AN: Let me start by saying sorry for the once again late update. I know I actually started typing this chapter up early in the week, and I spent a lot of time on it on the weekend, but then I just came to a part of the chapter that I really didn't like so I kept changing it and changing it and changing it until I finally decided to stop with what I had because it was actually delaying what I did have planned. Plus, I had to get this chapter out eventually, and by the time I waited to have this chapter completely perfect, it would probably have been a long time. I guess it's just one of these chapters where no matter what I wrote, I wouldn't be happy with it.
Time to thank reviewers! I'd like to thank YASHA3393 and First and the Last Spartan for their reviews. Okay now time to get the disclaimer out the way then get on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I owe Inuyasha! See I have the registration papers and everything! (holds out papers) He's Akita cross Maltese and he'll be three years old this year! Oh yeah...but the anime and manga titled Inuyasha don't belong to me.
はじめ。
Chapter Four: Temper Tantrum
Everyone sat gathered around the fire that flickered inside of Kaede's hut, with the exception of a certain hanyou who had been slammed by Sango's Hiraikotsu for being stupid enough to sit cross legged while she had a short kimono on. Sango had insisted that Inuyasha should sit on her knees instead, however she had been stubborn as usual, and refused to do as the slayer said, thus she stood up, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.
"I see. Are ye sure that there was nothing else that ye missed?" Kaede had remained quiet during the explanation of Naraku's attack, so this was the first time she spoke up, after the group was finished that is – well more like when Miroku, Sango and Shippo were done explaining. Kagome hadn't wanted to say much on the topic and stayed unnaturally silent during the discussion, whereas Inuyasha only spoke to clarify any detail that the others had forgotten or mistaken.
Sighing in annoyance, Inuyasha then let her arms dropped to her side before stepping forward. "That was it! So now can ya tell me how to get out of this stupid form and return back to normal, ya old hag?!" Kaede's lips pursed and her one eye narrowed at the half demon. "Ye may look different Inuyasha, yet ye still have as atrocious manners as ever."
Inuyasha snorted then turned away with her eyes closing. "Keh! I didn't come here just to talk about what you thought about my manners." Her eyes snapped open now and she turned back to the elderly woman. "Now do ya know how to break this damned spell?!"
"Ney. Sadly I have never heard of such a spell." The old miko sighed. She thought for a moment, now thinking of how Naraku could have learnt of such an ancient spell. It was clear that if it used an old form of writing that the spell would of have to of been forgotten for many centuries. "So you don't know how to fix it?!" Inuyasha asked the old woman in thought with an incredulous tone.
Being aroused from her thoughts, Kaede only now noticed that Inuyasha, for the first time since entering her hut, was not as angry or impatient as she was before. She solemnly shook her head. "I do not know of a way to return ye back to your male self."
An awkward silence filled the room, only the sound of a hallow wind blowing in interrupted the deafening silence. Inuyasha stood there blinking, unsure of what to say, with every pair of eyes set upon her, waiting to see just when was the best time to get up and run out of the way of the demon's expected rampage. Her mouth hung open slightly due to the slackness of her jaw that came from the shock of what she heard. 'Am I hearing this right? No…it fucking can't be. I'm just hearing things. I'm fucking hearing things.' Just to prove that she was correct and that she only imagined hearing Kaede say she knew of no way to return her back to normal, Inuyasha dared to ask a question she half dreaded the answer to. "I ain't stuck like this, right? There's some way to get me back to normal, right? I am gonna turn back into a male?!"
The old woman began to poke the kindle in the fire, just to keep her hands busy and give her reason to avoid direct eye contact with the hanyou. "Calm yeself Inuyasha. There is no need to become hysteric at the prospect of…"
"Dammit old hag! Just tell me! Am I fucking gonna be a fucking female all my life?!"
Sighing, Kaede looked up to see the golden orbs that at the moment held all the suffering and torment that the owner's stubborn face refused to reveal. "I cannot be sure, however it does seem that there may be no way back to your normal form." Inuyasha took a step back from the shock of the answer. It took ages for those words to finally sink into the dog demon's thick skull. Though she had been expecting it, she had hoped against all odds to not hear it.
Everyone else in the room watched patiently, counting off the seconds in their head for when they expected to Inuyasha to blow up. 'Three…Two…One…' All minds counted as if synchronised. Just then Inuyasha's pupils contracted, indicating that she was finally over her shock and that the rampage was about to begin. Immediately a growl could be heard from the hanyou, and she glared at everything that dared to move, even breathe, in that room. "I'M FUCKING GONNA BE FUCKING STUCK LIKE THIS FOR THE FUCKING REST OF MY FUCKING DAMNED LIFE!! I DAMN WILL FUCKING KILL THAT BLOODY BASTARD AND FUCKING RIP OUT EVERY FUCKING DAMN DEMON FUCKING BODY PART THAT FUCKING MADE THAT SCREWED UP SICK BASTARD'S DAMNED BODY FOR THIS!! FUCK THAT BASTARD!! FUCK HIM!!" Suddenly she grabbed anything she could get her claws on and started tossing them around the room.
