Final Distance
By: DemonSaya
Disclaimer: Okay, I dun own any of these characters, I'm borrowing
them, and I promised that I'd return them. Well...I promised because
Inuyasha's rather mad that I kidnapped them for awhile and I'm afraid
he may pull out his sword and demolish me...Please don't sue me, I
already have a pmsing adolescent half-demon to deal with!
Policy on Flamers: Give me Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease, and I shall
give you the same. If you don't, I know lots of assassins, thieves,
demons, and goddesses, that would love to hurt you if I told them you
flamed ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1-Rules of the House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been three years since they had finally defeated Naraku, and
Inuyasha had been spending more and more time with the Higurashi's,
so much in fact, Kagome's mom had begun to set down several rules for
her seventeen year old daughter and her furry-eared companion.
First, he was to go to school. If he was going to marry her daughter,
dog-demon or not, he was going to be able to get a job! So, within two
day's, Inuyasha was uniformed, had a fake history, and was enrolled in
ALL of Kagome's classes.
Second, there would be no more sneaking into Kagome's room in the
middle of the night for ANY reason whatsoever. She knew very well
what happened when two teenagers were alone together and there
would be none of THAT under her roof. The spare bedroom had been
refurbished and decorated, much to Inuyasha's surprise (and delight,
but he'd be damned if he was going to admit something like that in front
of his woman).
Third came Inuyasha's wardrobe. Emphasis on the word WARdrobe. It
took quite a bit of convincing and sitting before he agreed that in the
duration of his time with Kagome in her 'world', he would have to part
with his beloved kimono. Kagome and her mother took him out
shopping for other clothing, and after he sulked for a few minutes, he
sort of got into being fawned over by two women (once again, good
luck getting him to admit it). He especially liked it when Kagome
blushed because he looked good in whatever it was he was wearing.
Unfortunately for Inuyasha, that day at the mall brought about another
small problem, hence, another rule to follow. His manners were
obviously going to be torn apart and put back together properly.
Finally, three years later, Inuyasha was a relatively respectable citizen of
modern Japan. Relatively, because some old habits die hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha lay in his new, extremely soft and comfortable bed, staring at
the roof, unable to sleep. The Higurashi's never seemed to realize he
was so used to not sleeping, it had become more than habit, it was to
the point of being ritual.
Each night, he'd lay abed for about half an hour, then get up and pace,
then stand by the window, and then go back to pacing. It took him a
little over a month to realize it wasn't just habit, it was natural. Demons
didn't need as much sleep as humans, who spent a quarter of their short
lives asleep. He could remember sleeping well only once, and that was a
time he'd stayed overnight at Kagome's house, and had fallen to sleep
on her bed.
Every other time people thought he was really asleep, in reality, he was
awake. This did not exclude his time pinned to Goshinboku. While his
body may have been sleeping, his mind was active the entire time. Each
razor sharp sense, save sight, was working overtime during that fifty-
year period.
Now that he was in Kagome's time, he was expected to live like other
humans, but he would never be like other humans. Neither would
Kagome. He was a hanyou, and even if he lost his claws and fangs,
every cell of his body was saturated with demonic power. Kagome was
a powerful priestess, guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Even now, he
would catch her edges shimmering when she was happy.
As the years had progressed and they'd continued to look in on the
village in his time, Kaede had taught her how to harness and control her
powers, and had explained rather ominously that soon Kagome would
have to teach someone herself.
Aggrevated, Inuyasha drug a hand through his hair, going back to
pacing his room. If only he could just sneak into Kagome's room for a
moment and just lean over her and breath her scent. If he could just do
that, he would be able to relax. Something strangely familiar, yet oddly
elusive was brushing at the edge of his senses. He recognized it like he
recognized Kagome's scent, yet more fleeting than the glimpse of a
spirit.
It was like a warning.
Shaking his head, he looked out the window. It was impossible. This
was Kagome's time, after all. Demons don't exist here. He paused,
realizing he was assuming too much. Demons DID live in Kagome's
time, just as many as in his own, but hidden behind jobs and in forests.
With a growl, he opened his window, letting in some fresh cool air. The
smell of winter was in the air. It was as tangible as her scent, sweet and
almost frighteningly refreshing. It made him want to smell it more.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to relax, lifting his face to the breeze.
Tomorrow was his first day to this think called 'school'. He needed to
get a grip on himself and his infinite well of paranoia. He didn't care if
Kagome said it was perfectly natural and that every human had it, he
had to act like a human. A white haired, dog-eared, demon-eyed human,
but hell, he'd seen stranger things in his brief time here.
With a groan, he walked to the door, throwing it open, preparing to go
and at least look in on Kagome. He was, of course, surprised to see a
very surprised Kagome on the other side of his door.
She blushed softly, biting her lip. "I...I wanted to see if you were
okay..." She said hooking an ankle behind the other and peering up at
him from under her eyebrows.
A move he found incredibly cute.
Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent
deeply. He felt her arms go around him instantly and smiled a bit. "I'm
find, now..." He said, resting his cheek against her hair. "You should
be asleep, though. You've got that school thing tomorrow."
"You're one to talk." She teased, tapping his chest lightly. She saw the
faint lines of worry and barely disernable stress marks and reached up,
smoothing his brow. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" She asked, suddenly
worried. She'd known something was wrong, in fact it had woken her
from the dead of sleep and the Shikon no Tama had felt ice cold against
her chest when she'd woken.
