Kagome placed the large plastic bottle of antiseptic and package of swabs into the plastic shopping basket, and then consulted her shopping list again. They had run low on so many vital supplies that she carried in her medical kit recently, and she wanted to make sure that everything was restocked before the group set off on their next jewel shard hunt. The basket was already full to the brim of various creams, pain relieving medicines and bandages that would be useful once she headed back down the well. She hefted it onto her hip, groaning slightly as she tried to balance the weight, and shuddered to think how it was all going to fit into her yellow backpack. And she still had to get snacks! She knew a certain hanyou would be most upset with her if she didn't reappear bearing a considerable amount of ramen.
Snorting to herself, she made her way to the next aisle, browsing all the different snack options for her friends. After some deliberation, she picked up some matcha flavoured Pocky for Shippo, some strawberry mochi for Sango, and some teriyaki flavoured potato chips for Miroku. She needed to get a move on; she had somehow convinced Souta to help her carry all the shopping bags back to the shrine as Mama was busy with a guest, and she knew if she took too long he would get impatient and just go back home.
Kagome moved into the next aisle and considered all the different ramen options. Usually she bought the ones already packaged in a bowl for convenience sake while they were hunting shards, but there were some of the square packaged ones on special. And the multipacks with ten packages in each were on sale too. She looked at them, hesitating. Even though these would fit into her backpack much more efficiently, because they were square and not a bowl shape, how would they eat them when they were on the road? Suddenly remembering an item she'd seen in a previous aisle, she grabbed a few multipacks of ramen, and then headed back to where she'd seen some tin mugs. She placed five of them in the basket, staggering slightly at the weight. This definitely wouldn't all fit in her backpack – she might have to make a few trips when she went down the well, or perhaps she could keep all the food in shopping bags to take back instead of putting it into her backpack. Actually, if she waited long enough, Inuyasha would probably come barging belligerently through the well demanding she return, and she wouldn't have to carry it all herself.
Grinning at the idea, she made her way over to the checkout counter, placing all her items next to the register, and smiled pleasantly at the checkout lady. Her items were quickly rung up and placed into the plastic shopping bags, and Kagome handed over the money Mama had given her to the friendly woman, who pleasantly inquired after Kagome's family at the shrine. Kagome was just about to pick up her bags and make some inane remark about hoping that the woman would have a nice afternoon, when a jerky movement behind her made her turn her head, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.
It was a youngish man, dressed in black jeans, black motorcycle boots, and a black hoodie, with the hood pulled forward covering the top half of his face. The warm afternoon sun which streamed through the wide front windows of the supermarket gleamed on the beads of sweat marking his top lip, and also on the large serrated hunting style knife he had thrust out in front of him in both hands.
"Alright, nobody moves!", bellowed the man. "Empty all the notes in the cash register into a shopping bag quickly, and nobody gets hurt!"
Kagome unconsciously took a half step backward, getting herself into better fighting stance, causing the man to flick the knife in her direction threateningly. "Where do you think you're going, bitch!", the man growled, taking a step in her direction. He swivelled his head back towards the checkout lady and bellowed "Money, NOW!".
Kagome put her hands up in front of her in a non-threatening manner, hoping to placate the man. She could see behind the man's shoulder - a mother and her children, one of the mother's hands holding the chubby fist of a little boy, probably no more than three years old, and the other cradling a tiny baby, barely visible in a cloth sling. Kagome was terrified that the little boy might panic and grab the man's attention. He was already hiding behind his mother's voluminous patterned skirt, his tiny sneakers shuffling backwards, his wide eyes filling with tears. The man's yelling had obviously frightened him. She could see the mother trying to soundlessly draw her children back away from the danger, placing her son behind her, and curling her arm protectively around the baby. The mother's determined but fearful eyes met Kagome's. Kagome tried to reassure her with a tiny smile, and knew that she somehow needed to keep this man's attention on herself, without getting her and anyone else injured. She hoped someone in the store had heard the confrontation and had called the police, but right now she needed to keep a level head, even though her heart was beating so strongly it felt like it was leaping out of her chest. She flicked her eyes sideways to the cashier, who was quickly filling a grocery bag with cash, her expression neutral with her mouth stretched in a flat line. Good, the cashier wasn't panicking. Hopefully the guy would quickly take his money and run, and everyone would be fine. Kagome's tiny smile widened fractionally. It was all going to be ok.
