Inu ½

Chapter 5

Kagome's Plan: Maru-chan versus the cage

Morning dawned and the sounds of morning came with it, bringing about unfamiliar noises and much clomping about in the rest of the house. Sesshomaru awakened slowly as something next to him moved. He wondered what could possibly be so brazen and stupid as to annoy him in his castle chambers and resolved to behead them as soon as he was up.

Then, it dawned on him. Sesshomaru opened his eyes quickly, becoming fully awake. The previous day came back to him as he was poked playfully in the nose by a smiling, gushy young girl as she cooed, "Good morning!" and with that same hand, ruffled the fur on top of his head. He sat in shock, not used to being assailed by cute girls so early in the morning (or ever, for that matter).

The girl moved away from him toward her dresser and proceeded to change out of her pajamas and into her school uniform. Sesshomaru tried to ignore her, but found that he was slightly interested in spite of himself, and turned his gaze toward her after a bit. He did so in enough time to see her about to change her undergarments but she stopped, feeling eyes on her and with a little nervous laugh, she became self-conscious, picked up her pajama top and brought it to her chest, successfully covering everything of importance. She walked toward the bed and said, "Sorry,--you Dont wanna see this, anyway," and gently put the top over him, obstructing his view.

As Kagome changed her clothes and got into her customary school uniform she thought about the puppy. His stare really freaked me out. I know he's just a puppy, but that was just too weird...

Having completed the dressing ritual she crossed the room again and removed the pajama top, which she folded and slid into the crook of her arm.

"All done," she chimed with a smile and she scratched his head again.

Sesshomaru blinked at her and looked at her, regarding her coolly and determined not to enjoy the scratching. He was failing miserably at it and about to give in and take another nap under her soothing fingers, but she suddenly ended it with a pat on the head and then moved to her vanity to brush her hair.

The door of the room opened and there was a small boy. He peeked around the edge and said, "Sis? Can I come in?"

The girl turned to the door, "Ah! Sota. Sure. Just Dont mess with anything--and knock next time," she added remembering that moments before she had been in her underwear.

"Alright!" he said enthusiastically bursting into the room. "How is he? Has he eaten anything yet?"

Sota crouched at the edge oif the bed and reached a hand out to touch the dog. Sesshomaru watched the hand closely, debating about how close to let the boy get before issuing a warning growl, or if he would at all.

Kagome caught a look at them in the mirror and turned around setting her brush down.

"Scratch his head--he likes that," she said with a smile.

Sotas hand drew nearer and Sesshomaru finally decided that no warning would be sufficient and snapped at the boy's fingers.

Sota let out a "Kyaa!" and reared back in alarm. "He tried to bite me!" he exclaimed, exasperated, and thoroughly surprised.

"Tried to bite me , too," said the girl coming over to the bed again. "You should have seen the show he put on last night, but he's a big softy at heart, I think." She put her hand on his head. This, accompanying her stinging speech made Sesshomaru somewhat annoyed. The human had called him soft. He gave her a harsh look that made her blood run cold and she suddenly felt very silly and small.

Sesshomaru struggled in the blankets trying to get free of them and only hurting his leg. He stopped after a few minutes and lay panting, resigning himself to the fact that his body wouldn't permit it.

How humiliating... he thought bitterly. To think that I, Shesshomaru, am indebted to and dependant on these humans who I should so easily be able to destroy. One of which is my brother's bitch. (As in female dog. Shesshomaru thinks crass language is below him)

How long must I endure this? he wondered.

The black-haired girl, recovering from his weird stare, and noticing his previous struggles, unwrapped the blanket for him.

"He could fall off the bed, you know, " added the little boy. What was his name? Soda?

The girl shook her head. "I Dont think he'll be going anywhere." And her name. He had heard it once or twice after the half-breed had beaten him senseless, but he couldn't remember it. K-something. Why the hell was he trying to remember their names, anyway?!?

"Sis, we should put him on the floor before you go to school. It's not safe with no one here to watch him. Right, Chester?" She had to leave, this girl? He hadn't thought of that. He would be alone all day. And what made the idiot boy think he couldn't take care of himself? The girl--was her name "Sis"? Or was that some bizarre abbreviation of the word sister? And who was "Chester"?