He sighed, leaning against the wall and reaching up to hold her hand
against his cheek. "I'm not sure." He frowned deeply. "It feels familiar,
but I can't quite place it." He shook his head, straightening, then
cocked his head to his room. "Wanna come sit down?" He left the door
open on purpose.
She smiled. "Yes." She followed him, examining his back carefully. It
wasn't heavily scarred, but his more serious injuries were still faintly
visible. When his brother had punched through his stomach, several
other marks she recognized from when he'd come out of the worse end
of a fight. While he was still standing, she quickly crossed the floor and
wrapped her arms around his back, resting her cheek against his
shoulder.
He stood still, closing his eyes a bit. He could feel her warm breath
rushing across his back, her tiny hands flat against his stomach and
chest. He knew there were scars in those places, and let her lose herself
in the memories for a moment. Finally, he rested his hands over hers,
lacing his fingers with hers. "Kagome..." He said gently.
She clung to him tighter. "I love you..." She whispered desperately. In
the three years since that time when the fight could have gone either
way, they'd said this so little, choosing instead to save these words for
special moments that would hopefully keep the novelty of the phrase.
This was one of those times for her. She had the feeling like before they
defeated Naraku, like any moment could be their last together.
It frightened her.
Inuyasha turned in her embrace and hugged her gently. "I love you,
too..." He murmured back, letting his lips graze her temple. He could
hear her heart fluttering like a sparrows wings and stroked her hair. "It's
okay, Kagome. I'll protect you, you know that."
She nodded, fisting her hands against his back. "I know you will, but
don't be afraid to let me protect you, now and then..." She closed her
eyes and a flash of images splashed through her mind, a vision of what
was to come, but she was unable to desipher it, due to the sheer
number. She did, however feel the emotions. Fear, desperation, yet at
the same time, joy, new love, and excitement. She didn't know the order
in which they would come, but she hoped the fear was a long way away.
Only one of the images was especially clear to her. Inuyasha, human
and his emotions in turmoil.
She stepped back, taking her hands and squeezing them gently. "I want
you to know that I love you no matter what, no matter what you look
like, or what happens. I love you the most."
He saw the haunted look in her eyes that seemed to have been coming
more and more frequently lately and scooped both of her hands up into
his. "I know, Kagome." He sat on the edge of his sofa-sleeper, bringing
Kagome with him and leaning against the back, holding her against his
side. "Get some sleep, okay. If you don't, you'll be a mess tomorrow."
She nodded sleepily, slipping her arms around his waist and dozing off.
He reached around, grabbing the comforter from the chair beside the
sofa, and wrapped it around them, resting his head on her shoulder. As
he sat beside her, only one thing came to mind.
"Please, keep her safe."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome's mother came in to wake Inuyasha the next morning, and
found the demon standing by the window, staring out, his face serious,
and almost solemn. "Inuyasha, is anything wrong?"
"No." He said, automatically. He'd learned quickly not to share his
brooding with the over-protective mother. He saw the woman's eyes on
Kagome and squirmed a bit. "She couldn't sleep, so I let her crash in
here. I don't need as much sleep as humans do." He said, looking out
the window again to avoid the look the woman gave him.
Mrs. Higurashi frowned a bit. "I don't know if I'm comfortable with you
and my daughter sneaking off to each other's rooms at all hours of the
night." She scolded.
He just shrugged.
Kagome woke up at the sound of her voices, at first, uncertain of where
she was. When she realized, she bolted upright, blushing from ear to
ear. The blush only worsened when she saw Inuyasha and her mother
looking at her. "Um..."
Her mother just shrugged, handing her a clean uniform. "Just go to
your room to change. We'll talk about this later." She said evenly, then
waited till her daughter was out of the room before coming in and
looking at Inuyasha sternly. "I don't want you pushing my baby into
activities she isn't ready for yet."
He turned towards her, his eyes dead serious. "I didn't force her to stay
in here last night. I offered. She was tired, but she was also worried
about something, and something's bothering me too. We needed each
other's presence to get calm enough to go on with life. For her, life was
sleep. For me..." He just stopped, realizing he had just spent the entire
night looking down at her. "It was comfort." He said finally.
The older woman blinked in surprise. "If you two insist on being in the
same room, leave the door to the room open. No hanky-panky under my
roof, understand?!"
"I don't even know what hanky-panky IS..." He muttered grumpily after
she'd left. Maybe he'd ask Kagome what that meant. With a sigh, he
went about getting dressed in the really f*cking uncomfortable school
uniform that he was forced to wear to school every damned day.
School itself wasn't all that bad, but these uniforms were seriously
annoying. But at least Kagome thought he looked good in it. He could
tell, because the first day he'd worn it, she'd gotten that sweet blush on
her face she always did when she was embarassed. But she hadn't
looked away. With a growl, he tugged at the collar, and finally he
unbuttoned the top three loops. He'd correct it at school, but this was
too uncomfortable for now.
It was the first day back after a long weekend which included the
autumn festival, and he could feel the weather seeping into his skin. It
was going to be very cold today. With a deep frown, he went to the
window and watched as the glass fogged in response to the heat from
his body. Yes, it was deffinately cold.
He ran a brush through his hair, since Mrs. Higurashi had deemed he
would have the materials to groom himself properly. Not that he
objected. That shampoo and conditioner stuff left his hair feeling soft,
and less coarse than when it was tangled and matted and only washed
when he got drenched during the rains. Besides, Kagome seemed to
like it. With a shrug, he grabbed a scrap of leather he'd managed to
attain, and had fashioned with clips to keep his hair out of his face. It
was a contraption Kagome had helped him design. Smiling fondly, he
pulled his hair back and fastened it in the little device.
