*A/n : Thank you to all that reviewed and such! To my anon reviewers as well, who seem to have grown! :D Those of you alerting and not reviewing, drop in once and a while, 'kay? If you guys don't tell me what you like and don't, I'm not going to get any better! :o
*Disclaimer : Nope, not mine! He wasn't the last few months, why now?
One Day in Social Studies Class
Chapter 6 : Part 2 : His First Christmas with the Family
"I'm home!" Kagome called over "Carol of the Bells" as the bells were striking and the vocals had reached its own forte while Inuyasha was at her heels with his ears flattened against his head in preparation of passing the radio blaring the classic carol. Determining no one could hear their arrival, the duo strolled into the kitchen full of holiday scents where they found Mrs. Higurashi humming the female second soprano part. "Mama!" Kagome exclaimed with a tap on the shoulder.
In a sharp turn, the mother was facing the two and spoke words completely unheard by Kagome's ears. "What?" Sighing, the hanyou walked over to source of the noise and turned it down a considerable ten notches before "Feliz Navidad" could declare its powerful repetition to the Higurashi household as well as the surrounding neighbors, which one must respect is quite the feat; after all, the family lived in a shrine on the top of a hill.
"You're home early! And you brought Inuyasha with you!" Mama reiterated with a sparkling glow in her eyes. After giving them each a warm, motherly embrace, she fwipped Inuyasha's ears once and smiled as they swung back to their proper position at the top of his head. "So you both are here to celebrate Christmas," she began. Checking the roast, she marinated it once more before she closed the door again and continued, "Well, you came back just in time. We'll be having dinner tonight at five and well, that's it; just have fun!"
Giving her mother a kiss on the cheek, Kagome left leading Inuyasha up the stairs and to her brother's area of habitation. "I'm sure you don't want to deal with Gramps, so will you keep Souta amused for a little while? I'm sure he'd love to see you," Kagome suggested as she began to descend the stairs, leaving him standing in the hallway.
Inuyasha rapped on the door with no response, but faintly hear music on the other side of the door. Opening the door, he saw Souta leaning back in his computer chair with his ear buds plugged into the computer as his fingers mindlessly clicked at the keys before him, forming words on the white screen that rested on his desk. The boy had no clue that someone had entered until Inuyasha blatantly walked up to him and removed the earbuds with a simple yoink. "If i can hear that through the door, how loud is it?" the familiar voice asked.
Spinning around, he saw the hanyou that he decided to idolize three years ago. "Inuyasha!" Souta greeted with a giant hug.
"Souta, there is something I want to ask you, as the man of this household," Inuyasha requested as he put a hand on Souta's shoulder.
Souta's eyes widened at his sudden directness and responded, "Umm...But isn't Gramps the man of the house?"
Sliding back from Souta, Inuyasha denied, "No...I wouldn't tell the old coot something as important as this is!" He remembered all the times he got chased around, pelted with useless purification salts and sutras, and sworn at. "What I am about to tell you is to remain secret until your grandfather finds out through someone that isn't you, got that?" Souta nodded and Inuyasha proceeded, "I want to marry your sister."
Shrugging, Souta laughed, "Pfft...We all saw that coming! I approve, Mama approves, and well Jii-chan is well...Jii-chan."
A bead of sweat appeared on Inuyasha's face as he cringed. "You mean to tell me you've all discussed this before?"
"Uh, yeah," Souta replied awkwardly as if it wasn't as big of a deal as the hanyou seemed to think it was. "Wow...You're surprisingly...proper; I never thought you would have asked me for Kagome, but umm...Yeah, go talk to Mama later...Hey wanna play this game with me first?"
Though the hanyou would have rather talked to Kagome's mother immediately, he couldn't pass up the request his love's little brother made either. Plopping on the ground, Inuyasha grabbed a controller while Souta started the game console. The hour was passed with zombie-killing madness.
"Hey, Inuyasha, I'm going to bathroom, okay? Here, I'll put it on single-player for you." Souta went back to the menu, selected the single-player option, and left the room without further mention.
Five minutes had passed by the time the young boy returned and suggested, "Mama's almost done with dinner and if you want to talk to her alone, now's the time. Kagome's taking a nap, too."
Realizing that this was now the time that could make or break him, the hanyou got up, abandoning the blood-stained avatar as zombies pursued and mauled it. With a deep breath and a disregard to the screaming the speakers produced, Inuyasha left the room and went back to the kitchen to talk to Kagome's mother. "Umm...Mrs. Higurashi, could I ask you a question?"
