WOO HOO!!!! The first chapter of the sequel is UP! Score! Lol! I'm so sad
that the other one is over, but I'm REALLY excited about this one!
And than! I have another Idea for a third installment, I would call it "The long way home" or "Home sweet home" or "Home is where the hope is" or something, ideas are welcome. It would be about Inuyasha and Kagome after their married. When problems at work become too much to handle, Kagome finds comfort in a small glass of wine at parties with her friends. Eventually it becomes an addiction, eerily similar to what her dad had had. Soon she begins to exhibit signs of irrational anger, in effect becoming the one thing she hated and feared all of her adolescent life. What toll will this take on her eight-year-old daughter? Can anyone help her? How will Inuyasha cope when he watches the woman he loves more than anything verbally abuse and maybe even more the daughter he had dreamed of having with her? Or something like that.
OOOOH angsty, lol. Let me know what you think! Okay! The fic!
*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**************************~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
"That's it! It's official! You're a horrible influence on me!" Kagome Higurashi grabbed the arm of her unofficial boyfriend and yanked him with her out of the store, glancing around desperately to see if the security guards had spotted them.
"Me!" He glared at her in mock outrage as they slowed to a normal pace to avoid suspicion. "Who was it that said someone needed to do something about that snotty salesperson? If I recall correctly, the voice was somewhat higher than mine, ditzier too!"
She put her hands on her hips, and stopped to make a face at him, ignoring the grumbles of the shoppers that had to move around them. "First of all, I do NOT have a ditzy voice." She huffed, stifling her own grin in response to his. "And secondly, I didn't mean for you to walk right up to her and tell her she's a prissy little--" She coughed lightly, unwilling to repeat his choice of words. "And did you really have to taunt her with that bracelet?"
"Hey!" He defended himself. "She called me a hooligan and said she wouldn't be surprised if I were to STEAL something! I was defending my honor! It's not like I took it or anything, I just dropped it outside the entrance to the store."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Well she called security, so if we get caught, you will officially have a criminal record."
"I have an idea." They started walking again. "Let's not get caught."
She laughed. "It's when you have brilliant ideas like that I'm reminded of your evil plan for world domination." He grinned back at her, remember their confrontation at the library.
She cocked her head. "You got me in trouble that time too." She mused.
His eyes widened as he turned to look at her. "I did not!"
"Yes!" She jabbed her finger into his chest. "We were stuck under the librarians desk for nearly an hour!"
"That was because of Kouga and 'Homo'." He insisted. "I was saving you by dragging you under there."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever."
"You only say that because you can't think of anything else!" He mocked. "Feh."
"Whatever." She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Feh." He grinned at her.
"Whate--" She broke off when she caught sight of the people staring. "I think we need to stop. We kinda have an audience." She pointed discreetly at the food court where a few shoppers were blatantly staring.
"Maybe we should give them a real show?" He glanced at her through the corner of his eye, raising an arm to defend himself as she whirled on him.
"You pervert!" She smacked his arm, blushing furiously. "I can't believe you!"
He faked a defensive look. "That's not what I meant!" He gave her a look of pure shock, reveling in the uncertain blush that stained her cheeks.
"Oh." She said in a small voice. "I'm sorry, I thought that-" She broke off as he started laughing, growing red with anger. "You are such a . . . a . . . jerk!" She finally finished, sputtering.
He just grinned, taking her hand in a familiar way that sent tingles up her spine. "Well than, let this 'jerk' by you an ice cream."
"Fine." She punched his arm playfully. "But only because I'm craving chocolate."
***
Miroku groaned inwardly as he glanced at the clock. It was already five o'clock and he'd still made little or no progress on his report with Kouga. Both his group, and Sango's (who was paired up with Hojo), had to stay after school to make up for not paying attention in class.
He'd been so startled when the teacher addressed him out loud, saying, "Miroku! Just what do you find so fascinating about the back of Sango's head?" The words jolted him out of his reverie, and he'd been unable to use any of his clever comebacks, like "Everything", or "It wasn't her head I was staring at". Instead, he'd just sat there, gaping like a fish.