"What are you smiling at, bitch!", yelled the man, suddenly drawing her attention back to the knife waving erractically in front of her. "You think this is funny do you!" The knife glinted again, the reflected light flashing, and she could see that the man's hands were shaking. Crap. He was frightened, and in Kagome's limited battle experience in feudal Japan, frightened people made bad decisions. She needed to wrap this up, fast, before someone got hurt. If she had her bow, she could just smack him across his arms and make him drop the knife, but her bow was five hundred years in the past. What would the others do? Sango would probably drop him with some expert kick, but Kagome had never learned how to do that, and now would not be a good time to try. Mirokou would use his hefty metal shakujo to knock him aside, Shippou would startle him with fox fire, and Inuyasha… well, Inuyasha would just straight out clobber him. Probably not the best option at this point. She could see the guy getting more and more agitated, this was getting dangerous. She would just have to handle this in her own way, to the best of her ability.
Kagome kept her hands in front of her, trying to keep the guy calm, trying to buy the cashier and the mother more time.
"Hey, I wasn't laughing at you. Um, I was just thinking of a friend, you know. I... I was picking up groceries for him, he's always a little grumpy, and when he's hungry and I've kept him waiting he's even worse. He really likes ramen, so I was getting him a whole new stash to keep him happy. Lots of different flavours. So far, I haven't found a flavour he doesn't like. Um, do you like ramen?"
Kagome knew she was babbling now, but the guy still had his eyes on her, so who cares if she sounded like a crazy woman? The mother had almost made it back behind a sturdy wooden stand that displayed potatoes and onions. Kagome was thankful, the little family group should be safe there until this was all over. The cashier was still calm, although her hands shook slightly in her effort to meet the man's shouted demands to quickly finish emptying the till. Kagome started inching slowly to the left, trying to get nearer to her bags of groceries, never breaking eye contact.
"I've got a knife pointed at you, and you're thinking of fucking ramen?", the guy asked her, looking at her incredulously. Suddenly, in the distance, they could hear the sound of sirens. The cashier let out a frightened squeal when the guy made a lunge for the plastic shopping bag that she had just finished filling with notes. Unfortunately for him, his sudden grab split the thin white plastic, sending the paper banknotes flying into the air, fluttering around them like blossoms blowing in the breeze.
"Fuck!", he screamed, and turned, ready to run before the police arrived, but Kagome was in between him and the only exit. He was shaking violently now, his eyes wide in fear, and Kagome suddenly knew that he was beyond reasoning with. Time seemed to slow down, but she had no time to think. She shot out her left hand and grabbed the first thing her hand touched, thrusting it out in front of her protectively as the knife came straight towards her chest. She was pushed backwards by the violence of the thrust, catching her hip on the edge of a display board announcing today's special prices. Kagome's body twisted, wrenching the knife out of her attacker's hand. He took one wide-eyed look at her, half sprawled at the end of the checkout, and hearing the sirens getting even closer, he bolted out the door.
Kagome took a deep breath in, and sighed it out again. She was still running on adrenaline, and suddenly she longed to be instantly on the other side of the well, in the peacefulness of Kaede's village, surrounded by her friends. The last place she wanted to be was here in modern Tokyo, waiting around for police to arrive and answering questions. There were plenty of other witnesses here that could do that. She thrust the object in her hands back into the closest shopping bag, caught the terrified eyes of the cashier and the mother, who had now emerged back out from behind the safety of the vegetable stand, and in a shaky voice that didn't quite sound like herself, announced "Well, at least no one got hurt. Hope the rest of your day is better!", and strode quickly out the door, with her shopping bags clutched in each white-fingered fist.
