Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or pocky. But I won't let that get me down, no Sir!
After a ridiculously long wait...
Enjoy!
--
"Seruma-chan…will you really marry me?"
"Oh, Hideki-sama!"
"Seruma-chan…"
"Oh, Hideki-sama…"
Miroku sighed, his face cupped in the palm of his hand as he sat on the floor watching a beautiful soap-opera.
Some might laugh at the over-exaggerated love stories that appeared on the television at such an hour, but this particular man felt differently.
'If only it were that easy…' he sighed wistfully, '…to find one woman who would do anything for you.'
Standing up, he decided that since the wedding scene would most likely depress him, this was the perfect time to take a much needed bathroom break.
A minute later, he exited his favorite room-as it had the best...or, what some might call the worst, reading materials on the earth.
Sparing a glance at the television set, and seeing the eternal wedding with colors straight out of an exotic bird catalog, he turned towards the kitchen.
"Time to wash some dishes!" he exclaimed, in an effort to pretend that he'd of course rather be at home watching a movie not even his mother would have liked, than out on a romantic evening with a beautiful woman.
As he picked up a dirty bowl, filled with the contents of his barely touched dinner, he caught a glimpse of a car pulling up next to the sidewalk.
At first, his mind reached the conclusion that it must be Inuyasha, wondering what he was supposed to teach the scouts.
However, on further interrogation, he came to the conclusion that unless Inuyasha's car was suddenly a beautiful, brand new, unstained white Mercury Milan, he was dead wrong.
Squinting his eyes to see who it was in the dark, he suddenly felt as though the great Buddha was smiling on him at last.
There, stepping out of the immaculate car, was the most immaculate woman he had ever seen.
The way the light from the street lamps fell upon her dark brown hair with a simple elegance, and the way her intelligent brown eyes shone like the forests of Nirvana, captured his heart immediately.
'Perhaps I should have listened to Mother and become a romance novelist,' he dreamed, not daring to retract his gaze for fear the vision would disappear.
All was well…until the boy came out of the car.
'She-she's-,' Miroku's eye twitched sorrowfully, 'Attached and has a son?!'
He sunk to the floor, not caring that he had spilled his left-over rice into his lap.
Just when he felt like banging his head against the cabinetry, he heard Kagome's door open on the other side. Her apartment was to the left of his, and their living rooms were side by side.
His heart leapt with a joy he thought he had lost when he didn't win 'most datable man' in high school.
The strange woman must be Kagome's guest.
'Well, of course,' he thought, striding over to turn off the television, 'Beautiful women always travel in groups.'
Once he had turned it off, he put his keen ear to the wall, in order to listen to their conversation.
"I'm…you…find…okay," he caught only every other word Kagome spoke.
"Oh, well…yellow…easy…see…in the dark," he heard what must have been the other woman.
Even her voice was beautiful!
'It's time for my dirty little secret…' he thought evilly, moving to the left of his television set.
There, behind a pot of fake bamboo, he had a treasure.
Moving the plastic plant aside, a hole in the wall was revealed.
It was about the size of a cork, and even though he had to pull a chunk of wall out whenever he wished to see, it was fool-proof! Kagome hadn't noticed this one…yet.
Sure, he had had to move the precious hole's location a few times, but they had been in obvious places before!
Pulling out the piece of wall, and getting onto his stomach, he managed to watch the two women and the boy converse at, albeit, a difficult angle.
"I've got two choices for your sleeping arrangements: you can sleep in my room on a pull out mattress, or, on the couch's pull out mattress. What will it be?" Miroku heard Kagome say to the two guests.
'Please choose the couch, please choose the couch…!'
"Kohaku, where would you like to sleep?" the stranger asked.
"I'll sleep on the couch, if that's alright, Sister."
Thank goodness, he was just her little brother!
"Okay, that's fine. So I'll sleep in your room, Kagome."
He saw his neighbor nod.
"Sounds great! Now let's get you two unpacked!"
"Oh-hang on, Kagome."
The beautiful woman spoke, and he was so caught up in the sound that he didn't even register the foot-steps that were coming closer and closer to his face.
"What is it?" Kagome questioned, slightly worried.
"It looks like you've got a mouse hole. Let me fix that."
"Oh-uh, wait that's not-!"
Suddenly he looked a long, thin needle in the eye.
"Aaaaah!"
He drew back just in time to avoid a permanent vision impairment in his left eye.
"Should I lay out a trap?" he heard his vision ask.
"No," it frightened him that Kagome's voice sounded malicious. "I'll just seal up the hole so the mouse can't get out. And if I see the mouse tomorrow morning…I hope it likes getting slapped and being shipped to the landlord's office."
"Why would-?"
But he had stopped listening at that point.
Quickly, he drove the piece of wall back into its hole.
Swallowing a gulp of fear, he began to survey his main room carefully.
Where would he put his treasure now?
--
The sun peeked gently through the blinds as Inuyasha rummaged through his closet.
"Where the hell is that thing?!" he demanded of no one in particular, filing through paper and cloth alike.
"You'll never get a woman with your apartment being such a mess, Inuyasha…"
"Why would I want another…?!"
"Just saying…it's pretty disgusting. At least separate your trash into piles."
"Stupid Miroku!" the half-demon glowered, eyebrow twitching as he remembered his friend's words of wisdom.
'Some wisdom…coming from a guy who probably steals his students' underwear! Dirty pervert…'
He made an effort to convince himself that he was a much better person than Miroku, but the stupid voice in his head just had to mention that said man would probably never have lost the crucial paper.
"This is perfect!" Inuyasha muttered darkly while slamming his fists to the ground in defeat.
He was then greeted with a yelling sound from the little old lady who lived right below him.
"Yeah, same to you, hag!"
Standing up, he decided that he would just have to make a humiliating journey to Miroku's apartment. He groaned.
That meant he would probably run into Ms. I Ate a Big Bowl of Sunshine for Breakfast!
"Whatever," he mumbled, gripping his car keys from the small table near his door.
Everything was going great until he slammed the door…and the table fell to the ground.
Digging his claws into the palm of his hand in an effort to stay somewhat in control, he recalled that if he was going to slam the door…perhaps he shouldn't own a weak little table whose legs were being held up by old books that he had never bothered to read.
"Dammit…stupid……..table," he growled, walking down the seven flights of stairs and into the parking lot.
When he reached Tessaiga, he felt his irritation begin to ebb.
His car already sucked so bad that any damage that might be inflicted couldn't change its current state!
'Wow…I'm not usually this optimistic,' he blinked, opening the car.
As he sat down, that feeling faded.
His gas gage was on empty.
--
This was the first time Kagome had ever really made breakfast, so she regretfully sighed when she caught a second glimpse at the burned bacon.
'It's the thought that counts, right?' she tried to question herself.
Kohaku was already sitting at the small table, picking slowly at the bacon. He would never tell her that it was barely edible...and she was already working so hard to help them. His stomach would survive.
The bathroom door suddenly opened, and there was Sango, wearing what was probably her best outfit: a navy suit that lent her a professional appearance.
"You look great, Sango! I'm sure you'll make a really good first impression!" Kagome called.
"I hope you're right," Sango sighed, pulling a chair out from under the table and taking up residence in it.
"Sorry about the bacon," the teacher blushed, "I normally don't make breakfast…"
Kohaku looked at his sister; passing a silent message to grin and bear it.
But, she was planning on eating it anyway.
"I'm just going to finish getting my stuff ready, and then we can head out," Kagome told her guests before walking into her room.
The two siblings crunched in silence; it would be a while before things could begin to return to normal.
When their host returned, she was carrying a heavy-looking bag that must have been filled with children's homework.
"Are you ready for your first day of school, Kohaku?" she asked excitedly, her face genuine.
"I-I suppose so," he answered, looking at his plate.
Kagome frowned slightly.
'Poor Kohaku…I hope he'll make plenty of new friends…'
"Alright then! Let's go and get you enrolled!"
The three residents filed neatly out of the apartment, and were soon heading to the parking lot. At the same time, fate's fool was also walking in that direction.
This was his chance, after all.
"Hello, Kagome!" Miroku called, somewhat nervously, coming to walk next to her.
He was greeted with a glare.
He pretended he hadn't noticed.
"And, who's this?" he asked with a smile, referring to Sango.
She continued to glare, but answered reluctantly, "This is my friend, Sango. And that is her little brother, Kohaku."
Sango blinked at the stranger, waiting for Kagome to introduce him.
But, they kept walking, and the teacher didn't acknowledge the man any further.
Once they had gotten to her car, Miroku finally intervened.
"I'm your next door neighbor, and my name is-,"
"-the rat," Kagome finished for him, closing her door.