The whole class had looked at him, except for Sango. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her tense up, and could almost feel the glare he knew was on her face. Eventually the teacher tired of waiting for an answer and had continued on with the lesson. Sango had earned after school work-time when she answered the teachers questions with "I don't know and I really don't care" three times consecutively.
So now they were both stuck in the same room working on a project they couldn't remember what it was about with partners they couldn't stand.
"So." Kouga tried to look nonchalant as he asked the same question he'd asked thirty-five times and counting since school got over. "Does Kagome ever talk about me?"
"No."
And than came the rest of the questions, in the same order they had come in all the times before.
"Does she ever write my name in her notebook?"
"No."
"Does she ever call Inuyasha by my name on accident?"
"No."
"Does she have my picture hanging in her locker?"
"No."
"Does she . . ." That was it. He couldn't take it anymore.
"NO! She doesn't care about you at all!" He slammed his fists on the desk for emphasis. "Now would you just shut UP!"
" . . ." Kouga opened his notebook and began writing in it in quick, jerky motions. "So." Miroku put his face in his hands. "Does she ever talk about me?" He let his head fall to the desk with a loud thud, praying it would knock him out.
***
Ignoring the stares inspired by the sight of someone her size eating an ice cream cone that big, Kagome unceremoniously opened her mouth as wide as it would go before taking her first bite. She looked up at Inuyasha's snickering. "What?"
He grinned, taking a long sip of his strawberry milkshake. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look." She started to blush. "With chocolate all over your face.?"
Instead of blushing or getting mad like he'd expected, her eyes took on a devilish glint causing Inuyasha to fear for his life. "Inuyasha." She purred, forgetting they were in a public place. "I wonder how handsome you'd look with it all over your hair." She let her voice trail off, and too late Inuyasha noticed that the hand holding her cone was poised delicately over his head.
"You wouldn't." His gaze remained upward, lulling Kagome into a false sense of security.
"Really. I wouldn't. Because it would be SO unlike me to throw food at you . ." She was enjoying mocking him, but before she could decide whether or not to go through with her threat, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him and used his free hand to raise his milkshake above her own head.
"No, I really don't think so." She started to stick her tongue out at him, but reconsidered because of their closeness. She blushed when he started snickering, realizing that he must have guessed both her intentions and the reason she'd changed her mind.
"Kagome!" The two teens whirled around as a professional looking young man approached them.
"Jenjii!" She flashed him her most charming smile. "How are you doing?"
Inuyasha growled slightly, recognizing the man who had interviewed Kagome for the job she'd wanted. He started to say something incredibly rude but stopped when he saw Kagome's face. Smirking evilly, he let them continue their conversation.
"I'm doing good." He stared at her more closely than she was use to.
"That's good." She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Have you made any decisions about the job yet?"
"Oh!" He blinked, diverting his attention back to her eyes. "Well, we're still, uh, thinking about it. The person we hire must reflect the company at all times, and uh, portray themselves in a professional manner."
"I understand." She nodded.
"Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you later. We'll call you." He hurried off with one last strange look at her face.
"That was odd." She turned to Inuyasha who could no longer contain his laughter. "What is so funny?" She demanded; thoroughly annoyed with feeling that there was something she was missing.
Still laughing, he reached over and brushed her cheek with his finger. Her eyes widened with horror. "Inuyasha you jerk! I can't believe you didn't . . . he didn't . . . arg!" She furiously wiped the rest of the chocolate off her face. "That was so not funny."
"Of course not." He schooled his features to look serious. "It was so totally not funny."
"Now who sounds like the valley girl?" She teased. He didn't answer her, but she felt his arm snake around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they headed out of the food court. Sighing contentedly, she let her head rest on his shoulder, welcoming their closeness.
"That's them!" The shrill voice was all too familiar, cutting through the crowds as harsh as they remembered.
"I think your brilliant plan just failed." Kagome whispered lightly into Inuyasha's ear without changing her posture.