He stepped outside the room and was immediately greeted with a cold
stare from 'grandpa'. He cringed, knowing that it meant everyone in the
house knew Kagome had slept in his room. He glanced towards Souta,
who was the age Kagome had been when he'd met her, and gave a
helpless shrug, which caused the boy to laugh.
"Guess there's no helping it, ne?" He said, grinning from ear to ear. "If
you're rooms right next to the living room, everyone knows what
happens in it!"
Inuyasha prickled. He knew the kid was just kidding, but he was short-
tempered today. "Oi, kid, dress warm today, or that mortal blood of
yours will freeze." He said, storming up to the bathroom to brush his
teeth.
This was another modern chore he didn't mind. In fact, he found it
rather pleasant. It felt like the little brush was massaging his entire
mouth, and it left a minty flavor in it's wake. DEFFINATELY an activity
he enjoyed.
He'd just stuck the brush in his mouth when Kagome walked in,
shivering. She was dressed in her uniform, but he knew those things
were very drafty, he'd heard her complain about it before. He looked at
her in concern, an emotion that was completely lost due to the tooth
brush in his mouth.
Kagome gave him a bright smile, going for her own and brushing her
own teeth.
He finished the chore and quickly rinsed his mouth. "Kagome." He
said softly. "Don't forget your coat, today. It smells like early winter."
"But it's supposed to be warm today." She said softly, blinking in
confusion. "That's what the weatherman said..."
He gave her a wicked grin. "The weather man doesn't kow what he's
looking for. It smells like winter's coming today. It's going to be cold,
so bundle up." He smiled, caressing her cheek softly.
Kagome blushed, nodding. She'd learned in the three years she'd
known him to trust his sense of smell, as well as his instincts. They
were sharper than a sword. "Hai..." She pushed herself onto her
tiptoes, kissing him lightly on the cheek, then skipping out of the
bathroom, leaving him with a confused look on his face.
"Three years...and I STILL don't get her..." He grumbled, rinsing off the
brush and dropping it into the cup with the rest of them. Then, just
before he left the bathroom, that strangely familiar prickling sensation
ran through him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on
end.
He recognized it better now. It was the same feeling he'd gotten
whenever he saw the crows three years ago.
Something was coming.
And it wasn't going to be pretty...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group of three walked down the street towards the high school,
which happened to be on the way to Souta's new middle school. The
youngest Higurashi had matured greatly due to his sister, and his
sister's boyfriend.
When he was eleven, he'd listened to the stories in rapt silence,
absolutely amazed by the adventures they'd endured together. As he'd
grown older, and had entered middle school, he started to become aware
of girls. His mother had sheltered him so much, he didn't respond well
at all.
Now, he was pretty cool about the whole thing, with Inuyasha telling
him he'd better get used to it, because since he had his sister's blood in
him, every girl in school would be falling over him. The hanyou was
right, too. At least fifty percent of the female population was chasing
after him by now, although he'd learned from his sister not to rush into
things.
Not that she was one to talk.
Souta grinned at the pair that was now quite comfortable in each other's
company. They didn't seem to have a problem with walking around
hand in hand, in the middle of a rather large group of kids going to
school.
Not that life had been quite for anyone in the Higurashi household
since Inuyasha's arrival and the partial completion of the Shikon no
Tama. They had been attacked by demon's several times, and Kagome
had insisted on bringing Souta along.
Souta hadn't understood at first, till Kagome took him into her room one
day and told him that he was nearing the age she'd been when her own
powers had peaked. He didn't understand the significance when he'd
been told about two years ago, until one time he saw his sister glowing.
He'd screamed his head off.
It turned out that it was just her powers causing her to glow, and after a
few minutes...hours...days...he'd come to terms with this new little
arrangement. Now, he was wondering what was going to happen to him
when his own powers emerged.
Now, they were walking to school, acting like a bunch of normal
teenagers (even if one happened to have dog-ears), talking about what
they were going to do after school, and this weekend. Souta said
Inuyasha and Kagome should go on a date, which cause both to blush
awkwardly.
Three years, and they STILL hadn't gone out on a date.
Souta was more than a little exasperated with them.
What he didn't realize was the pair often snuck off during the day to be
alone with each other, and would whisper endearments to each other,
and make little secret promises.
"Mou, Souta..." Kagome said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"If mom heard you talking like that, she'd lock you in your room."
"What?!" Souta just smiled. "I just think you two should go on one of
those dates your friends keep trying to hook you both up on." He saw
the twinge of irritation in Inuyasha's eyes and knew what that was
about.
Even though Kagome had officially broken up with Houjo three years
ago, her friends still tried to hook them up on dates. Recently, however,
they'd stopped, trying instead to hook her up with a rather attractive
American by the name of Maikeru Curaaku (Michael Clark). Inuyasha
was more than a little threatened by him.
Kagome saw the jealous twinge in her boyfriends eyes and giggled. "I
don't think it's any of your business, Souta." She said, giving
Inuyasha's hand a gentle squeeze. She knew Inuyasha felt equally as
threatened by Maikeru as he'd felt from Kouga. He knew she was loyal
to him, but he'd explained no matter how much he trusted her, he didn't
trust the rest of the world.
He was so silly sometimes.
Inuyasha relaxed at the feeling of her hand tightening around his. "Keh,
dates aren't that important." He grumbled. He felt the hand slip from
his and wondered what he'd said wrong this time. He saw the irritation
in her eyes and knew what was coming.