"Yeah sure, sweetie, what is it?" she replied nonchalauntly as she minced some vegetables together, forcing them to mingle.
Nervously rubbing the back of his neck, he asked with a stuttering voice, "Umm...Would you be alright if I..."
"Marry my daughter?" Mrs. Higurashi finished for him. Turning around, she faced him still wielding the knife as she continued, completely aware of his astonished look, "Yes, it is fine with me; in fact, I love the thought of having doggie-eared grandchildren." She smiled as her hand automatically found his ears once more. "But don't you ever hurt her, got that?" Though she may not have intended it, a glare cast over her face as she threateningly clutched onto the knife.
Inuyasha slid away and pointed out, "Umm, Mrs. Higurashi...?"
"You can call me Mama now, dearie," Mrs. Higurashi insisted as the implement was still in her hand, now with slightly intimidating motions.
"Umm...Mrs.-I mean, Mama, could you...put down the knife?" Inuyasha asked, glaring at the object that was approaching his already-injured midsection via her careless hand gestures.
Looking at the blade, she chuckled nervously and put it down on the counter. "Besides, if I didn't trust you with my daughter, I wouldn't have given her to you three years ago to take back to your unknown time and land. Anyways, just enjoy the rest of today, okay?" She smiled and resumed her cooking.
Somehow...That woman scares me the most...I can almost picture flames in her eyes, hefting that knife...Ugh think happy thoughts...How am I going to propose to her? Inuyasha thought as he walked outside to the small scrap of 'outside' he can enjoy.
Removing him from his reverie, a hard, blunt object made contact with the top of his head while a familiar voice growled, "Is what I heard while sweeping by the kitchen window true?"
"Yes?" Inuyasha answered cautiously and he watched as an evil glint cast over the grandfather's face.
Though not as spry and young as he once was, a reach within brooms-length was enough to give a certain hanyou a run for his money.
x-x-x-x-x
"Aghh!" Kagome heard Inuyasha's yelps through her slumber in her own comfortable bed. Clearly unamused, she sauntered to her feet. Opening her window, she screeched in a high pitched tone, "Will you two cut it out already? And Gramps, why do you insist on chasing Inuyasha? And Inuyasha, what did you do to Gramps?"
Inuyasha stopped and gave allowance for a final smack to the head and called up to her, "It's nothing, Kagome!" Now that the adrenaline of running had worn off, he noticed the crimson seeping through his clothing.
"Inuyasha? Is that what I think it is? Come up here, now!" Kagome demanded, already preparing her bed with towels and pulling out the needed medical supplies.
By the time she was fully done preparing, Inuyasha had made his way up the stairs and into her room. "You idiot," Kagome lectured, "I don't even understand what the two of you fight over...You didn't even break something this time, did you? You know, I was right, this would be your Christmas present: wrapping you back up."
With a pout, Inuyasha removed his haori, undershirt, and old bandages to reveal the full brunt of the damage to his chest, which was reduced to an only-slightly gaping gash across from his left shoulder to right hip. "Geez, how resilient are you hanyou? Like, do your organs compress and move when their master is being an idiot?"
"Actually, yes, something like that," the hanyou answered as he sat down on the edge of the bed while blood seeped down his chest in sickeningly, sticky droplets.
Kagome began to wash the wound and asked, "Why did you even go out to get this wound in the first place? Was it so important you forgot the moon cycle?"
Smirking, Inuyasha watched as his methodical love wrapped the gauze around and around his chest. "But that would require me to tell you what your Christmas present is..." her patient trailed off.
"Oh really now?" Kagome wondered as she finished.
In a confirming mimic, he returned, "Yes, really now." Quickly snatching his haori, he rummaged around in a hole in the doubled seam that provided a pocket and slid something out into his hand, careful to hide it from the curious girl before him.
"Am I getting my gift early?" Kagome asked.
With his classic boyish grin, he commented, "I don't know...I may be getting mine." Feeling that he should be looking at her, Inuyasha knelt down on one knee and held his hand out to her. In a quick motion, he revealed the object he had been hiding this entire time: a simple silver ring with a bizarre, green stone set in the middle. "Kagome Higurashi, after everything in our lives settles down, will you be my wife?" he proposed with a simple charm that he was unaware he possessed.
Kagome's eyes filled with tears and joined him on the ground, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yes!" Kagome squealed. Once she removed him from her grasp, he slid the ring onto her shaking hand. "So, this is what you went looking for?"
Inuyasha nodded and remarked, "It was my mother's." A grin of sheep bliss appeared on Inuyasha's face as he looked down at his bride.
