Disclaimer: I love Inuyasha but sadly I don't own him. T_T
One More Night
Chapter 1: Return for the Summer
It was a beautiful summer evening. The sun was sitting just above the horizon giving off a pinkish cast to the landscape. The breeze blew softly eliminating any humidity that hung in the air. Everything was peaceful. The only disturbance was in a small village sitting on the outskirts of Inuyasha's Forest.
A demon slayer let out a scream while clobbering a houshi upside the head.
"Miroku! You lecher!"
"Lady-Sango-I-Merely-Noticed-That-There-Was-A-Bug-Close-To…" protested Miroku between hits on his head with Sango's Hiraikotsu. He never did quite finish his sentence due to the fact that Sango had hit him one too many times and he was now out cold on the ground.
"Maybe that will stop you from trying to grope me for the rest of the night," muttered Sango.
"Don't count on it." A young kitsune-youkai sat a good distance away watching the scene in front of him play out. He was rather amused, seeing as there was nothing else better to do. But in all honesty he was getting rather bored with witnessing the same thing practically everyday.
Soon his thoughts began to wander to other matters. The reason for his boredom was due to the fact that Kagome had not returned from her time yet. He missed her very much when she went to her time to take "tests". In fact the reason she had left was to take special kinds of "tests". She called them "finals". Kagome had been gone eight days and he missed her greatly. "Kagome…(sniff)…Please come back soon…(sniff)…I miss you and…(sniff)…and…(sniff)…I'm bored!" Tears began welling up in his eyes and soon the little kitsune began to wail.
A ways away an inu-hanyou was sitting in his favorite branch of the Sacred Goshinboku Tree. With his remarkable sense of hearing, he could hear the dramatics of Shippo.
"Little brat! Isn't he ever going to grow up?" mumbled Inuyasha under his breath. He was already irritable because Kagome was still in her time. She had not promised to return until tomorrow morning but the hanyou was rather impatient by nature. HE wanted her back now. 'Not that I really care about her or anything. I just want to get back to searching for the jewel shards,' Inuyasha lied to himself. His thoughts were once again broken by Shippo's wailing.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Doesn't he ever shut up?!" Inuyasha was starting to get annoyed with Shippo's crying, not to mention it was hurting his sensitive ears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile in the present
"Mama, I think I'm going to go back tonight instead of tomorrow."
"For what reason, Kagome?" giggled Mrs. Higurashi. "Could it be because of a certain young hanyou?"
"MAAAAMAAAA!" yelled Kagome. By this point she was blushing ten shades of red.
"Don't shout, Kagome, I'm only kidding." Mrs. Higurashi teased her daughter quite frequently about Inuyasha. She knew that both teens cared deeply for each other, though neither would dare admit it. It was quite obvious especially by the way her daughter consistently denied it. Even so, she still enjoyed giving Kagome a hard time. "So why are you going back early?" She couldn't help the small smile that formed on her lips.
"Well school is out now for the summer so I figured that I should go back so we can try to recover as many jewel shards as possible. I want to do this because when school starts up I will have to begin living my double life once again," Kagome said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Kagome was use to this life. She had been living it since she was 15 years old. She was now 17 and going into her senior year in high school. Since her 15th birthday, Kagome had been traveling back in time 500 years to Feudal Japan through the Bone-Eaters Well on her family's shrine. While she was away her grandfather would make up illnesses as an excuse for her absences at school. Of course he came up with some unusual diseases that Kagome would have to explain when she returned. On top of that she always had make-up work and tests to catch up on. Her little brother Sota kept her updated on tests and assignments. With their help she had been able to manage it.
However, keeping her adventures a secret turned out to be the toughest thing about her life. Kagome was an honest girl. She hated lying to her friends, but if she did tell them they would probably think she was nuts! It's not everyday a girl time travels through a well to destroy demons and recover shards of a magic jewel. It didn't even sound right to her. If she hadn't been living it she probably wouldn't believe it either.
"Besides," Kagome continued on, "I can almost guarantee Inuyasha is already waiting for me. If I don't return soon I'm sure he will come for me."
"Well, it's a good thing I bought a ton of Ramen today instead of waiting till tomorrow. I bet Inuyasha would be ten times grumpier if you showed up empty handed."
"Thanks Mama. Oh yeah! Do we happen to have any chocolate? I want to bring some back for Shippo."
"Again your mother was thinking ahead. I happened to pick some chocolate bars up as well."
"You're the best. I really appreciate it, Mama. Well I'm going to take a shower, pack up and head out."
"Alright. I'll start laying out some things for you to take with you."
Kagome barely caught what her mother had said because she was already up the stairs, with her change of clothes in hand, and in the bathroom preparing her shower. She turned on the faucet and jumped in letting the warm water run down her body.
