Disclaimer: Inu Yasha and Kagome aren't mine, they belong to Takahashi Rumiko. *sniffle* I've just borrowed them for my own nefarious purposes. But I truly think they would agree with me in this.
By Elora
Without another moment's hesitation, he jumped down the well, a look of furious determination on his face.
Well, at least she wouldn't be bored.
But for now, with her studying out of the way, it was time for a little bit of relaxation. She fired up her computer, waiting impatiently for Windows to load. As soon as the icon came up, she clicked on "Internet Explorer" and listened to the familiar tones of her dial-up modem.
It had been so long since she had been online. She rather missed it back in the Sengoku Jidai. Then again, there she didn't have time for stuff like this!
The connection screen came and went, opening up the World Wide Web before her eager eyes. Out of habit, she clicked the address bar and typed in the address of her favorite internet site "fanfiction.net".
She loved going to the site during her all-too-short breaks back in her own time. Whenever she was sad, there were fics to cheer her up or help her get out those tears. But lately, her favorite pieces of fiction had been the NC-17 rated ones. Although they made her blush furiously sometimes, it didn't hurt to let her fantasies fly free with what could be. Maybe. Someday.
"When Kikyou finally leaves Inu Yasha alone!" she thought vehemently to herself.
But when the main page loaded, she was in for a nasty shock.
There, on the front page, was an update from just a few days prior:
"NC-17 based entries will no longer be accepted. Though they are very small portion of the site the adult stories have generated almost all of the complaints filed on record in the past year. Moreover, the highest concentration of them are growing in areas with subjects targeted to younger readers and with increasingly controversial subject matters. However, not all NC-17 based stories fall into the description but as result of their increasing volume a decision has been made to resolve this problem. Innocent writers will be affected but this has to be done considering the non-filtering scheme of the site." *
Furiously, she clicked over to her favorite category and tried to access the NC-17 fics. But the option was no longer there.
She was so wrapped up in her outraged shock that she didn't hear she had an unexpected visitor until a commanding voice behind her said, "Oi, Kagome! How long were you planning on staying here? We've got work to do!"
"For your information, I still have finals!" Kagome snapped back, wheeling around in her swivel chair to face Inu Yasha with an expression that was just as scary as any he could put on.
It made the hanyou back up slightly. "What's with you today, Kagome?"
The dark-haired girl forced herself to take a deep breath and at least make an attempt to calm down. "Sorry, Inu Yasha. It's just that this stupid website decided to change the kind of stories they're going to let people post…"
"We.. bu.. si.. to? Pos.. to? What are you babbling about?"
Kagome shook her head. She tended to forget that Inu Yasha, or any of her friends from 500 years in the past, wouldn't know anything about computers. "A website is a place you can visit through this." She patted her computer. "It isn't like a real place.. more like a page in a book. To 'post' something is to put it up for others to read. The website I'm visiting right now is where people can post up stories."
"Stories? Like legends?" Inu Yasha asked, suddenly interested.
"Exactly," Kagome responded. She turned back around to glare at the page again. "It used to be that any kind of story could be put here for others to read. But for some reason, the owners decided to ban some."
"Ban some?" Inu Yasha was puzzled. "Why? I mean, stories are good, right?"
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, but some parents complained about these stories. You see, nowadays some parents don't want their children reading anything that is too complicated, or has too much violence, or has sex in it." The girl blushed slightly at the last part.
"So this 'we.. bu.. si.. to' isn't letting anybody post stories with any of those things in it?" The hanyou's golden eyes opened wide in disbelief.
"That's right. There can be some, but really graphic stuff, like a really bloody battle, couldn't be. Or writing anything explicit about sex…"
"Keh. What a bunch of morons." Inu Yasha grunted, folding his arms in front of his chest, his hands hiding in the sleeves of his haori.
"My thoughts exactly," Kagome replied.
Inu Yasha bent to peer over her shoulder. "So, is there anything we.. I mean.. you could do about it?"
Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment. "I could write them an e-mail. A NICE one!" She caught Inu Yasha looking as if he were going to tell her what he would put in.. with enough bad language to rate an NC-17 itself!
At her unspoken rebuke, the hanyou's ears drooped slightly, but he still seemed a bit perturbed. "Well, if you're pissed off, won't others be, too?"
Kagome's eyes lit up. "That's it! You actually are pretty smart sometimes, Inu Yasha!"
"Shut up, wench!" Inu Yasha burst out.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Kagome went to another website called "Google" and searched for "fanfiction.net NC-17 petition" and pressed the "I Feel Lucky" button.
Less than a minute later, she found herself at the opening page of a petition that was rapidly filling up with signatures. All begging for the NC-17 rated stories to be put back. Relief flooded through her veins, and she firmly clicked the "sign petition" link.
Inu Yasha watched as Kagome's fingers flew over the strange bumped-up surface that was putting characters on the flat piece of glass in front of her. Then her hand moved over to the small piece of plastic beside the surface and she pressed one side near the tip. The screen flashed and changed, showing all the people who had signed.
"There! It might not be much, but at least I might have helped a little…"
"Oi, Kagome. Is there any way.. well.. you could do that 'signing' thing for me, too? It's stupid to stop people from telling stories just because somebody doesn't like the way they're told!"
"Inu Yasha…" she beamed at him.
"Don't make that face at me! Just write, bitch!"
"All right, all right. But in exchange.. you have to let me stay another five days to get my tests done and see my friends."
"WHAT?!?"
"Yes, or no?"
Inu Yasha thought for a moment, his disgruntlement plain on his face. "Okay, fine. But then, I'm keeping you!"
"You can have me for a full two weeks."
"Good," the hanyou grunted. "Now do it."
"Gladly."
And thus two people from two different times did their part to stand up against censorship of the imagination.
* This quote is taken directly from the fanfiction.net main page. The paragraph belongs to the fanfiction.net staff.. I myself did not write it. I make no claim to it.
If you would like to be like Inu Yasha and Kagome, please go here: http://www.petitiononline.com/KEEPNC17/petition.html
Don't condone the censorship of authors here on fanfiction.net. Speak up for your rights as readers (and writers!)!
Author's Note: First, I have a confession to make. I wrote this completely on the computer (instead of in a notebook first) in about an hour. Therefore, I know this isn't anything like my best work. It's sloppily edited, churned-out-at-the-last-minute.. but I just had to get all of it out.
As for those who are worried about the fate of "Ai no Koinu", I'm so sorry for the delay! Chapter 2 is being typed up right now. ^_^ As for its future on fanfiction.net, I will be re-posting it in a few days with a new "R" rating and an author's note. Why? Because the actual lemon action can be edited out for a cleaner version which I will post up here (the fic doesn't go into what I consider NC-17 until Chapter 3). I will also, however, be putting the full version up on my own website (I need to make a page), and other places (like wherever people offer to host it). So never fear! I may write slow, but "Ai no Koinu" WILL get done and will be available!
You can review this piece if you'd like, although I really don't expect any. I just wanted to put a link where other concerned people like me can find the petition in such a way that fanfiction.net hopefully won't delete it, since I did put it in a story. ^_^ See you all in another fic!