Author's Note: Some new readers aren't understanding what is going on in these stories I am writing. These stories belong to a series called "The Twilight War" I started writing in 2006. For the stories that start this series, please go to my profile and find my website addy there. I currently have over 30 InuYasha stories listed there.
"Do you have everything, dear?"
"Yes, mom, I'm fine." Kagome checked her schoolbag, making sure her lab book was in there. She started slipping on her shoes.
"I can't believe you have to go to school after supper," Souta said, watching her.
"Well, if I want the extra credits, I do. Our slot got pushed back to the 4:30 pm time. It'll be almost 6 by the time I get out."
"Are you sure you had enough supper?" Kagome's mother called from the kitchen, "You ate so early."
"It was fine!" Kagome smiled, taking her jacket out of the closet, "Those left overs from last night were so good."
"There's still some cake left," Mrs. Higurashi said, "If you want a piece."
"A piece?" Souta said, "There are lots left!"
"InuYasha wants to take some back to our friends through the well," Kagome said, "They've never had birthday cake, I'll bet they love it.
Especially Miroku. He's turning into a junk-food junkie. He's addicted to cola." she laughed.
InuYasha leaned against the wall, listening to Kagome and her family talk, hands behind his head.
Last night had been one of the strangest he had encountered...and one of the best.
He had come over to see Kagome, and suddenly she had started acting weird around him. Whispering to Souta. He had been upset, thinking she was keeping secrets from him. It hadn't helped that he had learned about this Yoshijo guy who was determined to win Kagome's favor.
It turned out they had been keeping secrets from him. One, anyway.
He had stared at her, shocked, speechless, in the hallway, when Kagome had given him the small gift, wishing him a happy birthday.
He had never had a birthday before, had no idea when his birthday even was. Back when Souta had had his birthday, Kagome had told him that they would pick a day and make it InuYasha's. It wasn't the day they were celebrating, it was the person's life. Kagome had realized well over a year had passed, and had decided then and there to have a small party for him.
Mrs. Higurashi had brought home special food, even a large vanilla cake, and Kagome had given him something that had been in her family for generations; a red leather sheath strap. You attached it to a sword's sheath so it could be tied onto a belt, or in his case, just tie it around the upper part of the sheath, as a sort of decoration. Just something to make the sheath look a bit more impressive.
She had given it to him, from the storehouse. Something from her family.
And her entire family had waited for him at the table, all smiles, welcoming him. Celebrating his existance.
He had had no idea what to do...but it had been wonderful.
Mrs. Higurashi walked into the porch, watching Kagome put her backpack onto her back, "Do you have bus fare? I don't want you walking home alone in the dark, dear."
"M-o-o-m," Kagome sighed, "I hate waiting for the bus, it takes forever. I'll be home faster if I walk. The bus has to go down around the center of the city, and then up around the arena. If I walk home I'll be in the actual house earlier."
Mrs. Higurashi frowned, a rare sight, "I don't care, Kagome. Take the bus. There have been a lot of break-ins and muggings lately."
"I cant just-"
"I'll go get her," InuYasha interrupted.
Both women turned, looking at him, Kagome blinking, Mrs. Higurashi beaming.
"Oh would you, dear, that would be wonderful!"
"Mom, no, we can't expect him to come all the way down there just to walk me back here."
"I don't mind," InuYasha said, shrugging. He stepped away from the wall, feeling eager to contribute something back to Kagome's family.
"But - "
"No Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said firmly, "You wait at the school until InuYasha shows up. I won't worry about you at all if you're with him. I'm serious."
Kagome mentally sighed, "Alright."
InuYasha grinned, his ego swelling slightly. Her mother didn't worry when she was with him! She trusted him with her daughter's safety.
"I'll meet you just outside, then," Kagome said, "by the gate. They close it at night so I won't be allowed to go out and then back in, so I'll wait inside. I have to drop Yoshijo's book off to him." She blinked, turning to her mother.
"You know, mom, I could just get Yoshijo to walk me home. It would be on his wa-"
"No," both InuYasha and Mrs. Higuarshi said firmly.
Kagome blinked.
Mrs. Higurashi smiled, "I'm sure Yoshijo is a very nice young man, but I doubt he could...if anything went wrong, like InuYasha could."
