Flame of My Heart
AN: Look it's this simple if I owned Inuyasha and Co. I would not be spending my time writing these stories!
AN 2: I will have a link posted to my profile where you can view pictures of Kagome's dree and the Camellia flower that Gramps gives her.
Kagome sighed studying herself in the mirror. The outfit was so different from what she usually wore and she honestly felt kinda silly. It was hard to believe that the girl looking back at her was her.
"I still can't believe I let my friends talk me into this," she grumbles to Boyu, who merely opens an eye yawns and goes back to sleep on her bed.
Sighing once again, Kagome returns her gaze to her reflection this time really taking in the details. Her long black hair was pulled up off her shoulders in a simple twist revealing her long slender neck. Having her hair up she decided made her cheekbones stand out better, making her face look more angular and adding years to her age.
'I have to admit I look more like I'm 18 or 19 instead of 15, of course the makeup helps as well,' she muses to herself.
The makeup wasn't overpowering, which was what she was going for, a more natural look. There was just a light dusting of blush to her cheeks and grey eye shadow to highlight her eyes. On her lips was a just a hint of shimmer.
Allowing her gaze to drop further she takes in the pale skin of her shoulders, pleased to see that she doesn't look like she is allergic to the sun anymore, due to her time spent in the world on the other side of the well. Frowning a bit at her train of thought, she shakes her head vigorously, as if trying to clear her mind.
'No. I won't feel guilty about being here. We both need a break from each other. If I had stayed we would have just probably gotten into another fight.'
Kagome reaches up and fingers the blood red pendant that is hanging around her neck. The glass jewel is tear drop in shape with white swirls moving though the red. It is strung to a double strand of white beads and is set high on her neck, almost chocker length. She sighs, taking in the French manicure on her nails.
Dropping her gaze further still, Kagome takes in the dress. She would be the first to admit that she loved it. When she saw it she just knew that it was the one.
'Which is a good thing, considering I didn't have time to go shopping. I'll have to thank Mom later. She did a really good job.'
The dress was a piece of art. White, strapless with red beading across the front done in swirls made to look like flowers and vines. The beading continued down the front eventually separating into three vines that stopped just above her knees. The dress fell all the way to the floor with the hem just grazing her carpet. Turning slightly so that way she could see her back, Kagome noted that the beading continued around the back and again split into the three vines.
Glancing down at her feet, she pulled up the dress to take in the white two inch high heels. Carefully she stuck out one foot trying to get a better look at her also French manicured toenails but wobbled so badly that she quickly dismissed the idea and placed her foot firmly back on the floor.
'I'm just glad these things aren't any higher or I would be in some serious trouble walking.'
A quick sudden smile darts across her face before she could suppress it.
'I wonder what Inuyasha would say if he could see me now? Probably something smart assed about me being a klutz' Kagome chuckles quietly, before abruptly sobering up.
"Gah! Can I not think about him for ten minutes?!" she bursts out suddenly, startling Buyo from his perch on her bed. Seeming to realize he was not going to get any sleep, he stalks out of the room with his nose and tail in the air, flicking it, to show his displeasure.
"Kagome, honey is everything ok?" a voice calls from downstairs.
Making a mental pact to herself that she would not think about Inuyasha for the rest of the evening, she calls back down the stairs to her mother.
"Yeah Mom everything is fine!"
"Well you had better hurry dear, Hojo is going to be here any minute and you aren't ready yet."
Kagome groans as her mother reminds her once again about her 'date' for the night. Apparently her so called 'friends' had managed to convince the poor boy that she would be well enough to go to with him to this shindig and thus she had come home to find her mother in a tizzy worrying that she wouldn't be back in time. Then, once her mother had calmed down enough to realize that she was indeed home, Kagome had found herself thrust into the shower and commanded to 'hurry, they didn't have a lot of time to get her ready and that there was so much to do!'
"Ok Mom, I'll be right there."
Giving herself one last look over she turned away from the mirror and snagged her red clutch from the dresser before carefully attempting to walk down the stairs.
"Oh there you are Kagome, come into the kitchen where the light is better and let me have a look at you," her mother says grabbing her hand and practically dragging her daughter into the brightly lit room.
Kagome rolled her eyes at her mother's antics. Honestly, the woman was more excited about this than she was. But still her straightened her back and put a small smile on her face for her mother.
"Oh Kagome! You look wonderful! Absolutely beautiful! I hardly recognize my little girl! Hojo won't know what hit him!" Mrs. Higurashi cries, clapping her hands excitedly.
