Shrine Of Love
A/N: You guys all have lovely suggestions for Kikyo's new "title" :D Does "whore" seem good to you? :p
Anyways, I'm sorry for the long update...I've been editing all the chapters...by the way, some of you suggested some things how to get the fluff started, but believe me -evil smirk-, I already have some things in mind...
:O:
VOCABULARY
Hakama- a divided skirt
How do I explain the whole outfit that's going to appear in the story...hm, well, you know the miko outfit? The bottom half is like that...except that the pants/long skirts are navy blue and the sleeves of the top half aren't wide and 'kimono-y'...just like the sleeves of a regular shirt, except a little loose...by the way, all the students are wearing them. It doesn't matter what gender they are...for example, for those of you who've seen/read Ranma ½, there's Tatewaki Kuno and he wears a skirtish thing...so if you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. Oh wait! Have you ever seen Grandpa's shrine outfit in the anime/manga? Well, it looks like that.
"Hai!"- when someone launches an attack as they fight, they sometimes shout this...it's like a battle cry...I think. Hai can also mean "yes", but not in this case.
:O:
Chapter 4: Anonymous Flutist
"Y!" Yura shouted. "A!"
"S!" Kagura yelled. "H!"
"I!" Kanna screamed. "E!"
Kikyo leapt up into the air and hollered, "GOOOOOO YASHIE!!!!!!"
"You have got to be kidding me," Inuyasha stared in horror. "Just wonderful...Kikyo and her friends made it into the cheerleading club."
"But Inuyasha, you should be honored that girls are cheering for you," Miroku nudged him.
"Are you serious?! Why would I want that twit to cheer for me?! And why are they even cheering for me when I'm not in any sport teams?!"
"You have a point," Miroku nodded. Inuyasha groaned.
The two boys straightened when they heard two familiar girls giggling behind them.
"Hey, guys," Sango piped to them.
"Looks like Kikyo and her friends made it into the cheerleading club," Kagome remarked, jabbing a finger into Inuyasha's back and grinned when he flinched. "Ooh...I feel sooo sorry for you, Inuyasha!"
He turned around and narrowed his eyes, "Why do I have a feeling that you're feeling the complete opposite?"
"It's just you," she shooed a hand at him. "Now shut up, we have to get to class."
"You can't tell me to shut up!"
"Oh, yeah?!"
The two started bickering.
"Do they argue everyday?" Sango whispered to Miroku.
"Unfortunately, yes," Miroku nodded. He winked. "But you know the saying: The more two people fight, the more they care about each other."
Kagome let her arrow fly through air and waited for the satisfying 'thwonk'.
"I'm so glad I joined the archery club," she smiled. "I haven't done archery since I was little."
She took another arrow out of her quiver on her back and drew it slowly. Kagome closed an eye and aimed for the target.
"So, Higurashi," a voice sneered.
Kagome let go of her arrow, which grazed past the painted circular board in the distance. She turned around and glared.
"What?" she asked coldly.
Kikyo yawned, "Your 'great aim' is wavering, idiot."
"And do you know why?" she shot back. "Because of YOU."
"Humph," Kikyo held up her chin and walked away. "Whatever."
Kagome rolled her eyes and walked away from the target range, her bow tightly clutched in her hand.
"I'll check up on Sango," she murmured and walked over to a large section of the huge training ground (for all the weaponry clubs) that had so many trees that it could have been considered a small forest.
"HIRAIKOTSU!" a voice yelled. Kagome shrieked and ducked as a huge boomerang narrowly spun past her and back again to its owner.
A giggle was heard when she opened her eyes again.
"Sorry, Kagome," Sango laughed. "I didn't know you were here."
"Um, it's okay," Kagome shook her head. "I just wanted to check up on you."
"Well, I'm doing fine," her friend assured her. Sango looked down at her outfit that every member of the weaponry clubs had to wear and dusted off her dark navy hakama. "I love clubs with weaponry."
"So do I," Kagome agreed. "Well, my break is almost up. I'll see you later."
"Yeah. See ya."
Kagome walked off again, but this time, to different section. Like the previous section, this place was covered in trees. She walked toward the center of the trees where she heard applauses and whistling.
"Hm..." she halted to a stop right behind a row of sitting students.
A long shrill whistle was heard.
"Definitely a coach," she covered her ears.
"Begin!" she heard the coach shout.
Kagome noticed that the students at her feet were gripping swords.
'This is the katana club,' she realized and looked up with excitement.
Kagome spotted a person standing in the middle of a large circle of evenly spaced wooden logs.
"Hey, isn't that..." she blinked. "Inuyasha?"
She watched interestedly as he tightened his hold on his sword and sprang into action. He swiftly swung his sword at the logs, his sword becoming a blur.
