On Vacation

Tobi Tortue

First, a short note about this story: This January, my family went on vacation to a wonderful location, which happens to be this story's setting. The events that take place in this story are actually based on my vacation, though, sadly enough, I did not have a cute little hanyou to take with me, only every member of my family on this coast…except my brother. Well, being the person that I am, I chose to continue writing fanfictions, wherever I am…. Enjoy!

Chapter One: In Which Adults Scheme

He hated it when she said that. "No way!" he shouted back, before running around to stand in front of her and effectively block her path.

"Inuyasha!" she said sharply, causing his dog ears to flatten back. She slowly and dangerously lifted her eyes to meet his. "Don't make me say the word…."

He tried not to swallow nervously, but succeeded only halfway. But even if the small band of Naraku-fighters and jewel-seekers had already defeated Naraku, Kagome still had no right to just leave whenever she felt like it. And, much to the hanyou's dismay, "whenever she felt like it" came a lot more often.

"Hey wench," he started angrily.

"Osuwari!" she stated, then walked around Inuyasha's spread-eagle form and continued to the well. She could hear him spluttering random obscenities through a mouthful of dirt and grass, but decided to ignore him.

As soon as he was able, Inuyasha leapt up from his position and after Kagome, landing directly between her and the wooden walls of the well.

"I don't wanna hear that you have another dumb test," he threatened. But the menace in his voice seemed lost on the girl, and she even smiled, though she quickly tried to hide it. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and leaned closer to her. "What?"

Kagome burst out into light (and amazingly girly) giggles. "It's just that…you have mud on your cheek!"

The proud hanyou growled quietly as he furiously wiped away the mud, and the young miko continued laughing. After a moment the two stopped, with Inuyasha's arms returning to their normal crossed position and his eyes directed defiantly to the right.

"I'm still waiting for an answer, Kagome."

The girl heaved a sigh. She probably owed it to him…but she hoped that he would refrain from asking exactly what she was doing.

Reluctantly, she replied, "No. I don't have a test. I'm not in school right now, remember?" She adjusted her uncomfortably heavy backpack by lifting on a strap, all the while dreading the upcoming shouting match.

"So then why in the hell are you leaving?" he yelled angrily.

"I'm visiting with my family!" she replied, just as loudly.

"Oh, so that's more important than finding Rin? Or killing Kanna? You know, as long as that freaky girl is out there, Miroku still—"

"I know!" she shouted, cutting him off before he brought tears to her eyes. She knew he only wanted to find and save Rin because the one who had been with the child last, who was missing herself, was Kikyou. And it wasn't as if Kagome just wanted to abandon Miroku to the kazaana either. "It's just…" she began a little sadly, looking down at a patch of three leaf clovers. "It's one thing after another, isn't it. And I still need to see my family."

"Keh!" he replied. "That's just another lame-ass excuse for running away with your tail betw—"

"Osuwari!" She watched in satisfaction as Inuyasha plummeted to the earth, and several inched into it. She hopped over his subdued body and into the well.

"Dammit!" he choked out between blades of grass. One such blade was irritatingly shoved up his nostril. He sprang to his feet rapidly and, with a bark of surprise, toppled into the well.

At least that was where he had planned to go anyway.

After the bluish light faded, he lifted himself off his fire-rat furred butt and quickly went to Kagome's window.

The sight he saw shocked him so badly, he nearly toppled from his perch on the windowsill.

The girl had her clothes strewn about the room, and she was in the middle of it all, fat cat Buyo in her arms, dancing circles with her eyes closed. Inuyasha's mouth followed the example of his wide-open eyes.

But the miko girl must have sensed him, because her eyes snapped open and she let Buyo drop to the floor and slink off. Her face turned a bright shade of embarrassment as she walked over the window and opened it.

Inuyasha hopped inside the room, and he didn't even need to ask.

"I'm going to spend time with my family on vacation," she hastily explained. "I'm packing right now." She refused to mention that she had only one night to pack because she had spent the last two weeks in the feudal era with him. He'd probably miss her point anyway. With a sight, she prepared herself for the onslaught from Inuyasha that would describe exactly why the over-stressed teenager was forbidden to have a vacation.

