Hey everyone, you're favorite author is back!! Okay, quit groaning...
Anyways! Here's my new chapter that you've been waiting (oh so patiently,
I might add!) for.
Also, feel free to stop by my website... I'd feel better knowing someone was looking at it, considering I'm spending most of my days working on it. I'm beginning to wonder if Kim would like her website back... nah!
Here's your story!! And I still don't own them!!
~~~~~~~
Ch. 14 Never flirt with a demon's girl!
They were in their last class, much to the delight of the entire group. School, the three demons had decided, was not as boring as they had expected, but the scents and the teacher's annoying attitudes kept making them want to teach that meddling human not to command them like he ruled them. Kouga was getting the most angered, though. While Koshu and Shippou would take turns glancing at Kagome, then at each other, sizing up the competition, the mated pack-leader was getting tired of being spoken to like he was a pup!
"Kouga..." A soft voice broke into his thoughts, and he turned to see Kagome looking at him from the corner of her eye, then turning her eyes to stare pointedly at his hands. When he looked at them himself, he was surprised to see that he had extended his claws, and was currently digging them into his desk. He immediately relaxed, retracting his claws and crossing his arms across his chest in order to keep from damaging the stupid desk further.
And then, like magic, they were leaving. It was over. Kagome had warned them to be prepared to run the moment they stepped into sunlight, and they took her seriously, only pausing for a second for them to make sure Kagome was with them, which she was, back in the waiting arms of Koshu, who seemed intent on racing the kitsune back to her house. 'I wonder what's up with them?'
~~*~~
Shippou sighed and relaxed. School had been cancelled for the next few days, until their gym teacher recovered from his fainting spell/concussion/hallucination. So now they were all sitting in Kagome's room, and she was teaching them about things they used and did in her time, so that when they went out tomorrow, they wouldn't be so paranoid or confused.
Unfortunately, the kitsune was only half-listening to her. The other half of his brain was focused on the woman herself, her familiar voice and scent, the smile that always made him feel better as a kit, and the way her body had changed and developed since he had seen her. He had considered asking Kagome to stay with him in their time, but now he wondered if it would be right. Her family was here, along with her friends. Although Miroku and Sango's family was still around, she didn't have the same ties to them as she did to the monk and exterminator she once knew. The only thing in the past that was familiar was him, Kirara, Kouga, now Koshu, and memories of an arrogant hanyou that had once broken her heart.
Maybe he should stay here with her. He could build another house, he was certain. And this one would be larger, since the one he had lived in for decades was only meant for one person, yet if he finally succeeded in asking her to be his mate, they would need room for at least two.
Which brought up another concern with him. How should he ask her, and when? And where? And would she say yes, or would she still look at him and think of the little kit who had slept on her belly while she slept, and say no? He loved her, he knew that. He didn't like the idea of living his long life without her, and he could only hope that she cared about him too.
Desperately trying to remember how he had heard that women in love acted, he didn't realize Kagome had been speaking to him until she was in his face; and when he breathed in, he could smell her, close by, and even her breath, as though... she was...
He focused on the face before him, gazing into her worried blue eyes and trying not to reach out and hug her again. But Kouga and Koshu...
It was then that he realized the two wolves were gone. Tilting his head up to sniff the air, and caught a strong whiff of Kagome's scent, and a faint trace of Kouga and Koshu going to the door. When he looked back at her, she was smiling. Her hand came up and messed up his long hair, and her smile grew into a wide grin.
"Like I was saying, Shippou, I'm gonna take a bath and get to bed, and you need to, too. We want to be up bright and early, right? We need to beat the rush, after all. You would not believe how packed a mall can get nowadays. But, hey, it's got everything there, and I want you three to see as much as possible, so that's where we go." She glanced over at the clock and cursed softly beneath her breath, then grabbed her pajamas and a towel, and made her way to the bathroom, stopping on the way to kiss Shippou's cheek lightly.
"I'll be right back, promise. And don't look so scared about tomorrow, it'll be fine..." What she didn't know was that Shippou's frozen body and shocked face weren't in fear of this thing called "the mall", it was in surprise that she had kissed him. He sighed, one happy fox, and laid down on the floor, resting his head on his arms with his eyes closed, and thought about anything and everything that flowed through his head, not even noticing when he fell asleep, or when Kagome came in half an hour later, covered him up with a blanket, and went to bed with a smile on her face.