"Dinner!" Mama called and the happy couple noticed the aromas of food filling the room after their previous distraction was overcome. After Inuyasha had put on a shirt as well as a normal pair of jeans she kept in her bottom drawer, the two headed down to join the rest of the family.
With all the family present, sitting in front of the amply-supplied table, Mrs. Higurashi commented as she saw a glint of silver on Kagome's left hand, "Kagome, Inuyasha, do you have anything to tell us?"
Instead of choosing to verbally share the information with the rest of the family, Kagome held out her left hand to show the family the engagement ring that once belonged to Inuyasha's mother. A pleased gasp erupted from her mother, Gramps glared, and Souta smiled; how many people get their childhood hero as a brother-in-law?
"So, have any plans yet?" Mama asked as she cut and served the meat.
Kagome sighed, "Once everything settles down in the other world, and hopefully, that's not that much longer..." She thought about the impending issues with Naraku, the Jewel, and the eventual reunion with Kouga; boy will that be fun to explain.
"Sounds simple enough," Mrs. Higurashi replied. "What world do you want to live in?" The question caught the two by surprise; they new this day would be coming but the decision would probably have to be decided upon soon.
Looking back and forth at each other, Kagome answered earnestly, "We don't know yet..."
In order to lighten up the mood, Souta piped up, "Well congrats!"
x-x-x-x-x
"Souta, get up! It's Christmas morning!" Mrs. Higurashi prodded her son, vainly trying to awaken him. Apparently the appeal of presents wasn't appealing enough to get this eleven year old on his feet at the very least.
"But I wanna sleep..." Souta persisted as he grabbed his pillow and brought it up over his head to block out as much of the offending light and noise as possible.
Sighing, Mrs. Higurashi pulled off all the layers of blankets and sheets that covered the boy and yanked him out of bed as part of her usual routine. "Come on...I'm sure Inuyasha and Kagome want to leave early; they're busy with things, too...Can't be like you sleeping in all day, listening to music, and playing video games..."
The child was now on his feet and slid out of his room sluggishly, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. His feet slid on the floor. He was apparently too lazy to even lift them up to perform such a basic action as walking.
"Kids these days..." Mrs. Higurashi muttered as she herself walked down the stairs to see her father and the happy couple waiting for the missing members of the family. Grabbing Souta's stocking, she handed it to him, who was now sitting cross-legged on the floor at Inuyasha's feet. "Go ahead, dump it out!" Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she watched the tired boy dump the contents of the sock out, revealing chocolate galore and random items such as pencils, lifesavers, and a slinky.
Pleased with herself, Mrs. Higurashi preceded to pass out the rest of the presents. "Here, Inuyasha, why don't you open yours next?"
Curiously studying the package, he slit it open with his claw and it was revealed to be a leather dog collar. Inuyasha couldn't help but ask as he held up the offending object, "Ummm, what is that supposed to mean?"
"Just put it on and you'll see..." Mrs. Higurashi explained.
With the assistance of Kagome, Inuyasha managed to buckled the collar around his neck and within moments, he noticed his nails shrink to the size of an average human, his fangs disappeared (which left a vast difference of space between his top and bottom rows of teeth), and he felt the weight on the top of his head to be mysteriously gone. "I'm a human?"
"Yep!" Kagome's mother pipped. "Now you don't have to worry about people seeing your ears when you go out in public...It forces the effects of the New Moon when you're wearing it."
Kagome couldn't get over one simple question. "Umm...Mama, how did you...and err...Gramps, get ahold of this?"
"Well, honey, it's about time you realized something imperative," Kagome's mother elaborated. "We do live in a shrine; trust me, in regards to this matter, we do have resources."
Scary...Inuyasha and Kagome thought as they began to remove the simple collar and the latter's mother handed the next present to Kagome.
Pulling the ribbon, she swiftly slid her fingers past the tape and it opened. Kagome extracted the present and saw a new digital camera as well as several rechargeable batteries (from what Kagome counted, eight) and eight gigabytes in memory cards, broken up into four two-gig increments. Clearly the batteries couldn't be recharged back in the Feudal Era, but the multitude should tide her over until she had the opportunity to return.
"Be sure to take lots of pictures when you can!" her mother reminded. She had enjoyed seeing all of the pictures her daughter had brought back of her friends and the land that the city and their shrine now resided on five hundred years ago.
Kagome thanked her mother and handed her the present she had picked out for her. Opening it, she found various ingredients that she hadn't seen before as well as recipes and how to prepare said things. No more dried-demon jerky incidents!
