Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does.
Author's Note: I'm still trying to come up with a plot for 'Diagnosis Incomplete', so I decided to write the second chapter for this story. I haven't given up on 'DI' though, so don't worry. Hope there's less confusion for this chapter! (Things will start to clear up in later chapters)
I'd like to say thank you to Inu-KagomeFan, Alison,Caitlyn, Tina, and twilight for reviewing. Thank youso much!Chapter Two: Vacation's Over
Inuyasha had no idea why he still bothered to check that damn list that was posted in the small café everyday. There really was no need for him to go and check, but there he was, waiting in line for his turn to try and find his name on the list somewhere. Miroku, a used-to-be monk who kept insisting that they were friends, was in front of him like always, chattering away about one perverted thing or another.
He often wondered how someone as sneaky and horny as Miroku could ever, in any lifetime, have been a monk. Contemplating this for years, an answer never came up. Eventually, he just gave up trying to figure the lecherous monk out. Miroku was a hopeless cause anyways.
He felt somebody poke him on his forehead with their finger, and Inuyasha looked up from his thoughts to see Miroku staring at him with curiosity glazing his eyes.
"Mind telling me what you're thinking of, Inuyasha?" When Inuyasha didn't answer, the monks' face suddenly took on a gleeful expression. "Could it be a lady friend, perhaps?" he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Well, is it? Has some young, delicate creature of the female race taken your fanc?"
"Shut up and turn around before I put your lights out, monk."
Miroku held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I get the picture." he spun to the front shortly. The line moved as another person left after seeing the list, and Inuyasha began to notice Miroku's shoulders become tense and rigid with each passing second. His breathing became uneasy and the hand on his staff clenched around it tightly.
The hanyou rolled his eyes at the apparent discomfort of his friend who seemed to want to ask him a question. 'If I ignore him, maybe he won't bother me.'
Testing this new technique, Inuyasha glanced down at his bare feet and kept his eyes locked on them, still looking down even as he moved along with the line. '...I didn't know my feet were that big...' he twitched his toes. '...it's like I'm staring at a replication of Big Foot or something...'
One of Inuyasha's dog-like ears flicked to the side nervously as he began to sense someone watching him. Suspiciously and with his head still bowed, Inuyasha glanced out of the corner of his eye's to see if someone really was watching him. Yet, he didn't see anyone that seemed to be staring at him. Maybe he was just imagining it...?
But the sensation of somebody's eyes on him was strong, too strong to be his imagination. It was almost as if the person was standing right in front of him...
Immediately Inuyasha jerked his head up to see Miroku, just as he had expected, watching him intensely. In fact, Miroku appeared to be concentrating so much at staring at him, that Inuyasha even had to wondered if the monk was still breathing. 'He sure doesn't look like it.' The line moved forward.
"Monk..."Inuyasha began threateningly. "...I thought I told you to-"
He was cut off. "It's not Sango, right?"
At first Inuyasha was at a loss for words, since he had no idea what Miroku was talking about, but when the realization of what was going on hit him, he snorted in a dismissive sort of manner.
"Look Miroku, I've got no time or patience for dealing with your stupidity." he glanced behind, or rather, in front of Miroku. "Now turn around. The line's moving."
Slowly, and resembling a kicked puppy, the dejected young monk complied with Inuyasha's order. Miroku began talking, but it wasn't to Inuyasha. He was mumbling something to himself that, thanks to Inuyasha's wonderful canine hearing, was heard.
"...grumpy bastard...'no time' he says... hah! The guy hasn't worked in three years..." The hanyou raised an eyebrow. This was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Three years you say?" he started in a casual tone. "And here I've been thinking it was two."
Miroku froze suddenly, then began to turn, laughing nervously while rubbing the back of his head. Until he noticed that he was next in line, which gave him an excuse to ignore Inuyasha.
"Oh, well what do you know? I'm next..." Stepping up to the list, a very relieved monk put his pointer finger onto the paper and dragged it down, stopping when he reached his name.
Houshi Miroku...Mikado Hideaki
'...Hideaki? Hm. I wonder who...'
Scrolling his finger down a bit more, he paused once again.
