I'm very, very, very, very sorry! I know, it's been MONTHS! I've been busy (damn college and it's ability to make me tired so that I don't feel like writing at all), and Jen's been bugging the hell out of me to write, so go praise her cause she's the only reason I finally set pen to paper (so to speak).
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or any other copyrighted things here that I might mention, so please don't sue!
Kagome woke up the next morning slightly stiff and fought against the approaching awareness, a deep feeling inside instinctively telling her to just snuggle back in bed and not face the day's problems.
It was in this state of half sleep that her memory of the previous day came rushing back, making her groan and stirring her awake, and making her turn over and lay face down on her pillow, burying her head in it.
"And to think, last week my biggest problems were a boring date and saving up for a cute new pair of boots! Kagome groaned as she buried her face deeper into her pillow, "now I've got a demon mate, a bulls eye jewel and a freakishly, overprotective, slightly overbearing best friend who wants to decapitate said demon mate, even though he makes my stomach do flip flops whenever he looks at me!"
"Hey! I am NOT overbearing! I think the expression you were looking for was 'wonderfully caring and sensible!'"
Kagome lifted her head and glared at Sango, who was sitting at the vanity brushing her hair out. The set up of her old room at her mother's house hadn't changed in all the years since Kagome had moved out, with the exception of the extra twin bed moved in for Sango's use.
Looking around, Kagome realized Sango had already made her bed, trained (if the various weapons out were any indication), showered, and changed….she was one of those "early risers"….freak.
"I meant OVERBEARING, what with the whole telling me whom I may and may not date and thinking that your input is the final word on the matter, and constantly talking about beheading a guy I kinda sort of maybe might possibly eventually love…..maybe" Kagome pattered off.
"Kagome, I love you, you're like my sister, which is why I might be inclined to take certain drastic measures sometimes in order to protect you," Sango said as she stood up from the vanity and grabbed a jacket from the closet.
Kagome sighed and moved aside the comforter before stretching towards the ceiling and giving Sango a small smile, "I love you too," she said as she swung her legs out of bed, "but you ha- ow!" Kagome plunked back down on her bed and stared bewilderedly at….nothing.
She reached out her hand slowly in front of her, managing to clear about half a foot from the edge of the bed before her hand smacked something….solid…and invisible…
"What in the?!" She glanced at Sango and her confusion grew as Sango's expression showed a mixture of triumph and…guilt?
"Like I said…drastic measures…"
Kagome's expression changed from confusion to incredibility as her still-drowsy mind quickly caught up with the situation. "D..did you…DID YOU MAKE AN INVISIBLE WALL AROUND MY BED?!"
Sango had the decency to look abashed, "….technically it's called a barrier," she put in somewhat meekly, or as close to meek as Sango could possibly manage.
"Wha….when did you….HOW did you…?" Kagome sputtered, her mind still too shocked to try and do anything else.
"Well…" Sango shifted a little uncomfortably, "I learned about protective barriers during my slayer training. I've never made one before, but I knew the theory behind it, so I tried it last night."
Kagome frowned once again. She knew the theory behind barriers too, and something was bugging her, but she couldn't understand what….when another thought hit her.
"Sango….I'm a pretty light sleeper…how did you do all this without waking me up?"
Sango shifted again, and mumbled something out.
"Sango…did you put something in my tea last night?!" Kagome stared incredulously at her friend once again as Sango cringed at her tone.
"Well, you're the one who taught me about herbs, and how to make sleeping draughts and stuff…" Sango threw back.
"Yeah! To use in emergencies when you have to, I don't know, amputate someone's leg or something! Not to knock me out and throw me in a magical equivalent of a cell! What the heck's the matter with you!" Kagome yelled as she got up and tried to find a way past the barrier to strangle her best friend.
"This IS an emergency Kagome! There is some crazy demon running around, claiming you're his mate, and he's drawing big guys with big guns to you and who knows what else!" Sango exclaimed as she made her way towards the door, "Until I deal with this, you are staying in here, where it's nice and safe!" She threw back before closing the door behind her.
