It's a poster of the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America. But what really caught her eye was the last member of the Avengers, the green giant standing in the background. Her eyes widen at the sight, it's the same creature she found in the forest, Hulk.
Kagome was staring so intently at the poster, she didn't hear Souta coming down the hall.
"Hiya Sis." Souta says as he comes back to his room.
Kagome jumps, startled at the sound of his voice. Souta laughs and goes to his bed.
"Souta, who is that?"
"Oh, come on, Kagome, you've been back long enough from the Feudal Era to know about the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Souta says as he lies down on his bed.
Kagome rolls her eyes, "I know about the Avengers, Dork, I meant him, the green guy, what do you know about him?"
"Oh him, that Hulk, or more precisely Dr. Bruce Banner. A world renowned scientist who was highly respected for all his work in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and Gamma Radiation. He was working on trying to recreate Captain America's super soldier serum when he was blasted with high level of Gamma Radiation, causing him to turn into the Hulk. From what I understand he only turns when he's really angry."
"Maybe not." Kagome mumbles.
"What do you mean?" Souta asks.
Kagome sighs, "Souta, what would you say if I told you I think the Hulk is living in the Forest of Inuyasha right now?"
Souta bolts up right, "What?! How do you know that?"
"Because I ran into someone that looks a lot like him the other day when I went for a walk and I today I took him some food. So unless there are two beings like that in the world, the Hulk is residing in our forest."
"Cool, let me guess, you're going to help him."
"As best as I can, yes."
Souta gets up and goes to his closet, he pulls out a pair of pants, shirt, shoes and socks. He packs them all in a spare duffle bag and hands it to Kagome.
"Here, I think we're about the same size, take these to Dr. Banner when he shrinks back down."
"Thanks, Souta."
"You're welcome, Sis."
The next day, Kagome heads out into the forest again. She takes with her the duffle bag and more sandwiches and water for Hulk. Taking the same trail she took the last time, Kagome isn't surprised to find Hulk sitting under a tree. As if he's waiting for her, he looks up and grins at Kagome.
"Pretty Pink Girl." Hulk says.
Kagome looks at him and raises an eyebrow, "Pretty Pink Girl?" She repeats.
Hulk grin turns into a smile and he snorts in affirmation.
Kagome smiles at him, "Okay I can live with that, but really my name is Kagome."
Hulk gives her a puzzled look, "Gome?"
"Yeah, Kagome, but you can call me Gome if you want."
"NO, Pretty Pink Girl." Hulk insists.
Kagome giggles, "Or you can call me that. Now I brought you some more food and water. I also brought some clothes for you when you change back into Dr. Banner."
Hulk looks at her startled, Kagome only smiles at him and slowly moves closer.
"Yes, I know who you are Hulk, you and Dr. Banner."
Hulk snorts in disgust, "Puny Banner."
Kagome frowns and moves even closer. Hulk doesn't seem to mind, though, so Kagome decides to be bold and goes to sit right next to him.
"What's the matter Hulk, you don't like Dr. Banner."
"NO!" Hulk tells her.
"Why?"
"Banner, leave." Hulk tries to explain.
Kagome looks at him confused for a minute, then it dawns on her, "Oh Dr. Banner wants to leave."
Hulk nods.
And you don't, why?"
Hulk looks down at her and gently places a finger on her head. "Pretty Pink Girl."
Kagome blushes, "You don't want to leave because of me?" She asks.
Hulk nods.
"What about your friends, the Avengers?"
Hulk crosses his arms and shakes his head, "No Avengers, Pretty Pink Girl."
"Oh I see, you'd rather be with me than with them. Well, if that's how you feel, why don't you let me talk to Dr. Banner and try to convince him to stay, at least for a little while. Then while we talk, Dr. Banner can get something to eat and drink. I even brought clothes for him."
Hulk thinks about it for a moment, he grunts then nods.
"Great, I'll leave this bag here and go wait over there, so Dr. Banner isn't embarrassed."
Kagome leaves the duffle bag and walks away. Hulk takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He suddenly begins to shrink and Hulk turns back into Dr. Bruce Banner. Bruce opens his eyes and looks around, he's surprised to find himself in the same forest as before. Looking around he notices the basket of food and water again, but this time there's a duffle bag. Cautiously he scoots over toward the duffle bag, while still clutching his torn pants. Upon opening it, he's surprised to find clothes, shoes and socks that look like they might fit him. Quickly he gets dressed, looking around Bruce notices that there's no one around.