~~*~~
Koshu turned to look at his father, who was sitting next to the wall with his back leaning against it, already starting to drift off to sleep. But the young wolf prince was still thinking about what Kagome had said earlier, both about being able to subdue them like she had once done the hanyou his father had fought, and also about the four of them going out the next day, hopefully without her younger brother.
He almost understood about the younger brother. Souta seemed to adore the three demons, although he kept talking about Inuyasha, and Koshu had a feeling that the inu-hanyou had been his first demon to meet, and therefore, his idol. And now, anytime one of the three got within reach, he would stretch out his arm in order to pet their tails, and start asking questions again, usually about their swords, and abilities.
Sighing, the younger youkai leaned back against the wall, copying his father's position, and closed his eyes. Only one more day, he told himself. Kagome had agreed to talk to her mother tomorrow evening about whether or not she could go back to the past with them.
"Father?" He knew Kouga wasn't fully asleep yet, but hoped that he wasn't bothering the pack leader.
"Yes, Koshu?" Kouga's eyes remained closed, but Koshu knew his father was listening intently to what was being said.
"Do you think the kitsune is Kagome's mate? I don't think he is, but I keep getting this feeling like he's intending to..." Kouga's snort cut him off before the sentence was finished, but Koshu didn't mind. He wanted to know his father's thoughts on the woman who was supposed to have been the lady ruler of the wolf demons.
"You sound like me when I met her. She was traveling with Inuyasha then, searching for the jewel shards. That's why I took her at first. She could see the Shikon shards in my legs and arm. I knew she could help us, and took her with me. Later, I ended up falling in love with her. I learned something from it, though. She had already spent so much time with that mutt, she had developed feelings for him that kept her from leaving him, even after he hurt her repeatedly. So you have to make sure that you catch her before she spends too much time with the kitsune." Kouga opened one bright blue eye to glance at his son's startled, blushing face. With a satisfied smirk, the pack leader leaned his head forward, his chin touching his chest, and drifted off to sleep, his son soon following.
~~*~~
Kagome smiled as she sat in her kitchen, looking at the three sleepy demons who were swallowing their pancakes whole, looking almost as though they were racing to see who could eat the fastest. And since she had had just a little too much syrup on hers, the sugar caused her to practically bounce in her chair until she began to cheer them on, commentating the whole thing.
"And Kouga's in the lead, Shippou and Koshu fighting for second place, but WAIT! Kouga had to stop and get a drink, and Shippou is now vying for the championship!" She giggled, not noticing their strange looks towards her, and continued. "And now Koshu is hoping to catch up to the ever-speedy Shippou, only... hold on! Koshu has just shoved 2, that's right, 2 pancakes into his mouth, and is trying to swallow them without choking! Can he do it?! I don't know, it's tough, but he's a wolf demon, and so his stubbornness will keep him from backing down from this challenge. Shippou still shoveling them in one at a time, and now Kouga is starting to slow, either from a full belly, or the fact that his son's face is turning blue..."
~~*~~
2 hours and one Heimlich maneuver later, Kagome and her 3 companions (Souta had been bribed to stay home with a bunch of Pocky) found themselves at the mall, surrounded by teenagers who were happy to have a day off from school, and adults who wished the students were back at their designated day-time building.
Shippou felt his eyes go wide at the sight of such a large structure, and had to concentrate in order to keep up the illusion of three tail-less teens standing next to the miko. Of course, now the trio was practically in their protective circle from gym class, not understanding what was going on.
"I told you, guys! This is basically just a really big market!" Kagome's voice broke through their thoughts, trying to make them relax before they ended up changing into their demon forms or something and attacked someone. Unfortunately for them, Hojou also happened to be at the mall, currently looking around the herbal remedies' store for a gift for his poor, invalid girlfriend (in his own mind), Kagome.