'I need to hurry up,' thought Kagome. 'It would not be a good start to my summer vacation to be fighting with Inuyasha. Even though I'm coming early he's probably still going to be mad that I left in the first place. He is so stubborn! He doesn't care that I have school. All he thinks about is the Shikon Jewel Shards.' Kagome absentmindedly fingered the half complete jewel hanging from her neck. 'He doesn't even realize that I am there as much as I possibly can be. Even more than that.' She began to shampoo her raven hair. 'I guess I'm a total sucker though. Here I am preparing to spend my final summer vacation doing what he wants to do. Search for the jewel shards.' Kagome finished rinsing out her hair and sighed deeply. 'I don't know why I insist on bending over backwards to get back to him. He doesn't truly appreciate my help. All he ever does is call me 'bitch' or 'wench'. Oh well. Maybe someday things will change.'
A little voice inside of her screamed 'YEAH RIGHT! The only one he cares about is Kikyou. Quit dreaming, Kagome. Even if the two of you do become better friends the only thing he will ever see you as is the reincarnation of Kikyou.' Kagome fought back the tears that threatened to fall. She scolded herself out loud, "What do I care he's just selfish and mean. I don't even like him that way anyways." Now Kagome was lying to herself. She sighed and continued to hold back the dreaded tears. "I won't cry for him. No, I just won't. I've made up my mind. I'm going to finish finding the jewel shards. That is my mission. Once that is done I will give him the jewel so he can become a full demon, or human so he can be with Kikyou; I don't care, whatever makes him happy. Then I will return home and never bother him again."
With that final thought Kagome rinsed the soap off her and turned off the water. She dried herself off and dressed herself in a blue cotton tank shirt and jean shorts holding back tears the entire time. She walked into her room only to find that her mother had already packed her enormous yellow bag.
"So that was what she said before," chuckled Kagome. "Mama's great. I don't know what I would do without her"
Kagome heaved her bag onto her shoulder. "Wow! This is heavy. I shouldn't be surprised. Mama always packs those 'just-in-case' items." She ran down the stairs, careful not to fall due to the added weight of her pack. She could hear her Mother, Grandfather, and Sota talking.
'Good,' thought Kagome. 'Grandpa has returned from the Shrine's store and Sota has gotten home from school. Now I won't feel guilty about leaving and not getting the chance to say goodbye.' She was planning on spending her entire summer in the past searching for the jewel shards. She more than likely would not have the chance to return home until the day before school started again. 'If I even make it back by then,' she mused.
Kagome put a big smile on her face and walked into the kitchen where her family was waiting. She kissed her mom, grandpa, and Sota goodbye, but Sota stood looking at her with tearful eyes.
"Sota, what's wrong?" asked Kagome, though she had already guessed the answer.
"You're going away for a long time."
'Figures. Now I have to reassure him before I go.' "Sota, I've gone away many times before."
"Yeah, I know… (sniff)…But I'm gonna miss you!"
'Now he is starting to sound like Shippo. What am I going to do with these two?' "Don't worry Sota. I'll come to visit if I can"
'Which I probably won't. I hate lying.' "And maybe if you're good I'll bring Inuyasha back." Kagome was trying to give her mom a hand and cheer up Sota at the same time.
"REALY!!!!!!" Sota's face immediately brightened up.
'Bingo! That worked well.' "I said only if you're good. Promise?"
Mrs. Higurashi smile at her daughter.
"YEAH!"
"Okay. Then I'll be going!"
"Bye Sis!"
"Bye Sweetie!"
"Watch out for those demons!"
Kagome rolled her eyes at he grandfather's warning but remembered he was only worried for her safety. She turned and gave one more smile and wave to her family before entering the well house.
She stood there looking at the well for a few moments twisting the half-completed jewel in her fingers once again. The jewel once seemed to be a curse but now it was a comfort. It was what connected her two worlds; her two families. 'Without it I would never have met Sango, Shippo, Miroku and…Inuyasha.' A small smile tugged at her lips. 'Sure it has a tendency to draw demons to attack me, but I wouldn't give up the experiences I had because of this jewel for anything.'
Kagome took a deep breath and jumped into the well, allowing the all too familiar blue light to envelope her. She disappeared from the grounds of the Higurashi Shrine just as the sun hit the horizon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So what did you think? This is my first fic. I am addicted to Inuyasha. I truly mean ADDICTED! There will be more action in the upcoming chapters. Sorry this one was mostly talking. I'm not sure when I will update. I have an Orchesis show this Sunday! YAY! Plus school has me totally bogged down with homework and tests. I'll try not to take too long. I can tell you this I won't update until I get at least 5 reviews. Criticism is greatly appreciated, but please, NO FLAMES! That is all I have to say. I'll quit ranting now. I hope you like my story.