"Inuyasha...SIT." She ordered, hearing the resounding thud as he was
flattened to the ground. She'd explain why she'd done it later, and
would tell him that dates ARE important, and a good way to stake your
claim on someone.
Inuyasha remembered the pancakes they'd eaten that morning and idly
wondered if this was what if felt like. But it wasn't a time to worry about
what being a pancake felt like. They were going to be late to school if
he didn't peel himself up. "Dammit, woman, what was that for!?" He
asked, popping up.
She took his hand again, immediately disarming him. "I'll explain later."
She said, watching her brother walk of in the direction of the middle
school, laughing his ass off. "I think you've been a bad influence on
him." She teased, dragging him towards the highschool.
"Keh." He grumbled.
She wrapped both of her arms around his arm, laughing happily.
He harumphed, shrugging off his confusion. He'd accepted the fact
he'd probably never understand girls years ago.
Specifically, directly after he met Kagome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They made it to school on time.
Barely.
They didn't notice they were being watched as they rushed to their
seats. Piercing green eyes watched them intently. 'That's them? They
don't look that troublesome.'
Naraku ground Maikeru's teeth together in irritation. 'They are, trust
me. They are the one's that killed me. There's no doubt of it.' He
noticed a conflict in Maikeru's emotions and his mouth twitched.
'What's your problem?'
'B-betsuni...but...that girl...Kagome?' There was a long pause, and even
more mental confusion. 'She's kind of cute. I didn't notice before when
her friends were trying to hook us up, but she really is kinda cute.'
'Great, now you have a crush on her.' Naraku grumbled, forcing himself
to look at the sensei so he wouldn't get in trouble.
Yet, without realizing it, Maikeru took over, glancing towards her
several times. He hadn't noticed before that she was actually quite
attractive. She seemed like a perfectly normal high school girl. An
exceptionally happy, but perfectly normal high schooler.
Naraku quickly seized control. 'Don't go falling for her. She's my arch
enemy. I'm going to have to kill her and her boyfriend.' Mostly her, he
didn't add. After all, it was her fault he was dead in the first place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha sat at the dinner table, dressed in pajama, his hair pulled back
again, soaking wet, which of course caused the back of his pajama to be
wet as well. He heard someone coming in behind him and sniffed
deeply. "Oi, Souta." He said evenly, glancing back at him.
The boy looked kind of embarassed, if not a bit annoyed. "Are you
dating my sister or not?" He asked, sitting down next to Inuyasha.
The demon sighed heavily. "This dating thing again? What's the point
of it? After all, we've already said how we feel about each other. Isn't
the rest just...formality?" He dropped his pencil, staring down at the
evil thing that Kagome called mathmatics. "Besides, I'm about 12 years
behind your sister in schooling, and I have to catch up. No time for
leisure."
"Baka." Souta said evenly, frowning at Inuyasha. "Dates are important
to girls. It's a way of showing a girl if you're serious about her. I mean,
besides, if you go out on some dates with Kagome, it'll tell that Maikeru
guy hands off, right?"
Inuyasha blinked. "Maybe I don't want her to be ashamed of me. I'm
still new to this modern crap." He sighed, gnawing on the end of his
pencil. "I don't want her to be embarassed with me."
"Keh..." Kagome's brother grumbled. "If you are ever going to marry
my sister, you better get over that." He said as he stood. "I mean, do
you think she'd have fallen for you if she was ashamed of you?"
Inuyasha blinked, staring up at the kid.
Souta shrugged, walking out of the room. "Hmph...it's none of my
business, forget I said anything."
The hanyou was still staring long after the boy was gone. Finally, a
half-grin passed over his lips. "Heh...that kid grew up pretty quickly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome ran a comb through her hair, wondering how she was going to
explain the significance of dating to Inuyasha. He was so silly
sometimes. She smiled fondly into her mirror, wondering what he'd say,
and how he'd react.
She was surprised to see Inuyasha standing in her doorway, his face
quite serious. "Inuyasha..."
"I'll take you on one, but not till the new moon."
Kagome blinked, turning in her chair and staring at him, completely
baffled. "Take me on one?" She asked. What on earth was he talking
about. She tilted her head to the side, about to ask him to clarify when
he answered for her.
"A date, baka." He grumbled, blushing and looking away. "If it's that
important, I'll take you on one..." He was surprised when she suddenly
threw her arms around him, embracing him tightly. "Eh?!"
"Arigatou, Inuyasha!" She exclaimed, smiling happily. "I'll never forget
this!" She pulled him down by his dragon tails, kissing him lightly on
the cheek, then ran away, going to the calendar. She found the day that
said 'New Moon' and wrote 'Date with Inuyasha' in hiragana with a
heart next to it.
Inuyasha stood in her doorway, watching as she wrote this, and
blushed deeper. "I...I'm going to my room..." He said, then walked
away, wondering if this was a good time for him to be going on a date
when he was so behind in school. It suddenly struck him that he had
no idea what a guy did on a date that made them so special for girls.
He facefaulted promptly, wishing he wasn't so damn hasty when he
made decisions. "Chikushoooo..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Chapter 1: Rules of the House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Ne, ne, what do you think? Believe it or not, Naraku
isn't the main bad guy in this! YAY! In fact, I'm going to be absolutely
terrible to monkey-man. And everyone else. Souta's going to be put
through absolute hell. Oh, p.s., even though this is a sequel, it also
works as a stand alone story! I didn't realize it as I wrote it. Maybe I'll
go into the story from Demon Body, Human Heart, later. I dunno. See
you next chapter! *DemonSaya*
By: DemonSaya
Disclaimer: Okay, I dun own any of these characters, I'm borrowing
them, and I promised that I'd return them. Well...I promised because
Inuyasha's rather mad that I kidnapped them for awhile and I'm afraid
he may pull out his sword and demolish me...Please don't sue me, I
already have a pmsing adolescent half-demon to deal with!
