Hokay so I just realized i never put a disclaimer ever but better late than never right?
Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story or basic setting belong to me. All rights to InuYasha go to Rumiko Takahashi and Sunrise Inc. All rights to Tangled go to the Walt Disney Company. All rights to Rapunzel go to the Grimm brothers i suppose but im pretty sure they died like three hundred years ago so theres no rights to rapunzel anymore although i'm not an expert on royalties or anything
Well, on with the story, ne?
Chapter 2: The Chance Meeting between Her and…
Kagome followed the sway of the wind in the grass with her eyes, practically dozing off where she stood. Realizing where she was, she shook her head to clear her mind. She wasn't actually tired. In fact, she swallowed and felt a sting in her parched throat, she was only thirsty.
She weighed her options. On one hand, she could stay here and try not to die of dehydration before the break of day, and on the other she could risk getting caught by oba-san and head downstairs to the kitchen where her grandmother kept the water and biscuits. Feeling adventurous, she shrugged and pushed herself off the window sill. Turning smoothly from the night sky and the bright stars, Kagome headed toward the door, grabbing the handle and opening the door as quietly as she could.
What she definitely was not expecting was for there to be someone already standing in front of her once she did.
Kagome's first thought was quite simply 'Holy shit.' Her eyes widened and she gripped the handle of her door tightly, turning her knuckles ash white. 'There's a person in my room. There's a person in my room! THERE'S A PERSON IN MY ROOM! What should I do? Oh kami what should I do?!'
She took a good look at the creature in front of her. He had long silky black hair that reached his waist, dark brown eyes, and tanned skin. He looked human enough. In fact, though she hadn't seen many people in her lifetime (a grand total of herself and her oba-san), he looked handsome. Yea, he was handsome. Kagome gulped.
But then her common sense returned to her and any passing fancy she might've had for the stranger was blown away with the wind. 'There's a person in my room! Doesn't oba-san always say that people are bad, they'll kill me, hurt me, kidnap me! Shit!'
All this happened in a matter of about two seconds, and that was enough time for fear to kick in and instinct to take over. She opened her mouth and drew in a deep breath, prepared to scream her lungs out.
When suddenly the mysterious stranger stuck out his hand and stifled her scream with his palm.
Kagome was taken aback, frankly, at the bold boy holding a hand to her mouth. She quickly closed it when she realized the immense awkward of the situation. He seemed to have realized that too, but he didn't put his hand down. Instead, he scowled at her like this was all her fault, and then ushered her into her room like he owned the place.
Closing the door behind him, he led her to her bed and made her sit down. By this point, half of her was even more afraid of the stranger – he could easily murder her right now and she wouldn't even be able to scream – and the other half was actually way more curious than anything. Who was this boy? Why was he here? How did he find her tower? And… 'If he knows where it is, do other people know where it is, too?' she questioned herself. 'Other… bad people? Could he just be the first of many?'
He seemed oblivious to her worrying thoughts, and instead scoped around like he expected someone to jump out and attack him. Then he turned back to her and said something for the first time, marking the first words she ever remembered hearing that weren't Urasue's or her own.
"Who the hell are you?"
Her eyes shined at hearing someone else's voice for the first time in her fourteen years of life. But then she realized what he'd said. She mentally sighed at the rude remark, but opened her mouth to respond anyway. Until they both realized he still had his hand covering her mouth.
He casually removed his hand like it was the most normal thing for people to do – and for all Kagome knew, it was – and waited for her to respond.
"Why would I tell you that? Actually I think I should be asking, who the hell are you?"
Taken back by her snappy attitude, he scowled again. "Keh! It doesn't matter. I'll be gone by morning, so just shut up and deal with it for the rest of the night. Go to sleep or something."
She sighed over-dramatically and brought her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees. "Well since you're going to stay you might as well talk. What's your name?"
He frowned, obviously not in the mood for friendly chat. "Listen, girl, you don't need to know about me, and I don't need to know about you, got it? So, like I said, you can just shut up for the next," he looked out the window to check the position of the moon, until remembering there was no moon for the night. "For the next couple hours," he finished.
She frowned deeply, coming close to even his scowl. "Um, no. I'm letting you stay in my room in my tower, without alerting my grandmother who's downstairs, and who would freak out and try to kill you if she saw you too, with virtually no payment. You could at least deal with some small chat, ne?" She wondered for a second why she wasn't more scared of the boy sitting in front of her, with his hands tucked into his haori sleeves, scowling and raising his head as if to portray being the one with more power in the situation. He did look like he could kill someone. But something about him made her feel normal, at ease. And she wasn't one to question her gut, along with the fact he hadn't attacked her yet. And on top of it all, she was too curious to pass up an opportunity of talking to the first person beside her grandmother ever. She loved her grandmother, really, but she had to admit that the poor woman was quite dimwitted. But this boy in front of her – he was different, he was arrogant and new and exciting. She smiled despite herself. This couldn't be the world her grandmother wanted to keep her from.