At this point, everyone, besides Kaede, got up and began running around the hut to avoid getting hit by whatever Inuyasha was tossing. In her blind rage, she didn't seem to even know where she was throwing anything. "Inuyasha! Watch where you're throwing things! That nearly hit us!" Kagome had grabbed Shippo – who was the one that yelled at Inuyasha for nearly hitting them – and then smartly ran to the door that lead to the back of the hut and stood there, leaning against the wall in order to hide her form as much as she could from the flying objects. Kilala had rushed under a broken bowl that Inuyasha had already tossed, hissing at any other object that flew near her location. Miroku had grabbed Sango upon getting up and they rushed over to the door, standing in the door way as they noticed that Inuyasha was only targeting the walls in order for the objects she threw to smash against them. However Miroku still stood in front of Sango with his staff out in front defensively in case any object went astray and tried to hit them.
"FUCK HIM!! FUCK HIM!! DAMN IT!!" Inuyasha continued to yell random expletives to express her anger, although she generally stuck with the plain "fuck him" line. After finally running out of objects to toss, she stopped, panting heavily from all the yelling she had done, glaring at the damage she had caused. Then, with one final shout, she yelled her loudest curse to date. "FUCK YOU NARAKU!! FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU!! FUCK YOU BASTARD!!"
Meanwhile, in the peaceful and quiet village, Inuyasha's curses could be heard loud and clear throughout the small village, causing villagers to pause in what they're doing and look up in the direction of where all the yelling came from. The yelling was in fact so loud that even birds hidden in the trees of the forest fled in fear, scrambling in the skies in a disorganised fashion.
Even some of the children of the village that had been chasing each other around playful froze in their game to listen to the curses. "Hey…what does that word mean?" A small boy asked, looking at the other children who merely blinked at him in equal confusion. "Which word?" A young girl asked the boy, who was probably only no less than two years older than her.
"You know, fuck. That lady seems to be yelling it a lot."
"Maybe she just likes it." Another boy shrugged at the numerous possibilities of what the word could mean.
The youngest of the group, a girl with short high pigtails, then clapped her hands together as she thought she figured what the word meant. "I know! Maybe it's a compliment, if she's saying it that much."
"Fuck you." The first boy said, testing out how it sounded. "Actually, it doesn't sound that bad."
"Let me try!" Another girl stated, now looking at the second boy that spoke. "Fuck you!" She then giggled. "I think it sounds funny."
The first girl to talk then smiled. "I know, we should go around and tell the whole village that then. I'm sure they'll like it." Every other child nodded, some saying some statements of agreements. Then the group of children began skipping around the village, yelling "Fuck you!" to anyone that they passed. Boy, wouldn't the village be surprised. Not to mention, imagine how happy their parents would be when they get home and tell them of the new word they learnt.
"She's gone insane." Miroku muttered to Sango while keeping a cautious eye on Inuyasha just to make sure that she didn't find anything else to throw and toss it at them. "We need to stop her before she decides to start ripping parts of the hut off and toss those about in the village."
Sango nodded as she chanced stepping out from behind Miroku now that she was sure it was safe temporarily (well as long as Inuyasha didn't have anything to throw). "You're right. But at this rate Inuyasha is even more unreasonable than usual." And they both knew how hard it was to talk to Inuyasha when she wasn't angry, but now she was behaving beyond being reasoned with. 'If only Inuyasha hadn't upset Kagome by what she said about Kikyo those days ago. I'm sure if Kagome did talk to her, Inuyasha would stop – male or not – Inuyasha would still listen to Kagome.' Sango was so sure of this, but the problem was to actually get Kagome to forgive Inuyasha long enough to be able to talk to her and calm the half demon down.
"Inuyasha's really mad. I hope that she doesn't decide to throw me like that now that she's ran out of objects to smash." Shippo watched the scene from the safety of behind Kagome's head. However, the priestess from the future seemed distracted. 'Inuyasha…all this damage he's causing, did it hurt that much for him to know that he couldn't return back to normal? I didn't think that he would…he never acted this way before when this first happen.' At that thought, Kagome suddenly felt realisation hit her when she remembered her behaviour for the pass four days. 'No, that's wrong. Even if it wasn't breaking objects like this, he has been acting different. The way he rushed to get here, yelling more than usual, all those hurtful things he said…he even regularly admitted he hated being a female. How didn't I notice this before? Was I being that ignorant because he had upset me in that argument…'
"Kagome, Kagome. Kagome! Are you alright?"
"Huh?" Finally she noticed that Shippo had been trying to call her attention for however long she had fazed out to think. A small blush crept up on her cheeks as she realised this. "Sorry Shippo. I was just thinking…what was it that you said?"
Shippo stared at the older woman in concern before blinking it off and deciding that he should let it go seeing as Kagome was always blanking out to think about things that he usually did not want to know about. "It wasn't that important, but I was wondering if something was wrong since you weren't saying anything."
An anime sweat drop formed as Kagome nervously smiled to try and conceal her embarrassment. "I'm fine Shippo." Suddenly her eyes widened as she remembered who her thoughts were about and then glanced back to see that Inuyasha had finally stopped throwing things about. "He stopped. Shippo, I need you to stay here." Without even letting the fox child reply, she gently placed him down and then ran out of her hiding spot and rushed over to the hanyou.
"Wait, Kagome!" Shippo called out yet it seemed like Kagome wasn't listening, again. He sighed then sat down. "Why did she call Inuyasha a he? I thought we agreed to call her a she now." The kitsune muttered, noticing the slip in Kagome's speech when she was referring to Inuyasha before leaving.
