Disclaimer - All right, I'll make this short and simple today. I don't own InuYasha. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
AN: Thanks for all the reviews everyone! As a notice to those who like to reread stories, I have replaced the first few chapters with newly updated versions! (It's amazing how much easier it is to rewrite things rather than right out a whole new chapter.)
And of course, to my anonymous reviewers who I couldn't reply to:
kagome8657 - Thanks, glad you enjoyed. :)
Sky Blue Half Demon - I know, I finally updated, right? ^_^ Glad you loved it.
Dark - It would be funny if that happened, but since Katashi doesn't have Inuyasha's necklace...it wouldn't work. :( But that was a good idea! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.
Anime Gurl 013 - It is a funny name, but I'm used to it by now. I actually did know what inu meant, no idea where I found it out though. You'll just have to find out whether Katashi goes to the Feudal Era or not. *smiles mysteriously*
Chapter Eleven.
"They are coming, right? They're not going to just, like, back out at the last moment? And there is a cute girl, right? Like, a really, really, really cute girl? You're not dating, right? Oooh, are you? Oh my god, MOM! MOM! Katashi's dating a really cute girl!"
"Oi!" shouted Katashi, grabbing the nearest object and throwing it at his younger sister. "Shut up! I am not - and I repeat - not dating a cute girl."
Chikako ducked the flying textbook that hit the wall with a dull thump! "MOM!" she shrieked. "Katashi's dating a really ugly girl!"
"I'm not dating anyone!" roared Katashi, leaping out of his chair with the intent to throw his little sister out of his room.
She squealed and dodged, ducking under his oncoming body and zooming out the door and down the hallway as Katashi crashed into the wall headfirst.
Katashi groaned as he sat up, rubbing his bruised forehead. He glared viciously at the wall as if it was the wall's fault he now had a bump on his forehead.
He returned to his desk where his homework strewn out. Ever since his little sister Chikako had found out he would be having friends (who were girls) over, she had been hovering constantly, never giving him a moment's break for fresh Chikako-free air.
His mother had been happy to hear he was - direct quote - "broadening his horizons from those rough boys you like to hang out with."
Katashi had irritably replied that just because Hiro watched sumo wrestling did not make him a rebel or a bad person.
His mother didn't agree.
And of course, Shinji - who had happened to overhear the entire conversation - had started laughing uncontrollably at his brother's predicament.
Katashi was not amused.
What's the big deal, anyway? he grumbled to himself as he roughly started writing out a rough draft of an essay. They're just girls! I don't even want them coming over anyway!
He'd been blackmailed by Hiro into inviting Higurashi and her friends over for dinner.
Katashi had tried to retaliate by bringing up an embarrassing incident involving Hiro, swimming trunks, and a not-so-private hot tub, but Hiro had waved it away, claiming that was old news.
Katashi had scowled fiercely. Having only known Hiro for the amount of time he had lived here, he could recall no other revenge material and had reluctantly agreed to invite the four girls over.
As Chikako returned to his room, talking even faster than usual, he really wished that he hadn't given in to Hiro's wheedling, and just accepted Hiro's retelling of a daring tale that would probably have left Katashi hiding under a rock for the rest of his life. A really really big rock...probably a massive boulder of some sort - preferably on his head.
Probably a better choice than allowing his mother to meet a girl his sister had just announced as his girlfriend.
Which was a ludicrous claim considering the four girls coming over were not girlfriend material.
There was Eri who talked too much and liked to gossip about the latest news that circled around the school.
There was Yuka who also talked too much and also liked to gossip about the latest news that circled around the school.
There was Ayumi who - coincidentally - also talked too much, and while she didn't gossip as much as the other two, she had her fair share of juicy details that she spilled. She also apparently had a boyfriend.
And then there was Kagome who - unbelievably - didn't talk too much or even gossip. Which was quite a miracle considering who her friends were. Katashi actually found Kagome to be quite a reasonable girl, the type that he would definitely put on his potential girlfriend list...
If it wasn't for her strange weirdness and these damn dreams he'd been having. And the fact that she - a stranger - apparently knew what all his dreams meant.
"I bet you dream about her all the time, right? Ooh, I should sneak in here with a video camera and see if you talk in your sleep or make strange noises. I'll show it to Mom and she'll give you a lecture about weird, grown-up stuff that I probably don't want to know about and then..."
"Get out of my room!" Katashi erupted, swinging out of his chair and physically lifting his smaller sister up and over his shoulder.
"Hey!" she squealed, beating her hands against his back. "Let me down you moron! I'll tell Mom! Put me down!"