"I'll have to work on that." His voice was just as soft, neither of them made as if to change their position. Behind them, security guards began to push people out of the way to get to the two teens.
"Yeah." She mumbled, opening her eyes slightly. "There's an emergency exit on the left." Her lips barely moved.
"We can make it to my car in less than two minutes if we cut through the bushes." He sighed into her hair, the picture of relaxation.
Ears alert, Kagome did a mental countdown, waiting for the guard's view of them to be blocked by customers. "Now." She sighed, reluctantly allowing Inuyasha to pull her towards the exit.
With a grace and fluidity that only comes with practice, the two teens were out the door and well on their way towards Inuyasha's car. By the time they reached it they knew they had lost the two security guards.
"We're good." Inuyasha smirked into his rearview mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"The fact that we do this every time we come to the mall doesn't bother you at all, does it?" Kagome asked in a mock serious voice, pulling out a cell phone. "Tsuki asked me to check in today. I think she suspects something."
"What?" He took his eyes off the road to give her an incredulous look. "What would give her the idea that we ditch security guards after school for thrills?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Not that!" He chuckled, and she realized he'd been making fun of her. "You're such a jerk. I don't know why she would think I would do anything like that with someone like YOU." She muttered.
He struck a pose, shooting her a puppy dog look, something he was really rather good at. "Feh. Don't you think I'm loveable?" He shot her a glare, making her laugh out loud. "I'll take that as a yes." He sniffed haughtily.
Still grinning, Kagome hit the speed dial on her phone. After only one ring her adoptive mother picked up. "Hey Tsuki!" Kagome let her expression seep into her words.
"Kagome." Her guardian's voice was softer than normal. "Look, can you come home now? I know you and Inuyasha are hanging out," She stressed the words as if that wasn't ALL they were doing and Kagome blushed. Inuyasha noticed this and leaned closer, as if trying to hear. "But I just got a phone call, and some things I'd rather not tell you over the phone."
Kagome bit her lip, trying not to look worried. "Okay. I'll have Inuyasha take me back right now." Inuyasha made a face at that, but she ignored him. "I'll talk to you when I get there. Bye." She turned to Inuyasha. "Hey, I-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I heard." He gave her a mock glare. "You do realize this means I'm going to be bored all afternoon."
"Oh! That's so sweet!" She teased. "You're world revolves around me!"
"You wish, wench!" He hissed, reddening slightly. He hadn't meant to imply that he had a good time with her.
"Seriously though," She smoothed out her features. "I know you're really just bummed because we're going to miss our daily food fight."
"You got me there." He smirked. "There's something about you covered in food that's so . . ." His voice trailed off.
"Sexy?" She supplied. "Fun? Exotic? Tempting?" She threw words at him, waiting to see what his answer would be.
"Ridiculous." He finished. "It's really quite funny."
"You are such a jerk." She muttered, sticking her tongue out at him.
"It's good to know I've succeeded my life's goal." He shot her an aggravating grin.
"Remind me again why we're friends?" She asked aloud, searching his face as if for the answer. She used the term 'friends' carefully, the exact definition of their relationship had never been discussed after her dad went to court.
"Because you have a thing for jerks." He answered matter-of-factly. He avoided responding to her phrasing of their relationship. The truth was, he was afraid she'd turn him down if he officially asked her out. Before, she'd needed him. Now, he didn't want to risk the best friend he'd ever had.
"Oh yeah. That." Her voice was dry. Reaching forward, she turned on the radio, cranking it as loud as it would go. Ever since she'd moved in with Tsuki, she'd gotten a kick out of bending every rule there was, and Inuyasha had been more than happy to help her. Simultaneously, they rolled down both their windows, letting all the other cars hear the hard rock.
It was good to be alive.
***
THE END! Kind of a long chapter, if you ask me. Not enough happened though. I promise I'll put some Sango POV too, and you're going to find out in the next chapter why Tsuki was so serious. In case you're wondering, I was kinda starved for fluff, hence this chapter. I know I should have had more angst, but if you ask me, Kagome would revel in living a normal life and not dwell on her past until she had to. That's the approach I'm taking anyway, remember, this is a few months later.
