Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha and I never will. Oh well. : )
A/N: Once again, I'm sorry for the wait. I think the writer's block is going away. Lately I've been doing things lol. Like going out and having a life. It's helping with my writing but it's also keeping me away from it. But, don't worry, I'll never stop writing lol it just might take me a little longer to update.
Kagome shivered and Sango wrapped a towel around her upper body.
"Thanks." Kagome chattered out and Sango laughed.
"No problem." Kagura tossed Miroku a towel and he thanked her then scoffed at Sango.
"You wrap her up into a nice little cocoon and leave me to fend for myself! Nice Sango, real nice." He bit out, something like deja vu coming over him, and Sango walked over to him.
"Miroku, stop whining. You weren't out there as long as she was." She told him and he rolled his eyes as he shivered. "Plus, she's no pervert." Sango pushed him down and onto the couch.
"Ah!" Miroku yelled, getting up. "I can't get the couch wet! If you haven't noticed, my parents like a clean house."
"It's just a little water," Sango shrugged, walking over to Kagome who was sitting on a chair that Inuyasha had brought out from the kitchen. "How ya doing?"
"I'm fine now, thanks." Kagome said to her softly and Sango nodded her head.
"No problem." She said, glaring at Miroku. Kagome caught her staring at the boy and frowned.
"What's wrong?" She asked and Sango shook her head and looked up at her.
"Nothing really." Kagome watched Sango as she looked over at Miroku once more. Kagome saw something flash in Sango's eyes and she wondered what it was. "He's just so..." Sango was frustrated because she couldn't find a word for what Miroku was in particular.
"So rude?" Kagome asked in annoyance and Sango laughed out loud. Everyone had been talking amongst themselves so they hadn't heard Kagome and Sango's conversation.
"Yeah," Sango sighed, smiling. Then she frowned and looked at Kagome. "Actually no." Sango said, surprise evident in her voice. "He's very kind. He's also patient and warm and sweet." Sango smiled, looking off into the distance.
"Why thank you, dear Sango, I'm glad you think that." Miroku said from across the medium-sized room. When she laughed, Sango hadn't realized how quiet the room had gotten.
She gave him her best death glare, threw a pillow at him, and cried "Shut up, idiot! What makes you think I'm talking about you?" Then all was back to normal and everyone was having their own conversations again.
"So," Kagome said, trying to start their conversation once more.
"Oh!" Sango smiled, her anger melting away. "Kagome," She shifted her body so that she was entirely facing Kagome. "He isn't usually like that, trust me. He just knew he was fighting someone else's battle at that moment and so he got angry. I mean, wouldn't you feel the same way if you were him?"
"I'm going to get changed out of these wet clothes." Miroku said suddenly, laughing about something Kouga had said. "Kagome, come with me." He was telling her and he wasn't suggesting the idea or asking her if she wanted to change. No, he was telling her to go with him.
"Fine." She bit out. She was still slightly angry at him about how rude he'd been. She followed Miroku up the stairs to his bedroom. He opened a door that led into his room and Kagome looked around. It was a simple room for someone like Miroku. His walls were a slightly dark, sky blue and his bed was a nice size. Kagome smiled inwardly when she saw that his bed was made. For some reason she hadn't expected it to be.
"Here," Miroku threw her a white t-shirt and jeans. "Oh." He said suddenly and Kagome cocked a brow.
"What?"
"You're smaller than me."
"So?"
"Those clothes," He said, pointing at the items she held. "Might not.. no they definitely won't fit you. Let me get you something else." He left his room for two minutes then came back with new clothes. "Here you go." Kagome smiled when she noticed they were smaller.
"Did you go through a random growth spurt or something?" She asked and Miroku sighed.
"Yeah, 9th grade." Kagome laughed.
"These are your clothes from 9th grade?" She asked him.
"Yep." He said with another, slightly upset, sigh.
"Well, don't feel bad," She said in a sympathetic tone. "At least you grew." She smiled at him then headed into his bathroom to get changed.
"Heh, easy for you to say. Boy, was I teased back then. Everyone, including the few downstairs, made fun of me. Now I'm taller then all of them. Eh, cept Sesshomaru. And Inuyasha and I are the same height... and..." Kagome came out of the bathroom, smiling like crazy.
