Ch. 11- The Birthday Present

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Tuesday, April 1st. 8:45 AM.

It was time for the morning lecture and, as usual, Inuyasha was sitting beside Miroku with his feet propped up on his desk and his hands behind his head. The latter side-eyed his friend in irritation while he was taking notes before he elbowed him in the side, causing him to grunt in slight pain as he awoke.

"Hey, what was that for?!" Inuyasha questioned. "I was sleeping!"

"Pay attention," Miroku said. "This is important. It's about Nobunaga."

"...Keh," Inuyasha scoffed as he finally sat properly in his seat, yawning and stretching his arms. "All I know is that he was the biggest idiot in history. What else do we need to know about that guy?"

Miroku sighed and shook his head.

"I'm not giving you my notes, this time," he whispered. "You're on your own on this one."

Inuyasha only rolled his eyes as he looked down at his textbook. He never really was interested in history...or any other class for that matter, but hey, it's not like he chose to be here. Shikon High was one of the most elite schools in Tokyo, so naturally, Toga had his son enrolled here. Come to think of it, his older brother came to this school before he did and graduated at the top of the class. He was at some ritzy university, these days, though...not that he cared.

The pompous jerkass never cared about him, anyway, so why should he give a fuck about him?

As Inuyasha was about to write down notes, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He checked to see if the teacher had heard and once he had assured himself he was in the clear, he pulled it out and unlocked the screen.

NEW TEXT MESSAGE FROM KAGOME:

"Hey, R U busy l8r?"

Inuyasha glanced around briefly before he began to tap his thumbs on the touch screen.

INUYASHA:

"I'm in class, rite now. What's up?"

KAGOME:

"I need to C U. How does at around lunch sound?"

INUYASHA:

"Sure. Why?"

KAGOME:

"I have something for U. It's a surprise." ;-)

Inuyasha's ears perked and his golden eyes lit up at that.

"She got me something...?" he whispered.

"Mr. Taisho."

Inuyasha tensed before he looked up and saw the scowling face of the teacher.

"Sleeping in class is bad enough," he began, "but if you're going to be texting, as well, then I'm going to have to ask for your phone. You can have it back at the end of class."

Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head while the other students laughed.

XXX

12:30 PM. It was lunch period, now, and Inuyasha had just gotten through eating. Now he was just waiting for Kagome. After he had managed to get his phone back after his history lecture, she texted him to meet her at their usual spot.

"Well, here I am," he muttered, "but where the hell is she?"

He then looked down at his phone and saw the several messages he left her.

"Jeez..." he muttered. "Maybe I shouldn't have left that many messages. She might think I'm a creep or something."

Suddenly, he tensed up a bit as he smelled a familiar scent coming from behind him. He looked over his left shoulder...nobody there. He looked over his right shoulder...no one there, either...but as he turned around, again...

"Boo!"

"Oh!" Inuyasha cried as Kagome appeared right in front of him, her hands behind her back as she laughed.

"Hi, again!" she said.

"K-Kagome!" Inuyasha stammered. "You really ought to stop doin' that!"

"Oh, come on, it's kinda funny to see you all jumpy like that," Kagome replied.

Inuyasha only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh, come on, don't pout," Kagome said. "I got you a little something!"

"Oh, right," Inuyasha recalled. "So what'd you get me, anyway?"

"Close your eyes," Kagome told him, and the half-demon sighed before he did so...and he could hear a rattling sound as he felt something being put around his neck. "Okay, you can open them now."

Inuyasha opened his eyes and saw the young girl smiling up at him. At first, he didn't quite figure out what she did...until he spotted something around his neck. It was a beaded necklace, made out of dark blue round beads and white beads that looked like fangs. He blinked at it and even touched one of them. They were smooth and they smelled a bit like wood.

"Do you like it?" asked Kagome. "I got this from my family's shrine."

"Isn't this a rosary?" Inuyasha inquired. "The kind they use to subdue demons?"

"Oh, they're not real!" Kagome assured. "My family sells lots of them. Charms, incense, stuff like that."

"Huh..." Inuyasha muttered. "So...why'd you get this for me, anyway?"

"You don't even know?" Kagome asked. "Today's your birthday!"

Inuyasha's eyes went wide.

"Happy Birthday, Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed.

"H...how'd you know that today's my birthday?" Inuyasha asked.

"Your mom told me," Kagome replied.

~Flashback~

It was on Friday night at the restaurant, when Kagome had been invited to dinner with Toga, Izayoi, and Inuyasha, who had gone to the bathroom sometime after the waiter had taken their orders.

"So, Kagome," said Izayoi. "Are you and Inuyasha getting along?"

"Yes, ma'am," Kagome replied. "We're quite close."

"That's good to know," Toga said. "It's nice to see that my son's made a new friend. I mean...Miroku can be a good fellow, but I don't trust him that much."

"So I've been told," Kagome mused.

"Inuyasha is such a nice boy," Izayoi added. "I know he tends to rough people up a little bit, but you can't really blame him. Being a half-demon isn't easy, you see."

"Inuyasha faced a lot of discrimination in his life while he was growing up," Toga said. "My oldest son, Sesshomaru, won't even acknowledge him."

"I didn't know Inuyasha had a brother," Kagome replied.

