Any comments? Confusing, not enough detail, or what? You tell me!
Disclaimer: only select characters belong to me, the others don't.
Shikon no Kakera, the Second Search
ch. 3 Aboard the Plane
"Youkai-yue, wake up." Fahleing gently shook her daughter. "We're leaving in an hour, start getting ready."
"*yawn* What time is it?" Youkai-yue looked around groggily for the clock.
"Two A.M., hei sun aa." Her mother left the room and a big booming sound was heard as she dropped her suitcases next to the front door and called a taxi.
"Otou-san, where are the toothbrushes?" Youkai-yue looked in all the cabinets confusedly.
"Oh, gomen, I think I packed them all. Use the spare ones under the kitchen sink. And wake that damn wolf up while you're at it." Her father was busy taking care of last-minute business on his laptop.
Youkai-yue quickly brushed her teeth, used the spell, and put on a pale blue button-up shirt with elbow-length sleeves and a pair of black leather flares along with black sandals. She put her hair in a bun on one side with a ribbon wound through the strands hanging off of it, so it wouldn't be all static on the plane, while poking Kouga with her foot. "Get up, bastard wolf. We're leaving in fifteen minutes." Without seeing if he actually woke up or not, she then went into her room to drag her own suitcase out.
Koryu began to drag the suitcases to the elevator, where Fahleing was waiting to bring them down to the lobby. Right before the taxi arrived, Youkai-yue dragged the still half-asleep Kouga down along with the last piece of luggage and locked the door. Her mother gestured for her to stick him in the back and told the driver to take them to Central station.
"Huh.......Where am I?" Kouga finally woke up when they were on the Airport Express platform waiting for the others.
Everyone ignored him and looked around for the others. A few minutes later, they started to show up.
"Fahleing, did you have to book the flight for this early in the morning?" Shippou yawned and ran a hand through his hair. "I really prefer not to be awake until a little later........."
"They didn't have any other flights available," Fahleing snapped. "I don't like waking up this early either. Watch the wolf, I see Kagome, Inuyasha, and Inu-yue over there."While she brought them over, Sesshoumaru, Rin, and Sesshou-yue arrived.
"Oi, Koryu oji-san, how are you going to pass through customs with those swords?" Sesshou-yue flopped down on the station chairs next to Shiori and Youkai-yue.
"We're going to say we are private collectors seeing if a museum over in Japan wants to borrow our collection," Inuyasha said tiredly as he came over. "I'm going to sleep as soon as I get on the fucking train." He looked around. "Oi, Inu-yue, where do you think you're going?"
"To get Sango oba-san, Miroku oji-san, and Mori-yue!" she yelled back. "Sango oba-san, you brought the Hiraikotsu?" Inu-yue eyed the big wrapped shape on the cart.
"Hai, of course. Everyone's here? Then let's go."
They all loaded their luggage onto the racks and entered the waiting Airport Express train. Kitsune-yue flopped down on the nearest seat available, next to Mori-yue, and began flipping through the channels on the little screen in front of her. Mori-yue took out one of the many manga books in her bag and began to read it. Sesshou-yue, Inu-yue, and Youkai-yue were sitting in an 'L' shape, with Sesshou-yue on the right, Inu-yue right across the aisle on the left, and Youkai-yue one row in front of Inu-yue. Sesshou-yue brought out a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards and they began a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who was in the first Duel. Shippou and Shiori sat right across the aisle from Kitsune-yue and Mori-yue and promptly fell asleep. Sesshoumaru and Rin sat right in front of Shippou and Shiori. Sesshoumaru took out his book and began reading while Rin curled up in the seat and fell asleep on his shoulder. Sango and Miroku sat in the row in front of Youkai-yue, and pulled out a deck of normal playing cards and started a game of Go Fish. Koryu and Fahleing sat in the row in front of Sesshou-yue. Koryu crossed his arms and leaned against the window to sleep while Fahleing played Spider Solitaire on her laptop. Only Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kouga had a seating arrangement problem.
"Move, Dog Turd! I'm sitting next to my woh-man!" Kouga tried to push Inuyasha out of the way so he could sit next to Kagome, who was in the row right in front of Mori-yue and Kitsune-yue, and right in back of Inu-yue.
"Go to hell, bastard! She ain't your woman, she's mine!" Inuyasha shoved him right back and let the spell slip enough to show his fangs.
Koryu opened one eye. "I knew that damn wolf was up to no good."
Kagome was getting tired of being fought over. "Stop it!" But they ignored her.
Inu-yue turned around just as the train started to move and punched Kouga in the side of the head, not hard enough to knock him out, but hard enough to stun him for a bit. "Get your filthy hands off my okaa-san, bastard!" she snarled. "Otou-san, let me kill him!"
"I'M going to kill him!" Inuyasha growled.
Just when the whole situation was about to turn into a vicious fight, Sesshoumaru reached out with his book (which was hardcover) and hit Kouga over the head. "You know the youkai laws, wolf. No touching another male's mate. If you continue to disobey this law, I, Sesshoumaru, will administer punishment as Demon Lord of the Western Lands," he said menacingly.