"I get it!" She said, meaning shut up.
"Hey, they do fit!" He said. He was already changed. Miroku had on what Kagome was going to wear.
"Yeah," She said, still smiling. Kagome had disposed of all her wet clothes. So that meant she wasn't wearing a bra or underwear. She felt her stomach turn. Maybe staying wet would've been better. Miroku saw the worried look on her face and knew what she was thinking about.
"Sorry I don't have any undergarments," He smirked in a joking manner to lighten the mood, "That I could give you." He said. "I can throw your wet ones into the dryer with everything else though."
"Uhh, sure." Kagome said. "Um," Kagome bit her lip and leaned slightly in thought. The t-shirt was still slightly big on her, for that she was thankful. But the pants fit her like a glove and were only loose at the bottom. "I think I'll throw them in. But only if that's okay." She said and Miroku nodded his head.
"Sure, that's fine. It's down there." He pointed down the hall. "You'll see it. Take mine too." He gave her his clothes and Kagome gave him a quick smile then scurried out of the room.
- & - & - & - & - & - & -
"Now, where is this dryer?" Kagome asked herself as she walked down the hall Miroku had directed her to go down. She quickly found it and headed downstairs once she put them into dry.
"Hey Kagome," Kagura said. They were all just sitting and talking. To Kagome, all of it seemed kind of boring.
"Hi." She said and once she was at the bottom of the stairs she walked over to where she was sitting before. She noticed a change in the room. Everyone had moved closer to one another and it was cozier and she was sitting away from them. She smiled to herself because for some reason she didn't like being left out. 'No harm in getting up to sit closer.' She thought to herself with a shrug. Then she walked over to Inuyasha and sat down beside him because he was the one who was furthest out of the group.
"Hello," He said pleasantly and she laughed quietly.
"Hi." She said and he nudged her with a smile and he got another laugh out of her. Then, they both directed their attention to the conversation that was going on.
"I'm telling you, she ate that gummy bear and then it came out her nose." Kouga said seriously as he laughed. Kagome noticed that Sango was blushing with embarrassment.
"No," Miroku shook his head, staring at Kouga for a moment. Then he laughed and shook his head again, "I wish I saw it."
"What the hell made it come out her nose?" Kagura asked and Kouga looked at her, tears flowing down his eyes because he was laughing so hard.
"Sango," He breathed, "What made it come out of your nose?"
"Well," Sango said quietly, containing her laugh and looking at Kouga. "I was just eating some gummy bears and then I walked over near that coffee table," She pointed over at said table, "And I stubbed my toe!" Everyone burst out laughing and Kagome tried to figure out what was so funny. She imagined that it would be quite awful and strange to have something like a gummy bear come out of her nose. "And I, like, gasped and then.. and then..." She covered her face with her hands in humiliation and another round of laughter rang out through the room.
"Oh, dude, that reminds me of that time spaghetti, came out of your nose!" Inuyasha said, pointing at Miroku. Miroku blushed as he remembered the time as if it were yesterday.
"Not like you were there!" Miroku said with anger.
"Oooh, do tell us about the time spaghetti came out your nose." Sango said, getting excited because the attention was off of her.
"I was on this date..." Miroku began and Kagome tried to seem interested. She'd seen things like groups of friends talking together outside or in movies but she'd never been a part of it and so she didn't know how to act or what she was supposed to be feeling. "And I had ordered the spaghetti special."
"No shit," Kouga said with a snicker and everyone glared at him. Kagome copied this. "Uh, sorry, my bad." He cleared his throat. "Continue Miroku." He said politely.
Miroku continued to glare at Kouga as he said, "As I was saying," then he turned his gaze back to the others. "I ordered the spaghetti special and the girl I was on a date with was fucking hottt! But, she was beyond boring. So, I was trying to come up with ideas on how to liven up the date." Sango laughed.
"You, livening up a date?" She said, continuing to laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry," She said with sarcasm as Miroku glared at her. "Please, go on."
"I'm glad I have your permission." He fumed.
"Oh boy," Inuyasha groaned. "Would you two stop fighting? He's just telling a story. Jeez, cut Miroku some slack... and Miroku," Miroku glared at him.
"Yeah?" He bit out.