InuYasha blinked at Kagome's mother, suddenly feeling better and better.
"Aright, I give up," Kagome mock sighed, "I'm out numbered, apparently. I'll see you guys later."
The Biology lab went slowly.
Kagome wasn't sure if it was because the sky slowly darkened outside the windows, or if she was just having a hard time with this particular lab. She couldn't concentrate.
It's because of that dream, she thought, I can't get it out of my head.
Kagome put a bunsen burner under a small glass vial of water, added three drops of something from a dropper, and turned the heat on low. As she waited for the water to heat up to 30 degrees, her mind wandered to the dream.
The night had been a pretty normal one...if one counted the little party in the kitchen.
Kagome could see InuYasha had been somewhat overwhelmed by what had happened. She knew he desperately wanted to be accepted by her family. When they had first met, he found Souta annoying, her mother sort of strange, and her grandfather completely strange. As he had visited more and more, she had seen how he had wanted to fit in. To be a part of her family.
The food had been wonderful, and everyone had eaten until they were stuffed, and there had still been leftovers. The cake had been great - icing made with real cream, the vanilla flavour not overpowering. There hadn't been any writing on the top, nor any silly frosting flowers. It had been a simple cake. Kagome knew InuYasha was not fond of standing out, of having a huge fuss made, full of ritual.
But it had been apparent how much it had meant to him.
Perhaps that was why she had had the dream. So much food, watching him be so happy...
He had slept on the couch that night. She had gone up to her bedroom, looking out the window up at the huge full moon that had risen. The weather for the next day seemed like it would be good.
She had washed, changed, crawled into bed, and fallen asleep.
The nightmare had been horrible.
She had awoken calling out his name, sitting upright in bed, heart feeling like it had been about to pound it's way right out of her chest. The clock ticked loudly beside her. Kagome had hugged her knees tight to herself, trembling, eyes shut, repeating the same thing over and over to herself...
"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream..."
She had heard feet on the stairs, and the door had opened, and he had been there, moving swiftly inside, "Kagome? What is it, what's wrong?"
He had moved to her side. When he stepped into the moonlight that was streaming into her bedroom, his hair had seemed to flare into being, a brilliant silver flame, eclipsing the color from everything else. His eyes had taken on that strange, golden luminosity that seemed to happen when he was in low light, much the way a wild animal's might, bringing to the forefront that he was not quite human, was something else, something more.
For a split second, Kagome was struck speechless by his alien-ness, his otherworldly-ness, realizing that as he grew, he wasn't becoming handsome, but was destined for a type of wild savage beauty, like a lion, or a jaguar.
He bent, kneeling beside her, face intent on hers, his voice low but tense, "What is it, what happened?"
She just looked at him, not sure how to explain her dream, still feeling struck dumb by his appearance. The most she could manage was, "How did you know?"
"You called for me," was his reply.
Kagome looked at him, feeling lost. Her voice hadn't been that loud, she had called, not yelled.
He heard me. He heard me call for him, even in his sleep.
Her eyes prickled with tears.
Alarmed, InuYasha took ahold of her shoulder, "What is it, what happened? Are you ok?"
Kagome nodded, swallowing hard, "A...a nightmare."
He looked at her, brows twitching slightly, voice taking on that older pitch, "Just a nightmare?"
"No," she said quickly, shaking her head so her black hair fell over her shoulder, "Just nothing. My heart feels like it's going to explode. I feel sick."
He frowned again, "What was it, what?"
"I dreamed they had you."
InuYasha frowned, confused, "Who? Neith?"
"No, the government."
The hanyou blinked again, growing more and more confused, "What? What's a government?"
"It's the leaders of this country. The...the...emperor of all this country. Like a...warlord, only not."
"Why would he want me?"
Kagome turned, and looked at him, her eyes so dark in the low light. InuYasha leaned back a little, growing alarmed. Kagome looked utterly haunted.
"I told you, because you're different. There are no demons here, InuYasha. No hanyou, nothing like that. If they saw a man with dog ears and silver hair and gold eyes, with claws, and the ability to heal like you do, hear like you do, with the strength you have...they'd take you. They'd take you far away and do ...things...to you. And I wouldn't be able to get to you, to help you."
