Umarekawari Hijinks
By TwinEnigma
One
Time passed slowly in the Sengoku Jidai without the threat of Naraku. The days seemed to bleed into one another, forming an endless summer – a blur of laughter and carefree moments in time for the guardians. Youkai shied from the village proper, frightened of the defenders of the Shikon no Tama; they had heard of Naraku's defeat at the hands of these powerful warriors and there were rumors that the both the remaining Yourouzoku tribe and the powerful inu-no-taiyoukai of the West had extended their protection to this village. Still, they lingered in the forest, drawn to the aura of the jewel as moths to a flame.
But today was different and even the youkai knew this.
The jewel was moving today.
Every two weeks, the miko and the jewel would be escorted to the Bone Eater's Well by the powerful hanyou, Inuyasha. The lesser youkai dared not attack him, sensing his formidable youki. They had heard of this boy, the youngest son of the great Inu-no-Taisho, current wielder of the legendary Tessaiga, and of the strength he possessed. Such an adversary was not one to engage directly and thus they waited for an opportune time to strike.
Inuyasha, however, was well aware that these excursions into the forest were being watched, dissected and analyzed by those youkai that coveted the jewel. His hand remained on the hilt of Tessaiga as they walked, Kagome no more than an arm's length from his side at all times. He was constantly alert, every muscle tense as he silently tracked their observers.
"Hiraikotsu!" sounded nearby, along with the wails of surprise from a cluster of youkai caught off guard by the taijiya and her brother. Kirara and Miroku would be flanking the remaining youkai any minute now.
A smirk grew on Inuyasha's lips.
"Looks like your plan is working," Kagome said, smiling to herself.
The hanyou puffed up with pride. "Keh! Of course it did! Those stupid youkai were so busy planning to attack us, they wouldn't have noticed if an entire damn army of taijiya appeared!"
Yes, appeal to Inuyasha's ego and he was a happy man. Kagome watched him out of the corner of her eye as he continued on about his own cleverness and the stupidity of their opponents. Egocentric, selfish, stubborn, and often downright childish, the oft infuriating hanyou could send her flying into rage in an instant. And yet, he was also the first in her heart. He had grown so much since that day she'd first met him that it was sometimes hard to recognize him as the same boy she'd freed from the Goshinboku.
"Hurry up, Kagome! I'm hungry!" Inuyasha complained, tugging her arm in an effort to make her move faster. "You promised me Ramen!"
Kagome sighed and picked up her pace. Right now, it seemed that the only thing Inuyasha cared about was stuffing his face with his favorite food. Of course, there was a practical side to hurrying out of the youkai-filled forest and back to the safety of her time, namely that she was quite certain there were absolutely no jewel-seeking demons on the other side of the well.
Not that Inuyasha believed that, mind you. Kagome had a running list of the things that Inuyasha had broken, destroyed or attempted to use Tessaiga on when he came to her time. One of the more recent victims of his attempts to protect her was her walkman, followed shortly by the alarm clock radio. Honestly, sometimes there was simply no educating the poor hanyou about the technologies of her era.
Inuyasha was a simple creature by nature, a being of the forests and earth. He did not belong in the world of skyscrapers and concrete. There was a mystical essence to his very being, one that fit with the rhythms of life in the Sengoku Jidai and the turning of the seasons. And it was this mystical part of him – the youkai blood he'd inherited from his father – that ultimately would never accept or understand the world that humanity had shaped, just as surely as that world would never understand or accept him. In her time, he was a thing of fairy-tales, a myth told to little children and dissected in classrooms as part of lessons.
Kagome sighed as they approached the well. She supposed that she'd known from the beginning, even if she only vaguely understood it at the time, that there was a tremendous gap between the worlds to which they belonged. Still, a part of her belonged in the past with her friends, with the people she had come to regard as family. The young miko worried that eventually she would be forced to choose between them and, no matter what she decided, the decision would leave her miserable.
School would be starting soon and, with no more jewel shards to hunt for, she wouldn't be able to shirk school quite so often. By some miracle, Kagome had managed to scrape by her high school entrance exams. A smile graced her lips as she recalled how Inuyasha had waited impatiently for her to finish and almost immediately whisked her back to the well, insisting that they'd wasted too much time already; he'd promptly been sat and spent the next few days brooding about it, until she finally felt sorry for him and forgave him. After all, the added pressure from the exams hadn't exactly been putting her in the best of moods.
"Ka-go-me!" Inuyasha whined, putting extra emphasis on the middle syllable of her name as he waved his hand in front of her face.
The young miko blinked, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks as she started from her thoughts.
"Are you sick or something?" the hanyou asked, searching her face with his brilliant golden eyes. "You look funny."
Kagome resisted the impulsive urge to hit him on the head with her backpack and merely shook her head. "No... I was just thinking."
"Keh! You think too much!" he said with a snort and crossed his arms over his chest. But the way he was sneaking a glance at her suggested that he was now curious as to the nature of her thoughts and was hoping she'd let him know what was going on in her mind. He really had grown up so much since they first met in what seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Ano..." she started and immediately felt the color rising in her face. "I was thinking about the past... when we started the search for the shikon no kakera."
Inuyasha gave her an odd look, his eyes suddenly unreadable.
"What would you wish for now, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, looking at the jewel fastened around her neck. "After all that's happened, do you still wish to become a true youkai?"
The hanyou narrowed his eyes at her and scoffed, "Don't be stupid, woman. That stupid cursed rock would probably warp a wish like that completely! I'd be better off wishing for as much Ramen as I could eat."
"You're probably right," she said, smiling. The image of him sitting there contentedly with thousands of packets of instant Ramen in the middle of the village played through her mind. Kaede would probably find it amusing. But, oh, the sheer number of temporal issues generated by such a wish was near painful to contemplate.
"Besides," Inuyasha continued, raising his eyes, "I cannot dishonor my mother's memory by abandoning my human blood."
Kagome stared at him, her heart skipping a beat. "Inuyasha..." You really have changed.
Silence reigned between them once more, allowing birdsong and the distant sounds of battle to filter into the clearing. The well stood before them, a reminder of what they'd come here to do. Yet, neither of them moved, caught in the silence of thought and comfort of the other's company.
"What would you wish for, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, finally.
"Ano..." she paused, considering the question. "I don't know. I guess I'd wish for some way to keep seeing everyone without sacrificing my family."
The hanyou smiled absently, his eyes drifting to the sky. "That's a good wish, Kagome."
"Inuyasha..." the young miko breathed, color rising in her face again.
He carefully took her hand in his so as not to scratch her. "We should go. Your mother is probably waiting."
Kagome nodded, smiling. As long as I'm with you, Inuyasha, I don't mind.
Together, they jumped into the well, leaving the past behind.
Buyo was curled lazily in the window, soaking up the late afternoon sun. Zen-like in semi-slumber, the cat ignored the goings-on of the Higurashi household and was content to not be bothered by their visitor, the one that was both not dog and not human. The scent of instant Ramen wafted in from the kitchen, slowly diminishing under the scent of dish soap. The distant music of a video game caused a single ear to turn towards the sound momentarily. It flicked back, dismissing the familiar noise.
Kagome reached over and scratched Buyo behind the ears, earning a trill from the fat cat and a jealous glare from Inuyasha. But the young miko merely smiled, knowing that the hanyou was just jealous of the attention she was giving the beloved cat and that he would be fine once more when he had her attention. "I'll go shopping tomorrow," she said, raising her eyes to look at him. "Do you want anything special?"
"You always ask!" the hanyou replied, pretending to be thoroughly put out. "Isn't it obvious? Ramen, in as many flavors as you can get!"
The girl giggled and shook her head slowly. "Come on, we'd better get you back to the well. Sango will probably put Miroku into a coma if you're not there to keep that letch in line."
"Keh! Sango can keep that perverted bouzo in line better than anyone alive," Inuyasha snorted. "You're just worried about the runt."
Kagome gave him a pointed look. "Do you really want Shippou to be left under the moral guidance of Miroku?"
Inuyasha's eyes widened in alarm and the miko rolled hers in response. Honestly, the kitsune youkai may have been young, but he wasn't stupid despite Inuyasha's opinion to the contrary. Shippou had been pretty quick to latch onto the fact that Miroku was a hopeless letch and it was a long shot to even consider that the small kitsune would ever end up emulating the monk.
The hanyou smirked at her, as if to say he knew she was kidding, and let her lead him back outside, towards the well-house. They moved quickly across the grounds of the shrine, speedily slipping into the darkened well-house. Caution was still more than necessary since the sun had yet to set and, the last time they had done this, a tourist had nearly seen them.
Kagome smiled, recalling the amusing scene that her grandfather had made trying to get rid of the tourist. No doubt the poor American now thought they'd been hallucinating.
Inuyasha lingered at the edge of the well for a minute and then looked at her, his face unusually serious. "Kagome... I've got a wish I want to make."
The young miko stared at him, partially in confusion and surprise. A part of her had hoped he wouldn't ever be ready to make a wish, but they had agreed that when he was ready, she would give him the jewel.
"I've thought about it for a long time," he said softly. "...About what I want... and the words to use. But I don't trust the jewel. I know how it warps even the purest of wishes, so I want you to stay here for a while."
Kagome felt an inexplicable knot tightening in her stomach. She wanted to be there when he made his wish. "Why?"
"It's better that you stay here, with your family. I don't know what will happen when I make the wish," Inuyasha paused, his eyes smoldering points in the darkness. "The well could close up, Kagome, and your family needs you."
Her heart sank, but she knew he was right. She knew there was a terrible risk that she might never see her family again, but she didn't want to have to give him or any of her friends in the past up.
The hanyou slid his arms around her, pulling her close. "Silly wench, don't start crying on me." He paused, lifting her chin with a finger so that he could see into her eyes, and added, "No matter what happens when I make that wish, I swear that I will always be with you."
"Inuyasha..." she whispered. Her eyes burned with her unshed tears.
He leaned forward and, mustering his courage, gently kissed her on the forehead.
Kagome went rigid, her eyes widening in surprise.
"I will return tomorrow, at sunset," Inuyasha swore with absolute sincerity. "If I do not return, then the well has sealed."
She clutched him tightly, burying her head against his chest. "Don't say that," she said softly.
"You should get packed," he countered, smiling as he drew back. "I'm not going to wait around very long when I get back!"
The young miko understood: it was his way of saying 'Everything is gonna be ok!' His confidence was reassuring and she nodded, blushing furiously. "Alright!"
"Keh! Hand over the damn rock already, woman!" Inuyasha sighed, holding out his hand impatiently.
Kagome unfastened the necklace and carefully pressed the Shikon no Tama into his hand, closing his fingers over it with her other hand. "Be careful, Inuyasha. I don't want to go around picking up any more fragments because you did something stupid."
"You're forgetting something, Kagome," he replied, grinning devilishly as he leapt onto the edge of the well. "You're the one who broke it in the first place."
The young miko glared at him a moment and then gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "Inuyasha," she said, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. "Osuwari."
"Ah, hell!" the hanyou muttered as the kotodama nenju around his neck began to glow. A second later, the spell yanked him backwards, towards the bottom of the well. The familiar glow of the time portal briefly bathed the well-house in light and vanished, leaving no trace of the boy who had been there only seconds before.
Kagome sighed and shook her head. Sometimes, he could be such an idiot. But he was her idiot.
And with that in mind, the young miko smiled brightly and went to go pack for her next trip down the well.
AN: I have discovered something. I suck at fluff. Go figure. It's either that or Inuyasha trying to be dead serious is just a nightmare to write. Um, kotodama nenju is the rosary around Inuyasha's neck. Youki is demon energy. And I know oden is technically the foodstuff that pops up more often in the manga, but oden typically isn't served in warm weather. You learn new things every day. Reviews are good...