Policy on Flamers: Give me Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease, and I shall
give you the same. If you don't, I know lots of assassins, thieves,
demons, and goddesses, that would love to hurt you if I told them you
flamed ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1-Rules of the House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been three years since they had finally defeated Naraku, and
Inuyasha had been spending more and more time with the Higurashi's,
so much in fact, Kagome's mom had begun to set down several rules for
her seventeen year old daughter and her furry-eared companion.
First, he was to go to school. If he was going to marry her daughter,
dog-demon or not, he was going to be able to get a job! So, within two
day's, Inuyasha was uniformed, had a fake history, and was enrolled in
ALL of Kagome's classes.
Second, there would be no more sneaking into Kagome's room in the
middle of the night for ANY reason whatsoever. She knew very well
what happened when two teenagers were alone together and there
would be none of THAT under her roof. The spare bedroom had been
refurbished and decorated, much to Inuyasha's surprise (and delight,
but he'd be damned if he was going to admit something like that in front
of his woman).
Third came Inuyasha's wardrobe. Emphasis on the word WARdrobe. It
took quite a bit of convincing and sitting before he agreed that in the
duration of his time with Kagome in her 'world', he would have to part
with his beloved kimono. Kagome and her mother took him out
shopping for other clothing, and after he sulked for a few minutes, he
sort of got into being fawned over by two women (once again, good
luck getting him to admit it). He especially liked it when Kagome
blushed because he looked good in whatever it was he was wearing.
Unfortunately for Inuyasha, that day at the mall brought about another
small problem, hence, another rule to follow. His manners were
obviously going to be torn apart and put back together properly.
Finally, three years later, Inuyasha was a relatively respectable citizen of
modern Japan. Relatively, because some old habits die hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha lay in his new, extremely soft and comfortable bed, staring at
the roof, unable to sleep. The Higurashi's never seemed to realize he
was so used to not sleeping, it had become more than habit, it was to
the point of being ritual.
Each night, he'd lay abed for about half an hour, then get up and pace,
then stand by the window, and then go back to pacing. It took him a
little over a month to realize it wasn't just habit, it was natural. Demons
didn't need as much sleep as humans, who spent a quarter of their short
lives asleep. He could remember sleeping well only once, and that was a
time he'd stayed overnight at Kagome's house, and had fallen to sleep
on her bed.
Every other time people thought he was really asleep, in reality, he was
awake. This did not exclude his time pinned to Goshinboku. While his
body may have been sleeping, his mind was active the entire time. Each
razor sharp sense, save sight, was working overtime during that fifty-
year period.
Now that he was in Kagome's time, he was expected to live like other
humans, but he would never be like other humans. Neither would
Kagome. He was a hanyou, and even if he lost his claws and fangs,
every cell of his body was saturated with demonic power. Kagome was
a powerful priestess, guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Even now, he
would catch her edges shimmering when she was happy.
As the years had progressed and they'd continued to look in on the
village in his time, Kaede had taught her how to harness and control her
powers, and had explained rather ominously that soon Kagome would
have to teach someone herself.
Aggrevated, Inuyasha drug a hand through his hair, going back to
pacing his room. If only he could just sneak into Kagome's room for a
moment and just lean over her and breath her scent. If he could just do
that, he would be able to relax. Something strangely familiar, yet oddly
elusive was brushing at the edge of his senses. He recognized it like he
recognized Kagome's scent, yet more fleeting than the glimpse of a
spirit.
It was like a warning.
Shaking his head, he looked out the window. It was impossible. This
was Kagome's time, after all. Demons don't exist here. He paused,
realizing he was assuming too much. Demons DID live in Kagome's
time, just as many as in his own, but hidden behind jobs and in forests.
With a growl, he opened his window, letting in some fresh cool air. The
smell of winter was in the air. It was as tangible as her scent, sweet and
almost frighteningly refreshing. It made him want to smell it more.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to relax, lifting his face to the breeze.
Tomorrow was his first day to this think called 'school'. He needed to
get a grip on himself and his infinite well of paranoia. He didn't care if
Kagome said it was perfectly natural and that every human had it, he
had to act like a human. A white haired, dog-eared, demon-eyed human,
but hell, he'd seen stranger things in his brief time here.
With a groan, he walked to the door, throwing it open, preparing to go
and at least look in on Kagome. He was, of course, surprised to see a
very surprised Kagome on the other side of his door.
She blushed softly, biting her lip. "I...I wanted to see if you were
okay..." She said hooking an ankle behind the other and peering up at
him from under her eyebrows.
A move he found incredibly cute.
Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent
deeply. He felt her arms go around him instantly and smiled a bit. "I'm
find, now..." He said, resting his cheek against her hair. "You should
be asleep, though. You've got that school thing tomorrow."
"You're one to talk." She teased, tapping his chest lightly. She saw the
faint lines of worry and barely disernable stress marks and reached up,
smoothing his brow. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" She asked, suddenly
worried. She'd known something was wrong, in fact it had woken her
from the dead of sleep and the Shikon no Tama had felt ice cold against
her chest when she'd woken.
