Alternate Reality

Chapter 14

Breaking Through

"What the heck, Kagome!"

The hanyou's golden eyes glared at Kagome intensely as she grabbed her bag and made a rush for the door.

"Sorry, Inuyasha," she looked back before she closed the door and added, "Just make yourself some ramen, alright? I'm late enough as it is!" And with that, the door was slammed shut.

Silence ensued.

Inuyasha's glare didn't let up at all… 5 minutes passed… He was still glaring at the back of the door, half expecting Kagome to come rushing back.

"Keh!" He turned his head away from the door and stomped off into the kitchen, just barely realizing that he was waiting at the door like a little puppy. If she wasn't going to make breakfast this morning, then that was fine with him!

Or so he'd like to believe.

His clawed hand lazily opened the cupboard door and his eyes feasted among the many packets of ramen that had been left alone… for a while, now. People who knew him would've thought he'd jump at the chance to eat ramen after being deprived of it for so long… Now, he just stared at them, not really feeling like cooking a pack right now.

The cupboard door closed with the same contents it had been opened with… The sound of the door hitting its frame seemed to snap the hanyou out of it… He blinked… Inuyasha made a double-take at the closed cabinet. He had just denied himself ramen!

Now he knew something was wrong with him.

The door opened again and he immediately snatched a ramen package out before he forgot it again. Water was heating up on the stove within seconds.

Leaving the water alone to boil, he meandered over to the couch and plopped himself on the seat as he dug through the pile of papers on the coffee table in search of the remote. When he found it the TV turned on automatically and he sat back and stared rather blankly at the scene on the set.

It was the news… again…

He, watched silently, half hoping that something about the organization that Kagome was included in would pop up on the screen again. But that was just hopeful thinking. Besides, if it did show up then that meant something bad happened revolving around that.

He did not want his conscience weighing him down for wishing something like that to show up just for his entertainment.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed, reclining his legs on the coffee table. What was he supposed to do during the weekend? He couldn't remember what he used to do during these kinds of times a few weeks ago. All he could remember was Miroku showing up at his door occasionally.

Speaking of which, Miroku was coming over later in the afternoon. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should be relieved or annoyed.

Well, Kagome was going to spend the whole day with Sango, wasn't she? It was only natural that the pervert would come here while being shunned by Sango.

The phone started ringing.

Inuyasha let it ring for a while, quietly musing to himself whether he should let the answering machine take it or if he should pick it up himself.

…

He picked it up. "You've reached WacDonalds, this is Shiro. What do you want?" He barked into the phone with an annoyed tone. There wasn't anything better to do, why not have fun?

"I know it's you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's ears twitched. He recognized that voice anywhere.

"Hello hag," he responded in a much more cheerful tone, most likely out of sarcasm.

There was a groan of annoyance on the other end. "You really should start respecting me. And it's not hag, it's Kaede."

The hanyou shook his head. "Why should I? You're the one who ruined my fun." She just didn't get it, did she?

"Who do you think is paying your bills?"

"I never asked you to pay them," he retorted, slowly grating on the old lady's nerves.

"So you're going to get a job?"

"Why not?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes and examined his claws whilst speaking, "It'll give me something to do."

Kaede sighed, exasperated. "I'm not doing that as long as Kagome is with you in that apartment. I don't trust you to keep up with your bills." Inuyasha would've gotten mad at her for insulting him but figured that it was a waste of his breath.

"But you seem to be forgetting about the only person who stands between you and Sesshoumaru," she added cleverly before Inuyasha could waste more time shooting back her comments. "Do you know how easy it would be to pluck you from that apartment and place you in your brother's care?"

Inuyasha sighed, frustrated that he lost the argument. "Fine, what is it?"

"I'm planning to come visit next weekend."

"SHIT!"

"Excuse me!" Kaede's eyes expanded on the other end.

"My ramen boiled over!" Inuyasha rushed around the kitchen, grabbing a paper towel and dabbing at the puddle of hot water. "Gaaah!" Only to remember that the water had been boiling just a few seconds ago.

Kaede was fighting the urge to smack herself as she heard kitchen tools clattering against each other.

When the noise on the other end died down, she heard Inuyasha speak again. "What were you saying?"

"I said I'm coming over next weekend."

Inuyasha was about to curse again but decided against it. "Why?" he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the wall.

"I need to know if you're treating Kagome properly over there. Knowing you, I don't know what you'd do to her."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like I abuse her."

"Do you?"

… Inuyasha resisted chucking the phone against the wall. He couldn't believe she just said that. "Do you honestly think of me that way?" he yelled into the receiver, a vein ticking on his forehead.