She squeezed her knees, hard. In her dream he had been strapped to an operating table. There had been people all around him, in uniforms and others in operating gowns, masks on their faces. He had been sedated, and they were waiting for it to take full effect. He had been groggy, fighting it, trying to get free. Horrible-looking instruments had lay on tables nearby, blades with hooks and teeth, things that looked like they were for cutting through bone, not just flesh.
He had been calling out to her.
Kagome shut her eyes, shuddering.
She felt him touch her shoulder again, then her back, felt him kneel on the edge of her bed.
"No one's taken me anywhere. I'm right here." His voice was soft.
"I know...I know..but the dream, it was so real..."
He said nothing, just watched her face in silence for a while, before speaking again.
"You never told me what they would want with me. So I'm different, so what?"
"They would hurt you."
InuYasha blinked, then grinned that cocky-grin, "Like they'd get a chance!"
Kagome turned, angry, "You were shot once, remember? Do you remember how fast it was?"
He huffed slightly, trying to shrug it away, "It didn't hurt that much."
She glared at him, "Because there was only one!" she hissed, not wanting to scream at him, waking up her family, "There was only one gun! What do you think would happen if you were up against 10 or more of them!? Automatic weapons? Never mind the fact they might tase you, or hit you with a trank dart or something! They'd take you, and do exploratory surgery on you, DNA tests, tear you open trying to find out how you tick! Bone samples, skin, blood, hair, everything! You don't understand!"
His image suddenly blurred into a mess of color, and she dimly realized with disgust at herself that she was crying again.
Why was she crying so much?
"Kagome..." his voice was upset, and she felt him touch her back, her arms, not sure how to calm her. He didn't even know three quarters of the words she was using, but he knew she was upset, she was so upset. He sat on her bed, and she felt his arms go around her, and she leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder, upset, weak, tired, drained.
"I'm ok. They're not going to 'get' me, ok? I'm not...I'm not standing in the middle of your city screaming for everyone to look at me. They won't know I'm even here."
Kagome sniffed, putting her arms around him, "You think I'm just being paranoid or weird or something when I try to keep you hidden or make you wear different clothing, and hats, and sunglasses and stuff, but I'm not, I'm trying to keep you safe from the dangerous people in my world."
"I know," he said quietly, "You told me that once, but I...I didn't know you were so worried about it. I'll listen to you more over here, ok? So just stop...stop crying, I hate it when you cry."
"I know," she said, sniffling, "And I hate crying all the time. I'm crying so much lately, and I don't know why."
InuYasha fell silent, holding her. He was exquisitely aware of her arms around him, her head on his shoulder. She had just automatically put her arms around him when he had held her.
In her room, in the soft moonlight, her scent all around him from her bed, her desk and chair, from her.
He couldn't help it...he couldn't help himself, he had to say something...
"Kagome..."
She suddenly stiffened in his arms, and he froze, his own arms tightening around her in protest, No, no! Stupid! Oh you stupid son of a-
"InuYasha! Look at the Shikon."
He paused, and cautiously leaned back a little, turning to look over his shoulder, following her line of sight.
The Shikon was sitting on her desk, the chain curled slightly, sitting in the moonlight. At first, InuYasha thought it was only the glow of the moonlight highlighting the gem. But he soon realized the Shikon was glowing very softly with a light of it's own.
It was faint, but it was there.
Kagome pulled away from InuYasha, her eyes on the gem. She crawled over him, standing, and walking towards it. InuYasha was on his feet, right behind her, wary of it, while Kagome seemed in awe.
"It's glowing," she said softly.
She reached out to touch it.
"Don't!" InuYasha snapped, startling her, causing her to draw her hand back as if she had been burned for a second. Kagome frowned at him, and reached for it again, "It's not going to hurt me."
"You don't know that," he complained.
She scooped up the Shikon, stepping back out of the moonlight. The soft glow illuminated her hand, her chest, throat, the underside of her chin. The light was a very soft blue.
"It's cool, it's not warm, like it usually is when I..."
"What's it doing?" he asked, standing beside her.