"Just chill." He said simply. All was quiet for a minute and then Kagome sighed.
"What happened next?" She asked, nearly emotionless and everyone snickered quietly.
"Well," Miroku began once he'd recovered, "She said something that was definitely not funny but at the time, to me, it was hilarious and I'd just been eating some spaghetti... I was really slurping it down and it was a pretty long piece." Here, people began to laugh. "And once she said what she had it just sent me over and I snorted and then the spaghetti started to come out my nose and then that made me laugh even more!" Everyone was practically dying of laughter and then Sango looked at Kagome and Kagome looked at Sango and suddenly Kagome was laughing too.
"I didn't know that laughter was contagious!" Kagome said with a giggle.
"Hell yeah," Inuyasha smirked, "I'm telling you, no matter how hard you try, when the people you're around are laughing, you laugh too."
"Good," Kagome said, still smiling softly. "That's how laughing should be. Laughter should something shared." Kagome said with a nod of her head. She looked at the people around her and smiled. "I should get going."
"Do you want to go?" Inuyasha asked her. She looked into his eyes, continuing to smile.
"No," She said. "But I think I've overstayed my welcome." She said, getting up.
"Kagome, why would you think that?" Kouga asked her and she turned to him.
"It's been an hour?" She asked. "I would assume that you're all going home too." She said with a shrug.
"That must be because you're stupid." Kouga said thoughtfully but jokingly, too. "Because none of us are going home right now." He smiled at her and Kagome put her head to one side.
"And why not?"
"Because that's not really 'hanging out.' I mean, we usually spend the day together and then we hang out well into the night." Sango told her and Kagome smiled.
"Well, in that case, I guess I'll be staying." Then she sat back down and everyone began to relax around her. She wasn't someone they needed to put a show on for anymore, she was finally their acquaintance. "Is it okay if I stay?" They all groaned at the question and Miroku shook his head with a smile.
Then he said, "Si." After a moment of comfortable silence, Miroku finally said something. "I'm failing Spanish." They all laughed and Kagome grimaced. She hated Spanish.
"Me too!" Sango said with anger. "But it's only because I have a retarded teacher."
"I know!" Miroku said, standing up and waving his arms around as he talked. "I fucking hate Mrs. Lega."
"It's more like Mrs. Gagya." Kouga snorted. "She sucks!"
"Guys, you can't blame your teacher for bad grades." Kagura said.
"Easy for you to say," Inuyasha said with an angry smirk. "You don't have the bitch." He said.
"And you do?" She asked, knowing that he didn't.
"No," He said, "But I did have her my first year and she was awful."
"Yeah, but still!" Kagura said and they all rolled their eyes.
"We're going to blame her so you might as well just let us." Sango said with a smile. Kagura crossed her arms with a pout and shook her head.
"I was just saying that-"
"Kagura!" Everyone fumed jokingly and she laughed then dropped the subject.
"There was this time when I was, like, five, right?" Sango said, looking at them. "And I was in the car with my mom."
"Boy, was that story interesting." Inuyasha said with sarcasm and she shot him a look.
"That wasn't the whole story!" She said and Kagome laughed quietly to herself.
"Okay, then finish it." He said and she did.
"So, I was in the car with my mom and we came to a red light." She said, smiling. "Then I looked at the guy beside me in his car. He looked like a businessman, you know? Suit and tie; the works." She went out to the kitchen then came back with a water bottle. She took a sip then continued, "And so, he was just sitting there and I was looking at him. He kinda glanced around. Then, right before my little five-year-old eyes," She paused and took a dramatic breath, "He picked his nose." She sat there for a second, waiting for it to sink in. Then, she started to roll around, laughing. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.
"You built that story up waaay too much." Kouga said, snickering softly.
"But, it's not over!" She said, recovering and grinning wildly. "So, after he picked his nose, he looked directly at me. Then, I took my finger and pretended to pick my nose! He laughed a little and mouthed, 'You caught me!' with a shrug." This, was when everyone began to laugh.
"Oh man," Inuyasha sighed, continuing to laugh quietly. "That guy must've been wicked embarrassed."
"He was!" Sango said. "When the light turned green, he waved with a smile then took off."
"That doesn't mean he was embarrassed." Miroku said.