Anyways, ta ta!
And than! I have another Idea for a third installment, I would call it "The long way home" or "Home sweet home" or "Home is where the hope is" or something, ideas are welcome. It would be about Inuyasha and Kagome after their married. When problems at work become too much to handle, Kagome finds comfort in a small glass of wine at parties with her friends. Eventually it becomes an addiction, eerily similar to what her dad had had. Soon she begins to exhibit signs of irrational anger, in effect becoming the one thing she hated and feared all of her adolescent life. What toll will this take on her eight-year-old daughter? Can anyone help her? How will Inuyasha cope when he watches the woman he loves more than anything verbally abuse and maybe even more the daughter he had dreamed of having with her? Or something like that.
OOOOH angsty, lol. Let me know what you think! Okay! The fic!
*******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**************************~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
"That's it! It's official! You're a horrible influence on me!" Kagome Higurashi grabbed the arm of her unofficial boyfriend and yanked him with her out of the store, glancing around desperately to see if the security guards had spotted them.
"Me!" He glared at her in mock outrage as they slowed to a normal pace to avoid suspicion. "Who was it that said someone needed to do something about that snotty salesperson? If I recall correctly, the voice was somewhat higher than mine, ditzier too!"
She put her hands on her hips, and stopped to make a face at him, ignoring the grumbles of the shoppers that had to move around them. "First of all, I do NOT have a ditzy voice." She huffed, stifling her own grin in response to his. "And secondly, I didn't mean for you to walk right up to her and tell her she's a prissy little--" She coughed lightly, unwilling to repeat his choice of words. "And did you really have to taunt her with that bracelet?"
"Hey!" He defended himself. "She called me a hooligan and said she wouldn't be surprised if I were to STEAL something! I was defending my honor! It's not like I took it or anything, I just dropped it outside the entrance to the store."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Well she called security, so if we get caught, you will officially have a criminal record."
"I have an idea." They started walking again. "Let's not get caught."
She laughed. "It's when you have brilliant ideas like that I'm reminded of your evil plan for world domination." He grinned back at her, remember their confrontation at the library.
She cocked her head. "You got me in trouble that time too." She mused.
His eyes widened as he turned to look at her. "I did not!"
"Yes!" She jabbed her finger into his chest. "We were stuck under the librarians desk for nearly an hour!"
"That was because of Kouga and 'Homo'." He insisted. "I was saving you by dragging you under there."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever."
"You only say that because you can't think of anything else!" He mocked. "Feh."
"Whatever." She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Feh." He grinned at her.
"Whate--" She broke off when she caught sight of the people staring. "I think we need to stop. We kinda have an audience." She pointed discreetly at the food court where a few shoppers were blatantly staring.
"Maybe we should give them a real show?" He glanced at her through the corner of his eye, raising an arm to defend himself as she whirled on him.
"You pervert!" She smacked his arm, blushing furiously. "I can't believe you!"
He faked a defensive look. "That's not what I meant!" He gave her a look of pure shock, reveling in the uncertain blush that stained her cheeks.
"Oh." She said in a small voice. "I'm sorry, I thought that-" She broke off as he started laughing, growing red with anger. "You are such a . . . a . . . jerk!" She finally finished, sputtering.
He just grinned, taking her hand in a familiar way that sent tingles up her spine. "Well than, let this 'jerk' by you an ice cream."
"Fine." She punched his arm playfully. "But only because I'm craving chocolate."
***
Miroku groaned inwardly as he glanced at the clock. It was already five o'clock and he'd still made little or no progress on his report with Kouga. Both his group, and Sango's (who was paired up with Hojo), had to stay after school to make up for not paying attention in class.
He'd been so startled when the teacher addressed him out loud, saying, "Miroku! Just what do you find so fascinating about the back of Sango's head?" The words jolted him out of his reverie, and he'd been unable to use any of his clever comebacks, like "Everything", or "It wasn't her head I was staring at". Instead, he'd just sat there, gaping like a fish.
