Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I do own this story, and if you steal it I will get really pissed off at you. I also don't own The Magic School Bus, although I think we can all admit that at some point we've wanted to do just that ;)
Note: Please stop right there, return to the fifth chapter, scroll down to the third paragraph of the third scene and reread for approximately two minutes. I apologize for altering something so late in the game, but I don't think it's really that big. Honestly, I was rereading the story before uploading to the Dokuga site, and I noticed that Kagome making him cut his hair was actually really bitchy of her, and altogether uncalled for. If I've upset anyone who was totally on board with the whole "short-haired-Sesshoumaru" thing, I deeply apologize.
-oOo-
Last Time…
The woman snapped from her daze and rounded on the taiyoukai. "This happens often? You insult my daughter's chastity often?!"
He frowned. "She makes an easy target of herself," he thought (aloud).
Her eye twitched. "She what?"
He cursed so quietly only a youkai would have been able to hear as he turned away. "This curse is troublesome to me... I wonder if I can convince her to let me sleep on the other side of the room."
-oOo-
Chapter 21: Traditions
Kagome awoke to the sound of her alarm clock, followed suit by the sound of a rather annoyed taiyoukai complaining about how loud said alarm clock was. She didn't move, allowing the device to annoy him to its heart's content. She'd finally caved the night before, conceding that he could sleep on her floor again, but she wasn't about to pretend to be happy about it.
After a few more moments of loud, electronic beeping, she decided he'd suffered enough and rolled over, turning it off. Her eyes widened when she saw Sesshoumaru, eyes narrowed at the alarm clock and sword held high over his head, ready to virtually destroy her bedside table. "What are you doing?!" she demanded, bolting upright.
He continued to glare at the alarm clock as he slowly returned Toukijin to its sheath. "Your 'alarm clock' was annoying this Sesshoumaru."
"Oh, my gosh," she groaned as stood up and stretched. "You're a freaking bull in a china shop!"
He frowned at her in obvious confusion, but she refused to answer, opting instead to brush past him on the way to the bathroom, snatching up her uniform and shutting the door behind her. "Your clothes from last time are in my dresser," she called from inside, her voice slightly muffled. "Bottom drawer."
Mumbling under his breath about "bossy human women", he walked over to the dresser and stared at it for a good minute, daring it to challenge him. When he was satisfied that the dresser had been sufficiently intimidated, he opened the bottom drawer and withdrew his clothes.
When Kagome emerged from the bathroom, he was already dressed, leaning against her window frame and looking out onto the shrine grounds. She felt something in her tighten at the sight of him in modern clothes, his usual haori and hakama folded neatly on the windowsill and his two swords and armor lying on top. No weapons, no Feudal Era clothes, and yet he seemed so out of place, so foreign, so wrong. Shaking aside her thoughts, she flicked off the bathroom light and laid her pajamas on top of her dresser, and he turned his eyes on her.
"You do know if you want to go out you're going to have to cover up your markings again, don't you?" she said.
"That can wait until we have left the premises," he informed her.
She grinned. "Whatever." She pointed to the chair pushed under her desk. "Sit down and I'll do your hair."
He blinked at her in shock, his mouth opening slightly. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I don't care if doing your hair has some sort of creepy double meaning," she said, walking briskly over to her bedside table and picking up her brush and hairbands. "But your hair will be done and you will let me do it for you, because I seriously doubt you'd rather that chick from the hair salon braid it again, am I right?" She pulled out the chair and motioned for him to sit.
After debating it for a couple moments, he complied, seating himself in front of her, and she went to work. Wow, his hair is so soft, she thought in amazement, running her fingers through it to check for tangles. How does he manage that without conditioner? I'm so jealous! After she'd finished finger-combing his hair, she ran her brush through it a few times before beginning to braid it. As she was parting it into three sections, her fingertips touched the tip of one of his ears.
She froze, staring at the ear in question for several long seconds. Don't do it Kagome, don't do it, you know he'll get pissed off at you… Ignoring the voice of reason, she reached forward with one hand and poked his ear, immediately snatching her hand back. When he didn't react, she crept forward and touched it again, only this time she let her fingertips linger there. Her eyes widened to saucers as she traced the curve of his ear, feeling the elfin tip that seemed like it was straight from a fantasy game her brother would play. Encouraged by his lack of protest, she traced it back down to his earlobe and across the magenta stripes on his cheek.
