Shrine of Love
A/N: Well, you're all in for a surprise: this chapter was about 21 pages long (in Microsoft Word standards)…5 pages longer than it usually is. Haha, is that a good or bad thing?
Anyways, you guys rock! I'm happy to see that people still actually read my fanfics. Hehe. You guys seriously make my day brighten up. :-)
To Shantelle: Sesshoumaru and Rin will not be a couple in this story…and Sesshoumaru will show up soon. ;-)
:O:
VOCABULARY
(suggested by Shantelle)
Wench- a low, vicious young woman (There're actually a lot of definitions for this word, this is only one of them). This word is almost as bad and insulting as "bitch"…XD
:O:
Chapter 6: Boy Meets Family
Kagome pedaled her bike hastily to Houshi Shrine, narrowly bypassing the pedestrians on the sidewalks and ignoring their yells and curses.
"I'm late!" she groaned, pedaling harder. "Oh why, oh why did I have to stay up late yesterday for an episode of 'Love Makes the World Go 'Round'!"
Houshi Shrine came rapidly into view.
Kagome slammed down the brakes sharply, which caused a loud screech, and only managed to topple over sideways to the concrete floor with the pink bike.
"Ow…" she winced as she rubbed her sore bottom.
"You're late," an amused voice spoke. "I was starting to wonder if you were too chicken to ride a bike to and from shopping."
Inuyasha laughed as she glared at him. He reached down, took her hand, and yanked her up sharply. As Kagome dusted herself off, Inuyasha pulled the bike upright.
"Personally, I'm more worried about the bike instead of about you," he said. Inuyasha yelped when Kagome shoved him. "Sheesh! I was kidding!"
Kagome gave a small huff and then settled her hands on her bike handles, glancing up and down at her martial arts teacher. Inuyasha wore khakis pants this time, along with a long-sleeved white shirt with beige colored sleeves, and topping all of that off was the pair of brown sandals on his feet.
She heard Inuyasha ask slyly, "Checking me out now, are we?"
Kagome immediately tore her eyes away, blushing furiously.
"No," she said. Kagome took a deep breath and asked, "So, where's your bike?"
"If you had taken the time to look to your left over there," Inuyasha answered, pointing in that direction. "Then you would have seen it."
Kagome looked to the left, and sure enough, saw a parked red bicycle nearby against the sidewalk.
Inuyasha said amusingly, "But you're forgiven. You were a little preoccupied with checking me out after all."
"I was not!" she shrieked. "Man, I take just ONE look at you and then you assume that I'm 'checking you out', which I was NOT!"
"Yoohoo!" a voice exclaimed suddenly. "Inuyasha! Here's the shopping list!"
Inuyasha and Kagome turned their heads to see Miroku running down the stairs, waving a small piece of white paper in the air. When he reached them, Miroku handed the list to Inuyasha and then turned to look at his cousin.
"You look marvelous today, Kagome," he grinned. "The light blue t-shirt and midnight blue short skirt brings out your eyes…don't you agree, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah…" Inuyasha paused and then added. "And the skirt shows off her great legs too."
SLAP
Inuyasha growled, rubbing his cheek, "What'd you slap me for, wench! I was just complimenting you!"
"You act like Miroku, seriously!" Kagome spat. She turned to her cousin. "Look what you've done to Inuyasha! You probably changed him into a pervert by being friends with him!"
She whipped around, got on her bike, and started riding off toward the shopping market.
"How funny, this reminds me of last Saturday," Inuyasha laughed humorously.
"Yeah," Miroku nodded. "She walked out on us last week all mad like this too. You'd better catch up to her Inuyasha."
"I know."
With that said, Inuyasha climbed onto his bike and said good-bye to Miroku before pedaling off.
"Kagome! Wait up, would you?"
Kagome did no such thing. She kept riding on.
'I can't BELIEVE it!' she thought as she scowled to herself. 'What Inuyasha said about my legs totally embarrassed me…and he just HAD to say it right in front of my cousin, who he should know is a complete PERVERT!'
Her eyelids lowered a bit and a bit of blush rose into her cheeks, 'But what he said really was a compliment…'
Kagome stopped at a red light and blinked when she heard Inuyasha's bike coming closer. A second later, Inuyasha slowed the bike down to a stop right beside hers, panting hard.
After he caught his breath, he glared at her, "Are you deaf? I told you to wait up!"
