Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or it's characters, I own only this basis of this story.
I'm doing stuff a little differently this time. I'm going to start the chapter with my shout-outs instead of waiting to the end. Just to keep ya'll on your toes! And then you can skip to Chapter 3. So here we go!
Najou: Thanks for the review, for reading, and the support. I do hope this story will be a hit!
IridescentEverdream: I'm so glad you approve! Of course there are fight scenes in this story! It's an action/adventure romance is it not? The beginning is pretty mellow, be believe me when I say that there are some tough battles ahead for the hero and heroine! And I have an ace in the whole for my fight scenes--an action-obsessed twin brother! Muhahaha!
silentslayer: *bows* Thanks for the love of my work. I loved this story too. (I was inspired by a movie my brother made me watch, 'The Quest' with Jean Claude Van Dam.) I hope to do something good with it, hehe. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
LilNezumi LilInu: The requested and highly anticipated third chapter, for your reading pleasure. Thanks for the support and the reading!
Josie: Yes, Inuyasha is a pizza boy. I had to give him a demeaning job and my brother went to me 'If you want a loser, make him a pizza delivery boy.' Thus it was born. Ah! You are the only one to inquire about that. I was wondering if anyone would catch that twist, hehe. Unfortunately, I'll be stringing you along for a while on that issue, but give it a few chapters and the truth will be known. Thanks for the review!
Leomae: Ah! You figured out he was the pizza boy? Oh darn, I'd hoped to shock a few people. It was the chapter title that gave it away, wasn't it? Oh well. Well, unfortunately, there won't be any fluff for a few chapters. I'd say it'll start getting juicy around chapter 4 or 5. Thanks for reviewing!
KireiHanyou Ko: Thank you and thank you! Heh, thanks a third time as well. I like the idea too, it was something different. More chapters are coming, just give me a little while. Thanks for reviewing!
Okay, here's the highly anticipated third chapter.
A Fighter's Story
Chapter 3
Kagome whistled through her teeth as she drove out of the parking lot of her apartment. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and turned up the volume on her radio. Considering all that had transpired over the past 24 hours, she was feeling remarkably well. She was dressed, her hair was brushed and pulled back, and best of all--she wasn't hung over anymore. That fact alone was enough for some praise. Especially after the conversation that afternoon with a certain ex-fighter who ate half of her pizza.
Inuyasha had stayed so they could talk. The 'pizza boy' hat and the sunglasses were discarded. She heard a suspicious sound that reminded her of a relieved sigh. So they had laid around her living room, eating pizza and knots, drinking Pepsi, and talking about idle things. Inuyasha complimented her apartment--a very airy place it was. Kagome was never one to over decorate. There was sparse furnishings, and pictures that hung on her walls. Most of them were of her father and her when she was young, a few of her and Sango.
"So tell me why you can't fight anymore," Inuyasha said after a while of silence. Kagome winced, despite the fact that she had seen it coming.
"Well, what can I really say?" she said, looking down into the Pepsi in her hands. "Have you ever heard of the Kiyomatsu Tournament?"
Inuyasha sat up, and looked like he was thinking hard. Then he nodded his head, eye brows together. "Yeah, that's that tournament held in Japan every twenty years right? 'The best of the best by invitation only' and all that. The winner receives something called the Shikon Jewel."
Kagome nodded grimly. "I tried to enter."
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow and cast her an amused glance. "But they don't allow women entries."
"So I noticed," Kagome muttered. "It's a tradition, at least one member of my family has competed in the tournament since it was established." She tossed him a level-eyed gaze, blue sparking with gold. "Four centuries ago."
"Damn," Inuyasha said, sitting up on the couch. "That's a hell of a tradition."
"Yeah," Kagome said darkly. "And it's just my luck that I break it."
"How the fuck d'you manage that?"
"I was born a girl, I think that sums it up," Kagome said with a pause and a nod for emphasis. "Women can't enter, and I'm the last of my family. Well, me and my Dad, but he's too old to compete now." Kagome leaned over with a sigh, hugging her knees and taking a long gulp of soda, wishing it was some form of alcohol. "He was in the last tournament, came in fourth position too. The last match was with a monster Turkish dude. Nearly broke my Dad's back. Now, he can't carry anything heavier then thirty pounds or he'll pull muscles and have to stay in bed for days."
"Maybe it's a good thing you can't enter then," Inuyasha said rationally. "I mean, if your Dad got hurt that bad, why would you want to go through it?"
Kagome glared at him with icy eyes. "Because I'm a Higurashi. Because I want to prove that I am good enough to fight against the best fighters in the world. I'm just as good as any man."
"No arguments here," Inuyasha said, raising his hands in a mock surrender.
"I guess I just have something to prove," Kagome said with a sigh, staring into the dark liquid in her cup. "The tournament seemed to be the best way to do that, an honorable way."
