Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fools from Inuyasha; all other characters are mine and mine alone. Side note; all characters created by me are somehow based upon real individuals, though names may be changed to protect the innocent. :)
Author's Note: Having mostly seen the English versions, forgive me if my Japanese/understanding of the "houshi-sama", "wench" comments are a bit off. I'll do my best to compensate.
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Misplace : Chapter 1: Newcomer
Kagome tried her best to shove the sleep button down on her alarm. She'd been completely exhausted from lack of relaxation/sleep over the past week. 8 A.M. was too damned early…
Wait a second…she thought, what day is it? Ugh. I don't even know what day it is?
She groaned and turned back over trying to get more shut eye.
"Kagome!" the voice of her mother trailed up the stairs and stirred her to wake.
Another groan.
"Yea, mom?"
"You do realize that today is the day we get that transfer boy from America, right?"
"Oh…uh...yea, that's right. I remember now."
Having an American in the home should be interesting to say the least. Westerners always had very strange habits. Well, strange to Kagome at least; she had a transfer student back when she was in high school. He was like…German or something. Poor guy scuttled out of there about two weeks into classes. Couldn't handle the culture shock. Hopefully this new person was a little bit more hardy towards customs and the Japanese lifestyle. Thankfully, the Higurashi household didn't have to deal with the last fellow, but this time…
This time things would be different. Kagome was getting ready to graduate high school and turn 18. She smiled slightly at the thought of moving on with her life, going to college and…
And forgetting about Inuyasha… came the sad thought to her head. Almost three years since they met, and he still hadn't caught on that she loved him. Hadn't caught on, or hadn't accepted it.
Kagome sighed as she jumped from her bed and headed towards the bathroom.
"I have time for a shower, right mom?" she wearily asked.
"Make it quick." came her mother's flustered response.
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Inuyasha sniffed the ground, the scent of Kikyo was definitely around here somewhere.
Ok…now. You're going to tell her, right? Going to tell her that once the Shikon shard is complete, you're going to set her soul free…not be a full demon. With…full demon powers…dammit.
"Dammit is right." Inuyasha said dimly. "Shit." The sooner the Shikon no Tama was complete, the sooner he would set Kikyo free and…
He shook the thought from his head. Time to get down to business.
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Kagome rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she waited on the train towards Narita International Airport.
"Why do I have to pick up the damn American?" she sighed softly, suddenly jumping knowing that she had sworn.
All those years with Inuyasha…heh finally wore off on me?
She shook her head as the train sped up a bit. Nah…
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Finding a spot at the terminal was more of a pain in the ass that getting there. Kagome didn't even want to wait by the entrance, she just idled and hoped the doofus would be around the general vicinity.
I don't know why I'm in such a bad mood today…I'll try to be nice to this guy…mm…maybe he's cute?
She sighed again and peeked out her sunglasses with the price tag still attached to them; she wore them like that because her female friends told her the tag made her look more trendy. Like she needed their approval, but still…at least she got someone's approval. Much more than she could say for Inuyasha…
She suddenly clenched her fist. Why was the half-demon creeping in and out of her thoughts so much lately? She was still in love with him, of course, but she didn't expect it to be so hard not seeing him for the past few days; before she came back, exhausted more so than usual, she had spent almost a week and a half with the group in Feudal Japan, and it had almost been her undoing grade wise. She was able to pull off a C in math and A's in most everything else, but it had nearly cost her sanity to do so. Thank God summer was almost here. That put her back into a decent mood, decent enough to be nice to the newcomer at least. She started towards the inside of the terminal. After a few moments of gazing, a small sweat drop formed on her head…
Right in the middle of a group of people busying themselves was a rather confused looking man, of European decent no doubt, holding a crudely made sign with the words "Higurashi" scrawled on it in big black marker…and it was in English. Kagome immediately recognized it; more than a fair share of Japanese individuals spoke English, and Kagome had learned to speak it without any of the stereotypical accenting American sitcoms had placed on it. Her mother, on the other hand, was not quite so fortunate, and only grasped the language after several pleads by Kagome. Kagome claimed it was 'modernizing' her.
As Kagome waved him down she noticed his expression brightened and he put his sign back into his shoulder-slung messenger bag and picked up a piece of carry on luggage. He wore blue spec-ed sunglasses, Birkenstocks, jean shorts, a blue hat that said "College" on it, and a purple t-shirt that spat out the proclamation, "Football - Kansas State University."
A larger bead of sweat.
Typical American…
He clumsily held out his hand and said, "Hello!" in a rather cheery voice, "my name is Hughes. Matt Hughes."
Kagome was taken aback. She didn't expect the American to speak Japanese, but it was obvious that he was in college. She put two and two together and assumed he learned it there. Sheepishly, she shook his hand.
"Higurashi, Kagome. Pleased to meet you…" she bowed her head. He immediately bowed back almost stumbling over his luggage.
Kagome chuckled and put her hand to her mouth, "Oh you don't have to bow to me!" she said in Japanese.
"Huh? Oh, err, sorry." he replied, still talking in Japan's native tongue.
"Need any help with the luggage?" she asked.
"Course!" he said, and handed her the carry on, "I just need to go grab some more junk from the terminal. Wait for me here?" he asked politely.
Kagome almost stared through the man. Obviously not used to Japanese customs, even if he spoke the language. Oh boy…
"Uhm!…ok…" was all she could muster. He flashed her the thumbs up sign and darted off.
An exhausted sigh followed by a yawn. When she got back home, she was getting back into bed. When the American returned, he had an extremely large pull-behind piece of luggage. Kagome's eyes widened.
"You don't think you're taking that thing on the train with you, do you?" she asked hesitantly.
The American blinked.
"Train? What…you don't own a car?"
Big big ol' sweat drop.
Typical American…