AN: I know it's a bit late for a Christmas fic, but oh well. Also this is actually my first IY fic, so be nice. Not sure if I got everyone in character or not. Well, I'll quit babbling now so you can read.
A Christmas Fic
Kagome slipped through the forest as quietly as she could, the freshly-fallen snow making the barest of crunching noises beneath her feet. Her goal was the Bone-eater's Well. Her desire was to get there before her companions noticed her absence.
She should have known better by now.
"Kagome!" Red flashed past her, and Inu-yasha stood before her blocking her path.
"Inu-yasha, move!" Kagome pushed on his shoulders, but the dog-eared hanyou refused to budge.
Inu-yasha glared at her haughtily. "You were just over there! Why are you going back so soon? You don't have another of those tests, do you?"
"No, I don't! Move!"
"Then why are you going back?"
Kagome pursed her lips. Like hell she was going to tell him why she was going home. He wouldn't see the importance of it. Spending time with family and friends- Ha! Like Inu-yasha even knew what friends were. "Inu-yasha, I'm going home. Move!"
Inu-yasha crossed his arms over his chest. "No."
Narrowing her eyes, Kagome took a deep breath and yelled, "SIT!"
Inu-yasha promptly ate dirt. Kagome ran past him and jumped into the well.
*****
She landed in a crouch on the floor of the well and started when a furry red fluffball fell to the ground next to her feet. "Shippo?"
The kitsune sat up, uncurling his tail and stretching with a yawn. "Hey, Kagome!"
"Shippo? Why are you here?"
Shippo shrugged. "Well... I sort of fell asleep in your bag... and..." Realizing that he was both in the well and that it looked slightly different, he asked, "Where's here?" He scrambled up the ladder and looked out into the shrine. "Woah... Hey! This is your world!" He exclaimed and ran out into the yard.
Kagome followed. "Shippo," she tried to force a measure of sternness in her voice, but failed miserably, "you have to go back."
Shippo tunred towards her, pouting. "But, Kagome," he whined, "I wanna see this place!"
Kagome smiled. "Oh, all right. But just this once, and no complaining when we leave. And no more hitching rides." She emphasized each point with a shake of her finger.
Shippo nodded enthusiastically, the pout disappearing in an instant, and followed Kagome into the house. Once inside, the kitsune stared at the photographs on the walls, the grandfather clock ticking noisily at the end of the hall, and the remote-controlled car that zigzagged towards them and crashed into Kagome's foot.
Kagome yelled, "Sota! I told you to stop doing that!"
The little boy popped into the hallway from the living room. "I didn't know you were there!" he defended.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sure you didn't." She walked past Sota towards the kitchen. "Mom! I'm home!"
Shippo scurried after Kagome, hopping up onto her shoulders to peer at Sota from a safe location.
The little boy studied him with equal curiosity and called, "Sis, you brought a cat home with you!"
Shippo fluffed himself up and jumped down, drawing himself to his full height (which much to his chagrin was still a couple heads below Sota). "I'm a fox! Not a cat! Foxes look nothing like cats!"
"Oh, but you look like a cat..." Sota's face suddenly lit up. "Did Inu-yasha come with you?"
Shippo shook his head."Nope, but he'll probably be through to drag Kagome back soon."
Sota grinned. "Good! He's so cool!"
Shippo sniffed disdainfully. "Not really. Though I suppose he's as cool as a hanyou can be."
"Shippo," called Kagome from the kitchen, "My mom wants to meet you!"
Shippo ran down the hallway into the kitchen. He barely got two feet into the room before he was swept up and hugged by Kagome's mother. "Oh, you're so cute!"
Shippo squirmed out of her arms and popped up onto Kagome's head. "Kagome," he whispered, "is she always like that?"
"Only around youkai," she confided.
Mrs. Higurashi patted Shippo's head as she walked past Kagome to the stove. The kitsune ducked and murmured in Kagome's ear, "I wonder what she'd do to Sesshomaru."
Kagome giggled at the mental image of Sesshomaru being suffocated by her mother's embrace, and then at the equally bizarre picture of Mrs. Higurashi taking Sesshomaru on a walk... in his true form, giant leash and spiked collar included.
Sota tugged on Mrs. Higurashi's hand. "Since Kagome's back, can we finish up our Christmas shopping?"
She sighed. "I suppose. Kagome, could you watch the cookies for me?" She gestured towards the oven and stripped off her apron. "You will be able to stay, won't you, dear?"
Kagome nodded assurances. "Of course! Shippo will be here too."
Mrs. Higurashi grinned. "Then I'll have to pick up a gift for him too." She patted the kitsune's head again and left, Sota trailing behind.