Sis looked at Sofa wryly. "'Chester'?'" she asked with an arch look on her face.

Sofa laughed a little. "Doesn't fit does it? How about naming him after Inu-Yasha?"

That brought looks of contempt from the girl and the puppy both and the black-haired girl set her face into one of smoldering, seething hatred as the words," jerk, moron, loser, idiot," and much more unladylike phrases, ran through her head.

The puppy, for his part, had begun a low internal growl--barely audible, but still a tad unnerving.

Sofa scratched his own head. "Guess that's out..."

"Darn right. Anyway, he has a name So-ta," she said, carefully pronouncing and emphasizing each of the syllables. "It's Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru thought he would die. His heart began to beat threateningly fast in his ribcage. Did she really know? Had she known all along? His face blazed with heat as he remembered her undressing in front of him, teasing him, patting his head and patronizing him. I will kill her.

"Ne? Maru-chan--?" she sing-songed with a smile as she put her face near his and kissed his nose.

Sesshomaru was shocked back into reality. She had no idea. She tousled the fur on his head and gave him another smile.

"Maru-chan...?" asked the kid Sota with a slight sneer. Someone's been watching too much Kodocha... he thought in annoyance. (Atd be me. manekochan.:9) "Kago-o-o-o-me-e-e-e..." he whined. "That's too cheesy..."

Chi-zi? ... thought Sesshomaru as he tried to sit up. With a little bit of effort and quite a bit of pain, he somehow managed it. The brunt of the pain was coming from his left leg. He silently cursed the weakling he'd stolen it from. His ribs, along with his cuts were much better and his swelling had gone down considerably, proving that, even in this form, his demon powers could not be completely dissipated.

Still, he thought irately. Why should that half-breed brother of mine still retain his full power while I am a mere shadow of my former glory? Is it because I changed species and he merely changed genders? he wondered quietly.

The black-haired girl scratched his head again. "Are you hungry, Maru-chan?"

Sesshomaru looked at her for a moment while Sota went on about how the food dish was on her desk and debated about retrieving it, which he finally did anyway.

Sota set the food down in front of the puppy and pushed it close.

Sesshomaru looked at the two squares full of food and drink archly. The smell assaulted him. It wasn't entirely unappealing. Except maybe to his pride. He turned his nose up at it in disgust.

Sota thought for a moment. "Maybe he doesn't like this kind of thing... I could go get him some left over sukiyaki from last night's dinner..." he said, making as if to go.

"No way," said the girl flatly. "He's got to learn to eat what he's given. If we give him real food he'll get spoiled rotten." She added a nod for emphasis.

Sota sighed and sat back down a bit dejectedly. Sesshomaru thought smugly about how he didn't need food. He was a demon. He could go for weeks without eating, should he desire to, and in this case, he did.

Then, his stomach growled.

His eyes went wide. That was a new sound... he thought in a little alarm and was it happened again, this time followed by the feeling that his stomach was eating itself and an intense feeling of hollowness. He felt more hungry at that moment than all the hundred odd years of his life. Suddenly, the food in the bowl didn't look quite so bad and he sniffed it slightly. That had been a mistake. He might have been able to resist a little longer had he not made done it. After that, however, there was no stopping him and he swallowed his pride and began to eat.

The girl clasped her hands happily and the boy said, " He must know how stubborn you are." Kagome gave him a look and he turned to the dog. "Shed let you starve before she let you have your way, " he whispered, obviously having seen her stubbornness first-hand.

Sesshomaru paused in his eating and looked at him. The girl, for her part, smacked the boy on the head.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school, Sota?" she asked, archly.

Sota stood up and took a few steps back. "I'm not the one always missing school to look for a silly jewel, Kagome. Worry about yourself--you're teachersll die of shock when you actually come to class for once."

"Boo-" said Kagome, sticking her tongue out.

"Nyah-nyah!" said Sota, jokingly and he skipped off into the hallway.

Kagome sighed, smiled, and took to stroking Sesshomaru's fur as he finished eating, lapped up some water, and lay his head on his legs.

With his legs uncovered, he could see that his left leg was in a splint of some sort on it, which explained the pressure he'd felt earlier. What had angered him earlier now seemed amusing as he realized he'd only just gotten used to having the use of his left arm before it had gotten ruined again. It figured he'd pick a weakling of a demon. he would have let out a short, bitter chuckle, if he could have.