"I ...I don't know," she said wonderingly, "I can't feel it doing anything."
He watched her face, uneasy.
The light of the Shikon reflected in her eyes, "I...I don't think it's doing anything. I think it's just...glowing."
"Why?"
"Maybe it was picking up on my fear, and it's letting me know it's here."
InuYasha watched it warily, waiting for it to catch on fire, or burst into flame, or explode, or anything. He didn't trust it as far as he could throw it, not anymore. It had damaged her mind for a while.
"Well...as long as it's not...I dunno...trying to eat the bed or something..."
Kagome blinked at him, and burst out giggling.
InuYasha blinked at her, blushing, but smiling slightly.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," she said.
He shrugged, trying to pass it off, "Meh."
She sighed, "I have to try and get back to sleep, I have class tomorrow."
He nodded. The faster she had her classes, the faster she'd be back where she belonged, in his world.
"Call me if that thing starts up again or anything," he motioned towards the Shikon in her hand, and she nodded, "I will."
He had left. She listened to him going back downstairs...grateful her mother or grandfather hadn't woken up with her yell, and had crawled back into her bed. She watched the Shikon glow softly until she had fallen asleep.
"Higurashi!"
Kagome blinked, startled so badly she almost dropped her lab book on the floor, "What, what?"
"See to your project!"
She blinked at the things before her, suddenly realizing the beaker had almost boiled dry. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed up the tongs and removed the beaker, putting it on a safety hot pad while it cooled, and went to the shelf to get more.
The rest of the lab had gone well. Her project had gone as it was supposed to go, Kagome passed in her report, put away her tools, and had gone outside.
It had gotten cool again, though not cold enough for snow. It was a nice change from the heat on the other side of the well.
She walked towards the large wrought iron gates that closed off the school from the rest of the street. She knew they would lock behind her if she walked through. The students had to wait inside until their rides or the bus came, then go through. Either that or have another student open up for you. She guessed it was a good safety feature.
There were already a group of students gathered there, most from her class, others from the higher grades that had extra credit night classes, or groups such as art, music, or acting.
The older students were clumped together, talking. She knew a few of them - some were siblings of those in her class.
"Hey Higurashi!"
"Kagome, how are you?"
"It's good to see you back!"
Kagome smiled at them - the majority of them were guys, and they all went out of their way to say hello. Kagome stopped and exchanged a few words with them, happy they knew her name. She had thought she was gone so long they wouldn't even know who she was.
And they were all being so nice too!
"Kagome!"
She turned to see Yoshijo walking towards her, hands in his pockets. His short black hair was always stylishly messy, spiked slightly. Jeans and a black sweater hung nicely on him, and he smiled down at her.
"Hey Yoshijo." She slid off her backpack and pulled opened it, removing his book, "Here you are, you left this at my place."
Another guy walked over, someone she guessed was from Yoshijo's class, "At your place? Acting? Are you tutoring Kagome in acting?"
"No, actually I'm helping him," Kagome smiled, sliding the backpack back up onto her back, "He's going to start tutoring me in chemistry."
The other guy looked at Yoshijo, arching an eyebrow, "Oh is he? Isn't that nice!"
"Can it, Benjirou," Yoshijo said firmly, before looking back to Kagome, "Thanks for the book."
"This is one of your classmates, right?" Kagome asked.
The other guy, with very short hair and glasses, grinned at her, "Yes indeed! I am Benjirou Kitakostuman, at your service, my lovely lady!" He took he hand and bowed deeply over it.
Kagome blushed, but laughed, "You should take acting lessons from him, Yoshijo."
Benjirou turned to Yoshijo with a wide grin, "Why that's a great idea! I'd be honoured, Yoshijo, if you-"
"Can it," Yoshijo said, a little firmer. He looked back at Kagome again, "You had biology lab, right? How was it?"
"Good, actually. Once I started paying attention."
Kagome glanced around, suddenly noticing that a lot of the guys standing around waiting for the bus, or rides, were watching her.
She blinked. Oh no, now what? Had she spilled something on her shirt? Was her hair messed up or something? Yoshijo hadn't looked at her strangely, so maybe it was just her imagination. She was feeling very jumpy all of a sudden.