Shippo drew his brows together. "Hey, Kagome, what's Christmas?"
*****
Shippo hugged the stuffed bear that Kagome had given him to his chest as he and Kagome jumped back through the well. Amazingly, Inu-yasha had not come looking for them once during the three days they had spent in Kagome's time; and, although she would not admit it, Kagome was slightly worried. Shippo wasn't though. Just confused by the half-demon's strange behavior.
He should have stomped after them within an hour or two. Not that the kitsune really minded that much. He had had lots of time with Kagome and her family, and he was returning with his fur clean and a bag full of candy courtesy of Mrs. Higurashi. Kagome had a really nice mother.
Kagome smiled at him as they exited the well and tapped the side of the extra bag she had brought to hold the presents for Inu-yasha, Miroku, and Sango. "Think they'll like what we got them?"
Shippo popped a lollipop into his mouth and shrugged, mumbling around the candy, "Inu-yasha won't."
Kagome laughed. "You don't think so? He's not the easiest person to shop for though, you know."
They walked as they talked, and before they had even reached the village, Inu-yasha confronted them. "Why were you gone so long?"
Kagome brushed past him. "If you were so concerned, why didn't you come looking for us?"
Shippo hopped up onto Inu-yasha's shoulder before he could follow Kagome. "We were eating and shopping and getting stuff and eating and sleeping on really soft beds and shopping and taking baths and-"
Inu-yasha covered his mouth, cutting off the excited flow of words. "Shopping for what?"
Smirking, Kagome turned back and pawed through the extra bag, looking for Inu-yasha's present. She held it up triumphantly when she found it and handed it to him. "Now you probably won't like it, but I couldn't think of anything else to get you."
Inu-yasha examined the shiny red wrapping paper for a moment believing that that was his present. Realization suddenly sank in, and he hurriedly ripped the paper off, hoping that his momentary hesitation went unnoticed. He opened the unmarked box within the paper and pulled out a pair of fuzzy antlers.
His eyebrows drew together over his eyes as he turned the antlers upside-down and backwards. "What are these?"
Struggling not to laugh, Kagome took the antlers from him. She placed the headband on his head, careful to keep his ears out from beneath the cloth, and adjusted the antlers. She stepped back. And both she and Shippo burst into laughter.
Inu-yasha scowled and reached up to pull the antlers off. Kagome grabbed his hands. "Don't. They're cute," she remarked.
Inu-yasha glanced down at their joined hands, then back up at her.
Kagome smiled at him. "Next time I go back, I'll get you a replacement present if you want."
"Why?"
"Because you don't like the antlers."
"No, not that." Inu-yasha shook his head, tossing his hair out of his eyes. "Why the presents?"
"Oh!" Kagome let go of his hands and picked up her bag, looping the strap over her shoulder. "It's because of a holiday in my world... Well, I guess it's around now too, but not celebrated here yet. Anyway..."
Inu-yasha looked down at his freed hands, feeling strangely empty all of a sudden. He grunted in response to Kagome's explanation and launched himself up into the trees.
Kagome continued, unaware. "You see, people exchange gifts to show..." She noticed his absence and sighed, "Okay, so much for being listened to."
Shippo tugged on her hand and ran forward. "C'mon, Kagome! Let's find Miroku and Sango!"
*****
Shippo played with his teddy bear as he sat next to Miroku just outside Kaede's hut. The brooding monk fingered the new earring in his ear and the shiny green paper it had been wrapped in. He liked the shiny stuff almost more than the gift itself (although anything from Kagome was to be treasured.)
"We need to get something for Kagome to thank her," he murmured.
Shippo glanced up and quit making his bear "walk" across the snow. "Like what?"
Miroku grinned evilly. "Well, now that you ask..." He reached into his robe and pulled out a wide gray circle. "I found this in Kagome's pack."
"Why were you looking in her stuff?" The kitsune tilted his head and regarded the monk suspiciously.
Miroku held up his hands in defense. "Curiosity. Well, anyway, this stuff is really sticky. It'll be perfect for the present I have in mind."
"So what is it?" Shippo relaxed. Though Miroku had obviously been rooting through Kagome's pack for perverted reasons and shouldn't have been, he'd found something potentially useful, and he had a good idea. Miroku's good ideas (when not perverted) were always fun.
*****
Inu-yasha sprawled in an oak limb, his back pressed against the trunk, one leg extended along the limb, the other dangling in midair. His ears were limp, only half-listening to the sounds of the nocturnal animals scrounging for food in the snow around his tree.
