Phenomenon
by shannello
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a/n: updates: october twenty-fifth, two-thousand-nine. i'm officially continuing this. this entire chapter has been reworked to my greatest ability without a beta, so hurrah. i hope you enjoy. the continuation is coming... if i ever figure out what the fuck is coming nexttttt.
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Her class buzzed around her. Kagome was in college, which she loved way more than she originally thought she would, and was working away at a Bachelor of Science in English. It was definitely harder than high school had been for her, but, because of her frequent absences, Kagome hadn't experienced high school like other kids had.
Now, in college, Kagome had the choice to live alone, to decide what she was going to eat for dinner, to do whatever she wanted—without the ominous threat of Naraku constantly hovering over her head.
She smiled.
Kagome had known college would've been pleasant. Independence was hers. She would where whatever the hell she wanted to, because, finally, the uniform was gone.
Behind her, classmates giggled cheerfully, chatting about weekends, and parties, and Kagome breathed out. She hadn't gone to many parties since school started, or even before school started. Honestly, she had better things to do. Her body wasn't going to stay in the insane athletic shape adventuring across Feudal Japan had put it in by getting drunk and partying. Kagome liked to use her nights to jog, or swim at the public pool before it closed at eight.
Having abs was so freakin' cool.
Although, simply walking from class to class would probably keep her in moderate shape. College was unconditionally enormous. Even the classroom was absolutely huge. High ceilings, 500 student classes, so many chairs that Kagome lost count.
But don't get her wrong—college was a piece of cake. She was Kagome. HigurashiKagome. In high school she could literally save the universe, survive, and still get a barely-passing grade on her Geometry test.
Not many people could brag about that.
Although, Kagome didn't want to be known as the psycho she presumed she already was. Bragging was off-limits. Yes. Higurashi Kagome was not insane. She traveled back through time with the help of a magic well, fought countless demons with her miko expertise, journeyed across Feudal Japan with a group of eccentric…-ness, but was completely and absolutely not insane.
She wanted to be a writer.
Which was totally normal, in her circumstances.
Why not make money off of her —she traveled back through time with the help of a magic well, fought countless demons with her sparkly miko expertise, journeyed across Feudal Japan with a group of eccentric...-ness—?
It was the best way to not forget about the past. Whether the past wanted to cast her out and erase her completely or not.
No. That's not what happened.
Even after seven years?
Inuyasha's still coming. He's still alive.
Kagome was a firm believer in the impossible. To her, Inuyasha's second-coming was imminent.
The past didn't forget her. It only cut her normal life in half, destroyed the only remains of girlish idealism she had in her heart, lead her on—then suffocated her with a pillow. It raised her up, waiting until the last, possible moment when it could seal the well and end her second—and more important—life.
She couldn't deny that she was hurt. So, what was she supposed to do? Or more appropriately, what was she, if Kagome had been a normal college-aged girl, expected to do? Go to therapy?
No sir. Kagome had a better use for her pain. Make a profit off of it.
She glanced at the clock. Five-after nine; Shimako-sensei would have already started class. Being the most punctual lady Kagome had met in her life... where was she?
"Satsuki-chan, where's Shimako-sensei?" Kagome whispered to a brown-haired girl with amber-colored eyes. She was a sweet, average looking girl (Kagome hadn't seen an average girl for so long, with all the flawless priestesses of Edo, the firm-bodied tajiya, and, well, almost every village girl she met). But Satsuki was really nice, and loved taking Kagome out for lunch on Sunday for a little shopping, even though Kagome knew so little about her—something Kagome loved to do when she was eleven, and her dad used to drop her off at Ayumi-chan's place after school, and they'd take the bus down to the mall at four.
Satsuki smiled an average smile and touched Kagome's hand. "She's probably at the hospital—remember last Tuesday she said her sister was almost due?"
A little shocked that she forgot about that (especially now that the well's been sealed for almost seven years and she had no excuse), Kagome could only nod weakly.
"Okay," Satsuki said, shuffling her papers on her lap. "Let's just hope she didn't have to have a caesarean section like she feared."
Um.
What?
Caesarean section?