'He's good...' Kagome breathed.
Inuyasha swung at one last log with a satisfied look.
"Hey, nothing happened..." a student muttered.
Inuyasha straightened and slid his sword into the scabbard at his waist.
Suddenly, the creak of a log was heard and everyone watched in awe as the top halves of the logs clattered to the ground, one at a time, as if they were dominos. An applause broke out.
Kagome clapped along with a smile.
Inuyasha walked over to the end of the row of students and spotted her. She held her breath as he stepped past the students and made his way toward her.
"What are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow curiously.
"I was on a break," she said honestly.
"Was?" he asked.
"Um, I mean, am," she corrected herself. "I'm on a break."
He chuckled. She blushed.
"I'm impressed," Kagome said shyly. "You're really good with swords."
"You were watching?" Inuyasha questioned with a smug grin.
She fingered the wood on her bow, avoiding his laughing eyes, "Yeah..."
"You're so unpredictable," she heard him say. "Well, I have to get back before the coach catches me not sitting down. See you later, Kagome."
Inuyasha bit onto the paintbrush's wooden end as he eyed the painting canvas warily.
He dipped the brush into some green and then gently dabbed at his painting.
"There," he said with a smile. "The trees are done...now I'm finished."
"Okay, let's wrap it up for today," he heard Ms. Nazuna call out. "You've all done well for the first day in art club."
Inuyasha took his canvas off its easel and was the last student to hand it over to the teacher.
"Beautiful," Ms. Nazuna beamed as she stared down at his piece of art. "Great job. You're quite an artist."
"Thanks..." he looked away with embarrassment. "But really, it's nothing. I just like to paint and draw..."
"Do you want any sketching pads?" she asked. "I'd be more than glad to give you some."
He just nodded and followed her to her desk.
"You're one of the new students, aren't you?" Ms. Nazuna asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"I'm impressed. I've never seen someone paint so beautifully before. How'd you learn?"
Inuyasha's mouth went dry. He answered hoarsely, "From my parents..."
An awkward silence filled the room.
"That's nice," she finally said, noticing the tension in his voice. "Well, here you go."
"Arigato," he bowed solemnly and went back to his seat to pack up all his things. Everyone except him and Ms. Nazuna had left. After he was done packing, Inuyasha slung his backpack over a shoulder and walked out the classroom door. The school day was over.
"Not bad, considering that I've been here for only two weeks," he glanced around in the almost empty hallways.
Inuyasha strolled past rooms as he made his way toward the school entrance/exit. However, when his ears caught onto a faint tune, he halted to a stop.
It was a flute.
He closed his eyes and listened quietly to the sweet song that was being played. Feelings and memories in his soul that had been locked up for years began to resurface...
'I could listen to this forever,' he found himself relaxing. Soon, a second flute joined in, and played in harmony with the first flute. Together, the two tunes formed an even sweeter tune...and made him feel peaceful this time.
The second flute stopped after a long moment, but the first flute still kept playing. After a few more seconds, the flutist, whoever they were, blew into the flute softer and softer until the song had fainted into nothing. Inuyasha's eyes opened again while he heard a teacher talking on the other side of the closed door of the classroom.
"Feh," he murmured to himself and resumed his walking again. "That was definitely the music club."
As Inuyasha stepped outside the school entrance doors, he spotted Miroku in the corner.
"Took you long enough," the young monk shook his head. "Did something happen?"
"My art teacher kept me after for a few minutes," Inuyasha told him partly. He sighed, "So, shouldn't we be walking to your shrine right now?"
Miroku shook his head again, "Kagome. Don't you remember? We should wait for her. It's what a gentleman would do."
"I wouldn't exactly call you a gentleman," his best friend snorted. "You're more of a hentai."
"Whatever, Inuyasha," Miroku rolled his eyes. "Anyways, Sango asked if she could walk to the shrine with all of us and-" His eyes flashed, "Well, would you look at that, here the two come now."
And sure enough, they were.
When the two girls finally reached them, and after greetings were exchanged, all four teenagers made their way to Houshi Shrine.
"Hey, Miroku," Kagome peered at her cousin. "Which clubs did you join?"
"The random weaponry club," he answered. "And the-"
Sango gasped in horror, "No way!!!!!!!"
Miroku, Kagome, and Inuyasha turned their heads and looked at her strangely.
"He's in the same club that I'm in!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. "No!!!!!! Are the heavens trying to make my life miserable????!!!!!"
Kagome gave her a playful push, "Yes, they are, Sango. Anyways, Miroku, what's the second club that you joined?"
"I didn't...join a second club," Miroku said hesitantly.
Kagome blinked, "You didn't?"
"No, I volunteered to help instruct beginners in the martial arts club," he replied slowly.