Taijya Sango...Yamada Kira
"Oi Miroku! Are you done yet, or what?" Miroku looked back to see Inuyasha glaring daggers at him at him and tapping his foot. A sign that he was not happy. But when was Inuyasha ever happy? The monk glared back at Inuyasha. How could he not be? The guy's name hadn't been on the list in three years. He didn't have to be some kids 'imaginary friend' as they called their type on Earth.
Turning, Miroku was about to leave when something caught his eye on the list. He squinted, rubbed his eyes, and then re-read it again
Inuyasha...Higurashi Kagome
"Hurry up, dammit! I wanna get back to sleep..." The amused monk stepped away from the awaiting surprise for Inuyasha, wanting to see the look on his face when he found out vacation was over for him.
'This is going to be good...' He rubbed both hands together in anticipation.
Inuyasha lazily trailed his finger down the list, stopping every so often to yawn. He was in mid yawn when unexpectedly he froze. 'Wait, that couldn't have been right. I thought I saw...'
Quickly, he moved his finger back up a few names, finally leaving his finger on one. Inuyasha stared open mouthed at his own name staring right back at him.
"Inuyasha..." his eyes trailed to the right. "Higurashi Kagome." Miroku had already began to crack up as an enraged Inuyasha stormed past him.
"Hey! Don't you want some breakfast first?" The monk called after him, laughing as he did.
But Inuyasha was already past the café doors, which were still swinging wildly from his exit.
Kagome Higurashi froze the moment she heard her mom enter the bedroom, trying to move as stealthily as possible, but failing. Quickly, she rubbed away the warm tears that had been cascading down her cheeks with the large, brown, furry teddy bear that was grasped in both of her small arms.
At last, her mothers footsteps ceased. "Kagome? Why aren't you outside playing with Yumi and Yuka? You all seemed to be having so much fun..."
"I don't like them." came the short and stubborn reply.
Mrs. Higurashi sighed, reaching forward and gently touching her daughter's shoulder.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Her shoulder only tensed.
"Kagome..." she started in a warning tone. "Turn around."
Slowly, and with her tiny hands still clutching the stuffed animal tightly as if it could protect her, Kagome turned away from the window and glanced nervously down at the floor.
Her mother smiled and stroked the back of Kagome's head. "Now tell me. Why don't you like Yumi and Yuka?"
The younger girl began twisting her teddy bears ear and sniffed. " Because...they didn't like..." she stopped.
"They didn't like what?" Mrs. Higurashi pressed on, slightly curious herself.
Reaching into her pocket, Kagome pulled out something small and wrapped her fingers around it. "They didn't like Mr. Fuzz-Ball."
"...Mr. Fuzz-Ball?" She later regretted asking when Kagome unclasped her fingers from each other, giving her mom a perfect view of 'Mr. Fuzz-Ball', who just so happened to be a bald ,and not mention, dead rat. It's body had already taken on a greenish-gray tinge and the eyes were non existent, leaving the deceased rat with only two dried up sockets.
"My god!" With quick thinking and reflexes, the horrified Mrs. Higurashi grabbed a nearby T-shirt and tossed it over the rat, wrapping it up and making sure to tie a very tight knot.
A couple of flies were already surrounding the bag, wanting to get to the small rotting carcass inside. The older woman held the bag as far away from herself as possible, and glared at Kagome, who was trying to get her dead Mr. Fuzz-Ball back.
"Mommy! Give 'im back! You're suff-suff" she stumbled over the word. "Suffocating him!" Kagome paused and grinned, obviously pleased with being able to pronounce such a difficult word. Then she seemed to remember her dilemma and the kidnaping of her beloved Mr. Fuzz-Ball, causing large pearly tears to fall.
Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the room, rolling her eyes as Kagome lunged at her legs and hung on with all her might, therefore getting dragged halfway across the house until her mom reached the garbage can outside, finally disposing of the nasty germ infested Mr. Fuzz-Ball once and for all.
Kagome shakily picked herself off of the floor, still a little disoriented from being dragged on the ground. She stumbled over to the garbage can, reaching fro the lid, but not even able to touch it. She was still too short. So, Kagome did the only thing a seven year old can do in a situation like that one.
She crossed her arms, scrunched up her face, and marched away from her mom.
