Sorry about the delay! I was debating on two separate paths this story could take. Well, enough chit-chat: the story must go on!
Oh, and just for the record, this story is turning into a caricature. In other words, all characters are - more or less - exaggerated. For example: Inuyasha is dense, Kagome is moody, Miroku is a pervert; you get the picture.
Inuyasha: Keh. That bozu's always a perv, and Kagome's always got one hell of an attitude.
Kagome: Inuyashaaaaaa...
Inuyasha: I rest my case.
Miroku (to author): You just had to make him even more out of character, didn't you.
DISCLAIMER: Oh, come on. None of the thousands of Inuyasha fans web-wide actually own the show or the manga. The exclusive rights to both belong to Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ. I do, however, own this story and idea. Maybe we can trade...
Kagome's Odd Smell
The Reason?
"And what did ye say caused this, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked, casting an odd glance at the hanyo out of her remaining eye.
Inuyasha suppressed a growl of impatience. "Keh. It's obvious, isn't it? Kikyo's soul is affecting Kagome. Nothing else has happened that could've made her sick."
The elderly miko sighed. For all his devotion and unwavering loyalty, the boy could be completely naive sometimes. "What was the child doing while in her own time? Where did she go; what did she eat; whom did she associate with? Does anyone in her family have similar symptoms? Or could it be that she is merely exhausted? Is there a treatment for her condition in her own time? I trust ye have considered all other routes of action before bringing her here against her will."
"Um..." To be honest, he hadn't quite considered all those options. "She smells weird. It's almost like she has another person's smell on her...sort of like her, but not quite. None of her family's scents smelled that way."
"Another person's scent, ye say. Could this not be a relative?"
"No...I know how her family smells. I'm tellin' ya, it's gotta be Kikyo's soul! Just stop making excuses and fix Kagome all ready."
Kaede shook her head slowly, much to the annoyance of the worry-driven hanyo who was doing his best to intimidate her into action. "Inuyasha, one must exercise patience and understanding in circumstances such as this. My sister Kikyo has been gone for over a fortnight. If her soul was the cause of young Kagome's current condition, her symptoms would surely have appeared sooner.
"Furthermore, ye of all people should know how many dangers exist in Kagome's era that we simply have never imagined. I will treat Kagome as best as I know how, but in the meantime it would be best for ye to return to her time and inquire about other possible reasons for her infirmity."
Inuyasha gave Kaede another blank, confused stare. "...And in plain Japanese, that means what?"
Kaede stood up, grabbed Inuyasha by one of his fuzzy little dog ears, and manually dragged him back to the Bone Eater's Well. "Ye will return to Kagome's time, explain her condition to her relatives, and ask if there is any reason for her condition that we have not yet considered." With that, she shot a small blast of miko energy directly at Inuyasha's back, effectively knocking him into the well. Once she was sure he was on his way to the future, she started to hobble back to her hut. "A nice cup of tea should do the child good. Likely she merely has a fever. That Inuyasha...a simple change in smell makes him as nervous as a pup with fleas."
:500 YEARS LATER:
"I'm sorry...could you repeat that?" Mrs. Higurashi had come up the stairs to check on Kagome, only to find her daughter gone and her (hopefully) future son-in-law sniffing around the girl's room. Due to her shock, she had been unable to comprehend the question thrown at her by the boy, whose voice had been muffled by the comforter on her daughter's bed.
"I'm lookin' for something that made Kagome smell funny." Inuyasha didn't stop his search, though he paused and glanced at the older woman out of respect (or surprise...Mrs. Higurashi was fairly sure that he was too occupied with his search to notice her coming up the stairs).
Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "Well, I'm not sure I can help you there; I don't have an incredibly accurate sense of smell. What differences did you notice in her scent?"
Inuyasha pulled his head out from under the bed to respond. "She smelled kinda like herself, but not quite."
"Are you sure she wasn't sick?" The oden was the most likely cause of this change in smell...but surely Inuyasha had been around Kagome when she was sick before. He had never come to the modern era without Kagome before; and he certainly had never torn her room apart before, just to look for something that might've caused an illness of some kind.