He sighed, leaning against the wall and reaching up to hold her hand
against his cheek. "I'm not sure." He frowned deeply. "It feels familiar,
but I can't quite place it." He shook his head, straightening, then
cocked his head to his room. "Wanna come sit down?" He left the door
open on purpose.
She smiled. "Yes." She followed him, examining his back carefully. It
wasn't heavily scarred, but his more serious injuries were still faintly
visible. When his brother had punched through his stomach, several
other marks she recognized from when he'd come out of the worse end
of a fight. While he was still standing, she quickly crossed the floor and
wrapped her arms around his back, resting her cheek against his
shoulder.
He stood still, closing his eyes a bit. He could feel her warm breath
rushing across his back, her tiny hands flat against his stomach and
chest. He knew there were scars in those places, and let her lose herself
in the memories for a moment. Finally, he rested his hands over hers,
lacing his fingers with hers. "Kagome..." He said gently.
She clung to him tighter. "I love you..." She whispered desperately. In
the three years since that time when the fight could have gone either
way, they'd said this so little, choosing instead to save these words for
special moments that would hopefully keep the novelty of the phrase.
This was one of those times for her. She had the feeling like before they
defeated Naraku, like any moment could be their last together.
It frightened her.
Inuyasha turned in her embrace and hugged her gently. "I love you,
too..." He murmured back, letting his lips graze her temple. He could
hear her heart fluttering like a sparrows wings and stroked her hair. "It's
okay, Kagome. I'll protect you, you know that."
She nodded, fisting her hands against his back. "I know you will, but
don't be afraid to let me protect you, now and then..." She closed her
eyes and a flash of images splashed through her mind, a vision of what
was to come, but she was unable to desipher it, due to the sheer
number. She did, however feel the emotions. Fear, desperation, yet at
the same time, joy, new love, and excitement. She didn't know the order
in which they would come, but she hoped the fear was a long way away.
Only one of the images was especially clear to her. Inuyasha, human
and his emotions in turmoil.
She stepped back, taking her hands and squeezing them gently. "I want
you to know that I love you no matter what, no matter what you look
like, or what happens. I love you the most."
He saw the haunted look in her eyes that seemed to have been coming
more and more frequently lately and scooped both of her hands up into
his. "I know, Kagome." He sat on the edge of his sofa-sleeper, bringing
Kagome with him and leaning against the back, holding her against his
side. "Get some sleep, okay. If you don't, you'll be a mess tomorrow."
She nodded sleepily, slipping her arms around his waist and dozing off.
He reached around, grabbing the comforter from the chair beside the
sofa, and wrapped it around them, resting his head on her shoulder. As
he sat beside her, only one thing came to mind.
"Please, keep her safe."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome's mother came in to wake Inuyasha the next morning, and
found the demon standing by the window, staring out, his face serious,
and almost solemn. "Inuyasha, is anything wrong?"
"No." He said, automatically. He'd learned quickly not to share his
brooding with the over-protective mother. He saw the woman's eyes on
Kagome and squirmed a bit. "She couldn't sleep, so I let her crash in
here. I don't need as much sleep as humans do." He said, looking out
the window again to avoid the look the woman gave him.
Mrs. Higurashi frowned a bit. "I don't know if I'm comfortable with you
and my daughter sneaking off to each other's rooms at all hours of the
night." She scolded.
He just shrugged.
Kagome woke up at the sound of her voices, at first, uncertain of where
she was. When she realized, she bolted upright, blushing from ear to
ear. The blush only worsened when she saw Inuyasha and her mother
looking at her. "Um..."
Her mother just shrugged, handing her a clean uniform. "Just go to
your room to change. We'll talk about this later." She said evenly, then
waited till her daughter was out of the room before coming in and
looking at Inuyasha sternly. "I don't want you pushing my baby into
activities she isn't ready for yet."
He turned towards her, his eyes dead serious. "I didn't force her to stay
in here last night. I offered. She was tired, but she was also worried
about something, and something's bothering me too. We needed each
other's presence to get calm enough to go on with life. For her, life was
sleep. For me..." He just stopped, realizing he had just spent the entire
night looking down at her. "It was comfort." He said finally.
The older woman blinked in surprise. "If you two insist on being in the
same room, leave the door to the room open. No hanky-panky under my
roof, understand?!"
"I don't even know what hanky-panky IS..." He muttered grumpily after
she'd left. Maybe he'd ask Kagome what that meant. With a sigh, he
went about getting dressed in the really f*cking uncomfortable school
uniform that he was forced to wear to school every damned day.
School itself wasn't all that bad, but these uniforms were seriously
annoying. But at least Kagome thought he looked good in it. He could
tell, because the first day he'd worn it, she'd gotten that sweet blush on
her face she always did when she was embarassed. But she hadn't
looked away. With a growl, he tugged at the collar, and finally he
unbuttoned the top three loops. He'd correct it at school, but this was
too uncomfortable for now.
It was the first day back after a long weekend which included the
autumn festival, and he could feel the weather seeping into his skin. It
was going to be very cold today. With a deep frown, he went to the
window and watched as the glass fogged in response to the heat from
his body. Yes, it was deffinately cold.
He ran a brush through his hair, since Mrs. Higurashi had deemed he
would have the materials to groom himself properly. Not that he
objected. That shampoo and conditioner stuff left his hair feeling soft,
and less coarse than when it was tangled and matted and only washed
when he got drenched during the rains. Besides, Kagome seemed to
like it. With a shrug, he grabbed a scrap of leather he'd managed to
attain, and had fashioned with clips to keep his hair out of his face. It
was a contraption Kagome had helped him design. Smiling fondly, he
pulled his hair back and fastened it in the little device.
