Chapter 14 – Camping (Part 1)
Two words.
School trip.
One word.
Camping.
Oh Gawd…
"Remind me again what I'm doing on this bus?" Kagome moaned, leaning back and massaging her temples.
"I'd love to answer that," said Sango, with expressionless horror in her voice, "But the truth is, I have no idea."
"It can't go on forever…" Ayame muttered. "A week can't last forever."
The bus pulled in in front of the Takahashi mansion, to pick up the boys. Kagome slipped of her seatbelt. Freedom! Blissful freedom! She ran from the bus to pick them up, and walked the rest of the way to the giant building. Just make this stint last as long as possible…
Coming to the door, she rang the bell.
It creaked open, and a tiny head poked out.
"Hey Rin," said Kagome, kneeling to the little girl and speaking gently, "Is Uncle Yasha ready to go?"
Rin looked up at her with her big cinnamon eyes. "Mummy's throwing things at daddy in the kitchen."
"Is she?" Kagome asked, alarmed.
Rin nodded, speaking matter-of-factly. "She threw a spatula and a frying pan and the big saucepan and the soup pot and the cutlery draw and the plates and three bowls, but I think she's finished with them now. She's yelling at him about something, and she broke the top half of the fridge-freezer off. Grandpa says to stay out of it, but I think he'll do something when mummy runs out of things that break."
"Do you know why?" she asked, concern in her voice.
Rin nodded. "Mummy's going to have a baby." A look of confusion crossed her face. "Miss Kagome, what's hot heavy sex?"
Kagome spluttered. "Err… why don't you ask your mummy and daddy?"
"I will," said Rin in all seriousness, "When mummy runs out of eggs to throw."
"So, your mummy's going to have a baby?" Kagome smiled. "Are you excited?"
Rin nodded, a tiny smile on her features. "I want it to be a baby boy, because, because, it might look like daddy, and then I can boss him around the same way mummy bosses daddy around!"
"Err…" Kagome sweat dropped, "Yeah, won't that be… fun. Ok, sweetie, make sure to tell your mummy that I said congratulations."
Rin nodded.
"Kagome!"
Kagome looked up, a grin sliding across her face. Inuyasha stood at the top of the stairs.
"Hi!" she called.
In less than a second, Inuyasha had run down the steps and enfolded Kagome in his warm, strong arms. "It's been too long," he whispered huskily into her ear. "Must have been at least twelve hours."
"At least," Kagome breathed.
Then her lips were caught in his, moulding themselves around their warmth, following the path he carved. Her hands twisted into his silver mane, feeling the warm weight.
A cough came from behind them. They broke apart to see six-year-old Rin staring at them, curiosity in her gaze.
"Is that how mummy got pregnant?"
"Koga? Miroku? Are you guys ready yet?!"
…
"Only six more hours to go!" Miss Utaga said cheerily from the front of the bus.
Kagome had long since fallen asleep on Inuyasha's shoulder. Koga and Ayame were very busy contending over who was the strongest, swapping stories (all exaggerated), and Sango and Miroku were having a staring contest, that Sango had actually won about five minutes ago.
Kagome mumbled and shifted against him. He shushed her, and gently stroked her hair. She smelt so good… so beautiful… and her face was so peaceful as she slept.
"Hey, Inuyasha!" Koga's voice interrupted him. Loudly.
Inuyasha turned to face him, and growled. "Keep your voice down," he hissed, "Kagome's sleeping."
"Right, sorry," Koga muttered. "Just tell Ayame that a snake demon is harder to defeat than a bird of paradise!"
Inuyasha huffed and turned back to his sleeping girlfriend.
Hold on…
There was something off about her scent.
There was an undercurrent to it… left over from the night before…
It smelt… off.
"Hey, Koga!" he whispered. "Get over here! I need you to take a whiff of this!"
"What is it, mutt-face?"
"Can you smell Kagome's scent?"
"Course I can. It's the same as it always was."
"No, it's not. Breathe deeper."
A look of confusion crossed Koga's face. "What is that?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
"Ayame! Can you tell what this is?" Koga asked, ushering his girlfriend over.
Ayame leant forwards. Frowning, she sniffed. "It smells like… some kind of… medicine?"
"Medicine?" Why would Kagome be taking anything?
Ayame shrugged, worry on her face. "I dunno. She's not under the influence, as it were, at the moment – we're gonna have to wait and ask her when she wakes up."
"Hmm." Inuyasha didn't like it.
Kagome moaned again, and shifted. The expression on her face became… pained…
It was probably time to wake her up now.
"Kagome?" he whispered into her ear. "Kagome?" she didn't respond. He lightly trailed his lips across her forehead. "Kagome, baby, it's time to wake up."
"Nnh.."
Well, at least she was coherent. Cough cough.
"Wake up, Kagome,"
"… Still can't open the door…" she mumbled.
Huh?
"Come on, baby," he whispered in her ear. "You need to wake up now."
Her eyelids fluttered. "Yash? What is it?"
"You were dreaming."
She froze. Her eyes opened fully. Her breath came sharply between her teeth. "Shit."
"Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked, confused.
She merely shook her head, and wiped her eyes. "Doesn't matter."
He was about to enquire further, when…
"Ok, guys, to wile away the next few hours, how about we sing some merry camping songs?" came the cheery voice of their soon-to-be-deceased teacher.
…
They had pulled into a service station, eliciting a general groan as the students stumbled off the bus, their limbs stiff from the travelling. God, school buses were seriously spawn of the devil!
"Food," mumbled Sango. "Must have food…"
"KFC?"
Her eyes gleamed. "Kentucky… fried… fatty goodness…"
"KFC it is," said Miroku, taking Sango's arm and gently guiding her towards the fast food restaurant.
"Hey, guys, I'll meet you there in a minute," Kagome said. "I just need to run to the chemist's."
…
"Remind me again why I ate five chicken wings?" Ayame groaned.
"Because they smell so damn good?" Koga asked, snaffling yet another piece of chicken.
"Screw you,"
"Just wait until we get there, love," he grinned… and then ducked as Ayame threw the chicken bucket at him.
"Perv," she muttered under her breath.
"Hey!" came Miroku's voice. "Who stole my title?!"
"No worries, Miroku," came Sango's heated voice. "That title will always be yours." She grabbed his hand from where it was s-l-o-w-l-y making its way down towards her posterior and slowly bent it back at the wrist.
"Ow! Ow! Sango, my dear-"
"Can it, hentai."
"Hey guys," said Kagome. "Sorry I'm late. Are there any calories left?"
"Only a million," Ayame groaned.
"Say, Kagome, what d'you get?" Inuyasha asked curiously.
She flushed. "Nothing."
He raised his eyebrows, but decided to leave it. he would question her later.
…
"And if one green bottle should accidentally fall, they'll be nine-hundred-and-thirty-three-thousand bottles, standing on the wall."
"MAKE IT STOP!" Koga screamed. "I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST MAKE IT STOP!"
The teacher standing at the front of the bus frowned. "No, Koga, don't you want to join in? I'm sure it'll be great fun!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"How long until this torture is over, Miss?" came Sango's agonized voice. "We started at one hundred thousand!"
"Well, we should be… err…"
The bus had stopped moving half an hour ago.
"FREEDOM!! GLORIOUS FREEDOM!!"
…
"Ok, class, your huts are in groups of six, three boys and three girls to a cabin. Any questions?"
Inuyasha raised his hand.
"Yes, Inuyasha?"
"Who are we bunking with?"
The new, inexperienced teacher flushed pink, and fumbled over her notes. "Err-yes, Mr Takahashi, that is a, uh, valid, um, question. Yes. Err…"
Kagome elbowed him in the chest – it actually hurt her more than him due to his rock-hard pecs, but hey. It got his attention.
"What?"
"She's new! You could at least be a bit nicer! And damn, you could've warned me not to do that! My elbow hurts now!"
"How am I supposed to warn you not to do something I don't know you're going to do?"
"Well… I… you… grr!"
"I think I've mentioned this before, but it's better when I growl. It's the fangs that do it."
"Do you have to be so sardonic?"
"No, but it's quite good fun."
She huffed and turned away from him. He laughed, and encircled her with his arms. "You're too cute."
"… and in cabing number 13, we have Miroku Yanatsu, Koga Ookami, Inuyasha Takahashi, Sango Suikatsa, Ayame Nertama, and Kagome Higurashi. In cabin 14…"
"Hey, would you look at that!" Inuyasha grinned, nuzzling into Kagome's neck. "Of all the luck!"
"Did you switch the placings?"
"Would you really have wanted to go with Kageromaru and Juromaru?"
"Have I mentioned that I loved you any time recently?"
"I love you too."
…
Kagome, Ayame and Sango were sharing the room on the left of the hall, while the boys took the right. They were equipped with a mini kitchen – cooker, microwave, sink and cupboards – and a sitting room – TV, DVD, three sofas and a coffee table – a study – computer, desk, lamp – two bathrooms – shower, sink, loo, cabinet - and the bedrooms, each containing three queen sized beds, a wardrobe and bedside tables. Pretty basic stuff.
Not bad for a room funded by the school.
Kagome was in the shower, while the others lounged in the sitting room.
Now was his chance.
He snuck into the girl's bedroom, his keen sense of smell alerting him to where Kagome had stored her possessions. Flipping open the lid of the trunk, he grabbed the plastic bag she had taken from the service station and high-tailed it out.
Thrusting his hand inside, he brought out a little bottle of…
Sleeping pills.
"Inuyasha? Where are you?" Miroku called from where he was on the couch.
