Disclaimer: It is my Never Ending Dream to own the Dearest Inuyasha, but even if My Will is very strong, I cannot Change the World. It would feel like I'm in a Deep Forest if I even dared to. I Am just a simple girl. No More Words can make that simpler. But Every Heart has a dream, right?
"words" -dialogue
'words' – thoughts
NOTE: Some parts might be confusing to some so let's get this straight. Be aware of the way of character description, particularly of Inuyasha and Shippou. Please remember that they will SWITCH, but even if they do, their descriptions are still the same. (E.g. Inuyasha is described as a hanyou, but even though he is in a different body [a youkai body at that], he will still be referred to as a hanyou since that's what his mindset is. Besides, calling Inu a kit is like… LOL!)
~*~
The Switch
By hiei_hellfireangel
Chapter 2
Expect the Unexpected
It seemed as if waking up was the most difficult thing to do for him. Every single part of his body ached horribly to the extent that he felt like cursing everything in existence. His senses were dulled as well. He knew that it was nighttime, but his sight was blurry and he couldn't smell anyone or anything around him, though he could hear distant voices.
'Am I still alive?'
A million thoughts raged through his mind. How could he still be alive if Naraku had tried to him into a rock? Oh no… maybe he has become a rock! Or maybe the spell killed him? Has he become a soul, destined to wander forever?
'No!!! This can't be possible!'
He opened his mouth to speak. Even though his lips felt like they were sewn tightly together, he was able to yell for help.
Or rather… it came out as a moan.
"Uhhnnn…"
"Kagome-sama! He's finally gained consciousness!"
'Kagome?'
Then he suddenly heard bustling around him. Oh, he was alive alright.
"Oh Kami-sama! You're awake! I thought I had lost you! Please, please don't scare me like that!"
Her voice seemed so far away, but it was comforting to hear it again. He gave a slight sigh as he felt her arms envelop him into a warm embrace. Embrace? 'Yes! I have my body!!!' But why did Kagome's body feel so… so big?
He strained to open his eyes wider. A familiar face of a girl formed in front of him. He held out a hand to caress her face. Wait… Why did his hand look a bit stubby? His vision must have been a bit distorted. Yeah… that must be it.
Kagome pressed his hand closer to her face. Then he felt warm tears wet his fingers. 'I made you cry again…'
"K-Kagome… D-Don't cry…" To his surprise, his voice came out as some sort of a squeak. He just dismissed it; his throat was dry.
"Silly. You have no idea how relieved I am."
"Ka-,"
"Hush, now." she cut him as she planted a kiss on his forehead. "You should save your energy, Shippou-chan."
His eyelids grew heavier as she sang him a lullaby. It was one of those that he would usually hear during nights when the kit was sleepless. It lulled him to sleep sometimes, too—did she just call him Shippou?
"Stupid bitch," he said, firmer and steadier this time, so much like his old self. "I'm not Shippou."
He saw her eyes grew wide in shock but it quickly disappeared as understanding filled them. "Oh, Shippou. You're really tired, ne? Go to sleep."
He was NOT having this. How dare she mistake him for the brat? There was absolutely NOTHING similar between them! Then it dawned upon him. Kagome's sudden increase in size, stubby fingers, squeaky voice, and the name she just called him… He…
'I'M JUST TIRED!' screamed his mind. 'THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!! SLEEP, INUYASHA, SLEEP!'
He shut his eyes and waited for sleep to take him. This was all just a nightmare, and it would be gone once he woke up. It's all just a big, stupid nightmare.
"Sango-chan," Kagome called. "How's Inuyasha?"
'NOOOO!!!' He shut his eyes tighter. 'No, no, NO!!!'
The tai-jya shook her head sadly. "He's still unconscious."
He felt himself rise up. Kagome was carrying him!!! 'DAMN YOU NARAKU!!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!'
Kagome crouched beside Inuyasha. She gently ran her fingers through his silver tresses, coaxing him to consciousness. When she stopped, she lightly leaned her head against his shoulder as she cried.
"No… Kagome, I'm Inuyasha." he said hoarsely. Then he felt another pair of arms scoop him up. It was Miroku.
"Now, now, Shippou, it's not the right time to play jokes, okay? Besides, you've just woken up. You must get some rest."
"Bouzu," Miroku frowned at the unexpected mention of his epithet. "I'm not Shippou."