"Vacay-shun?" he queried. "What's that?" Suddenly his ears twitched and he stood by the window, alert with one clawed hand on Tetsusaiga. Then he stepped back and relaxed, saying, "It was just one of those aru-planes." He turned back to Kagome. "What's a vacay-shun?"

Suddenly, Kagome's wonderful eyes softened as she took in her beloved hanyou. How hard must it be to have never had even the concept of a break? Inuyasha was always on his guard, wary of anyone and everyone. (Even her world's "aru-planes.") And to let down that defense could mea serious harm, physically or emotionally.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Inuyasha glowered.

"I was just thinking…you've never been on a vacation, have you," she answered honestly.

"Of course not!" There was a pause, as he banished Miroku-style images from his mind ("And is this Vacay-shun beautiful?"), then he belatedly added, "Baka."

Kagome closed her eyes and slumped her shoulders in defeat. He just never got it, did he?

"A vacation is like taking a break, and instead of staying at home, you go someplace nice to relax," she explained, and then realized she had to prepare for the you-can't-just-leave-Kagome routine. He'd probably start by yelling "what" and demanding an explanation.

"What!" the hanyou exclaimed angrily. "And explain why the hell you think you're going away for this 'vacation' thing, wench!"

A small part of the miko realized that two and a half years of being around the explosive hanyou paid off in that she could predict his actions well. The other part of her was angry with the insensitive boy in her face.

"My family is going on vacation, Inuyasha!" she yelled.

"Good! They can go without a wench like you!"

"Osuwari!"

"Wench, I'll—"

"Osuwari!"

"Oi…you dirty—"

"Osuwari!"

"Go to hell, Ka—"

"Osuwari!"

"Uh, what are you two doing?" a voice asked as the door clicked open.

Kagome whirled around and Inuyasha lifted his face from the carpet and a crumpled t-shirt, both pairs of eyes watching as Souta's head peeked in the doorway. He took in the scene, rolled his eyes, and told his sister and her friend/enemy to stop fighting.

"I need to get some sleep because we leave the house at 4:00 am tomorrow," he added. With that, he walked away, closing the door behind him.

"Sure turned out to be a rude little brat, huh?" Inuyasha stated from the floor.

"You're one to talk…" Kagome muttered under her breath.

"Hey Kagome, I can still hear you as well as I ever could," Inuyasha began, rising from the floor.

"You know, Inuyasha, as much as I love arguing with you, I don't really have the time right now," she said sarcastically as she whizzed over to her closet. She walked back to her bed, which the hanyou noticed held a large, half-filled bag. "I'm packing right now, so just let me concentrate."

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, then he walked to her bed and peered into the suitcase as if the girl had hidden something from him in it.

"Kagome?" he asked, still visually unpacking her bag.

"What is it?" she answered, rifling through her underwear drawer.

"Aren't you done?"

Kagome hung her head in exasperation, and ended up staring at paw-printed undies. "No, Inuyasha, I still have a lot to do. And I thought I asked you to be quiet for a while.

She suddenly sensed an angry half-demon's eyes on the back of her head. It was a rather uncomfortable experience, so she turned to face him, grabbing several pairs of underwear as she did so.

Inuyasha looked really unhappy this time. Something was seriously bothering him, and it wasn't the normal I'll-be-lonely-without-Kagome-but-I'll-say-she-needs-to-stay-for-insert Naraku/Shikon no tama-related quest here.

"How fucking long are you gonna be gone?" he shouted at her, knowing the answer to be what he considered way too long. "You're packing as if you're never coming back!" he accused, jabbing a clawed finger at her suitcase.

For a moment, her chest constricted with the knowledge that he was worried that she would leave (ie. betray) him. She shook her head to dismiss such thoughts, replacing them with ones about how childish the hundreds year old hanyou was.

