A/N: I was going to post it a bit later, but decided to do it today, since you all had to wait so long for updates.
Beta: Cstorm86
The Miko and the Kotodama
"It was a youkai attack," Kagome's grandfather told her three friends with a nod. "Those things happen sometimes."
The trio looked at him as if he was a bit insane and Kagome quickly waved her hands at them to draw their attention.
"Grandpa means that there was a burglar that tried to rob the shrine," she said. The girls nodded, accepting the more logical, even if untrue, explanation.
They all sat around the kitchen table, while Mama was putting Souta to bed upstairs and making sure that he was okay. Kagome just prayed he wouldn't tell her mother about Inuyasha. It wasn't like she didn't want her mother to know about the shrine guardian, but she guessed he was more or less a secret only the shrine keepers were supposed to know. She tightened her hold on the glass of tea her grandfather had put in front of her and took a sip of the hot drink, trying to find a way to not only calm herself after the rather shocking events in the well-house, but also soothe her friends, who had came to investigate the said happenings after hearing the ruckus of youkai battle.
"That's terrible," Yuka said. "Shouldn't we call the police?"
'Maybe it wasn't the best idea...' Kagome thought and tried to smile warmly.
"Oh, no, no need to do that," she said hurriedly before the trio could think about that option for too long. "A friend's taking care of this."
"The shrine guardian," Kagome's neck almost snapped when she turned her head to look at her grandfather. 'Grandpa! Not helping!' Her cheeks paled at the look in Eri's eyes.
"A friend, huh?" Eri asked and leaned closer to nudge Kagome's shoulder. "Is it a male friend maybe...?"
"Well, well, Higurashi, a security officer, hmm?" Yuka poked Kagome's other shoulder. Kagome felt like her face suddenly caught fire. "In an uniform..."
"He doesn't have an uniform!" Kagome exclaimed, almost spilling her tea. Her hand flew to cover her mouth, but it was too late. She stared, wide-eyed, at her three friends, all grinning like kitsune from old stories.
"Oh... So he's a he..." Ayumi giggled. Kagome shook her head with new energy. 'How could things go so wrong so fast?' She glared at her grandfather, who peacefully sipped his tea, that traitor.
"Girls, please, it's not like what you think..." Kagome pleaded in vain. She tried the mature, calm approach and hoped they would do the same.
"You will have to introduce us some time." Yuka grinned.
"She means: soon," Eri added.
"Girls, we shouldn't force them. Let them decide when they want to make their relationship official," Ayumi said in a soothing voice. "I'm sure when they're ready, they'll tell us, right, Kagome?"
'Relationship...? Gods, help me... They think I have a secret boyfriend or what?'
Luckily, the gods were listening, since at that very moment Kagome's mom entered the kitchen. She held a rolled cloth that looked like Souta's pajama shirt. As she spoke she put it on the counter.
"Alright, Souta is asleep now," she said and looked at everyone with a smile that did wonders to ease Kagome's nerves. "And if everything is...taken care of, we all should go to sleep too. It's still a few hours before dawn and, believe me, we all will feel much better after some rest."
"Good idea, Mrs Higurashi," Ayumi nodded and stood up.
"Yeah," Eri followed her and glanced at Kagome. "Are you going?"
"Um..." Kagome realized she was the last one seated by the table. "I will go check up on something real quick and go to sleep to. Go ahead, guys, I will be upstairs soon." As soon as her mother had spoke about taking care of things Kagome remembered how Inuyasha had limped up the stairs in the well-house. It would be best to go check on the guy. She could just hope she'd find him in the forest, where he was probably hiding.
The girls said their good nights and went out of the kitchen, leaving the three Higurashi family members alone. Calmly, Kagome's mother gathered the empty glasses from the table and carried them to the sink to wash.
"Is the boy alright?" the old shrine keeper asked. Kagome stood up and went for the cabinet where the first aid kit was stored, moving quietly and waiting for her mom's answer.
