On the Twelfth Day of Christmas
A/N: In which each day, Kagome gives Inuyasha a gift signed by his Secret Santa in hopes of bringing back his Christmas Spirit.
I got the idea from Hallmark as a prompt. I got the idea from Hallmark as a prompt. Im just using the idea for the story, the only thing I kept the same from the movie is the newspaper, so don't sue. I do not own Hallmark or Inuyasha and Co. So, enjoy! I'll post a ficlet a day until December 25th. Enjoy everyone!
Day Four December 15, 2016:
-IK-
Inuyasha grumbled when he heard a knock on his door. Bang barked as he slid of the bed and tugged the duvet off his owner. Looking at the clock, it flashed eight-fifty-two AM. Inuyasha swung his legs over the bedside as the knocking got louder. "Who the fuck is knocking on my door at fuckin' nine AM!" Bang was sitting by the door when he got to the bottom of the stairs and stomped to swing open the structure. "What?!" He hissed.
"Well, good morning to you too. I know it's Friday and you usually work from home, but I needed to drop this off." Sango thrust the package at him.
"Come in. Give it to Bang. I'll make some coffee. It's too early for this shit." He grumbled as he scratched his chest and headed off to put some clothes on.
Sango stepped in and handed Bang the package. The Great Dane carefully took the parcel and carried it to the kitchen. He jumped up- placing his paws on the counter- resting the brown parcel on the smooth surface. "You never cease to amaze me." Sango cooed as she rubbed his head gently, placing a kiss on his big, wet nose.
Bang barked happily.
Inuyasha walked in a few minutes later wearing a red tee shirt and some gray sweats. "Okay. Coffee first, gift second."
"So, whatever it is today, are you gonna invite Yura or Kagome?" Sango took a seat on one of the bar stools.
Stopping his movements, he took a moment to process the information. "I should probably ask Yura, see if she really is my secret santa, which I am almost certain she is, but I want to see Kagome. I just-" he put the small cup of coffee in the Keurig.
"Like her?"
"-"
"I thought so. Why won't you say anything to her?"
"Look, I think I should just see how this Yura thing works out."
"Why?"
"Because whoever my secret santa is could possibly be my soulmate." He pressed brew and stood back, crossing his arms.
"What if it's actually Kagome?" The brunette smirked. "She could be your soulmate."
"Keh. As if. She can't be my secret santa. She's too honest."
Sango sighed. "Fine. Open it. I'm curious." She tossed him the parcel which had slight slobber on it. She rubbed her hand on a nearby dish-towel. "Ew."
He chuckled as he opened the package. On the familiar red box was a gingerbread man made of brown stock paper covered in smaller, colorful pieces of paper. "Cute." Opening the lid, he picked up the note. "Ahem-"
One the fourth day of Christmas,
My Secret Santa gave to thee:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark molasses
2/3 cup cold water
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Merry Christmas, your Secret Santa
"What the actual fuck?" He gawked, pulling a bottle of sprinkles out of the box.
Sango took the note and laughed. "Oh my god! She wants you to bake cookies?!" The laughing got louder. "This is great! I don't think I ever seen you cook anything other than ramen." Tears lined Sango's eyes.
Inuyasha snatched the note from her. "Shuddup, woman! I can too cook other stuff!" He huffed, pulling out his cell phone. "I just never baked nothin'."
Sango laughed a little harder.
"Hello?"
"Hey, wench. It's me. Listen, can you come over?"
"Sure. Now?"
"Yeah. I got my fourth gift this morning."
"Okay."
"I need you to do me a favor and stop by the store on your way. I'll write a check for the stuff when you get here."
"Oh, sure. What do I need to get?"
"I'll text you the list."
"Sounds good. See ya soon!"
"Later." Inuyasha typed up the list of ingredients and sent it to Kagome. "Maybe you should leave."
Sango finally calmed down. "Okay, okay. But here-" she slid him a piece of paper. He looked at it and snarled. "-you know, in case you burn the house down."
"Out!" He pointed at the door.