"Sango!!! You get back here and let me out!!!" Kagome yelled, then sat back on the bed and glared as best she could at the invisible wall.
Now what?
Inuyasha slurped up the last of the noodles from the cup, savoring the taste of his beloved ramen as he walked the shrine grounds, stopping now and then to look at something in one of the stands.
This is pretty fun, he thought to himself as he passed by the stalls of games towards the food sections, moving nimbly to his left as two young boys raced past. Inuyasha looked smirked as he watched them shove each other and laugh as they rushed away."Having fond memories of your childhood with Sesshoumaru?" Miroku asked as he walked up behind his friend."I've paid dozens of therapists an obscene amount of money to help me forget growing up with Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha said as he turned to look his best friend, "and any non-repressed memory of that time period usually involves forms physical and psychological torture not even sanctioned by totalitarian countries."
"Oh come on, I moved into the mansion twelve years ago, I was there when the prank war was still in its prime, and he was never that bad," Miroku laughed as the two walked through the fair grounds.
"Not that bad?? He tortured you almost as much as me!" Inuyasha exclaimed.
"He did not, he-"
"Remember the week after Christmas '98?" Inuyasha asked.
"Nothing happened the week after Chri- oh my god," Miroku exclaimed as his eyes widened, "I've been repressing that for more than ten years!"
Inuyasha laughed and patted Miroku's back, "hey, it's okay! Your eyebrows eventually grew back, and you didn't lose any limbs."
"Yeah, but that's only because your dad medivacd me to the hospital to reattach my arm to my shoulder! I still can't bend the little finger on my left hand!"
"Hey, at least Sesshoumaru left you alone afterwards.""Only because your dad threatened to disown him if he ever hurt another innocent human," Miroku grumbled, "and his definition of "innocent" isn't like most other people."
Inuyasha laughed as he continued to walk the grounds, his eyes moving almost imperceptibly to catch any hint of trouble. He remembered the day Miroku had moved in. Miroku's family had been helping the Taisho family with their mission for centuries, and Miroku was the youngest one to have taken up the responsibilities after his father passed away, a mere 17 years old when he had arrived. Inuyasha and him had clashed a few times, Inuyasha claiming the young monk was a perverted idiot and Miroku insisting Inuyasha was an arrogant prick. Eventually this somehow led to them being best friends.
"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Miroku asked, shaking Inuyasha out of his memories, "I'd have though you'd be stalking the Lady Kagome right about now.""I don't stalk her!" Inuyasha said as he glared at him, "…besides you said women don't like to be…crowded…and she seemed a little annoyed at me yesterday when I didn't wanna leave…"
Miroku watched as his friend deflated right in front of his eyes…seriously, he could almost see the air coming out of him as he slumped down a little.
"Hey, it's okay yash," Miroku consoled as he patted his friend's back, "this whole thing is very strange for her, she probably needs sometime to get used to it. Besides, Lady Kagome is a strong, independent woman, would you want your mate to be any different? To be a sniveling, weak subservient woman who didn't put up a fight if a man tried to claim her?"
Inuyasha instantly perked up, "No, no you're right Miroku," he said, smiling, "my mate should be strong and able to make her own decisions, even if they do clash with my immediate wishes."
Miroku nodded and smiled too. He hadn't seen Inuyasha this happy in a very long time. And truth be told, if he had to pick a mate for his best friend, Lady Kagome would have been his first choice. She was beautiful, smart and kind and caring, but with enough will and fight of her own to keep Inuyasha from lording over her and making stupid mistakes….which he was bound to do.
"So what are you doing here then? If not visiting with your lady?" he asked as they walked towards the demonstration field.
"I'm keeping an eye out for any trouble of course!" Inuyasha said, "and I told Kagome that I'd like to help with the festival, so I'm doing teaching a couple of kids about swords, and I'm doing fight demonstrations later on," he said as they arrived at the weapon's shed by the field, "and I entered the Tournament."