He stepped outside the room and was immediately greeted with a cold
stare from 'grandpa'. He cringed, knowing that it meant everyone in the
house knew Kagome had slept in his room. He glanced towards Souta,
who was the age Kagome had been when he'd met her, and gave a
helpless shrug, which caused the boy to laugh.
"Guess there's no helping it, ne?" He said, grinning from ear to ear. "If
you're rooms right next to the living room, everyone knows what
happens in it!"
Inuyasha prickled. He knew the kid was just kidding, but he was short-
tempered today. "Oi, kid, dress warm today, or that mortal blood of
yours will freeze." He said, storming up to the bathroom to brush his
teeth.
This was another modern chore he didn't mind. In fact, he found it
rather pleasant. It felt like the little brush was massaging his entire
mouth, and it left a minty flavor in it's wake. DEFFINATELY an activity
he enjoyed.
He'd just stuck the brush in his mouth when Kagome walked in,
shivering. She was dressed in her uniform, but he knew those things
were very drafty, he'd heard her complain about it before. He looked at
her in concern, an emotion that was completely lost due to the tooth
brush in his mouth.
Kagome gave him a bright smile, going for her own and brushing her
own teeth.
He finished the chore and quickly rinsed his mouth. "Kagome." He
said softly. "Don't forget your coat, today. It smells like early winter."
"But it's supposed to be warm today." She said softly, blinking in
confusion. "That's what the weatherman said..."
He gave her a wicked grin. "The weather man doesn't kow what he's
looking for. It smells like winter's coming today. It's going to be cold,
so bundle up." He smiled, caressing her cheek softly.
Kagome blushed, nodding. She'd learned in the three years she'd
known him to trust his sense of smell, as well as his instincts. They
were sharper than a sword. "Hai..." She pushed herself onto her
tiptoes, kissing him lightly on the cheek, then skipping out of the
bathroom, leaving him with a confused look on his face.
"Three years...and I STILL don't get her..." He grumbled, rinsing off the
brush and dropping it into the cup with the rest of them. Then, just
before he left the bathroom, that strangely familiar prickling sensation
ran through him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on
end.
He recognized it better now. It was the same feeling he'd gotten
whenever he saw the crows three years ago.
Something was coming.
And it wasn't going to be pretty...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group of three walked down the street towards the high school,
which happened to be on the way to Souta's new middle school. The
youngest Higurashi had matured greatly due to his sister, and his
sister's boyfriend.
When he was eleven, he'd listened to the stories in rapt silence,
absolutely amazed by the adventures they'd endured together. As he'd
grown older, and had entered middle school, he started to become aware
of girls. His mother had sheltered him so much, he didn't respond well
at all.
Now, he was pretty cool about the whole thing, with Inuyasha telling
him he'd better get used to it, because since he had his sister's blood in
him, every girl in school would be falling over him. The hanyou was
right, too. At least fifty percent of the female population was chasing
after him by now, although he'd learned from his sister not to rush into
things.
Not that she was one to talk.
Souta grinned at the pair that was now quite comfortable in each other's
company. They didn't seem to have a problem with walking around
hand in hand, in the middle of a rather large group of kids going to
school.
Not that life had been quite for anyone in the Higurashi household
since Inuyasha's arrival and the partial completion of the Shikon no
Tama. They had been attacked by demon's several times, and Kagome
had insisted on bringing Souta along.
Souta hadn't understood at first, till Kagome took him into her room one
day and told him that he was nearing the age she'd been when her own
powers had peaked. He didn't understand the significance when he'd
been told about two years ago, until one time he saw his sister glowing.
He'd screamed his head off.
It turned out that it was just her powers causing her to glow, and after a
few minutes...hours...days...he'd come to terms with this new little
arrangement. Now, he was wondering what was going to happen to him
when his own powers emerged.
Now, they were walking to school, acting like a bunch of normal
teenagers (even if one happened to have dog-ears), talking about what
they were going to do after school, and this weekend. Souta said
Inuyasha and Kagome should go on a date, which cause both to blush
awkwardly.
Three years, and they STILL hadn't gone out on a date.
Souta was more than a little exasperated with them.
What he didn't realize was the pair often snuck off during the day to be
alone with each other, and would whisper endearments to each other,
and make little secret promises.
"Mou, Souta..." Kagome said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"If mom heard you talking like that, she'd lock you in your room."
"What?!" Souta just smiled. "I just think you two should go on one of
those dates your friends keep trying to hook you both up on." He saw
the twinge of irritation in Inuyasha's eyes and knew what that was
about.
Even though Kagome had officially broken up with Houjo three years
ago, her friends still tried to hook them up on dates. Recently, however,
they'd stopped, trying instead to hook her up with a rather attractive
American by the name of Maikeru Curaaku (Michael Clark). Inuyasha
was more than a little threatened by him.
Kagome saw the jealous twinge in her boyfriends eyes and giggled. "I
don't think it's any of your business, Souta." She said, giving
Inuyasha's hand a gentle squeeze. She knew Inuyasha felt equally as
threatened by Maikeru as he'd felt from Kouga. He knew she was loyal
to him, but he'd explained no matter how much he trusted her, he didn't
trust the rest of the world.
He was so silly sometimes.
Inuyasha relaxed at the feeling of her hand tightening around his. "Keh,
dates aren't that important." He grumbled. He felt the hand slip from
his and wondered what he'd said wrong this time. He saw the irritation
in her eyes and knew what was coming.