"Shut up!" retorted Katashi as he walked down the hallway, passing a bemused looking Shinji on the way. He kicked Chikako's door open and flung her onto her bed. "Stay out of my room!"
"Mom told you not to manhandle me!" squawked Chikako, scrambling into an upright position so she could look more intimidating. "You're going to be so busted!"
"I'd like to see you try and get me in trouble!" snapped Katashi, storming out of her room.
Her threats echoed down the hallway as he headed back to his own sanctuary, determined to finish his homework.
It was never meant to be.
"Having fun, little bro?" came Shinji's low, yet highly annoying voice.
"Shut up!" Was this seriously the seventeenth time he had said that in the past half hour?
Shinji was lounging against the wall, looking every bit of the popular, trendy, "cool" kid that he - and basically everyone else at his school - considered him to be. He had the latest hairstyle and the latest fashion trends. He was a sports fan and was an athlete at school. He even excelled in the Sciences and Maths. He flunked out in Grammar and Language. He rarely cared what people actually thought of him - or at least, he pretended not to care - but he preferred to stay with the popular crowd, informing Katashi that those from the lesser part of school would be bad for his future. He always liked to portray the image of a cool, detached, awesome teen that everyone wanted to be like. He always made sure his clothes were in style, his hair was perfectly tousled, and his image unruffled and smooth.
Shinji liked to call it "caring about one's status and reputation."
Katashi liked to call it "obsessive and girly."
This usually caused Shinji to lose his so-called "unruffled" image and throw a punch at Katashi's nose.
Katashi frequently responded with a nasty right hook.
This often escalated into a full blown out fight complete with curses, threats, insults, blood, broken noses, and broken pictures, vases, frames, lamps, etc.
These fights ended with their mother flying into the room and towering over the tussling boys with all the fury of a mad dragon.
They were grounded for a week after coming back from the doctor's to get their noses fixed.
Ahh. Brotherly love.
"What?" said Shinji in a voice only he could pull off, vicious, innocent, mocking, and amused all rolled up into one package.
No wonder he considered himself so great.
"Leave me alone," snarled Katashi, not in the mood for the ongoing feud with his brother at that moment. "I really don't want to deal with you right now."
"Want to get back to your girlfriend? It is a real girl, right? You did used to have an imaginary friend, remember? You liked to introduce her to strangers and say she was your future wife. You didn't propose, did you? Aww, my little bro's growing up!"
"Shut the hell up!" Katashi growled, stomping past his brother to his room. He barged into it, and slammed the door behind him which closed with a very satisfying thud that rang throughout the entire house.
"Katashi!" came his mother's voice. "Stop slamming doors! It's bad for your health!"
"How the hell is slamming a door bad for my health!" hollered Katashi, glaring at the door which was once again causing him pain.
"It weakens the house structure!" was Mrs. Fukuda's reply. "The house will eventually be worn down and collapse on our heads, causing us severe damage! Don't swear either! It'll attract the wrong type of people, very bad kids who get into trouble! They'll ruin your life by leading you down the dark path!"
God, his mother was infuriating.
Katashi groaned miserably as he flopped down on his bed, no longer in the mood for doing his homework. He was content to ignore his unwritten essay for the duration of the next few hours.
He stared up at the ceiling, an uneasy feeling coming upon him as he thought about tomorrow. For some reason, the thought of allowing Kagome Higurashi into his life even further was unsettling. Probably because it feels like she knows more about my life than I do, Katashi reasoned.
It made no sense. The strange dreams he had been having had heightened even more, and the feeling of familiarity with each one grew day by day. Each time he had a different dream, he felt like he had lived it before, despite the fact that it was the first time he was having that particular dream.
And worst of all, the dreams were no longer feeling like such. They felt more like...like memories.
Memories of a past life, a life Katashi had once lived.
But that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Katashi had read stories and been told old legends of people who had several lives or lost memories of their early lives and later discovered they were some type of fantastical demon or something or other. But that did not even begin to explain his own predicament of dreaming about places and events that weren't his own yet felt so normal.
He could remember his entire life, his earliest memory being a blurry scene back when he was two when he tried to steal milk from his older brother while Shinji was wailing loudly. Katashi could fuzzily recall the spilled milk and his mother's concerned face as she bent over him, before distantly scolding him about about taking his brother's drink.
It was certainly his life, and he had definitely lived it. So how on earth could he have possibly lived another life?