They were back in their 'latch-onto-a-part-of-Kagome-unless-you-want- to-get-left-behind-or-lost' position as they made their way towards one of the nicer clothing stores in order to buy the demons another set of clothes so they didn't have to choose between school uniform and jeans and t-shirt anymore. Kouga and Koshu were at her sides again, the pack leader's arm bent with her hand tucked into the inside of his elbow (like the gentlemen in old movies walked with their women), while his son's arm was resting across the young miko's shoulders. And Shippou? Yep, you guessed it, his hands were back to being around her waist, where she had put them before striding off.
The male clerk at the store made the guys nervous, along with all the teenage girls around who stared at them like they were in heat before blushing and giggling with their friends, but Kagome insisted that this store would be the best place for good clothes for them. And sure enough, they found some clothes that fit them perfectly, but only served to make the girls drool even more, although they didn't mind the wide-eyed look that Kagome gave them.
Kouga had chosen a pair of black slacks, complete with a black undershirt and a cobalt-blue silk button-up over it, which brought out the color of his eyes better, making every girl in the store stop to look at the man with the amazing eyes.
Following him was Koshu, who had decided to dress a little like his father, only opted for dark gray slacks and no undershirt, with the blue of the silk shirt a couple shades darker than his father's, and only buttoned up halfway over his chest.
And finally was our favorite kitsune, who refused to leave the dressing room. He had chosen green as his shirt's color, with a white undershirt, and his navy blue jeans, which were tight enough to accent his developed leg muscles, while still being comfortable. He was blushing slightly, but he seemed to regain his self-composure once he saw that he was wearing more than the wolf prince.
Kagome happily paid for the clothes, saying that she had missed them all so much, she didn't care losing her allowance for the next month or two. Or three. And so, in their new clothes and with a delighted teenage girl, they made their way to the food court in order to get some lunch, still being ogled by any teenager who walked by (considering the boys were staring at Kagome, who had worn one of her mini-skirts, with a pink halter- top). And then all hell broke loose.
The guys had actually been calming down, slowly becoming more adjusted to the crowd, although they would still tend to glare at any member of the male species who glanced in Kagome's direction. She was completely off-limits to anyone from this time, and the demons made sure that the human males noticed it. But so busy were they in sending extremely icy looks to one persistent man, they failed to notice the KING of persistence, the Lord of the Stubborn, and the Ruler of the Thick- headed.
Hojou had just left the herbal remedies' store, now bogged down by three bags full of cures and aides for the most common down to the worst teenage diseases, and a book about them all. He was so delighted when they had told him that they were having a sale, and that he got 20% off, he just went ahead and bought as much as possible so that he could be prepared. But he didn't know that he would be running into his lovely 'Higurashi' only moments after paying for his purchase, while imagining her looks of delight and gratitude over her gifts.
Said gifts were almost destroyed when Kouga accidentally slammed into the boy, sending him backwards into the wall. For once, it had actually been purely accidental, although the wolf youkai was seriously wondering if he really had to apologize. But no, his honor called upon it, as did the look on Kagome's face. He sighed and bowed slightly, apologizing to the youth that had so blatantly ignored him the day before at school.
But Hojou wasn't even paying attention to the three demons surrounding Kagome, all he saw was the raven-haired beauty before him, smiling and holding out her hand to help him up, asking if he was okay. The love-struck boy smiled and stood, bowing and apologizing to Kagome and her friends for his carelessness. Then he let his thick head rule.
"So, Kagome, Do you want to go out for lunch or something today? It's the least I can do for bumping into you." He stands there, a hopeful look on his face while he ignores the three men slowly but steadily inching closer towards their young time-traveler. "There's a little restaurant nearby, I'd be more than happy to take you there. Come on, it's this way, only a few minutes away if we drive, and my car is right outside. I was lucky enough to find a parking space so close to the doors, too, this way you don't have to over-stress your legs with your walking..." As this was being said, Hojou was starting to drag off Kagome, holding her hand in order to keep contact with her and lead her along without draping an arm across her shoulders or sliding it around her waist.
Unfortunately, this did nothing to soothe the demons' anger as they saw Kagome looking at them pleadingly, trying to politely pull her hand away from the stubborn grip. Finally, they had had enough.
Faster than the eye could blink, Koshu leapt to the bottom level, scaring a poor old woman and her granddaughter, who began to cry, then giggle at the "funny man with a tail". Yes, Poor Shippou had become so angry, he had lost concentration, and now all three were exposed to the public. Although the kitsune was currently on the other side of the mall, only still on the upper level, he never took his eyes off of the teenage boy trying to take away the woman he loved.