"I'll be gone for eleven days. But two of those will be on the plane, so they don't really count…"

"Do you think I give a damn if you think they don't count?" he said, with something akin to anger. But this was more than plain old anger. Kagome didn't fail to notice the hint of desperation in his voice. "You little wench! You can't just leave m—for eleven fucking days! Rin'll show up by her own damn self on Fluffy's doorstep and Miroku will have been pulled into the fucking ka—"

"Just stop it, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled over him. "I don't want to hear about that right now, because," and she wheeled around to face the suddenly fearful boy, "I…am going…ON VACATION!"

The room was silent in the aftermath of the shouting. A few loud knocks on the door shattered the silence, but the door didn't open. Souta's muffled voice could be heard. (Of course, a pin drop could be heard in that room at that moment.)

"Give it a rest! If you two need to argue, go to the feudal era! People around her are going to kill you if you don't cut it out…."

Silence.

"Keh."

Silence. Again.

"Fuck this," Inuyasha spat. Kagome looked at him hurriedly. "Leave. I really don't give a damn what you do anyway, stupid wench." He turned and climbed onto the windowsill. Kagome was frozen, hearing in her mind his unspoken plea: Don't do this Kagome. Don't leave me alone, without you. How could she know him so much better than he knew himself? "I'm leaving too. It's not like I ever fucking needed a butch like you anyway…." She saw his body tense just before he leapt into the darkness, and called his name, holding him back.

He stopped and focused an intense golden gaze on her.

"It's just eleven days." She smiled a little nervously, but was having trouble keeping it there as a "keh" met her ears. "I'll be back before you know it, and I'll bring back gifts for you and everyone else."

Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest and looked in another direction, signaling that her argument still just wasn't good enough.

Suddenly the door burst open. Kagome's mother stood in the doorway, her eyes gleaming oddly in a way that frightened both Kagome and Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha?" she asked calmly. "May I speak with you downstairs for a moment?"

Confused, the hanyou nodded and followed her out the door and down the stairs.

"Thanks mom," Kagome breathed as she shut the door. Resolutely, she went back to filling her suitcase, determined to finish before the dog demon returned to her room.

Downstairs, Inuyasha found Kagome's grandfather waiting for him. Even more confused and wary, he plopped down on the couch and tried to look uninterested as he waited for someone to say something.

Then he heard a "close your eyes Inuyasha!" Kagome's mother beamed at him and he began to perspire. But, she was a kind-hearted person, and a mother to boot, so he did as he was told despite the nagging feeling in his stomach.

But something went wrong.

He felt someone pat his head, and then he began to feel awfully strange. He snapped open his golden eyes, only to see a black nose extending before him. He was in shock for only a moment, and then he desperately reached for his head. It must be a sutra! But just before his hands reached the top of his head, something in his shoulders popped, and his arms were painfully wrenched forward. Only now they weren't arms. They were his front legs.

Inuyasha sat on the couch and growled.

The mother pulled out a collar and fastened it around his neck as he sat there stiffly, still growling. Behind him, the grandfather laughed like a crazy old man, which, of course, he was.

Inuyasha barked and snarled, then looked furiously at the humans. Kagome's mother took off the sutra.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha," she said, smiling gently. He snapped at her. "I have a plan and you'll be normal again soon." She winked, and he stared at her in shock. "Just don't let Kagome see you, right?"

Was she kidding? Inuyasha would never let Kagome see him as a real four-legged hound. All white and soft and furry. Gods, how much he would hate it if she knew.

Not having very many other options, the dog demon turned just plain dog followed the mother's instructions, and hid himself in the well house for the night.

He wasn't that cold…actually, he hated to admit it, but his fur kept him really warm. Kind of like his…come to think of it, where had his kimono gone? Well, as long as it materialized, along with Tetsusaiga, when he changed back, everything would be okay.

Well, maybe not everything….

Up in her room, she finished packing and tidied up her room. "Hmmm…I guess he must have decided to leave. Oh well," said Kagome as she turned out her light and snuggled into bed.

"I just wish he had said good bye…."

She drifted off to dreams of beaches, palm trees, and a certain hanyou that didn't yell at her.

If only dreams could come true.

