CHAPTER TEN
*
"Are you feeling any better, Inuyasha?" Kagome slid the last of the cookies onto a baking sheet.
Inuyasha still kept his hands clamped over his mouth and nose, but he'd stopped glaring at her since the smell of cookies filled the kitchen. Sota's repeated vomiting had taken a toll on Inuyasha's sensitive nose, and Kagome could tell the day had been hell if he had run to bury his face in the coffeemaker again.
"Did you bake those?" he said.
"They're the instant slice-off kind, so shut up about my cooking." Kagome set the plate in front of him. "So I found out that Yuka's dad is a police officer, which explains how the story about the house being broken into -- are you listening to me?"
Inuyasha was smelling one of the cookies carefully. "No."
Kagome sighed. "Okay, do those make up for leaving you with Sota all day? You did something for me, and now I'm doing something for you. It pays to be nice. Good karma."
"Yeah," Inuyasha said grudgingly. "I don't see why I can't leave the house. It stinks in here, and the kid almost threw up on me. He was making me sick."
Kagome nibbled absently at a cookie. "I just hope Yuka's dad didn't tell anybody at my school about you..."
"Why?" Inuyasha said sourly. "Ashamed of me?"
"It's because," Kagome said loudly, "I'm in danger of becoming known as the sort of girl who smuggles boys into her closet when her mother isn't home. That's why."
Inuyasha looked as thoughtful as he could manage with a mouthful of cookie.
Kagome wandered into the living room and checked on Sota. Her brother was sprawled on the couch under a blanket, with a bucket beside him. Kagome had to admit -- Inuyasha had the worst bedside manner of anyone she'd ever met, but he was a competant nurse. Even when he was queasy.
"Feel any better?" she asked, sitting beside him.
Sota looked up from his video games. He didn't look quite as green as he had earlier. "Yeah, a little."
"How was Inuyasha today?"
Sota thought for a moment, frowned. "Is he sick too? 'Cause sometimes he looked pretty bad."
"Yeah, I bet he did," Kagome said, thinking of Inuyasha with his face in the cofee machine.
*
Inuyasha soon found himself banished to the upstairs floor. "Why do I have to be up here?" he shouted down the stairs.
"Because I did terribly on my final today, and I need to study for tomorrow!" Kagome shouted back at him.
Nursing his injured pride, Inuyasha retreated to Kagome's bedroom. Her mother's room still smelled like dust and perfume, and her grandfather's -- from which he had meticulously scratched out all the talismans -- still stank of incense. Kagome's room still just smelled like her.
He sprawled on the floor at the foot of her bed, flipping through her books. He didn't understand half the words, and most of them didn't have pictures. A few of them did, but mostly of animals he'd never seen before. Eventually he tossed the books aside and picked up the Etch-a-Sketch.
After a few minutes, his ears twitched. Something in the bathroom was dripping.
Twenty minutes later, Inuyasha couldn't stand it any longer. The dripping noise was driving him crazy. He stalked out of Kagome's room and into the bathroom, where that noise was coming from.
He knelt and studied the faucet. After carefully considering, he clutched one of the handles in each hand, and twisted them as far as he could, the way he'd seen Kagome do it. He waited a few seconds. It dripped again.
He growled faintly. If he couldn't turn it off, maybe he could plug it up. He searched around the bathroom for something to stuff into the faucet. Only a few things were the right size, and they didn't stay in. After a moment or two, each one dropped out. And it was still dripping.
All right, he thought, cracking his knuckles. I'll play rough.
He seized the faucet and began bending it. If he twisted it enough, maybe the dripping would stop--
And an explosion of water hit him in the face.
The faucet snapped off in Inuyasha's hands, and in his surprise he crumpled it. Water was fountaining from the sink like a geyser, soaking his face and chest. Shocked, Inuyasha staggered back, slipped, and crumpled to the floor -- only to get hit by a fresh gush of water.
Where's all the damn water coming from? he thought as he scrambled back to his feet. It wasn't slowing down or stopping. Desperately, Inuyasha tried to cover the broken pipe with his hands, but the water sprayed around his fingers and poured out over the floor.
Inuyasha could barely see through the water that was still spraying in his eyes, but he could only wonder what Kagome was going to do when she found out...