With a barely perceptible nod, Kouga took off after them, his famous speed coming in handy as he plowed directly into the unsuspecting Hojou, kind enough to take the bags from his hand, and still get a grip on Kagome. The poor schoolboy flew over the railing and down to the bottom level, where he was intercepted by an angry Koshu, who held him only long enough to snarl at him, baring his fangs, before tossing the human up and over to the spot on the second level behind him, where an annoyed fox waited for the boy to land.
After Kouga placed Kagome back on the ground with the bags, they managed to toss Hojou back and forth three times before Kagome realized what exactly was going on. At her outraged scream of "Leave him ALONE!" Shippou decided that maybe it might be wise to take the now unconscious human back to Kagome.
They left Hojou sitting on a mall bench, his bags next to him, and Kagome proceeded to walk home with their own bags in her hand while she threatened them with their own 'Sit necklaces'. She had noticed that Shippou had never replaced the illusion, but was too angry to care. After allowing the angry priestess to walk ahead of them slightly, the three demons began to mutter to each other about how they were right to do that.
"He was trying to kidnap her! Only I was allowed to do that, and that was a long time ago!"
"I know! She didn't seem to want to go with the stupid human, anyway! And he wouldn't listen to her. We had to step in and help. It's our responsibility as her male guardians." Koshu said, agreeing with his father's earlier statement.
Shippou grumbled softly while kicking a pebble with his new 'hiking boots'. "Yeah, he should know better than to mess with a demon's girl, let alone 3 demon's girl..." He blushed suddenly when he realized what he had said, and how it had sounded. "I mean, um... a girl with 3 demon guys as protectors." His voice lowered again, and he heard Kouga chuckle to his next statement.
"Damn. Now I know how Inuyasha felt."
~~~~~~
I know, I know, pointless, but hey, don't worry! It's almost over, scary, huh?? Kagome's going to have to choose soon, in probably 2 chapters, about whether or not she's gonna go back to the past. And then, she has to choose between Koshu and Shippou. Man! Poor girl!! Lol. well, feel free to review!
Also, feel free to stop by my website... I'd feel better knowing someone was looking at it, considering I'm spending most of my days working on it. I'm beginning to wonder if Kim would like her website back... nah!
Here's your story!! And I still don't own them!!
~~~~~~~
Ch. 14 Never flirt with a demon's girl!
They were in their last class, much to the delight of the entire group. School, the three demons had decided, was not as boring as they had expected, but the scents and the teacher's annoying attitudes kept making them want to teach that meddling human not to command them like he ruled them. Kouga was getting the most angered, though. While Koshu and Shippou would take turns glancing at Kagome, then at each other, sizing up the competition, the mated pack-leader was getting tired of being spoken to like he was a pup!
"Kouga..." A soft voice broke into his thoughts, and he turned to see Kagome looking at him from the corner of her eye, then turning her eyes to stare pointedly at his hands. When he looked at them himself, he was surprised to see that he had extended his claws, and was currently digging them into his desk. He immediately relaxed, retracting his claws and crossing his arms across his chest in order to keep from damaging the stupid desk further.
And then, like magic, they were leaving. It was over. Kagome had warned them to be prepared to run the moment they stepped into sunlight, and they took her seriously, only pausing for a second for them to make sure Kagome was with them, which she was, back in the waiting arms of Koshu, who seemed intent on racing the kitsune back to her house. 'I wonder what's up with them?'
~~*~~
Shippou sighed and relaxed. School had been cancelled for the next few days, until their gym teacher recovered from his fainting spell/concussion/hallucination. So now they were all sitting in Kagome's room, and she was teaching them about things they used and did in her time, so that when they went out tomorrow, they wouldn't be so paranoid or confused.
Unfortunately, the kitsune was only half-listening to her. The other half of his brain was focused on the woman herself, her familiar voice and scent, the smile that always made him feel better as a kit, and the way her body had changed and developed since he had seen her. He had considered asking Kagome to stay with him in their time, but now he wondered if it would be right. Her family was here, along with her friends. Although Miroku and Sango's family was still around, she didn't have the same ties to them as she did to the monk and exterminator she once knew. The only thing in the past that was familiar was him, Kirara, Kouga, now Koshu, and memories of an arrogant hanyou that had once broken her heart.
