seeing that he lost had a disappointed expression on his face but quickly he smiled and held out his hand. "Good game Inuyasha." Hojo said with a smile on his face.
Inuyasha looked incredously at him. "He lost and he's smiling?" Inuyasha thought but shook his hand gruffly anyways, perhaps squeezing a bit too hard on purpose.
"Okay, that was fun." Kagome said getting up. "I'm going to make some hot chocolate, would you two like some?"
"Yes please." Hojo replied sweetly.
"Feh."
As Kagome left, the living room turned to silence. Hojo was the first to break the silence with a rather loud "Ahem, so Inuyasha, how do you know Kagome?"
"None of your business." Inuyasha replied coldly.
Deferred but not giving up hope, Hojo tried a different tactic. "Kagome looks very healthy for someone who just recovered from glandular fever."
"What?" Inuyasha had no idea what Hojo was talking about, Kagome hadn't been sick in a long time.
"And then she had an extremely contagious strain of the flu not too long ago. It seems like she comes back to school for only a couple of days before she's ill again."
Putting the pieces together, Inuyasha finally understood that Kagome's excuse for being with him in the Feudal Era was that she was sick here in her time.
"I hope she's been taking the herbs and remedies that I've given her. My grandma tells me that they should work. Do you know anything about Kagome's poor health, her brother and family seem to be perfectly healthy?" Hojo continued to talk.
"Stay away from Kagome." Inuyasha grounded out.
"What? Why? Is she contagious because she shouldn't have come on this trip if she was still sick." Hojo asked innocently, completely unaware of the growl escalating from Inuyasha.
"No, numb skull, she's mine so stay away from her." Inuyasha growled disliking Hojo more and more with every passing minute.
"I don't think Kagome belongs to anyone really, she's her own person and-" Hojo continued, completely missing the threatening cues coming from Inuyasha.
Inuyasha grabbed Hojo's collar and Hojo's eyes grew larger at the physical contact, when Kagome came into the room with three mugs of hot chocolate and cookies. Upon seeing Kagome, Inuyasha quickly released Hojo and grumbled about perfect timing. The trio sat and drank hot chocolate and ate cookies in silence. Kagome made a note to ask Inuyasha later about what she walked into.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, the group had dinner together and then decided to watch a movie before going to bed. Kagome again found herself sandwiched between Hojo and Inuyasha on the couch and so after returning from a bathroom break sat on the floor instead to avoid the vibes coming from Inuyasha and the awkward silence Hojo projected.
The six said their goodnights after the movie and all proceeded to head to their rooms anticipating an early start in the morning at the slopes. Kagome however followed Inuyasha into his room, something that Inuyasha thought was unnecessary since he always slept in the same room as Kagome but upon Kagome's insistence, complied.
Kagome closed the door behind her and faced Inuyasha. "Care to tell me what is going on between you and Hojo?" Kagome asked sternly with her arms crossed.
"Nothing's going on." Inuyasha replied nonchalantly.
"I know you're lying Inuyasha. Seriously, what is your problem? I didn't see too much but you obviously did something physically to scare Hojo into silence." Kagome continued.
Seeing that he couldn't simply brush it off, Inuyasha sat cross legged on his bed and proceeded to try and put his arms into his sleeves (as he would normally with the fire rat coat) then realized he was wearing "modern" wear. "Why are you so nice to Hobo?"
"Well, that's just being polite Inuyasha. I can't be mean to him." Kagome replied, irked at where this conversation would lead.
"But do you have to be so disgustingly nice to him?"
"I'm not being disgustingly nice, I'm just being normal nice." Kagome defended.
"Ugh, but he's so…wimpy and stupid."
"Inuyasha!"
"He is!"
"That doesn't give you any right to physically abuse and probably threaten Hojo." Kagome's temper beginning to rise.
"What do you see in him anyways, he's always lavishing you with all these dumb compliments and doing things like pulling out your chair and whatnot, what an idiot." Inuyasha's temper also elevating.
"Well, that idiot as you so nicely put it is just displaying respect, something that you," Kagome said and jabbed him in the chest to punctuate her point, "certainly don't do with me or anyone for that matter."
"Well, maybe I would respect you more if you didn't plunge my face into the ground so often!" Inuyasha yelled.
"I wouldn't have to if you just behaved yourself like normal people do!"
"Well, I'm not a normal person. I'm a half-demon remember?" Inuyasha exclaimed pointing to his ears underneath his hat.
"Half-demon or not, it is no excuse to go around threatening my friends!"
"Oh, so he's your friend now…huh?"
"Yes and you'd better start behaving like one too!" Kagome stated with finality and angrily slammed Inuyasha's door closed and then slammed her door close.
After a few moments, Ayumi, Yuka and Eri all opened their doors and looked at each other down the hallway. "Wow, pretty intense fight huh?" Eri stated. Yuka and Ayumi nodded.
"But fights can strengthen relationships once they're resolved." Ayumi pointed out, always the optimistic one.
"True. Hopefully this doesn't affect our fun tomorrow. Poor Hojo, I wonder if he heard all that?" Yuka said. All three girls nodded and then said their final goodnights.
In Hojo's room, Hojo lay fast asleep having heard none of the argument. He had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and he was a sure-of-a-hell deep sleeper.