"What are you doing?"
"Eep!" She leapt back at the sound of his voice. What the hell was I doing?! Oh geez, why do I always have to space out like that?
He glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her. She had crossed the room at a speed previously unknown to humankind and was currently pressed against the opposite wall, her eyes huge and horrified. He had to hold back a grin at her antics. "I'm not going to kill you," he informed her.
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, apparently not believing him, for a few moments. She approached him slowly. When she was just a few inches away she stopped. "Turn. Around." He obliged, and she plaited his hair hastily, tying it off with a black band and stepping back to observe her work. "All done. Now let's go have breakfast."
By the time he turned around, she had already fled the room. He smirked at the scent of her lingering embarrassment and vowed never to let her educate herself on the ways of inuyoukai. She was simply too amusing as it was.
-oOo-
"Kagome-chan, welcome back!"
"Kagome-chan!"
"Kagome-chan!"
"Kagome-chan!"
"Kagome-chan!"
She gulped at the oncoming hoard of girls. I knew I should have made him stay home today! Who are all these girls, anyway? I don't know half of them!
"Kagome-chan is he your cousin or something?" said one of the girls hopefully.
"Erm—"
"Yeah, he kind of looks like you!" piped in another.
Kagome gave her a weird look. Okay, now that's just a lie.
"How long is he going to be here?" asked yet another eagerly.
Kagome studied the group around her warily. They had all stopped talking to hear her answer. She glanced over at Sesshoumaru, who was surrounded by (and ignoring) his own group of girls, and chuckled. "Not very long, by the looks of things."
"Where's he staying while he's here?" asked the first. She had what Kagome would consider an unhealthy gleam to her eyes, and she fought the urge to shiver.
"Erm, at my house."
She could have sworn the temperature dropped about twenty degrees at that. "Where in your house?"
"Ah, uh…"
"Why aren't you answering, Kagome-chan?"
"Yeah, Kagome-chan, is there something you're hiding?"
"That's really weird to have those sort of thoughts about your cousin you know, Kagome-chan."
Her face blushed. "I—I—He's not my cousin!"
The thermostat was going crazy at this point. "Oh, really?" one said. "So you're not related… at all?"
The group's eyes narrowed simultaneously. "And he's sleeping over at your house?"
"And he's not your cousin?"
"And yet your mother allows this?"
Kagome shrank back in her chair in response to the auras of hatred the girls were emitting. And I used to think Sesshoumaru was scary! She watched as they shook their heads at her and left one-by-one, joining the ever-growing group around Sesshoumaru's desk. She wasn't sure whether to sigh in relief or cry. When they'd left two more girls stepped up to her desk. She steeled herself, waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. She looked up.
"Eri! Ayumi!"
They smiled at her. "Welcome back, Kagome-chan!" said Eri warmly.
Ayumi's eyes glittered with mischief. "I see you brought Shou-kun with you again," she said, winking suggestively.
Kagome groaned. "I wish I hadn't," she grumbled, resting her head in her hands. A frown wrinkled her brow. "Where's Yuka-chan?"
Ayumi rolled her eyes. "Where do you think she is?"
The miko sighed. This was going to be a looooong day.
-oOo-
"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome, Sesshoumaru, and Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi looked up at the sound of Hojo's voice. They were seated at the big corner booth of the same café as last time. Kagome told herself to smile. It wouldn't do well to upset the poor boy, even if there was no way in this life or the next she was ever going to date someone as boring as Hojo.
"Hey, Hojo-kun! I haven't seen you in a while!" she said as he stopped next to their table and slid in beside her.
"I tried to visit, but your grandpa said you'd been quarantined," he said. His forehead pinched in concern. "Malaria is really dangerous, y'know?"
She blinked. I thought I had the Bubonic Plague…?
"Hey, I thought you had the Bubonic Plague," said Yuka. Ayumi nodded.
"Erm… I had them both," she said, scratching the back of her head inadvertently. Dammit jiichan, get your facts straight! "Double whammy. Eheheh…"
Eri's eyes bulged. "Malaria and the Bubonic Plague? At the same time?! It's a wonder you're still alive!"
Kagome shrugged evasively. "I—I have a strong immune system," she mumbled.
Hojo shook his head, swinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close in what she guessed was an attempt to comfort her. "Don't get sick like that again," he instructed her. "You scared me."