By now, it seemed that Inuyasha figured that she had ran out of whole objects to chuck, yet she still felt like destroying something so settled with smashing the debris of the already smashed and broken objects she just threw. Picking up the nearest broken piece she could find, she raised her arm and prepared to throw it yet someone had caught her wrist and stopped her from achieving her goal. "Hey! What the hell are ya…Kagome?!" Inuyasha turned to yell at the person that had stopped her, yet she froze when she saw that the person was indeed Kagome.
"Inuyasha, stop what you're doing. You're destroying all of Kaede's items and at the rate you're throwing things you might hit someone." Kagome stated in a strong yet calm tone. She gently pulled Inuyasha's arm down, causing the hanyou to drop the item she was holding, shattering it on the ground in many pieces from the impact of the drop. "I know that you're upset about not being able to change back…"
"Upset?! Who said that I was fucking upset?!" Inuyasha snapped, now glaring at Kagome – though unintentional as she was merely angry yet looking at Kagome at the say time – her voice now steadily rising to soon yell if she wasn't stopped. "I just want to fucking kill that fucking sick and twisted bastard that did this to me!"
Kagome felt her free hand balling up into a fist as she now frowned at the half demon for what she saw as her selfishness. "And you think that what Naraku did was only affecting you! What about the rest of us?! Didn't you think that it wouldn't have hurt anyone else to see you like this?! That the way you're treating everyone else and taking your anger out on all of us wasn't going to affect anyone?! I know that you don't like being a female and that at the moment you probably have never hated Naraku anymore than you do now, but didn't you even bother to think that maybe you're not the only one that's hurt by all this?!" By now her eyes were stinging, tears threatening to fall yet she never allowed it. She held them back, and held back the many more things she had also wished to say at that exact moment. Right now she felt wasn't the time.
Inuyasha stared at Kagome, stunned at what she had said yet none of that was apparent on her expression. Instead she looked deep in thought, almost like she was trying to see inside of Kagome's mind. 'Did all this really hurt Kagome that much? But why should it affect her at all? It's not like we're…I'm not even sure what I should be thinking at the moment about this.' For the first time, she had forgotten about being furious about what had happened to her – actually Inuyasha had almost forgotten that she was female at this point – and with her free hand she placed it on Kagome's cheek. "Kagome…I didn't know that…I didn't really mean to, I mean that I just never thought about it…"
"It's okay." After saying that, Kagome felt a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders, although that didn't completely make her feel better, but it was a very good start. A small smile graced her features as she leaned into Inuyasha's touch, content with the sensation she was getting from feeling the demon's hand gently stroke her cheek. It felt nice to just be here with the woman…at that Kagome froze, then gasped at what she had just been thinking and instantly ripped herself away from Inuyasha's touch.
Tilting her head in confusion, Inuyasha blinked at the priestess in confusion while she panted like she had just ran a kilometre. "Kagome? Is something wro-" Then it hit her and the hanyou mentally slapped herself for not realising before she had done what she did. She was still a female and here she was, trying to move onto another female. Lowering her head so that her bangs would cover her expression, Inuyasha noticed the state of the hut due to her actions. "I'm gonna go for a run…a long run." With that she made her way towards the door, where Miroku and Sango had been standing yet silently stepped out of the way in order for Inuyasha to pass.
Once the hanyou was gone, there was a long silence in the room – where Kilala had decided to come out of her hiding spot and curled up in front the fire, enjoying its warmth – that was soon broken by Kaede, who had not moved from her position near the fire since Inuyasha had been destroying the items in her hut. "I had hoped that Inuyasha wouldn't have caused that much of a mess for me to clean up. Some of these items won't be easy to replace." She sighed warily before standing up, knowing that if she didn't clean up the mess now it would be harder to start cleaning later on. "I suggest that ye all watch where ye step." With that warning she then walked into the other room to get a broom.
"Well Kagome, lucky you stopped her when you did. Who knows what Inuyasha would have resorted to breaking if she ran out of items to throw." Miroku said, though in a good-natured tone in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere of the room. Unfortunately it wasn't working.
"Do you think that Inuyasha will forgive me?" Kagome suddenly asked, though to no one in particular. Slowly she turned to look at her friends who watched her with concerned expressions. Almost immediately, Sango had walked up to her friend and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Forgive you for what? Kagome, you haven't done anything wrong to apologise for."
However the younger girl shrugged her shoulders, causing Sango's hand to fall off her shoulder. "Yes I have. I haven't been there for Inuyasha when she needed me most. I was too busy keeping a grudge just because of a stupid argument and didn't bother to see that she was hurt by this change." Although what Kagome had done – or didn't do – wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Sometimes when one felt guilty about something it is easier to blame themself to an extend where they really hadn't done as bad as they thought; it usually makes one feel better when they realise that they haven't done as much as they've blamed themself for. And at this moment, Kagome was doing the same thing to herself.
"Don't think that Kagome. You did have a right to be angry at that time, and it's not like you've done anything wrong to Inuyasha. In fact, she didn't even know you were angry with her for anything. She must of only thought you were being quiet those three days because you were tired from the lack of rest we got." Which was true, although Sango guessed the last part. Albeit that said wasn't enough to convince Kagome – despite that half of what was said being a guess, Sango had actually heard Inuyasha admit it the rest herself.
