A/N: I forgot to mention earlier that Kagome's a bit older, like 17-ish. Just old enough that she can drive. Can't have Mrs. Higurashi chauffer them everywhere, now can we? BTW, this one's gonna be much longer than the other two.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, they still don't belong to me. They are probably never going to, either.
The 12 Pains of Christmas: chapter 3
"Hey Inuyasha! Come down here a moment." Souta had managed to snag the hanyou's attention with some video game or another and Kagome wanted to ask him something.
"What do ya want?" he asked as he came thumping down the stairs.
"My friend Yuka is throwing a Christmas party tonight. I'm going, and I thought you might like to come too."
"Feh, whatever," he said, looking away at the newly decorated tree. He couldn't help remembering Kagome covered in garland and tinsel and he and her brother had ambushed her. The image brought a smile to his lips.
"Is that a yes?" Kagome didn't miss the small smile, and wondered what he was thinking about.
"Yeah, it is."
"Good. Now come on." She motioned for him to follow her as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing her mom's keys off the table.
"What? Where are we going now?" he said as opened the refrigerator. Inside he found the plate of extra cookie dough left over from yesterday. Grabbing it, he searched for the gallon of milk.
"Shopping. You didn't think you could go to a party in your hakama and haori, did you?" The door hid his face, but the sound of the clattering bowl couldn't have been missed.
"Why not? What's wrong with them?" His face appeared and he leaned down to pick up his fallen snack.
"Nothing specifically. Just they stand out quite a bit in this era. We'll get you some jeans and a few t-shirts and you'll fit right in. Is that okay?" After wolfing down the last of the dough, he walked out of the kitchen.
"Feh. Let me go tell the runt I'm not coming back to beat his butt." He called back over his shoulder. Inuyasha started back up the stairs, getting as far as the landing before she called to him again.
"Hurry up, the party starts at seven, and it's almost five now."
"Gees, wench, calm down. We'll get—" he cut himself off, watching her face darken with remarkably speed. He knew what was coming and closed his eyes tightly, waiting for it.
"SIT! What have I told you about calling me 'wench?' Sit." He wasn't disappointed as his rosary glowed and pulled him face-first into the carpet. She stood above him, glowering, and he was tempted to burrow further into the carpet. But then his own anger came to life. It was such a little offense; did he deserve to be 'sat' twice?
"Argh," he said before lifting his aching body off the floor. Grumbling, he made his way up the rest of the stairs and told Souta he'd be leaving. The boy whined and pleaded, but to no avail. When Kagome wanted to do something, Inuyasha knew when not to push it. He'd just have to suffer a trip to the 'mall.' "Argh," he repeated on his way out to the car. Mrs. Higurashi had found him some of her late-husband's clothing. They were a bit tight, but it would do for a while. He opened the door and strapped the weird belt contraption across his chest like Kagome told him to, and then they were off.
~*~
"Feh. These don't look all that different than your father's clothes," Inuyasha said while holding up a pair of black jeans and a gray turtleneck sweater.
"I know, but these should fit you better, and they don't smell so musty. It should look really good on you," she said, trying really hard to push the hanyou into the dressing room to try on the outfit. But he just stood there as if it wasn't an effort at all. 'He's like a fricking rock!' she thought, huffing a piece of hair out of her face.
"Like I care about what I look like," he said petulantly.
"Please? It's only for tonight," Kagome pleaded. When she looked at him with those big eyes, his resistance crumbled. 'Like I ever had a chance against her,' he thought, allowing himself to be shut in the tiny room.
Ten minutes passed, and he still hadn't come out. She rapped her knuckles against the door, "Inuyasha? Everything alright in there?"
"These pants are really tight. How do you people walk in them?" he asked as he opened the door and came out, tugging on the denim. Looking him up and down, Kagome couldn't suppress the urge to grin. He looked so good in that outfit.
