Chapter 9 - To the City
Kagome said her goodbyes to her friends and ran off home. She was totally unaware of Hojo who was just about to approach her to talk about their plans for the weekend.
"Poor Hojo." Yuka sighed as she watched Hojo stand there awkwardly.
"I'm home!" Kagome cried out as she burst in through the front door. Her mother greeted her with a smile, as always.
"Welcome home, Kagome. Are you going to get changed?" she asked. Kagome nodded before taking off her shoes and running up the stairs to her bedroom. "Wait, Kagome! Sesshoumaru-" her mother tried to call out after her. Kagome burst into her bedroom before freezing. Sesshoumaru lay soundly on her bed. Sesshoumaru?! She tiptoed towards her bed and slowly kneeled down, watching Sesshoumaru's sleeping face. He looks so vulnerable. Without thinking, Kagome raised her hand to feel his silver hair. It's so soft. She smiled. She found Sesshoumaru cute, sleeping like this. Her hand made its way up to his face and she gently brushed his cheek. I wonder if Rin does this when Sesshoumaru's sleeping. Sesshoumaru doesn't seem to mind her getting close to him.
"What are you doing?" Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open. Kagome pulled her hand back quickly and turned as red as a cherry. She hoped he wasn't awake the entire time.
"Y-y-you're awake, Sesshoumaru! I'm sorry! I-I-I was just-" A hand gently caressed her cheek. Kagome's face quickly became a deeper shade of red. Sesshoumaru seemed to be irritated by something as he brushed her cheek the same way she had done to him. At first, she thought that maybe he was irritated because she woke him up, but she felt as though it was for another reason.
"Sesshoumaru, is there something bothering you?" Kagome asked in a concerned tone. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened. He slowly pulled his hand back and sat up. She and her mother really are alike.
"Your mother said you would be taking me to a city, is that right?" Sesshoumaru queried. He's avoiding the question, Kagome realized. She wondered if it would be best not to pry so she just smiled and nodded.
"Um, to be honest, Sesshoumaru, I think it would be best to wear something else. Your clothes might attract a lot of attention." she pointed out. And his hair wouldn't exactly be helping.
"What do you suggest I wear?" he asked. Kagome was glad that he didn't reject the idea.
"My mother's got some old clothes somewhere that my dad wore. I'm sure they would fit you," she said. Sesshoumaru didn't say anything and followed Kagome out of the room to find those clothes. Sesshoumaru had actually been dreaming when Kagome woke him up. He only came to her room out of curiosity since he didn't have anything to do. Kagome's scent seemed to please him and he had decided to lay down in her bed. However, he had fallen unconscious and began to dream. Sesshoumaru thought about the events that occurred during that dream...
"Kazumaru-sama!" a young voice called out. Kazumaru was sitting on a branch of a tree overlooking the entire village. He looked below him to see where the voice was coming from. Looking up was a young boy who looked to be around thirteen years old. He wore a long brown cloak. The hood had fallen off his head. "I snuck through all the villagers, see? No one recognized me!" the boy simpered. Kazumaru smirked and jumped down to join the young boy.
"Where did you get the cloak, Mitsuo?" Kazumaru asked, inspecting the cloth. The boy named Mitsuo seemed really proud of it.
"I helped out with the tailor and she taught me how to make this. Isn't it cool, Sesshoumaru-sama? Now I can join you whenever I want without people asking questions." Mitsuo spun around, showing off his new attire. "I need to repay my debt to you, after all. This will make it easier." Kazumaru thought back to the time when he first met Mitsuo. Mitsuo had been the leader of some kid gang in the village. They had always acted tough and beat up other kids who got in their way. One day, another kid seeking revenge made a deal with a small youkai. It was Kazumaru who witnessed this and followed the small youkai to the group of kids. He had watched as the youkai attacked some of them. Kazumaru remembered how scared Mitsuo had been at that time. Mitsuo was lucky he was there to get rid of that youkai or else he probably would have suffered a broken bone. Kazumaru smirked again as he reminisced.
"I don't know why you think you need to repay your debt. That youkai was small fry, Mitsuo. Even you could have killed it," Kazumaru pointed out. Mitsuo pouted.
"You still saved me," he responded. Kazumaru smiled and patted Mitsuo on the head.
"I met a girl today, Mitsuo," Kazumaru started. Mitsuo's eyes widened with excitement.
"A girl?! What was she like? Was she pretty?" Mitsuo began interrogating Kazumaru.
"Yeah, she was pretty," he admitted, "she wore these expensive clothes too. She also seemed like she was in a rush somewhere. You should have seen her." Kazumaru laughed. "She bumped into me by accident and fell onto the ground."
"So did you help her up?!" Mitsuo asked, desperate to know more.
"Of course! And you should have seen that ornament that was in her hair. It was like a huge pearl." Mitsuo's smiled dropped. Kazumaru noticed this and narrowed his eyes at him. "What's wrong?"
"There's only one person around here who wears expensive clothes and has an ornament like that," Mitsuo said.
"You know who they are?" Kazumaru asked.
"That was Kotomi-hime." Mitsuo sighed. Kazumaru's expression became an array of confusion, shock, and humiliation.
"Wouldn't she have her guards with her?"