After pleasantries were exchanged, Inuyasha walked over and dropped three small items in Souta's hands: a small pocketknife, a small block of wood, and a carved figurine of bear. Smirking, the hanyou reflected, "Now that is what I did when I was a kid, Souta."
Glancing at the items in his hand, he returned the boyish glare as he admired the craftsmanship needed to create a flawless representation of a bear. Inuyasha walked over to his betrothed's grandfather and handed him a small, carved dagger. "For you collection, Gramps."
For the first time, the grandfather gave an approving look to the hanyou, who was to take his granddaughter away from him. It seemed to hold true that the best words of thanks weren't audible, but those of understood actions. His daughter took the opportunity to lay a package, which turned out to be a well-dated history book. That would certainly not go unread for much longer.
Handing the final gift to her son, Mrs. Higursahi watched as the expression on his face grew to that of sheer happiness. "Zombie Killers II!" the boy exclaimed as he examined the exterior of the CD case, showing more than enough Zombie gore in a post-apocalyptic setting.
Inuyasha turned to Kagome and whispered, "Forget about woodcarving, right? They won't be seeing him for days..."
"Yep..." Kagome returned as she laughed at her brother, who was now running up to his room to play his game.
"Well, I guess that's it," Mrs. Higurashi concluded while she picked up the forgotten chocolate and misfit toys (Inuyasha's gift to the boy included) to stuff them back into the stocking for temporary storage.
After their farewells, the couple left for their home away from a house.
x-x-x-x-x
"So, what was your present to Kagome, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked with a lecherous glint shimmering in his eyes.
After a brief glare, he answered happily, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Looking over at his soon-to-be wife, he heard a squeal from Sango and a cheer from Shippo as she held her left hand outstretched, showing off the simple engagement ring. "Does that answer your question?" Inuyasha asked with a devilish smirk.
Miroku nodded as his expression widened in shock. Since when was their relationship even stable? And now they're engaged? "What about Naraku?" the monk wondered as he thought about the evil hanyou.
"Ehh, we decided he already knows enough to use it against us anyways..." Inuyasha muttered with the memories of all the various encounters.
Swinging his arm back, Miroku patted Inuyasha on the back and sighed, "After all this is over, we've be domesticated married men, won't we? No more peeping, no more..."
"That's just you!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he smashed him fist into the perverted mind that was constantly insisting that Inuyasha, too, shared the same delusions.
Sango muttered to Kagome with her hand at the corner of her mouth, "Men...But somehow we love 'em, right?"
Smiling profusely, Kagome nodded and bit her lip in an effort to not laugh at the sight unfolding before her. Inuyasha-no her fiancé-was so quick-tempered, but that's part of the reason why she loved him...
x-x-x-x-x
Omake time! I've never done one of these before, but I hope it's amusing! :D
"Okay, Souta, what have you got to tell me?" Mrs. Higurashi looked on her son anxiously for the response.
"He said he wanted to marry onee-chan," the young boy confirmed her suspicions. "Can I have a cookie now?"
With a wide grin, the mother handed her son a cookie and extolled, "You are a good boy, Souta."
Between his bites, he asked with cookie crumbling down his shirt, "How did you know he would come to me, Mama?" Wiping chocolate away from his mouth, he silently begged for another as his hand reached out towards her, palm upward. Another cookie was slid into his hand as soon as the paranoid mother had checked that there was no one to hear about their dealings.
"Woman's intuition," Mrs. Higurashi beamed with pride at the word. Apparently I'm not rusty yet! "Tell Inuyasha to come talk to me...No, don't tell him, that won't do...Suggest it."
Souta nodded and wondered as he licked the last bit of chocolate off his lips from the second cookie, "Mama, can I have another cookie?"
"You can have all the cookies you want after those two leave...and after you eat dinner...Do we have a deal?" his mother proposed.
Souta nodded and ran upstairs, determined to complete his mission. Cookies were on the line here!
End of Chapter 6 : Part 2
A/n : Anyone like the omake? :D I would totally let myself be bribed for cookies...Not mom's cookies though; you need an hour of soaking in coffee or milk to pull that off! O.o Anyways, I'll try to update a bit more, writing is the only thing I find fun anymore; so I'm starting to feel a bit more like my old self :) Ahaha, and am I the only one who has an awkward Christmas? I really don't know how to write one that isn't so...organized...So sorry if it seemed...odd. It's a strange holiday for me...Anyways...Tell me what you like, what you don't, where I need to improve (almost lemme know if I erred somewhere silly!)...Questions? Ahaha, now you've read, please review! :D
~Mitzuki-chan