"Well," Kagome stuck up her chin. "You deserve to be left behind. You embarrassed me in front of Miroku."
Inuyasha waved her off, "What, so you get angry at me for speaking the truth? You really do have great legs."
"Eh…" Kagome's face turned completely red.
"And you know what?" Inuyasha asked.
"What?" she replied, annoyed.
Inuyasha leaned over so his mouth was against her ear.
"You have nice lips too," he whispered, his breath tickling her. She felt a chill go up her spine.
Inuyasha suddenly pulled away and began riding off. The light had turned green. Realizing that she was being left behind, she screamed, "HEY!"
Kagome was giving him the silent treatment.
Inuyasha felt like laughing out loud. She was really something. He walked up the store aisle a few feet in front of her and started gathering all the canned foods on the list Miroku had given him.
"You're a little quieter than usual," he said, finally breaking the silence between them. Kagome just replied by turning her head away.
"You know what?" she asked. "I really don't like guys like you. Guys who leave girls behind on the street like that."
"If I recall correctly," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You were the one who left me in the first place."
Oh.
Kagome bit her lip. He was right. She HAD left him earlier at the shrine. She coughed.
"Well," she cleared her throat. "I don't like guys who are too flirtatious either."
"Me, flirtatious?" Inuyasha asked innocently.
"Yes."
To Kagome's horror, he winked at her and answered, "Only flirtatious to you, babe."
Inuyasha cried out when she slammed a heel down onto his foot.
"That's EXACTLY what I mean by flirtatious!" she yelled. Several people in the supermarket had already started staring at the both of them.
"They're a weird couple," Kagome heard a woman say to another.
Kagome blushed and pushed ahead of Inuyasha, grabbing the list from his hand and searching for the rest of the ingredients on the list. Inuyasha followed after her, less cheerful than he had been.
"You know, Kagome, I was right when I said that you needed to work on your attitude," Inuyasha remarked. His mouth curled into a smug smile. "…but I was also right when I said that you were cuter when you're angry."
Kagome sighed. Would he EVER learn to stop it with the flirting?
Kagome and Inuyasha eventually finished shopping for food.
As a "make up" for all the flirting he'd done, Inuyasha insisted to take Kagome next door to Rin's Ice Cream once again. Kagome protested, but Inuyasha grabbed her hand and practically dragged her inside.
"Ohayo, Inuyasha and Kagome!" Rin said cheerfully. "How can I help you two lovers today?"
"We're not lovers, Rin," Inuyasha replied. "And even if I did have an intention to become Kagome's lover, she obviously has no intention of becoming mine."
"That's because you're just a dumb, flirtatious jerk!" Kagome snapped. Inuyasha put a fake hurt look on his face.
"Oh, it breaks my heart to hear that from you," he pouted. Rin laughed.
"You guys are so much fun to watch," she giggled. She straightened. "Well, how can I help you? We don't want the line to keep waiting."
"We'll take the same thing as last week. And this time, Rin, do NOT give us a discount as a congratulations for Kagome and I 'hooking up'," Inuyasha said. He paid for the order, took the sundae and two spoons from an innocently smiling Rin and then he led Kagome over to an empty table for two. As Inuyasha settled on one side of the table and Kagome on the other, Kagome looked away when Inuyasha started gazing at her.
"What?" she demanded when she couldn't take it anymore. Inuyasha merely shrugged at her and dipped his spoon into the ice cream. Kagome kicked his leg underneath the table, causing the table to shake violently for a brief moment.
"Man, watch it, wench!" Inuyasha barked at her.
"Humph," Kagome sniffed and looked away. She scooped some ice cream into her spoon and stuck it in her mouth without paying attention to him.
"If you're this mean to every boy you meet, I'm sure you won't ever be having a boyfriend in your life," Inuyasha stated coldly.
Kagome just stuck out her tongue at him.
Inuyasha grunted, "Now I really don't want to kiss you in the play. I can't believe we have to in the first place. Who'd want to kiss you?"
"Same goes with you," Kagome countered.
The two stared angrily at each other.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, sighed, and leaned back against his seat.
"Kagome Higurashi, why are you so obnoxious towards me?" he asked as he twirled his spoon with his fingers.
"Because you start little fights with me…like this one," she grunted.
Inuyasha sat up again and leaned over so his face was a few inches apart from hers.