Maybe he should stay here with her. He could build another house, he was certain. And this one would be larger, since the one he had lived in for decades was only meant for one person, yet if he finally succeeded in asking her to be his mate, they would need room for at least two.
Which brought up another concern with him. How should he ask her, and when? And where? And would she say yes, or would she still look at him and think of the little kit who had slept on her belly while she slept, and say no? He loved her, he knew that. He didn't like the idea of living his long life without her, and he could only hope that she cared about him too.
Desperately trying to remember how he had heard that women in love acted, he didn't realize Kagome had been speaking to him until she was in his face; and when he breathed in, he could smell her, close by, and even her breath, as though... she was...
He focused on the face before him, gazing into her worried blue eyes and trying not to reach out and hug her again. But Kouga and Koshu...
It was then that he realized the two wolves were gone. Tilting his head up to sniff the air, and caught a strong whiff of Kagome's scent, and a faint trace of Kouga and Koshu going to the door. When he looked back at her, she was smiling. Her hand came up and messed up his long hair, and her smile grew into a wide grin.
"Like I was saying, Shippou, I'm gonna take a bath and get to bed, and you need to, too. We want to be up bright and early, right? We need to beat the rush, after all. You would not believe how packed a mall can get nowadays. But, hey, it's got everything there, and I want you three to see as much as possible, so that's where we go." She glanced over at the clock and cursed softly beneath her breath, then grabbed her pajamas and a towel, and made her way to the bathroom, stopping on the way to kiss Shippou's cheek lightly.
"I'll be right back, promise. And don't look so scared about tomorrow, it'll be fine..." What she didn't know was that Shippou's frozen body and shocked face weren't in fear of this thing called "the mall", it was in surprise that she had kissed him. He sighed, one happy fox, and laid down on the floor, resting his head on his arms with his eyes closed, and thought about anything and everything that flowed through his head, not even noticing when he fell asleep, or when Kagome came in half an hour later, covered him up with a blanket, and went to bed with a smile on her face.
~~*~~
Koshu turned to look at his father, who was sitting next to the wall with his back leaning against it, already starting to drift off to sleep. But the young wolf prince was still thinking about what Kagome had said earlier, both about being able to subdue them like she had once done the hanyou his father had fought, and also about the four of them going out the next day, hopefully without her younger brother.
He almost understood about the younger brother. Souta seemed to adore the three demons, although he kept talking about Inuyasha, and Koshu had a feeling that the inu-hanyou had been his first demon to meet, and therefore, his idol. And now, anytime one of the three got within reach, he would stretch out his arm in order to pet their tails, and start asking questions again, usually about their swords, and abilities.
Sighing, the younger youkai leaned back against the wall, copying his father's position, and closed his eyes. Only one more day, he told himself. Kagome had agreed to talk to her mother tomorrow evening about whether or not she could go back to the past with them.
"Father?" He knew Kouga wasn't fully asleep yet, but hoped that he wasn't bothering the pack leader.
"Yes, Koshu?" Kouga's eyes remained closed, but Koshu knew his father was listening intently to what was being said.
"Do you think the kitsune is Kagome's mate? I don't think he is, but I keep getting this feeling like he's intending to..." Kouga's snort cut him off before the sentence was finished, but Koshu didn't mind. He wanted to know his father's thoughts on the woman who was supposed to have been the lady ruler of the wolf demons.
"You sound like me when I met her. She was traveling with Inuyasha then, searching for the jewel shards. That's why I took her at first. She could see the Shikon shards in my legs and arm. I knew she could help us, and took her with me. Later, I ended up falling in love with her. I learned something from it, though. She had already spent so much time with that mutt, she had developed feelings for him that kept her from leaving him, even after he hurt her repeatedly. So you have to make sure that you catch her before she spends too much time with the kitsune." Kouga opened one bright blue eye to glance at his son's startled, blushing face. With a satisfied smirk, the pack leader leaned his head forward, his chin touching his chest, and drifted off to sleep, his son soon following.
