How the Dog and the Cat Got Back Together
(This would replace the content of Episode 38)
"I'm through!"
Kagome stormed across the grove, kicking up blades of grass and clods of dirt behind her.
"Hey! Kagome! Wait!" Shippo ran as fast as his little legs would allow, tripping over himself several times as he tried to catch up.
"I'm sorry, Shippo, but I'm going home until Inuyasha apologizes, and that's final!"
With that, she leapt into the Well and disappeared. Shippo scrambled atop the stone edge of the Well and peered down, wishing he could follow Kagome. Older people are so stupid sometimes, he thought. Why do Kagome and Inuyasha keep fighting when they never get anywhere?
What with Inuyasha being so stubborn, Shippo began to wonder if that knuckle-head would ever apologize to Kagome. What if she never came back? That thought made Shippo so sad that he plopped onto his little bushy tail and hung his head in sheer misery.
At that moment, Inuyasha stomped into the grove. When he saw Shippo, he scoffed in disgust.
"What're ya mopin' about! It'd better not be about Kagome!"
"You ~sniff~ meanie, Inuyasha!" Shippo whined. "You yelled at Kagome ~sniff~ and now she'll never come back!"
"Pff! Don't be such a baby! Of course she'll come back! She's gotta if she's gonna apologize to me!"
"Apologize to you! ~sniff~ She wants your apology before she'll come back at all!"
"She WHAT! That's absurd! Anyway, she yelled at me first, what with her whole 'What do you think I am?" routine. It makes me SO mad – and WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING NOW!" Shippo had leapt had Inuyasha and started furiously pummeling his chest and stomach.
"You're ~wham~ such ~wham~ a ~wham~ bully! ~wham~ I ~wham~ wouldn't ~wham~ blame ~wham~ Kagome ~wham~ if ~wham~ she ~wham~ never ~wham~ came ~wham~ back!"
Inuyasha raised his fist, but he hesitated. What if Kagome never did come back? For one, he'd never be able to find all of the Shikon Jewel and become a full-fledged demon. For another, he'd felt a gaping hole inside him ever since Kagome had helped Koga, and now that she had gone home, it only felt worse. It was like Miroku's Wind Tunnel, sucking in everything around it, making Inuyasha feel empty inside.
Unsure of what to do, Inuyasha ambled away from the grove. After situating himself in a tree, he tried to sort out all of the feelings inside of him (Shippo's cries of "Get back here!" didn't help). Faces crossed his mind; Kikyo's, Koga's, and Kagome's stuck out in particular.
But, for all his effort, deep thinking didn't come easily to Inuyasha, so he decided that he would have to devise a means of getting advice from someone. Not that he would ask flat-out – he couldn't bear such an embarrassing thought.
As he brooded, he noticed that Shippo had stopped yelling at him. Since the little fox was fond of Kagome, maybe he would know the fastest way to get back into her good graces. It can't hurt, Inuyasha thought, slipping down from his perch and walking to where Shippo sat gazing forlornly into the Well.
"Hey, runt," he began awkwardly. "Suppose...suppose ya had made Kagome mad, and ya wanted to make up with her. What would ya do?"
Shippo's eyes brightened. He immediately jumped down from the Well's edge and looked up at Inuyasha cheerily.
"Well, since I don't know all that much about girls, I'd go ask someone wise...like Kaede!"
Inuyasha stiffened, forgetting his pretense. "I don't want advice from her! That old hag'll laugh at me!"
Shippo smiled, glad that Inuyasha had decided to speak plainly. "Well then," he reasoned, rubbing his hands together, "I'll ask her for you so that she won't know it's you."
"You have enough brain power to pull that off?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.
Shippo waved off the comment like a cloud of smoke. "You shouldn't doubt me so much, Inuyasha. Little guys always have tricks up their sleeves."
Taking Inuyasha's hand, Shippo pulled him toward Kaede's hut.
Kagome tried to focus on her school assignments, with little luck. She couldn't push that stupid Inuyasha out of her head. Of all the nerve! she thought.