"I'm a lover, not a fighter," he said with a frown.
"That's hard to believe," Kagome said with an annoyed voice.
"Is that so?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Well then, I'll just have to prove it to you someday, won't I?"
Kagome froze when he reached out and ran his knuckles gently against her cheek, settling his hand back down on the table a second later.
The ice cream had been devoured to a finish minutes ago, yet Inuyasha and Kagome remained seated, staring into each others eyes.
'It-it feels like I'm in a trance,' Kagome breathed. 'I can't tear my eyes away from his.'
"Are you two done with your ice cream?" a voice suddenly piped. Rin appeared in front of their table. Inuyasha looked at Kagome for a few more seconds before turning his attention to Rin.
Kagome sighed in relief. Thank goodness Rin had come. It was then that she realized that her heart was thudding hard.
:o:O:o:O:o: Back At The Shrine :o:O:o:O:o:
"What're we making today?" Kagome asked as she settled a few of the grocery bags onto the counter in the kitchen.
"Okonomiyaki," Inuyasha answered. "Miroku's favorite. Do you know how to make it?"
"Yeah," Kagome gave him a look. "Do we have the appliances to make it?"
"Of course." Inuyasha walked over to the sink, opened up the cabinet below it, and pulled out a large, black appliance. He slammed the cabinet shut with his foot and strode back over to Kagome.
"Here," he said with an evil glint in his eyes. Inuyasha dropped the appliance into Kagome's arms. He watched with amusement as she sunk down a foot, the weight of the appliance weighing her down.
He turned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I'll be over in the laundry room doing laundry and a few other stuff," Inuyasha smirked. "As for you, you can start making the okonomiyaki. I'll be with you in awhile."
Kagome groaned, "This thing is so heavy!"
Inuyasha walked out the door. A few seconds later, he stuck his head in the doorway, "Don't forget to plug the thing in to turn it on."
"Got it," she grumbled.
"Have a nice workout," Inuyasha laughed before starting to walk away again.
Kagome took a deep breath and, with difficulty, heaved the heavy machine onto the counter.
"Inuyasha, you bastard," she scowled.
"I heard that!" she heard his voice echo through the hallway.
Kagome closed her eyes and breathed in the delicious smelling aroma of the cooking okonomiyaki. She held the spatula tightly in her hand, ready to flip the food over. Beside her, there was already a small stack of okonomiyaki already done.
"Mmm, smells good," a familiar voice said behind her. Kagome whipped around, only to find her cousin sticking his sniffing nose in the air with a pleased smile on his face.
"I can't wait to eat!" Miroku said cheerfully, looking her straight in the eye now. "Can I have a little taste right now?"
"Of course," Kagome gave him a bright smile, which then turned into a deadpan glare. "…NOT."
Miroku laughed nervously and backed out the door, "Just asking. No need to get mad now."
Kagome snorted and continued with the cooking. A few minutes passed and she eventually finished making a whole plate stacked with okonomiyaki. It was peacefully quiet until…
"MIROKU, JUST SET UP THE DAMN TABLE!" Inuyasha's voice was heard screaming from the dining room. "THAT'S THE LEAST YOU COULD DO!"
There were a few more statements added by Inuyasha before Kagome heard Miroku answer, "Fine!"
A moment later, Inuyasha strode into the kitchen like nothing had happened.
"What's up?" Kagome asked.
"The sky," he joked. "Actually, I was trying to get Miroku to do something to help us out. He's getting lazier and lazier and doesn't want to do anything to help us out anymore. I gave him the easiest job of all…the only job that he's practically ever did."
"Setting the table. Yeah, I heard." Kagome sweat-dropped.
Inuyasha smiled, "It smells good in here. I'm guessing that you didn't burn anything?"
"Nope."
"Lucky. The first time I made these, I almost made the whole shrine burn down," he walked over to the plate of okonomiyaki, got a plate and fork from a nearby drawer, and lifted one slice of okonomiyaki onto the plate. He turned to face Kagome again. Inuyasha's mouth curled into a grin. "I guess I'm your food tester now, huh?"
Kagome looked down at the floor so he wouldn't see her blush, "Uh…yeah, sure."
Inuyasha stuck a fork full of the okonomiyaki into his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. There was a long period of awkward silence between them.
"You make okonomiyaki a little differently than I do," Inuyasha finally said. "But it's just as good."