"See now?" said the girl. (Kagome, wasn't it?) and she gave him a sweet smile. "It wasn't that bad."

Sesshomaru looked at her for a minute as she smiled, but her smile soon broke off as her thoughts drifted to Inu-Yasha. She sighed and began to scratch Sesshomaru's head. He was annoyed at how used he was getting to it and wondered silently if he would forever be stuck in the form. He thought briefly about resigning himself to his new life.

"That idiot Inu-Yasha..." sighed Kagome.

Oh, yes. That idiot Inu-Yasha. I'd forgotten about him, he thought, letting his mind come back to his brother who would, no doubt, fly into a fit of rage if he saw what his woman was doing to him.

"I'm surprised he didn't follow me. He's always in such a hurry to get back to looking for those stupid Shikon shards," she vented. "He probably realized he was being a moron and is sitting around sulking and waiting for me to come back. "Well," she said, taking her hand off of Sesshomaru's head. "He'll have a long wait," she nodded, crossing her arms in defiance.

Kagome stood up, went over to her desk and, in a huff, began to look for something. Sesshomaru watched as her movements became more erratic and harried.

"Where the heck did I put that backpack?!?" she wondered aloud in an uncaused and thoroughly irritated voice when she suddenly lost her momentum and stared at the wall in disbelief.

"Aughhhh!" she yelled, turning red. "I left it on the other side of the well!" A moan of realization escaped her lips.

She hit her head with her hand. "Kagome, you numbskull... My math book was in there... my notebooks...my pencils... gragh!" She threw up her hands in disgust and then deflated with a sigh. "I guess it's back to the well--but I'm not staying," she said in determination, even though she knew full well that once she got there Inu-Yasha would try to drag her off again.

On the bed, before he even knew what he was doing, Sesshomaru had risen in protest, letting out a snort as he shakily got to his feet.

Kagome seemed oblivious to him and with the vigor of someone possessed, she began to head for the door when she heard a soft thud as if something had... fallen off... the... bed... Oh, no, she thought in half-alarm.

She turned around to see the puppy on the floor staring at her and giving her a look of indignation. He got to his feet again slowly, grimacing in pain all the while, and began a somewhat stilted walk until he was in front of her, blocking her path. he sat down and snorted in contempt.

Kagome was shocked at the display (although she would have been catatonic if shed have known who the puppy was) and merely flopped down in front of him. "I forgot about you didn't I..." she said as she scratched his head absently. "I have to go... but I can't take you with me."

Sesshomaru wasn't sure why he wanted to go with her. Part of it was because he wanted to see how the well worked, and a bit of her world. He was understandably curious. Part of him, however, feared it was something else. Something that he didn't want to admit--like maybe, just maybe, mind you, he felt comfortable around her. That same part of him was in such fear of this that he wanted to go with her to his world if only to run away from her and never see her again. Out of sight, out of mind.

Sesshomaru stared at her with a stare that belayed a spirit with no intention of yielding.

"No way," she said shaking her head. "You're hurt and you're staying here. End of story."

Sesshomaru was shocked as he realized that the human's will matched his own in strength. He could feel it in her voice and knew that stubbornness would get him nowhere. Sota had been right. Matching wills with this girl had probably driven his brother to rage many times.

A different tactic is needed... he decided, although he was loathe to attempt it, and, for perhaps the only time in his life since the age of 2, Sesshomaru whined. The rest of his pride died there and in his head, he swore all the curse words that he had heard Inu-Yasha utter over the years and resolved to kill at least one thing before the day was out.

The whine, however humiliating, had melted Kagome's determination and had the exactly desired effect as Kagome reasoned that if Maru-chan was with her Inu-crud-for brains-potty-mouth-Yasha would probably avoid her like the plague or at least give her another reason to stay at home longer. She also figured It'd give the puppy a chance to relieve himself, if needs be and after 5 minutes shed retrieved Buyo's pet carrier. The contraption met with a look of horror on Sesshomaru's face. A Cage?!?!?

He hadn't thought of that....

Tsuzuku (to be continued... dun dun dun!)

next: Chapter 6- a visit with Granny.