Inuyasha's voice echoed in her head like a broken record-player: "So what happened between you two?" She didn't even want to think about what had been going through his mind when he had asked her that.
And yet, the reasonable part of her could understand why Inuyasha had acted so wounded. She had stood up for the demon who had kidnapped her! Once she had gotten to see Koga's softer side, the guy didn't seem so bad; but now Inuyasha was acting jealous, as if he had some claim on her!
Why should he think that? They had never gone on a date, or even admitted feelings for each other. Why should Inuyasha behave like her boyfriend? True, they had shared a handful of tender moments, but nothing that gave Inuyasha dibs to her affections...right?
"Um...Kagome?" A boy's voice startled Kagome out of her daydream. Looking up, she saw Hojo smiling at her.
"Oh...hi, Hojo," she said, plastering a pleasant expression on her face.
"It's good to see you at school. It's been a while."
"Yeah," Kagome replied, laughing a little in spite of herself.
"Listen," Hojo said sweetly, "would you like to go to a movie with me on Saturday?"
"Uh..." Kagome didn't know what to say. She was worried that her mind would be too occupied with her problems with Inuyasha to pay proper attention on a date. But, before she could politely decline, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi came up behind her. "She'd love to go!"
"Uh, I would?" Kagome looked helplessly at her friends.
"One moment," Ayumi said to Hojo. "Girl huddle."
Leaving Hojo in the middle of the hall, the four girls circled up.
"Why are you hesitating, Kagome?" Eri demanded. "It's obvious Hojo likes you a lot."
"Yeah, but-"
"And that psycho boyfriend you told us about," Yuka added. "There's no way a guy like that is good for you! You deserve someone better, like Hojo."
"Yeah, but-"
"So then," Ayumi concluded, "It's decided."
With that, the three girls pushed Kagome toward Hojo and waited.
"I'd, uh, be glad to go to the movies with you, Hojo," Kagome said, trying to come off as enthusiastic.
"Great," Hojo beamed. "I'll pick you up around 7."
Once he was gone, Kagome sighed in relief. Managing her life in two time-periods was a lot harder than she had thought.
"I gotta say, runt," Inuyasha admitted as they left Kaede's tent. "Those were some fancy drawings you put together." Shippo grinned.
"So," he asked, "You know what you gotta do now?"
"I...I guess," Inuyasha mumbled, "but that don't make it any easier!"
"Apologizing is never easy," the young fox-demon reasoned, "but you'll feel better afterward. I bet Kagome's cooled down by now, too, so that'll make your job a bit easier."
"Yeah, yeah." Inuyasha wasn't really listening anymore; he was busy thinking about how Kagome might react when she saw him.
"Well?" Shippo demanded at last. "Are you going, or what?"
"I'm goin' already! Get off my back, would ya!" He ran off toward the grove, leaving Shippo behind in his wake.
When Inuyasha emerged on the other side of the Well, he immediately headed for Kagome's room. Entering through the window, he found that she wasn't there. Unwilling to wait until she returned, he decided to follow her scent. Eventually, the trail led him to a large building full of kids around Kagome's age. He perched on top of a telephone pole and tried to spot Kagome among the crowd, ignoring the shouts of surprise as students began to notice him. For crying out loud! he thought. How hard can finding one girl be?
Then, he saw her walking with three girls. Throwing caution to the winds, he leapt from the telephone pole and darted toward her. The students who saw him coming ran to the side, making a path as he rushed by.
"Kagome!" he shouted just before stopping directly in front of her. For a moment, she didn't register his presence. Then, her eyes grew wide.
"Inuyasha! What are you doing here?"
"Whadda ya think, dummy? I came for you!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Brace yourself, he thought. She's either gonna make you "sit" or bite your head off.
When nothing happened, he opened one eye. The three girls with Kagome had gotten inbetween him and her, looking frighteningly murderous for humans.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Yuka demanded.