"I'm never talking to you again, you...you..." she paused, thinking up the worst thing she could say. "...you big meanie!" Then the angry little girl slammed her bedroom door, though it bounced back open after hitting an inflatable ball which promptly deflated with a piercing 'wheeze'.
And so Kagome sat on her bed, as straight as a pole, refusing to talk to her mom.
Ten minutes later...
"Mommy, have you seen Buyo? I can't find him anywhere..."
"Did you check the toilet? He was there last time."
"Oh, yeah! That's right!" Kagome sped back up the stairs and turned the corner, entering into the bathroom. She ambled over to the toilet and peeked inside.
Sure enough, her tiny kitten Buyo stared up from the inside of the bowl back at her, seeming all too innocent with his large brown eyes.
"Buyo!" she scooped up the shivering ball of wet fur and wrapped him up with a dry towel.
"Dumb kitty! You're not supposed to go in there anymore! It's..." she glanced at the toilet, remembering what it was used for, and stuck out her tongue in disgust. "...it's dirty!" As if about to convey some sort of secret, Kagome brought her face close to Buyo and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do you know what that thing is used for?"
Buyo merely flicked his ear which she had whispered in and began to purr contentedly.
"Kagome, did you find Buyo?"
The young girl spun around to see her mom standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Grinning, she uncovered Buyo with the now dampened towel, showing Mrs. Higurashi the soaked kitten who was now hissing in agitation at the loss of warmth from the removed towel.
Mrs. Higurashi didn't even need to ask where the small cat was found as she observed him while he swung his tail back and forth, flicking droplets of water everywhere, including her.
"Why don't you go eat dinner and then get ready for bed while I give Buyo a bath, okay?"
Kagome nodded slowly and hesitantly, disappointed to be going to bed already. "Okay, mommy." Mrs. Higurashi watched as her daughter heavily dragged her feet down the stairs towards the kitchen after having given her Buyo.
A sudden 'meow' made her glance down at the wet kitten in her arms, who was looking at her with large innocent eyes.
She took a whiff of the smell emanating from him, and grimaced. "Come on, Buyo. Let's give you a bath." The kitten ceased 'meowing' suddenly.
While Kagome stuffed vast quantities of spaghetti into her mouth, she heard a shrieking howl coming from upstairs where her mom was bathing Buyo.
Kagome grinned impishly. Buyo hated baths.
Flashes of blue and red went off everywhere around Inuyasha as he stood right outside the café with a sheet of paper in his hands and reading it to himself. On the paper, were directions to the place the girl he would have to watch over lived.
"...3387...35th avenue...Higurashi residence..."
Inuyasha folded the paper and placed it in his large sleeve, groaning in frustration as he caught sight of Miroku striding over towards him, a large grin on his face. Next to the monk was a young woman, Sango, dressed in the attire of a youkai exterminator and a large boomerang slung across her back. On her shoulder was a small fire cat creature, her pet Kirara.
"Inuyasha! I see you're ready. Me and Sango just decided to drop by, you know, say hello and all."
Sango gave Miroku a dry look before turning to Inuyasha, her long ponytail swinging.
"Actually," she corrected. "we came to see if you would like to travel with us past the gates, since you haven't had any practice in three years..."
Inuyasha snorted. "Feh! I can still do it!" he glanced curiously at Sango's rather large boomerang. "Why are you taking Hiraikotsu? Don't you think it'll scare the little brat?"
The youkai exterminator scowled. "No. The children usually like Hiraikotsu. They love playing with it."
She turned to Miroku with a sour expression on her face. "Hold on to Hiraikotsu, okay?"
The monk nodded eagerly.
Sango frowned as she concentrated on moving past the second and first gates. Why was it so hard? It should have been easy, considering Miroku was helping her...
There was the sudden sensation of a pat and perverse rubbing on her backside, causing the taijya to spin around with her arm outstretched.
'SMACK!'
Inuyasha rolled his eyes as Miroku lost his balance and fell to the floor, clutching his poor, abused cheek which now sported a searing red hand print.
"Sango I didn't meant to-"
'BAM!'
"...it was a mista-"
'WHACK!'
"...that was also an accident! I swear! It-"
'THRASH!'
Breathing heavily, Sango put away her Hiraikotsu again now that she was finished.