Before Kagome could blame herself anymore, Shippo suddenly jumped on her shoulder and interrupted whatever the girl had intended to say. "Yeah Kagome, besides it's not like you were the only one. Actually, you were probably the only one that didn't annoy Inuyasha about the transformation." He then placed a small finger under his chin in thought as he was saying this.
Both Sango and Miroku looked at Shippo with baffled looks, wondering what either of them had done to annoy Inuyasha about her misfortune. It wasn't like either of them teased the half demon about it. "What? Shippo, we wouldn't have…" Sango began then trailed off as she tried to remember anything she could have done that referred to what the kit was talking about. Miroku too thought of what they could have done wrong, yet decided it was easier to simply ask Shippo what he was referring to. "What makes you think that we would have done something to cause Inuyasha further discomfort in her condition?"
Shippo turned to Miroku and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Well, Miroku, you keep on asking Inuyasha to take off her kimono so that you could see what a naked female body looks like when neither Kagome or Sango are around to hear it." At that mention, Miroku's face suddenly paled as he saw Sango giving him a glare that could of shot daggers at him, if she had that ability that is. "Oh you have?"
"It's not exactly like that, Sango!" The monk was waving his hands in front of him in a defensive manner, as if the protect himself. Although if Sango had really wanted to hurt him, Miroku would of needed more than to just wave his hands about. "I was merely curious, and besides, Inuyasha has never actually refused. She just…didn't want to because she didn't want to see her own body until it was back to normal." Unfortunately that just convinced Sango to smack the lecherous monk before turning her back on him. "No wonder she's always in a bad mood by the time Kagome and me return after leaving you two alone."
Now Shippo's accusatory finger turned to point at Sango. "And you, Sango, you're always hitting Inuyasha when she's not behaving in a way a girl should, even though she's never been a girl before and wouldn't know." Blinking for a moment, Sango then blushed as she remembered all those couple of hundred of arguments they had when they stop because Inuyasha had done something like try to sit cross legged or mention something about a woman's body that should not be said aloud, especially with a kid and a pervert around to hear and then she would hit her with her Hiraikotsu for it. "Well…after a while she should of gotten the idea and shouldn't have continued doing it…" Though she knew it was no use trying to say that; Inuyasha was still a male at mind and heart and it was bound to take a big hit to her male ego by being force to act like a female when looking like a female was already diminishing her pride with every day she remained a girl.
With that said, Shippo then crossed his arms and nodded, more for effect than because he agreed with anything that either adult said. "Kagome's probably the only one that didn't do anything that would hurt Inuyasha's pride. And Inuyasha has a big ego…she can never stop thinking that she's so strong or brave because she's too stupid to tell anyone what she's feeling or thinking. And she thinks she's tough cause she acts like a big bully by always hitting me on the head, and kicking me, and throwing me far away, and pulling me by the tail, and taking my food from me then eating it right in front of me, and calling me a baby all the time, and threatening to use me to sharpen her claws, and acting like a big jerk all round…" At that point Shippo had completely forgotten that he was trying to make Kagome feel better by pointing out that Miroku and Sango had been unintentionally irritating Inuyasha about her transformation into a girl much more than what she had been, and was now ranting about all the mean things Inuyasha did to him.
Exchanging nervous glances, the slayer and monk figured that they were in the clear, as Shippo appeared to have forgotten his point. So, just to be sure that Shippo wouldn't remember what he was about to say before he had gotten sidetracked by ranting about Inuyasha's faults, Miroku decided to turn the conversation back to where it was before. "Kagome, you shouldn't be blaming yourself for the way Inuyasha feels. Ever since Naraku's attack, she hadn't told anyone what she was thinking or how she felt about it. No one could have possibly known that she despised being female as much as her actions showed here."
"That's right. You haven't done anything wrong, so you don't need to feel like it's your fault. Besides, all you can do now is try to be supportive when Inuyasha comes back." Sango chanced patting Kagome's back, hoping that she wouldn't pull away again. This time though, Kagome allowed her friend's attempts to comfort her to have some affect. "I guess you're both right." She then turned towards the window and glanced outside into the cloudy sky. "I'm gonna help Kaede clean up then. It'll be a while since Inuyasha will come back so I think we may be here for a while." 'Maybe I could visit my family while I'm here too. I know that I saw them about a fortnight ago but after we get going again I won't know when I'll be back to see them.' Kagome contrived as she was about to head towards the room that Kaede had went into to tell her that she was going to help.
"I'll help too. With this mess, Kaede needs all the help she can get." Sango added with a nod.
"Can I help too?" Shippo asked Kagome from her shoulder, which resulted in Kagome taking him off her shoulder and then holding the fox child affectionately in her arms. "Of course you can. And thanks Sango, I'm sure it'll be faster with the four of us."
While the two females were about to go offer their service to help clean, Miroku started edging back towards the door. This was definitely an opportunity to go around the village to flirt with women without needing to worry about Sango finding him for quite a while. "Well…I'll see you beautiful ladies after you've finished-" Unfortunately Sango seemed to have read his mind and swiftly caught his ear and pulled him back into the hut. "Where do you think you're going?"