"You better not be that psycho boyfriend Kagome was telling us about," Ayumi chimed in.
"Cuz if you are, we're gonna have to teach you a thing or two about how you treat a girl," agreed Eri.
Inuyasha stared at them. Back home, he would have brushed aside such minor nuisances, but he had to remind himself that things were done differently in Kagome's strange era. Plus, the fact that these girls had referred to him as Kagome's "psycho boyfriend" both pleased and bothered him.
"Guys, please," Kagome butted in, turning her back to Inuyasha to face her friends – a strangely defensive posture for her to take around him, "I may have gone a bit far talking about him the other day-"
"So ya did talk about me." Inuyasha's stomach did a little backflip.
"Well, yes, but I focused on the bad stuff." Kagome blushed as she said it, and her friends gasped.
"You're doing it again, Kagome! Do you honestly have feelings for this weirdo?" Ayumi looked stunned.
"Yeah, I mean, what's he supposed to be dressed as? Is he a manga otaku or something?" Eri asked.
Inuyasha didn't know what manga or otaku meant, but he got the message that he was being insulted.
"Listen here, ya little-" Inuyasha stopped when he felt Kagome's hand pushing on his chest. She looked fierce.
"Eri, Yuki, Ayumi," she said tensely, "I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but I can handle Inuyasha on my own." She glared once more at him before saying through gritted teeth, "Come with me, now."
Inuyasha wasn't about to argue with that face.
Kagome half-dragged him back to the Higurashi shrine. She stopped underneath the ancient tree that Kikyo had once pinned Inuyasha to and turned to face him.
"Why did you come charging into my school?" she demanded.
"I had to find ya, didn't I? And that's where ya were, so-"
"That doesn't change things! Don't you ever think about what you're doing? You're such a...a..." Kagome's face turned red with frustration as she tried to find a word that described just what Inuyasha was.
"I do too think about what I'm doing," Inuyasha insisted. "I came to get ya, didn't I?" He took a deep breath and continued tentatively. "Listen, Kagome, that fox-runt told me your condition for coming back, so..."
"I don't want to hear it." Kagome shoved her hand at Inuyasha as if to push away his words. "I can't think about that right now, so... just come back later."
Inuyasha tensed. She was brushing him off like some unimportant matter! Of all things, he would not stand for that.
"I ain't goin' anywhere, Kagome. Yell at me, make me 'sit,' whatever. You're not gonna get rid of me that easily. I'm staying until ya hear me out."
Kagome looked up into his face in surprise, but Inuyasha couldn't tell if she was angry or pleased. Averting her eyes from his, she sighed.
"Just...give me a little time, okay? I'll try to clear my head."
"...Okay."
Kagome started walking toward her house. When she reached the doorway, she turned. There were tears in the corners of her eyes; Inuyasha always hated to see her cry. He was about to speak when Kagome cut him off.
"Sit, boy!"
An instant later, Inuyasha was spitting dirt out of his mouth.
"Ptoo! What'd ya do that for!"
"You did deserve that one for scaring my friends," Kagome replied in a choked voice. With that, she darted inside and shut the door.
Inuyasha didn't disturb Kagome any more that evening. He sat in the old tree and watched the small sliver of the moon rise. In the back of his mind, he realized tomorrow night would be the new moon, his night of vulnerability.
A little while after Kagome's room went dark, Inuyasha crept up to the window. Perching on the sill, he opened the window and stepped inside, careful to make no noise. Sure enough, Kagome was asleep peacefully, the afterglow of a smile lingering on her face. Gazing down at her, Inuyasha couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Even though he still loved Kikyo, he couldn't deny how he felt about Kagome either.
For a moment, he was tempted to kiss her, but he pulled back, afraid of the ramification of giving in to his feelings. He sneaked back out the window and climbed to the roof. A spattering of clouds passed in front of the waning moon as Inuyasha stretched out to sleep under the faint glow.