Miroku let out a yelp when she tugged at his ear and tweaked it.
"YOU HENTAI!" she shouted in his ear. "I know why you joined! It's because most of the members are girls, right?!"
"Eh..." he bit his lip.
"Oh, Kami, it IS!" Kagome yanked him down by his ear.
"OW, OW, OW! Let GO!" Miroku whimpered with pain.
"Come on, Kagome," Sango stifled a giggle. "Let him go."
Kagome straightened and marched ahead with Sango tailing her, "What an embarrassment for a cousin!"
"I have to agree with her on that one," Inuyasha smirked and nudged Miroku hard.
"So you're on her side now?" Miroku asked coldly. He called out to his cousin, "Hey, Kagome! What clubs did YOU join?!"
She turned her head and stuck out her tongue, "None of your business."
He let out a frustrated sigh, "Girls..."
"Boys..." Kagome answered in an equal tone.
Miroku shook his head and remained silent for the rest of the walk.
Inuyasha watched the two girls chatter in front of him and Miroku with boredom. He caught onto some of their conversation:
"...you sounded great with Ms. Kaede," Sango praised her friend. "You were so good!"
Kagome beamed back, "Thanks...I know you're going to play as good as me if you practice."
"I don't think so," Sango scoffed and smiled. "Since it's going to take a little while to reach the shrine, why don't you play a little for me?"
"Okay."
Inuyasha blinked as he watched Kagome reached into her backpack and fumbled around inside.
His breath caught in his throat when she pulled out a wooden flute.
"She can't be...it wasn't her, was it?" he sputtered.
Miroku gave him an odd look and didn't answer.
Inuyasha stared as Kagome pulled the flute up to her lips and blew into it gently. She was playing the same song that he'd heard earlier.
"It WAS her," he mumbled. "She was the flutist."
However, he wasn't complaining...afterall, he could get used to the music.
:o:O:o:O:o: Houshi Shrine :o:O:o:O:o:
"So," Kagome stated simply as she and Inuyasha sat in one of the rooms of the shrine's small dojo...waiting for Kikyo to finish changing into her training outfit.
"So?" Inuyasha mimicked.
She glared, "So...what do you plan on doing this Saturday?"
He laughed, "I know that YOU know what the answer is already."
"Shopping?"
"Yeah."
"Cooking?"
"Yup."
"Eating together with Miroku?"
"Like every other Saturday," Inuyasha nodded. He half smiled, "I was wondering...do you have your own bike?"
Kagome sat with a thoughtful expression.
"I think I do..." she replied slowly. "Yeah."
Inuyasha's smile grew a bit bigger, and he answered slyly, "That's great."
"How so?" Kagome sighed in boredom and glanced at the clock.
3:40.
'Man, Kikyo. Where the heck are you?!' she cursed mentally.
"You need the exercise," Inuyasha stated simply.
Kagome shot him glare. Was he calling her fat?! However, before she could say anything, he continued.
"It should help build your strength up. The last thing I want is for a student of mine to get even the tiniest out of shape. Riding on a motorcycle doesn't give you any exercise, but riding a bike does," Inuyasha shook his head. "No more of that. From now on, every Saturday, we're going to ride bikes when we go shopping."
Kagome pouted endlessly, "Oh, common!"
"Don't give me that puppy dog face," he rolled his eyes. "It isn't going to help y-"
"I'M HERE!" Kikyo slammed the door open. "Sorry I'm late!"
"You better be," Kagome glared at her. "You're late by 15 minutes!"
"I got here late," Kikyo shot back. "And I had to change you idiot."
"Okay, enough you two," Inuyasha stood up and cracked his knuckles. "This is nothing to fight over, but Kikyo, would you please try to get here a little EARLIER?"
"Anything for you, my sweet darling," Kikyo replied with a flirting voice.
Inuyasha and Kagome's eyes twitched.
'Oh, Kami...' they both thought with a disgusted look.
"Today, we're going to practice judo," Miroku announced. "Judo, meaning 'compliant way' uses mainly grappling techniques-"
"Shut up with the talk, I already know what it is," Sango got into position a few feet away from him. "And I already know how to do a little bit of it."
"Seriously?" Miroku rose an eyebrow. "Because judo is a pretty complex-"
'I'll shut his mouth up right now...' Sango rolled her eyes and ran towards him.
She hooked an arm around his neck, the other arm holding onto one of his arms. With one swift motion, Sango managed to swing Miroku over her hip and dumped him on the floor in front of her.
She straightened again.
Miroku stared up at her with frightened eyes, "Oh, Kami...you really WERE serious..."
"No, never put your thumb underneath your fingers during a punch...," Inuyasha shook his head.