Wincing slightly both at the pain from Sango pulling his ear and from the harshness of her tone, Miroku looked at the slayer through the sides of his eyes yet managed to keep his voice calm and collective, although the underlying guilt was quite noticeable. "I was merely leaving as to not get in your way while you cleaned."
"Oh you won't be getting in the way, because you'll be helping us." Sango insisted more than stated, and without letting the monk reply she dragged him over to the room that Kaede was in, continually keeping a vice grip on Miroku's ear to foil all his chances at escape.
Night had arrived so soon and with all the cleaning and helping Kaede to get some replacements for the items that she would use for medicine, in case any emergency occurred where one of the villagers fell ill or was severely injured, no one had wanted to do anything else after they completed fixing the hut up after Inuyasha's tantrum. The day had been very uneventful, although considering that everyone had worked exhaustedly to return to the village then assisting with the cleaning no one had minded having the extra time to rest.
They spent most of the night merely talking about any topic that came into their mind. Currently, Miroku, Sango and Kaede were discussing any leads that there could possibly be in order to find Naraku's whereabouts; during the conversation Sango had been repeatedly stroking Kilala's fur, who was purring contently at the comforting touch. Kagome had been apart of the conversation moments ago though withdrew when Shippo had rushed up to her with a book in his hand (which he found in her bag) that he wanted her to read to him. Still she continued to read the book that was found in her bag.
"Kagome?" Pausing in the middle of the sentence she read, Kagome looked up at the fox child who sat contently in her lap, a curious expression on his young face. "Yes Shippo?"
"Why doesn't this Beast guy let Belle go see her father?" Kagome had been reading the story Beauty and the Beast, and Shippo had been very interested in the story thus far, especially by seeing the vibrant pictures in the book and looking at the strange photogenic characters that he recalled Kagome calling them "kanji". He wasn't completely sure what kanji was, although every once and a while he could recognise something as katakana or hiragana within the text.
"Well, because he's afraid that if he lets her go that he'll lose her forever."
"But she promised that she wouldn't leave. Why won't he believe her?"
"Because he probably doesn't think that she could be happy by staying with someone like him."
"Why?"
"She's beautiful and kind hearted and he doesn't even appear or act human anymore. He obviously thinks that because of what he is that she wouldn't accept him unless he forces her to stay."
That curious expression of Shippo's from before was now replaced by a flat one when his questioning had ended. "That's stupid. Can't he see that if he stopped acting like a jerk towards her that she'd like him more?" He then crossed his little arms though his gaze turned back to the book, fixated by the pictures once again.
"He's been isolated for years now. I doubt he knows how to behave around another human being anymore." Smiling now, Kagome then put the book down and wrapped one arm around the kit then used her free hand to affectionately ruffle his red locks. "Besides, I think that he's just insecure and lonely really." After that she began combing her fingers through Shippo's hair to straighten it out after having messed it up.
When Kagome's hand fell from his hair, Shippo then picked up the book that they were reading and took a closer look at the characters in the scene. The kanji running along the side of the book explain of how Belle had asked to go see her father however the Beast hadn't wanted her to leave his castle and grew angry at her request. In the picture Shippo could see Belle looked distraught while the Beast was walking away with a scowl on his face. He squinted in concentration before suddenly looking up at Kagome with a smile. "You know, Belle and the Beast kinda remind me of you and Inuyasha, when she was a male that is."
Being completely caught off guard by that remark, Kagome blinked in astonishment and just managed to catch her jaw as it was about to drop. With every moral fibre of her body, she managed a convincingly calm tone. "How's that Shippo?"
"Well, Inuyasha never lets you go see your family but when you do you always come back. She's afraid that you'll leave her even if she's too stubborn to admit it, but you won't leave unless she does something really stupid yet she still doesn't get it. She's insecure, lonely and gets jealous when other men are around you easily. You're always being nice and understanding to her, even when she doesn't deserve it. And she yells a lot and break things a lot when she gets angry."
An anime sweat drop fell from Kagome's forehead as she laughed nervously at what Shippo had just said. 'It's strange how that's true, but when he puts it like that he makes it sound like that Inuyasha and I are a couple or something.'
"Speaking about your family, Kagome didn't you say that you were going to go back to your time to visit them while you were here?" Sango interjected, temporarily causing everyone's attention to turn to her, and then to Kagome as they waited a response. However, all this caused Kagome to avert her gaze to the ground nervously as she pushed her two index fingers against each other. "About that…I just thought that I'd wait until Inuyasha returned."
Ever since Inuyasha had left to go on that run earlier, no one had seen or heard of any sign of her returning. Though they all suspected that she was still in the forest, at this point no one knew how much later she would stay out, or if Inuyasha would return that day at all. "Kagome, you know we could always tell Inuyasha that you're at home when she returns, if that's what you're concerned about." Miroku offered, however besides him Sango was frowning at the suggestion. "They're your family though. I don't know why you really need to tell Inuyasha that you're going back to your home to see your family that you barely ever get to see anymore. Besides, if you did tell her it's not like she'll agree with the idea despite that we'll probably be here for a few days to restock supplies."
Kagome shook her head at what her friends were telling her before stopping to look at everyone with a straight expression. "No, it's not because Inuyasha would want to know that I'm going. It's just that we haven't heard from her all day, and I'm worried that something might of happened to her."