"Well, half-brother, really," Izayoi said. "You see, when I met Toga, he was already married to a female dog demon named Satomi and had a son with her...but it seemed fate still allowed us to be together. One thing led to another and a few years later, Inuyasha was born on April 1st."

"Oh, his birthday's coming soon?" asked Kagome.

"That's right," Toga confirmed. "Unfortunately, he'll still be at school by then."

"We do plan on doing something for him, though," Izayoi said. "He has a favorite ramen restaurant that he loves to go to, so we'll take him there next weekend."

"Hmm..." Kagome hummed as she put her hand to her chin in thought, just as Inuyasha came back.

"Okay, I'm back," he said. "What were you guys talking about? Nothing embarrassing, I hope."

"Oh, no, honey," Izayoi reassured as she put her hand over his own. "We were just having a little chat."

After the dinner and dropping her off at her shrine, Kagome entered her family's house, which was behind a large Shinto shrine, and she was soon greeted by her 9-year-old brother, Sota.

"Sis!" he exclaimed before he went up and hugged her.

"Hey, Sota," Kagome greeted back as she hugged him back. "Good to see you."

"What are you doing home?" he asked. "I thought you were staying at school for the weekend." He then looked her over. "Wow...that's a fancy dress! Where'd you get it?"

"Uh...a new friend lent it to me," Kagome answered.

"Kagome? Is that you?"

Kagome looked up to see her mother, Atsuko Higurashi, as well as her grandfather, Sanosuke Higurashi.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Grandpa!" Kagome waved.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" asked Atsuko. "Why are you wearing that dress?" She then gasped as she noticed the bandages around her daughter's arm. "And what happened to your arm?!"

"Did something while you were at school?" asked Sanosuke.

"I kinda got a little clumsy," said Kagome. "A pitchfork fell on me and hit my arm. Made some nasty gashes. I'm getting the stitches pulled out on Wednesday. As for the dress...well...I was invited to dinner by a new friend I made at school."

"Oh, you made a friend?" Atsuko asked. "What's her name?"

"Actually...it's a guy," Kagome corrected, causing her mother to gasp silently before a smile appeared on her features.

"Oh, it's a boy, huh?" she inquired.

"Uh-oh..." Sota muttered.

"You have a boyfriend, already?" asked Sanosuke.

"Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend!" Kagome exclaimed. "We only just met, after all! Anyway, his name is Inuyasha and...well...he's a pretty nice guy. A little rough around the edges, though, but mostly nice! He even takes care of stray cats!"

"Aww, so he has a soft side! How sweet!" Atsuko exclaimed, just as a chubby tortoiseshell cat came sauntering into the room with a lazy look in his eyes.

"Hi, Buyo!" Kagome greeted as she pet the cat on the head. "Wow...is it me, or are you a little bigger since the last time I saw you?"

Buyo only yawned and stretched his front paws.

"Oh, that's right!" Kagome exclaimed in recollection. "Inuyasha's birthday is coming up soon and...well...I wanted to get him a present."

"A present, you say?" asked Sanosuke before he held up...a shriveled-up paw of some sort. "Well, then, how about you give him this? It's a mummified kappa's hand, passed down from generations!"

"...Uh...I don't think he'd like THAT, Grandpa," Kagome deadpanned.

"Maybe there's something in our shrine you give him," Atsuko suggested. "There's plenty of things."

"...Actually," Kagome began, "that does give me an idea!"

~Flashback end~

"And that's how I found that necklace," Kagome said. "It doesn't really do anything. It's just...since I saw it, I thought of you. So...do you like it?"

"...Yeah," Inuyasha smiled. "It's nice."

"Really?" Kagome asked. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

"No, I mean it," Inuyasha replied. "I like it."

Kagome giggled a little, and he chuckled a little. As she looked up at him, she could feel her stomach flutter a bit as he looked down at her with his golden eyes. He smiled at her, a fang peeking out from underneath his lip.

'Wow...he's so handsome,' thought Kagome. 'A half-demon with a violent streak...but deep down lies a sensitive heart.'

She gently took Inuyasha by the hand, causing his face to blush a deep red.

'Just like me...you and I are only judged by based on our reputations,' thought Kagome. 'Yet...when we first met each other, you didn't want me to have sex with you...you're actually the first and only person who's ever denied my advances.'

"...Hey, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Y...yeah, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked back.

"Tell me something," Kagome said before she looked up at him. "What exactly...do you see me as?"

"What do I see you as?" Inuyasha inquired. "Well...you're you."

A pause...but then Kagome giggled as she wrapped her fingers tighter around his own.

"W-what's so funny?" Inuyasha asked.

"Nothing," Kagome replied. "I just felt...really happy, that's all."

Suddenly, the bell rang, causing the two to jolt a bit.

"Oh!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "It's the end of lunch, already!"

"Yeah, look at that!" Kagome replied as she looked at her watch. "Listen, I gotta go now. Sango's probably looking for me."

"Yeah, I gotta get going, too," Inuyasha replied while she walked away.

"I'll text you later tonight, okay?" she asked.

"Sure!" Inuyasha called after her. "See you later!"

As the half-demon watched her leave...he couldn't help but think back on what she had asked him.

'...What do I see her as? Why would she ask something like that?'

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