"Sorry, it just slipped my mind," Kikyo chirped. "But I've punched with my thumb underneath my fingers before...and nothing happened."
Inuyasha glared at her and turned to the wall behind him.
Kagome blinked as he secured his fingers around one of the long mirrors in the dojo and lifted it off its hooks. A small, bare part of the wooden wall was now exposed. Inuyasha set the mirror onto the floor and motioned Kikyo to step forward.
He sighed, "Kikyo, punch the wall."
"What?" she asked dumbly.
Kagome covered her mouth as she giggled silently. She saw where this was going.
"Punch the wall," Inuyasha repeated. "And punch it hard with your thumb under your fingers."
"But I'll dent the wall!" Kikyo protested.
"I can assure you that you won't."
Kikyo frowned, but pulled a fist back.
She sent it flying at the wall.
CRACK
"OW!!" Kikyo screeched.
Kagome winced, "Ooh..."
The crack wasn't from the wall...it was from Kikyo's thumb.
"My thumb!" Kikyo cried. "My thumb! My thumb! MY THUMB!"
"What did I tell you?" Inuyasha said calmly, proving his point. He picked up the mirror and hooked it back onto the wall. "So next time. Think twice about punching with your thumb underneath your fingers before you end up with a broken thumb."
Kikyo continued wailing like a broken record, "My thumb...my thumb...my thumb...my thumb..."
A vein popped in his forehead, "Okay, Kikyo. You can stop your crying and sit over in the resting area."
Inuyasha turned to Kagome, "Alright, Kagome. Time to get your ass kicked again."
She walked up to him and gave him a not-this-time-pal look, "You talk PRETTY big...wouldn't it be embarrassing if you DIDN'T beat me this time?"
"I'm your sensei," he replied. "I'm always going to beat you."
Kagome rolled her eyes and got into position. She felt her adrenaline roaring in her body.
"Not this time," she muttered. She launched a roundhouse kick, "HAI!!"
Her foot grazed his cheek.
"Getting mad now, are we?" Inuyasha smirked.
"Shut up!" she answered sharply and jammed her elbow into his solar plexus.
Inuyasha bit his lip as all the air was knocked out of his lungs.
'Damn wench' he thought. 'She actually got better.'
He grabbed onto her shoulders and gave her a huge head butt. Kagome cried out in agony.
"J-jerk," she sputtered and let out another cry as he did an unexpected sweep kick, knocking her to the ground. Out of reflex, she rolled away from his foot's reach and jumped back up into a fighting stance...and charged. She sent another kick at him. It whistled past his skull. Inuyasha caught hold of her leg and flipped her. She shrieked as she fell onto the floor, her back facing up. Kagome felt the heel of his foot grind into one of her shoulders.
"Erg," she grunted as she tried to sit up. She gave up. As long as that foot was on her shoulder, she wouldn't be able get up.
"Thank you, Kagome, for the wonderful work out," she heard Inuyasha smirk above her. "I told you...I'll ALWAYS beat you."
He withdrew his foot and Kagome sat up, brushing herself off.
'Just wait until I'm months into the session...' she thought grimly. 'Then I'LL be saying that to YOU.'
Training ended early by 10 minutes. Kikyo and Sango (who had insisted on wanting to escape a certain perverted monk) had left right after changing, while Kagome headed to the pond near the dojo and sat down on the grass. She let out a sigh and drew up her knees, resting her head on them.
"I'm so exhausted..." she murmured and closed her eyes.
"Aww, look at that. Kagome is still sulking from her defeat," a teasing voice said behind her.
She growled, "Go away, Inuyasha."
He sat down beside her instead. Kagome noticed that he was still in his gi.
"So..." he said after a moment. "Still mad?"
"What do you think?" she mumbled. "I hate it when you beat me."
He laughed, "Well, I LOVE it when I beat you. You always get mad, but you're cuter when you are."
When she gave him an odd look, Inuyasha replayed what he just said in his mind and reddened, "I-I mean..."
Kagome blinked, "Yes?"
"Anyways," he cleared his voice. "Don't worry, I'm positive you'll beat me someday. I expect you to."
"What?" Kagome raised her head slightly.
"I'm your sensei," he said, looking at the water of the pond. "I can only teach you what I know...so someday, you should know as much as me...and that's when I'll be waiting for you to beat me."
Inu Yasha sighed, "And if you don't, I'm going to very disappointed."
"I will," Kagome smiled.
"With a sensei like me, of course you will," he snorted. "All we've been doing now is practice...next week, we're going to start the REAL lessons."
A/N: Ooh...is that a threat? Anyways, I don't know if I told you guys already, but a few characters are going to be OOC in this fic...and I bet you can tell that Inuyasha is one of them. His more violent side will show up soon. I assure you.
More stuff happening soon! Please review!