Sango laughed once more. "Fine!" She made her way to the door. "Remember, 9-1-1 Inuyasha!"
"You're fired!" He growled.
"Sure. Sure." She closed the door leaving an embarrassed half-demon to stew in his kitchen. The bottle of sprinkles sitting on the counter mocked him.
"Keh."
-IK-
Kagome grinned like a fool in love the whole time she walked to Inuyasha's. The bag of ingredients swinging from her arms as she strode down the sidewalk. Part of her was thrilled he had called her and the other part of her felt guilty that he didn't call Yura -especially after the incident yesterday-. Walking down the street, she turned the corner to see his house straight ahead.
"Kagome." The raven-haired woman stopped to see Sango coming out of the hair salon.
"Hey, Sango. Where you off to?" She shifted her weight to accommodate the bags.
"To see Miroku. We have a lunch date." The brown eyed woman smiled at one another.
"I never told you how happy I am for the two of you. Miroku may be a pervert sometimes -er, most of the time- but he seems to really like you. The way he looks at you, it's like he's in love. That's saying a lot."
"Kinda like how you and Inuyasha look at one another." The woman grinned.
"I-I don't know what you mean." The rapid changing color of her face gave away every emotion she was feeling.
"I think you do. He thinks his Secret Santa is his soulmate. I wonder who it could be."
Kagome gulped. "I-I don't know."
"Well, whoever it is, is a brilliant woman. She's making him a better man every day." Sango winked at her then turned to continue on her way to the Gazette. "Well, you better hurry along. Inuyasha is waiting for you."
"Thank you." She whispered then her grin returned full force and she skipped the rest of the way to his house. She didn't notice the shadow of someone standing around the corner, hanging on to ever word spoken between the two.
Knock-Knock-Knock
Inuyasha opened the door. "Bout time you got here. Come on, it's freezing." He grabbed the bags from her and moved aside to let her in.
Shaking the snow from her shoulders and removing her boots, she followed him into the kitchen. "Sorry, I had to stop by the store per your request, dog-boy."
"Feh. Let's get this started then." He placed the bag on the counter.
"I don't think we'll need every bowl you have for this Inuyasha."
"Well, how would I know?!"
"Have you ever baked before?" She stood next to him.
"Yes-" she narrowed her eyes at him. "-no."
Laughing, she began to put the excess bowls away. "We need three bowls. Now, what are we making?"
"Christmas cookies, gingerbread men." He handed her the note.
"Oh, I love gingerbread! I use to make them with my mother every year."
Inuyasha stopped to stare at her again as her eyes lit up again. There's that damn feeling again. He growled. He could not be attracted to her, he had to give his Secret Santa a chance. "So, where do we start?"
"Mix the dry ingredients together. Flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt." She handed him the measuring cups of all different sizes.
Following her instructions, he added all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. When it came to the flour, he spilt some on the counter. "Damn." He muttered.
"It's okay. Here." She went to clean it up and knocked some flour our of the cup causing it to fly into his face. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
Inuyasha grinned. "Oh yeah?" He picked up a handful of flour and flicked it at her.
Her mouth fell open and she gasped as the white powder coated her entire face and her bangs. "No you did not just-"
"Yes I did." He tossed more at her.
"It's on!" She shouted in a battle-like cry and they began throwing flour at one another.
Soon the kitchen was covered in all-purpose flour and both occupants were panting. "I think we should save some for the cookies." Nodding her head to agree with him, she attempted to dust herself off. "So, now what?"
Kagome began to combine the other ingredients. She whisked everything together then turned to him. "Now, slowly pour the flour mixture in slowly while I mix."
He nodded and began to do as instructed. "Like this?" He looked up at her and noticed that he was bent down to her eye level. They locked gazes and both blushed.
"Uh, y-yeah." She stuttered, looking away. Her heart rate increased, her stomach erupted with those damn butterflies again and her face lit up like a christmas tree.
"Good." He whispered.