Souta was still leaning against the brick wall of the supermarket, waiting outside for her. His large headphones covered his ears, and he was nodding to the beat of whatever music he was listening to. Looking up, he noticed Kagome walking out of the supermarket doors, and shifted the headphones downward to hang around his neck. He held out his hands to take some of the bags.
"Hey, sis? Is everything ok? I heard lots of yelling coming from inside the supermarket, and then this guy came pelting out the door."
Kagome grinned at him, her heart still beating frantically in her chest. She didn't want to frighten Souta, especially if he hadn't already noticed anything.
"Nah, nothing to get too worried about, just an irate customer", she replied cheerfully. "Do you think you could help me carry these bags straight to the well? I've decided I'm not going to stay for dinner, you know how Inuyasha gets when he's kept waiting for his ramen."
Souta snorted, and nodded. "No problem, Kagome. Mama was gonna make karaage tonight for dinner, so that just means there'll be extra helpings for me! Consider it payment for being your pack horse!" He grinned at her cheekily, grabbing a couple of grocery bags off her, and they made their way quickly back to the shrine.
Kagome stepped through the door into the dim interior of the small shed that housed the shrine's well, her battered yellow backpack already on her shoulders. She had restocked it with clean clothes, study materials and toiletries this morning before school, knowing she would return to the village this evening, and had left it waiting in preparation near the back door. Thankfully, her preparations made for a quick getaway, as she was able to scoop it up and holler a quick goodbye through the door to her Mama and Grandpa without them asking too many awkward questions. Her mother had some sort of sixth sense where the emotional well-being of her children was concerned, and Kagome really didn't want to delay her return to the village any longer.
Picking up the shopping bags dumped on the dirt floor by Souta just a few minutes earlier, she dropped into the well, feeling the familiar stomach-churning pull of dropping back five centuries, and landed at the bottom of the well in Inuyasha's time. Now that the adrenaline of the shopping incident was beginning to wear off, she was starting to feel a little shaky. There was no way she could carry four heavy shopping bags and the backpack up the ladder to the top.
"Inuyasha?", she called out hopefully, crossing her fingers mentally that he would be waiting for her as usual at the top of the well.
"About time, wench", he called back grumpily, and dropped down into the well beside her, with a dull thump. He eyed the extra shopping bags hungrily, and she grinned at him, glad to be back.
"Help me get all this stuff up out of the well, and you can have a serving of ramen tonight for dinner", she smiled at him. "I bought extra, so there should be plenty still left for when we head back out to look for jewel shards."
"Keh. My idea of plenty and yours are totally different", grumbled Inuyasha, rolling his eyes at her, but he didn't complain as he bent down low so that she could climb up onto his back, still wearing the backpack. He clutched two shopping bags in each clawed fist and nimbly jumped to the top of the well, landing in the soft uncut grass. Kagome sniffed appreciatively, breathing in the pollution free air, admiring the late afternoon sunlight and the chirping sounds of the crickets in the long grass around them. It was good to be back after three days of being stuck in a stuffy classroom, trying to fill her head with an eye watering quantity of facts.
Inuyasha plopped down cross legged into the long grass, disturbing a few grasshoppers and cabbage white butterflies, and began rummaging in the plastic shopping bags, while Kagome hefted the heavy backpack off her shoulders. He pushed aside the two bags containing medical supplies, and eagerly tipped out one of the bags that contained mostly ramen. Kagome stretched, rubbing her shoulders, glad to have been able to put down her heavy backpack. Her modern history textbook really was ridiculously heavy.
"Oi, Kagome…"
"Mmm?", she replied, rubbing her neck to get out the kinks.