Katashi rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face into his fluffed pillow. I'm reading too much into this, he thought. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation as to why I'm having these dreams. I'm sure a doctor would know. Maybe I'll talk to Mom about seeing one.
Instantly resolved in his new plan of action, Katashi shot up and flew across the room, opening the door and pounding down the stairs.
He conveniently ignored the voice in his head telling him there was absolutely no logical explanation as to why weird Kagome Higurashi knew so much about his dreams.
"Oi, Mom!" he called out.
"Don't yell, Katashi," replied his mother urgently. "It hurts your throat."
"Mom," complained Katashi, entering the kitchen. "It's going to hurt my throat more if I never speak. Anyway, I was wondering if..." he hesitated, his resolve faltering as he imagined his mother's inevitable overblown reaction to his request to see a doctor - the total opposite of his usual routine of shrieking like a girl and locking himself in the basement until his mother had to call the fire department to get him out. Still, he was certain that a doctor would be able to help him avoid his recent dreams. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for the upcoming blow-up. "Mom, I was wondering if you could schedule an appointment with my doctor." He cringed, eyes averted as he braced himself.
A moment's silence.
"What?" screeched his mother as she flew over to him. "Are you alright? Are you you feeling okay? Did you break any bones? Bumps? Bruises? Are you ill? Do you have a fever? Sit down! Let me take your temperature? Have you had any hallucinations? How many fingers am I holding up? Do you remember my name? Do you remember your name? Do you remember who you are? Where you live? Do you have a headache? What are your..."
"Mom," groaned Katashi, rolling his eyes. "I'm fine, I'm not sick at all. I just want to see a doctor for...a consultation or something."
His mother paused, one hand resting on his forehead while the other continued shimmying up and down his arm checking for bumps or bruises. "A consultation? For what?" She moved her hand down from his forehead to his cheek.
"Mom, stop that," said Katashi, batting away her hands. "I just want to get his opinion and see if he can get me any medication or something for a..."
"No," his mother interrupted. "My baby is not getting any medication at such a young age. It's not good for you."
"It's not good for me to be having dreams that are plaguing me every second of the day, Mom!" yelled Katashi.
Mrs. Fukuda faltered. "Dreams?" she repeated.
Katashi nodded. "Yeah. I've been having these dreams lately that have really been bothering me...I just want them to stop."
His mother didn't say anything as she touched his cheek again. "All right, dear," she said. Katashi breathed a silent sigh of relief, knowing she was restraining herself from asking him even more questions. "I'll set up an appointment immediately." She paused a moment. "Katashi, what kind of dreams have you been having?"
Katashi froze, the images of his latest dream flashing before his eyes. He couldn't tell her about them, he just couldn't.
"Mom..." he began gently.
The doorbell echoed through the house.
Saved by the bell, Katashi thought.
His mother withdrew her hand, glancing up at the clock. "Ah, that must be Hiro," she commented. "Go get the door, Katashi. Make sure you avoid hitting that bookcase on the wall. I should move that, it's quite easy to knock into."
Katashi glared at Hiro as he grudgingly trudged up the stairs after his friend. "I still can't believe you blackmailed me into inviting them over," he grumbled as he followed the other boy into his bedroom.
Hiro smiled condescendingly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I simply suggested you invite them and you fairly jumped at the idea."
Katashi gave his friend a black look.
"Besides," Hiro continued as he collapsed onto Katashi's bed, "It's about time you got a girlfriend. You seem awfully interested in Higurashi."
"I am not," declared Katashi vehemently.
"You had a pretty long, intimate conversation with her when we were walking to the ice cream shop on Friday."
"We were complaining about the surprise quiz we had in class."
Hiro rolled his eyes. "You're in denial," he said slyly.
"No, I'm not," said Katashi flatly. "I'm not interested in Kagome that way."
"Oh? That's what people always say when they're in denial."
"Or it's it what people say when they're really not interested in someone."
"Well, they also usually have a reasonable explanation as to why they're not interested in someone," observed Hiro. "So what's your reasoning?"
"I'm just not," retorted Katashi prosaically.
"Great argument, I'm completely convinced that you don't like her now."
"Shut up," growled Katashi, struggling to overcome the urge to throw something at Hiro. Preferably a sharp, pointy object of some sort.
"Boys!" came his mother's call from downstairs. "Will you be kind dears and come and help me in the kitchen? It's only polite to help your hard-working mother in this manner!"
Katashi welcomed the change of environment and was out the door and down the hallway in two seconds flat.
Hiro entered the kitchen after him only a couple of minutes later, shooting an apprehensive glance back to the living room before the door swung shut. "Your mother doesn't like me much, does she?"