--
"How'd the job interview at the office go, Sango?"
Said woman smiled as she walked into her new friend's classroom at the end of school.
"I've got a job! I can't believe it!"
Kagome's eyes twinkled as she cleaned off the white-board.
"Principal Myoga was very nice about the whole thing," she spoke, taking a seat in one of the small desks with a tiny amount of difficulty.
Ms. Higurashi was ready to help: Sango's leg still bothered her a bit, though she got medical attention for it while visiting the hospital.
The former officer noticed, and shook her head.
"I'm feeling a lot better this afternoon, don't worry. Now," she began, eyes focused on the board, "What are we teaching the Miko Scouts today?"
Kagome gleamed, "I'm going to give the scouts an introduction to a long string of community service projects we'll be doing. Starting today, the scouts are going to learn about how we can start by helping in our local communities. My goal is to teach them that by helping locally, they can even end up affecting our global community.
"I also hope it helps to nurture budding leaders…especially from some of the quieter girls in the troop," she finished, leaning down to extract her hat from her teacher's bag.
"Good idea," Sango smiled, coming to stand next to the Troop Leader. "I hope I do alright with the girls…it's been a long time since I've even set foot inside a primary school."
Kagome stood up, in her hand a red sash and matching hat.
"Here," she passed them to her assistant, "…and you'll be great! They're all very sweet, and they'll be excited to meet you."
"These bring back memories…" Sango reminisced, putting her new hat atop her head.
"Really?"
"Mm. I was never a Miko Scout, but I remember my father telling me that my mother had gotten the Shikon Jewel, and then went on to be a Troop Leader."
The woman stopped, looking out the window.
"I suppose I would have been forced to join…if my mother hadn't died shortly after Kohaku's birth. But, in doing this, I feel like I've got something like an invisible bond between my mother and myself. It's…nice."
Kagome's smile returned again after the shared memory, and she began to write on the board.
'I hope Sango finds true happiness here…these little girls are wonderful to work with, and even if I've had a bad day…they always manage to make me feel better.'
Then, there was a small, but strong knock on the door.
Rin stood there, her long brown hair up in a ponytail-for a change- and a red hat neatly fitted onto her head. She wore a bare sash.
"Hello, Rin! How are you doing today?" Kagome asked, clapping her hands together with a smile.
"I'm excited! I can't wait to show Lord Sesshomaru all the badges I earn!"
"I'm glad you're excited," the teacher replied, moving to her desk and opening one of the drawers. She withdrew a small, secured box, and placed it on the surface in front of her.
"Do you like stickers, Rin?"
"Oh, yes!" she piped up.
"Well," Kagome began, "Because you've been a very good Miko Scout, and you're here first, I'll let you pick out a special sticker."
"Really?!"
"Mm," she nodded, moving out of the way after opening the box.
The little scout skipped over and stood on her tip-toes, peeking inside the treasure chest.
She paused for a moment, hesitation clear upon her face.
"What is it Rin?" her Troop Leader asked, tilting her head.
"I was just….wondering…can I…pick a sticker for Lord Sesshomaru, too?"
"Sure! And tell him I said hello."
Sango was watching with an amused expression on her face. She had no idea who 'Lord Sesshomaru' was, but he sounded like he meant a lot to the little girl…albeit if his title revealed that he was slightly bossy.
Then Kagome remembered that she had yet to introduce her new friend in a slap-of-the-forehead movement. Well, that was rude of her!
"Rin, I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine, and the new assistant of our Troop. This is Sango Taijiya, and I'm sure she'll tell you what to call her," Ms. Higurashi gestured to the topic of her statement.
The girl looked up from the stickers, a smile on her young face.
"Hello, Ms. Sango," she said with a wave.
"Hello, Rin. I'm looking forward to spending time with you and the other girls."
"They're all really nice! You'll have a lot of fun!"
Sango's eyes shimmered.
"I'm sure I will. You'll have to help introduce me though, I'm a little shy."
"Don't worry, Ms. Sango! I'll help you!" Rin promised with a smile before returning to her sticker scavenger hunt.
--
"Rin, will you please introduce the Scouts to Ms. Taijiya?"
The girl was well prepared for her duty, and though she was a bit frightened of addressing her peers, she mustered up all of her courage, and placed it towards the result of the task at hand.
Coming to the front of the room to stand next to the stranger in the class, she put on her best smile.