Kagome looked away shyly. Okay, she had to admit, she was pretty pleased with that last statement. I mean, wouldn't any other girl feel pleased if the guy they had fallen in love with complimented them on their cooking (judging by the fact that not many guys like a girl's cooking)?
"Thanks," she replied, looking him in the eye. "Um, I guess we won't be training today, will we?"
Inuyasha settled the plate he held onto the counter, along with the fork, and glanced up at the clock.
"Hm…" he murmured. "I guess not."
Inuyasha looked back down at Kagome and asked, "Is that okay with you?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
Inuyasha gave a small laugh, "Guess we'll have to entertain ourselves this whole evening by picking on Miroku, huh?"
Kagome started laughing too.
"Yeah," she said between giggles. "I just hope he doesn't grab at me again like last week."
"You mean like this?" Inuyasha's arm shot out, wrapped around Kagome's waist, and dragged her towards him. Kagome felt her breath caught in her throat when she noticed that their faces were only mere millimeters apart from each other's. Her eyes stared into Inuyasha's violet ones, which stared right back into hers.
"You know," he said. "I wonder how it'd feel like to kiss you."
Kagome felt a blush creeping up her neck and she remarked, "Hold on, I thought you said you didn't want to kiss me…really didn't want to kiss me."
"Well," he said back. "I said I was wondering how it felt like to kiss you…not, I wanted to kiss you."
His other arm encircled her, drawing her even closer.
"Besides," he murmured against her ear. "What if I was lying earlier before and really did want to kiss you?"
By now, Kagome's heart beat was out of control.
"And you know what?" Inuyasha added, his mouth now against her neck. "You'll be my first kiss."
Okay, now her heart beat was REALLY out of control. Kagome had no idea what to say. She was speechless. One second, he was mean to her, then another, he was nice to her, and then the next, he was flirting with her (or maybe confessing any feelings he felt toward her).
Kagome clamped her eyes shut with nervousness. He was going be her first kiss too.
Before she knew it, his mouth had traveled back up to her face, and now hovered over her own mouth in kissing distance, his breath tickling her lips. Her lips parted and then she felt a static-y feeling that went through her entire body. He was going to kiss her, she just had a feeling that he would. Right at that moment, she'd kill anyone who'd get in the way of her and Inuyasha kissing.
Even if that person was her very cousin, who had decided to come into the kitchen they stood in at THAT moment of all times.
"Hey, what's taking you guys so long to make dinner?" Miroku demanded as he stepped through the doorway into the room. His eyes widened at the scene. "Oh, Kami, were you two in the middle of something? I'm sorry! I'll just leave you guys…go on, go on, continue! Just pretend that I never came in here."
"No, we weren't in the middle of something," Inuyasha said suddenly, letting go of Kagome and stepping away from her. "I was just…flirting with her."
"Like usual," Miroku chuckled.
Both Inuyasha and Kagome noticed that he was slowly inching toward the plate of okonomiyaki.
"Hey…" Kagome growled.
"Stop RIGHT where you are," Inuyasha finished for her. He swiped up the plate just before Miroku's hand could land on it.
"Shoot," he snapped his fingers. "I almost reached it."
"It's not time to eat yet," Inuyasha shook his head, starting to walk out of the kitchen, the plate of okonomiyaki in hand. "Did you set the table, Miroku?"
Miroku followed him eagerly, "Yup."
Inuyasha waited as Miroku passed him at the doorway before he looked at Kagome and smiled at her. He then turned fully around, his back facing her, and headed out of the room. Kagome sank down to her knees a moment later and sighed.
"Man, I have it REALLY bad for him," she groaned to herself.
It was now Kagome's turn to stare in astonishment as Miroku devoured slice by slice of okonomiyaki.
'Was that how I looked when I was eating oden last week?' she sweat-dropped.
Last week, Kagome had sat on a mat on the floor on one side of the very low table while the two boys sat on the other side. However, today, Inuyasha had, for some reason, decided to sit beside her instead of with Miroku.
Speaking of Inuyasha, he was sitting there calmly, drinking a glass of ice cold water. Both he and Kagome had finished eating their fill and were now waiting for Miroku to finish his.
"Really, Miroku," Inuyasha stated as he whirled the water in his glass around and around. "When we eat okonomiyaki, you're really scary…so scary that I'm too scared to even sit next to you."
Well, THAT explained why he had sat next to her now.
To Kagome's surprise, Inuyasha turned his attention to her and winked, "Even scarier than Kagome with oden."
He laughed as he caught her fist, stopping her from launching a punch.
SLAP
Inuyasha scowled. She'd slapped him with the hand he wasn't holding. It was the second slap for the day. Why couldn't he ever sense her slaps coming? Sure, he can sense punches and kicks, but slaps? No.
"Would you stop it," he hissed. "With the slapping, wench?"
"Would you stop it," she hissed back. "With the flirting, jerk?"
"Would you stop it with the 'jerk', wench?"
"Would you stop it with the 'wench', jerk?"
"Would you stop it, the both of you," Miroku loudly interrupted. "With the arguing!"
Inuyasha and Kagome glared at each other and then turned away from one another.
"Humph," they both mumbled.
"Anyways," Miroku coughed. "I'm feeling a little queasy right now."
"Who wouldn't after eating all that okonomiyaki?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes heavenward. "Miroku, you pig. Why don't you 'digest' today's meal this time by cleaning up the table?"
"But I-"
Inuyasha stood up from his spot on the floor and pointed at an empty plate with a few crumbs on it.
"All you do," he said. "Is pick up the plates, like this…"
Inuyasha picked the plate up for emphasis.
"And bring it to the kitchen," he continued. "How hard is that?"
"Very hard," Miroku moaned. "If you have a stomachache."
"Stomachache, hm?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "Well, how 'bout if I tell you that if you don't get your ass off that mat and help clean up for once, we'll never ever make okonomiyaki for you again. Do you have a stomachache now?"
As expected, Miroku did not. He shot up from his spot and started gathering all the dirty dishes together.
"Blackmailer," he said with a complaining tone.
"It's necessary to blackmail sometimes when things need to be done," Inuyasha replied with a smug grin.
Miroku grumbled something in response and started walking off toward the kitchen with some dirty dishes.
"I'll wash the dishes this time," Inuyasha said to Kagome before heading to the kitchen after Miroku.
"And I'll rinse," Kagome smiled and stood up to go to the kitchen herself.
After several minutes, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kagome were finished with the cleaning. The three all settled in the living room afterward to watch TV. They all settled on one couch-Miroku sitting at the far left and Kagome on the far right with Inuyasha between them because Kagome didn't want to be hugged by Miroku again if he happened to fall asleep…which he did. That left Inuyasha and Kagome as the only ones awake. The two were quiet as they watched the images on the screen flicker by, the audio at a moderate volume.
One time, Inuyasha's hand accidentally touched Kagome's. He quickly drew his hand away and apologized. However, a few minutes later, his hand ended up touching Kagome's again…and that time, he didn't pull his hand away at all OR apologize.
When Kagome couldn't take it anymore, she stood up. Inuyasha looked up at her in surprise.
"Um, I should really head home," she told him. "I have to ride my bike home from now on when I come here on Saturdays."
Inuyasha watched her intently for a few minutes before asking, "Do you want a ride home?"
Kagome blinked, "What?"
"Do you want a ride home?" Inuyasha repeated. He stood up. "I mean, you've done a lot of bike riding today just by riding to the shrine and to the market and back to the shrine again."
"Oh," she replied oh-so-intelligently.
"And now you have to ride your bike back home?" Inuyasha went on. "I think that's too much…even for me. And right after dinner too."
He looked at her head on with a smile, "But I can give you a ride home on my motorcycle from now on. Then, you can leave your bike here at the shrine over the week and ride it home on Friday and then ride it back here to the shrine on Saturday…and then the whole thing restarts all over again. That way, you won't have to do the bike riding all in one day."
Inuyasha bent down to pick up the remote control on the table in front of them and turned the television off.
"And," he added. "I think that would give your mother a break from having to drive you home on Fridays."
"That makes sense," Kagome paused. "I guess."
Both of them went to the front door, leaving Miroku who was still sleeping on the couch, and pulled on their shoes.
Kagome hadn't brought a backpack this time so she didn't worry about forgetting anything just as she walked straight out the door. Inuyasha followed behind her and shut the door closed.
"Um, Inuyasha?" she asked as he walked right past her and toward the shrine stairs.
"Hm?"
"Your motorcycle IS here, right?"
"Would I be offering you a ride home if it weren't?"
"Then how'd you get your bike here?"
Inuyasha continued walking as he answered, "My brother brought it to the shrine in his car on his way to work."