"Inuyasha...SIT." She ordered, hearing the resounding thud as he was
flattened to the ground. She'd explain why she'd done it later, and
would tell him that dates ARE important, and a good way to stake your
claim on someone.
Inuyasha remembered the pancakes they'd eaten that morning and idly
wondered if this was what if felt like. But it wasn't a time to worry about
what being a pancake felt like. They were going to be late to school if
he didn't peel himself up. "Dammit, woman, what was that for!?" He
asked, popping up.
She took his hand again, immediately disarming him. "I'll explain later."
She said, watching her brother walk of in the direction of the middle
school, laughing his ass off. "I think you've been a bad influence on
him." She teased, dragging him towards the highschool.
"Keh." He grumbled.
She wrapped both of her arms around his arm, laughing happily.
He harumphed, shrugging off his confusion. He'd accepted the fact
he'd probably never understand girls years ago.
Specifically, directly after he met Kagome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They made it to school on time.
Barely.
They didn't notice they were being watched as they rushed to their
seats. Piercing green eyes watched them intently. 'That's them? They
don't look that troublesome.'
Naraku ground Maikeru's teeth together in irritation. 'They are, trust
me. They are the one's that killed me. There's no doubt of it.' He
noticed a conflict in Maikeru's emotions and his mouth twitched.
'What's your problem?'
'B-betsuni...but...that girl...Kagome?' There was a long pause, and even
more mental confusion. 'She's kind of cute. I didn't notice before when
her friends were trying to hook us up, but she really is kinda cute.'
'Great, now you have a crush on her.' Naraku grumbled, forcing himself
to look at the sensei so he wouldn't get in trouble.
Yet, without realizing it, Maikeru took over, glancing towards her
several times. He hadn't noticed before that she was actually quite
attractive. She seemed like a perfectly normal high school girl. An
exceptionally happy, but perfectly normal high schooler.
Naraku quickly seized control. 'Don't go falling for her. She's my arch
enemy. I'm going to have to kill her and her boyfriend.' Mostly her, he
didn't add. After all, it was her fault he was dead in the first place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha sat at the dinner table, dressed in pajama, his hair pulled back
again, soaking wet, which of course caused the back of his pajama to be
wet as well. He heard someone coming in behind him and sniffed
deeply. "Oi, Souta." He said evenly, glancing back at him.
The boy looked kind of embarassed, if not a bit annoyed. "Are you
dating my sister or not?" He asked, sitting down next to Inuyasha.
The demon sighed heavily. "This dating thing again? What's the point
of it? After all, we've already said how we feel about each other. Isn't
the rest just...formality?" He dropped his pencil, staring down at the
evil thing that Kagome called mathmatics. "Besides, I'm about 12 years
behind your sister in schooling, and I have to catch up. No time for
leisure."
"Baka." Souta said evenly, frowning at Inuyasha. "Dates are important
to girls. It's a way of showing a girl if you're serious about her. I mean,
besides, if you go out on some dates with Kagome, it'll tell that Maikeru
guy hands off, right?"
Inuyasha blinked. "Maybe I don't want her to be ashamed of me. I'm
still new to this modern crap." He sighed, gnawing on the end of his
pencil. "I don't want her to be embarassed with me."
"Keh..." Kagome's brother grumbled. "If you are ever going to marry
my sister, you better get over that." He said as he stood. "I mean, do
you think she'd have fallen for you if she was ashamed of you?"
Inuyasha blinked, staring up at the kid.
Souta shrugged, walking out of the room. "Hmph...it's none of my
business, forget I said anything."
The hanyou was still staring long after the boy was gone. Finally, a
half-grin passed over his lips. "Heh...that kid grew up pretty quickly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome ran a comb through her hair, wondering how she was going to
explain the significance of dating to Inuyasha. He was so silly
sometimes. She smiled fondly into her mirror, wondering what he'd say,
and how he'd react.
She was surprised to see Inuyasha standing in her doorway, his face
quite serious. "Inuyasha..."
"I'll take you on one, but not till the new moon."
Kagome blinked, turning in her chair and staring at him, completely
baffled. "Take me on one?" She asked. What on earth was he talking
about. She tilted her head to the side, about to ask him to clarify when
he answered for her.
"A date, baka." He grumbled, blushing and looking away. "If it's that
important, I'll take you on one..." He was surprised when she suddenly
threw her arms around him, embracing him tightly. "Eh?!"
"Arigatou, Inuyasha!" She exclaimed, smiling happily. "I'll never forget
this!" She pulled him down by his dragon tails, kissing him lightly on
the cheek, then ran away, going to the calendar. She found the day that
said 'New Moon' and wrote 'Date with Inuyasha' in hiragana with a
heart next to it.
Inuyasha stood in her doorway, watching as she wrote this, and
blushed deeper. "I...I'm going to my room..." He said, then walked
away, wondering if this was a good time for him to be going on a date
when he was so behind in school. It suddenly struck him that he had
no idea what a guy did on a date that made them so special for girls.
He facefaulted promptly, wishing he wasn't so damn hasty when he
made decisions. "Chikushoooo..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Chapter 1: Rules of the House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Ne, ne, what do you think? Believe it or not, Naraku
isn't the main bad guy in this! YAY! In fact, I'm going to be absolutely
terrible to monkey-man. And everyone else. Souta's going to be put
through absolute hell. Oh, p.s., even though this is a sequel, it also
works as a stand alone story! I didn't realize it as I wrote it. Maybe I'll
go into the story from Demon Body, Human Heart, later. I dunno. See
you next chapter! *DemonSaya*