"Ye know that once we tell Inuyasha that ye've returned home, she'll most likely follow after ye through the well in no time." Kaede alluded, knowing well that Inuyasha would do that the moment she found out that Kagome left for her era and that that way, Kagome would be able to see for herself that Inuyasha was alright once she arrived in her time.
However that did little to ease her. In fact it only increased her concern. "But what if something did happen to her? No one else can get through the well and I wouldn't be able to know until I get back, when it's too late. No. I'll wait until I see that Inuyasha is back here safe with my own eyes before I go home."
There didn't seem to be anything that would convince Kagome otherwise, other than to see Inuyasha in the same physical condition she left in with her own eyes. Sighing in defeat, Sango closed her eyes for a second before opening them to look at her friend sympathetically. "Alright. I guess we can't really force you to go home if you're that worried."
"Thanks." With that being settled, Shippo tugged on Kagome's sleeve then held out the open book to her once she looked at him. "Kagome, I want to know what happens next. This story is pretty interesting." Smiling all of the sudden, Kagome took the book and held it out so that Shippo could see the pictures as she read it to him. "I'm sorry, I forgot about your story! Sure. Besides it's one of my favourites so I want to get to the end too." The two were once again emerged in the story.
Watching the pair for a split second, Kaede, Sango and Miroku soon turned back to the conversation the three of them were having before. Though just as they were about to continue, Kilala's head perked up, causing Sango to look down, startled slightly at the sudden movement of her feline companion. "Kilala? What is it?"
The kitten's big red eyes blinked as she stared up at the ceiling. She meowed quizzically, tilting her head to the side before glancing back at the demon exterminator besides her and then rubbed herself against the hand that hovered over her head. With another meow, this one of approval, Kilala then returned to the position she was curled up into before.
Allowing her hand to continue stroking the small cat, albeit half-heartedly, Sango then looked at Kaede and Miroku to see whether either of them was thinking of checking out what Kilala seemed to have sensed. "Is something wrong, child?" Kaede asked, more pondering of whether what Kilala had sensed was something that they should be worried about or something better to ignored.
"I think Kilala sensed something. But I'm not completely sure whether it's something to be concerned about." Glancing down at the feline demon, Sango soon turned back to look at the wisen priestess. "It doesn't appear that much of a threat if Kilala has already ignored its presence." She concluded and relaxed noticeably. However Sango didn't seem so reassured by this. In the back of her mind she felt as if it were better to go investigate.
It appeared Miroku thought along the same lines as Sango, as he then stood up. "I'll go check. There's a possibility that it may be a demon lurking around the village." 'Besides, for a moment I thought I sensed a demonic energy nearby but it seems almost faint now.' As he was about to make his way to the door, he paused as he could hear the movement of a heavy weapon behind him.
"I'll come with you." Sango was in her battle suit, adjusting her Hiraikotsu to her back. "If you think that it's a demon then you may need some help."
"Sango, I appreciate the offer, however I'm certain that if it is indeed a demon, it shouldn't be that dangerous if Kilala barely even reacted to its presence." Miroku had said yet in truth he was more worried that if there was a demon that was powerful enough to hide its energy, he didn't want to risk Sango's safety by having her come with him. "It's most likely to be a weak demon that fled from the forest due to Inuyasha either hunting something down to kill or her random destruction of the environment."
It took a moment for Sango to internally argue with herself whether she should insist on going or just trust that Miroku's presumption was correct before she came up with a decision. "I suppose you may be right. Just be careful out there, okay?"
Suddenly Miroku just appeared in front of Sango, now grasping her hands in his own. "I never knew that you cared so-" He was cut off by one of Sango's infamous slaps. "Would it kill you to keep your hands out where I can see them instead of groping my ass?" She glared at the monk dangerously as the offending appendage removed itself from her buttocks and came into plain view to caress its owner's smarting cheek. As Miroku opened his mouth to speak, Sango gave him a look that instantly silenced the monk. "Maybe you should go out and find whatever caught Kilala's attention before I-"
Before Sango could even finish her threat, Miroku was already standing by the door, ready to exit the hut. "I understand, so just excuse me." And he was gone before the last word even left his mouth. Sometimes Sango could scare the hell out of him, however, no matter what threat she used or how many times she beat him up, he still couldn't help how he felt about her – and about groping her butt.
"Can't ya fucking keep that hand to yourself for even one day, ya pervert?" Miroku turned this way and that way to see who had spoken, although he saw no one there. That voice, he barely recognised it yet he was sure he knew the speaker. Suddenly he looked up at the roof of the hut only to see Inuyasha standing there, half hidden in shadows. "Inuyasha? So you heard th- wait how long have you been up there?"
Aside from the golden eyes and silver locks, Miroku could barely see anything more of Inuyasha's form. The rest of the hanyou's body was a shadowy figure with the outline of Inuyasha's newly formed figure. "Long enough."
Squinting in the darkness, Miroku attempted to get his eyes adjusted to the lack of light to be able to see his friend clearly. Unfortunately even once his eyes were adjusted he still could barely see Inuyasha's body. "Well then you should know that Kagome has been worried about you ever since you've left. You should go into the hut now and see her so that she can – well if you came down here and go inside you could find out for yourself."
"Oi shut up!" Inuyasha snapped down to the monk on the ground, narrowing her eyes at him. "I can damn well hear ya good enough without you talking loud enough to wake the whole damn village!"
