KAGOME'S BAD BREAK

CHAPTER TWO

"Will you put me down?!" Kagome's voice echoed through the hall, and drifted into the kitchen.

"What on earth??" Kagome's mother wondered as she placed the breakfast dishes on the table. Who was her daughter yelling at? "Kagome, honey?!! What's going on??" she called out.

InuYasha entered the room, carrying a squirming Kagome, "Let me go!! I told you I can use the crutches!!!"

"Yeah.. I saw how great you were with those crutches last night!" InuYasha replied.

"InuYasha??! You're HERE? Kagome?? What's going on?!" Mrs. Higurashi asked, looking at both her daughter and the dog-demon carrying her.

"He won't let me use my crutches!! He insists on carrying me everywhere!!" Kagome complained. Her grandfather chuckled from a nearby seat, "It's not funny, Grampa!" Kagome snapped.

Her grandfather quickly stopped chuckling and cleared his throat, "Uh.. sorry, Kagome dear..."

Kagome was still squirming in InuYasha's grip. He quickly, but carefully, placed her down on a nearby chair. Mrs. Higurashi smiled, "Oh.. that's very sweet of you, InuYasha.. thank you for taking care of my daughter!" Kagome just grumbled. Mrs. Higurashi's smile was unwavering as she pulled out a chair for InuYasha, "Here, have a seat. I made lots of pancakes this morning.."

Kagome's eyes went wide as she looked at her mother, "Ohhh.. with chocolate chips?!" she asked hopefully.

"Although having chocolate first thing in the morning isn't what I'd call HEALTHY, " her mother began, "I DID make a few for you since you're not feeling well..."

"OH!! Thank you, Mom!!" Kagome smiled. She looked at InuYasha, "You might like chocolate chip pancakes!! They're really good!"

"WOW!!! InuYasha IS HERE!!" Sota shouted happily as he ran into the kitchen. He quickly went to sit down beside his hero, "HI!!!"

"Hey kid..." InuYasha said.

"Are you here to make fun of how much of a klutz my sister is?! " Sota asked, "She fell down the steps outside!!" the little boy seemed to find that humorous.

"Sota! Stop making fun of your sister! She's older then you, and you should show her respect!" Mrs. Higurashi chided.

Sota took one look at Kagome, and laughed, "Yeah.. right...respect...!"

"SOTA!! Do you want to skip breakfast today?!?" Mrs. Higurashi threatened.

Sota quickly stopped laughing, "Uh.. sorry mom..."

"That's better!" Mrs. Higurashi said. She looked at InuYasha and smiled again, "Would you like to try some chocolate chip pancakes, InuYasha?? Kagome says they're very good... but I just can't take chocolate first thing in the morning..."

"Sure..." InuYasha replied. Mrs. Higurashi plopped two pancakes down on InuYasha's plate, and two on Kagome's. "Enjoy!"

InuYasha picked at the pancakes, not sure what to make of them. They had nothing like this back in his world, "Just eat it, InuYasha.. it's not going to bite you!" Kagome said.

InuYasha looked at her and muttered something, then took a big bite of the pancake. His eyes went wide as the taste filled his mouth. It was so sweet!! So goey!! So.... GOOD!! He couldn't stop the smile spreading on his lips.

Mrs. Higurashi watched him, proud of her cooking, "Do you like it, InuYasha?" she asked.

He was too busy chewing to answer, and nodded his head quickly. Finally, he swallowed the bite, "It's GREAT!!" he said. "I've never had anything like this!!"

Kagome looked at her mother, "I told you the chocolate chips make it better!" she smiled.

Mrs. Higurashi looked at her daughter, "Well.. it's too sweet for me.. but to each their own!" Then she turned to InuYasha, "You're welcome to say for a while. You'd be a great help to Kagome while she's tending to her bad ankle!"

InuYasha looked at Kagome, rather proud of the fact that her mother thought so highly of his assistance. Kagome rolled her eyes at him. InuYasha turned back to Mrs. Higurashi, "Of course I'll stay, if you like,"

Grandpa finally spoke up, "So.. you were saying that you were here last night, InuYasha??" InuYasha nodded. "And where, exactly, did you sleep?"

InuYasha and Kagome exchanged glances, "In the bathtub!!" Kagome said quickly. If her mother and grandfather knew InuYasha had stayed in HER room, they might get the wrong idea.

"Ahhh.. I see. Well, I'm sure we can fit a cot into Sota's room for you tonight, InuYasha..." Mrs. Higurashi offered.

"Thank you..." InuYasha replied.

"Anyway, I have to get ready for school!" Kagome said.

"Ok, dear, I'll be up to help you get dressed in a few minutes," Mrs. Higurashi said.

InuYasha stood, and scooped Kagome up again, "There's no way you're carrying me like this when I get to school!!" she snapped.

"Feh..." InuYasha muttered.

* * *

Kagome came out of her bedroom -- uniform, crutches, and all. She looked at InuYasha, "Now what are we going to do about you??" she asked.

"What's wrong with me?!" he replied.

"Um... your ears.. your eyes... your Kimono! You can't come to my school like THAT!"

"I got something for his ears!" Sota said as he ran into his room. He came out with one of his prized baseball hats, and quickly put it on InuYasha's head. It covered his ears well.

"Sota, go grab my black sunglasses," Kagome said. Sota went into Kagome's room and emerged with a pair of sunglasses, "Put those on," InuYasha did so, "Now, take off your robes..." she commanded.

"Whaaaaat?!!" InuYasha said.

"Well, you have a shirt underneath, don't you?" Kagome asked. InuYasha nodded. "Good.. then all you need are a pair of pants... ummm..."

"Got that..." Grandpa said as he came upstairs. He handed InuYasha a pair of black trousers, "Now I usually wear kimonos myself, but sometimes I have to dress differently. These are my only pair of trousers," he explained, somewhat embarrassed about his lack of wardrobe, "But put these on, and tuck your shirt into them," Grandpa explained, then quickly pulled something out of the pocket of the trousers. It was a pair of suspenders, "Now I'm guessing you're in a lot better shape then I am.. so you may need these to keep those pants up!"

"Uh.. thanks..." InuYasha said. He quickly went into the bathroom to change.

When InuYasha emerged, he didn't look like a dog-demon at all. He looked like a normal guy. He looked... "...really cute!" Kagome thought. Then quickly corrected herself, "No no.. InuYasha and 'cute' don't mix. Not at all!!"