"Mom, I invited someone to stay with us for a while."
"I know, Dear, your brother explained to me that you met someone in the forest that you want to help. He told me everything, I think it's very kind of you to want to help and I have no objections. I already prepared your grandpa's old room for him."
"Thanks, Mom, you're the best." Kagome says as she kisses her mother on the cheek and goes back out to the forest.
She finds Bruce still sitting under the same tree. As she walks up to him, she takes in his physical appearance. He's in his mid 40's and is more or less about 5' 9" with an average build salt and pepper hair with warm brown eyes, with a mild manner about him. Though she finds that his aura is constantly under stress and anger, overall she find him very attractive.
Walking up to him she holds out her hand to help him up. "Okay Bruce everything has been arranged. You'll be staying with my mother and me at the Shrine. While you're there I'm going to teach you some techniques to help you with your stress and anger that will help you and Hulk get along better."
Bruce looks at her hand and hesitates, "Do you really think this is a good idea, I mean technically I'm in the country illegally. I don't want to get you and your family in trouble."
"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of everything." Kagome reassures him.
Bruce sighs and takes her hand. "Okay, lead the way."
Helping him stand, she leads the way back to the shrine. Upon breaking through the tree line, Bruce takes in the sight of the shrine. It's a simple little shrine, though very beautiful. Bruce had been in Japan before it was quite a while ago and it was when he was a fugitive, he never made it to Tokyo and he never visited any of the shrines. They were too much of a tourist attraction and he couldn't run the risk of being recognised. This shrine though didn't seem that busy. There were a few people around, mostly locals, he could see a woman tending to them in the distance.
"That's my mom." Kagome tells him.
Bruce nods.
"Come on I'm sure you'd like to freshen up a bit and maybe take a nap in a real bed."
"Yeah, I would, thank you, Kagome."
Kagome leads Bruce into the house and takes him inside. Going upstairs she show him to her the bedroom he'll be staying in.
"This used to be my grandpa's bedroom, he passed away a few years ago, so we use it as a spare now. The bathroom is down the hall, my little brother left you some more clothes in the drawer."
"Thank you, Kagome."
"No problem, Bruce."
Kagome then leaves and shuts the door. Bruce goes to the drawer and takes out a pair of sweat pants, a t-shirt, and some under clothes. He heads for the bathroom to take a shower. Getting in the shower he adjusts the water to where it's nice and warm and gets in. He sighs as the warm water begins to relax his muscles, while he washes he thinks about the girl that has offered to help him.
Aside from being beautiful, Bruce notes that she is unusually kind. He had never met anyone that would go out of their way to help a complete stranger the way Kagome was. He was actually considering himself very lucky to have met her. In his head he hears a rumble of contentment.
"Pretty Pink Girl, Kind." Hulk tells him.
'She sure is, Big Guy.' Bruce thinks.
Bruce can already tell that the Other Guy is very fond of Kagome, which he finds fascinating. He thought that the Other Guy liked Natasha, but apparently he likes Kagome a lot more. Feeling a bit drained after his shower, Bruce dries off, gets dressed and heads back to his new room to take a nap.
While Bruce is taking a nap, Kagome makes a phone call to Shippou.
"Hello?"
"Shippou?"
"Kagome, how are you, how is your weekend going?"
"It's going good, listen Shippou I need a favor."
"What do you need, mother?"
"Do you have any connections to anyone that can make a fake passport for me?"
"Of course, why are you planning on going on the run?"
"No, but I know someone who's in the country illegally."
"Oh no, Kagome, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"
Kagome then begins to explain to Shippou about finding Hulk in the forest and that he's actually Bruce Banner and that she convinced him to stay in Japan for a while.
"Mother, you do know that the Avengers are looking for this man?"
"I'm sure they are, but Hulk doesn't want to go back, and I can feel in their aura, Shippou, they're suffering. They both need help, they need to learn that they are one being. I can't sit by and watch someone suffer if I can help them."
Shippou chuckles, "Same old Kagome. Alright, get him here as soon as you can, I need to take his picture for his new passport, while I'm at it I'll get him a work visa too."
"Thank you, Shippou, I think he's taking a nap. I'll bring him once he wakes up."
"No problem, Kagome, once I take his picture I'll have his passport and work visa ready in a week. I'll see you in a little while."
"Okay, Shippou, bye."
Bruce wakes up two hours later, feeling refreshed. He gets up and heads downstairs, but he finds the house empty. Going outside he finds Kagome sitting under an enormous tree with her mother and who he assumes is her brother. Kagome smiles at him when she sees him come out of the house.