"Everyone, this is Ms. Sango Taijiya. She will be the Assistant Troop Leader. Please introduce yourselves and make her feel happy. Thank you," she finished, a slight blush on her cheeks.
Most of the girls returned the smile, and were now staring at the newcomer with a keener interest.
"Hello, Miko Scouts. You may call me 'Ms. Sango' or 'Ms. Taijiya', or whatever you want. A little bit about me: I just moved here with my little brother Kohaku, who is going to this school starting today. I've got a black belt in several different martial arts, I can't cook very well, and I'm pretty good at sports. But, my favorite color is pink, so I am a little girly," Sango added at the end, catching quite a few giggles from the scouts.
"I hope to learn new things with you all, and to share my experience as well. Let's have a great year!"
The scouts applauded; Sango had a good welcome.
Once the applause ceased, Kagome came to the front of the room yet again.
"Alright, everyone, thank you so much for putting forth your best! I'm sure Sango is very happy. Now, I told you last time that we would start earning our badges today. Let ask you something, first. Have you all ever volunteered anywhere, or helped anyone with something they were working on?"
A small handful of the girls raised their hands.
"Good! I'm proud of you all! And for those of you who've never had the awesome experience of volunteering, you'll get it soon! We're going to start a bunch of projects. Are there any places you girls would like to help out?"
Koume raised her hand really high.
"Yes, Koume?"
"The animal shelter!"
Kagome smiled. The girl who owned a cat most likely loved animals in general.
"Good idea. Any others?"
Satsuki raised her hand.
"Yes, Satsuki?"
"The hospital! We can visit sick people who are lonely and sad."
"That's a nice one! Any more?"
None of the girls raised their hands after Satsuki; it was hard to beat 'volunteering at a hospital'.
"Those were some good ideas! And we will get to do them at some point. You'll get badges afterwards, if you're helpful and you follow directions." Kagome smiled, offering her encouragement.
"All of you are going to cover your sashes in no time, just you wait!"
Rin looked down at her own sash.
'I just want to make Lord Sesshomaru proud of me…'
--
"I'm not dead yet!" - hah. Monty Python.
I've been away forever! I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long!! And here I complain about authors not updating fast enough...sheesh I'm a hypocrite! I hope you all can find it in your big hearts to forgive me!
Just something I need to say: I've sort of tried to develop a policy (with the exceptions of one-shots) that I only work on one story at a time. However, I will be working on Iron Chef Inuyasha every once in a while (with a goal to get one chapter out once a month), without it interfering with How to Build a Fire (or HtBaF, as I call it). I apologize for twisting my principles, and I will do my utmost to continue to keep this story at the top of my priority list. Thank you so much for putting up with me!
Inuyasha's been absent for so long! I apologize for that as well! He is one of my favorite characters (he's so deliciously bipolar!) and he has a good heart beneath the tough exterior...he's just awesome! Sango's been stealing his 'camera-time'...sorry. I just wanted to make sure the Leaders and their Assistants were set up and semi-comfortable before I started to cook the meat of the story and pour the wine of romance. I've been watching the Food Network too much...my bad. Back to the doggie boy- I gave him about a page and a half or so of fun...or hell, whatever you call it. And I know he and Kagome haven't interacted that much, but that has been a huge result of my trying not to rush them head-first into a relationship (which is hard because I'm a devout InuKag fan). Don't worry- I love them together so fluff is coming.
About Kikyo...you'll find out about her fairly soon. Don't worry, there won't be much competition between the two girls...but I can't spoil it! Darn magic traditions!
This chapter is the longest I've ever archived for this story...so yay for that. I know it took a while, but I hope it wasn't an excrutiating wait (she gives herself waaaaay to much credit- bad Tohru!), or an excrutiating read.
IMPORTANT (well sort of, not really): I will be gone next week, on my first vacation in two years! Yes, finally! So, I made sure to update before I left, and hopefully when I return, I will be set to work on Chapter 12!
Please leave me a review, or don't...but I'd like it if you did! If I made any errors, or grammar mistakes, or anything that hurt your eyes, please let me know. You all make me smile from ear to ear when I read your reviews! I couldn't ask for better readers, and I wish you all the best in your writing and reading! P.S.- stay safe if you're traveling...and if you go to the zoo please don't stick your hand in the lion exhibit. You need your fingers to write and leave reviews! It would also hurt...a lot.
Have a Great day and a Great Summer Vacation!
Byebee:3
TohrutheGreat