Miroku nodded solemnly. He too had entered the tournament, as well as Sango, Kagome, and several dozens of fighters from the city. It was to be held on the third day, but Miroku could already tell who would make it to the final rounds, many of the poor guys on the field didn't look like they knew how to properly hold their weapons, let alone fight someone like Inuyasha with them. There were competent fighters on the field, some who were actually very good, but they had no idea who they were facing.
Miroku grinned and looked over at Inuyasha, who was also looking at the fighters with a mix of excitement and pity. "So do you know who you're fighting against first?""No actually, I was just about to check the roster" Inuyasha said as he made his way towards the list hanging against the wall of the shed.
"Don't bother," a familiar voice called out, "I already checked….it's me."
Kagome paced the floor of her tiny cell, which was impressive considering the small amount of space she had to work with.
This is ridiculous! She thought for the umpteenth time. I should be outside helping Mama, supervising the children, doing my demonstration, helping Gramps supervise the building of the stage for the play! And who's gonna pick up Souta from soccer practice??
She turned and glared at the invisible barrier once again. She had tried banging against it, thrown things at it, recited prayers to Kami and performed rituals her grandfather had taught her and nothing worked.
Course those rituals were probably incorrect since they came from Gramps…Kagome thought as she lay back on her bed and sighed. She sat back and frowned as a recurrent thought came back to her. Sango had told her this was the first barrier she had ever made, that she had only known the theory behind it. But Kagome had learned the theory behind it too, in fact she knew it better than Sango, who had always wandered to the more "physical" part of her heritage, while Kagome had studied the mystical part in depth.
And no offense to Sango, but this barrier was way out of her league. She shouldn't have had the spiritual energy to make a barrier this strong, and even if she did, she shouldn't have been able to control so much of it long enough to build this cell.
"So where did all the spiritual energy, and the control, come from?" Kagome asked herself out loud.
Kagome sighed again as she sat up and looked at her clock…on the other side of the barrier. She had been awake and stuck in here for almost an hour and a half!
"Kami, I can't even think with this barrier so damn close to me! If only it was farther away!" As soon as the words left her mouth she felt a warmth against her chest, looking down she saw her jewel glow a soft pink, and just like that, the barrier glowed pink as well and receded to the corners of her room, still there, but now extended to the parameter of her room instead of her bed.
Kagome's eyes widened as she stared in shock at the jewel, which slowly returned to normal.
Is this how Sango made the barrier? She incidentally channeled the energy of the jewel? Kagome wondered as she stared at the jewel in wonder. If the jewel's energy was used to create the barrier….
Thinking back to her knowledge of barriers, Kagome held up the jewel in her hand, and thought, Take down this barrier…
The barrier dissolved into pink dust as soon as she thought it.
"Huh….an hour and a half and all I had to do was think it…don't I feel like an idiot?" Kagome said as she quickly made her way towards the bathroom. First thing's first. She'd take a quick shower and change, and make herself look presentable…then she was going to find Sango, break every bone in her body, heal her back to health, and then do it again…to start with.
She was down the stairs and at the door in record time."Put me in a bloody magical cell will you, you little…" she mumbled to herself as rushed out the door, …tackling the man standing on the other side in her haste.
"Oomph," she heard a voice grunt from under her.
" Hmm," she heard a voice above her say, "…are you Kagome Higurashi?"
"Yes?" she said, looking up at…a very familiar pair of golden eyes.
"Very well, I supposed you will suffice," the voice said, sounding incredibly bored and exasperated at the same time.
What-….suffice?…suffice for what? And what the hell does he mean he "SUPPOSED I'll suffice? Kagome thought as her vision finally focused enough to take in the rest of the man.
"Sesshoumaru Taisho," he said, slightly nodding his head in greeting, "and the man you are currently straddling is my business associate, Kouga Garou."