A twig snapped, alerting Inu-yasha to an intruder. Stiffening, he lifted his nose and sniffed, testing the air. Miroku's human scent reached him. Inu-yasha relaxed and allowed his eyes to drift shut. Without warning, a large, furry something barreled into his side, knocking him from the tree into a large pile of snow that had drifted around the base.
The creature fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Inu-yasha struggled; but, with the creature's weight and his outer robe tangled around his legs, he found movement impossible.
There was a loud shrieking noise as though the gates of hell were being opened, and then the hanyou's arms were bound behind his back. The sound again, followed by his ankles being tied together. Finally, Inu-yasha's head was raised by his captors.
Miroku's smirking visage filled his vision, and the corrupt monk placed something gray, sticky, and strange-smelling over his mouth. "Eh, Shippo," Miroku said after standing up and wiping his hands on his robe, "what do you think?"
The kisune- Inu-yasha now realized who the mysterious creature was- walked around the hanyou, studying him from all sides. "I dunno. Maybe we should use one of your wards."
Miroku considered, while Inu-yasha growled, his curses muffled into unintelligibility. Finally, Miroku shook his head. "I've heard Kagome refer to this... 'duct tape' as the force that holds the universe together. If it can do that, it can certainly restrain Inu-yasha for a few hours. Now, my young friend, did you find a sack?"
*****
Shippo led Kagome into the clearing beneath Inu-yasha's tree and instructed her to wait. He and Miroku, who had been tagging behind them, wrestled a large, squirming burlap bag decorated with multi-colored ribbons out from behind the tree. "Kagome," Miroku announced with a bow, "a Christmas present for you. I know you don't already have one." His grin split his face in half.
Kagome smiled, suspecting exactly what, or rather who, was her present. Still, she approached the sack and untied the ribbon cinching it closed. The sides of the bag puddled to the ground around a furious Inu-yasha wrapped up in duct tape, a big red bow tied around his neck, and the antlers she had given him perched on his head.
Kagome tried, but couldn't contain the laugh that bubbled out of her throat. Inu-yasha glared at her. Kagome controlled herself enough to gasp, "I always wanted a puppy with a big, red bow for Christmas!"
The hanyou growled. Still chuckling, Kagome asked for Miroku's knife and cut through the tape around his arms and legs. Inu-yasha reached up to pull off the tape over his mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were," Kagome warned.
Scowling, Inu-yasha ripped off the duct tape and yipped. Kagome giggled, and he snarled, rubbing his chin and lips, "I'm not a pup."
"But you sure sounded like one!" Shippo clutched his sides as he laughed.
"Feh." Inu-yasha lobbed a snowball at the kitsune and jumped up into his tree.
Miroku picked Shippo up by the back of his shirt. "I hope you enjoyed your present, Kagome. Next time we'll get you something _really_ nice." He traipsed back down the path, wriggling Kitsune stuffed under his arm.
Kagome turned and looked up into the bare boughs of the tree. Inu-yasha was sitting half-way up, his sulking form clearly visible in the naked tree. Turning her sights to the lowest branch, she grabbed it and swung herself up.
*****
Inu-yasha's ears twitched when Kagome called to him. Stoically, he turned his head away from her, ignoring her.
Kagome called again, "Inu-yasha, some help please!"
Glancing down, he was surprised to see that she was only three or four branches below his perch. "With what?" he grumbled. "You seem to be able to climb quite well." He stood, preparing to jump further up. Her laughter at how easily he had been bested and dressed up stung, and he wanted to be left alone.
"I'm stuck," Kagome whined plaintively.
Inu-yasha looked down, cocking his head in confusion. There were no branches snagged on her clothing to prevent her from moving, so what was her problem?
Kagome continued, "I can't reach the next branch."
"Then go down," Inu-yasha offered the perfect solution, to him anyway.
"I want to talk to you and..." she blushed and glanced down. Then promptly paled and whipped her head up, eyes squeezed shut. "I can't go down. I can go up, as high as I want to, but I can't go down."
Inu-yasha stared at her. She was afraid of heights? This from the girl who had no problems flying with him? Several long moments later, he jumped down to her branch, and she climbed on to his back, sighing relievedly. A hop, and they were balanced on Inu-yasha's branch.
Inu-yasha settled into his customary spot, and sat facing him, drawing her knees up beneath her chest. She giggled. Inu-yasha's eyes narrowed. "You're laughing again."
Kagome pointed to his neck, and Inu-yasha belatedly remembered the bow and antlers. Growling at the thought of continuing to look foolish, he tore off the bow and dropped it, briefly watching the fluttering ribbon fall. The antlers soon followed. Silence descended between them.