Kagome woke refreshed. The morning light filtered through the gossamer curtains and bathed her room in a warm color of sunshine. Remembering that tonight was her date with Hojo, she began to busy herself with cleaning up and getting dressed.
After breakfast, she went out into the shrine's courtyard. Glancing back at the house, she noticed something red on the roof.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome had nearly forgotten about his untimely appearance, and seeing confirmation of his determination to stay made her face feel a little hot.
Hearing Kagome's voice, Inuyasha stirred and opened his eyes. After stretching, he leapt down and stared intently at her, waiting.
"Well?" he asked at last.
"Well, what?"
"Have you had enough time to think?"
Kagome bit her lip and turned away from him. Now that Inuyasha was getting in her face about their argument, she sought refuge in her date with Hojo. An evening away from Inuyasha was sure to help her.
"Not yet. Please try to be patient with me, Inuyasha."
The fact that he didn't snap at her was a good sign, but she could almost sense his contained frustration and impatience.
"Look," she sighed, "My mom has given me some errands to run, but I'll be back later."
"Can...can I go with ya?"
Kagome gaped at Inuyasha, unable to believe her ears. Inuyasha had asked to accompany her, politely! Her cheeks felt hot again, but she quickly got ahold of herself.
"Well, you can't go dressed like that," she said, laughing to cover up the awkward silence.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with it?"
Before he could argue any more, Kagome ushered him inside. She rummaged through boxes of clothes, eventually tossing a T-shirt, jacket, and jeans into Inuyasha's arms.
"Go change," she commanded flatly.
"But-"
Kagome shoved him into the bathroom, leaning on the shut door to dissuade him from escaping. She could hear him grumbling as he fought with the clothes. After several minutes of the struggle, Inuyasha called through the door, "Uh...Kagome...could ya lend me a hand for a sec?"
Kagome was glad that he couldn't see her blushing. Again, he had made a nice request instead of raging at her.
"What is it you need help with?"
"Just come look, would ya?"
Kagome grasped the doorknob. "You'd better be decent in there."
"Ya honestly think I'd have asked ya to come in here if I wasn't?"
He had a point.
Kagome opened the door. Inuyasha had won his battle with the jeans, but he was completely lost when it came to the shirt. Kagome smiled as she showed him how to pull it over his head. After extricating his long hair, she handed him the jacket.
"You'll have to keep the hood up," she warned. "Otherwise, your ears will attract too much attention."
"'Kay," Inuyasha mumbled. "Can we go now?"
Kagome didn't answer at once. A pleasant feeling was building up in her chest as she gazed at Inuyasha. At last, she nodded. Taking his hand, she led Inuyasha out the door and down the street.
The day passed quickly. By the time Inuyasha and Kagome returned to the Higurashi shrine, the sun had nearly set. Inuyasha could already feel his demon strength fading, but he decided not to mention this to Kagome. Even though she seemed pleased to have him around, she was holding back. She must still be sore at me, Inuyasha figured. I guess I shouldn't blame her for that, after what I suggested happened between her and that wolf-scum, Koga.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice pulled him away from his thoughts. She was meeting his eyes directly this time. "I have...plans tonight, but when I get back...I'll listen to what you want to say."
Inuyasha should have been happier about Kagome's willingness to hear him out, but his curiosity had been piqued. "Where ya goin'?"
"I'm going to see a movie with a friend."
There was more to the story than that; Inuyasha could tell by the way her eyes darted away from his for a moment.
"Is it a date?"
Kagome's guilty expression confirmed his suspicions. Inuyasha was tempted to start yelling accusations, but tonight wasn't the time for that. In order to alleviate his anger, he clenched his fist inside his sleeve so that Kagome wouldn't see. As he did so, he could feel his claws shrinking into regular fingernails.
At that moment, a voice called from outside the shrine's front gate. "Kagome? You there?"
Kagome turned toward the voice and replied, "I'll be there in a minute, Hojo."
Even though she didn't say the name with any special feeling, Inuyasha still felt like he had been stabbed. It didn't help matters that his human emotions were beginning to cloud his thinking.