'I'm not talking that loud…if anything only Sango, Kagome, Shippo and Kaede should be able to hear us if they stopped talking. It doesn't seem like Inuyasha has gotten over her anger from this morning.' Shaking his head, Miroku then spoke in a soften voice, though knew that Inuyasha was quite capable of hearing it from where she stood. "Maybe if you came down here then I wouldn't need to talk as loud as you think I'm talking."
"I can hear ya just fine like this." Inuyasha grunted in a voice that Miroku had to strain his hearing just to catch every word of it. "Anyway, I was just wondering if Kagome was alright?"
"She's fine, but if you would go in and see her then you would know that."
"What the hell are you doing out here anyway?"
"Kilala sensed something moving nearby and I thought I sensed a demon for a second…turned out to be you. Could you come down here? I can't even tell if you're looking this way or not."
Two glowing orbs of gold suddenly focused on the monk, and now Miroku was certain that Inuyasha was indeed looking at him. "Does it matter? I said I'm listening."
"What are you trying to hide? You're acting as if you don't want me to see you, nor do you appear to want to go inside and see Kagome despite that she's been waiting all this time to see you before she can go back to her own home."
There was a moment of silence, only the sound of crickets from the forest and the twitching of Inuyasha's ears could be heard. "Naraku's watching over the village and forest, she can't go back."
"What? How did you…"
"I'll be back by morning. Don't try to follow me or anything." With that the shadowy figure that was Inuyasha leapt off, leaving no signs that she was ever standing on that rooftop.
Miroku merely blinked in confusion, though before he could call out anything to stop Inuyasha he noticed that light bathed over him as Sango had slid the mat that covered the door, allowing the light from inside to radiate outside as well. "Miroku? Is everything alright? We could hear you talking to someone."
There was a small mental debate in the monk's head as to whether he should tell Sango what had happened or not say a word about it. "Inuyasha was here but then she ran off." Better to put the blame on Inuyasha than to make Sango think that he was crazy, at least that was Miroku's reason for saying what he said. "She was behaving very unusual too when we talked."
Stepping out from the doorframe of the hut, Sango glanced around in hopes to see the hanyou mentioned, however she knew that if Inuyasha had ran off then by then she would definitely be well out of sight. "Inuyasha was here? But why didn't she come in to say anything, and why did she leave again?"
Not knowing the answers himself, Miroku simply shrugged. "I'm not sure. Even when we talked she was hiding in the shadows to not show herself. I think she possibly doesn't want to be seen."
"For what reason? You think that after we saw her as a female there would be nothing more embarrassing for her to want to hide from us."
Again Miroku shrugged, and then sighed for all the questions that were being left unanswered because of this event. "I don't know. Although I think it may have something to do with Naraku. She did say that he was watching over the village and forest. It may be that there was something else to that spell and he was only waiting for it to emerge."
"Naraku…he's certainly causing more trouble in this past week than usual." The slayer frowned as she thought of what was said before suddenly thinking of something else. "If Naraku's watching us then Kagome can't go back home."
"That was what Inuyasha said before she left again."
"Should we go look for her?"
"No. She said that she would be back by morning and that she didn't want anyone following her. I think we should at least wait until morning."
Sighing, Sango reluctantly nodded. "I suppose we should tell Kagome then. It may be hard but if Inuyasha went off on her own while Naraku is somehow watching us then there's a possibility that she could be in trouble. If anything does happen then it would only be harder to tell Kagome that this happened later on than what it would be now."
"You're right." It seemed like the moment they returned to the village, instead of getting the rest they longed for they were only stricken with more worry. Gradually the pair walked back into the hut, preparing to tell Kagome what had happened and to figure a way to stop her from running after the half demon that requested that she'd be left alone for at least tonight.
Now some fair distance away from the village, although not too far for her not to be aware of a possible attack in the village, Inuyasha landed gracefully on the ground then leaned her back against a tree of the forest. Shafts of moonlight radiated down on the half demon through the gaps in the trees, causing her silver hair to gleam just as the stars did and an ethereal glow to the tanned flesh on her torso. Strips of the torn part of her kimono seldom covered her revealing bust.
"Damn that asshole's demons. I only just get here and already I fucking can't stay in the village cause of what that bastard's demons did to me." During her "walk", she had ran into many of Naraku's annoying yet weak demons. It seemed as if whatever plan the despicable hanyou had concocted did not just end with turning Inuyasha into a female. Though that was the last thing on Inuyasha's mind. All she could think of was wanting to cause more pain and suffering to the stupid demon that had ripped the top of her kimono off, now leaving her topless. 'Too bad I killed that puny demon quickly. If I realised sooner what that idiot did I would have made sure it'd suffer.'
As a result, Inuyasha now had to wait until the robe of the Fire Rat repaired itself so that it could cover her adequately enough for her to return to the village – and this time actually allow someone to see her. She didn't even want her friends to know that she was currently topless, despite that Kagome and Sango were female so should be able to see her naked without too much concern. Although Inuyasha still felt embarrassed, as she still had the mentality of a male and to her, even though they were going to look at a female body, it was still her half naked body.