They continued in silence. Once the cookies were rolled out and cut into the shape of gingerbread men, Inuyasha's stomach growled. "How much longer?"
"We put them in for about twelve minutes. In the mean time, we make the icing." She pulled another bowl towards her while he put the cookies in the oven. "When you sent me the recipe, I figured it was cookies, so I bought the extra for homemade icing."
He smiled. "You're amazing." When her eyes widened and she looked up at him, he realized he said it aloud. "Uh-I mean- yeah."
"Thank you." She began mixing things together, separating the icing into different bowls and adding food coloring. "I got gumdrops and red-hots to- HEY! Don't eat the candy!"
Inuyasha gave her an innocent look as he shoved a handful of gumdrops in his mouth. "S'wy." He grinned, the candy lining his mouth.
She giggled. "No more!"
He swallowed the candy and frowned. "Fine, wench." Her eyes narrowed.
Beep-Beep-Beep-
"They are done." Kagome clapped.
Inuyasha popped the out onto the counter. "Now we eat them?"
"No. Now we decorate."
They spent the next hour decorating the cookies and smearing icing all over each other's faces and eating the cookies.
"Picture time." Kagome pulled out her phone. "Hold up a cookie and smile." Inuyasha did as told and once she took a picture, he pulled her closer.
"Selfie time. Pick out our best men." He held up one he decorated and she held up hers before aiming the camera and snapping a photo.
"You look cute with flour everywhere." He commented, looking at the picture and biting the head off his cookie.
Kagome blushed.
Empty milk glasses, flour, icing and dirty dishes lined the counter top once they finished.
"Let me stay and help clean."
"Nah. You need to head home. The snow is getting harder. I can walk you-"
"No thank you. You've done enough today and this kitchen is disastrous."
"Yeah, thanks to a certain wench!" Inuyasha teased.
"I said I would help clean up."
Inuyasha led her to the door. "You've been a great help today. I've never bake a thing in my life. In fact-" he leaned closer as she put her scarf on. "-I can only boil water to make ramen."
Kagome snorted. "I figured when you didn't know how to pre-heat the oven or measure flour."
Inuyasha blushed. "Yeah."
She opened the door. "Well, goodnight Inuyasha."
Before he realized what he was doing, Inuyasha lifted a clawed hand to swipe his thumb across her cheek, removing some icing from under her eye. "Goodnight."
The two were leaning so close to one another -their noses brushing- their lips maybe a hair's breath away, before Bang barked and the moment was gone. They jumped away, matching red cheeks donned their faces.
"I should get-"
"Y-yeah. See you tomorrow."
"T-tomorrow?" She stammered.
"The next gift."
"O-oh. I thought maybe you'd ask Yura."
Inuyasha's blush faded at the mention of Yura. A hint of anger flared in his voice. "Maybe I will, if hanging out with me bothers you so damn much."
Kagome reared back. "Excuse me?! You are the one who thinks she's your gift giver. I just figured you'd like to get to know her better!" The words tasted like vinegar in her tongue.
"Feh. Whatever."
"Goodnight Inuyasha. I had a great time." Kagome turned to run away, when a clawed hand grasped her wrist.
"Wait. I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get angry." He refused to look in her eyes.
"It's okay." She whispered. "I need to head home and work on the article. I'll see you tomorrow, dog-boy." Kagome grinned at him as his mouth fell open and he released her arm.
"Cheeky wench!" He hollered after her as she made a bee line for home. He smiled as he watched her scurry away. Shaking his head, he walked in and closed the door. When he stepped foot in the kitchen, he gawked. Inuyasha looked down at the Great Dane. "I'm guessing you're in no mood to help me clean up?"
Bang made a sneeze like noise and turn tail to walk away.
Inuyasha sighed. "Lazy ass dog." He muttered. "Could have at least licked up the icing." And as much as he hated cleaning, he just couldn't stop the grin that formed on his face.
If anyone could see him, they'd say he had the look of a fool falling in love.
-To Be Continued-
Until tomorrow my loves. Check back and see what day five has in store for our favorite couple!