Kagome bit her lip as they walked down the stairs. What else was there to talk about? At the moment, she could think of nothing. As they walked down the last step, Kagome caught sight of her bike and Inuyasha's, which they had securely locked against a rack that stood near the foot of the stairs. In no time, they both reached the motorcycle, which Kagome hadn't seen earlier, due to the fact that she was in a rush during that time. Inuyasha climbed on, put on his helmet, and gave Kagome the spare. She slipped it on, settled herself behind Inuyasha, and then, they were off.
"You live sort of close to Houshi Shrine," Inuyasha commented as they rounded the street corner and onto the street of Higurashi Shrine, as directed by Kagome.
"I know," Kagome nodded.
The neighborhood was quiet, as if everyone had gone to sleep already. A few houses, however, had lights on…including Higurashi Shrine.
Inuyasha slowed to a stop in front of Kagome's home, turned off the engine of the motorcycle and took off his helmet.
"Come on," he urged as he climbed off. "I'll walk you to the door."
Kagome followed suit hesitantly. When they both reached the door, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with a smile.
"Thanks for the ride," she said. Kagome looked away and asked quietly. "Do you want to come in for a few minutes? You know…and meet my family and all?"
"Sure," he laughed good-heartedly.
"I have to warn you though," Kagome stopped and then resumed. "My family is weird."
"You don't have to tell me that," Inuyasha smirked. "I can already tell by knowing you."
Kagome gave him a venomous glare. If looks could kill, Inuyasha would have been dead at that very moment. He gulped.
Kagome turned her attention back to the door and slid it open. The lights were on in many rooms of the house, but there was oddly no sound of movement or voices.
"Did your family go somewhere?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome slid the door shut behind them.
Kagome scanned the room. Had they gone somewhere?
"Mom?" she called out. "Grandpa? Souta? Anyone home?"
Suddenly, a blur shot toward the both of them. Kagome screamed. Inuyasha instantly became alert and planted his feet on the ground. If it weren't for a kid's voice that sounded next, he would have launched a punch.
"HAI!" the voice cried out.
Inuyasha reached an arm out and grabbed hold of the outstretched leg that was aimed right at him. Kagome peeked through her fingers and groaned when she spotted who it was that had launched an attack at them.
"Souta! What do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed.
He grinned nervously at her, "Uh, hey, Kagome."
"Let me guess," Inuyasha said to the young boy and raised an eyebrow. "You must be Kagome's little brother."
"Right," Souta said with a wide grin. He squirmed awkwardly, still being held upside down by Inuyasha. "Hey, let me go!"
He yelped when Inuyasha's hold on his ankle was gone, which made him fall to the ground hard on his head. Kagome groaned again. What an embarrassment.
"You know what, sport?" Inuyasha stated as he helped Souta up again. "You have amazing speed and quietness with your attacks."
Souta smiled broadly in return.
Inuyasha smirked as he turned his head toward Kagome.
"Unlike your sister here," he teased.
"Whatever, Inuyasha," she rolled her eyes at him. Kagome brightened when she spotted her mother entering the hallway in front of where she, Inuyasha, and Souta stood. "Mom!"
Mrs. Higurashi smiled warmly and headed toward them. She was a middle-aged woman who had short, dark wavy hair and dark colored eyes.
"Welcome home," she greeted once she reached the three. Mrs. Higurashi's eyes flickered over to Inuyasha, who bowed.
"It's great to finally meet you, Mrs. Higurashi," he said politely.
"Same with you, dear," she beamed. Mrs. Higurashi blinked twice, a smile still on her face, before blurting out. "I know you! You're that boy I saw last week! The one who kissed Kagome good-bye before she left to go home! I knew you looked familiar!"
Inuyasha reddened. He wasn't the only one though. Right beside him, Kagome blushed too.
"What's your name?" Mrs. Higurashi asked gleefully.
"Inuyasha Takahashi, ma'am," Inuyasha answered. "Um, I'm Kagome's instructor for her martial arts training at Houshi Shrine."
Mrs. Higurashi's smiling face turned into a surprised expression.
"You're her instructor?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Interesting…very interesting," Mrs. Higurashi murmured.
Then, to Kagome's horror, her mother's fist went flying straight towards Inuyasha's face.