'Bet I got a lot to explain when I get back. Feh…like I'll mention this. I'll just let them think whatever they want…well probably except Miroku. He most likely thinks I left for some perverted reason, that lecher.' Those thoughts were interrupted by an annoying small prick into the skin of her neck. On instinct, Inuyasha slapped the spot of the bite, then lowered her hand to wait for the offender to float down into her palm. "Myoga, what the hell are ya doing out here at this hour?!"
The now flattened flea, inflated his own body after landing in the palm of his master. "Master Inuyasha, I was just…" Myoga paused in his explanation as he suddenly realised two large, round, fleshy breasts were sticking out of a chest that once looked more board and flat. Bulging eyes gingerly rose to see the face of a woman that looked so akin to the annoyed face the old flea was accustomed to seeing. "Master, do you know that you look like a woman?"
Suddenly a fist squashed the poor flea that was in her palm. An anime tick throbbed on Inuyasha's temple from the sheer stupidity of the question her so-called retainer had asked. "Ya think I'd not know that?!" Raising her fist from her palm, Myoga was flattened once again before inflating himself to his pudgy form. "So what reason are ya here for now? Figured it would be safe enough to return from your hiding spot?"
Completely disregarding the insult due to the shock of what he was seeing, Myoga proceeded to finding answers to the many questions he had about Inuyasha's transformation. "How did this happen? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me that you were going to change your gender?!" He bounced repeatedly on the palm that had caught him from falling to the ground previously as to look Inuyasha in the eye (well as much as flea could).
"Don't be stupid, Myoga! I didn't choose to be this way!" Inuyasha snapped, causing an end to the excessive jumping. It took all of her restraint (which wasn't much to begin with) to not squish the small nuisance. Although Inuyasha was sure that one more idiotic remark would be what would do Myoga in. "That damned Naraku did this to me."
One set of arms crossed, while with the other set, Myoga used one arm to support the other as it held his chin up in thought. "Why would Naraku want you female?"
"He's a fucking twisted, sick, sadistic bastard! That's all the reason he needs. Besides, even if I could find out, I probably wouldn't want to know what's going through that sick bastard's screwed up mind."
"How did he manage to transform you?"
"Some stupid spell of his." Inuyasha shrugged her shoulders lightly as she replied, knowing eventually she would need to recount the events again. Of course, Myoga had to ask what was being expected of him. "Spell?"
"He wrote some kana in my forehead then pressed on it and then this happened."
Now Myoga was jumping up and down once again, excitement growing of hearing how the spell was done. Although he knew that he shouldn't be enjoying anything that causes his master any dismay, he was unable to help the curiosity that may be able to be satisfied by finding out these few details. "What did he write?"
"How the fuck would I know?! It was on my forehead! Ain't like I got an eye that's sticking out of my head and facing straight at my forehead to see what's going on there!"
"So you don't know what Naraku wrote on your forehead?"
"I just said that, didn't I?" There was a slight growl in Inuyasha's tone with this reply, which Myoga had fortunately heard so knew to stop asking more questions about what kana was used for the spell. He stopped bouncing and sighed in disappointment. If only he had some way to find out what had been written. However, Myoga's line of thought was interrupted by the irked hanyou. "Is that all or do ya have anymore stupid questions to ask?"
"Actually…" Myoga looked up at Inuyasha with a sheepish expression. "I was wondering. Since you're a female now, should I still be calling you Master Inuyasha or Mistr-" Before that word was completed, Myoga had been crushed by a clawed hand that subsequently tossed his flattened body to the ground before using her heel to grind the flea into the ground. Once Inuyasha was done punishing the flea, she leapt up into a tree and sat on a branch with her back to the spot she knew where Myoga was pulling himself from the ground.
After his body inflated to its proper three dimensional form, Myoga looked up wearily. Well he certainly got his answer, although he wished that Inuyasha could have answered in a much more survivable way. 'Note to self. Never attempt to call the Master a Mistress when she's within earshot.' It was just fortunate that he was immortal, otherwise the old flea knew he would not have lasted this long being Inuyasha's retainer.
おわり。
AN: I remember the first time I wrote it, it had much more angst in it. Also it was going to end with a bit more progress having happened. Though I guess I was getting carried away again and decided to wait until next chapter. Don't worry, next chapter will pick up on some of the things that were missed out this chapter. I'm still not so happy about this chapter...only the tantrum at the beginning was really what stuck with my plan but everything else was different. Well...I was going to bring Myoga in, but at first it was a under different circumstances.
Anyway, so you might of noticed that Inuyasha and Myoga referred to the Japanese characters as kana, even though before Inuyasha said it was man'yogana that was written in his forehead. Well I decided to do a bit of research, and turns out that all the different forms of writing (hiragana, katakana, hentaigana and man'yogana) are kana, but kanji is something completely different. Well not completely different, but it comes under a different category. Anyway. For this story, I'm supposing all the characters use hentaigana as this form of writing was used up until the Meji Period (which is about 3 periods after the Sengoku Period). Although hiragana and katakana was also being used, but not as much as hentaigana I'm assuming. Hence, all the characters know hentaigana, katakana and hiragana, though Kagome also knows kanji, and characters older than Inuyasha know man'yogana as well, and Inuyasha would know all forms of Japan's own photogenic characters that have ever been used (figured since he's been to the future and most of the writing there is in kanji he would of had to pick up some of the future words and how they're written). Well at least that's how it's going in my story.