"No, but you're the one who suggested it."

After a few more minutes of bickering, yelling, and resisting the urge to maim furniture, Inuyasha finally clicked the phone off and plopped himself down on the couch.

The TV was still on…

His ramen was cooked…

Now all that was left to do was wait for Miroku to come by.

He doubted that would take long.

:-:-:

"You did what?" Sango stared at her friends who were sitting on her couch, in her hand was a tray of drinks. Her eyes were wide as they focused on the small kitsune. She couldn't believe her ears.

"Ummm… I told him off." Shippou answered cautiously, very aware of the shock he had put his master in. Kagome patted his head and smiled at him, trying to convince him that it was fine.

Miroku, who had been sitting on the other side of the living room, was curious about Shippou's actions. "May I ask how?" He leaned forward to hear the small youkai better.

"I just told him that he was being a jerk and to shut up."

Sango almost dropped her tray. "You spoke in front of him?" Instead of opting to spill drinks on her carpet, she dropped the tray down onto the table and plopped herself in a chair. Her eyes shifted over to Kagome, worriedly. "How did you explain?" She asked, almost scared.

To her surprise, Kagome didn't seem at all worried, when she should've been the one worrying most of all. "I just told him that you programmed Shippou to say stuff like that."

"Programmed?" Sango looked a bit lost.

"I told him he was one of those stuffed animals who talk when you press them." Kagome laughed as she remembered the hanyou's face when Shippou spoke. It was definitely not a face expected from Inuyasha, of all people.

Miroku looked amused.

Sango looked confused, probably deciding whether she should get mad or laugh. She chose the latter. Miroku followed, clutching his stomach as his body was wracked by his fits.

"Well, Shippou, if you ever decide to do that again, make sure I'm around." Miroku wanted to see exactly how Inuyasha reacted when he was told off by a supposed stuffed animal.

"Okay!" Shippou smiled and out the corner of his eye, he caught a look Sango sent him as he finished off his last cookie. The kitsune jumped off Kagome's lap, trotting over to his master to pick up more of the cookies she had brought with her.

Sango leaned down to help him put the cookies on his plate. "Has anything been happening?" She whispered quietly into the kit's ear, unheard by neither Miroku nor Kagome. Luckily, Kagome had taken to describing how Inuyasha reacted to pay too much attention to them.

Shippou nodded. "Something came to her window a little while ago during the night," Shippou whispered just as quietly. "I don't know what it is; all I know is that it has red eyes."

Sango was surprised, she didn't expect something so soon, and that worried her. "Does Kagome know about this?"

The young youkai shook his head. "She was asleep when it came; I didn't want to wake her up." Shippou cast his eyes to the floor, as if ashamed of his actions… Or lack of actions.

Sango patted his head and he looked up. "Good job," she smiled at him and he smiled back, relieved. "Next time it comes, send a signal and wake her up, alright?" Shippou nodded, thankful she didn't seem upset at him, and stalked back in Kagome's direction with his plate of cookies.

Kagome picked him back up and placed him in her lap again when he had started patting her ankle to alert her of his return. She turned back to Miroku, "Actually, I told him that I was coming here today to get Shippou fixed."

Miroku's face pouted from disappointment. "You mean I won't be able to see?" He laid his back against the back of the chair. "Well, that's a let down."

The miko held a finger to her chin as a thought flashed through her head. "Well, we could always say that Sango fixed him," Kagome stared down at the eating kitsune, "just not the right way." She added cleverly and Miroku's face took on a scheming look.

"Clever one Kagome." He praised and took another bite of his cookie. "I like how you think. No wonder you're our miko-sama."

"Don't call me that," Kagome added.

"What? 'Miko-sama'?"

"Yeah."

Shippou looked up from his chewing, and interrupted. "So what do you want me to say next time?"

"Hmmm…" Miroku stroked his chin and thought for a while. "It has to be something he'd never expect to hear." It took a few faces for Miroku to get through as he thought… That's when it clicked, a mischievous smile played out on the boy's face.

"What is it?" Sango looked curiously over at Miroku as he beckoned her over. She was suspicious, but walked over and bent down so he could whisper in her ear.

Shippou and Kagome watched silently as he informed Sango…

Kagome watched Sango bend over instantly in fits of laughter. Miroku, who had been trying to hold it in, started laughing a few seconds after Sango was on the floor while clutching her stomach.

Needless to say that Kagome and Shippou were confused.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked, bewildered by her friends' behavior.

It took a while for them notice that she asked.

Sango, who had calmed down just a bit, crawled over to the pair on the couch, still shaking from the idea. "Come here Shippou," she commanded, beckoning him over to the other end of the couch. He complied, and Sango whispered into his ear.