"You'll get used to it. Now go put my dad's clothes back on so we can go," she said, and he sighed, but did as she commanded. He came out and they paid for the items before making their way back to the car. They hit a bit of traffic, but they were home by six. It had begun to snow again, little flakes swirling about in the wind.
~*~
An hour later, Inuyasha was twiddling his thumbs on the living room couch, waiting for Kagome to come downstairs. He tugged on the leg of the jeans again, restlessly fidgeting. When she did appear, he choked. She looked absolutely stunning in a long red velveteen dress trimmed with white. She did a little twirl on the top of the steps, and the dress flared out around her. She came down to stand in front of him, giggling as she nudged his chin with her finger.
"Let's go, we're gonna be late already," Kagome said, grabbing her black jacket off the hook and snatching the keys. He got up to follow, surprised when he was hit in the chest with a denim coat.
"Mom, we're leaving! We should be back around midnight or so," she called up to her mother.
It wasn't as long a ride as he thought it would be. In a few moments they were walking up the front steps to a large house all lit up and decorated for the Christmas. A girl Kagome's age answered the door with a smile.
"Kagome, come on in! You look great. And who is this?" she said in a whisper to her friend.
"Yuka, you remember my possessive, two-timing boyfriend, right?" Kagome answered in the same tone. The girl went bug-eyed as she turned to look at Inuyasha.
"Him?" Yuka hissed, glancing at said boy out of the corner of her eye.
"Yep! Inuyasha, meet Yuka. Yuka, this is Inuyasha," Kagome said, putting an end to their whispering. The girl stuck out a hand, and Inuyasha hesitantly clasped it.
"Nice to meet you," she said before the doorbell interrupted her. "Enjoy the party you two. Kagome, I'll talk to you later."
Kagome led him further into house, towards the kitchen and living room. There were teenagers everywhere, talking over the Christmas music that was coming from the strange box in the corner. Inuyasha's ears were twitching all over the place under his black baseball cap. A weird smell was coming from the kitchen, and he left Kagome talking to one of her friends to investigate. It was kind of familiar, like sake and milk, but much more overpowering. The guy standing in front of the table handed him a cup of a thick white drink. He sniffed it cautiously before downing it quickly. It was surprisingly good. He asked for another.
"Inuyasha—? Where'd you go?" Kagome turned around, and finding the hanyou missing, she excused herself to find him. She just followed the shouting coming from the kitchen and found him downing glass after glass of eggnog. The guys circling him were cheering him on, and several of them were passing around money. Picking up a glass left on the table, she sniffed it and drew back quickly. This stuff had to be half alcohol! Kagome had no idea how many glasses Inuyasha had finished already, but by the number of glasses around him, it was more than she'd ever be able to handle. She immediately regretted bringing him here. God, he would be so hung over in the morning, even with his demon blood helping him out.
Shoving through the crowd, she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. He couldn't see straight and was swaying in his seat, but he still recognized that look in her eye. He was gonna get it when they got home.
"I leave you alone for half an hour, and this is what happens?" she hissed, earning several chuckles from the guys around them.
"But…Kagome—" he started, but when he tried to get up, his legs gave way. She rushed forward to catch him, forgetting that he weighed a ton. Gravity almost pulled them both down before she got her feet under her.
"We'd better be heading home. I can't stay here with you like this. Come on," she said tightly.
"Did you know you smell really good?" he slurred. Once again, the crowd laughed, parting to let the struggling girl through. The last person Kagome wanted to talk to at the moment chose that moment to come up.
"Hey, Kagome!" Hojo shouted from in the living room.
"Oh, hi, Hojo," she said back, wanting to be out of there more than anything else now. She sighed as the king of naiveté came over and finally spotted Inuyasha slouching next to her.
"Who's this?" he asked, jumping forward to help lift him.
"This is my friend, Inuyasha. He's a bit drunk right now, so I'm gonna take him home." The three were gradually making their way to the front door, where Yuka was waiting.
"Kagome, what happened?" Kagome just sighed and shook her head.
Pointing at the hanyou between her and Hojo, she said, "I found him downing the spiked eggnog—" Yuka cut her off, looking horrified.