"Uhm, y-yeah." Kagome threw in, hopeful. There was still the entire day left and she felt the shaky urge to look out the window for Inuyasha, or suddenly stand up and run home like she used to. When she was allowed to, because... well, no one else was going to save the universe.
It was always just her.
But—Kagome was okay with that.
That was her duty. Her purpose. It made her feel alive, needed, and important. And what wouldn't she give to feel that way again? To matter. Inuyasha—
"—ano, Kagome-chan? Are you okay? Shimako-sensei is here."
But, unfortunately, in almost seven years, Kagome found she couldn't focus on her class.
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"Kagome. Tell me about your world?" whispered Shippou, his hands closed around hers, both of them lying in the wet grass beneath the sky's arrangement of stars.
Kagome sniffled. "Um, it's safer, I think." She played with his ribbon. "But yours might be just as safe, Shippou-chan. You have all these people keeping you safe. Nothing will ever happen to you."
"Really?"
"Well… yeah. I'll always be here to keep you safe, too, you know."
He snuggled into her. "Okay, Kagome. I can go to sleep now."
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"I'm losing my mind, again," admitted Kagome, sitting crisscross in the grass beside a huge tree. Ants marched up the trunk.
Satsuki blinked. "Again? You've lost your mind before?"
Smiling, Kagome picked at her bento box. "Once."
"So, what happened, then?" questioned her friend, as she worked away at the rice in the corner of her plastic container.
Kagome sighed. Stretching, she leaned back against the rough bark of the tree. "Lots of things. Lots of things that I won't ever forget. You know—did you ever fall in love, Satsuki-chan?"
Startled, Satsuki held out her hand. She flexed her fingers. "See? Engaged to the most amazing man. Stole my heart the second I looked at him—"
"Yes!" blurted Kagome, taking her hand. "That's what I'm talking about. It was that kind of love that drove me to insanity. I—" She let go, inspecting how lonely her ring finger seemed "—don't think I recovered yet, either."
There's still time for him to come.
Satsuki touched her arm, grinning. "Kagome-chan, you shouldn't act like this. You look so pretty when you're happy. I remember, oh, when was it... um, two weeks ago. Remember you won those tickets for that play? You were glowing."
Kagome stared.
"Glowing?"
"Yes. I thought you were a teenager, the way you acted."
Kagome smiled. Her eyes flickered up at the pretty blue sky and she knew.
He will come.
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"Kagome—are you going to stay with me, after Inuyasha kills Naraku?"
Kagome stared.
Her mouth was dry. There were a lot of things she wanted to wish for. Let me stay with Inuyasha, let Kikyou find peace, let Kohaku survive, let Miroku live, let Shippou be happy, let me be happy—most of which would never come true.
What to say... what to say.
"Shippou-chan, we have to stop Naraku first, before we can know anything for sure—"
He tugged at her sleeves. "Kagome. You're going to stay with me, right?"
His eyes shown really beautiful that moment. Like all of his intensity was focused into those short, eight words.
Kagome hugged him to her chest and said nothing.
She honestly had no answer.
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The train ride home was usually very, very quiet, which Kagome was used to and expected. So, Kagome resolved to take the train home… so, that she, Kagome the Procrastinator, could finish her reading assignment.
Or, actually, start her reading assignment.
She lived in an average apartment; sink, bathroom, kitchen, decent living room. Two bedroom, in case Satsuki wanted to spend the night or if Mama came to visit.
Kagome remembered how, back when she was fifteen, she was rarely able to sleep in her own bed, do her dishes, cook dinner, mow the lawn. Do chores. Watch tv. Listen to music—oh, she felt like a total idiot returning home and not knowing ANYTHING by Ayumi Hamasaki.
Okay. Enough distractions.
"Hmm. What page was I on again—oh yeah," mumbled Kagome quietly, her eyes locked on the novel in her lap. She read the book quietly, hoping she'd find it interesting enough to hold her attention for longer than five minutes and—
"Miss?" said a familiar/unfamiliar voice, a few feet away.
Kagome looked up.
"Um, huh?"
There was a man, tall and broad, standing in the aisle. Kagome remembered his face from a dream.
"You're Higurashi Kagome, right?"
She had a feeling he was actually sure. "Do—do I know you?"