"Yes, he's okay," Mama said. "He told me the most outlandish story. I was going to assume he was sleepwalking and it was just his dream, but... Kagome, can you look at the shirt I brought?
"Uh, yeah, mom," Kagome gulped and reached for the said article. As she lifted it up it unfolded and she gasped, her stomach twisting.
There was something brown smeared on the back of the shirt, close to the collar. It looked roughly like a hand, the fabric pierced and torn where fingertips of the hand were pressed into the material.
It looked like a hand had gripped and tugged at the shirt, ripping it. A bloodied hand.
'Inuyasha...' Kagome thought, thinking about that moment when he pushed her unconscious brother into her arms and closed the door before fighting the creepy girl. She thought about the dark spots on his clothing and face after the battle.
"It's not Souta's and you are unharmed as well," she heard her mother speak. "So I want to know what happened? Should I believe in a story about a youkai and a super hero coming to my son's rescue?"
Kagome turned her head to look at her mother. She appeared calm and curious, concerned, but also patient and trusting her to give her answers. Kagome glanced to her grandfather, who smiled warmly in encouragement, clearly leaving her alone to explain everything to her mom. 'Oh, so now I can tell what happened, huh?'
"Mom..." Kagome started. Should she hide the shrine guardian's presence from her family? According to her grandfather usually only the shrine keepers and other reiki users knew Inuyasha. It was both to protect the hanyou and to keep him from scaring other members of the family. Kagome doubted that her mom would be a threat or be afraid of the boy, even if he was a youkai. And Souta already had seen him. Maybe it was the right time to change this family tradition as well? It sure could help Inuyasha if he could be more social and walk around the shrine freely during her family visits. Keeping a secret from her closest ones and alienating the boy didn't feel right for her, even if for generations only a handful of people knew about his existence. "Um... Souta was speaking the truth. Mostly."
"Mostly?" her mom tilted her head. "How so?"
"When I woke up Souta was going to the well-house. I followed him and when I came there, there was a creepy youkai girl that was controlling him and making him take off the seals on the well there. I wanted to stop her, but she threatened to hurt Souta. Then Inuyasha showed up and saved us, and fought the youkai until she fled," Kagome said it all almost on one breath, fearing that if she stopped to think about this, she'd lose her courage.
"And Inuyasha is... who exactly?" her mother asked when Kagome took a breath. The air left Kagome's lungs in a sigh. How was she going to explain to her mother the existence of a supernatural being without sounding like an insane person?
"You can call him," Kagome's grandfather spoke suddenly. The young miko turned to look at him and saw him smiling warmly at her. He gave a nod when he saw her puzzled expression. "Just call for him and he will come."
"But... He always does all he can to avoid being seen, doesn't he?" Kagome asked. It would look even worse if she screamed in the night and the shrine guardian refused to show up.
"If you use kotodama he will come," the girl now looked as puzzled as her mother. "He won't be able to fight your will for long if you call him by his true name. Usually you have to be given the name by the one who uses it, but in this case it works when the previous shrine keeper tells you it."
Kagome's mind jumped to the memory from not that long ago when her grandfather introduced her to the hanyou under the Sacred Tree. Was it real? Could she give him orders by using his name? Would it force him to do things he didn't like every time she called him by his name? 'Nah, I called him by his name before and he didn't seem affected, so maybe it works if I do it intentionally...' She made a mental note to ask about it later.
"Just don't use it too often, he gets pretty cranky," the old man chuckled.
Kagome smiled at him and her mother, who was still patiently listening to them. Then she walked to the shoji leading to the engawa and opened it.
"Inuyasha!" she called quietly out loud and in her mind, imagining herself tugging at the beaded necklace he wore around his neck to get his attention.
Too bad that Inuyasha had been eavesdropping on the roof above the kitchen porch.
A/N: What's going to happen now? Will Kagome's mom freak out? Will Inuyasha pout about the kotodama being used by Kagome?