~~*~~
Kagome smiled as she sat in her kitchen, looking at the three sleepy demons who were swallowing their pancakes whole, looking almost as though they were racing to see who could eat the fastest. And since she had had just a little too much syrup on hers, the sugar caused her to practically bounce in her chair until she began to cheer them on, commentating the whole thing.
"And Kouga's in the lead, Shippou and Koshu fighting for second place, but WAIT! Kouga had to stop and get a drink, and Shippou is now vying for the championship!" She giggled, not noticing their strange looks towards her, and continued. "And now Koshu is hoping to catch up to the ever-speedy Shippou, only... hold on! Koshu has just shoved 2, that's right, 2 pancakes into his mouth, and is trying to swallow them without choking! Can he do it?! I don't know, it's tough, but he's a wolf demon, and so his stubbornness will keep him from backing down from this challenge. Shippou still shoveling them in one at a time, and now Kouga is starting to slow, either from a full belly, or the fact that his son's face is turning blue..."
~~*~~
2 hours and one Heimlich maneuver later, Kagome and her 3 companions (Souta had been bribed to stay home with a bunch of Pocky) found themselves at the mall, surrounded by teenagers who were happy to have a day off from school, and adults who wished the students were back at their designated day-time building.
Shippou felt his eyes go wide at the sight of such a large structure, and had to concentrate in order to keep up the illusion of three tail-less teens standing next to the miko. Of course, now the trio was practically in their protective circle from gym class, not understanding what was going on.
"I told you, guys! This is basically just a really big market!" Kagome's voice broke through their thoughts, trying to make them relax before they ended up changing into their demon forms or something and attacked someone. Unfortunately for them, Hojou also happened to be at the mall, currently looking around the herbal remedies' store for a gift for his poor, invalid girlfriend (in his own mind), Kagome.
They were back in their 'latch-onto-a-part-of-Kagome-unless-you-want- to-get-left-behind-or-lost' position as they made their way towards one of the nicer clothing stores in order to buy the demons another set of clothes so they didn't have to choose between school uniform and jeans and t-shirt anymore. Kouga and Koshu were at her sides again, the pack leader's arm bent with her hand tucked into the inside of his elbow (like the gentlemen in old movies walked with their women), while his son's arm was resting across the young miko's shoulders. And Shippou? Yep, you guessed it, his hands were back to being around her waist, where she had put them before striding off.
The male clerk at the store made the guys nervous, along with all the teenage girls around who stared at them like they were in heat before blushing and giggling with their friends, but Kagome insisted that this store would be the best place for good clothes for them. And sure enough, they found some clothes that fit them perfectly, but only served to make the girls drool even more, although they didn't mind the wide-eyed look that Kagome gave them.
Kouga had chosen a pair of black slacks, complete with a black undershirt and a cobalt-blue silk button-up over it, which brought out the color of his eyes better, making every girl in the store stop to look at the man with the amazing eyes.
Following him was Koshu, who had decided to dress a little like his father, only opted for dark gray slacks and no undershirt, with the blue of the silk shirt a couple shades darker than his father's, and only buttoned up halfway over his chest.
And finally was our favorite kitsune, who refused to leave the dressing room. He had chosen green as his shirt's color, with a white undershirt, and his navy blue jeans, which were tight enough to accent his developed leg muscles, while still being comfortable. He was blushing slightly, but he seemed to regain his self-composure once he saw that he was wearing more than the wolf prince.
Kagome happily paid for the clothes, saying that she had missed them all so much, she didn't care losing her allowance for the next month or two. Or three. And so, in their new clothes and with a delighted teenage girl, they made their way to the food court in order to get some lunch, still being ogled by any teenager who walked by (considering the boys were staring at Kagome, who had worn one of her mini-skirts, with a pink halter- top). And then all hell broke loose.
The guys had actually been calming down, slowly becoming more adjusted to the crowd, although they would still tend to glare at any member of the male species who glanced in Kagome's direction. She was completely off-limits to anyone from this time, and the demons made sure that the human males noticed it. But so busy were they in sending extremely icy looks to one persistent man, they failed to notice the KING of persistence, the Lord of the Stubborn, and the Ruler of the Thick- headed.