His eyebrow rose. "I don't get it." A look of complete confusion etched itself onto his face, proving that he really didn't get it.

Sango only smiled at him and said, "It's ok if you don't, as long as he understands then its fine."

"What was it?" Kagome asked again, feeling a bit neglected now that even Shippou knew of the plot.

Sango and Miroku went on to explain what exactly they had in mind and why.

At the end Shippou was on his stomach laughing.

Kagome could only stare wide-eyed, the hint of an amused smile sat on her face.

:-:-:

"I'm home!" Kagome called into the apartment when she opened the door, hugging a bag of overflowing groceries to her. She had to the push the door open with her back as she pulled the key out of its lock and shut the door.

"Hello Kagome," Miroku greeted from his seat in the living room, waving at her. Inuyasha was on the couch, flipping through the channels on the television… again. He only looked at her out of the corner of his eye for a few seconds to see if she was alright.

She was.

And he went back to his channel surfing.

"So this is where you went to after you left us…" Kagome looked questioningly at Miroku who was quietly smiling to himself. The grocery bag landed on the counter with a 'thunk'.

"Well being the good person that I am," Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "I thought I should give Inuyasha company while you were out."

"Keh!" Inuyasha looked annoyed.

Kagome giggled as she started unpacking the groceries and setting them into their assigned cupboards. When they were all gone and stored the only thing left on the counter was the innocent-looking Shippou.

Miroku was watching Shippou with an amused smile on his face. Kagome noticed and couldn't help but hide a smile.

Inuyasha noticed their smiling… and frowned. What were they smiling about? … And what were they staring at?

The hanyou's golden eyes followed the direction of Miroku's gaze and found that it was laying on the stuffed animal who was quietly sitting on the table. His frown deepened.

"I hope you got that thing fixed." His eyes were now glaring at the stuffed animal, remembering what it had said to him the other day. Shippou nervously laughed to himself.

"That's what Sango told me," Kagome plucked Shippou off the counter and brought him into her arms, walking over to the living space. "She said it wouldn't be passing out any insults anymore."

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Yup," Kagome smiled, Miroku had to resist the urge to at least chuckle. "See for yourself." And she pretended to squeeze Shippou's hand.

Shippou spoke.

"There's a ghost at your window."

"!"

Miroku heard the television click off.

Kagome watched the remote fall away from clawed hands.

Inuyasha visibly paled.

Everything suddenly turned quiet.

Inuyasha's eyes widened as the sense of those few words hit him. And those few words had come from a stuffed animal. He turned horrified, golden orbs upon Shippou and then to Kagome who -to his humiliation- was trying to stifle her giggles by closing her eyes at the floor and turning those giggles into a big, fat smile.

She knew exactly what the damn plushy meant.

"Sango did not just make him say that." He stared unbelievingly, but was instantly snapped out of his stupor when the pervert on the couch started laughing.

The hanyou's eyes shot at him, fire was raging behind his yellow orbs.

Miroku was too busy laughing to notice.

Inuyasha shot up from the couch and stomped his way over to Miroku, grabbing his so-called 'friend' by the collar of his shirt and pulling him up off the couch. "You did not tell her what that was about." He stated, the sense of death flashing in his eyes.

Miroku was unphased. "Now Inuyasha, do you honestly think I'd do that?"

"You didn't tell her!" He said, a lot more forcefully this time… Maybe a bit too forceful, for Miroku was now holding his hands in front of him in order to shield him from the roughness of the hanyou's tone.

The boy, whose life was probably going to end in a moment, still didn't change his tone. "But it would've been mean if we left her out of the fun." Miroku pointed out. Inuyasha didn't care what his reason was, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why her of all people!" He growled at him. Rage was building up as each second passed by. The faint blush of humiliation was being covered up by the anger on his face. Miroku was still unafraid.

"It's her stuffed animal," the threatened boy pointed out and Inuyasha turned to glare at the small kitsune plush toy as if it was all his fault. Shippou was actually starting to regret what he had said, in fear of what would happen to him next.

He was supposed to be a stuffed animal, Inuyasha wouldn't care if he maimed him…

… Possibly killing him. Shippou gulped quietly at the thought.

Golden eyes shifted up to look at Kagome. She was just standing there, no longer giggling, but a more thoughtful look took place on her face.

The 'faint blush of humiliation' was no longer faint. In fact, it was quite visible now.

Miroku took this chance to poke Inuyasha's temper, just a little bit more. "Are you embarrassed?"

Inuyasha suddenly remembered the boy who was hanging by his shirt. "You!" he barked, Miroku only winced at the volume. "Leave! Now!"