In the distance, the bus topped the hill, slowing and stopping at a bus stop outside the school. Yoshijo turned to her, "Too bad the bus route is so far out of your way, you have a long ride with us before you get home."
"Awwww." Benjirou grinned.
"Will you take a hike?!" Yoshijo yelled, and Benjirou retreated to where the other guys were standing, laughing. Kagome laughed.
"Sorry about him," Yoshijo said.
"It's ok," Kagome smiled up at him, "He reminds me of a good friend of mine, Miroku."
"Miroku? Does he go to this school?"
"Oh, no, he's...uh...studying far away from here. But he has the same sense of humor."
The bus moved down the street, heading towards them. Yoshijo spoke, "Do you have exact fare? If not I have some I can lend you."
"Oh, no, that's ok, I'm not taking the bus."
"I didn't know your mother had a car."
"No, I'm walking."
Yoshijo blinked, turning to her, "Kagome, you can't walk home alone at this time of night! There have been muggings all over this place after dark! The police have been searching, but they can't find anyone."
"I heard, but it's ok."
"No, it's not safe. I'll walk you home."
Kagome smiled at him, "Someone's coming to get me, don't worry, I'll be fine. Go on, you'll miss your bus!"
The bus slowed, stopped outside the gates.
"Who? Who's coming for you?"
"Yoshijo, go! The next bus is almost an hour away!"
"Not until I know who's going to walk with you, I need to be sure you'll be ok!"
"Yoshijo," Kagome laughed, "Calm down, I'm walking home with my boyf-" she stopped, shocked, eyes wide, her words choking off into a weird hiccup.
"Your...your boyfriend? Oh." Yoshijo looked at her, a strange look on his face, "Well, I guess that's ok, then."
"The...the bus. You ha-have to hurry," Kagome's voice was half strangled.
"Are you sure-"
"Hey Kagome!"
She turned, seeing him. InuYasha stood just outside the gate, peering in.
The first thing she noticed was that where he was standing, a perfect shadow fell over him from the streetlight being behind a sectional wall. It threw him into darkness.
The second thing she noticed was that he was wearing that tattered baseball cap, and the clothing she had bought for him a while back, the jeans and red and black t shirt. He still wore sandals, though.
"Th-there he is!" Kagome half laughed, her head still reeling, "I'll see you later, Yoshijo!"
Kagome turned, running towards InuYasha, thanking all the Gods and little fishes that her mother had insisted he wear modern clothing.
"Wait!"
For a second, she thought Yoshijo was calling out to her, and she turned, shocked. But he was calling out to the bus driver, who had started closing the doors. The bus stopped, and Yoshijo leapt onto the bus.
She watched as he walked back to sit beside Benjirou. The other young man asked a question, and Yoshijo answered, the both of them turning to peer out at Kagome and InuYasha through the window.
Kagome stepped in front of InuYasha, trying to block him as much as possible as she opened the gate and stepped out through, "Thanks for coming, come on, let's go!"
InuYasha blinked and Kagome turned, heading along the sidewalk at a pretty fast clip. He hurried to catch up to her, falling into step beside her.
"What's wrong, are you ok?"
"Oh yeah, sure," she smiled, relaxing as the bus pulled out and started in the opposite direction, "Sorry. I thought for a moment there Yoshijo was going to insist on walking me home."
InuYasha blinked, turning in place, looking back the way they had come, "Yoshijo? Where is he?!"
Kagome blinked, "It's ok, he got on the bus."
The hanyou continued to glare back the way they had come, as if he expected to see the other man suddenly appear, "Huh."
"Come on, let's go."
They walked together silently, each lost in their own thoughts. InuYasha kept remembering her arms around him, her scent all around him. He had almost said something, something that would have set him back weeks.
I've got to be more careful.
Kagome kept going back to her conversation with Yoshijo.
What had I been about to say? My boyfriend? InuYasha, my boyfriend? Where did that come from? Am I crazy? Never again!
She looked at him, watching him as he walked beside her. He seemed lost in thought.
Kagome suddenly remembered how he looked last night, in her bedroom. Like some sort of magical, wild...
She sighed.
He blinked, turning to her, "You ok?"
"Oh. Yeah, sure. Thanks for coming out all this way."