The houshi's frown deepened even more. It was very uncharacteristic of Shippou to call him the nickname only Inuyasha uses on him. Sure, the kit had his share of badmouthing, but that was only towards the hanyou, and they weren't curses of the highest degree. Unless… 'Could it be?'
"Uh… what did you say?" he asked. Miroku prayed that what he thought was wrong. 'Oh please, not at a time like this!'
"Are you all fuckin' deaf? I said I'm not Shippou. I'm Inuyasha!" 'Uh-oh…'
"I-Inuyasha?!" cried Miroku in surprise, but still managing to keep quiet. "W-What are you doing in Shippou's body?!"
Inuyasha stammered a little at the mention of his dreadful situation. "Y-You tell me."
Miroku sat against a tree and settled Inuyasha (A/N: or Shippou, or Inuyasha, or… dang! This is going to get confusing. Just bear with me, ok? ;D) on his lap, resting his head on the crook of his arm. He was silent for a few minutes, registering everything in his tired mind. He rummaged through his thoughts, looking for a reason on how this has happened.
"Tell the others…"
"It's not as easy as it looks, Shi—I mean, Inuyasha."
"What the fuck?" Inuyasha cursed loudly. He was gaining his strength alarmingly fast.
"Let's just wait 'til Inu—I mean, Shippou, wakes up. Then, we'll tell them."
"Miroku," asked Inuyasha, his voice was tinged with fear. "What happened?"
"It's a soul-switching spell. I'll explain it later. Just get some rest."
"On you? Bouzu, don't you dare try anything on me."
Miroku stared at his friend, dumbfounded. After all that he's been through, he still managed to crack a joke… If it was a joke, that is.; it sounded a bit more like a threat. 'You're Inuyasha, that's for sure.'
"Me?" he asked innocently. "Inuyasha, don't you trust me? Besides, I don't have a thing for guys, let alone for a guy who just switched bodies with a boy."
Inuyasha just keh'd before letting sleep take him.
~*~
Early that morning, they heard a terrified scream. Miroku and Sango woke up in a fright only to find see a shaking Inuyasha grab onto Kagome like a baby. The taijya was about to whack Inuyasha with her Hiraikotsu but Miroku prevented her from doing so, ending up with a bump on his head instead (A/N: Knowing Miroku, who knows what he did to prevent her? XD).
"AAACCCKKK!!! Inuyasha, what are you doing?!" screamed Kagome. It was so unnerving to see Inuyasha act like that. He was clinging to her like she was his favorite blankie.
"Kagome!" sobbed the boy. "What happened to me?! I-I'm Inuyasha!!!"
The miko glared at him. "Inuyasha, get off me! And stop your games! If this is some sick joke of yours, it's not funny!"
"Iyaaa… I'm not HIM! It's me… SHIPPOU!!!"
Kagome was about to react when Miroku cut her off as he held 'Inuyasha', preventing him from harassing Kagome any further. "Ahehe… Kagome-sama, I think you should sit down first."
She gave him a suspicious look but followed him. She folded her arms and looked sternly at the houshi then at the hanyou. "What is it, Miroku-sama?"
"As you can see, Inuyasha is acting oddly," he stated as he scratched his head. "You see, it's because he really isn't Inuyasha…"
The two girls gaped at him. Miroku saw their expressions and hesitated a bit. "…Uh…that's Shippou…in Inuyasha's body…"
Sango raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, houshi-sama?"
"I-It's a soul-switching spell. It sucks the souls of two or more creatures or objects into an instrument then it switches it with one another."
"So you're saying…"
"WHAT?!"
"Kagome-sama, calm down onegai!!!" pleaded Miroku as he and Sango constrained the gobsmacked miko. Kagome was taking it worse than the houshi expected.
"How could this happen?! I mean… this… and… Inu—and Ship—and, and… THIS JUST CAN'T BE!!!"
"Well it happened, ne?" spoke a small voice from above the trees. The party looked up and saw Shippou sitting in a very Inuyasha-like manner; arms crossed across his chest and sitting in a cross-legged position while pouting.
"I-Is that you, Inu—,"
"TEME! GET OUT OF MY BODY!!!" growled Shippou, pointing at Inuyasha.
"You runt! You think I like being so puny and stupid?! FEH! YOU GET OUT OF MY BODY!!!"
"And you think I like being in YOUR body?! I don't want to be mistaken for a big JERK!"
"STOP IT!!!" screamed Kagome. The two boys stopped their babbling and faced her cautiously. The miko had a firm look on her face now, and there was no trace of disbelief from a while ago. She heaved a sighed before continuing. It was time to get serious…
"Inuyasha," she began. "What happened in the forest?"