Kagome finally shifted and began awkwardly, "Um... thank you for pulling me up."
"Feh, you shouldn't have come up if you can't go back down," Inu-yasha snorted.
Kagome shrugged. "Well, I wanted to talk to you, and you certainly weren't coming down."
Another snort from Inu-yasha.
Kagome continued, "I feel guilty about the antlers. I only got them as a gag. I actually did get you a real gift. Here." She reached into a jacket pocket and handed him a picture frame.
Inu-yasha studied the picture inside. It was a snapshot of him and Kagome. She was carrying one of her oversized packs, and he was pushing her impatiently to the well-house. Inu-yasha smirked. He remembered that and what had happened next. He had picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder when she failed to move fast enough for his liking. All the while, she was screaming something about her mother taking a picture.
"Mom took that last time you were over. Here's some more."
The next pictures were not framed, and Inu-yasha handled the stiff paper carefully. He glanced at the top picture and laughed. Mrs. Higurashi _had_ captured the image of Kagome draped over his shoulder. The look she was sending towards his back was priceless!
Kagome grinned. "I knew you'd like that one."
Inu-yasha sifted through the pile of photographs quickly. Most of them were of them together, a few were of Kagome, and one was of him up in a tree. He did not remember her bringing a camera through the well, but maybe she had just had it well hidden.
"So," Kagome said when he put the stack down, "was that better than the antlers?"
Inu-yasha nodded. "Much."
"Well good!" Kagome exclaimed cheerfully. "Now help me down?"
Rolling his eyes, Inu-yasha stood, grabbed her around the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder. Ignoring her shouts, he jumped down and ran her back to the village, dropping her off at Kaede's hut.
Kagome glared at him after he set her back on her feet. "That was totally uncalled for!"
Laughing, Inu-yasha ran back to his tree before she could think of sitting him. Once on his perch, he looked through the pictures again, allowing himself time to study each thoroughly. He found one of Kagome smiling. He really liked this one. He leaned back against the tree and regarded it thoughtfully. Why didn't Kagome look like that more often? She did not smile that often. Acting on a suspicion, he returned to the pictures of him and Kagome together. She was glaring at him in most of them.
Unsettled by this new discovery, Inu-yasha tried to think of ways to make Kagome smile more often. When had she smiled recently? When he was wearing those stupid antlers; well, Inu-yasha sure wasn't going to voluntarily put those on. Let's see, when else? She had smiled when Miroku and Shippo gave her a present. Yes, it had been him, but maybe if she got a present _from_ him? But what?
Inu-yasha chewed on his lip as he speculated. For some reason, his thoughts turned to his mother. His father had given her present frequently, but what had they been? He could not remember any of them... except for one. He had played with it as a pup. Kagome would probably like it. In fact, he might still have it. If he did, it would be in the cave where he had stashed some sentimental objects after his mother's death.
Inu-yasha placed Kagome's picture in his inner robe over his heart and leaped down to the ground, taking off at a brisk run. If he hurried, he could be there and back before sunup.
*****
Yawning, Kagome sat up and scratched her head. She had had the strangest dream, but unfortunately like most strange dreams, she could not remember any of it. Shrugging, Kagome stood, her bare foot encountering something cool on the floor. Lifting her foot, she saw that she had stepped on a bracelet. She stooped and picked it up, turning it over in her hands.
It was a solid band of silver, slightly black with corrosion in the middle. A small blue-tinged moonstone cut into a crescent was set in the widest part of the bracelet.
Kagome wondered where it had come from. She had never seen any of the others wearing it, and none of them really had money to be buying jewelery. Besides, it had a look and feel to it that suggested age. Could it be Inu-yasha's?
Deciding to ask him, Kagome quickly changed and donned her jacket before heading out. It took her longer to trudge through the deep snow than it had the night before, but by the time she reached the tree, she was happy to note that Inu-yasha was already awake. She wouldn't have to yell at him. Seeing her, he jumped down beside her.
Kagome held up the wrist that wore the bracelet. "Is this yours?"
"Feh, I don't wear jewelry."
"Hmm," Kagome made a thoughtful noise as she studied the bracelet, "I wonder whose it is..."
"It's yours."
Kagome glanced up. "What?"
"I gave it to you. It's yours." He turned away, commenting over his shoulder, "It looks
good on you."
He stayed on the ground long enough to see Kagome's resulting smile, and then he jumped back up into his tree, pleased with himself. Kagome followed his ascent with her eyes. Did he just compliment her? Kagome pinched herself. Nope, not dreaming. She fingered her new bracelet, grinning like an idiot. Well, she told herself, it was a start. There was hope for him yet.