He shrugged.
Kagome smiled, "How long did it take mom to nag you into wearing these clothes?"
InuYasha glanced at her, then looked ahead, "I asked her to get them for me."
Kagome blinked, "What?"
He glanced at her again, "You said last night you wanted me to try and keep out of sight, right?"
"Yeah, but I...I didn't..."
"What?"
"I didn't expect you to agree quite so easily."
He just looked at her, and for a minute Kagome thought he was going to say something. At the last minute, he changed his mind, and shrugged again, self-conscious, his voice going back to that haughty tone,"It's not like it's a big deal or anything, it's just some stupid clothing."
Kagome smiled, "I know. Still, thanks. I appreciate it."
They stopped at some lights, waiting until the walk sign came on, and crossed the road. They walked a short distance, stopping in front of a shrine. They waited again for the lights to change. They had just missed the lights, and so stood there, waiting for the next turn around.
Kagome adjusted her backpack, wondering what mark she was going to get on her lab report. She passed it in early, that might give her some extra credit, and the entire lab was supposed to give extra credit, so...it might be possible to get a good mark yet!
I need biology if I want to take homeopathy. And chemistry. It'll be good to have Yoshijo tutor me, I can always use help in chemistry. I never do that good in it...there are too many things to memorize...
Beside her, she felt InuYasha shift, and she glanced up at him.
She blinked to see him sort of hunched a little, head lowered, but with a pissed-off look on his face.
"InuYasha?"
"That guy won't stop staring at me," he muttered, "He's starting to piss me off."
Kagome glanced around InuYasha, to see a priest from the shrine standing at the edge of the shrine's yard, openly staring.
"Try to ignore him," she whispered.
"I'm trying," he growled.
Suddenly, the priest shifted, and motioned to Kagome, for her to walk over to him.
Kagome blinked. She froze, not sure if he was motioning to her or not, and he did it again, a little more frantically this time.
Kagome looked around, growing uneasy. She lightly touched InuYasha's elbow, "Stay here."
He blinked as she started to pass him, and grabbed her arm, "Where are you going?"
"That priest wants to talk to me. Just stay here a minute."
"Kagome-"
"He might actually be able to sense something about you, InuYasha, don't go over. I'll see what he wants, maybe I can throw him off if it is something."
He muttered an annoyed curse, stepping back from the edge of the sidewalk so others could pass him. He turned his back to the priest, tugging his baseball cap lower.
Kagome walked up the few small stairs towards the Shinto Priest. When she got up to him, she bowed, "Can I help you?"
He returned the bow, and looked at her. Kagome didn't like how his gaze kept going from her to InuYasha and back. After a second, he spoke.
"Miss...this is going to sound insane, but...your...friend, there. Is he...ok?"
Kagome smiled, "What? Of course, why wouldn't he be?"
The Priest watched InuYasha's back intently.
Swallowing nervously, Kagome forged on ahead, falling back on the same old lie she had been telling about him for months now.
"Oh, I know what you're talking about now. Yeah, he looks different. He's an actor in a movie being made about werewolves and things. That's why his hair is all white and stuff. He even has fake fangs! And claws and things! It looks so real, sometimes it gives me the goosebumps!"
The priest didn't say anything, and Kagome nervously forged on, "He has to keep wearing it, see, because it takes so long to take the stuff off and put it on again. He's just come from the set, so he hasn't had time to take it off yet."
Still nothing, and she grew more and more nervous. She hoped her voice wasn't betraying it, "Would you like some tickets or something when it comes out? I could probably get you some!"
"Miss...are you sure he's..."
"He's what?" she asked, growing more and more alarmed. She was starting to think he would soon be able to hear her heart pounding right out through her chest.
"I think maybe you should stay away from him. He might be dangerous."
"Dangerous? Inchenko!?" she used the name she had given InuYasha long ago, "Don't be silly!"
"I need to show you something."
"I...really don't have time-"
"A man came around earlier today, handing these out."
The priest handed Kagome a piece of paper. Confused, she took it, lifting it up, and looking at it.
At the top and below, were the words, "If you have seen this person, please call..." and a number.
In the middle, was a picture of InuYasha.