"My mother doesn't like anyone very much," noted Katashi as he threw a potholder at Hiro, mentally cheering himself when it hit Hiro directly on the nose.
"Geez, thanks," said Hiro sarcastically as he bent down to pick up the holder. "So, what are we supposed to do?"
Katashi shrugged. "Just start getting everything together so Mom won't have any trouble bringing things out in an orderly manner. She's a dictator when it comes to those types of things."
A loud shriek suddenly resounded through the entire house, causing Katashi to release a startled yelp as he knocked over a plate full of cooked chicken.
"They're here they're here they're here!" squealed Chikako. Katashi could hear her as she rushed down the stairs to the front door. Her shrill voiced resonated fully through the entire house as she opened it. "Hi!" she exclaimed, torn between acting like the perfect host or the role of being a perfectly annoying little sister.
Hiro sent a triumphant smirk in Katashi's direction. "And so it begins," he whispered in a prophetic voice.
He was hit seconds later with a flying spatula.
When Katashi entered the living room area, Mrs. Fukuda had already turned on her super-duper hostess mode and was gushing over the four girls standing in her living room. Chikako was copying her mother to the fullest, grinning wildly at the four girls, one of whom she was fully convinced was her brother's future wife.
"Oh, Katashi," gushed Mrs. Fukuda, flitting over to her son to seize him by the arm. She dragged him the rest of the way into the room and nodded enthusiastically at each of the four girls. "You didn't tell me how cute all these girls were!"
A loud snicker could be heard from the doorway which Katashi promptly ignored. He instead gave a falsely bright and cheerful greeting to the four girls, avoiding eye contact with Kagome.
Within seconds, Katashi was seated between Yuka and Ayumi, with Kagome directly across from him while his mother went to finish preparing dinner.
Katashi glanced nervously at his sister who was chatting eagerly with Hiro and Eri. He could only imagine the tales she was happily proclaiming.
"It was nice of you to invite us to dinner, Katashi," said Ayumi from his left side.
Yeah, right, thought Katashi while an image of a brutally beaten Hiro floated into his mind. "No problem," he said aloud, flashing another grin at Ayumi. "Glad you could make it."
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"So, Katashi," said Ayumi suddenly. "Hiro told me that you've been thinking of getting a job. I've been wondering what type of job you would want?"
Katashi glanced at Ayumi sharply before hesitantly giving his answer. "Well, I've been thinking of getting a job at one of the dojos down town as a part time instructor."
"Katashi's been doing kendo since he was eight," volunteered Hiro, cutting into the conversation.
"Yeah, I'm thinking of teaching beginners the basics and everything. Or something like that."
Katashi would've missed Kagome's eyes widening in surprise if he hadn't happened to be looking directly at her at that moment. "You do kendo?" she inquired, speaking for the first time that night. Her voice sounded shaky and hesitant. Katashi eyed her for a second, wondering if she was feeling well or not. "I never knew that."
"Yeah, I also took American fencing during a foreign exchange program I was in when I was fourteen."
"Katashi's like obsessed with sword-fighting," joked Hiro.
"Oi, don't talk like you know everything about me you bastard!"
"Katashi knows everything there is to know about sword-fighting and such!" chimed in Chikako. "He took martial arts when he was three, but wanted to do kendo instead."
"Why are we always talking about me?" Katashi asked, feeling both annoyed and slightly embarrassed. "Ask someone else about their personal life."
"Sure," said Hiro amicably. "Have you girls ever done sports?"
"I took a martial arts class for a couple of years when I was ten, but I quit," said Yuka.
"What about you, Kagome?" Chikako asked.
Kagome looked rather flustered. "Er, well, I haven't actually done any sport but I'm good at archery." Her cheeks were red, and she refused to look at Katashi.
"Really?" Hiro stared at Kagome. "I have to see you do that!"
Kagome didn't look at him as Hiro began questioning Eri and Ayumi about their sports history. Katashi studied Kagome as the girl listened silently to the others conversation.
She looked almost ill. Her skin was paler than usual, and her eyes looked a little puffy. Why hadn't he noticed that before? Because you were avoiding looking at her, dumbass, Katashi reminded himself. Just like she's been avoiding you.
"Here you go, everyone!" sung Mrs. Fukuda as she waltzed into the room carrying a steaming platter. "Thanks for the patient wait, please enjoy your meal!"
The subject instantly changed from sports to various restaurants everyone had been to and the embarrassing things that had happened to them there. As Katashi was dragged into the conversation he snuck one last look at Kagome who was graciously thanking his mother.