A Christmas Fic
Kagome slipped through the forest as quietly as she could, the freshly-fallen snow making the barest of crunching noises beneath her feet. Her goal was the Bone-eater's Well. Her desire was to get there before her companions noticed her absence.
She should have known better by now.
"Kagome!" Red flashed past her, and Inu-yasha stood before her blocking her path.
"Inu-yasha, move!" Kagome pushed on his shoulders, but the dog-eared hanyou refused to budge.
Inu-yasha glared at her haughtily. "You were just over there! Why are you going back so soon? You don't have another of those tests, do you?"
"No, I don't! Move!"
"Then why are you going back?"
Kagome pursed her lips. Like hell she was going to tell him why she was going home. He wouldn't see the importance of it. Spending time with family and friends- Ha! Like Inu-yasha even knew what friends were. "Inu-yasha, I'm going home. Move!"
Inu-yasha crossed his arms over his chest. "No."
Narrowing her eyes, Kagome took a deep breath and yelled, "SIT!"
Inu-yasha promptly ate dirt. Kagome ran past him and jumped into the well.
*****
She landed in a crouch on the floor of the well and started when a furry red fluffball fell to the ground next to her feet. "Shippo?"
The kitsune sat up, uncurling his tail and stretching with a yawn. "Hey, Kagome!"
"Shippo? Why are you here?"
Shippo shrugged. "Well... I sort of fell asleep in your bag... and..." Realizing that he was both in the well and that it looked slightly different, he asked, "Where's here?" He scrambled up the ladder and looked out into the shrine. "Woah... Hey! This is your world!" He exclaimed and ran out into the yard.
Kagome followed. "Shippo," she tried to force a measure of sternness in her voice, but failed miserably, "you have to go back."
Shippo tunred towards her, pouting. "But, Kagome," he whined, "I wanna see this place!"
Kagome smiled. "Oh, all right. But just this once, and no complaining when we leave. And no more hitching rides." She emphasized each point with a shake of her finger.
Shippo nodded enthusiastically, the pout disappearing in an instant, and followed Kagome into the house. Once inside, the kitsune stared at the photographs on the walls, the grandfather clock ticking noisily at the end of the hall, and the remote-controlled car that zigzagged towards them and crashed into Kagome's foot.
Kagome yelled, "Sota! I told you to stop doing that!"
The little boy popped into the hallway from the living room. "I didn't know you were there!" he defended.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sure you didn't." She walked past Sota towards the kitchen. "Mom! I'm home!"
Shippo scurried after Kagome, hopping up onto her shoulders to peer at Sota from a safe location.
The little boy studied him with equal curiosity and called, "Sis, you brought a cat home with you!"
Shippo fluffed himself up and jumped down, drawing himself to his full height (which much to his chagrin was still a couple heads below Sota). "I'm a fox! Not a cat! Foxes look nothing like cats!"
"Oh, but you look like a cat..." Sota's face suddenly lit up. "Did Inu-yasha come with you?"
Shippo shook his head."Nope, but he'll probably be through to drag Kagome back soon."
Sota grinned. "Good! He's so cool!"
Shippo sniffed disdainfully. "Not really. Though I suppose he's as cool as a hanyou can be."
"Shippo," called Kagome from the kitchen, "My mom wants to meet you!"
Shippo ran down the hallway into the kitchen. He barely got two feet into the room before he was swept up and hugged by Kagome's mother. "Oh, you're so cute!"
Shippo squirmed out of her arms and popped up onto Kagome's head. "Kagome," he whispered, "is she always like that?"
"Only around youkai," she confided.
Mrs. Higurashi patted Shippo's head as she walked past Kagome to the stove. The kitsune ducked and murmured in Kagome's ear, "I wonder what she'd do to Sesshomaru."
Kagome giggled at the mental image of Sesshomaru being suffocated by her mother's embrace, and then at the equally bizarre picture of Mrs. Higurashi taking Sesshomaru on a walk... in his true form, giant leash and spiked collar included.
Sota tugged on Mrs. Higurashi's hand. "Since Kagome's back, can we finish up our Christmas shopping?"
She sighed. "I suppose. Kagome, could you watch the cookies for me?" She gestured towards the oven and stripped off her apron. "You will be able to stay, won't you, dear?"
Kagome nodded assurances. "Of course! Shippo will be here too."
Mrs. Higurashi grinned. "Then I'll have to pick up a gift for him too." She patted the kitsune's head again and left, Sota trailing behind.