"I would, but you would need to let go first."

Inuyasha growled again, annoyed. He didn't have the patience to deal with him right now. Instead of letting him go, he dragged the boy to the front door and almost literally threw him out. Miroku was outside the door in an instant and the next second the door slammed behind him.

The boy blinked as he stood at the empty doorway. He didn't dare move; he could still hear Inuyasha's yelling in the room behind him… It wouldn't be so bad to stick around for the aftermath, would it?

"Inuyasha," Kagome spoke to him in a warning tone, finding that he was taking this a bit too far.

"And this thing!" Miroku assumed Inuyasha was referring to Shippou, "You're throwing this thing out!"

"What! Why?" She demanded, though already half-knowing what the reason was.

"Because I never want to see it in my sight again, that's why!" He reasoned and plucked Shippou out of her arms and threw it to the living room behind him, not caring wherever the hell it landed. Kagome held her breath as Shippou sailed through the air, but heaved a sigh of relief when he landed, softly, on the couch.

The she rounded on Inuyasha again. "What are you so mad about? It was just a joke and it wasn't that bad." She tried to soothe to him, but that seemed to only make it worse.

Inuyasha shot her a glare, but found it hard to actually look at her for longer than three seconds. "Leave me alone," and with that he stomped off towards the hallway.

There were a few seconds of silence, until Kagome (and Miroku, who was still standing outside) winced from the sudden bang of a door.

Kagome could only stand there… in silence…

A few seconds passed by and she still stood there. As if expecting something to happen, she just didn't know what it was. But there was one thing that had happened she didn't expect.

'I didn't think he'd react that way…' She took the chance to turn around and headed towards the couch.

Shippou, who was now sitting up from the place where he landed, had his face in his hands, shaking it from time to time. Why he was doing that, Kagome didn't really know. She knelt down next to the couch in front of Shippou, her hand coming up to stroke his head. "What's wrong Shippou?" she asked, quietly.

The kitsune choked back a sob. Kagome's eyes widened a bit in surprise. She didn't expect him to be crying.

"Why are you crying?" She rubbed his back gently, trying her best to soothe the small youkai.

"I'm gonna die!" he wailed, his voice was rather loud when upset. She flinched, taking note of the fact that Inuyasha was just down the hall. And with his hearing being as sharp as it was, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he'd heard that.

"Shhh…" she tried to calm him down gently. "No, you're not."

"Yes I am!" he wailed again, just a bit quieter.

"Why do you say that?"

"B-because if I stay here…" he hiccupped and rubbed his eyes, "He might do something to me…"

"No he won't," she reassured, petting him as he calmed down a bit.

"If he's that mad… since I'm the one that said it he'll take out his anger on me…" Shippou clung to Kagome's hand. "And he told you to throw me out."

"I'm not going to do that." She picked Shippou and cradled him as he settled down.

He looked up at her. "You won't?" A sniffle escaped him, "But he said--"

"Forget what he said, you're staying with us… I'll just refuse." She smiled down at the kit in her arms. His eyes still held that gleam of doubt. The bright smile on Kagome's face faltered at his stare. "Or, if you're still scared, I can bring you back to Sango."

"No!" Shippou exclaimed, remembering that he was supposed to be watching over her. Crying was not something that a guardian was supposed to do, especially crying in front of the one he was watching over. "I'm staying." He claimed and hugged Kagome. The girl returned his gesture and walked over to the kitchen counter, setting him down when he was finally back to normal.

"Good to hear that," she smiled at him one last time before heading to the cupboards to retrieve her ingredients for tonight's meal.

"Do you really think he'll come out to eat?" Shippou asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, but that's not going to stop me from eating." The girl remarked as she stared at the pot, her mind turning over an idea in her head, trying to decide what she should do. She weighed the options… and she sighed. No one but Shippou was watching anyway.

All it took was a wave of her hand and the ingredients she had chosen started to jump into the pot on their own. As she watched the food cook itself into a meal, Kagome sat down at the table and recalled the earlier argument.

She didn't understand why Inuyasha was so worked up over it. It was one thing to be a bit embarrassed about it, but he was definitely more than embarrassed. But she couldn't see a reason why he would be humiliated about it. It was just something to laugh about.

…

'Was it because they were referring to me?' she wondered to herself, leaning her elbow on the table to hold her head up. 'Because he thought I was a ghost? But why would he find that embarrassing?'

A few thoughts ran through her mind but she still didn't seem to understand. Minutes passed…

She heard the timer in the kitchen go off.

Kagome sighed again and let her hand drop from her face as she stood up from her seat, she gave up thinking. He was a lot more puzzling than most people, and he was one puzzle that she didn't really want to figure out right now.