'What the-' Inuyasha thought as he barely dodged the blow. Mrs. Higurashi sent her other fist flying before he knew it. This time, it roughly grazed his cheek.
"Mom!" he heard Kagome cry out. "WHAT are you DOING!"
Mrs. Higurashi didn't answer her. She jabbed at Inuyasha again. He scowled. Alright, he'd go along with this, whatever this lady was doing. Inuyasha glanced behind him quickly and noticed that he was being cornered against the door he and Kagome had entered through earlier. That gave him the disadvantage.
"Come on, dear," Mrs. Higurashi beckoned. "Attack me. I won't get mad."
Yeah, she wouldn't, but Kagome hell would. Inuyasha could picture it now-Kagome yelling her head off at him for attacking her mother, telling him he didn't have any respect for elders. He found an opening when Kagome's mother launched another punch, and then rapidly ducked under Mrs. Higurashi's outstretched arm. Mrs. Higurashi whipped around in a blink of an eye and shot out another fist at him. With difficulty, Inuyasha dodged once again while he did a quick back flip.
This lady was definitely a black-belt. He could tell. Her speed was amazing, she was light on her feet, she had her concentration down, and she had force behind her moves. She was guiding him down the hallway-down to its dead end. All of the doors were shut-probably on purpose since the very beginning.
He stared intently back into the fierce eyes of Kagome's mother. Her smile hadn't left her face since the very beginning of this little match.
"Really, dear, I want you to attack me," she said. "I don't just want to see defense. I want offense too!"
Her sandaled foot blasted up sharply into his chin. Inuyasha staggered back a few feet.
"Right now, forget who your opponent is and just fight like you would anyone else," Mrs. Higurashi continued. "Seriously, I won't hold a thing you do to me against you."
This family was definitely weird. Inuyasha wiped a trickle of sweat that ran down his cheek away hastily and put up another defensive stance. He could literally feel himself being closed in upon. There was only about a yard of empty space behind him left before he'd be completely cornered. His eyes shut tightly closed.
'Here goes,' he thought reluctantly. Inuyasha built up as much energy as he could muster into a leap. He clamped both hands onto either side of Mrs. Higurashi's shoulders as supports and used them to arch him over to the other side. He landed roughly, but at least he'd landed on his two feet.
"Woohoo!" Souta exclaimed in the background. "You go, Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha shot him a quick smile.
"Inuyasha, watch out!" Kagome screamed suddenly.
He looked behind him to see Mrs. Higurashi launching a roundhouse kick. Her foot connected full force with his body and caused him to be thrown hard against the wall.
Inuyasha slumped down onto the floor in pain. He winced, 'My shoulder…'
At the corner of his eye, he saw Mrs. Higurashi looming closer for another attack. He slumped all the way to the ground onto his back and launched a kick at a forty-five degree angle, successfully making contact with her stomach. Mrs. Higurashi collided with the wall across from him and slumped down to the floor with a moan.
"Mom!" Souta and Kagome both exclaimed as they rushed over to her. Mrs. Higurashi lay staring up at the ceiling for a long moment, breathing in deeply before sitting up again.
"Are you two going to be okay?" Kagome asked with concern.
"A fast recovery is important in martial arts, dear," Mrs. Higurashi replied with one of her bright smiles. "Of course we'll be fine."
Her expression twisted into a sly look, "Both you and Souta seemed to be rooting for Inuyasha in the match…especially you, Kagome, since you tried to warn him when I launched that roundhouse kick."
Kagome reddened. Mrs. Higurashi laughed as she stood up and then turned her attention to Inuyasha, "Bravo! What a wonderful workout! Miroku chose well with his instructors."
"Acutally," Inuyasha coughed. "I volunteered to be an instructor for the shrine dojo since no other person wanted to be hired as one."
Mrs. Higurashi raised an eyebrow, "I see."
"We still need an instructor for beginners," Inuyasha continued. "I teach intermediate and Miroku teaches advanced."
"So," Mrs. Higurashi said, changing the topic. "How's my dear Kagome doing with her martial arts?"
Kagome stiffened.
'Great, now Inuyasha's going to say really mean things about me-things that might not even be true,' she groaned to herself.
"Kagome's a wonderful student," Inuyasha said with a smile. "I think she'll move on to advanced in no time."
'What?' Kagome blinked. 'Did he just give me a compliment?'
Mrs. Higurashi beamed, but before she could say anything, an old voice bellowed, "Demon BEGONE!"