Shippo drew his brows together. "Hey, Kagome, what's Christmas?"
*****
Shippo hugged the stuffed bear that Kagome had given him to his chest as he and Kagome jumped back through the well. Amazingly, Inu-yasha had not come looking for them once during the three days they had spent in Kagome's time; and, although she would not admit it, Kagome was slightly worried. Shippo wasn't though. Just confused by the half-demon's strange behavior.
He should have stomped after them within an hour or two. Not that the kitsune really minded that much. He had had lots of time with Kagome and her family, and he was returning with his fur clean and a bag full of candy courtesy of Mrs. Higurashi. Kagome had a really nice mother.
Kagome smiled at him as they exited the well and tapped the side of the extra bag she had brought to hold the presents for Inu-yasha, Miroku, and Sango. "Think they'll like what we got them?"
Shippo popped a lollipop into his mouth and shrugged, mumbling around the candy, "Inu-yasha won't."
Kagome laughed. "You don't think so? He's not the easiest person to shop for though, you know."
They walked as they talked, and before they had even reached the village, Inu-yasha confronted them. "Why were you gone so long?"
Kagome brushed past him. "If you were so concerned, why didn't you come looking for us?"
Shippo hopped up onto Inu-yasha's shoulder before he could follow Kagome. "We were eating and shopping and getting stuff and eating and sleeping on really soft beds and shopping and taking baths and-"
Inu-yasha covered his mouth, cutting off the excited flow of words. "Shopping for what?"
Smirking, Kagome turned back and pawed through the extra bag, looking for Inu-yasha's present. She held it up triumphantly when she found it and handed it to him. "Now you probably won't like it, but I couldn't think of anything else to get you."
Inu-yasha examined the shiny red wrapping paper for a moment believing that that was his present. Realization suddenly sank in, and he hurriedly ripped the paper off, hoping that his momentary hesitation went unnoticed. He opened the unmarked box within the paper and pulled out a pair of fuzzy antlers.
His eyebrows drew together over his eyes as he turned the antlers upside-down and backwards. "What are these?"
Struggling not to laugh, Kagome took the antlers from him. She placed the headband on his head, careful to keep his ears out from beneath the cloth, and adjusted the antlers. She stepped back. And both she and Shippo burst into laughter.
Inu-yasha scowled and reached up to pull the antlers off. Kagome grabbed his hands. "Don't. They're cute," she remarked.
Inu-yasha glanced down at their joined hands, then back up at her.
Kagome smiled at him. "Next time I go back, I'll get you a replacement present if you want."
"Why?"
"Because you don't like the antlers."
"No, not that." Inu-yasha shook his head, tossing his hair out of his eyes. "Why the presents?"
"Oh!" Kagome let go of his hands and picked up her bag, looping the strap over her shoulder. "It's because of a holiday in my world... Well, I guess it's around now too, but not celebrated here yet. Anyway..."
Inu-yasha looked down at his freed hands, feeling strangely empty all of a sudden. He grunted in response to Kagome's explanation and launched himself up into the trees.
Kagome continued, unaware. "You see, people exchange gifts to show..." She noticed his absence and sighed, "Okay, so much for being listened to."
Shippo tugged on her hand and ran forward. "C'mon, Kagome! Let's find Miroku and Sango!"
*****
Shippo played with his teddy bear as he sat next to Miroku just outside Kaede's hut. The brooding monk fingered the new earring in his ear and the shiny green paper it had been wrapped in. He liked the shiny stuff almost more than the gift itself (although anything from Kagome was to be treasured.)
"We need to get something for Kagome to thank her," he murmured.
Shippo glanced up and quit making his bear "walk" across the snow. "Like what?"
Miroku grinned evilly. "Well, now that you ask..." He reached into his robe and pulled out a wide gray circle. "I found this in Kagome's pack."
"Why were you looking in her stuff?" The kitsune tilted his head and regarded the monk suspiciously.
Miroku held up his hands in defense. "Curiosity. Well, anyway, this stuff is really sticky. It'll be perfect for the present I have in mind."
"So what is it?" Shippo relaxed. Though Miroku had obviously been rooting through Kagome's pack for perverted reasons and shouldn't have been, he'd found something potentially useful, and he had a good idea. Miroku's good ideas (when not perverted) were always fun.
*****
Inu-yasha sprawled in an oak limb, his back pressed against the trunk, one leg extended along the limb, the other dangling in midair. His ears were limp, only half-listening to the sounds of the nocturnal animals scrounging for food in the snow around his tree.