The man smiled. "You might, maybe. Unless you forgot already."
Those eyes. How could she forget those eyes?
This isn't a dream. He's really—
Shippou.
Oh my God.
Of course, she was expecting this to happen. But not with Shippou. Maybe, Kouga. Sesshomaru. Kagura, even.
But... him?
No. He was supposed to stay little, and, well, cute.
"Okay then, what's your name?" asked Kagome, mock-cheerfully, incredulous, closing her book on her finger. She leaned forward, inspecting his face, his jaw line, his eyes—
Green.
"I had a name, a long time ago." His jeans were tight around his thighs and calves; Kagome thought he looked inappropriate in jeans. "It was a real good name, too. You woulda liked it, Kagome."
"Okay, come on, enough playing around." I know who you are. Who else has red hair in Japan?
"Shippou-chan," said the boy/man, taking the empty seat beside her. "That's what you used to call me."
Kagome choked. "Wha—what's your name now?"
Shippou had on this grin. "Hisao."
Kagome blinked. "Why didn't you just keep—"
"'Shippou'? It held too many memories. Inuyasha's death, your homecoming that never happened, Kohaku and Sango—" He paused. Kagome leaned over her lap to see his face.
It was beautiful, mysterious, but so familiar that she thought she could pull him close and hold him, like she used to. Kiss his nose and ruffle his hair. Like she used to—
Wait.
The well had sealed just before the final battle with Naraku, leaving her safe in the modern era, so…
Oh.
Oh, no, please.
"Shippou. What did you—"
Inuyasha will never come.
"He died, Kagome," replied Shippou, his eyes darkening attractively. He looked handsome, but—
"No. No, no, no, no, Shippou…" whined Kagome, resorting to holding her face in her cold hands. "Shippou, you're still alive. Inuyasha has to—"
"Kagome." He said her name so seriously, in a voice she never imagined he'd use. Or find.
"Yes?" she peeped, eyes wet, cheeks splotchy and red, and she turned in her seat to look at him directly. Something inside of him, maybe his realness, or authenticity, scared her.
Shippou inhaled. "Kagome, Inuyasha and Kikyou—Inuyasha went to hell with Kikyou after the battle. I'm... sorry."
Inuyasha?
Inuyasha… why?
"No, you, you're..."
"Not lying," said Shippou quickly, cheeks hot.
Kagome's chest hitched. Despite her greatest efforts, she couldn't stop the tears from coming.
Because… he's dead.
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On the lip of the well, Kagome thought: This could be the last time I go home.
"Kagome?" said Shippou slowly, unsure.
Startled, Kagome shook her head, dispersing her thoughts. "Um, yeah, what is it, Shippou-chan?"
Little fingers played with her hands. "If I die in the battle with Naraku, will you promise to not wish me back on the shikon no tama?"
Kagome stopped breathing, momentarily.
"Just, don't, okay? I... don't want to be—if I die, I want to die with the honor of fighting with Inuyasha, and Miroku, and Sango, and you."
"Shippou-chan," Kagome said, heart heavy. "I don't know if I can do that."
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They held hands as they walked to the restaurant.
"Come on, Shippou-chan. Move! We're gonna be late—"
His kissed her, once, super fast. "Okay, okay! Just—let's go!" He pulled her forward, her heels dragging along cutely, and she wondered what that explosion was when their lips touched.
"Oh, Kagome-chan!" came a familiar voice from across the busy street. Satsuki-chan stood by a table outside the diner. Her short hair swayed in the wind.
"There, right there, Shippou-chan!" yelled Kagome, and he nodded, sprinting with her across the highway, hand in hand, and they stood beside each other on the sidewalk for a minute, catching their breath.
Shippou sucked in a breath, shaking off the run. "Um, you must be—Satsuki-san."
Satsuki smiled pleasantly. "That's me. So, you're the Hisao-kun Kagome-chan won't stop talking about. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, really," said Shippou, peering down at Kagome.
Kagome blushed automatically. "Okay, okay, enough. Let's, um, eat?"
Satsuki grinned at Shippou and sat down.
"So, Hisao, where do you live?" asked the brown-haired girl.
Shippou's eyes gleamed playfully. "With Kagome, obviously."
"What?" spurted Kagome, spilling her water.
Satsuki grinned. "I knew Kagome had a boyfriend!"
"No, Shippou-chan! Don't give her false information!"
"'Shippou-chan'" repeated Satsuki, and Kagome froze.
Shippou beamed. "It's a pet name."
Satsuki mouthed "oh" and Kagome, well, died.
After hesitation (and a few minutes waiting for her heart to reboot) Kagome finally gathered enough courage to slide back into her chair and poke at her cold lunch. It was stiff, and her cheeks were burning as if a flaming Alaska had nose-dived straight into her face.
She'd never look at Satsuki the same way again.
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On the way home (which turned out to be Kagome's apartment, somehow, despite her constant proclamations of "You don't live with me,") Shippou held her hand. "I like Satsuki-chan. She's funny."
Kagome sighed, feeling unceremoniously that the universe hated her, even though she did all that she could to keep it from falling to pieces.
"If you're going to be staying with me," said Kagome, as they entered the apartment, "you're going to make me dinner, every single night."
"What? No, Kagome!" cried Shippou, old in appearance, even older in years, but still young. No way was he going to cook—
"Come on," sang Kagome, grabbing his hands and pulling him into a little waltz in her kitchen. "Pleeeease? I'll—"
Shippou spun her professionally and pulled her in close with one arm. "You'll do whatever I want you to?"
Can't... breathe... so close.
"Uhm, Shi-Shippou-chan?" Her voice was small compared to his.
Quickly, expertly, Shippou twirled her out of the embrace, letting her slide to a stop a few feet away. He strode into the living room, waving his hand impassively.
"Um, hey! Shippou! What do you think—"
He turned back and smiled. Kagome stopped.
Her heart physically slowed.
"I'm taking you to the mountains with me, tomorrow, okay?" Shippou yelled, his voice stronger.
Kagome didn't answer.
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Kagome jumped.
She opened her eyes, ankle sprained, and knew—
The well had sealed over night.
Her life, her friends, her family—she'd never see any of them again. Only...
Inuyasha. Inuyasha would come. He'd find her, and explain everything, and then—they'd fix it. She'd live with him in the past, with Sango, and Miroku, and Shippou-chan, and—
"Shippou!" giggled Kagome, his hands around her waist, lifting her up into his arms. Inuyasha was momentarily wiped from her mind.
Shippou smiled. "I said I was taking you with me to the mountains, Kagome! No escaping me!" He hugged her for what seemed like the millionth time he'd hugged her, and grinned. "I want you to be happy again, Kagome. Like you used to be."
Kagome nodded, slowly.
"So, come on," insisted Shippou, holding her hand.
The drive wasn't long, but it was quiet, and his car smelled like campfire, and fish from the river, and if she closed her eyes she could smell Sango, and Miroku, and Kirara, and if she tried really hard, she could smell Inuyasha, too.
He played strange music, and laughed a lot, and Kagome found herself laughing, too, just because his happy face was so cute.
Shippou insisted on dragging her up the mountain side, through thickets of trees and itchy bushes, and when they went deep enough in—
He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against a tall tree, biting her lips in a bruising kiss. She could feel his fangs. His hand slipped under her thin t-shirt, scooping around her slim belly. Kagome blinked, blinked again, then screamed.
"Shippou! What are you doing?" shrieked Kagome, pushing him off.
Shippou wiped his lips, a look of confusion on his face. He took a obligatory step back. "I thought, Kagome, I wanted you to be..." He sighed, as if he was giving up, but Kagome could see a determination in his eyes.
He walked out of view, and Kagome slumped down against the tree. She never expected this to happen.
She… loved Shippou. She loved him, but she loved the Shippou she remembered. The small, cute, innocent Shippou. This Shippou made her think of Inuyasha, and how rough he was. How Inuyasha used to give no warning—just jumped into whatever he wanted.
He made her… sad.
There was movement down the mountain, and Kagome looked up, and there he was—
"Oh my God."
Tears leaked.
She squinted her eyes, hot tears dripping down her milky cheeks. There he was. There he was.
"Inu—Inuyasha!"