Inuyasha flinched when a large spray of powder showered over him and looked up to see a short old man dressed in shrine garbs with tied up gray hair, holding a small bowl of white powder.
"Demon BEGONE!" the old man said again, throwing another handful of powder at him. "Let's see you withstand the all powerful powder I made!"
A bit of the powder flew into Inuyasha's mouth and after tasting it, his face twisted into a bitter look, "Hey, old man…this 'all powerful powder' of yours just tastes like salt and sugar mixed together."
The old man stopped in his tracks, his hand containing another fistful of powder held in midair.
Kagome scoffed while Inuyasha brushed the powder off his hair and clothes, "That's because it IS salt and sugar mixed together, isn't it, Grandpa?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you aren't dating someone who's possessed by a demon!" her grandfather protested.
"We're not dating in the first place! He's my martial arts teacher!"
"That's not what it looked like through the living room window when we all saw you two on that motorcycle, all snug-"
"He was giving me a ride home!" Kagome glared and then scowled. "You three saw us! That means that all these 'attacks' from each of you were planned out before we even came in, weren't they!"
"Mom ordered me to do it," Souta pointed to Mrs. Higurashi immediately. His mother smiled innocently.
"I wanted to test Inuyasha's martial arts skills," she said cheerfully. "I sort of figured out that he was your instructor before he told me he was. And I must say, I definitely approve!"
"Approve of what?" Kagome asked.
Mrs. Higurashi blinked in surprise, "Why, of him being your instructor of course. And if you two ever plan on dating sometime, I approve of that too. Inuyasha is a very polite gentleman, as far as I can see."
Inuyasha, who had been standing silently nearby, gave her a small laugh, "Uh, gee…thanks."
"The boy is working for the devil! He rides a motorcycle!" Grandpa bellowed loudly.
"It's more convenient for me," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "And I do not work for the devil, sir."
"Father, stop yelling at him," Mrs. Higurashi scolded. "You always annoy people with your 'spiritual' talk! And if I recall correctly, you said that you LOVED riding on motorcycles back when you were a teenager yourself."
That silenced Kagome's grandfather. Everyone sweat-dropped.
"So, Gramps, does that mean that you 'worked for the devil' when you were a teenager?" Souta asked, earning a few laughs.
"Um, as much as I'd hate to, I have to be going now," Inuyasha said during the moment laughter. "It was really nice meeting you all."
"Same with you, dear," Mrs. Higurashi beamed. "It was a pleasure meeting you. I have to be going now too. The kitchen is a mess from dinner."
Kagome's father merely grunted and followed Mrs. Higurashi as she left the room.
Souta tugged on Inuyasha shirt, "You'll come visit us again soon, won't you, Inuyasha?"
"Sure, sport," was his reply, as well as getting his hair ruffled. After smiling at the now whining Souta, Inuyasha made his way to the door, Kagome trailing behind him.
"Listen, I'm sorry about everything they did," Kagome apologized gloomily once both she and Inuyasha reached the door. "I told you my family was weird."
"Hm, you're weirder than all of them," Inuyasha chuckled. "Except for maybe your grandfather."
"He'll eventually like you. He's not the hating kind of person," Kagome assured him. "He's just a little over-protective of me and Souta."
"Hm, I can see that," he shook his head. "Well, I should be heading home. It's getting late."
Kagome gave him a small smile, "I'll see you on Monday then."
"Don't forget to tell your mom about the new routine we have for the weekends," Inuyasha reminded her.
"Don't worry, I'll tell her."
Inuyasha stared at her for a few seconds before answering, "Alright then. I'll see you on Monday."
He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, just like he had last Saturday. When he pulled away, Kagome looked away.
"Inuyasha, are you always going to kiss me every Saturday before you leave?" she asked, trying to hide her blushing face.
"Yup," he winked, turning toward the stairs to leave. "That's part of the routine too."
A/N: Well, as you can see, Inuyasha is getting flirtier and flirtier. Poor Kagome. ;-)
'Love Makes the World Go 'Round' is not a real TV series, and if by ANY possible chance it is, I don't own it.
By the way, thank you to chibiNeko192 for pointing out a mistake in the previous chapter! I might be replacing the previous chapters (again) because of some mistakes that I caught. Arg, no matter how many times I proofread and edit a chapter, I always find an error when I upload it onto the site. X.X
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please review!