"Hello?" He calls out.
"Are you decent?" A female voice answers.
Bruce looks down at himself, "Um, yeah, you can come out now."
Kagome steps back into the clearing cautiously.
"I hope the clothes fit alright."
"No, the clothes fit fine. Who are you, where am I?" Bruce asks.
"My name is Kagome Higurashi and your in the forest on a shrine in Tokyo."
"Tokyo, the Other Guy brought me to Japan, how?" Bruce asks, mostly to himself.
"That, I don't know, all I know is Hulk was really upset when he attacked me -"
"He attacked you?! Are you alright?"
"Perfectly fine, Dr. Banner, Hulk discovered I'm not like every other human he can push around."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, I can handle myself around him and he won't be trying to attack me ever again. Besides since that incident, he's become more comfortable around me."
Bruce really wasn't satisfied with her answer, but decided to drop it for the moment. He looks around and see the basket full of sandwiches and water, Bruce bends down to pick them up."
"You?"
Kagome gives him a radiant smile. "Well, I very well couldn't let you starve, now could I?"
Bruce blushes and dips his head, "Thank you."
"You're very welcome, here why don't you sit down and have something to eat?"
Bruce takes her advice and goes to sit under a tree. Unwrapping one of the sandwiches, he begins to eat while Kagome opens the bottle of water for him. He thanks her and takes the water from her. Kagome then sits down next to him and waits for him to finish eating. As he eats, Bruce observes Kagome out of the corner of his eye. He can't help but notice how young and beautiful she is. With porceline skin, inky black hair and the most beautiful sapphire eyes he had ever seen. But it wasn't just that she was beautiful, sitting next to her, Bruce began to realize how at peace he and the Other Guy felt. He had never know such peace since his accident, maybe not even before. Bruce wasn't sure if it was the tranquil forest or the girl sitting next to him that was giving him such peace. All he knew was that he liked it.
Once he was finished, Kagome packed up all the trash and put it back in the basket.
"Now that you're finished, Dr. Banner, I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Please call me Bruce."
"In that case call me Kagome."
"Okay, Kagome, what do you want to talk about?"
"It's about Hulk. He told me a little while ago that you want to head back home."
"He told you that?" Bruce asks, amazed.
"Not in so many words but I got the gist. The thing is, Bruce, you may want to leave, but Hulk doesn't."
"Well it really isn't his choice, this is my body, my decision." Bruce informs her a little irritated.
Kagome gives Bruce a quizzical look, "You seem to be under the impression that you and Hulk are two different being inhabiting one body."
"That's because we are."
Kagome sighs, she was afraid of that. Just from Hulk's comment alone she got the feeling that they thought that they were two seperate beings, but with Bruce's comment, that just confirmed it.
Kagome takes Bruce's hand, "Bruce that couldn't be further from the truth, you and Hulk are two halves of the same coin."
"And how would you know that, Kagome?" Bruce says as he reluctantly pulls his hand out of Kagome's.
"Trust me, I have experience with that. Tell you what, why don't you come stay at our shrine for a little while. From what I heard on the news, you've had a trying experience recently. Stay for a while and let me help you and Hulk learn to get along."
Bruce thought that was an odd request, why would this stranger be willing to help him? What was she going to get out of it? He hadn't realized that he had asked that out loud.
"I don't get anything out of this, Bruce. I just want to help and see you and Hulk at peace. What have you got to lose? Just delay your return for a little while."
Bruce thought about it for a little while. What really did he have to lose? It's not like people were cheering for him to come home. Right now people were even more wary of him since the incident with Wanda Maximoff. And if he thought about it did he really want to go back to that right now?
'NO!' Hulk roared in his head.
Getting that response from the Other Guy, Bruce made up his mind.
"Alright, Kagome, I'll stay for a while. You're right what do have to lose?"
"Great, stay here for a little bit, let me go inform my family that you'll be staying with us and then I'll come back for you." Kagome tells him excitedly.
"Will there be a problem?"
"No, not at all, just give me some time to get everything set up."
Bruce nods and Kagome takes off back to the house.