"Mate?!" he yelped.
"Ah hell, someone's gonna come and see this........" Kitsune-yue quickly dispersed the spell and reached out with a handkerchief, waving it in front of Kouga's face. "Go to sleep, you smell chloroform." He went out like a light.
"What's going on here?"
Everyone turned around to look at the security officer standing in the door. "Nothing sir, he was a little drunk from his drinking spree last night, and just passed out cold." Fahleing picked him up and threw him in the seat across the aisle from Sango and Miroku. "Sorry for the trouble, officer," she said demurely.
"No problem then, miss? Try not to make another fuss." The security officer left to check the other parts of the train.
Fahleing sagged back into her seat. "Ugghhhh..........If I ever have to be all sweet and polite like that ever again, I'll barf! 'No problem then miss?' Me, a nice little miss?!"
Koryu chuckled softly. "Hate being nice, kirei?"
"Iya!"
Kagome pulled Inuyasha down into his seat then turned to Kitsune-yue, who had quickly put the spell back up. "Where did you get the chloroform?"
"Fox magic," she said, grinning.
Kagome nodded. "Thanks. Why did I even let him hang around me like that back in Sengoku Jidai? It's annoying!"
"Why else do you think I hate him? I'm going to sleep. If that bastard wakes up, knock him out again." Inuyasha put an arm around Kagome and fell asleep muttering grumpily.
Kagome yawned and snuggled into Inuyasha and mumbled, "Somebody wake us up when we're there," before also falling asleep.
Kitsune-yue, having bored of watching the little screen, began to doze off around Kowloon station. Youkai-yue, having lost the round of Rock-Paper-Scissors, got really bored somewhere between Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations from watching Inu-yue and Sesshou-yue's really long Duel. Mori-yue finished her manga and took out another one, Ranma ½ this time. Shippou and Shiori woke up during Kouga's commotion and fell back asleep right after it. Sesshoumaru continued reading his book while Rin slept. Koryu went back to sleep while Fahleing typed up the third chapter of the story she was writing for fictionpress.net in her spare time. Somewhere past Tsing Yi, everyone looked up from their various doings when Sango slapped Miroku (not hard enough to really hurt, just aimed to make a lot of noise) for suggesting a game of strip poker. Finally, after about a little less than an hour from when they got on, the train arrived at the airport.
Fahleing, who had all the tickets, checked in for all of them and got their boarding passes. "We better go through customs and immigration now, the plane leaves in an hour."
"Which airline company are we taking?" Sesshoumaru asked, dragging a still-unconscious Kouga behind him.
"Dragon Air. Let's go."
The airport security gave them some trouble about the swords, Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, Toukijin, Hanyou no Saiga, and Hamato, and some more trouble over Sango's Hiraikotsu. Luckily, the combination of Inuyasha's excuse, a little bit of "convincing" by the kitsunes, and Fahleing, Sesshoumaru, and Shippou's connections got them through. They hurried to the gate their flight was departing from, and got their a little less than fifteen minutes before the plane was boarding.
Fahleing handed them each their boarding passes. "We're all sitting in roughly the same section, but a bit split up."
Mori-yue read hers. "26A. Anyone sitting next to me?"
"I got 26B," Rin said. "Where's everyone else sitting?"
Sesshoumaru quickly checked his. "27C."
"27E," Koryu said.
"I'm right in front of you," Fahleing said. "26E."
Her daughter checked hers. "25F," Youkai-yue said.
"26G," added Shiori.
"I have 26H, the window," said Shippou.
"25A," Miroku said.
"27A," Sango said.
Inu-yue sighed. "27H. How much do you want to bet no one's next to me?"
"You may be right, I have 29D," said Sesshou-yue.
Kagome checked her boarding pass. "28A. What about you, Inuyasha?"
"Feh. 28B."
"Hey, I'm right behind you, Inu-yue! 28H," Kitsune-yue said. "Someone wake the stupid wolf up, he dropped his boarding pass. Never mind, I'll do it." She passed the handkerchief over his nose again, murmuring, "The chloroform's gone, you are awake."
"Ara? What.......Where am I? What's happening?"
"Check your boarding pass, freak," Fahleing said icily. "What's the number on it?"
"Uh.......29F," Kouga said, still a little groggy.
Then the intercom came on. "Attention, all passengers for Dragon Air flight 103 from Hong Kong to Tokyo, now boarding."
Sango picked up the Hiraikotsu. "Well then, let's go."
*note: I have no clue how long a plane ride from Hong Kong to Tokyo is, so let's just assume it's somewhere around six hours. Correct me if I'm wrong.*
"S~o bo~ored......." Mori-yue muttered hours later after she exhausted her supply of manga. "And I need fo~od........!"
"The attendants are coming around in a few minutes,"her mother said from behind her. Pick what you want, chicken or fish."
"Neither, I want yao tchau gwai," Rin muttered. "I remember the last time we were on a plane, the food was disgusting."
Miroku turned around and looked at them over the top of his seat. "I have some cold egg-tarts if you want some." Mori-yue and Rin stuck their hands out immediately. He chuckled and handed them over. "All right, pass some back to Sango and see if Inuyasha and Kagome want any."