The whole class had looked at him, except for Sango. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her tense up, and could almost feel the glare he knew was on her face. Eventually the teacher tired of waiting for an answer and had continued on with the lesson. Sango had earned after school work-time when she answered the teachers questions with "I don't know and I really don't care" three times consecutively.
So now they were both stuck in the same room working on a project they couldn't remember what it was about with partners they couldn't stand.
"So." Kouga tried to look nonchalant as he asked the same question he'd asked thirty-five times and counting since school got over. "Does Kagome ever talk about me?"
"No."
And than came the rest of the questions, in the same order they had come in all the times before.
"Does she ever write my name in her notebook?"
"No."
"Does she ever call Inuyasha by my name on accident?"
"No."
"Does she have my picture hanging in her locker?"
"No."
"Does she . . ." That was it. He couldn't take it anymore.
"NO! She doesn't care about you at all!" He slammed his fists on the desk for emphasis. "Now would you just shut UP!"
" . . ." Kouga opened his notebook and began writing in it in quick, jerky motions. "So." Miroku put his face in his hands. "Does she ever talk about me?" He let his head fall to the desk with a loud thud, praying it would knock him out.
***
Ignoring the stares inspired by the sight of someone her size eating an ice cream cone that big, Kagome unceremoniously opened her mouth as wide as it would go before taking her first bite. She looked up at Inuyasha's snickering. "What?"
He grinned, taking a long sip of his strawberry milkshake. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look." She started to blush. "With chocolate all over your face.?"
Instead of blushing or getting mad like he'd expected, her eyes took on a devilish glint causing Inuyasha to fear for his life. "Inuyasha." She purred, forgetting they were in a public place. "I wonder how handsome you'd look with it all over your hair." She let her voice trail off, and too late Inuyasha noticed that the hand holding her cone was poised delicately over his head.
"You wouldn't." His gaze remained upward, lulling Kagome into a false sense of security.
"Really. I wouldn't. Because it would be SO unlike me to throw food at you . ." She was enjoying mocking him, but before she could decide whether or not to go through with her threat, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him and used his free hand to raise his milkshake above her own head.
"No, I really don't think so." She started to stick her tongue out at him, but reconsidered because of their closeness. She blushed when he started snickering, realizing that he must have guessed both her intentions and the reason she'd changed her mind.
"Kagome!" The two teens whirled around as a professional looking young man approached them.
"Jenjii!" She flashed him her most charming smile. "How are you doing?"
Inuyasha growled slightly, recognizing the man who had interviewed Kagome for the job she'd wanted. He started to say something incredibly rude but stopped when he saw Kagome's face. Smirking evilly, he let them continue their conversation.
"I'm doing good." He stared at her more closely than she was use to.
"That's good." She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Have you made any decisions about the job yet?"
"Oh!" He blinked, diverting his attention back to her eyes. "Well, we're still, uh, thinking about it. The person we hire must reflect the company at all times, and uh, portray themselves in a professional manner."
"I understand." She nodded.
"Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you later. We'll call you." He hurried off with one last strange look at her face.
"That was odd." She turned to Inuyasha who could no longer contain his laughter. "What is so funny?" She demanded; thoroughly annoyed with feeling that there was something she was missing.
Still laughing, he reached over and brushed her cheek with his finger. Her eyes widened with horror. "Inuyasha you jerk! I can't believe you didn't . . . he didn't . . . arg!" She furiously wiped the rest of the chocolate off her face. "That was so not funny."
"Of course not." He schooled his features to look serious. "It was so totally not funny."
"Now who sounds like the valley girl?" She teased. He didn't answer her, but she felt his arm snake around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they headed out of the food court. Sighing contentedly, she let her head rest on his shoulder, welcoming their closeness.
"That's them!" The shrill voice was all too familiar, cutting through the crowds as harsh as they remembered.
"I think your brilliant plan just failed." Kagome whispered lightly into Inuyasha's ear without changing her posture.
"I'll have to work on that." His voice was just as soft, neither of them made as if to change their position. Behind them, security guards began to push people out of the way to get to the two teens.