He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.
Katashi grumbled angrily to himself as he furiously banged pots and pans around, not at all happy at his current exile to the kitchen while the others still sat talking in the living room. He could only imagine what kind of dastardly things Chikako and Shinji (who had shown up in the middle of dinner) were regaling to the rest of the group. Even his mother (the judge who sentenced him to his kitchen job) would probably add in some horrifying story that (if it got out at school) would probably leave him at the bottom of the social ladder for the rest of his life.
Well, as long as she didn't drag out the picture books, he would...well, he would survive anyway. He'd definitely kill himself if there were actual images involved.
(Like that one picture from when he was eight involving a roller coaster, two day old nachos, and a really cute girl with blue eyes and dimples.)
I'm depressing myself, Katashi thought, resisting the urge to smash a plate into the sink and watch the pieces scatter everywhere. He grabbed a sponge and turned the water on, the loud rushing blocking out the laughter coming from the other room.
He glanced at the door once before humming quietly. (He would never live it down if he was caught humming like his mother whilst doing the dishes.)
His thoughts drifted to one particular girl who had been acting especially weird today. It was almost infuriating how often Higurashi was in his thoughts now. Her sudden erratic change in behavior certainly didn't help him forget about her. He was beginning to feel like a perverted stalker with how often she was in his thoughts.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder if she was really ill, or if something else was causing her to act (and look) weird. She hadn't even looked directly at him the whole time, and had barely spoken a word through all of dinner. (Who would've guessed that she did archery?) Maybe she was just feeling off the weather or maybe she was determined to just ignore him. Who the hell could guess what went on through her mind? Katashi fumed silently, his ire inexplicably rising as all of his current frustrations rose to the surface at the thought of Higurashi. Who the hell even cared about her? She was annoying, mysterious, and wouldn't tell Katashi something that obviously effected him so much, and now she had the gall to ignore him! Who the hell did she think she was? Why did she think...
A sudden hand on his shoulder caused him to leap about five feet in the air and knock over a pot on the counter. He dived towards it only to crash into another body who had alsoinstinctively reached for the pot.
Katashi's eyes widened as he collided with the other body and both were sent tumbling down to the floor. Katashi shut his eyes, bracing himself for the impact as he landed roughly on top of the other person.
He quickly opened his eyes after feeling the jolt that signaled his landing. He stared into the shocked eyes of Kagome Higurashi.
"Gods, I'm so sorry," Katashi blurted out, instantly getting off of her and offering her a hand. She clasped it and allowed herself to be pulled up.
"No, no, it's okay. I'm sorry for startling you." She attempted to smile but failed miserably. She handed him the pot that she had managed to catch before dusting herself awkwardly.
There was a moment's of silence.
Katashi stared at Kagome while she looked at everything but him.
"So, what did you need?" Katashi ventured finally. As the silence stretched, he began to think that she wasn't going to answer.
But the she abruptly turned her head and captured his indigo eyes with her brown ones. There was a look of both fiery determination and an aching sadness in her eyes.
"I need to speak to you," she said quietly.
Grr. This chapter totally seems like a filler to me. But the setup was necessary. I know a whole lot didn't happen in this chapter, but we'll be getting to a much more exciting part next chapter. Trust me.
I just noticed that Katashi tends to throw things at people when he's angry. -_-; Ah, well.
I was almost finished with this chapter and I had to check something in a different one when I noticed that one of Kagome's friends had a different name in the earlier chapter. Through this entire chapter, I kept on changing Ayumi's name to Ayame. I went back and changed all of them, but if I happened to miss one please point it out.
Anyway, please review. I'm hoping to get a couple of more chapters revised by the end of the month and get a new one out during my official break week when I have absolutely nothing (no dance, no violin, no baby-sitting job, no nothing! I am so looking forward to that.) I'm looking forward to my violin break since I found out like five days ago that I have an audition in August that I have to practice like crazy for...*pouts*
Er, anyway...yeah, so please review! I'm hoping for a quick update after this, and more reviews would inspire me to write like crazy. *wink wink*
On a side note, I'm changing a couple of facts in the earlier chapters. Nothing major, they're very subtle changes. When I started this story I honestly had no idea where I was going, and I actually have something planned now (might end up changing it if I think it's stupid) so I had to alter a few minor things. I have an edit note at the beginning of the chapter's I've replaced (so far only three) so you know which ones have been revised.
So after this incredibly long author's note, sayonara! Until next time...