"She's known for running off on her own," Mitsuo replied. Kazumaru groaned and dropped his head into his hands.
That was when Sesshoumaru had woken up.
"My, what a wonderful fit!" Kagome's mother exclaimed. Sesshoumaru was wearing a white blouse which was tucked into brown trousers. He wore a blue tie along with it. "You look great without the blazer."
"Is that Dad's old high school uniform, Mom?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru inspected his clothes with curiosity. Kagome's mother nodded.
"Doesn't Sesshoumaru look like a young high schooler? Now Kagome, why don't you keep your middle school uniform on. You'll look like a great pair," her mother said. Kagome blushed and she looked down at the floor. She had to admit that Sesshoumaru didn't look half bad with a school uniform on. She never thought she would see him ever wearing one. It made her wonder what life would have been like if she had met Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and the others at school instead of in the feudal era. All of a sudden, they heard a loud crash downstairs and footsteps bounding up the stairs. Inuyasha quickly appeared in the doorway of Kagome's mother's room, panting.
"Finally, you're back Kago-" only then did he notice Sesshoumaru, his eyes practically bulging out of his eye sockets. "What on earth are you wearing?!" he blurted out. Sesshoumaru's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"Sesshoumaru and I are heading out to the city, Inuyasha. I'm going to show him around. We'll be back after dinner, don't worry." Kagome explained as she smiled. Inuyasha pouted angrily.
"I'm coming!" he announced before another pair of footsteps stormed up the stairs. Inuyasha gulped.
"No, you're not. You still haven't finished your work, Inuyasha." Kagome's grandfather pointed out. He looked really irritated and slapped Inuyasha on the head with a slipper. "You're coming with me," he said before dragging Inuyasha downstairs. Kagome, her mother, and Sesshoumaru heard them argue amongst each other. Kagome's mother giggled softly and clasped her hands together.
"Now what are we going to do about that arm of yours?" she pondered. Kagome gasped. Sesshoumaru and her mother looked at her. I know exactly what to do.
"Well, I think you two should start heading off now." Kagome's mother said. Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru, who wore a fake cast in order to cover up where his left arm should have been. It looked pretty believable. When they reached the front door, Kagome gave Sesshoumaru a pair of leather shoes to wear and helped him put them on.
"We're going!" Kagome shouted as she and Sesshoumaru left the house. Sesshoumaru posture was as stiff as a stick. It had become much more noticeable since he was wearing modern day clothes. Kagome wished he could just relax. As they walked down the steps of the Higurashi shrine, Kagome felt awkward and uncomfortable. Sesshoumaru barely made a sound. She had to keep looking back to make sure he was still following her. Then an idea popped into Kagome's mind. She turned to face Sesshoumaru and walked up beside him, smiling softly at him. Gently, she took his right hand in hers and held it as they walked down the steps. Kagome was beet red, but she found that holding his hand made her feel happy. It was the same for Sesshoumaru who smirked a little. When they reached the bottom, Kagome guided him towards the city where they continued to walk. She and Sesshoumaru started walking in the direction of the mall Kagome that her friends always used to shop at.
"By the way, Sesshoumaru, you never actually explained why you came through the well."Kagome pointed out. She hadn't thought about it until now. Sesshoumaru wasn't sure whether to tell her the truth, lie or not say anything at all. Yet he eventually came to the decision that it would be best to tell her the truth.
"I was planning to kill you," he admitted. Kagome's heart stopped. Kill me? "Do not worry, however. I have since changed my mind." Sesshoumaru quickly explained. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why did you want to kill me?" she asked, afraid that she wouldn't like the answer.
"I believed killing you would rid me of those dreams," he confessed. He glanced at her face to make sure she understood he didn't feel that way anymore. He wasn't reassured. Her face clearly showed discomfort. Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised since he doubted any human would quickly dismiss such a confession. He hoped he didn't scare Kagome too much, however. The pair pushed and shoved amongst waves of people. There were many moments when they were separated from each other. Luckily, Sesshoumaru had a good nose and could pick Kagome's scent out from the crowds of humans. He felt greatly irritated by the amounts of times he had to go back and find Kagome. When they joined hands again, Sesshoumaru held her tightly in order to make it more difficult to be pulled away from each other. It wasn't only the amount of times they were separated which annoyed him, however. The stench of humans seemed to overwhelm him and it was even worse when a sweaty old man brushed past, leaving his sweat on Sesshoumaru's clothes. If it weren't for Kagome there to calm him down, he probably would have attacked the poor old man. In attempts to make the situation seem better, he tried to think of worse situations. Yes, at least Inuyasha isn't here. At least I can't smell his disgusting stench. Sesshoumaru found comfort in that thought and continued to push on. He was relieved when they finally found the entry to the mall. Kagome laughed nervously as they went up the escalator.
"Finally got here, huh?" she sighed. Sesshoumaru didn't realize he had been frowning the entire time until after Kagome's comment made him smile.
"I didn't particularly like the way here," he intoned. Kagome shook her head.
"But you still learned something. Right?" she said with a laugh. Then a shrill squeal interrupted her. She and Sesshoumaru turned to see three girls wearing the same uniforms as Kagome. Kagome's smile dropped. "Yuka? Eri? Ayumi?" Why now of all times?!