"Yeah." She mumbled, opening her eyes slightly. "There's an emergency exit on the left." Her lips barely moved.
"We can make it to my car in less than two minutes if we cut through the bushes." He sighed into her hair, the picture of relaxation.
Ears alert, Kagome did a mental countdown, waiting for the guard's view of them to be blocked by customers. "Now." She sighed, reluctantly allowing Inuyasha to pull her towards the exit.
With a grace and fluidity that only comes with practice, the two teens were out the door and well on their way towards Inuyasha's car. By the time they reached it they knew they had lost the two security guards.
"We're good." Inuyasha smirked into his rearview mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"The fact that we do this every time we come to the mall doesn't bother you at all, does it?" Kagome asked in a mock serious voice, pulling out a cell phone. "Tsuki asked me to check in today. I think she suspects something."
"What?" He took his eyes off the road to give her an incredulous look. "What would give her the idea that we ditch security guards after school for thrills?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Not that!" He chuckled, and she realized he'd been making fun of her. "You're such a jerk. I don't know why she would think I would do anything like that with someone like YOU." She muttered.
He struck a pose, shooting her a puppy dog look, something he was really rather good at. "Feh. Don't you think I'm loveable?" He shot her a glare, making her laugh out loud. "I'll take that as a yes." He sniffed haughtily.
Still grinning, Kagome hit the speed dial on her phone. After only one ring her adoptive mother picked up. "Hey Tsuki!" Kagome let her expression seep into her words.
"Kagome." Her guardian's voice was softer than normal. "Look, can you come home now? I know you and Inuyasha are hanging out," She stressed the words as if that wasn't ALL they were doing and Kagome blushed. Inuyasha noticed this and leaned closer, as if trying to hear. "But I just got a phone call, and some things I'd rather not tell you over the phone."
Kagome bit her lip, trying not to look worried. "Okay. I'll have Inuyasha take me back right now." Inuyasha made a face at that, but she ignored him. "I'll talk to you when I get there. Bye." She turned to Inuyasha. "Hey, I-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I heard." He gave her a mock glare. "You do realize this means I'm going to be bored all afternoon."
"Oh! That's so sweet!" She teased. "You're world revolves around me!"
"You wish, wench!" He hissed, reddening slightly. He hadn't meant to imply that he had a good time with her.
"Seriously though," She smoothed out her features. "I know you're really just bummed because we're going to miss our daily food fight."
"You got me there." He smirked. "There's something about you covered in food that's so . . ." His voice trailed off.
"Sexy?" She supplied. "Fun? Exotic? Tempting?" She threw words at him, waiting to see what his answer would be.
"Ridiculous." He finished. "It's really quite funny."
"You are such a jerk." She muttered, sticking her tongue out at him.
"It's good to know I've succeeded my life's goal." He shot her an aggravating grin.
"Remind me again why we're friends?" She asked aloud, searching his face as if for the answer. She used the term 'friends' carefully, the exact definition of their relationship had never been discussed after her dad went to court.
"Because you have a thing for jerks." He answered matter-of-factly. He avoided responding to her phrasing of their relationship. The truth was, he was afraid she'd turn him down if he officially asked her out. Before, she'd needed him. Now, he didn't want to risk the best friend he'd ever had.
"Oh yeah. That." Her voice was dry. Reaching forward, she turned on the radio, cranking it as loud as it would go. Ever since she'd moved in with Tsuki, she'd gotten a kick out of bending every rule there was, and Inuyasha had been more than happy to help her. Simultaneously, they rolled down both their windows, letting all the other cars hear the hard rock.
It was good to be alive.
***
THE END! Kind of a long chapter, if you ask me. Not enough happened though. I promise I'll put some Sango POV too, and you're going to find out in the next chapter why Tsuki was so serious. In case you're wondering, I was kinda starved for fluff, hence this chapter. I know I should have had more angst, but if you ask me, Kagome would revel in living a normal life and not dwell on her past until she had to. That's the approach I'm taking anyway, remember, this is a few months later.
Anyways, ta ta!