"Um… okay?" she said. She glanced across the table and caught sight of Sesshoumaru's mouth opening and she rushed to interrupt him, sitting up quickly. "Hojo-kun! You haven't met Sesshoumaru, have you?"
The boy seemed to just notice the taiyoukai across from him. His eyes widened in surprise and Kagome saw (and heard) him gulp. "Who's he?" he asked, his voice a bit higher-pitched than usual.
She tried not to snort at his reaction. "He's—"
"He's her boyfriend, that's who," Ayumi interjected.
"He's not my—"
"He's not her boyfriend," Yuka seethed, tightening her already iron grip on Sesshoumaru's arm. She looked up into the taiyoukai's impassive face, hope in her eyes. "Right, Shou-kun?"
"This Sesshoumaru does not understand what you are talking about," he told her. He glared at her arm. "Remove your arm from my person before I—"
"Well, that's good," said Hojo, finally regaining himself enough to pull Kagome closer to him. He shot Sesshoumaru a look over the table that was clearly under the "manly challenge" category. "I wouldn't want anyone messing with my girlfriend."
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed to slits and Kagome felt his youki stir in a most unhappy way. Uh-oh. "You dare to challenge this Ses—"
"Oh, my!" Kagome cut in loudly. "Would you look at the time? We really should be going…" She crawled over Hojo's lap at the speed of light and gave Sesshoumaru a look. "Mom wanted us to be home a whole hour ago, didn't she? I must have forgotten!"
"Kagome—" he began.
"Sorry girls. Sorry Hojo-kun," she said, giving up on Sesshoumaru actually doing what she wanted for a change, instead grabbing his braid and pulling him out of the seat after her. She noticed his eyes flashed red for just a half-second, but comforted herself with the fact that she was the only one who could get rid of the curse and, therefore, he wouldn't kill her. Thank kami for that. She smiled and waved goodbye to them as she dragged the taiyoukai away. "See ya!"
Once they were outside and blending into the afternoon crowd, he shot her an angry look. "You attempt to control this Sesshoumaru by pulling my braid?" he growled.
"What was I supposed to do?" she demanded, finally releasing his hair. "Your aura was practically screaming, 'I'm going to kill this filthy human'!"
"You have become rather skilled at reading auras, haven't you?" he said sarcastically.
"Yes, I have, as a matter of fact!" she said. She shook her head, exasperated. "I don't know what your deal is! He's really not a bad guy, just sort of… confused."
After a few moments of relative silence—they were outside during rush-hour, after all—the curse finally kicked in. "What is a girlfriend?"
She was so surprised she tripped over her own foot and would have fallen flat on her face if it weren't for his youkai reflexes. Good thing I'm not on the other side, she thought as he steadied her. "Thanks. Um, a girlfriend is, y'know…" I can't believe I'm trying to explain the concept of dating to Sesshoumaru, of all people! She took a deep breath, searching for words. What was wrong with her, anyway? "Someone you… talk with a lot and, erm, knows a lot about you…"
"If he was insinuating that he knows you better than everyone else, he was wrong," Sesshoumaru said.
She looked up at him. "What?"
The taiyoukai returned her gaze. "This Sesshoumaru believes that he is mistaken."
Kagome giggled. "What makes you say that?"
"He doesn't know anything about you."
"Really? And you do?"
"I know significantly more than he does," he said.
"Oh, so then I'm your girlfriend, huh?"
"Yes, you are."
She nearly fell again when he said that, and he once more caught her. She thanked him, a blush coloring her cheeks as she avoided his eyes. I am never letting him figure out what that means! she vowed silently. Although… Her eyes shone wickedly as the possibilities played themselves over in her mind. No way was she letting an opportunity like this pass her up. No way was she going through another day like today. She collected herself and turned on the taiyoukai, putting on an innocent look.
"Then are you my boyfriend?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
He considered for a moment. She did know significantly more about him than anyone else he knew, perhaps he was comfortable enough in her presence to consider her a friend, and he was male. It didn't exactly take too much thought to figure out the meaning of a compound word. He shrugged minutely. "This Sesshoumaru has no qualms with you referring to me as such."
Her face lit up with another of her dazzling smiles, though he couldn't help but feel a bit worried about this particular smile. "Great!"
-oOo-
Thanks for reading!