"Why does my ramen have a fucking knife sticking out of it!?" Inuyasha growled suspiciously. "And…" he sniffed the knife, and then rapidly jumped to his feet, dropping the ramen encased knife and sniffing her instead. Kagome spluttered at him, wanting to walk backwards, but unable to, as the edge of the well was behind her. Inuyasha put a halt to his sniffing when his attention was drawn to a small rip and stain on her school shirt. With a low growl, he jerked the hem of her white uniform shirt away from the waistband of her green school skirt and started lifting it, trying to peer underneath. Kagome slapped at his hands frantically in embarrassment.
"What do you think you're doing, you jerk!?", she screeched, continuing the slapping motions of her hands as he refused to give up the hold on her shirt.
Inuyasha glowered at her, refusing to give an inch. "There's blood on the knife Kagome. Your blood."
Kagome's eyes widened, and Inuyasha yanked her shirt up again. Just to the left of her sternum, near the scalloped edge of her once pale pink bra, was a shallow gash which had already stopped bleeding. The small amount of padding in her bra had seemingly soaked up most of the blood, stopping it from staining the front of her shirt apart from a small smear. The skin around the gash was bruised, already starting to turn a deep purple. Kagome looked down at the injury she hadn't even realised she had, starting to feel a cold sensation wash over her, as well as a prickling feeling along her scalp, and suddenly decided it would be best for all concerned if she sat down. She plonked down unsteadily into the grass and leaned her back against the side of the well, looking back up at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha glared at the knife plunged up to the hilt through the centre of the multipack of ramen with half an inch of the blade protruding through the package, and back to Kagome's suddenly pale face and the bruised slice in her skin, and then back to the knife. He could smell the sudden stench of sweat and fear that rolled off of Kagome, and he didn't like it, not one bit. He sat down next to her abruptly, leaning his shoulder into hers, and said gruffly, "Alright wench, explain."
Kagome rubbed the back of her neck nervously, pulling her shirt back down. "Well, I ran into a bit of trouble when I was shopping…". And she began to explain about the man and the knife, and the mother with the children. This wasn't going well. She could feel Inuyasha's shoulder trembling with suppressed anger next to her, and she knew the explosion was coming. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to brace for impact in three, two, one...
"Of all the stupid, idiotic things you could have done, woman! As soon as you saw that knife, you should have bailed out of there!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet, and began pacing backwards and forwards in front of her.
Kagome glared back at him, feeling her own righteous anger building. She was tired of being called stupid, as well as weak, and frail and all the other half baked insults that Inuyasha had flung her way over the last few months. She was so going to sit him, but she was going to give him a piece of her mind first! Kagome leapt to her feet, bristling with indignation, and prodded him sharply on the chest with her forefinger.
"Weren't you listening at all?! There were children there, that could have gotten hurt! Souta was outside, if that guy had decided to chase me out of the supermarket, he could have gotten hurt! I… I thought I did pretty well, considering I didn't have my bow with me. Sure, he was a lot bigger than me, but the guy was human, Inuyasha. I'm used to fighting demons, and I thought… well, I just thought about what you all would have done. And not one of you would have run away! Especially not you! And… and... besides…", she finished lamely, suddenly running out of steam, "I would have had to leave all the medical supplies and your ramen… behind..."
Inuyasha scowled furiously, and then bent down and snatched up the large package of ramen with the knife still thrust through it and shoved it aggressively in front of her face. "Stupid girl! If not for this fucking bag of ramen, you'd be dead! That cut is right over your heart! Do you think groceries are worth your life?!" His free hand clutched her shoulder, squeezing slightly as tried to get his message across. Suddenly he dropped his hand and turned away from her, growling out her name in seeming frustration. "Aaargh! Kagome!"
"I know that, ok! Don't you think I know that?" Kagome slumped down against the well again like a deflated balloon, flopping her hands limply into the grass, and resting her head against her propped-up knees. All the emotional upheaval of the afternoon had drained her. She had never felt so heavy.