That last statement does cause Kagome to roll her eyes, "Momma, how many times have I told you? Hojo and I are just friends, nothing more."
"Yeah that's because Kagome likes Inuyasha and that wishes he was taking her instead, right sis?" Sota snickers from the doorway.
Kagome rounds on her little brother but her face is flushed and she is too embarrassed to be able to formulate a proper comeback.
But her mother waves off Sota's statement like this were not a new revelation, "Oh I know that! Why do you think I picked out the one with the red beading? It matches those robes that Inuyasha wears all the time."
"Mother!" Kagome cries aghast, "You didn't?"
But before Mrs. Higurashi could answer the doorbell rings.
"Oh that's gotta be Hojo. I'll go get the door!" and with that her mother was gone.
Suddenly Kagome's grandfather sidled into the room, checking quickly around to see if the coast was clear before approaching his granddaughter.
"You look lovely Kagome," he says, smiling gently up at her.
Kagome gives him a small smile in return, "Thanks Gramps."
"Here," he says, pushing something into her hair.
"Wha…" Kagome reaches a hand back to feel the soft velvety petals of a flower.
"It's a red camellia, it has many meanings but the one I think suits this most is 'flame of my heart' and that's what you are dear granddaughter, a flame to this old man's heart."
Kagome could feel tears welling in her eyes and quickly she stooped down and threw her arms around her grandfather.
"Oh thank you Gramps it's lovely," she whispers into his chest.
"There, there now dear girl, no crying. No more tears. This is supposed to be a happy night, remember?" he says kindly, gently patting her on the back.
Kagome pulls back and quickly brushes the traces of tears away as her mother's voice could be heard drifting in from the foyer, "Oh Hojo don't you look handsome! You dress up very well! Come in, come in! Kagome is just finished getting ready."
"Uh, thank you Mrs. Higurashi," a nervous sounding Hojo replies.
Kagome peaks around the doorway and gets her first look at her date. He was dressed in a Western (AN: meaning American/European) style tux, wearing a white dress shirt and a red tie that just happened to conveniently match the red of her dress. Everything from his neatly combed hair down to his highly polished dress shoes screamed that he had spent probably just as much time if not longer than her getting ready.
"Kagome!" he exclaimed suddenly, apparently having caught her sneaking a look at him.
Kagome reluctantly steps away from the doorframe and reveals herself entirely to Hojo. Her mother was not disappointed. Hojo's reaction is immediate and violent. His jaw drops, his eyes go wide and glaze over and it seems like his brain completely derails in thought. Kagome shifts on her feet, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. After a couple of awkward moments Hojo seemed to snap himself out of his stupor, with a tremendous blush adorning his cheeks, he drops his gaze, thrusting out a box in her general direction.
"Y-y-you look lo-lov-lovely Kagome," he stutters out, "uh here, this, this is for you."
"Oh, uh, thank you Hojo, you didn't have to," Kagome says embarrassed for him now too. It is obvious that Hojo is a nervous wreck and she wasn't doing much better.
'Should we really be this nervous?' her mind asks, 'Should it really be this hard?'
Carefully she takes the box from his hands and gently pries off the lid to reveal three red roses tied together in a corsage.
"Oh isn't that lovely!" Mrs. Higurashi coos over Kagome's shoulder.
Kagome nods and blushing allows an equally blushing Hojo to slide the elastic around her wrist, securing the small bouquet.
"Are you ready to go?" he asks and for the first time since she had come into the room he raised his head and looked her in the eyes.
"Yeah, you?"
He nods back at her and after a quick goodbye to her family she lets Hojo lead her outside and into the evening air. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kagome reminds herself that she was on a date with the hottest boy in school and not the hanyou that she couldn't get out of her head.
'You will NOT, N, O, T, NOT think about him! You are on your dream date with Hojo! You should be happy about this! You will have a good time if just for Hojo's sake.'
Squaring her shoulders with that thought she starts down the steps away from the shrine, Hojo next to her. They take a left at the bottom and tread the familiar sidewalk.
'Hey I have taken on all sorts of demons and evil doers I can handle this!' Kagome thinks fiercely to herself, 'Bring on Prom!'
AN 3: Ok guys that's chapter one! Not sure how quick I will be able to get the next chapter up, all depends on school : - ( but I will do my best to have it up before the weekend! Thanks! Love you all, please review!
AN 4: Oh, looks like there will be about 3 or 4 chapters to this story, so you all know at what pase the story is going to be progressing.