On the other side of the plane, Inu-yue and Kitsune-yue were also getting really bored and asked Shiori to pass note to Youkai-yue, who then passed it to Fahleing, who passed it backwards to Koryu, who passed it to Sesshoumaru, Who gave it to Rin, and it ended up with Mori-yue. It read: "We're bored, can we borrow some of your manga?" Mori-yue took out Kodocha and passed them to Rin, who then passed them to Sesshoumaru, who passed it to Koryu, who passed it to Fahleing, who passed it to Youkai-yue, who then gave it to Shiori, who passed it back to Inu-yue and Kitsune-yue.
Sesshou-yue managed to switch seats with a nice old guy in the seat right in front of her and asked her father and Koryu for the sugar packets from their lunches. Then she put the sugar into her fruit salad, which tasted really sour.
Shippou looked out the window and quickly pulled down the shade, muttering, "Reminder to self, do not stare into the sun from an airplane," and rubbed his eyes a couple times before settling down to sleep.
Kouga, after realizing no one wanted to talk to him, watched the boring in-flight movie and fell asleep during the beginning credits.
*ok, let's just assume a couple hours passed and they're about to land in Tokyo, if I dragged out the plane ride, it would get really boring.*
"Konnichiwa minna-san, this is the captain speaking. I would like to thank you all on behalf of the crew for choosing to fly on Dragon Air. We will be landing very shortly, please fasten all seatbelts and do not rise until the seatbelt sign turns off. Thank you."
Kagome yawned and poked Inuyasha, who was still sleeping. "We're landing, buckle your seatbelt."
"Finally!" he said, waking up.
Youkai-yue started to put all of the stuff she took out of her carry-on back in. "Tche, finally! I need to stretch......"
Then the plane began to descend.
Sesshou-yue swallowed a couple times, but her ears still felt funny. "Oi, otou-san," she said while poking Sesshoumaru. "How do you get rid of the funny feeling in the ears?"
"Nothing to do but swallow," he answered. He and Koryu were having an even worse case of it since they were full-blooded inu-youkai. Shippou, Shiori, Kitsune-yue, and Kouga were slightly better off because their ears weren't as sensitive.
Fahleing grimaced and stuck a finger in her ear, to no avail. "I really hate this," she muttered.
After what seemed like a very long time to the youkai, the plane hit the runway and slowed to a stop next to the terminal. The captain's voice came on again.
"Once again, we thank you for flying with us, we hope you enjoy your stay. Please proceed to the exits after making sure all your belongings are with you. Have a nice day."
As they exited the plane and went to reclaim there luggage, all those who had some type of power, miko or youkai, felt a chill run down their spine. Many other youkai walked among the humans here, and not as equals. As superiors.
"Children," Kagome began.
"We're not children anymore, okaa-san," Inu-yue said quietly.
"I know, gomen. But this is important. Every single story we've told you all, they may come in handy. Be on guard, remember what we've told you about the youkai, the Shikon no Kakera, everything," she said gravely.
"Understand?" Inuyasha asked sternly.
There was a chorus of "Hai"s and "We understand"s.
"Kagome oba-san, where are we staying?" Mori-yue asked.
".......We have to find out if my okaa-san still lives at the shrine. If she does, we stay there. If not........." She trailed off, not wanting to think about them being dead.
"If not, we find a hotel, or go through to Sengoku Jidai," Fahleing said grimly. "We should also drop the spells, there are so many youkai here anyways......." Then she saw the hateful glances the humans gave them, and the hostility in the air. "Or not."
Miroku sighed. "We finally return to our homeland, to find it almost a living hell. Let's go."
Sesshou-yue found a tourists' map in the Arrivals hall, and flipped it open while they made their way to the doors. "Wait, stop! Is this the shrine?" She pointed out a little dot on the map of Tokyo labeled "Higurashi Shrine."
Kagome's eyes teared up a bit. "H-hai......." Her throat seemed to close up, unable to say anything else.
Seeing this, Shippou took charge of the situation. "We need five taxis, and who knows how long it would take to get five lined up in a row..........so we all meet later at the shrine, ok?" He looked around to see if they agreed, which they did. He waved over one and motioned for Kagome, Inuyasha, and Inu-yue to get in. "We'll meet up later."
They all watched the taxi drive off, and waited for the next one. Somehow, the rest of the taxis needed arrived within fifteen minutes, and all headed for the Higurashi Shrine.
Though this time, Kouga was made to sit in a separate car with the luggage.
hei sun aa: Cantonese, means 'get up'
Kowloon: technically it's the Kowloon Peninsula, right across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island, but in this case, it's the name of the one of the stops on the Airport Express
yao tchau gwai: a kind of food, it's like a stick of salty deep-fried dough, or some kind of bread stick
*VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:* I currently have too many projects going at once, including another ff.net story and another story for a fanfic magazine. Until I get some of them done, work on this fic will be suspended. Sorry if this disappoints you, I can still try to work on this when I have spare time or get an idea I will forget if I don't write down right away.
Ja!