Inuyasha watched the limp form of Miroku on the floor for a while before jabbing him in the side with his bare foot.
"Is he even still alive?"
The newly composed Sango shrugged. "Probably." Then, with a dutiful sigh, she crouched down and held on to his staff which he still had in his grasp. With an extreme amount of concentration, a blue glow finally formed around the pair and they began to fade from Inuyasha's sight.
"I suppose I'll have to drop this dope off at his charge's house." Sango glared down at Miroku's unconscious form, though she couldn't keep back the slight smile.
When they were almost totally gone from view, Sango called out to Inuyasha, her voice sounding like an echo. "Good luck, Inuyasha!" And then her and Miroku were gone in a flash of blue.
The hanyou closed his eyes.
Three years. For three years he didn't have go and take care of some annoying kid. He almost laughed. The authorities probably though he wasn't stable enough to.
"Well," Inuyasha started, opening up his eyes. "Guess I better go and get this whole stupid thing over with."
Concentrating, he focused on gathering and building up his energy, surrounding himself with it, and then transporting himself past the second and first gates and into life; to his destination.
The air around him turned warm, his aura producing heat which rolled off him in waves.
There was a flash of violet, and Inuyasha was gone.
A loud crash of thunder caused Kagome to squirm even deeper than she already was into the covers of her bed.
Once the last of the deep rumbling faded away, she sighed. Rain was something she just couldn't stand. Especially at night.
A flash of lightening jutted across the sky, lighting up her whole room for a mere 10 seconds before darkness seeped once again into every corner, filling her with terror as her eyes strained to see.
The sound of rain drops hitting her roof increased, making it sound as if there was a small waterfall nearby. Kagome twitched. She shut her eyes tightly, trying hard to ignore sound and get some sleep.
Outside a gust of wind blew, driving the rain in a slanted direction, and causing the drops to pound on her bedroom window fiercely. The tingly feeling in her lower stomach grew and Kagome paled slightly. She had to go relieve herself, and the obvious way to do that was go to the bathroom.
She gulped, recalling how dark the house, especially the stairs, were at night. And the bathroom was downstairs.
Slowly and cautiously, the frightened girl lifted the heavy covers off, making sure to grab her teddy bear and climbed down from her bed, trembling as she landed on the floor.
There was another crash of thunder, not as loud as the one before it, though still loud, and Kagome squeaked. She nearly jumped back into the safety of the bed, but the heaviness in her gut persisted.
"Okay...I can do this..." She took a step towards the entrance to her room, and then another and another. Before she knew it, Kagome was standing in her doorway. She had crossed her room.
Now, all Kagome needed to do was get to the stairs, and then...
She gulped, grasping her teddy tightly against her chest.
Go down the stairs.
Scurrying down the hall, Kagome reached the top of the stairs, and then sprinted down, not looking back. Groping around in the darkness, her finger tips brushed the doorknob of the bathroom, and she burst through.
Fortunately, the light in the bathroom turned on automatically, and Kagome grinned, happy that she could now do her business.
A sudden 'thud' sounded from upstairs just as Kagome finished pulling up her pajama pants up, but she ignored it.
"Buyo probably fell down from mommy's bed again..." Opening the door, Kagome reluctantly left the safeness of the lighted bathroom, and she sprinted back up the stairs and down the hallway, reaching her room.
A whistling noise alerted Kagome to the fact that her window was slightly open, and the wind was blowing rain drops in.
Confused as to why her window would be open, she watched it curiously for a moment, then walked over to close it. She grasped the bottom and struggled, using all her strength to attempt to shut it, but it wouldn't budge.
It was too heavy for her. She frowned deeply at it and once again tried closing the stubborn window.
The twinkling music of a jewelry box drifted into the air, and Kagome immediately spun around.
She nearly fell back at the sight in front of her.
There, standing by her lamp stand, was a boy. She peered closer, not quite sure that she believed her eyes.
The boy had long silver hair, and flashing amber eyes. He was wearing peculiar red clothing that seemed old, really old. To top the weirdness all off, he had dog ears on top of his head.
White dog ears.
And, this odd boy was holding her jewelry box, studying it. The very jewelry box her dad gave her. She simply could not allow that.
Kagome blanched. 'Even if he is a little scary looking...'