A twig snapped, alerting Inu-yasha to an intruder. Stiffening, he lifted his nose and sniffed, testing the air. Miroku's human scent reached him. Inu-yasha relaxed and allowed his eyes to drift shut. Without warning, a large, furry something barreled into his side, knocking him from the tree into a large pile of snow that had drifted around the base.
The creature fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Inu-yasha struggled; but, with the creature's weight and his outer robe tangled around his legs, he found movement impossible.
There was a loud shrieking noise as though the gates of hell were being opened, and then the hanyou's arms were bound behind his back. The sound again, followed by his ankles being tied together. Finally, Inu-yasha's head was raised by his captors.
Miroku's smirking visage filled his vision, and the corrupt monk placed something gray, sticky, and strange-smelling over his mouth. "Eh, Shippo," Miroku said after standing up and wiping his hands on his robe, "what do you think?"
The kisune- Inu-yasha now realized who the mysterious creature was- walked around the hanyou, studying him from all sides. "I dunno. Maybe we should use one of your wards."
Miroku considered, while Inu-yasha growled, his curses muffled into unintelligibility. Finally, Miroku shook his head. "I've heard Kagome refer to this... 'duct tape' as the force that holds the universe together. If it can do that, it can certainly restrain Inu-yasha for a few hours. Now, my young friend, did you find a sack?"
*****
Shippo led Kagome into the clearing beneath Inu-yasha's tree and instructed her to wait. He and Miroku, who had been tagging behind them, wrestled a large, squirming burlap bag decorated with multi-colored ribbons out from behind the tree. "Kagome," Miroku announced with a bow, "a Christmas present for you. I know you don't already have one." His grin split his face in half.
Kagome smiled, suspecting exactly what, or rather who, was her present. Still, she approached the sack and untied the ribbon cinching it closed. The sides of the bag puddled to the ground around a furious Inu-yasha wrapped up in duct tape, a big red bow tied around his neck, and the antlers she had given him perched on his head.
Kagome tried, but couldn't contain the laugh that bubbled out of her throat. Inu-yasha glared at her. Kagome controlled herself enough to gasp, "I always wanted a puppy with a big, red bow for Christmas!"
The hanyou growled. Still chuckling, Kagome asked for Miroku's knife and cut through the tape around his arms and legs. Inu-yasha reached up to pull off the tape over his mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were," Kagome warned.
Scowling, Inu-yasha ripped off the duct tape and yipped. Kagome giggled, and he snarled, rubbing his chin and lips, "I'm not a pup."
"But you sure sounded like one!" Shippo clutched his sides as he laughed.
"Feh." Inu-yasha lobbed a snowball at the kitsune and jumped up into his tree.
Miroku picked Shippo up by the back of his shirt. "I hope you enjoyed your present, Kagome. Next time we'll get you something _really_ nice." He traipsed back down the path, wriggling Kitsune stuffed under his arm.
Kagome turned and looked up into the bare boughs of the tree. Inu-yasha was sitting half-way up, his sulking form clearly visible in the naked tree. Turning her sights to the lowest branch, she grabbed it and swung herself up.
*****
Inu-yasha's ears twitched when Kagome called to him. Stoically, he turned his head away from her, ignoring her.
Kagome called again, "Inu-yasha, some help please!"
Glancing down, he was surprised to see that she was only three or four branches below his perch. "With what?" he grumbled. "You seem to be able to climb quite well." He stood, preparing to jump further up. Her laughter at how easily he had been bested and dressed up stung, and he wanted to be left alone.
"I'm stuck," Kagome whined plaintively.
Inu-yasha looked down, cocking his head in confusion. There were no branches snagged on her clothing to prevent her from moving, so what was her problem?
Kagome continued, "I can't reach the next branch."
"Then go down," Inu-yasha offered the perfect solution, to him anyway.
"I want to talk to you and..." she blushed and glanced down. Then promptly paled and whipped her head up, eyes squeezed shut. "I can't go down. I can go up, as high as I want to, but I can't go down."
Inu-yasha stared at her. She was afraid of heights? This from the girl who had no problems flying with him? Several long moments later, he jumped down to her branch, and she climbed on to his back, sighing relievedly. A hop, and they were balanced on Inu-yasha's branch.
Inu-yasha settled into his customary spot, and sat facing him, drawing her knees up beneath her chest. She giggled. Inu-yasha's eyes narrowed. "You're laughing again."
Kagome pointed to his neck, and Inu-yasha belatedly remembered the bow and antlers. Growling at the thought of continuing to look foolish, he tore off the bow and dropped it, briefly watching the fluttering ribbon fall. The antlers soon followed. Silence descended between them.
Kagome finally shifted and began awkwardly, "Um... thank you for pulling me up."