Inuyasha continued to pace aggressively in front of Kagome. He stopped suddenly, sniffed the handle of the knife, and then his mouth curled up in a disturbing fanged grin that held no humour.
"Keh! That fucker's scent is still on the handle. If I go down the well right now, I'm sure I could get him. That prick's gonna pay for threatening you!" He dumped the package on the ground, but just as he was about to jump down the well, he felt a slight tug on the leg of his hakama.
"Please…" Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear it, the pale hand on his red hakama was trembling slightly. Her face was still buried against her knees, her long black curls covering the sides of her legs, but he could smell the faint hint of salty tears. "Please… stay."
Inuyasha growled. His demon side wanted nothing better than to find that sorry sack of human shit and rend him limb from limb. He could do it. He was sure no one would miss that fucker. But Kagome had asked him to stay. She had said please. She was crying. Abruptly he reefed the knife from the package and hurled it into the forest with an angry roar, to get it as far away from him and Kagome as possible. Then he sat down and pulled her sideways into his lap, draping her legs across his thighs and wrapping his arms around her tightly, burying his nose in her scent and dark hair.
Kagome pushed her face into the furred red robe covering Inuyasha's chest, letting out a single heart-rending sob. He whined at her softly, stroking her glossy hair, rubbing his cheek against her. She gave a great sigh, then grabbed one of Inuyasha's silver forelocks, winding it around her finger.
"Do you know what I was thinking about when I walked home to the shrine from the supermarket?", Kagome began, hesitantly. Inuyasha stroked her soft hair, his claws combing through gently, silently waiting for her to continue. "I thought, for months, I've been battling bad ass demons and monsters, but I was almost taken down by some petty crim in a grocery store, in the future, where it's meant to be safer!", she breathed with a laugh, which sounded more like a sob. "You weren't with me. You... you wouldn't have seen me die. And you would never have known how... important you are to me." The hand in her hair stopped suddenly. "I needed to come back to see you. I need you in my life Inuyasha."
Abruptly, it seemed like the whole world had gone silent, had stopped spinning. Was her heart even beating? She felt a soft kiss, barely the weight of a butterfly, land briefly on the top of her head. "I need you in my life too, Kagome", Inuyasha murmured, so softly she could barely hear his voice. The stroking of her hair returned, and the world began to move again.
And suddenly, Kagome felt content. Just for a moment she was happy to forget about Naraku, about Kikyo, about the shard collecting, and was willing to just be a girl, Kagome, sitting with a boy (well, more than a boy), Inuyasha, sharing a moment together. She sighed peacefully, never wanting this perfect moment to end.
"You're never going to the supermarket without me again."
Kagome giggled, and twirled her finger in Inuyasha's forelock again, which glinted silver in the fading sunlight. "It really isn't usually that dangerous, Inuyasha. Something like this will probably never happen again."
"Keh. Probably. Fuck that. From now on, if you need to buy anything, you can do it when I'm there. And then you can buy twice as much ramen, 'cause I'll be there to carry it. Much better. I prefer my ramen un-fucking-stabbed."
Kagome giggled again. She looked at the sunset beginning to paint the feather like clouds scattered across the sky with hues of orange and pink. It would be getting dark soon. They should probably head to Kaede's hut and help with dinner. She was actually surprised that Shippou hadn't already appeared at the well demanding a treat like he usually did.
Suddenly Inuyasha pushed Kagome gently off his lap, and began rummaging in the bags again. Kagome smiled at him. "Are you that hungry already?", she grinned. But her eyes widened when she saw him holding the bottle of antiseptic, with swabs and a medium sized bandage.
"Inuyasha", she said uncertainly, "I really don't think…"
"Kagome, let me do this. If I can't hunt down that prick that hurt you, at least let me fix this", he demanded, gesturing towards her chest.
Kagome bit her bottom lip, and then nodded her assent. He plonked himself down next to her on his knees, and she shyly raised her ripped, slightly stained shirt up over her breasts, revealing once again the bruised slash in her skin near her blood-stained bra. Inuyasha tipped a splash of antiseptic onto the cotton swab, and then leaned back, holding his breath. "Keh, I'd forgotten how much this stuff stinks!"
Kagome started lowering her shirt. "Inuyasha, you don't have to…"
His free hand gently stopped the lowering of her shirt, and then pushed it up again. "I know I don't", he sighed. "But I want to Kagome. You're always taking care of me. Let me take care of you for a change."
He gently wiped the dried blood away from the edges of the cut, being careful of the bruised skin and inspecting it carefully to ensure there was no dirt stuck in the wound. He swiped it with antiseptic, and Kagome hissed a little at the sting. Inuyasha couldn't quite hold back the slight whine that had made his way into his throat at the small sound of her pain, and he apologised quietly. He carefully placed the sticky bandage over the top of the now clean gash, and lowered her shirt.
Looking down at his hands, still holding the used swab and empty bandage wrapper, he breathed out, shakily, "I'm sorry I yelled at you before. I was a little angry, but mostly I was…"
"Frightened", interrupted Kagome quietly, gently placing her own hands on top of his. "Yes, I was frightened too. I wasn't frightened at the time, but as soon as I saw that knife through the package when you pulled it out of the bag, I was terrified. Without my bow, there was nothing I could do. I can't use miko powers on someone that's human. I just reacted." She sighed. "I guess you're right, I really am stupid." Inuyasha bent his head trying to catch her eye.
"Kagome" he rumbled, in a voice that wasn't quite a growl, but demanded all her attention, "you looked at the situation. You used a weapon that was available to defend yourself. You did good. You came home alive. That's all anyone can ask for." Inuyasha stroked his thumb across the hand resting on top of his softly. Then, in a voice that was more like his usual blustering self, "But, if you like, we can talk to Sango about teaching you some better hand to hand techniques you can use if you ever get in a situation like that again. Which ain't gonna happen, because I'll be there to punch the fuckers first."
Kagome smiled, and got to her feet, straightening her green school skirt and flicking stray blades of grass off the fabric with brisk swipes of her hands. The sun was just starting to disappear beyond the horizon. It was time to go. She bent down to reach for her backpack, but it was already on Inuyasha's shoulder, and the shopping bags were already in his strong clawed fists.
"Don't you want me to carry anything Inuyasha?", she asked, curiously.
"Keh. Don't get used to it wench", he huffed. "But, with all the effort you went through to get this stuff for us today, I'll carry it all back for you, just this once."
Kagome smiled at Inuyasha again, and playfully bumped him with her hip. She looked around, and noticed the ripped package of ramen still on the ground.
"Hey, you've forgotten the most important thing. My weapon!" She held the multipack of noodles aloft with a victorious flourish, and they began heading back to the village, side by side, with the dusk gathering around them.
Well, this is my first ever one-shot, and my first Inuyasha fic.
This sort of happened to me, without the ramen. I was grocery shopping, my little girls were outside with my mum, and this guy came in demanding cash, waving a knife around. The cashier and I had this sort of wordless conversation with our eyes, and we did our best to keep his eyes on us, rather than the mother with children who were next in line. He yelled at me a bit and waved his knife around threateningly, even though I could see that he was terrified. We heard sirens and he bolted. Thankfully I didn't have to defend myself with ramen. I couldn't see any point in waiting around to talk to police, so I left. Didn't say a word about it to my mum and kids, although she did raise her eyebrows at me when I came out.
I never really talked about it to anyone. Mainly because it happened about six months after my husband died and the only person I wanted to talk to it about was him. And, I imagine he would have reacted much like Inuyasha, angry at first, because he was frightened, and then tender, because he loved me. It was actually quite comforting to type it all out.
Would a large pack of ramen deflect a hunting knife? Who knows, but I'm not game enough to try it. Thanks for reading!