Hojou had just left the herbal remedies' store, now bogged down by three bags full of cures and aides for the most common down to the worst teenage diseases, and a book about them all. He was so delighted when they had told him that they were having a sale, and that he got 20% off, he just went ahead and bought as much as possible so that he could be prepared. But he didn't know that he would be running into his lovely 'Higurashi' only moments after paying for his purchase, while imagining her looks of delight and gratitude over her gifts.
Said gifts were almost destroyed when Kouga accidentally slammed into the boy, sending him backwards into the wall. For once, it had actually been purely accidental, although the wolf youkai was seriously wondering if he really had to apologize. But no, his honor called upon it, as did the look on Kagome's face. He sighed and bowed slightly, apologizing to the youth that had so blatantly ignored him the day before at school.
But Hojou wasn't even paying attention to the three demons surrounding Kagome, all he saw was the raven-haired beauty before him, smiling and holding out her hand to help him up, asking if he was okay. The love-struck boy smiled and stood, bowing and apologizing to Kagome and her friends for his carelessness. Then he let his thick head rule.
"So, Kagome, Do you want to go out for lunch or something today? It's the least I can do for bumping into you." He stands there, a hopeful look on his face while he ignores the three men slowly but steadily inching closer towards their young time-traveler. "There's a little restaurant nearby, I'd be more than happy to take you there. Come on, it's this way, only a few minutes away if we drive, and my car is right outside. I was lucky enough to find a parking space so close to the doors, too, this way you don't have to over-stress your legs with your walking..." As this was being said, Hojou was starting to drag off Kagome, holding her hand in order to keep contact with her and lead her along without draping an arm across her shoulders or sliding it around her waist.
Unfortunately, this did nothing to soothe the demons' anger as they saw Kagome looking at them pleadingly, trying to politely pull her hand away from the stubborn grip. Finally, they had had enough.
Faster than the eye could blink, Koshu leapt to the bottom level, scaring a poor old woman and her granddaughter, who began to cry, then giggle at the "funny man with a tail". Yes, Poor Shippou had become so angry, he had lost concentration, and now all three were exposed to the public. Although the kitsune was currently on the other side of the mall, only still on the upper level, he never took his eyes off of the teenage boy trying to take away the woman he loved.
With a barely perceptible nod, Kouga took off after them, his famous speed coming in handy as he plowed directly into the unsuspecting Hojou, kind enough to take the bags from his hand, and still get a grip on Kagome. The poor schoolboy flew over the railing and down to the bottom level, where he was intercepted by an angry Koshu, who held him only long enough to snarl at him, baring his fangs, before tossing the human up and over to the spot on the second level behind him, where an annoyed fox waited for the boy to land.
After Kouga placed Kagome back on the ground with the bags, they managed to toss Hojou back and forth three times before Kagome realized what exactly was going on. At her outraged scream of "Leave him ALONE!" Shippou decided that maybe it might be wise to take the now unconscious human back to Kagome.
They left Hojou sitting on a mall bench, his bags next to him, and Kagome proceeded to walk home with their own bags in her hand while she threatened them with their own 'Sit necklaces'. She had noticed that Shippou had never replaced the illusion, but was too angry to care. After allowing the angry priestess to walk ahead of them slightly, the three demons began to mutter to each other about how they were right to do that.
"He was trying to kidnap her! Only I was allowed to do that, and that was a long time ago!"
"I know! She didn't seem to want to go with the stupid human, anyway! And he wouldn't listen to her. We had to step in and help. It's our responsibility as her male guardians." Koshu said, agreeing with his father's earlier statement.
Shippou grumbled softly while kicking a pebble with his new 'hiking boots'. "Yeah, he should know better than to mess with a demon's girl, let alone 3 demon's girl..." He blushed suddenly when he realized what he had said, and how it had sounded. "I mean, um... a girl with 3 demon guys as protectors." His voice lowered again, and he heard Kouga chuckle to his next statement.
"Damn. Now I know how Inuyasha felt."
~~~~~~
I know, I know, pointless, but hey, don't worry! It's almost over, scary, huh?? Kagome's going to have to choose soon, in probably 2 chapters, about whether or not she's gonna go back to the past. And then, she has to choose between Koshu and Shippou. Man! Poor girl!! Lol. well, feel free to review!