"Feh, you shouldn't have come up if you can't go back down," Inu-yasha snorted.
Kagome shrugged. "Well, I wanted to talk to you, and you certainly weren't coming down."
Another snort from Inu-yasha.
Kagome continued, "I feel guilty about the antlers. I only got them as a gag. I actually did get you a real gift. Here." She reached into a jacket pocket and handed him a picture frame.
Inu-yasha studied the picture inside. It was a snapshot of him and Kagome. She was carrying one of her oversized packs, and he was pushing her impatiently to the well-house. Inu-yasha smirked. He remembered that and what had happened next. He had picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder when she failed to move fast enough for his liking. All the while, she was screaming something about her mother taking a picture.
"Mom took that last time you were over. Here's some more."
The next pictures were not framed, and Inu-yasha handled the stiff paper carefully. He glanced at the top picture and laughed. Mrs. Higurashi _had_ captured the image of Kagome draped over his shoulder. The look she was sending towards his back was priceless!
Kagome grinned. "I knew you'd like that one."
Inu-yasha sifted through the pile of photographs quickly. Most of them were of them together, a few were of Kagome, and one was of him up in a tree. He did not remember her bringing a camera through the well, but maybe she had just had it well hidden.
"So," Kagome said when he put the stack down, "was that better than the antlers?"
Inu-yasha nodded. "Much."
"Well good!" Kagome exclaimed cheerfully. "Now help me down?"
Rolling his eyes, Inu-yasha stood, grabbed her around the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder. Ignoring her shouts, he jumped down and ran her back to the village, dropping her off at Kaede's hut.
Kagome glared at him after he set her back on her feet. "That was totally uncalled for!"
Laughing, Inu-yasha ran back to his tree before she could think of sitting him. Once on his perch, he looked through the pictures again, allowing himself time to study each thoroughly. He found one of Kagome smiling. He really liked this one. He leaned back against the tree and regarded it thoughtfully. Why didn't Kagome look like that more often? She did not smile that often. Acting on a suspicion, he returned to the pictures of him and Kagome together. She was glaring at him in most of them.
Unsettled by this new discovery, Inu-yasha tried to think of ways to make Kagome smile more often. When had she smiled recently? When he was wearing those stupid antlers; well, Inu-yasha sure wasn't going to voluntarily put those on. Let's see, when else? She had smiled when Miroku and Shippo gave her a present. Yes, it had been him, but maybe if she got a present _from_ him? But what?
Inu-yasha chewed on his lip as he speculated. For some reason, his thoughts turned to his mother. His father had given her present frequently, but what had they been? He could not remember any of them... except for one. He had played with it as a pup. Kagome would probably like it. In fact, he might still have it. If he did, it would be in the cave where he had stashed some sentimental objects after his mother's death.
Inu-yasha placed Kagome's picture in his inner robe over his heart and leaped down to the ground, taking off at a brisk run. If he hurried, he could be there and back before sunup.
*****
Yawning, Kagome sat up and scratched her head. She had had the strangest dream, but unfortunately like most strange dreams, she could not remember any of it. Shrugging, Kagome stood, her bare foot encountering something cool on the floor. Lifting her foot, she saw that she had stepped on a bracelet. She stooped and picked it up, turning it over in her hands.
It was a solid band of silver, slightly black with corrosion in the middle. A small blue-tinged moonstone cut into a crescent was set in the widest part of the bracelet.
Kagome wondered where it had come from. She had never seen any of the others wearing it, and none of them really had money to be buying jewelery. Besides, it had a look and feel to it that suggested age. Could it be Inu-yasha's?
Deciding to ask him, Kagome quickly changed and donned her jacket before heading out. It took her longer to trudge through the deep snow than it had the night before, but by the time she reached the tree, she was happy to note that Inu-yasha was already awake. She wouldn't have to yell at him. Seeing her, he jumped down beside her.
Kagome held up the wrist that wore the bracelet. "Is this yours?"
"Feh, I don't wear jewelry."
"Hmm," Kagome made a thoughtful noise as she studied the bracelet, "I wonder whose it is..."
"It's yours."
Kagome glanced up. "What?"
"I gave it to you. It's yours." He turned away, commenting over his shoulder, "It looks
good on you."
He stayed on the ground long enough to see Kagome's resulting smile, and then he jumped back up into his tree, pleased with himself. Kagome followed his ascent with her eyes. Did he just compliment her? Kagome pinched herself. Nope, not dreaming. She fingered her new bracelet, grinning like an idiot. Well, she told herself, it was a start. There was hope for him yet.