The next morning was a mad rush. Kagome's mother had already packed the trunk, and was making sure Grandpa was eating his breakfast and could find his way to the car. Kagome felt refreshed and was in a good mood. She had slept well, in the little time she had been given, as Souta joked.

Before anyone knew it, they were at Tokyo International Airport.

"You three go on ahead. I'll check our baggage and meet you at the gate, alright?" the woman of the Higurashi household suggested.

After they left was when she gave her dog to the personnel that would see to it that he traveled safely. After she did that she checked the bags and met her family at the gate. They boarded the plane, the children all laughter, and the adults with their secret smiles.

"Thank you for choosing Air Japan, and welcome to Lihue, Kaua'i." The message was repeated in English and all of the passengers stood, stretching as the Hawaiian sunset streaked through the plane's oval windows.

The excited family of four exited the plane and burst into the warm humid air as if it were a wall.

"It's so warm…" Kagome gagged. However, she was happy.

"Why don't you two go with Grandpa to get the rental car?" the mother offered. "I'll get the baggage from the baggage claim."

They all agreed that it was a fine plan.

Kagome's mother retrieved all of the luggage, and talked to her dog as she picked him up. Kagome and Souta were in the back seat, pointing at a map as she loaded the items into the trunk.

When they reached the house they had rented, it was dark. Despite being worn out from traveling, the children immediately went to the beach, only across the road in front of the house, and the two devious adults unpacked the car.

"Welcome to Hawai'i," Kagome's mom said to Inuyasha as she let him out of he kennel crate. She ignored (or was oblivious to) his glare as she took off the collar.

Suddenly Inuyasha transformed back into his normal hanyou self.

"I thought you could use a vacation," she whispered, and then left, disappearing into a bedroom.

Inuyasha stood there, in his bright red kimono, and then stepped outside, trying to forget the experience of being turned into a dog, locked in a crate, and then shut into a dark room where gravity didn't seem to be a constant. Also, his ears hurt like hell…. He pushed it out of his mind.

The air was salty and he could tell that it was the same ocean and oceanic winds that surrounded Japan. But that was where the similarities ended.

This island was tropical. It was still eighty degrees after dark, with the light coming from a half moon and the stars. Even the stars seemed to be different, or maybe just not exactly where they should be. Strange scents wafted by, conjuring up images of birds so colorful they hurt the eyes as well as mysterious food from sweet and tangy fruit. And everywhere he looked, there were green palm fronds flourishing, fanning softly in the light breeze. The sound of laughter came from the beach, surrounded by the white noise of waves on the sandy beach.

The hanyou walked out of the driveway and onto the road, and Inuyasha heard a girl's scream.

Kagome!

She let out a short scream again, which sounded in tandem with a yell from Souta. An instant later, they each felt an arm around their waists pull them out of the surf. The arms brought them from three feet of salt water up to the road in one pull, a distance of about thirty feet.

Souta yelled louder, but Kagome, who was familiar with being kidnapped, shouted out an angry retort.

"Put me down! I swear if you don't you'll regret the you ever saw me; I'll—"

The arms removed themselves and Kagome spun around, coming face to face with the person she least expected.

"You'll what?" he drawled, smirking at her, although he was still wary of the demon or whatever that must have been in the water.

Souta started bouncing with excitement. "Wow! Inuyasha! How'd you get here? And, wow! This is so cool! You can hang out with me if you want (but you'll have to change your clothes…) and we can do all sorts of fun stuff together, and…" he drifted off, catching the look of murderous rage on his sister's usually peaceful face.

"Don't tell me," she began in a dark and frightening tone, "that you came… to bring me… to your era?" She breathed heavily in anger, her chest rising and falling like the waves themselves. Inuyasha had no doubt that she would be able to arouse as much fury as the crashing waves and grind his face into the sand. He also knew without a doubt that she would do such a thing if she knew he had just looked at her chest while it was covered in clingy, wet cloth.

"Actually, I didn't," he yelled back at her, "so you can stop accusing me for shit I didn't do!"