Inuyasha jumped down from the tree he was in and looked straight at the girl with an unhappy face. His ears were flat on his head. "Naraku had me trapped. He had cast a spell around my area to immobilize me. Then Kanna appeared."
"Kanna?"
"Wait…" interrupted Miroku. "Kanna? If my speculations are right, this was her doing."
Inuyasha nodded. "The damn bastard said that he'd trap my soul in a rock. Why I'm in Shippou's body… I don't know."
"Shippou was missing when we tried to get past through the barrier Naraku had set up. Shippou-chan?"
The kit fumbled with his fingers. "I-I thought you were right behind me when I followed Inuyasha. I was a few meters away from him but then he suddenly leapt really far, that's why I didn't catch up to him quickly. A-And when I got there, there was this blinding purple light. All I could do was scream."
"That explains it." said Sango.
"But if Kanna had targeted a rock, how come he switched with Shippou?"
"A soul-switching spell's target can be altered, Kagome-sama." explained Miroku. "If there was something that prevented the spell from hitting its target, then that thing or in this case, person, would be the one who would switch with the original target."
"Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time…" grumbled Shippou.
"Houshi-sama is there any way to reverse it?"
"There are ways. One is to use the Shikon no Tama—,"
"I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!!" hollered Inuyasha and Shippou simultaneously. Both looked at each other in surprise then averted the other's look almost immediately.
"As I was saying, there are other ways to reverse the spell. The other is to ask help from a witch, as they know how to control souls. But I doubt that there are any that can be trusted."
The other's faces went glum.
"But we can always seek and destroy the instrument that caused this!" Veins started twitching.
*WHACK*SMACK*BAM*
"Arigato, Sango-chan."
"My pleasure."
Kagome hugged her knees then sighed as she stared up at the clear blue sky. Who would have expected this? Things were getting worse by the moment, not to mention weirder. First, they lose to Naraku AGAIN. Now this?! Were they being punished by those 'up there'? 'Ugh… What did I do to deserve this?'
She shifted her gaze a little bit to the side. The young miko watched as the two boys squabbled rowdily, complaining about the other making their bodies look stupid. She focused her attention to the shrunken Inuyasha. She heaved another sigh. It was extremely hard to battle Naraku even with Inuyasha on their side, what more without him? Or rather without him in his real body…
Never, EVER did she expect this to happen…
~*~
"Yatta! We're finally home." sighed Kagome as she strode in the familiar forest where the Bone Eater's Well and the God Tree was situated.
The party had decided on returning to Musashi country due to the unexpected mishap. There was no use in tracking down Naraku again, much to Inuyasha's surprisingly silent dismay. The hanyou's youkai pride could not accept this fact, but he just went along with just a 'feh' or two. Kagome sensed his ego-deflation and covered him up by saying that they didn't have enough supplies to continue anyway.
As Kaede's hut came into view, Shippou bounded towards the old lady sitting by the doorstep, foolishly forgetting that he was not in his own body. He leapt and landed in front of her.
"Kaede-baba!!!" squealed the boy. Kaede gaped at the person she thought was Inuyasha. It was very out of character of Inuyasha to suddenly greet her with high spirits and calling her 'granny' instead of 'hag'.
"My, my, in a good mood are we, Inuyasha? I suppose there is good news?"
Poor Kaede, not knowing that the boy in front of her was actually Shippou, almost leapt out of her skin as he gave her a tight hug. It was a good thing that the others were nearing.
"GAKI!!! YOU'RE MAKING ME LOOK STUPID!!!" yelled an infuriated Inuyasha. The others sweat dropped at the unusual sight of Inuyasha's body grinning happily while tightly hugging the old woman. The old miko looked around to see Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and a warfreak-looking Shippou with fists high up in the air.
"Kagome, I am happy and at the same time relieved to see you all well but I would be exceedingly grateful if you would please explain to me this." stated the old woman as she patted 'Inuyasha's' head.
"Ano… Kaede-sama, it's pretty hard to say." said Kagome. "You see, we have a really big problem—,"
"We switched bodies, OK?!" said Inuyasha indignantly. Poor, poor Kaede, she might just die of a heart attack right now…
Miroku explained everything to Kaede inside the hut. Kaede as usual replied that she'd do everything she could to help. Before resuming her duties as the village miko, she gave a thoughtful look to Inuyasha and Shippou, who were quarreling AGAIN.