TO BE CONTINUED
*
"Are you feeling any better, Inuyasha?" Kagome slid the last of the cookies onto a baking sheet.
Inuyasha still kept his hands clamped over his mouth and nose, but he'd stopped glaring at her since the smell of cookies filled the kitchen. Sota's repeated vomiting had taken a toll on Inuyasha's sensitive nose, and Kagome could tell the day had been hell if he had run to bury his face in the coffeemaker again.
"Did you bake those?" he said.
"They're the instant slice-off kind, so shut up about my cooking." Kagome set the plate in front of him. "So I found out that Yuka's dad is a police officer, which explains how the story about the house being broken into -- are you listening to me?"
Inuyasha was smelling one of the cookies carefully. "No."
Kagome sighed. "Okay, do those make up for leaving you with Sota all day? You did something for me, and now I'm doing something for you. It pays to be nice. Good karma."
"Yeah," Inuyasha said grudgingly. "I don't see why I can't leave the house. It stinks in here, and the kid almost threw up on me. He was making me sick."
Kagome nibbled absently at a cookie. "I just hope Yuka's dad didn't tell anybody at my school about you..."
"Why?" Inuyasha said sourly. "Ashamed of me?"
"It's because," Kagome said loudly, "I'm in danger of becoming known as the sort of girl who smuggles boys into her closet when her mother isn't home. That's why."
Inuyasha looked as thoughtful as he could manage with a mouthful of cookie.
Kagome wandered into the living room and checked on Sota. Her brother was sprawled on the couch under a blanket, with a bucket beside him. Kagome had to admit -- Inuyasha had the worst bedside manner of anyone she'd ever met, but he was a competant nurse. Even when he was queasy.
"Feel any better?" she asked, sitting beside him.
Sota looked up from his video games. He didn't look quite as green as he had earlier. "Yeah, a little."
"How was Inuyasha today?"
Sota thought for a moment, frowned. "Is he sick too? 'Cause sometimes he looked pretty bad."
"Yeah, I bet he did," Kagome said, thinking of Inuyasha with his face in the cofee machine.
*
Inuyasha soon found himself banished to the upstairs floor. "Why do I have to be up here?" he shouted down the stairs.
"Because I did terribly on my final today, and I need to study for tomorrow!" Kagome shouted back at him.
Nursing his injured pride, Inuyasha retreated to Kagome's bedroom. Her mother's room still smelled like dust and perfume, and her grandfather's -- from which he had meticulously scratched out all the talismans -- still stank of incense. Kagome's room still just smelled like her.
He sprawled on the floor at the foot of her bed, flipping through her books. He didn't understand half the words, and most of them didn't have pictures. A few of them did, but mostly of animals he'd never seen before. Eventually he tossed the books aside and picked up the Etch-a-Sketch.
After a few minutes, his ears twitched. Something in the bathroom was dripping.
Twenty minutes later, Inuyasha couldn't stand it any longer. The dripping noise was driving him crazy. He stalked out of Kagome's room and into the bathroom, where that noise was coming from.
He knelt and studied the faucet. After carefully considering, he clutched one of the handles in each hand, and twisted them as far as he could, the way he'd seen Kagome do it. He waited a few seconds. It dripped again.
He growled faintly. If he couldn't turn it off, maybe he could plug it up. He searched around the bathroom for something to stuff into the faucet. Only a few things were the right size, and they didn't stay in. After a moment or two, each one dropped out. And it was still dripping.
All right, he thought, cracking his knuckles. I'll play rough.
He seized the faucet and began bending it. If he twisted it enough, maybe the dripping would stop--
And an explosion of water hit him in the face.
The faucet snapped off in Inuyasha's hands, and in his surprise he crumpled it. Water was fountaining from the sink like a geyser, soaking his face and chest. Shocked, Inuyasha staggered back, slipped, and crumpled to the floor -- only to get hit by a fresh gush of water.
Where's all the damn water coming from? he thought as he scrambled back to his feet. It wasn't slowing down or stopping. Desperately, Inuyasha tried to cover the broken pipe with his hands, but the water sprayed around his fingers and poured out over the floor.
Inuyasha could barely see through the water that was still spraying in his eyes, but he could only wonder what Kagome was going to do when she found out...
TO BE CONTINUED