"Garou…doesn't that mean 'Hungry Wolf'?" She asked, instantly shifting her body to lift herself off the man under her, her mind still not processing the fact that she was sitting on top of a man. A very attractive man actually, she thought as she stared down at the black haired young man with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He was also sporting a very wolfish grin.
"Oh I'm hungry for something all right," he said as he winked at her, "and judging by the way you were looking me over, you are too."
"What??" she exclaimed, sitting up, still on his lap, "I am not-"
Kouga cut her off by gallantly swooping her up bridal style, his grin intensifying, " Yes! We cannot let ourselves get caught in such a compromising position, such a fair lady's reputation will not be put in danger." he proclaimed.
Kagome had to stifle a laugh as she grabbed onto Kouga's neck to steady herself. "Oh my, thank you kind sir, but I know better than to trust hungry wolves." she teased.
"Oh, but I promise not to bite-"
"Aren't I becoming too much for you?" she asked, worried that his arms would give out from carrying her so long.
"I can handle you for much longer, but would you be able to handle me I wonde-"
"All right," Sesshoumaru interrupted, his voice dripping with annoyance, "now that we've established that you are attracted to one another, may we move on to more important matters?"
Kouga opened his mouth to respond.
"Put the girl down, she still needs to change and get ready if she is to show us to the festival."
Kouga immediately placed her gently on her feet, while Kagome frowned at Sesshoumaru, "But I am ready." She said, looking down at her outfit.
"Yes, yes, although you're miko costume is adept, it is frowned upon among our kind to impersonate one."
"…." Kagome gaped at him, unable to find the words to respond.
Luckily Kouga stepped in, snaking an arm around Kagome's shoulder. "I think she IS a Miko, Taisho."
Sesshoumaru lifted a brow at him.
"I mean," Kouga said quickly, "it's IN her file."
"In the time of my father's rule, Miko's were chaste and virtuous maidens, chosen for their purity. Women of integrity who would not swoon over a few pretty words" he said, looking Kagome with a look of slight bewilderment, "apparently time changes even the noblest of traditions."
"Ooh, she's so gonna smack him." Shippo said into the phone as he watched the scene on one of the monitors in front of him, grinning at the mere thought.
"Who's gonna smack who?" A voice on the other line asked, "What are you talking about Shippo?"
"Huh? Oh nothing Inuyasha, so what did you need?" Shippo asked, his eyes still glued to the screen of the monitor, his eyes widening as he saw Kagome's eye twitch and her hands ball into fists while Kouga tried to diffuse the situation. Thank kami I took that lip reading course, he thought, regretting the fact that audio surveillance wouldn't be available for another three hours.
"So did you look into that real estate like I asked?" Inuyasha asked from the other line, his voice sounding a little impatient.
"Oh, right! The sale for the three surrounding properties went through, and I'm inquiring about the fourth." Shippo said as he snapped open a soda can, his eyes still not leaving the screen. "I've got the construction team at the site already, and the monks and miko are blessing the plots as we speak and building up the protective barriers you wanted."
"Great," Inuyasha said, his voice sounding much lighter, "lemme know about that fourth property as soon as you acquire it."
"Sure, and you're WELCOME," Shippo said pointedly.
"Yeah yeah, thanks runt," Inuyasha replied before hanging up, though Shippo did manage to hear the tinge of affection in his sarcastic reply.
"Inuyasha's never going to win Lady Kagome with those manners," Shippo sighed. The only time Inuyasha ever adopted any manners at all was when he was trying to prove a point to Kouga.
Shippo looked back at the screen and suddenly grinned, an idea hitting him, a brilliant one if he was going to be honest with himself. He took out a phone and made some calls to the staff at Kouga's condo, smiling triumphantly a few minutes later as he hung up. Turning back to the screen, his smile widened….this was going to be fun.
Okay, that's it! The next chap's on it's way...probably...So please review! ^^
11/11/09
CPH
Quote of the Day:
"Screw the rules, I have money!" -Seto Kaiba, Yugi-oh Abridged series.