"ACK! You brat! Stop making me look like some sort of idiot!"
"Che! I'm not making you look like one. You already ARE one."
"Baka! Get over here so I can clobber you!"
Shippou cringed at the thought of getting creamed and receiving bumps on his head. He hated those times. His head always felt absolutely swollen. He totally despised Inuyasha's foul temper.
'HMPH! Wait till I have my revenge!' Revenge? Shippou looked at his new body. He was bigger and more powerful now… and he has fists. An evil smile crept on his face.
Inuyasha wanted to swallow his words. That was NOT a good move, and he did NOT like the kit's smile one bit. 'Don't tell me he's thinking…'
"SHIPPOU!!! NO! REMEMBER THIS IS YOUR BO—,"
*BONK*
Whoops… too late.
The hanyou toppled over, swirlies in his eyes. Shippou laughed in triumph. Finally, he had had his revenge. No more bonks on the head for him! From now on, he was going to do all the whacking.
Unfortunately, the situation hadn't sunken really deep into Kagome. As she saw Shippou cackling with foot on Inuyasha's head, she said the magic word on instinct.
"SIT!"
"WAAAAHHH!!!"
*BAM*
Talk about karma.
Kagome gasped as she realized what she had done. She ran over to Shippou to check on him. She mumbled a thousand apologies to the kit as he uttered nonsense, probably from the shock the sudden 'sit' had caused.
"Ahhh!!! Gomenasai Shippou-chan! I forgot!!! Gomenasai!!!"
On the other side of the room, Inuyasha laughed his heart out. "Now you know how it feels, gaki!"
Kagome hung her head low and groaned. This was going to be harder than she thought…
~*~
Hiei_hellfireangel: Aiya~! Another chapter done! Wow! I guess my constant complaining to 'Inspiration' finally got to her! I hope you liked it! As usual read and review onegai? Teewai!!! ^-^U
On with the reviews, shall we?
binskbabe2001: Arigato from the bottom of my heart! Oho, the wackier parts are yet to come!
xXMidori-ChanXx: Sankyuu too! LOL you know now. I think it'd be funnier and more exciting if Kagome knew about it. Actually I got the idea for this story from some things or events that really happen in my life. I can't disclose the details, they're personal! :D
Lil Shaman Girl: Ahehehe… I'm going to be pretty busy this week, so maybe the next chappy will come out say, in 2 weeks? Really, I have lots of excuses. One, it's our school's annual Intramurals and I'm assigned to cover one of the events for our school paper. Two, I have to stay in school till 7 pm to practice for the Cheering Competition for our Intramurals, too. Three, HOMEWORK! Four, inspiration blues. The list goes on… Gomen ne. ^^
mkh2: Really? Arigato! Update faster? Hmm… Give me a better brain and faster typing hands and I might! XD (I'm sorry I can't be perfect~)
I Stalk Sesshoumaru on Weekends: ^_________^
Gopher2806: Wow a gopher! I love gophers and other rodents for that matter! Don't give all the credit to me for the childhood part. I have Midoriko-sama to thank for that.
Shippo is Me: Thanks, Shippou-chan ^_^. Yeah, I've noticed that, too. Glad to make a difference, ne?
X-with stars: Yes, they will know about the switch. Sleeping? *evil grin* You'll see.
Kaoru _Gal: *starts packing her things* ACK!!! THREATS!!! Nuuu… You're scary @_@;;. Cliffhangers? You should learn to love them! They make the story more interesting! n_nU
Lei_Xang: Extra long chappie? Eep… Ok ok I'll TRY to update… :D
KougasMyMan: *blushes* Awww arigato gozaimasu!
inuyashafan65: Ehh??? Ok… ^^;;
Koinu-Chan: Another threat?! *sweats* LOL kidding! Love and peace, too!
mikiari: Nah. I bet you're good at writing, you're just shy. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me your comments people! I NEED THEM!!! I won't be able to improve as a writer if you don't criticize even just a bit! :O
Randall_Flagg2: Mwehehehe now you know! Fireballs?! Tsk… you can do better than that. I create fire dragons, btw (I'm Hiei, duh!). J/k! Ahh the HTML thing… nah… I know how now!!! ^_____^;;
This chappie is dedicated to my friend Gie, who gave me 2 Inu VCDs with 3 eps each for Christmas! Those are going to be a lot of help in making this fic! Sankyuu mama!
Okies! See ya again peeps!~