"Yeah, well I opened my window and stuck my head out slightly and saw that he was shaking his head and pouting. He was definitely embarrassed." She laughed with a snort.
"One time in preschool, I pissed myself." Miroku said with a sigh. Kagome joined in on the laughing that time.
"Random much?" Sesshomaru said calmly. They all looked at him. He hadn't really talked the entire time he was there. Inuyasha's eye twitched. "What?" He bit out.
"Nothing." They all said quickly. Then, Miroku got back to his story.
"So, I'd been drinking a lot of water that day," Some of them were already snickering quietly to themselves. It was just something about the way Miroku talked when he told a story or told them something from his past. "And we were finally going out for recess. I was wicked excited. Then, it was, like, I don't know, a few minutes before we had to go back to class and I hadn't gone down the slide yet."
"Aww, poor Roku." Sango said, making her voice sound like she was talking to a baby.
"Shut up." He said, making a face. "Anyway, I got to the top of the slide and was like, 'Oh no, I have to go to the bathroom.' But, my friend urged me to go down the slide. She was all, 'It's wicked fun! Come on, just go down, it's really fast.' So, I sat down. The moment I sat down I knew I was in trouble and so I got up. She was like, 'Come ooon! Miroku, it's so fun. You're missin' out if you don't go down.' She was smiling so I knew it had to be fun. Then my teacher told us to start lining up to go back inside and I was like jogging in place because I had to go so badly."
"Please tell me you went down the slide." Kagura said in a begging tone and Miroku smiled.
"I'm getting there, don't worry. So, I was being rushed the same time that I had to go to the bathroom. The two together just do not work well. My friend rolled her eyes. 'Just go already!' She screamed. Then she pushed me on to my bum and pushed me down the slide. I gasped and I felt the warm feeling of pee running down my leg. Once I was at the end of the slide I started to cry. It was a big yellow slide. The color of urin..." He said the last part with thought and Kouga laughed.
"Wrong part to talk about the slide." Kagome muttered and they all laughed.
"Yeah," Miroku said with a smile. "You're right. I just thought I'd add that though since I was thinking about how it would've been wicked fun to have gone down it when I wasn't in need of a bathroom."
"Yeah." She said lightly. "I used to love playgrounds." And suddenly it was Kagome's turn to tell a story. She paused for a moment to process what she'd just figured out. When you hung out with your friends you could do various things. This time they were telling stories from their past and last time they were gossiping and the boys were throwing around a football. She knew that there was more to it than that but she was starting to get it. And, she liked how she was starting to get it. "I remember one time when I was younger, my mom took me to this wicked nice park. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was the bluest I'd ever seen it. I don't think I've seen it that blue since. Oh, and the clouds!" She gasped and sat up straighter. "They were gorgeous. So damn beautiful. They were big, white, and fluffy." She chuckled quietly and put a finger to her nose. "And the smells, they were even better. My senses were like completely heightened or something."
"Hmm, wonder what you took that day?" Kouga joked.
"Oh, shut up." Kagome said. "I didn't take anything." She said seriously and everyone realized that she hadn't gotten the joke. But, they just let it pass. "And neither had my mother." She said, smiling slightly. "She was totally and completely there with me. And she saw the same things and she smelled the same flowers that I had smelled and she picked me up and let me touch the leaves of a really tall tree. Or, at least it seemed tall at the time." Kagome sighed. "Then she pushed me while I was on the swings and it was just the most amazing day!" She said wistfully. "I'll never forget it. That day was one of the best days of my life." They were all silent for a moment; drinking in Kagome's serious story. Every once in a while you needed one of those during the kind of day that they were having.
"One time I got so drunk that I walked all the way down to this park and scared all the kids away." Kouga said seriously and all was back to normal.
"Yeah? Did you remember what happened the next morning?" Sango asked.
"Nope, Inuyasha had to tell me. Then, bits and pieces came back to me."
"Feh, it wasn't an easy task either. He was puking the whole time."
"Oh, ew." Kagome said and everyone laughed. Laughter, it was something that happened often when you were with friends and Kagome loved it.
A/N: Yay, it's the end of the 10th chapter. Sorry about the grammar mistakes, I have to help my mom clean... if I don't I fear she'll kill me :P! Byeness for now.