"Somebody spiked it? Damn! Mom will never let me have another party if she finds out!" With that, the girl scampered off to the kitchen, already yelling. Kagome smiled a little and motioned to Hojo to follow her out to the car. They settled the sleeping Inuyasha into the passenger seat and she stood to go around to her side.
"Hey, Kagome? Before you go, I wanted to ask you if we could maybe see a movie sometime?"
"I don't know, Hojo. Maybe," she said quickly, trying to get rid of him and go. Clueless as he was though, he didn't catch the hint and instead moved even closer to Kagome, trapping her between him and the closed passenger door. He closed his eyes and started to lean in even closer. That was when she smelt the alcohol on his breath. She winced, not knowing what to do. Suddenly a hand brushed past her hip as Inuyasha groggily reached through the open window and pressed his hand to Hojo's chest.
"Nuh-uh. You can't do that," even drunk off his rocker, Inuyasha managed to looked very threatening.
"Kagome, you sure you wanna get in the car alone with him?" Hojo sounded perfectly ready to jump in to supervise.
"Yes, now, go back to the party and enjoy yourself," she said, and this time he listened. She let out a deep breath and raced around to her side of the car. Inuyasha was asleep again, his mouth open and snoring lightly. Kagome couldn't remember ever seeing him sleeping in his demon form before. He looked really peaceful and almost child-like.
~*~
When Kagome pulled into the drive at 8:00, Mrs. Higurashi knew something was wrong. She went outside, only to find her daughter struggling to get a snoring Inuyasha out of the passenger seat. No questions were asked as she went to help, and together they managed to get him onto the couch.
Breathing slightly heavier than usual, Mrs. Higurashi asked, "What happened?"
"Somebody spiked the eggnog. And I found him surrounded by empty cups," Kagome said, nodding at the hanyou.
"Oh, he's going to have a lovely morning, isn't he?" her mother said with a smile. She couldn't help her answering grin.
"Nope, poor guy," their voices were fading as they went upstairs to let the hanyou sleep in peace.
~*~
The next morning found Inuyasha slitting his eyes open, wincing at the bright sunlight. He groaned and rolled over, not realizing he was on the small couch. When he hit the floor, he groaned again, and Kagome came into the room to see what had happened. She giggled lightly, but stopped when he spoke.
"Kagome, not so loud!"
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," she whispered, coming to his side to help him up.
"My head hurts," he whined and Kagome led him to the bathroom for some Advil as her mother made some coffee. They had barely gotten up the stairs when he suddenly sprinted for the bathroom. He worshipped the porcelain gods for a while, grateful for the cool hands stroking his hair back and the damp cloth dabbing his forehead. Once his stomach was empty, he turned and found Kagome offering him some toilet paper. Inuyasha wiped his mouth and stood on wobbly legs, readily accepting the two small pills she handed him. They made their way back downstairs and he sipped at the mug Mrs. Higurashi placed in his hand.
"You should be better by the afternoon. I'm surprised your demon blood hasn't already kicked in," Kagome observed.
"I never was a heavy drinker, so it could be expected," he said quietly, staring down at the table. She looked on sympathetically as he sat there, miserable. The only upside was that he'd be fine soon. Then maybe he could help her write out some last minute Christmas cards.
**I'm not feeling so great, so this will be the only chappy tonight. It means more work tomorrow, but luckily school lets out early. Happy holidays to everyone.
Thankies lots to:
Defafaeth Mechqua, The Turmoil Twins, Battousi Girl, Akako the panther hanyu, Celeste08, xo-Kagome-ox, Sapphire the Water Goddess, Earth's Rain, *KaGs&YaSHa*, and drake220.
The Turmoil Twins: I've never seen the Osbourne Christmas Special, but I can just picture it.
Actually, I just burned my dad's CD. Then I sat here and typed the lyrics as I listened to it. I'm trying to figure out how to do the 'Five months of bills' chapter. That'll take a while.
The third thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree.