Wow...It's hard to believe this is the eighth chapter already..@_@..It felt like just a little while ago I was on chapter four..Wait, I was. ...*sticks out her tongue*...
Alrighty, hopefully this chapter will be really fluffy..hopefully, that's not a promise. ^_______^...*giggles insanely*..Yeah..
Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Ya'll are my inspiration! No..I'm serious. *deadpan look* You don't believe me?...Feh......*coughs*. Yeah..Well, continue with the chapter mi menions! *walks of cackling evilly*
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha..*sniff*...If I did, Sesshy would wear a speedo all the time...a pretty pink one. *giggle* ((I am so gonna get maimed for that!)) And I don't own any of the other brand name stuff that is mentioned in this fic. Such as, McDonalds, or Lucky Charms. o.o..
Oh, sorry for the long updating period, guys...Exams have finally arrived, and I've been studying my brains out. ....Oh, and I had a lot of people ask me about the whole 'FFX-2' Commerical. If you have cable it's on cartoon network and comedy central. o.o;...^_^..If you have satellite, I'm not sure..Right. On with the story.
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Chapter Eight: Mall Mayhem
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Kagome sighed, snuggling closer to her source of warmth as conciousness threatened to wake her. A ray of light had managed to sneak through the window opposite herself and was currently shining directly into her face, making it almost impossible to shut the nuissance out. Not to mention the birds had decided that their song was actually nice to hear, and were continuessly chirping at each other. That wasn't what was bothering her, though..It was the fact that all she wanted to do was snuggle back down into the warmth and never wake up. The fact in itself was unusual, considering that she hardly ever slept for long.
She cracked an eye open slowly, stifling a gasp as white hair came into the line of her vision. 'Inuyasha..'..He was asleep directly underneath her, his back propped up against the couch, directly in front of her. He was making soft sounds, his ears twitching back and forth in his dreams and his chest rose and fell slowly. She smiled in spite of herself, reaching down to slowly rub the pad of her thumb across the silky objects. Inuyasha mumbled and the ear she was working on fluttered out of her grasped and continued its twitching frenzy.
She giggled softly. "You know...we really need to stop getting caught like this." The sound was barely above a whisper, and she was startled at how gentle and un 'Kagome' like it sounded.
She shrugged the thought away, flipping the two blankets that were carelessly piled on top of her off and swinging her legs around to step over the sleeping boy cautiously.
Her head was pounding incessantly, the headache worsening as she stood up on her own two feet. The dizzyness the morphine caused had subsided slightly, but she would rather have that back than be forced to survive with a killer headache.
She would work out the problem of how Inuyasha had landed on her floor later. In the mean time, aspirin was starting to sound better and better by the moment.
"Oh my god..it's twelve." She stared wide eyed at the clock. Her dad seriously needed to get that thing fixed, it was obviously broken. She simply shrugged, not even letting the thought soak in.
She lumbered into the kitchen, stifling a yawn with her hand. The wet spot where her teddy had landed that morning had completely dissipated, and she smoothed her crinkled shirt out half-heartedly as she opened the door to her fridge.
"Lets see..Orange juice, orange juice.."..She pushed aside some empty containers, and spied the juice sitting in the very back. "Aha!" She grumbled, pulling the carton out and setting it on the table. The sound of glass clanked off the walls as she grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and filled them both with the liquid. One of them was for herself, and the other was for the grumpy hanyou that would probably be waking up soon.
She looked down at her pajamas momentarily, smoothing out the wrinkles in the teddy-bear print fabric. Teddy bears were the cutest thing on the earth, in her opinion. Her life was weird like that...She was this cold, heartless bitch that loved teddy bears and fuzzy things..Sometimes life didn't make sense at all.
Grabbing the two cups she slowly made her way back to the living room, finding Inuyasha to be face down into the carpet, breathing heavily. 'That dummy'..She smiled slightly, setting the glasses down onto the glass table in front of the couch. It figures that mister 'badass' would be such a baby when he was asleep. It fit him perfectly. She half wanted to reach over and start rubbing his tummy to see his leg flop up and down.
"Wake up sleepy-head!" She growled at him, stomping her foot to accentuate her meaning. Of course this only served to make him roll over and flatten his ears, completely ignoring her. "Fine!" She had a better idea, anyway...An evil smile rose to the surface of her perfect lips as she leaned down slowly until her knees were resting on the ground.
"Inuyashaaaa," She imitated a perfect Kikyo voice, snobbish intent included. He growled in his sleep and just went back to snoring quietly. Well, plan a was shot down...Now for plan b.
She reached out a tentative hand, slowly caressing his cheek with her finger. "Wake up, Yasha..I have a surprise." This seemed to get at least some what of a reaction out of him, and he lifted up an arm to grasp her tiny wrist, nuzzling his face against the warmth.
"Um..Inuyasha?" After a few moments of the cuddling, he slowly opened his amber eyes, getting the shock of a lifetime for the second time.
"Kagome?" He snapped irratibly, releasing her hand like he had been burned. "What the fuck did you wake me up for? I was having a good dream." He growled, stretching full-length beneath the couch. This reaction wasn't exactly the one she had been expecting, and she stared at him half dazed before her lips quirked in an evil smile.
"Inuyasha?" She cooed slowly.
"What?" He gave her deadpan look, lifting an eyebrow at the tone of her voice.
She sucked in a deep breath, hoping that maybe her next attempt would wake him up completely. "GOTCHA!" She launched at him, straddling his waist and tickling his ribs furiously.
A rumbling emanated from his chest, and for a few minutes he was too shocked to do anything. After a few moments, though, the look was gone, and the rumble exploded into a fit of laughter.
Kagome smiled mischeviously at him, grinning from ear to ear at the sound of his laughter. She loved the sound , it was warm and heart-felt. "Ha!" She let out a small giggle before the expression turned into one of shock. In a matter of seconds Inuyasha had reversed their position, and was now shooting an evil look in her direction, which happened to be right underneath him.
The expression on his face made her shiver, and the happiness faded from her eyes in an instant. "I-Inuyasha?" She gulped, attempting to push him off of her.
"You are going to pay for that." He smirked at her, giving her his best cocky expression while pushing her back down.
"Whatever." She growled, crossing her arms in disbelief. At least, until she felt two clawed hands tickling her furiously.
Laughter bubbled over in her throat and she rolled around, desperately trying to detach the hanyou from his task. Her ribs hurt already from the strain, and she gulped in air as the boy madly tickled her.
"I-I Give up!" She managed between breaths, looking up into his smiling face. Both of them were completely out of breath, and he just stayed where he was, smirking at her. After a few moments, he moved his arms away, looking down at her flushed face. His expressions always seemd to make her heart melt, and the organ thumped loudly in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was from the look he was giving her, or from rolling around. 'Probably both.' She mused to herself, resting her head against the cool carpet.
"Kag?" A sleepy voice yawned from the stairs.
'Oh no..' Her head snapped up at the voice. "Souta!" She couldn't stop the crimson blush that spread throughout her cheeks, all the way to her chest, and she yelped, pushing on the hanyou's chest to pry him off. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, and he just sat looking down at her as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"What are you doing?" Souta's eyes trailed to the hanyou, or more directly..his ears. "DUDE!!" The little boy had flown down the stairs and was currently pushing the hanyou's ears in different directions. "He has ears?! Hey, Kag, can we keep him?" Her brother rattled on, oblivous to the looks Inuyasha was sending him.
"I'm not a fucking dog, brat." Inuyasha spat, growling deeply at the youth.
"Awesome! He talks too!!!" The boy grinned down at her sister...The feeling wasn't mutual.
"Um..Souta...This is..Inuyasha. He's our next door neighbor." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but her brother caught every word.
"Ooooh...So this is the guy you told dad was ho-" His words were cut off as a pillow smacked him right in the face.
Kagome was sending the boy death glares, and she swore to herself that when he got up she was going to kill him. The blush she was trying to push down had sprung up again, even worse than before. She probably looked like a lobster.
"Go to the kitchen before I decide to kill you." She growled. He finally got the hint and took off into the kitchen with an 'eep' of surprise.
"Inuyasha?" She looked up at him thoughtfully.
"Yeah?"
"You can get up now."
"Oh." Inuyasha let her hands drop, standing up and crossing his arms. "Feh." His ears swiveled in the kitchens direction for a moment before he turned and walked towards the door with a huff. "Whatever, I'm gone." Kagome completely missed the rosy tinted blush that crept into his cheeks.
"Wait!" She blurted before she had the time to think, immediately getting rewarded with a deeper blush. "Um..Do you want some breakfast? I'm about to cook Souta and I something, so it won't be any trouble." She was tempted to add, 'Plus the food in your house is probably poisoned, anway..'
"Whatever." The all-time general answer. Ah well, an answer was an answer.
When they entered the kitchen, Souta was busy making words with his cereal. From the look on his face, the Lucky Charms were giving him trouble.
"Okay squirt, what's it going to be today, hm? How does a bacon and egg omlette sound?"
"Yeah!" Souta chirped up at her brightly before continuing with his hard work.
"Sit." Her eyes narrowed in slits at the hanyou, and he grunted before flattening himself into the chair.
Souta immediately took that as a cue to start chattering, and Kagome completely missed the evil looks the hanyou was giving her. The last thing she heard was something along the lines of..'Ya know..I think you'd look cool in a pink collar'. ((A/N: Has Souta turned gay? o.O;;;))
'I'm going to kill him..' She opened a random cabinet underneath the sink, running her finger along the un-opened packages strewn about. It was a waste of time to un pack everything, considering the fact they would have to re-pack it two weeks the latter. The skillet she was looking for was stuffed in with a few cookie cutters and rusty pots, and she lifted it out and onto the stove with a slight sigh.
The device clicked and beeped loudly once as the turned the dial to 'high'. 'Okay, eggs.' A small frown was playing on her lips as she opened the door of the refrigerator. It was really quiet..A little too quite. The reporters should have been barging in or banging on the windows by now..but surprisingly enough, there wasn't a peep from anything except for the two boys chattering at the table. 'Strange..'..Maybe they had finally given up. It wasn't likely, but she could hope, right?
She lifted two eggs out of the fridge, welcoming the cold breeze. Summer days weren't exactly her specialty, and as much as she loved the season..It could get a little too hot sometimes. The frown edging away at her lips disappeared, and she turned back to the stove with a slight smile. Summer was always memorable to her...She loved going to the beach, laughing and playing with her...friends...The reel of memories from previous summers popped into her minds eye, and she couldn't help but realise..She hadn't done a thing. Just mope and crawl around whichever house they had been living at.
"Kagome...Help me..." The two eggs she had been carrying fell to the floor with a crack, yolk pouring out onto the pristine marble floor by her feet. The voice..It was back. ((A/N: LMAO!! I just realised that it sounded like the eggs were talking to her...*giggles*..))
The table fell silent as the two boys' heads snapped towards her. Souta jumped up and was by her side in an instant.
"Sis?" He waved a hand in front of her face worridly, looking down at the messy tiles beneath them. "Sis?!" His voice went up a little higher until he finally just started yelling at her. "SIS!"
Kagome's eyes had glazed over, the gray-blue orbs were clouded over and lifeless, staring. The hand that had been carrying the eggs fell limply to her side. Total blackness had swept over her in the seconds following the voice. There wasn't a sound, there wasn't anything but pitch blackness. She was very aware that she was standing, and that her brother was towering beneath her, but her mind didn't register it.
A small light in front of her held her attention completely. It was growing by size until it finally stopped. Out of the light, tendrils of mist were pouring out, and she took a step back, desperately trying to escape the swirling clouds.
"DON'T COME CLOSER! GO AWAY!" It wasn't fear that was acting, it was some surge of panic, of questioning. She didn't want to be involved..someone would just end up getting hurt anyway.
"Kagome..I won't hurt you...You..have to be careful."
Her eyes flicked back and forth between the glowing white cloud to the blackness. She was seeing in tunnel vision.
"No.." She desperately tried to wake up from the nightmare, she had to get out, had to get away.
"Be safe..you have to help." The voice was soft and mother like, and Kagome's head snapped to the center of the light as a figure began to materialize. The bloody figure of the principal flashed before her, and she clamped her eyes shut, covering her ears.
"NO!"
"KAGOME!"
The emptiness faded, as well as the light, and she was left on the familiar tile floor of her kitchen, with her brother impatiently preaching at her. Her lungs were working a million times a minute, and her heart was bounding non-stop in her chest, flooding her veins with warm blood.
"Souta! Be quiet! I'm okay." She hissed out at him, cracking open an eye to see her brother crouching before her with huge eyes. Inuyasha was giving her a flat look, but just beyond her miko powers she felt that he was completely surprised as well. The shock of realisation hit her a moment too late, and her stomach gave a flop of panic.
They had just witnessed her having a vision.
"I-It's shock...The nurses at the hospital said it would happen." She managed slowly, deliberatley elongating the pause between words. "I-I'm okay now...Really." She managed a shaky smile at her brother, who was giving her an incredulous look out of the corner of his eye. It was the 'whatever' type of look.
Souta just shrugged at Inuyasha, and held his hand out to his sister, which she reluctantly took. "You really had us freaked, sis." He stated matter-of-factly. Oh great, now Souta was trying to act like a dad.
"Sorry." She huffed, looking down at the cracked eggshell and yolk covering the floor. "Uhm..You guys up for McDonalds?" Souta gave a cheer of triumph before racing out of the kitchen to put on some clothes.
Inuyasha had crossed his arms and found the ceiling to be quite interesting at that point in time. Kagome had already swept up the mess, and coughed slightly, just to make a noise. The silence was an uncomfortable one, so she dismissed herself quickly to go get changed.
As soon as she got into her room she closed the door and grabbed a pillow, screaming into it. "Much better." She sighed, changing into a pair of blue jeans and her gray track hoodie just as her transparent phone started to ring. The object flashed brightly, and she really wanted to ignore it..It was probably the press.
"Hello?" She whispered through clenched teeth, relaxing when she heard who was on the other line.
"Kagome! Hey, it's Sango." The elder teen chirped brightly at her. Sango was just one of those types of people that if the world ended they would still be happy.
"Oh, hey Sango." Kagome smiled slightly. If anyone could make her feel better, Sango could.
"Are you okay? I just saw the news..You poor child." Sango's voice switched from chirpy friend to mother-figure in a matter of milliseconds.
"Yeah..I'm fine..Just tired." Kagome's jaw muscles ached from grinding her teeth together, and she mentally willed herself to calm down.
"Good, I was really worried about you." The sympathy in her friend's voice was pure, and Kagome smiled inwardly at her concern. "I called to check on you, and ask if you wanted to come with me to the mall today?"
Kagome weighed the possiblities for a few minutes, chewing her lip thoughtfully. It couldn't really be that bad, right? Even if the reporters found her she could always just hide away in a closet or something. "Sure, I'd love to."
"Great!! Meet me at Shnazzie's at five, Okay?"
"Okay, see you then."
The other line clicked, and Kagome set her phone down gently into the case, shutting her door behind her as she made her way to the living room. It would be nice to get out for a change, and her dad did give her that hundred and sixty dollars, afterall. It would be fun...
"Okay! Are you guys ready?" Kagome smiled, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets as she entered the living room. Inuyasha and Souta looked up from their position on the couch, Souta grinning and flopping up and out of the door. Kagome crossed her arms and gave Inuyasha a deadpan look before he finally let out a 'feh' and exited in front of her. The door shut with a click behind her, and she crossed the yard to her truck.
The sun was shining down brightly, and to her vision there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful summer day, not to hot, and definately not too cold.
She crawled into the driver's seat, closing the door with a bang as Souta and Inuyasha crawled in beside her.
"Yeah! Micky D's Micky D's..." Souta start hopping up and down on the leather seats, chanting the McDonalds song over and over.
"Souta?" Kagome sighed.
"Yeah?" Her brother continued his flopping frenzy, not even really acknowledging her presence.
"Stop."
"Make me." The all-time little brother reply.
When they arrived at McDonald's, Souta had two seat belts crossing his waist and a sock stuffed in his mouth.
"Think we should let him go?" Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha.
"Definately not." The hanyou stated matter-of-factly.
Souta merely tried to hop up and down to no avail, screaming things that just came out as. "Phhsghh Lmmmiiigoo!"
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Kagome yawned, stretching her full length across the couch, and accidently stubbed Inuyasha with her toe. The hanyou let out a grumble, pulling the blanket closer to his face.
The two teens were sprawled out along her living room couch, Kagome's feet resting lightly beside the hanyou. Souta was lying on the floor beneath them, and the two boys were snoring lightly.
After they had FINALLY gotten Souta out of the assortment of seatbelts, they had gotten their food and left. Of course Souta had munched and slirped his fries and milkshake at the same time, and the whole ride home was devoted to him groaning about his brainfreeze.
Once they were at home, Kagome, being the nice person she was, offered to let Inuyasha stay. Her father had asked him to watch her, anyway..So of course he had to accept the nice offer.
All of them had snoozed off after they had eaten, surprisingly enough Inuyasha was the first to go, and now Kagome was currently trying to detach herself from the light fleece blanket that she had snatched from the linen closet. Unfortunately, her attempts were turning out to be quite unsuccessful.
"Inuyasha?" She whispered quietly, rubbing her eyes to clear them. The hanyou just mumbled something inaudible, snuggling closer to the back of the couch.He looked so peaceful, it was a pity she had to end it. "INUYASHA!"
"What?!" The hanyou's head snapped up, and if looks could kill she would be six feet under. The whole 'die' appearance was short lived however, due to the fact that the hanyou's hair was bunched and sticking up on one side.
Kagome stifled a giggle, and he gave her an incredulous look before quirking an eyebrow.
"You look like shit." She flashed him a smile, stealing the blanket from him.
"Feh." He growled, stretching his legs and arms out before rolling over, 'accidentally' knocking her off the couch.
"Inuyasha! You bastard!" She shoved him in the side playfully before looking down at the boy beneath her.
Souta was still snoring, and instead of light, boyish snores, he was sawing logs. It was a wonder the sound hadn't broken any glass. There was a stream of drool going down the side of his mouth, and Kagome shuffled away from the slodge.
"Souta! You lazy chit! Wake up!" She grabbed the nearest pillow, which just happened to be the one right underneath Inuyasha's head, and proceeded to smack her brother repeatedly in the face with the object.
Inuyasha's head cracked the arm of the couch, and he was coming up with some pretty colorful curses as Souta started to mumble loudly abut 'annoying sisters'.
Kagome wasn't listening, however. She was too busy studying the clock. "Holy Shit!"
Both boys went quiet.
"I have to meet Sango at five! It's four thirty!!" She flew up the stairs, leaving the two to their own devices.
"Shit Shit Shit.." She chided herself, flipping on a maroon hoodie that said 'CPR Expert' across the front. It wasn't exactly the best shirt to wear when you are trying to build up your reputation, but it would work. Judging from Inuyasha, and her full length mirror, her hair was in desperate need of brushing, and she snatched the nearest comb, pulling it through her mane rapidly until she was satisfied with the texture.
Her shoes were lying askew on the floor, and she pulled the Nike's onto her feet and into a double knot hurridly. "I'm going to be late! Shit Shit Shit!" Fumbling around her closet she fished the money out of her dirty jean's pocket before grabbing her light red 'mail man's' bag and slipping it over her shoulder. She made one last check for sleepy and/or drool before slamming her door shut and shuffling down the stairs. She hoped she hadn't left anything out..Like accidently put her bra on the outside or something..that would be bad.
"I'm gone!" She waved at the two boys before making her way towards the door.
"One fucking minute!" Inuyasha spat, crossing his arms and sending her a vicious look. "Where do you think you're going?" Souta mimicked the older boy's attitude, crossing his arms and sending her a would-be scowl.
"Oh..Sorry. I'm going to the mall, I'll be back soon." She opened the door a crack before turning to look at her brother, realisation dawning. "Oh. Um..Souta..?" She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. She couldn't leave her little brother..that would be too harsh even for her.
"It's okay, sis. I'll be fine." He offered, knowing that his sister would owe him one later.
"Thanks..I really appreciate it..." She flashed him a bright smile before it faltered slightly. "How much you want?"
"Ten bucks." Souta chirped brightly, holding out his hand in a 'gimme' expression.
"Fine. But if you tell dad, I'll tell the entire population about 'Mr Snuggles.'" She gave him an evil smirk, and he crossed his heart.
She smiled again, turning to open the door a little more before Inuyasha coughed, making his presence known.
"Oh..Sorry Inuyasha..You can go home now." The hanyou's expression faltered slightly, and he scowled at her before replying. "Gee, thanks..I'm SO glad I have your permission now."
"No problem! Gotta run, Sango's waiting." Her unusually happy attitude had left the hanyou stumped, and he desperately fought to find another comeback. Unfortunately none came, and he just sat there nonplussed as the door closed.
"So....Wanna play Tiddlywinks?" Souta smiled up at his new idol.
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Kagome arrived at the mall just in time to see her friend walk into the shop the were supposed to be meeting at. "Sango!" She filtered through the people slowly, not wanting to make herself look like a complete loon. The store, Shnazzie's, was apparently some sort of rich-persons place, and Kagome fixed her clothes self consciencely before entering.
"Sango!" Sango looked up from where she was browsing the racks of clothes, smiling brightly when she saw who it was. "Kag! Hey!"
"Sorry if I'm late, Souta and Inu-" Sango cut her off, scrambling over the clothes rack to put both hands on her shoulders.
"Inuyasha?!" The girl proceeded to shake Kagome rapidly until she was forced to detach herself. "Spill! I knew you two had a thing for each other." Sango squealed happily.
"No! He's my next door neighbor...My father just asked him to come over and make sure I was okay, that's all." Kagome shook her head, smiling at the girl's 'whatever' look. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay. I believe you." Sango chirped brightly, linking her arm into her friend's. "Now, lets go have fun."
Kagome gave a mental sigh. Thank god..She couldn't help but think..'I don't like him..right? He's an asshole..' Yeah..an asshole..
They exited the store, and every now and then Sango would let out a squeal and press her forehead against a shop window, asking Kagome her opinion on specific things. Kagome, of course, caught the shopping fever a while ago, and mimicked Sango in the squealing department. Already her arms were filled with shopping bags, and luckily she still had seventy five dollars left.
Her and Sango were currently chattering about this and that, not really paying attention to much. At least, until something caught Kagome's eye.
"Sango?!" Kagome sucked in a breath, stopping in front of a display window. A beautiful baby blue dress shimmered back at her from its place on display, and she stared at it wide eyed before grabbing Sango's arm and pulling her into the shop.
"Isn't it beautiful?!" Kagome whispered, marveling at the dress.
"Earth to Kag." Sango giggled quietly. "It's a dress, not the Mona Lisa."
Kagome just snorted, continuing to stare mindlessly at the clothing.
"Oh, that reminds me." Sango put a finger to her forehead. "Homecoming is coming up. Who are you going with?"
This snapped Kagome back into reality. "I'm not going." She stated flatly, gathering her bags up and getting ready to leave.
"Why not?" Sango took one last look at the price tag before leaving with her friend.
"I'll probably be gone." Kagome sighed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "We never stay in one place for too long."
"Oh c'mon..I'm sure your dad will let you stay for two more weeks." Sango gave her a pleading look, motioning towards the food court. "We'll think about it later, okay? Right now I need some grub."
"Yeah, me too" Kagome sighed thoughtfully, smiling at her friend to mask the feeling of foreboding. She spoke the truth, however. It was useless to attend a dance, especially with someone else.
The court was packed with people, and they had an extremely difficult time finding a line to stand in.
"Dear god..you would think these people have never seen food before in their lives.." Sango hissed, shifting her shopping bags grumpily.
"Yeah.." Kagome didn't really hear her, she was too busy going over the dance idea.
After a while, they settled for chinese, and they were too busy chattering away to notice a flood of people enter through the revolving towards beside them.
Kagome had finally made it to the beginning of the line, and gave the menu a death glare before finally deciding what to eat. "I'll have a numb-"
"THERE SHE IS!! IT'S THE HIGURASHI GIRL!" She was cut off by the number of reporters shuffling towards her with cameras and other random apparatus.
"Oh no.." She stared wide-eyed at the crowd of people before sending apologetic look towards Sango.
Sango merely shrugged, pushing her in the opposite direction. "Run!" She hissed, 'accidently' bumping into a random person. This got a few colorful words as the poor sucker spilled his tray onto another person's head. The chunks of food fell silently to the floor with a splat, revealing a very pissed off looking customer.
Kagome heard 'Food fight!' from behind her before all chaos errupted. She was amazed at how in about point five seconds the entire mall could become a giant battlefield. There was clumps of brightly colored food flying everywhere, and already there were police officers running around in a craze. Sango was in the middle of the mess, apologizing to a reporter that had milkshake smeared all over his expensive looking camera.
"I'm sorry, Sango!" She screamed, but to no avail. Her voice was carried a small distance before getting cut off by the whiz and thrashing of the mob of people. Sango darted her eyes over after a few minutes, making an urgent 'move' motion with her hand.
Unfortunately, the reporters caught onto this little charade, and slowly the group turned to face her.
'Shit.'...
"THERE SHE IS! AFTER HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!"
She flipped around, pushing through the pulsing crowd. Panic had by far replaced fear, and pretty soon if she didn't get out of there she would be squished into a little Kagome pancake. Unfortunately for her, people refused to let her push by them, and were currently trying to run her over.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She shrieked, pushing furiously at the people. Bright flashes were already starting to errupt from behind her, meaning the reporters had already probably caught up.
Finally a gap through the mess of people opened up, and she slid through, managing to get by with a torn sleeve and a bruised foot.
The press were right behind her, however, and they were literally right on her heels as she slid around a corner. The food caked onto her feet and clothes turned out to be a downfall, and her feet flew from beneath her as she slid across the linolium on her backside.
"Great," She groaned, shifting her wait to attempt to get up.
Lady luck must have had a major beef with her, however, because as she grabbed onto the rail and had finally lifted herself off the floor, the flood of media was already on top of her.
"Miss Kagome!"
"Kagome, what was it like to find a corpse?"
"Kagome, will this scar you in the future?"
She couldn't answer any of the questions, because every time one would be asked another reporter would cut in. That, and the fact that all of the inquiries were stupid questions. Flashes of cameras went off all around her, and the simple reporters and press turned into giants. Every sound was just another blob to her..It wouldn't matter even if she could decipher what they were saying, she wouldn't answer, anyway.
The only thing that escaped her mouth, was a small whimper. That small sound, however, soon turned into a shriek of surprise and outrage as a force from her side knocked into her harshly, landing both herself and the article in a nearby closet with a bang.
It was pitch black, and Kagome shuffled closer to the wall as the sound of the door clicking resonated around the tiny enclosure. She was petrified beyond belief. What with the media clawing their way down her throat, and now some modern 'robin-hood' was trying to help her out. And just like all other times, when she was scared, she got pissed.
"JUST WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" She shrieked, jumping onto her feet in a flash and jamming her finger into bozo's ribs. "I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT, THANKYOU! YOU BETTER EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE-"
"Or else what? You'll preach me to death?" The familiar voice barked out at her from its position at the door.
The screams of rage soon turned quiet, and Kagome gaped, moving her mouth up and down slowly, forming words without sound. "I-Inuyasha?" She stuttered blindly, mentally slapping herself for coming up with an oh-so-intelligent comment.
"You're perceptive, aren't you?" There was a click from above, and Kagome had to turn her face away as light flooded into the tiny space. When she turned her eyes back upon the door, familiar gold ones stared back at her.
"Oh...Um.." Her finger lowered to the ground as her composure flew out the window. "Um..W-what are you doing here?" She finally managed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Saving your ass apparently." He snorted, crossing his arms.
"I could have handled that." She bristled, stretching her full height to stare him in the eye. "I don't need your, or anyone elses, help. Got it?" She huffed, grabbing a handful of his shirt and yanking him closer until their noses were inches apart. "Don't ever, EVER, do that again!" Her eyes had clouded over once again with anger, and soon Inuyasha's golden orbs reflected the same emotion.
"Fine! The next time you're about to get slaughtered I'll just let it happen!" He tugged her hands away sharply, his claws flexing to pierce the flesh on her hands..
Kagome winced slightly, her anger intensifying. To her the pain wasn't anything, and she would rather have her arm ripped of than stay in a closet with the asshole.
"Fine!" She hissed, snatching her hands away and paced across the tiny room to slide down the wall farthest away from the hanyou. She crossed her arms indignantly, finding the ceiling to be much more interesting than the boy.
"You know what, I don't even know why I bother. I might as well just walk out, anyway." She stated firmly after a few moments, rising from her spot in the floor to pace the distance between them. She was inches away from the handle when a clawed hand snapped out to halt her progress, and in a matter of moments, she was looking a rather pissed hanyou in the face.
"Don't. You. Dare." He growled menacingly, snatching both of her hands to hold them in place.
Kagome didn't take notice of the position, however, and simply growled back at him. "What. If. I. Do?" She ground out, furious that the boy would even attempt to keep her hostage.
Inuyasha just kept his angered expression centered on her face. He hadn't even bothered to respond, and as the silence lengthened, her anger dissipated.
The more she thought about it, she really should be thankful. He had saved her from certain doom...Well, maybe not that far, but he'd saved her from a lot of mental stress..It would have made her feel better if he had chewed her out or something, but he just stayed quiet, not even bothering to snap at her...He looked angry, yes, and he was...but Kagome was sure that her actions had probably hurt him...even if it was just a little.
"I'm sorry.." She whispered, shocking them both out of a staring contest. She looked away from him, seemingly more interested in a small cardboard box leaning against a wall.
The silence merely continued after her declaration, and she sighed, turning back to face him. "Inuyasha?" The boy's gaze had shifted, and it looked to Kagome like he was in la-la land. "Hey, are you listening?! I said I'm sorry!" She tugged hard on two tendrils of his hair, bringing him down close to her yet again, although this time..he didn't look angry...just..shocked.
"Ow, bitch! What was that for?" Their lips were inches away, and Kagome could feel the puff of his breath against her cheek, as well as the rise and fall of his chest. He shifted slightly, bringing them even closer and causing a crimson blush to spread across an already distraught Kagome's cheeks.
In her world, this type of closeness was a major no-no, and her brain was screaming at her to back up. Unfortunately for her mind, her body was moving on its own accord, and she was powerless to prevent the inevitable.
"I-Inuyasha?" She questioned quietly, her gaze lowering to his lips slowly.
Inuyasha's head dipped down, their lips moments from touching.
"Hey! Open up! It's me, Sango!" A muffled voice from the other side of the door shouted in at them.
Both of the teens jumped back in shock, spluttering and spitting like they had eaten poison.
"Sango" Kagome whispered, unlocking the door and throwing it open. "Sango -"
"Shhhh!! I finally distracted the press enough to get you out of here." The girl whispered, tugging on Kagome's sleeve. Well, at least until she caught sight of Inuyasha. "What-?"
"Nothing! Come on!" Kagome's blush had deepened considerably as she pulled the elder girl off towards the exit. Her embarrassment level was so high she didn't even bother saying goodbye to Inuyasha. He would probably just scowl at her anyway.. That, and the fact that her blush was so obvious a helicopter could spot it from a mile away. She would save the thanking for another day.
Soon enough they were past the revolving door, and Kagome was abrubtly pulled around to face a rather confused looking friend.
"Spill." Sango hissed flatly.
"Huh?"
"What were you and Inuyasha doing..In a closet?"
Kagome mentally slapped herself. Her friend probably had all sorts of ecchi thoughts swimming around her brain.
"Nothing..He saved me from the herd, that's all.." She had utmost serious look, and Sango eventually gave up on pursuing the matter.
"Alright, I believe you." The older girl smiled at Kagome's obviously relieved look. "And I think you should get home...and take a shower if possible."
"Yeah..you're one to talk." Kagome flashed her a smile. "I think you've got a garden growing in your hair."
It was the truth. The poor girl had mashed potatoes and what looked like gravy spread across her face and in her hair. It would have been amusing, but both girls were rather tired at the moment, and definately not in the mood for jokes.
"Yeah..I'll see you later, Kag." Sango stifled a yawn, waving groggily as Kagome set off for her truck.
"Yeah..later.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~
Kagome shuffled through the front door, getting greeted by the familiar sound of her little brother snoring on the couch.
'Good idea, Souta..' She yawned loudly, crawling up the stairs and into her room.
She slid off her shoes, dropping onto the floor with a clunk. No sooner were they off that she was curled up among her comfortable sheets, snuggling down. Something was bugging her though, and whatever it was refused to let itself be known..
"Oh!" She snapped awake, sitting upright instantly. Her diary...Every time she had a vision she recorded it, just to make sure she had all the facts somewhere safe.
She opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand, feeling around a bit before a look of panic slowly faded into her eyes.
"My diary's gone!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*
Who stole the diary? Find out next time!
Gwen: Oh be quiet..*grumble*..
Okay, guys..Sorry for the long updating period..*sheepish grin* Exams are finally over..*thank god*...So now I'll be updating a lot more..My chapter estimation was off a bit I think, and I'll probably be shortening the story to about..oh, fifteen chapters...I dunno. Somewhere around there. ^____^....I finally made a website for all my crap, and I'll have it up tonight for sure. I'll have my fanart up, too. ^o^. Thanks everyone who has reviewed, it really does mean a lot to me..and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed reading this fic as much as I love typing it..You guys are great. ^-^
I get my FFXI Online Game in just a few days!! W0000000000TT! ((Sorry, I had to say that..))
Next Chapter: A Kitsune's Worst Nightmare.
Alrighty, hopefully this chapter will be really fluffy..hopefully, that's not a promise. ^_______^...*giggles insanely*..Yeah..
Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Ya'll are my inspiration! No..I'm serious. *deadpan look* You don't believe me?...Feh......*coughs*. Yeah..Well, continue with the chapter mi menions! *walks of cackling evilly*
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha..*sniff*...If I did, Sesshy would wear a speedo all the time...a pretty pink one. *giggle* ((I am so gonna get maimed for that!)) And I don't own any of the other brand name stuff that is mentioned in this fic. Such as, McDonalds, or Lucky Charms. o.o..
Oh, sorry for the long updating period, guys...Exams have finally arrived, and I've been studying my brains out. ....Oh, and I had a lot of people ask me about the whole 'FFX-2' Commerical. If you have cable it's on cartoon network and comedy central. o.o;...^_^..If you have satellite, I'm not sure..Right. On with the story.
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Chapter Eight: Mall Mayhem
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Kagome sighed, snuggling closer to her source of warmth as conciousness threatened to wake her. A ray of light had managed to sneak through the window opposite herself and was currently shining directly into her face, making it almost impossible to shut the nuissance out. Not to mention the birds had decided that their song was actually nice to hear, and were continuessly chirping at each other. That wasn't what was bothering her, though..It was the fact that all she wanted to do was snuggle back down into the warmth and never wake up. The fact in itself was unusual, considering that she hardly ever slept for long.
She cracked an eye open slowly, stifling a gasp as white hair came into the line of her vision. 'Inuyasha..'..He was asleep directly underneath her, his back propped up against the couch, directly in front of her. He was making soft sounds, his ears twitching back and forth in his dreams and his chest rose and fell slowly. She smiled in spite of herself, reaching down to slowly rub the pad of her thumb across the silky objects. Inuyasha mumbled and the ear she was working on fluttered out of her grasped and continued its twitching frenzy.
She giggled softly. "You know...we really need to stop getting caught like this." The sound was barely above a whisper, and she was startled at how gentle and un 'Kagome' like it sounded.
She shrugged the thought away, flipping the two blankets that were carelessly piled on top of her off and swinging her legs around to step over the sleeping boy cautiously.
Her head was pounding incessantly, the headache worsening as she stood up on her own two feet. The dizzyness the morphine caused had subsided slightly, but she would rather have that back than be forced to survive with a killer headache.
She would work out the problem of how Inuyasha had landed on her floor later. In the mean time, aspirin was starting to sound better and better by the moment.
"Oh my god..it's twelve." She stared wide eyed at the clock. Her dad seriously needed to get that thing fixed, it was obviously broken. She simply shrugged, not even letting the thought soak in.
She lumbered into the kitchen, stifling a yawn with her hand. The wet spot where her teddy had landed that morning had completely dissipated, and she smoothed her crinkled shirt out half-heartedly as she opened the door to her fridge.
"Lets see..Orange juice, orange juice.."..She pushed aside some empty containers, and spied the juice sitting in the very back. "Aha!" She grumbled, pulling the carton out and setting it on the table. The sound of glass clanked off the walls as she grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and filled them both with the liquid. One of them was for herself, and the other was for the grumpy hanyou that would probably be waking up soon.
She looked down at her pajamas momentarily, smoothing out the wrinkles in the teddy-bear print fabric. Teddy bears were the cutest thing on the earth, in her opinion. Her life was weird like that...She was this cold, heartless bitch that loved teddy bears and fuzzy things..Sometimes life didn't make sense at all.
Grabbing the two cups she slowly made her way back to the living room, finding Inuyasha to be face down into the carpet, breathing heavily. 'That dummy'..She smiled slightly, setting the glasses down onto the glass table in front of the couch. It figures that mister 'badass' would be such a baby when he was asleep. It fit him perfectly. She half wanted to reach over and start rubbing his tummy to see his leg flop up and down.
"Wake up sleepy-head!" She growled at him, stomping her foot to accentuate her meaning. Of course this only served to make him roll over and flatten his ears, completely ignoring her. "Fine!" She had a better idea, anyway...An evil smile rose to the surface of her perfect lips as she leaned down slowly until her knees were resting on the ground.
"Inuyashaaaa," She imitated a perfect Kikyo voice, snobbish intent included. He growled in his sleep and just went back to snoring quietly. Well, plan a was shot down...Now for plan b.
She reached out a tentative hand, slowly caressing his cheek with her finger. "Wake up, Yasha..I have a surprise." This seemed to get at least some what of a reaction out of him, and he lifted up an arm to grasp her tiny wrist, nuzzling his face against the warmth.
"Um..Inuyasha?" After a few moments of the cuddling, he slowly opened his amber eyes, getting the shock of a lifetime for the second time.
"Kagome?" He snapped irratibly, releasing her hand like he had been burned. "What the fuck did you wake me up for? I was having a good dream." He growled, stretching full-length beneath the couch. This reaction wasn't exactly the one she had been expecting, and she stared at him half dazed before her lips quirked in an evil smile.
"Inuyasha?" She cooed slowly.
"What?" He gave her deadpan look, lifting an eyebrow at the tone of her voice.
She sucked in a deep breath, hoping that maybe her next attempt would wake him up completely. "GOTCHA!" She launched at him, straddling his waist and tickling his ribs furiously.
A rumbling emanated from his chest, and for a few minutes he was too shocked to do anything. After a few moments, though, the look was gone, and the rumble exploded into a fit of laughter.
Kagome smiled mischeviously at him, grinning from ear to ear at the sound of his laughter. She loved the sound , it was warm and heart-felt. "Ha!" She let out a small giggle before the expression turned into one of shock. In a matter of seconds Inuyasha had reversed their position, and was now shooting an evil look in her direction, which happened to be right underneath him.
The expression on his face made her shiver, and the happiness faded from her eyes in an instant. "I-Inuyasha?" She gulped, attempting to push him off of her.
"You are going to pay for that." He smirked at her, giving her his best cocky expression while pushing her back down.
"Whatever." She growled, crossing her arms in disbelief. At least, until she felt two clawed hands tickling her furiously.
Laughter bubbled over in her throat and she rolled around, desperately trying to detach the hanyou from his task. Her ribs hurt already from the strain, and she gulped in air as the boy madly tickled her.
"I-I Give up!" She managed between breaths, looking up into his smiling face. Both of them were completely out of breath, and he just stayed where he was, smirking at her. After a few moments, he moved his arms away, looking down at her flushed face. His expressions always seemd to make her heart melt, and the organ thumped loudly in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was from the look he was giving her, or from rolling around. 'Probably both.' She mused to herself, resting her head against the cool carpet.
"Kag?" A sleepy voice yawned from the stairs.
'Oh no..' Her head snapped up at the voice. "Souta!" She couldn't stop the crimson blush that spread throughout her cheeks, all the way to her chest, and she yelped, pushing on the hanyou's chest to pry him off. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, and he just sat looking down at her as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"What are you doing?" Souta's eyes trailed to the hanyou, or more directly..his ears. "DUDE!!" The little boy had flown down the stairs and was currently pushing the hanyou's ears in different directions. "He has ears?! Hey, Kag, can we keep him?" Her brother rattled on, oblivous to the looks Inuyasha was sending him.
"I'm not a fucking dog, brat." Inuyasha spat, growling deeply at the youth.
"Awesome! He talks too!!!" The boy grinned down at her sister...The feeling wasn't mutual.
"Um..Souta...This is..Inuyasha. He's our next door neighbor." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but her brother caught every word.
"Ooooh...So this is the guy you told dad was ho-" His words were cut off as a pillow smacked him right in the face.
Kagome was sending the boy death glares, and she swore to herself that when he got up she was going to kill him. The blush she was trying to push down had sprung up again, even worse than before. She probably looked like a lobster.
"Go to the kitchen before I decide to kill you." She growled. He finally got the hint and took off into the kitchen with an 'eep' of surprise.
"Inuyasha?" She looked up at him thoughtfully.
"Yeah?"
"You can get up now."
"Oh." Inuyasha let her hands drop, standing up and crossing his arms. "Feh." His ears swiveled in the kitchens direction for a moment before he turned and walked towards the door with a huff. "Whatever, I'm gone." Kagome completely missed the rosy tinted blush that crept into his cheeks.
"Wait!" She blurted before she had the time to think, immediately getting rewarded with a deeper blush. "Um..Do you want some breakfast? I'm about to cook Souta and I something, so it won't be any trouble." She was tempted to add, 'Plus the food in your house is probably poisoned, anway..'
"Whatever." The all-time general answer. Ah well, an answer was an answer.
When they entered the kitchen, Souta was busy making words with his cereal. From the look on his face, the Lucky Charms were giving him trouble.
"Okay squirt, what's it going to be today, hm? How does a bacon and egg omlette sound?"
"Yeah!" Souta chirped up at her brightly before continuing with his hard work.
"Sit." Her eyes narrowed in slits at the hanyou, and he grunted before flattening himself into the chair.
Souta immediately took that as a cue to start chattering, and Kagome completely missed the evil looks the hanyou was giving her. The last thing she heard was something along the lines of..'Ya know..I think you'd look cool in a pink collar'. ((A/N: Has Souta turned gay? o.O;;;))
'I'm going to kill him..' She opened a random cabinet underneath the sink, running her finger along the un-opened packages strewn about. It was a waste of time to un pack everything, considering the fact they would have to re-pack it two weeks the latter. The skillet she was looking for was stuffed in with a few cookie cutters and rusty pots, and she lifted it out and onto the stove with a slight sigh.
The device clicked and beeped loudly once as the turned the dial to 'high'. 'Okay, eggs.' A small frown was playing on her lips as she opened the door of the refrigerator. It was really quiet..A little too quite. The reporters should have been barging in or banging on the windows by now..but surprisingly enough, there wasn't a peep from anything except for the two boys chattering at the table. 'Strange..'..Maybe they had finally given up. It wasn't likely, but she could hope, right?
She lifted two eggs out of the fridge, welcoming the cold breeze. Summer days weren't exactly her specialty, and as much as she loved the season..It could get a little too hot sometimes. The frown edging away at her lips disappeared, and she turned back to the stove with a slight smile. Summer was always memorable to her...She loved going to the beach, laughing and playing with her...friends...The reel of memories from previous summers popped into her minds eye, and she couldn't help but realise..She hadn't done a thing. Just mope and crawl around whichever house they had been living at.
"Kagome...Help me..." The two eggs she had been carrying fell to the floor with a crack, yolk pouring out onto the pristine marble floor by her feet. The voice..It was back. ((A/N: LMAO!! I just realised that it sounded like the eggs were talking to her...*giggles*..))
The table fell silent as the two boys' heads snapped towards her. Souta jumped up and was by her side in an instant.
"Sis?" He waved a hand in front of her face worridly, looking down at the messy tiles beneath them. "Sis?!" His voice went up a little higher until he finally just started yelling at her. "SIS!"
Kagome's eyes had glazed over, the gray-blue orbs were clouded over and lifeless, staring. The hand that had been carrying the eggs fell limply to her side. Total blackness had swept over her in the seconds following the voice. There wasn't a sound, there wasn't anything but pitch blackness. She was very aware that she was standing, and that her brother was towering beneath her, but her mind didn't register it.
A small light in front of her held her attention completely. It was growing by size until it finally stopped. Out of the light, tendrils of mist were pouring out, and she took a step back, desperately trying to escape the swirling clouds.
"DON'T COME CLOSER! GO AWAY!" It wasn't fear that was acting, it was some surge of panic, of questioning. She didn't want to be involved..someone would just end up getting hurt anyway.
"Kagome..I won't hurt you...You..have to be careful."
Her eyes flicked back and forth between the glowing white cloud to the blackness. She was seeing in tunnel vision.
"No.." She desperately tried to wake up from the nightmare, she had to get out, had to get away.
"Be safe..you have to help." The voice was soft and mother like, and Kagome's head snapped to the center of the light as a figure began to materialize. The bloody figure of the principal flashed before her, and she clamped her eyes shut, covering her ears.
"NO!"
"KAGOME!"
The emptiness faded, as well as the light, and she was left on the familiar tile floor of her kitchen, with her brother impatiently preaching at her. Her lungs were working a million times a minute, and her heart was bounding non-stop in her chest, flooding her veins with warm blood.
"Souta! Be quiet! I'm okay." She hissed out at him, cracking open an eye to see her brother crouching before her with huge eyes. Inuyasha was giving her a flat look, but just beyond her miko powers she felt that he was completely surprised as well. The shock of realisation hit her a moment too late, and her stomach gave a flop of panic.
They had just witnessed her having a vision.
"I-It's shock...The nurses at the hospital said it would happen." She managed slowly, deliberatley elongating the pause between words. "I-I'm okay now...Really." She managed a shaky smile at her brother, who was giving her an incredulous look out of the corner of his eye. It was the 'whatever' type of look.
Souta just shrugged at Inuyasha, and held his hand out to his sister, which she reluctantly took. "You really had us freaked, sis." He stated matter-of-factly. Oh great, now Souta was trying to act like a dad.
"Sorry." She huffed, looking down at the cracked eggshell and yolk covering the floor. "Uhm..You guys up for McDonalds?" Souta gave a cheer of triumph before racing out of the kitchen to put on some clothes.
Inuyasha had crossed his arms and found the ceiling to be quite interesting at that point in time. Kagome had already swept up the mess, and coughed slightly, just to make a noise. The silence was an uncomfortable one, so she dismissed herself quickly to go get changed.
As soon as she got into her room she closed the door and grabbed a pillow, screaming into it. "Much better." She sighed, changing into a pair of blue jeans and her gray track hoodie just as her transparent phone started to ring. The object flashed brightly, and she really wanted to ignore it..It was probably the press.
"Hello?" She whispered through clenched teeth, relaxing when she heard who was on the other line.
"Kagome! Hey, it's Sango." The elder teen chirped brightly at her. Sango was just one of those types of people that if the world ended they would still be happy.
"Oh, hey Sango." Kagome smiled slightly. If anyone could make her feel better, Sango could.
"Are you okay? I just saw the news..You poor child." Sango's voice switched from chirpy friend to mother-figure in a matter of milliseconds.
"Yeah..I'm fine..Just tired." Kagome's jaw muscles ached from grinding her teeth together, and she mentally willed herself to calm down.
"Good, I was really worried about you." The sympathy in her friend's voice was pure, and Kagome smiled inwardly at her concern. "I called to check on you, and ask if you wanted to come with me to the mall today?"
Kagome weighed the possiblities for a few minutes, chewing her lip thoughtfully. It couldn't really be that bad, right? Even if the reporters found her she could always just hide away in a closet or something. "Sure, I'd love to."
"Great!! Meet me at Shnazzie's at five, Okay?"
"Okay, see you then."
The other line clicked, and Kagome set her phone down gently into the case, shutting her door behind her as she made her way to the living room. It would be nice to get out for a change, and her dad did give her that hundred and sixty dollars, afterall. It would be fun...
"Okay! Are you guys ready?" Kagome smiled, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets as she entered the living room. Inuyasha and Souta looked up from their position on the couch, Souta grinning and flopping up and out of the door. Kagome crossed her arms and gave Inuyasha a deadpan look before he finally let out a 'feh' and exited in front of her. The door shut with a click behind her, and she crossed the yard to her truck.
The sun was shining down brightly, and to her vision there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful summer day, not to hot, and definately not too cold.
She crawled into the driver's seat, closing the door with a bang as Souta and Inuyasha crawled in beside her.
"Yeah! Micky D's Micky D's..." Souta start hopping up and down on the leather seats, chanting the McDonalds song over and over.
"Souta?" Kagome sighed.
"Yeah?" Her brother continued his flopping frenzy, not even really acknowledging her presence.
"Stop."
"Make me." The all-time little brother reply.
When they arrived at McDonald's, Souta had two seat belts crossing his waist and a sock stuffed in his mouth.
"Think we should let him go?" Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha.
"Definately not." The hanyou stated matter-of-factly.
Souta merely tried to hop up and down to no avail, screaming things that just came out as. "Phhsghh Lmmmiiigoo!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome yawned, stretching her full length across the couch, and accidently stubbed Inuyasha with her toe. The hanyou let out a grumble, pulling the blanket closer to his face.
The two teens were sprawled out along her living room couch, Kagome's feet resting lightly beside the hanyou. Souta was lying on the floor beneath them, and the two boys were snoring lightly.
After they had FINALLY gotten Souta out of the assortment of seatbelts, they had gotten their food and left. Of course Souta had munched and slirped his fries and milkshake at the same time, and the whole ride home was devoted to him groaning about his brainfreeze.
Once they were at home, Kagome, being the nice person she was, offered to let Inuyasha stay. Her father had asked him to watch her, anyway..So of course he had to accept the nice offer.
All of them had snoozed off after they had eaten, surprisingly enough Inuyasha was the first to go, and now Kagome was currently trying to detach herself from the light fleece blanket that she had snatched from the linen closet. Unfortunately, her attempts were turning out to be quite unsuccessful.
"Inuyasha?" She whispered quietly, rubbing her eyes to clear them. The hanyou just mumbled something inaudible, snuggling closer to the back of the couch.He looked so peaceful, it was a pity she had to end it. "INUYASHA!"
"What?!" The hanyou's head snapped up, and if looks could kill she would be six feet under. The whole 'die' appearance was short lived however, due to the fact that the hanyou's hair was bunched and sticking up on one side.
Kagome stifled a giggle, and he gave her an incredulous look before quirking an eyebrow.
"You look like shit." She flashed him a smile, stealing the blanket from him.
"Feh." He growled, stretching his legs and arms out before rolling over, 'accidentally' knocking her off the couch.
"Inuyasha! You bastard!" She shoved him in the side playfully before looking down at the boy beneath her.
Souta was still snoring, and instead of light, boyish snores, he was sawing logs. It was a wonder the sound hadn't broken any glass. There was a stream of drool going down the side of his mouth, and Kagome shuffled away from the slodge.
"Souta! You lazy chit! Wake up!" She grabbed the nearest pillow, which just happened to be the one right underneath Inuyasha's head, and proceeded to smack her brother repeatedly in the face with the object.
Inuyasha's head cracked the arm of the couch, and he was coming up with some pretty colorful curses as Souta started to mumble loudly abut 'annoying sisters'.
Kagome wasn't listening, however. She was too busy studying the clock. "Holy Shit!"
Both boys went quiet.
"I have to meet Sango at five! It's four thirty!!" She flew up the stairs, leaving the two to their own devices.
"Shit Shit Shit.." She chided herself, flipping on a maroon hoodie that said 'CPR Expert' across the front. It wasn't exactly the best shirt to wear when you are trying to build up your reputation, but it would work. Judging from Inuyasha, and her full length mirror, her hair was in desperate need of brushing, and she snatched the nearest comb, pulling it through her mane rapidly until she was satisfied with the texture.
Her shoes were lying askew on the floor, and she pulled the Nike's onto her feet and into a double knot hurridly. "I'm going to be late! Shit Shit Shit!" Fumbling around her closet she fished the money out of her dirty jean's pocket before grabbing her light red 'mail man's' bag and slipping it over her shoulder. She made one last check for sleepy and/or drool before slamming her door shut and shuffling down the stairs. She hoped she hadn't left anything out..Like accidently put her bra on the outside or something..that would be bad.
"I'm gone!" She waved at the two boys before making her way towards the door.
"One fucking minute!" Inuyasha spat, crossing his arms and sending her a vicious look. "Where do you think you're going?" Souta mimicked the older boy's attitude, crossing his arms and sending her a would-be scowl.
"Oh..Sorry. I'm going to the mall, I'll be back soon." She opened the door a crack before turning to look at her brother, realisation dawning. "Oh. Um..Souta..?" She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. She couldn't leave her little brother..that would be too harsh even for her.
"It's okay, sis. I'll be fine." He offered, knowing that his sister would owe him one later.
"Thanks..I really appreciate it..." She flashed him a bright smile before it faltered slightly. "How much you want?"
"Ten bucks." Souta chirped brightly, holding out his hand in a 'gimme' expression.
"Fine. But if you tell dad, I'll tell the entire population about 'Mr Snuggles.'" She gave him an evil smirk, and he crossed his heart.
She smiled again, turning to open the door a little more before Inuyasha coughed, making his presence known.
"Oh..Sorry Inuyasha..You can go home now." The hanyou's expression faltered slightly, and he scowled at her before replying. "Gee, thanks..I'm SO glad I have your permission now."
"No problem! Gotta run, Sango's waiting." Her unusually happy attitude had left the hanyou stumped, and he desperately fought to find another comeback. Unfortunately none came, and he just sat there nonplussed as the door closed.
"So....Wanna play Tiddlywinks?" Souta smiled up at his new idol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*
Kagome arrived at the mall just in time to see her friend walk into the shop the were supposed to be meeting at. "Sango!" She filtered through the people slowly, not wanting to make herself look like a complete loon. The store, Shnazzie's, was apparently some sort of rich-persons place, and Kagome fixed her clothes self consciencely before entering.
"Sango!" Sango looked up from where she was browsing the racks of clothes, smiling brightly when she saw who it was. "Kag! Hey!"
"Sorry if I'm late, Souta and Inu-" Sango cut her off, scrambling over the clothes rack to put both hands on her shoulders.
"Inuyasha?!" The girl proceeded to shake Kagome rapidly until she was forced to detach herself. "Spill! I knew you two had a thing for each other." Sango squealed happily.
"No! He's my next door neighbor...My father just asked him to come over and make sure I was okay, that's all." Kagome shook her head, smiling at the girl's 'whatever' look. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay. I believe you." Sango chirped brightly, linking her arm into her friend's. "Now, lets go have fun."
Kagome gave a mental sigh. Thank god..She couldn't help but think..'I don't like him..right? He's an asshole..' Yeah..an asshole..
They exited the store, and every now and then Sango would let out a squeal and press her forehead against a shop window, asking Kagome her opinion on specific things. Kagome, of course, caught the shopping fever a while ago, and mimicked Sango in the squealing department. Already her arms were filled with shopping bags, and luckily she still had seventy five dollars left.
Her and Sango were currently chattering about this and that, not really paying attention to much. At least, until something caught Kagome's eye.
"Sango?!" Kagome sucked in a breath, stopping in front of a display window. A beautiful baby blue dress shimmered back at her from its place on display, and she stared at it wide eyed before grabbing Sango's arm and pulling her into the shop.
"Isn't it beautiful?!" Kagome whispered, marveling at the dress.
"Earth to Kag." Sango giggled quietly. "It's a dress, not the Mona Lisa."
Kagome just snorted, continuing to stare mindlessly at the clothing.
"Oh, that reminds me." Sango put a finger to her forehead. "Homecoming is coming up. Who are you going with?"
This snapped Kagome back into reality. "I'm not going." She stated flatly, gathering her bags up and getting ready to leave.
"Why not?" Sango took one last look at the price tag before leaving with her friend.
"I'll probably be gone." Kagome sighed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "We never stay in one place for too long."
"Oh c'mon..I'm sure your dad will let you stay for two more weeks." Sango gave her a pleading look, motioning towards the food court. "We'll think about it later, okay? Right now I need some grub."
"Yeah, me too" Kagome sighed thoughtfully, smiling at her friend to mask the feeling of foreboding. She spoke the truth, however. It was useless to attend a dance, especially with someone else.
The court was packed with people, and they had an extremely difficult time finding a line to stand in.
"Dear god..you would think these people have never seen food before in their lives.." Sango hissed, shifting her shopping bags grumpily.
"Yeah.." Kagome didn't really hear her, she was too busy going over the dance idea.
After a while, they settled for chinese, and they were too busy chattering away to notice a flood of people enter through the revolving towards beside them.
Kagome had finally made it to the beginning of the line, and gave the menu a death glare before finally deciding what to eat. "I'll have a numb-"
"THERE SHE IS!! IT'S THE HIGURASHI GIRL!" She was cut off by the number of reporters shuffling towards her with cameras and other random apparatus.
"Oh no.." She stared wide-eyed at the crowd of people before sending apologetic look towards Sango.
Sango merely shrugged, pushing her in the opposite direction. "Run!" She hissed, 'accidently' bumping into a random person. This got a few colorful words as the poor sucker spilled his tray onto another person's head. The chunks of food fell silently to the floor with a splat, revealing a very pissed off looking customer.
Kagome heard 'Food fight!' from behind her before all chaos errupted. She was amazed at how in about point five seconds the entire mall could become a giant battlefield. There was clumps of brightly colored food flying everywhere, and already there were police officers running around in a craze. Sango was in the middle of the mess, apologizing to a reporter that had milkshake smeared all over his expensive looking camera.
"I'm sorry, Sango!" She screamed, but to no avail. Her voice was carried a small distance before getting cut off by the whiz and thrashing of the mob of people. Sango darted her eyes over after a few minutes, making an urgent 'move' motion with her hand.
Unfortunately, the reporters caught onto this little charade, and slowly the group turned to face her.
'Shit.'...
"THERE SHE IS! AFTER HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!"
She flipped around, pushing through the pulsing crowd. Panic had by far replaced fear, and pretty soon if she didn't get out of there she would be squished into a little Kagome pancake. Unfortunately for her, people refused to let her push by them, and were currently trying to run her over.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She shrieked, pushing furiously at the people. Bright flashes were already starting to errupt from behind her, meaning the reporters had already probably caught up.
Finally a gap through the mess of people opened up, and she slid through, managing to get by with a torn sleeve and a bruised foot.
The press were right behind her, however, and they were literally right on her heels as she slid around a corner. The food caked onto her feet and clothes turned out to be a downfall, and her feet flew from beneath her as she slid across the linolium on her backside.
"Great," She groaned, shifting her wait to attempt to get up.
Lady luck must have had a major beef with her, however, because as she grabbed onto the rail and had finally lifted herself off the floor, the flood of media was already on top of her.
"Miss Kagome!"
"Kagome, what was it like to find a corpse?"
"Kagome, will this scar you in the future?"
She couldn't answer any of the questions, because every time one would be asked another reporter would cut in. That, and the fact that all of the inquiries were stupid questions. Flashes of cameras went off all around her, and the simple reporters and press turned into giants. Every sound was just another blob to her..It wouldn't matter even if she could decipher what they were saying, she wouldn't answer, anyway.
The only thing that escaped her mouth, was a small whimper. That small sound, however, soon turned into a shriek of surprise and outrage as a force from her side knocked into her harshly, landing both herself and the article in a nearby closet with a bang.
It was pitch black, and Kagome shuffled closer to the wall as the sound of the door clicking resonated around the tiny enclosure. She was petrified beyond belief. What with the media clawing their way down her throat, and now some modern 'robin-hood' was trying to help her out. And just like all other times, when she was scared, she got pissed.
"JUST WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" She shrieked, jumping onto her feet in a flash and jamming her finger into bozo's ribs. "I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT, THANKYOU! YOU BETTER EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE-"
"Or else what? You'll preach me to death?" The familiar voice barked out at her from its position at the door.
The screams of rage soon turned quiet, and Kagome gaped, moving her mouth up and down slowly, forming words without sound. "I-Inuyasha?" She stuttered blindly, mentally slapping herself for coming up with an oh-so-intelligent comment.
"You're perceptive, aren't you?" There was a click from above, and Kagome had to turn her face away as light flooded into the tiny space. When she turned her eyes back upon the door, familiar gold ones stared back at her.
"Oh...Um.." Her finger lowered to the ground as her composure flew out the window. "Um..W-what are you doing here?" She finally managed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Saving your ass apparently." He snorted, crossing his arms.
"I could have handled that." She bristled, stretching her full height to stare him in the eye. "I don't need your, or anyone elses, help. Got it?" She huffed, grabbing a handful of his shirt and yanking him closer until their noses were inches apart. "Don't ever, EVER, do that again!" Her eyes had clouded over once again with anger, and soon Inuyasha's golden orbs reflected the same emotion.
"Fine! The next time you're about to get slaughtered I'll just let it happen!" He tugged her hands away sharply, his claws flexing to pierce the flesh on her hands..
Kagome winced slightly, her anger intensifying. To her the pain wasn't anything, and she would rather have her arm ripped of than stay in a closet with the asshole.
"Fine!" She hissed, snatching her hands away and paced across the tiny room to slide down the wall farthest away from the hanyou. She crossed her arms indignantly, finding the ceiling to be much more interesting than the boy.
"You know what, I don't even know why I bother. I might as well just walk out, anyway." She stated firmly after a few moments, rising from her spot in the floor to pace the distance between them. She was inches away from the handle when a clawed hand snapped out to halt her progress, and in a matter of moments, she was looking a rather pissed hanyou in the face.
"Don't. You. Dare." He growled menacingly, snatching both of her hands to hold them in place.
Kagome didn't take notice of the position, however, and simply growled back at him. "What. If. I. Do?" She ground out, furious that the boy would even attempt to keep her hostage.
Inuyasha just kept his angered expression centered on her face. He hadn't even bothered to respond, and as the silence lengthened, her anger dissipated.
The more she thought about it, she really should be thankful. He had saved her from certain doom...Well, maybe not that far, but he'd saved her from a lot of mental stress..It would have made her feel better if he had chewed her out or something, but he just stayed quiet, not even bothering to snap at her...He looked angry, yes, and he was...but Kagome was sure that her actions had probably hurt him...even if it was just a little.
"I'm sorry.." She whispered, shocking them both out of a staring contest. She looked away from him, seemingly more interested in a small cardboard box leaning against a wall.
The silence merely continued after her declaration, and she sighed, turning back to face him. "Inuyasha?" The boy's gaze had shifted, and it looked to Kagome like he was in la-la land. "Hey, are you listening?! I said I'm sorry!" She tugged hard on two tendrils of his hair, bringing him down close to her yet again, although this time..he didn't look angry...just..shocked.
"Ow, bitch! What was that for?" Their lips were inches away, and Kagome could feel the puff of his breath against her cheek, as well as the rise and fall of his chest. He shifted slightly, bringing them even closer and causing a crimson blush to spread across an already distraught Kagome's cheeks.
In her world, this type of closeness was a major no-no, and her brain was screaming at her to back up. Unfortunately for her mind, her body was moving on its own accord, and she was powerless to prevent the inevitable.
"I-Inuyasha?" She questioned quietly, her gaze lowering to his lips slowly.
Inuyasha's head dipped down, their lips moments from touching.
"Hey! Open up! It's me, Sango!" A muffled voice from the other side of the door shouted in at them.
Both of the teens jumped back in shock, spluttering and spitting like they had eaten poison.
"Sango" Kagome whispered, unlocking the door and throwing it open. "Sango -"
"Shhhh!! I finally distracted the press enough to get you out of here." The girl whispered, tugging on Kagome's sleeve. Well, at least until she caught sight of Inuyasha. "What-?"
"Nothing! Come on!" Kagome's blush had deepened considerably as she pulled the elder girl off towards the exit. Her embarrassment level was so high she didn't even bother saying goodbye to Inuyasha. He would probably just scowl at her anyway.. That, and the fact that her blush was so obvious a helicopter could spot it from a mile away. She would save the thanking for another day.
Soon enough they were past the revolving door, and Kagome was abrubtly pulled around to face a rather confused looking friend.
"Spill." Sango hissed flatly.
"Huh?"
"What were you and Inuyasha doing..In a closet?"
Kagome mentally slapped herself. Her friend probably had all sorts of ecchi thoughts swimming around her brain.
"Nothing..He saved me from the herd, that's all.." She had utmost serious look, and Sango eventually gave up on pursuing the matter.
"Alright, I believe you." The older girl smiled at Kagome's obviously relieved look. "And I think you should get home...and take a shower if possible."
"Yeah..you're one to talk." Kagome flashed her a smile. "I think you've got a garden growing in your hair."
It was the truth. The poor girl had mashed potatoes and what looked like gravy spread across her face and in her hair. It would have been amusing, but both girls were rather tired at the moment, and definately not in the mood for jokes.
"Yeah..I'll see you later, Kag." Sango stifled a yawn, waving groggily as Kagome set off for her truck.
"Yeah..later.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~
Kagome shuffled through the front door, getting greeted by the familiar sound of her little brother snoring on the couch.
'Good idea, Souta..' She yawned loudly, crawling up the stairs and into her room.
She slid off her shoes, dropping onto the floor with a clunk. No sooner were they off that she was curled up among her comfortable sheets, snuggling down. Something was bugging her though, and whatever it was refused to let itself be known..
"Oh!" She snapped awake, sitting upright instantly. Her diary...Every time she had a vision she recorded it, just to make sure she had all the facts somewhere safe.
She opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand, feeling around a bit before a look of panic slowly faded into her eyes.
"My diary's gone!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*
Who stole the diary? Find out next time!
Gwen: Oh be quiet..*grumble*..
Okay, guys..Sorry for the long updating period..*sheepish grin* Exams are finally over..*thank god*...So now I'll be updating a lot more..My chapter estimation was off a bit I think, and I'll probably be shortening the story to about..oh, fifteen chapters...I dunno. Somewhere around there. ^____^....I finally made a website for all my crap, and I'll have it up tonight for sure. I'll have my fanart up, too. ^o^. Thanks everyone who has reviewed, it really does mean a lot to me..and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed reading this fic as much as I love typing it..You guys are great. ^-^
I get my FFXI Online Game in just a few days!! W0000000000TT! ((Sorry, I had to say that..))
Next Chapter: A Kitsune's Worst Nightmare.