"Wench, I don't do small talk." Hearing his term for her, all positive thoughts for the boy left her head almost immediately. She sighed. So much for "new and strange and exciting".
"Fine, I'll start if you're so stubborn. My name is Ka-" she stopped herself, realizing the potential danger she could be getting herself into. Instead, she continued with, "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
He seemed genuinely surprised at the question. "If I'd wanted to kill you I woulda done it already."
She grinned faintly at the comment. "Good then. And don't tell anyone, ever, okay?"
He rolled his eyes, but the way he was leaning forward betrayed the fact that he was faintly interested in what she was going to say. "Whatever, wench."
"Alright. My name is Kagome Higurashi. I've lived in this tower my whole life, and my grandmother takes care of me. But she's never let me go outside, and there's no door so I can't leave." She paused, realizing how much she sounded like a spoiled teen. "I mean, it's not like I don't like oba-san! No, not at all. She's very kind to me. She keeps me from the dangers of the world, she says. And I believe her, really." She finished quickly, but then realized the lie in her words. So she added, in a small voice, "Well, I did."
The boy had stayed silent through her monologue, watching the wall but still listening to what she was saying. So when he turned and acknowledged her directly, she almost jumped. "So you're grateful to her? You're grateful that she keeps you locked in here?" His voice was monotone, but she could feel the emotion in his words. Although, what emotion, she didn't know.
"Yes, I guess. Yes. I am. Grateful, I mean."
He sighed, like she'd let him down somehow. "Well I guess she has a point. The world is dangerous and terrifying at times, and if you don't know how to handle yourself you could get killed, or worse." He stopped and looked away, as if the talk physically hurt him. Kagome felt a strange pang of pity for the boy. "But not for someone like you. The world isn't bad for someone like you."
The fourteen year old heard the hidden message in the words. Two question popped up in her head. "Why wouldn't it be dangerous for me?" she grimaced. "And if it isn't for me," she looked at the boy from the corner of her eye. "Why is it for you?"
He shrugged off-handedly. "It isn't for you because you're human, wench. You could go to a human village. Sure, there's always bad people, but you'd be surrounded by others like you. Just find someone to protect you and you're good."
Once the shock of hearing there was such a thing as a 'village' with people just like her that would protect her faded, she realized his clever evasion of her second question. "And why is it for you?" she asked cautiously. Maybe he was a murderer and so everyone was trying to hunt him down and execute him.
She hadn't expected his harsh bark of a laugh in response, mostly because she hadn't realized she'd spoke that aloud. She cursed her loose tongue.
"That ain't far from the truth, girl," he answered. She noticed the strain in his voice and his tense shoulders.
Deciding she didn't want to talk about something that bothered him like this, she changed the subject. "Well, tell me about the human villages."
He looked at her cautiously, but then sighed as if admitting there was no way to escape her constant questions and comments. And so, the rest of the evening was spent with Kagome trying to get all the information she could out of him, and the mysterious boy answering in as little words as possible. Though, by four in the morning, Kagome could feel her mind shutting off and her eyes refused to cooperate with her and stay open. The boy noticed, too.
"Listen, go to sleep. You're tired."
"But I need to," she couldn't help the huge yawn that escaped her mid-sentence. "I need to hear more about why the sky is blue."
"Keh! I don't even know. Now go to sleep!"
"But you might leave!" she yelled out before she could even think about it.
He looked surprised by the question, and if it weren't so dark, Kagome would've seen the light blush that appeared over the bridge of his nose. "Keh, don't worry about it. Just go to sleep."
She lay down and threw the covers over herself as she protested. "But promise you'll be here when I wake up. Promise I'll see you again, ne?"
He scoffed. "Sure, whatever. Now sleep."
She smiled before drifting off to sleep, her last sight his midnight black hair and dark brown eyes.
Doesn't this chapter just remind you of that song from Tarzan called Strangers Like Me with the chorus that goes "I wanna know! Can you show me? I wanna know about these strangers like me - tell me more! Can you show me? Something's familiar 'bout these strangers-" Okay that's enough of that cuz i could go on forever. Hope you enjoyed, please review and make my quotidian day amazing
Also the reason I re-uploaded the last chapter is because I accidentally wrote chapter 2 instead of 1 for it gomen ne