"Kagome..." His voice nearly cracked as he tried to find the words.
"Yes, Inuyasha?"
He sighed and hung his head; he had transformed completely now, and he felt drained. "Nothin'. Have fun."
"'Kay. Thanks." She clasped his hand for a moment, then hurried to meet Hojo. Inuyasha could hear their voices as they walked away together, but his human ears couldn't catch what they were saying. Feeling miserable, he trudged over to the old tree and leaned his back against the familiar trunk. He slowly slid down into a sitting position and let himself drift off to sleep, sleep filled with troubled dreams of Kikyo and Kagome.
Kagome managed to enjoy herself with Hijo after all, despite feeling like a heavy burden was slowly crushing her. That look on Inuyasha's face kept haunting her, his eyes so full of dejection and loneliness. Why had he let that side of him show? Inuyasha usually kept a tight lid on any emotions that would make him feel weak. As Hijo walked her home, Kagome gazed up at the sky. The dark sky looked just as sad as Inuyasha had. Suddenly, the significance of the moonless night dawned on her.
She said a quick farewell to Hijo and dashed into the courtyard; her eyes darting around for a glimpse of Inuyasha. At last, she saw him asleep beneath the ancient tree. Sitting beside him, Kagome cautiously pulled the hood back from his face. His now-black hair tumbled over his shoulders, framing his face. The sadness had not left it, and the sight of him in this state was enough to make Kagome cry. Compassion overwhelming her, she wrapped her arms around him and let her head rest on his shoulder.
"Inuyasha..." she whispered. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have left you alone, this night least of all."
He stirred. His hand found Kagome's shoulder and pulled her close to him.
"It's...okay," he said quietly. "I should be sorry...for making you want to go away in the first place." His eyes, gray instead of their usual gold, met hers in a gaze she couldn't break away from. "I had no place... no right to suspect that you would have been involved with that Koga."
"I'm sorry, too." Kagome couldn't stop herself from continuing. "I got so offended about it. Koga protected me, so I felt indebted to help him; that's all. I could never feel that way about him, or Hojo, or anyone else, because...I've already given my heart away...to you."
Inuyasha smiled tenderly at her as he wiped the tears from her eyes. Holding her in a tight embrace, he spoke into her ear.
"I don't want you to go away anymore, Kagome. I can't promise that we won't fight again, but..."
"I understand," she replied. She could feel his heartbeat as she pressed against him. She wanted to him to never let go.
Eventually, Kagome's breathing slipped into the steady rhythm of sleep. Inuyasha lifted her gingerly and carried her inside. The rest of the Higurashi family was already asleep, so they reached Kagome's room undetected. He set her down on her bed and sat beside the headboard. Kagome's hand draped over the side, and Inuyasha held it in his own, warm feelings he was unaccustomed to flowing through him.
He drifted off a few times before sunrise. He almost regretted reaching the end of his night as a human; he was sure these pleasant emotions would fade once he returned into his usual form. Just before the sun's rays hit him, he did what he had not dared to try before: he gently pressed his lips on Kagome's forehead. She smiled in her sleep, as if she could sense his tender caress. As Inuyasha's body began to change, he slipped out of her room to find his regular clothes.
The first thing Kagome saw when she woke were the dog-ears. Inuyasha had changed back into a demon, and he was dozing next to the edge of her bed. She then realized that he was holding her hand. Placing her other hand on his shoulder, she spoke tenderly.
"Inuyasha? It's morning."
Almost immediately, Inuyasha roused himself. Letting go of Kagome's hand a little too quickly for her liking, he stood and went to the window.
"We should get going soon, don'tcha think?"
The softness had left his voice, but – after all – he was still the same-old Inuyasha.
"Sure," she replied, smiling.
There would other moonless nights. In the meantime, she would have to find a way to make the demon Inuyasha as comfortable about holding her as the human one. A difficult challenge, yes, but one Kagome was ready to tackle.