Her feet brought her to a halt at the stove. She twisted the metal knob below the pot, extinguishing the blue flame that had burned beneath it. With a wooden spoon in her hand, she lifted the pot's top and started stirring the soup mixture.

Thoughts ran through her head again, she didn't really complain about them though.

"He was so worked up about it when we were little. For some reason, he'd always thought that it was a ghost. We kept telling him it was a dream, but he just refused to listen." Miroku started, leaning back against the chair, digging up old memories he thought he'd never revisit.

Sango picked up from where he left off. "Ever since that happened, every time we seem to mention the word 'ghost' he either gets mad or flustered. And it's rather amusing seeing him get flustered." The girl took a moment to giggle at the notion. "We thought he'd have forgotten about it by now. But sometimes we see him staring out into space, as if he's thinking about it again. So it's fun to poke fun at him for thinking about something so childish."

Kagome stared down at the concoction in front of her and let it sit there to cool. Her mind was still walking down the long road of thoughts.

'I didn't think he'd be worried about it for that long…'

:-:-:

After a couple of hours, Inuyasha had finally stepped out of his room due to hunger. Kagome noticed and had set out the leftover soup for him. He had still found it hard to look at her, but with her acting like nothing had happened, it was rather hard for things to not go back to normal.

Within a couple of days, it seemed as if they had forgotten about the whole thing. And Inuyasha's awkwardness had ceased to exist.

Yes… Everything was back to normal…

But Kagome doubted it would stay that way.

"Kaede's coming!" Kagome exclaimed and dropped her chopsticks onto the table. "Are you sure!" Her eyes expanded in surprise. Though from Inuyasha's view, it seemed like she was horror stricken.

He didn't blame her… Kaede wasn't exactly the nicest person he had met.

"Umm… yeah." He responded as he took another bite of his food.

"When!" she exclaimed and shot to her feet, hands on the table to keep her from unbalance.

Inuyasha took a while to think about it. The hag had called last weekend and said that she was coming next weekend… He weighed his options on the different outcomes on different ways to tell her. Either tell her outright, or make her panic more…

It was kind of fun to see her panic. "When indeed…" he wondered out loud, making sure Kagome heard.

That might not have been the wisest thing to do.

Kagome left her place at the table and stomped over to Inuyasha. She glared down at him with a menacing look and grabbed one of his ears with a vice grip.

"Oi! Hey! Let go!" He complained and tried to pry her fingers off of it.

"Tell me when she's coming." She demanded through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word out of frustration with her house mate.

Inuyasha winced when she started tugging at the appendage. "Tomorrow! Now let go of my ear bitch!" he cursed, but she didn't seem to notice the insult. Her mind seemed trained on the first thing she had heard.

"Tomorrow!" The hand that had been clamped on his ear shot up to her face in horror, she couldn't believe it. Her eyes came back to glare down at him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Forgot," he said as Kagome continued to glare. For a minute, he thought she was going to tug at his ears again. But instead of continuing to glare, she walked back over to her side of the table and grabbed Shippou off the table. She squeezed the little youkai's hand, making sure that Inuyasha could see.

"Idiot," Shippou said.

Inuyaha growled. "I thought I told you to get rid of that thing!"

"And why should I?" Kagome let her glare go and settled for an annoyed look. "If you can't do something for me, why should I do something for you?" With that, she picked her dishes off the table, put them in the sink, and headed off towards the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To my room," she called back as she halted in front of her door and wrapped her fingers around the door knob. "I have to get ready for tomorrow." She opened the door and took a step inside… but then backpedaled when she remembered something. "Oh yeah, Inuyasha?"

"What?" He looked up from his food.

"Try not to say anything weird tomorrow." She warned with a softer look on her face. And with that, the door shut behind her with a click and Inuyasha was left in silence with his food.

'Anything weird?... If I had a choice I wouldn't speak at all while the hag is here' … He thought about it a little more… 'Well, maybe I would, but still…'

He leaned his head on the table and turn to the side to look out the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. The sun was starting to set behind the trees. The sky turned into an orange color from its previous pale blue.

Inuyasha's eyes scanned the horizon, his eyes taking on a passive look. A sigh escaped him as he dropped his hand from his face and closed his eyes. He would have to go to bed early today.

The moon wasn't going to keep him company tonight.

:-:-:

AN: This is chapter dedicated to a choir friend of mine who passed away the other day. May he rest in peace.

I hope this chapter is good enough for all of you. It's not exactly one of my best ones, but I was a bit distracted this week. I had a feeling it was a bit rushed towards the end.

Review please!