"H-hey! You can't touch that, Mr.!" The boy stopped the twirling girl figurine with his clawed hand, and glanced up lazily.
'He has...c-claws?'
"And why can't I?" he asked curiously.
Kagome froze. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she was scared stiff. What if he was some kind of psycho murderer? Or worse- what if he was a youkai, like the ones in the stories her grandpa told her and Souta?
"Because...I, m-my dad..."
He set down the jewelry box, closing it in the process and silencing the haunting melody that had been playing.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter to me." the boy began to study his clawed fingers. "You're probably going to ask me who I am, and why I'm here, and blah, blah, blah...all of that junk. To save you you're time and breath, I'll just tell ya." He popped his knuckles. "The name's Inuyasha. I'm here to be you're..er...imaginary friend, guardian angel, whatever the hell you wanna call it."
Kagome stared. Imaginary friend? Guardian angel?
Suddenly, she smiled. "My name's Kagome, and I'm seven years-"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure that's wonderful and all, but I really don't care. So, uh," Inuyasha glanced around her room. "Why don't you just got to sleep, or something." His ear flicked to the side.
Kagome, of course, was awed. "Can I touch you're ears? I've never seen a human with ears that look like a doggy's before." she hesitant took a step forward.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. 'Maybe if she knows I'm a hanyou, she'll get scared..and I won't have to work!'
A smug look appeared on his face. " That's because I'm not human." he waited for the shrieks.
Instead, he got squeals, and a pair of small hands rubbing his ears.
Inuyasha swivelled his head around to see Kagome tip toeing on the lamp stand, and petting his ears.
'How the hell did she climb up there so fast?'
"...what do you think you're doing, brat?"
"Petting you're doggy ears."
Growling lowly, he lifted her up in a rough manner and promptly dropped her onto the bed. "Just go to sleep."
Kagome glared at Inuyasha as she snuggled underneath her blankets. "I don't like you. You're mean."
When Inuyasha continued to ignore her as he sat down in a corner of her room, she grew angrier.
"I said I don't like you! So...go away you mean doggy man!"
This prompted him to spare her a glance. "You know, I wish I could go...unfortunately, I can't." He leaned back abruptly against the wall. "So you're stuck with me, as I am with you of course, until you fall asleep."
'Until I fall asleep...?' Kagome rubbed her chin thoughtfully, as she had seen her grandpa do often before.
Five seconds later, the raved haired girl was 'asleep' and 'snoring'. Loudly.
To Inuyasha, it was obvious that she wanted him out of there. But, he didn't show that he was privy to her little game.
Instead, he eagerly walked over to the window that was still slightly open, and began to climb out. This was all working out just fine for him.
"Will you come back tomorrow?" a tiny voice called out from behind Inuyasha, who turned his head just a bit.
"...I have to. It's my job." he paused. "Unless...you're terribly frightened of me and don't want me to come back..." He was hinting for her to say that, and then he really wouldn't have to go back.
'Maybe I could have another three year vacation...' That sounded good.
Kagome stared at him for a moment, as if actually considering.
"Nope. I'm not scared of you. I mean, come on...You have doggy ears!"
There was a loud 'thud' noise that came from a few rooms away.
Inuyasha frowned. "What was that?"
"Oh, that was Buyo. He probably fell off my mom's bed again." She blinked at the alarmed hanyou.
"...Feh."
"Huh?"
"I didn't say anything."
Kagome scratched her head in confusion. "Then what was that funny noise you made?"
"...Just go to sleep, brat." The annoyance was evident in his voice. Even Kagome could tell he was getting ticked off.
By the time she looked up, Inuyasha was halfway out the window. The odd thing was, that he didn't get wet. It was pouring outside, yet, he wasn't wet.
Kagome rubbed her eyes. 'Must be a youkai thing.'
"Bye, Inuyasha! I'll see you tomorrow." She was hoping he'd be in a better mood by then.
"Feh. Whatever." And he was gone, the window shut.
"There was that weird noise again..."
End of chapter 2
Well, that's it for chapter 2. You probably won't see an update for some time, since I'm going to mainly be working on 'Diagnosis Incomplete'. Unless I decide to make this my main project...hmm. Probably not. Well, expect to see an update for 'DI' sooner. Please review! ; )