"Nah...she's gotten sick before, but when she's sick it usually smells like acid or rotten fruit. Unless it's some kind of poison...but poison doesn't smell like Kagome." The confused hanyo sat back on his heels, his ears turned back in annoyance and thoughtfulness. "I think whatever's causing it is in this room...but it's so mixed up with Kagome's scent that I can't tell where it is!"
Motherly instincts on Mrs. Higurashi's part suggested an alternate plan of action. "So, Inuyasha...what does Kagome smell like to you?"
The boy, lost in his own little world, responded instinctively, "Peaches and cherry blossoms." Realizing a moment later what he'd said, he practically dove under the school desk to avoid displaying his blush and facing his crush's mother.
To his surprise, Mrs. Higurashi laughed openly. It was a carefree, hearty chuckle; he knew now where Kagome had gotten that wonderful laugh of hers. "I think I know what the problem is, Inuyasha." She plucked a small bottle from on top of the desk, read the label, and popped the top off. After taking a small whiff of it's contents, she held the bottle down for Inuyasha (who crawled slowly out from under the desk) to smell. Sure enough, it smelled quite a bit like peaches and cherry blossoms, but more...artificial. While Kagome had a natural, soothing scent, this smell was too perfect. It was also slightly mixed up with the smell of Kagome's world - harsh, man-made, and superficial. Yup, that's what he smelled.
The older woman continued. "Kagome told me that you weren't going to pick her up for a few days, so she and her friends went shopping. This was a gift from one of her friends; apparently, someone made a comment about her always smelling like she had been going weeks without a bath."
Inuyasha stiffened slightly. It was his fault, he knew; he was the one responsible for dragging Kagome all over the Feudal Era without making sure she had a proper bath. It had always fascinated him that humans weren't as tolerant of body smells as Inu-yokai were, even though their overall sense of smell was far weaker. Oh, well. "So...she's not sick? She was pretty hot when I picked her up." He dove back under the desk (forgetting that there was no need to search now) when he realized what he had said.
"Well, I think she ate some old oden...she may very well be sick. The perfume she was wearing must have masked the smell of her illness." Mrs. Higurashi placed the bottle back on the desk, then turned to leave. Suddenly remembering the reason she had come up the stairs in the first place, she turned back around. "By the way, where is my daughter? She has a big test tomorrow, and I saw the size of that stack of homework. I'd like her to work on it for a day or two here...if she's feeling better, that is."
The hanyo knew he had to think fast. He'd never seen Kagome's mother loose her temper, but if she was anything like Kagome it wouldn't be pretty. "Um...she's...uh...back in my era. Yeah; Kaede's getting her something...to help." With that he jumped out the window, leaving a confused (and not entirely convinced) woman in his wake.
:BACK IN THE PAST:
Kagome stirred slightly in her sleep. She could've sworn she heard her name being called...
"Kagome, child," Kaede whispered in a soft, soothing tone. "Ye must wake up and have some tea. It will bring the fever down."
Kagome, her fuzzy mind not registering that she had somehow traveled to the past in her sleep, automatically sat up and began drinking the tea.
Kaede continued. "I'm afraid Inuyasha has brought ye here without warning. He was very worried about the strange smell on ye, and may not have been thinking properly." She paused to take a sip of her own tea. "Smells affect him strangely, in ways we humans cannot understand."
The schoolgirl nodded. 'Yeah, smells sure do drive Inuyasha crazy. Wait, smells...' Suddenly, she stood straight up, nearly upsetting her cup. "That's it!"
"What, child...?"
"I know why I smell funny! I've got to find Inuyasha and tell him!" 'And give him a piece of my mind for taking me away from my family without my permission...'
...Well...I just couldn't resist having Kaede give Inuyasha what-for. Of course, he can't hurt the old lady; if he did, who would give them advice and a place to stay in between expeditions? And if you're all wondering about Miroku, Sango, Kilala and Shippo...they're all on a...trip! Yeah, a trip. I'll try to work them into the end. Oh, and Kohaku too...after all, he's technically in the storyline, seeing as this is right before Manga Chapter 530.
