"No!" she screamed back. "Not until you tell me what's wrong!" What was so wrongabout this village that Inuyasha wanted to leave so quickly?
"I already told you, nothing's wrong!" Inuyasha yelled back at her, a brutal scowl painted on his face. His patience with the girl wore thin as she refused to move, and he tugged his arm away from her steadfast (yet so weak…after all, Kagome was only human) grip with an unintended, violent force.
The abrupt motion sent Kagome plummeting to the ground, tumbling and sprawled backwards.
The hanyou felt his stomach drop as Kagome looked up at him, her eyes flashing precariously.
Inuyasha had once heard that the eyes were a window to the soul- probably from Miroku, he was full of weird quotes like that. Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder if they were they a portal into the mind, as when Kagome stared at him with those wide, hurt, brown eyes, which were slowly narrowing at him with increasing frustration, Inuyasha felt the strangest sense of déjà vu…the boy thought he knew exactly what she was thinking…and, by extension, what she was going to say next.
He tried to drop to the ground as fast as he could on his own free will. He really did try. He almost made it. Almost.
But he just wasn't fast enough. Anyways, Kagome was furious, and the anger only increased the speed of her words. "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!" she screamed to the top of her lungs.
Needless to say, Inuyasha was 'grounded' for a pretty long time. "…wench!" Inuyasha muttered with a mouthful of dirt when he was finally able to move. "I didn't mean to knock you over, Kagome!" he said, pulling himself out of the Inuyasha-shaped imprint in the dirt.
But Kagome was already marching into the village, head held high. She was getting the supplies, whether Inuyasha agreed or not! "You jerk, Inuyasha!" she yelled back over her shoulder, face burning. She threw in another "Sit, boy!" for good measure.
Once he was back on his feet (again), Inuyasha called back to her retreating figure. "Feh! Fine! The stuff is over past the bridge with the stream under it, so hurry up and get back!"
Kagome pretended not hear, but she followed the hanyou's instructions anyway, with as much dignity as she could manage, knowing that she had acted just as immaturely as Inuyasha had.
INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA INUYASHA
As she strolled over a stony bridge, Kagome pondered over the whole matter. Honestly, what was it about this place that bothered him so badly? While Inuyasha might tried to hide how upset he was, but Kagome knew, deep down inside her heart, that something was just plain wrong with him.
Did Inuyasha think that the village was too dangerous?
It seems safe enough to me, Kagome thought as two young children ran past her, giggling and shoving each other playfully.
And, besides, if Inuyasha thought this place held some danger within its walls, wouldn't he be trying to pick a fight with what, or who, ever it was, right about now? It was uncharacteristic of him to simply run awayfrom a threat. Kagome knew the pugnacious boy preferred a good fight to what he would view as cowardice any day.
Sighing, Kagome examined a piece of dried meat that she had picked up off a cart of wares, absentmindedly twirling it in her fingers, while the card vendor looked at her suspiciously. The man probably thought she would try to steal something.
Suddenly, she felt a jerk on her shoulder. Shocked, she dropped the sliver of meat unto the table top, looking up into a stranger's face.
He was an old man, probably around the age of seventy or eighty years of age. He had a kind face- but that didn't mean Kagome trusted him.
She had been trying to find her voice, when the vendor cleared his own throat and said, "Why, Elder Nakamaru, what are you doing down here?"
The old man chuckled good-naturedly, and said "Oh, I just wanted to have a word with our young lady here," he gestured, with a frail, trembling arm, weak with old age, towards a bewildered Kagome. "If that is alright with you, dear?" he asked, tone light, but Kagome could detect an undercurrent of seriousness hidden in his gravelly voice.
Kagome nodded ambivalently. What could this man possible want with her?
…It seemed lately she had a lot more questions then she had answers.
"Well, then, follow me…" the man said, leading her to a secluded spot by the stream. The few children who had been playing by the river nodded respectively towards the man when they saw him, glanced at Kagome, and left, talking animatedly between themselves, laughing.
The man, who she now knew to be called Nakamaru, turned to her and looked her in the eyes.
A shiver ran down Kagome's spin. His eyes, unlike his body, were strong. They shone with bright intelligence and a kind of lasting wisdom that Kagome guessed never failed to make an impression upon anyone he looked at.
Nakamaru spoke slowly to Kagome, but confidence rang in every facet of his voice. "I have lived in this village for over seventy years," he informed her, "Despite my years, I've been blessed with a strong memory; I remember every man, woman, and child, who has ever dwelled here." Nakamaru closed his eyes for a moment, and shook his gray-haired head for a moment, before resting his eyes upon Kagome's face again.
So strong.
Kagome was confused, to be blunt. "Why are you telling me this?" she questioned, hoping she didn't sound rude.
"Because, dear, you are traveling with someone who used to live here, about fifty or sixty years ago, with his mother. Although, it really didn't look like he had aged that much- he should be an old man, like me, by this time! I suppose that's the youkai blood showing in him. What was his name, again? Ah, yes, I believe it was Inuyasha…"
Author's Notes: Sorry it took a bit long to update, but I was trying to come up with a way to make the whole 'finding Inuyasha's village from when he was a kid' scene a bit more unique and original. Lol, TaKeR90 even guessed my little cliché. Though, all that other stuff will come more into play in the next chapter…Anyways, I have an OC now…kind of. He won't be in the story for very long, only this chapter and the next, but I thought he should have name XD. I hope he isn't a completely Mary-sue…or Gary-stew, I think it's called. And, as always, thanks for the lovely feedback!