Kagome faltered for a second; clearly she had not expected this. "You… didn't?" She paused in confusion. "But then… why are you here?"

It was too dark for her to see the dog ears droop a little as he wondered if she thought the only reason he'd be somewhere with her was to take her back to fight. Of course, maybe he was only feeling like this because he had spent the entire day in a crate stuck in a dark room just to have an ungrateful bitch yelling at him.

"What the hell was going on down there?" he asked, changing the subject and looking at the sea with hind hand on the hilt of his sword. He directed a concerned gaze back at Kagome and said, "I heard you screaming."

Kagome smiled and then sighed. He really had never had any sort of break at all. "We were just playing in the water, Inuyasha," she explained.

Then Kagome got a wonderful idea.

Why didn't Inuyasha just stay with them, and have a vacation too? Maybe he could just relax for once?

She reached out a grabbed a clawed hand, and immediately started pulling him toward the water. Both boys were shocked, but Inuyasha allowed the girl to lead him down the beach, think suspicious about her form of "play."

"Your clothes'll get wet, but you don't mind, do you? I mean, Souta and I are already soaked." She smiled and laughed a little, her beautiful eyes sparkling.

As soon as they reached the water, Kagome and Souta ran off down the shore, laughing and screaming as their feet sank in the sand and they nearly fell over.

The siblings played deeper into the water, and began to try to jump over the incoming waves. A large wave broke on a shrieking Kagome, spraying off her and onto Souta, who yelled louder. Then the dripping boy kicked water at Kagome in retaliation. She started running down the beach, then suddenly stopped, exclaimed something, and pointed.

When Souta caught up with her, he picked up a large round object and held it above his head.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. She called again and Souta's voice supported hers. They laughed and Souta threw the object into the water, splashing both of them.

Inuyasha appeared at their breathless sides.

"Look Inuyasha!" the girl cried. "It's a coconut!"

Souta picked up the round object, turning it so a dented side faced upward to their huddled faces.

"But it's broken. See? You can see the inside white part a bit," Souta said. Then he grinned and dropped the coconut into the water.

The splash soaked everyone.

"Why you little…" Inuyasha began as Souta took off running, laughing as hard as his ribcage would allow him.

The hanyou followed the twelve year old and tackled him. Both came up sputtering and wet, and immediately started splashing each other. Kagome joined in as soon as she caught up, first on Souta's side, but changing to Inuyasha's when her brother accidentally splashed her.

"You little bastard!"

"Inuyasha! I'll change sides if you keep up that language!"

"Swear, Inuyasha!"

"Don't fu—just don't tell me what to—Agh! You'll pay for that one, little shit!"

"That's it, dog-boy!"

"Wha?"

"Ha! Now we'll get you!"

"Shuddup!"

By the time to tired, wet group came inside, the adults had gone to bed, leaving Kagome's bedroom door open, and Souta's couch folded into a bed.

Kagome and Souta wrung their sleeves and pant legs after they rinsed off their feet in the sink in the garage. Both took showers, thankful that there were two bathrooms, and Souta immediately crawled into his bed, asleep in moments.

Kagome went to the back door, and looked around. "Inuyasha?" she asked softly into the warm ocean breeze.

"What?" His annoyed tone wafted down from above, and the girl stepped outside a ways to look up at his form on the roof.

"Um… thanks." She beamed up at him. "You should stay here, and have a vacation with us. I guess you're almost a member of the family, so maybe I should have invited you in the first place."

He stared down at her, but it was too dark for her to see that he was close to smiling, despite his next remark. "But why are you thanking me?"

"For coming."

There was a long pause after that, where both stared into each other's eyes. The wind ruffled through their hair.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said after her turned his eyes to his right, most likely due to embarrassment. "Don't you want to come inside?"

"Keh," he replied. "I'm soaked and I think I'll dry faster in the wind. I'll just be on the roof if you need anything." His face disappeared from her view.

"Good night, Inuyasha," she called softly. He didn't respond, but she never expected him to anyway.

She smiled as she turned out the lights and tiptoed through the house and into bed.

So… what does everyone think? Good? Bad? Ugly?