Inuyasha walked into the tiny room, still dumbly staring at the object in his hand.
"What are you doing with them?" Sango asked, confused.
"Not me," he said, his voice shaking. "Kagome."
"You went into her personal things?" Sango asked, eyebrows raised.
Inuyasha merely nodded dumbly.
"Why does she have them?" Koga asked, clearly confused.
Inuyasha shook his head. "I… I don't know."
"Put them back," Ayame suggested. "See if she actually takes them. They might just be… I dunno, back up?"
"You idiot," Inuyasha snapped. "This is what we could smell in her scent today!"
"I know that," said Ayame, unruffled, "But Kagome's gonna go mad if she knows you went through her things. Just say you smelt them on her after she's taken them."
It made sense.
"Fine," he snapped.
…
She fell asleep on the sofa, but he couldn't smell the over-the-counter drugs on her as he carried her to her room.
Hmm. He must've been wrong.
…
They were woken in the night by screaming.
Inuyasha, Koga and Miroku burst into the girls bedroom, only to see Ayame and Sango holding down a thrashing Kagome.
"'Bout time you got here," Sango snapped. "We can't wake her up!"
The screaming continued.
"Kagome, wake up!" Ayame cried, wiping her friend's sweat-drenched forehead.
The screaming continued, but this time it was interspersed with words.
"No – dad, no! Ah! Help me! Oh God, I'm sorry, please, please help me!"
"Kagome!" Koga yelled, shaking her, but she didn't respond. Her face continued to be pained as she screamed, writhing, her face becoming deadly pale.
"It hurts!" she screamed.
Then…
She stopped.
She was silent, except for heavy breathing and an erratic pulse.
And when she spoke, her voice was not her own.
"Poor, sweet, innocent Kagome," the voice said, strangely echoed, as if… as if two people were speaking. "Did you really think we'd let you get away? Not… this… time."
And then she sent out a bolt of energy, so strong, so pure, that it threw them all out of the room, across the hall, slamming into the wall. Inuyasha heard the cries as bodies impacted with the solid mass. He felt his own crash into the wall with enough strength to crack the paint, but he felt no pain. His only thoughts were concentrated on the figure who was slowly walking into the hall.
"I am so sorry," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
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King Stephen IV - Thanks! Yeah, that was my favourite part too! Please enjoy...
brinaalee - Thanks, and me neither! It'll be a surprise for both of us... lol!
Sassybratt - Thanks, and yeah, that's about right! That's pretty much how Kikyo and Naraku keep tracking her. All continued, and please enjoy!
myInuYasha15 - Please enjoy!
darkangel0212 - Thanks, and I'm glad you're enjoying it!
mkblackrose - Thanks... Mama Mia based on personal experience! Lol!
kouga's older woman - I agree!... on both counts :D
Syrenna - Lol, yeah! Similar experience here... Please enjoy!
mitachan - Aw, thanks! Please continue enjoying!
bumblezee - Aw, that stinks! Hope you're feeling better though? Being sick sucks!
I know, that was my favourite part too.... based on personal experience, lol! Never laughed so hard!
I know... no shadow will be safe again! Kikyo's using a very exclusive miko technique... so exclusive even I don't know what it's called! Feel really sorry for Kags, losing her father... (and yeah, I'm not so keen on McDonalds... NO NORMAL CHICKEN TASTES LIKE THAT!! XD)
Yep, just on my way to finsihing - I think you've done the characters really well! And I love the way you've shown Kagome's character after Inuyasha dies... I can totally imagine that happening, her taking on the guilt and trying to stop anyone else from getting hurt because of her... poor girl!
-42??? EEP!!! Ugh, schools are just... grr! I'd have trouble staying upright in that kind of weather!! I've never been on one of those yellow buses, we have to get public buses... but i'm glad your tootsies are still intact! :D
Yeah, the weather in england is pretty miserable, but i love the history! especially all the tudor-y type stuff - i love the clothing and the stories especially! there are some really good books centred round that time too! mary king's court ROCKS but i haven't been there in a few years! i was terrified when i went - it's a creepy, dark, dingy place underground with wax figurines, GHOST STORIES, stories about the PLAGUE (eek!!) and the guide we had taking us round was AMAZING!! She made it all come to life! eep!
thanks! i found out today that the judge was deaf in one ear!! quite quite mad... aw, thanks! i definitely think you should; your story is far from amateur, it ROCKS!! and i know what you mean; after using up all your ink scribbling out a mistake, it's so much easier to just press backspace!
holding my breath for your next review, please enjoy the chapter, and can't wait to finish reading your story!
GET WELL SOON!
xxx
Xalainu - Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed! It was one of the hardest to write! Hope this next part's ok...
Please enjoy, and let me know what you think!! More cheerful chapters WILL BE upcoming, honest!!
Libra Sorceress xx