"Bruce, how are you how was your nap?"
"It was good, thank you for asking. I hadn't realized how tired I was."
"Let me introduce you to my mother and brother. Bruce this is my mother, Emiko Higurashi."
"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Bruce Banner."
"Nice to meet you as well, Bruce, welcome to our home." Emiko tells him.
"Thank you for having me." Bruce says as he shakes her hand.
"And this is my brother, Souta." Kagome tells him.
"Nice to meet you, Souta, thank you for the use of the clothes."
"You're welcome, Dr. Banner."
"Please, call me Bruce."
Well, Bruce, if you're feeling up to it I'd like to take you to see a friend of mine today." Kagome tells him.
Bruce gives her a questioning look.
"You see I thought about what you said about being in the country illegally and my friend has some connections. I asked him to get you a passport and a work visa just in case you'd like to get a job while you're here." Kagome explains.
"Oh, Kagome, you didn't have to do that." Bruce tells her.
"It's no trouble, Bruce, really. I'm happy to help in any way possible. But he needs to get a picture of you so he can get your passport done."
"Alright when do we leave?" Bruce asks.
"Just let me grab my purse and we'll go."
Kagome runs in the house, grabs her purse and keys and comes outside.
"Okay I'm ready."
She takes Bruce by the arm and leads him down the shrine steps. Bruce stiffens at first when she took his arm but then he relaxes into her touch. He doesn't understand it, everytime he has any type of physical contact with Kagome a wave of peace enters him.
They get to the bottom of the steps and Kagome hails a cab. She gives the driver Shippou's address and they head off, they arrive at a luxurious apartment building. They go inside and head to the penthouse, Kagome pulls out her key and opens the door.
"Is this your boyfriend?" Bruce asks.
"No, he's a family friend, that's why I have a key to his apartment." Kagome explains.
Bruce couldn't explain it but he felt a wave of relief knowing that this man was not her boyfriend, He actually felt the Other Guy sigh.
Going inside the apartment, Kagome calls out. "Shippou we're here."
Bruce looks around the elegantly decorated home and marvels. It has a old world feel to it with a modern flare, but is very warm and welcoming. He immediately feels quite comfortable, more so here than when he first moved into Stark Tower.
"Kagome, good, and you brought the Hulk." A man that Bruce can only assume is Shippou says.
"You know who I am?"
"Kagome explained to me, yes, but where are my manners? My mother would kill me, Shippou Nakamura, nice to meet you.
"Bruce Banner, nice to meet you as well."
"So Kagome tells me you'd like to hide out for a while."
"If it's possible, yes." Bruce tells him.
"Trust me, Dr. Banner, it's possible."
"Just Bruce, Mr. Nakamura."
"Please, call me Shippou. Getting you a passport and work visa won't be a problem, so you can stay in the country as long as you want. You'll be able to hide in plain sight here, Bruce, people here tend to mind their own business." Shippou explains.
"Thank you I truly appreciate your help."
"It's no trouble, now let's get started…
Once Shippou gets all he needs, Kagome takes Bruce to the mall so they can buy him some clothes and other personal items.
"You really don't have to do this, Kagome."
"I want to, Bruce, besides you can't borrow all of my brothers clothes." Kagome points out.
Once they finish shopping, Kagome takes Bruce out to eat. They sit in a tiny restaurant enjoying some ramen. As Bruce eats he contemplates the girl sitting across from him, finally his curiosity gets the better of him.
"Why are you helping me, Kagome?"
Kagome puts down her chopsticks and studies Bruce.
Kagome sighs, "Because I can see how much you and Hulk have suffered, how angry you are, how hurt and lonely you are. And I can't help but want to help you."
"I don't understand how do you know this?" Bruce asks.
Kagome looks around to see that the restaurant is mostly empty and there's no one near them, so she decides to explain.
"I can feel it in your aura. You see Bruce I'm what is know as a Miko."
"A Shrine Priestess, okay" Bruce nods.
"Yes, but I'm not like any ordinary priestess, I have powers, and one of those powers is the ability to sense auras and healing. I can sense the conflict between you and Hulk and I can sense how you and him are feeling. And I can't let you two suffer anymore, so please, Bruce, let me help you. Let me heal your pain."
Kagome was so sweet and so sincere, Bruce could tell that she honestly meant every word she said. He stared into her brilliant sapphire eyes and felt that he could lose himself in them. He suddenly turns away and sighs, there was only one answer.
"Okay."