She stood up, legs young and fast, tearing up grass and dirt in her frantic scramble. She slammed her body into his, her breasts pressing up hard against his chest. He was—Kagome breathed—real.
"Inuyasha..." The realization hit her slowly, so achingly slow that she didn't believe it was true at first. No, she didn't want to believe it.
He was real.
"Kagome," said Inuyasha, arms around her waist, and without another thought he was kissing her, and Kagome was right back where she was before. Up against a tree.
"Inu—" muttered Kagome, into his mouth, her lips struggling for his, his cheeks, his chin, his neck, his chest. She kissed him like she was worshiping him.
The small, tickling realization resided in the back of her head, and Kagome pushed it away, because—
It's Inuyasha. He's not Shippou. He's Inuyasha.
Kagome forgot who she was, too, just before they fucked.
She felt him hard inside of her, and she knew he'd feel like this. Hot, stretchy pain spread through her thighs, and she arched her back instinctively, because, oh God, this was real.
He started fucking her hard, her back scrapping up against the bark of the tree, her legs raised around him. He moaned.
Oh my God.
Kagome felt weightless. His cock felt like the world.
In her ear: "I want to make you happy, Kagome."
His claws made her milky thighs blotchy and bruised, and her neck was covered in dark hickeys and teeth marks.
Pieces of the tree fell into her hair, into her eyes and mouth, and Inuyasha pounding up into her, fast and hard. She could barely breathe.
"Inu-Inuyasha... you—"
There was a super hot sensation, one she remembered from a long, long time ago, when Shippou's father saved their lives... encasing them in fox fire... She opened her eyes, blinking away the bark, and watched as the last remains of blue light died out. Sweat trickled down Shippou's jugular, down his chest, and he moaned throatily.
"Ship-Shippou—aahhh…"
If there was a way, Kagome would make him Inuyasha.
But—
"If I die, Kagome... remember me. Don't bring me back. Remember me."
She remembered how he slept beside her, how he snuggled into her breasts when he was scared, how he cracked his fingers when he was nervous, how he wanted desperately to protect her, make her happy...
Make me happy...
She remembered how he kissed her on the cheek when she came back, and how he followed her around, and listened—without complain—to her lovesick stories about Inuyasha...
He wasn't the little boy she knew five hundred years ago. He'd lived lifetimes. And he was probably waiting for her, looking for her… the entire time.
She wrapped her arms around his neck when she realized he wasn't going to stop, and breathlessly she whispered into his ear: "Shippou."
She felt him shiver, rapidly, shaking her body against the tree. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back, and Kagome watched his bangs fall over his forehead and thought he's beautiful.
His face was red, and he was panting like a dog, and Kagome laid her head down slowly onto his chest, closing her eyes, too. He thrust into her continuously, and Kagome bit her lip, letting him fuck her up against a tree on some godforsaken mountain because—
he wants to make me happy...
She wanted to make him happy, first.
Then he was breathing hard, and his nails drove into her skinny thighs, and Kagome smiled against his chest, full of him and only him.
Her back stung, and suddenly her body started shaking, and she gushed completely, coming silently. Shippou pulled out, then drove deep inside of her one final time, coming hard inside of her.
He slumped down, and Kagome fell on top of him, inhaling his sweat, his scent...
"Shippou... Shippou-chan..."
He sucked in a breath. "Ka-Kagome."
Quieter: "Did—did I hurt you?"
Kagome giggled. "Only a lot."
Shippou squinted his eyes, as if in pain, and Kagome kissed his eye lids. He opened his eyes to her warm, wet lips and—
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"Inuyasha! Kagome can't get through the well anymore! Make her come back!"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Shippou, calm down, you fucking idiot. Kaede will do something. Stay in the village until then. Sango, Miroku, and me are gonna go meet Naraku and kill his sorry ass."
"Inuyasha? You're not going to wait for her?"
Shippou stared.
"No. She'll come back when she comes back."
Inuyasha left—a man into the sunset—and Shippou climbed over the side of the well.
Carefully he climbed to the bottom, and sat silently in the warm dirt there.
"Kagome. I'll wait, instead, okay?"
He drew circles in the sand, not knowing how long he'd have to.
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a/n: part one of ? complete.