"So, just because you can't get into this hundred-year-old tournament doesn't mean you can't prove it to the world in a ring here at home," Inuyasha commented rationally. "There's no reason to give up a career for a half-ass reason like that."
"Why'd you give it up?" she retorted, her pride hurting.
Inuyasha winced, turning away. "I gave it up for a stupid reason."
"Then go back," Kagome pushed. "I can't see you being happy as a pizza boy."
"We are talking about you here, not me," he snapped, glaring her way. "My business is my own." Kagome gave him a half-shrug.
"Well, getting back to our previous conversation, the tournament comity put a ban on me. I am now forbidden from fighting in any authorized tournament for the rest of my life. They even stripped me of my nationals title." She sighed and leaned back on the couch, one hand shielding her face. "Behold my honor."
"So," Inuyasha commented thoughtfully. "You're first thought after this wasn't to contest the decision but to go get fucked up?"
"Who's side are you on?" Kagome yelped in surprise. She truly hadn't expected a lecture from him and Sango in the same day.
"No one's side," he said rationally. "I'm only surmising the facts."
"Jerk," she muttered.
"Harsh, you cut me with your words," he laughed. "But ok, I sympathize."
"There's one major difference between our situations," Kagome said evenly, though her eyes spoke volumes. "You left the fighting world willingly. I was cast out."
It stung, but Inuyasha suppressed the urge to flinch. "Fair enough." So they went on in silence fore a little while, eating Kagome out of house and home in the meantime. When Inuyasha couldn't stand the silence any longer, he began a new line a questioning. "So what do you plan on doing now?"
Kagome sighed, looking pensive. "I've been asking myself that for two days."
"And?"
"I still don't know," she said with a half-smile. "I have a college degree, so I could apply for a few jobs, but I have enough money to last me past the summer if I don't find anything right away. And if all else fails, I can always move back home with my Dad."
"You'd move back in with your parents?" he asked in surprise. "But you're like twenty four!"
"Actually, I'm twenty five," she clarified. "And it's just my Dad. My mother died when I was a baby. I'm sure he'd be happy for my sparkling company again."
"But still, isn't it a little demeaning?" Inuyasha pressed. He couldn't believe that she would consider moving back home. He never did, even though his brother had offered him a place. Maybe Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had never been close, but they were still related. And it shamed Sesshomaru's upstanding name to know that his half-brother was floating around somewhere in the west without strings. Inuyasha was certain that the up-tight executive in New York City would have a heart-attack if he knew about the pizza boy job. Inuyasha internally smiled.
Kagome only shrugged. "It's just a thought. I doubt it'll happen. I like it in the city, and I'm sure I'll get some kind of job before I'm thrown from my apartment." Then she leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Why are you so adamant about my going home? Don't tell me that you, the great Inuyasha Dai, have ever been reduced to living with Mom and Dad."
Inuyasha gave her the cocky smile that he had been famous for back in his fighting days. Talking to this girl made him feel like his old self again. "Mom and Dad have been dead since my teen years. I've got an older brother in New York who would love to lord it over my head if I ever came home."
"So the plot thickens," Kagome joked. "I'm just lucky I guess, that I'm an only child."
"Yes you are," he muttered. She smiled happily.
"I'm a godmother though, so I'm not without responsibility." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow in question. Kagome got to her feet and walked into her bedroom, returning a moment later with a small framed picture. She tossed it into his lap without flurish, then collapsed on to the seat next to him. "That's Shippou," she explained, pointing at a small boy with rusty-brown hair and big green eyes. He looked about eight years old, though he was small. "And that's his sister Rin," she continued, pointing to a little girl with short black hair and a missing-tooth smile. She couldn't have been more then six.
"They're cute," Inuyasha ventured, knowing the way women worked. If one said the wrong thing in reference to children, they were libel to take your head off. Kagome surprised him though, with a sly smile.
"You don't have to play it cool," she taunted. "If you think I'm one of those women who drag out the baby pictures on the first date, you're far mistaken. This is just a visual aid." Inuyasha shrugged. "They're my friend Sango's kids. Sango and I grew up together, so I get the privilege of being the aunt. That is, by far, the best job in the world."
"Better then being a Mom?" he questioned, not really sure why he was treading there.
"Much," she agreed with a nod. "I get to spoil them rotten, don't have to worry about discipline or college or dentist bills, plus," she paused, taking the picture back from him. "I get to see them whenever I want so it's like being a mom in a few ways." She sighed, more to herself then him, then smiled again. "I'd make a bad mother. I can't say no to any kid, plus there would be that whole pregnant thing. I'd die." With that, she hopped to her feet and returned the picture to her room. "So, your brother have any kids?"
"Sesshomaru and kids in the same sentence?" Inuyasha joked. "That would be a sign of the apocalypse."
Kagome was about to ask him another question, but the phone rang and she jumped. "One second," she told Inuyasha. He nodded his consent to wait as she grabbed for the phone. But the portable's battery was dead from laying on her table too long. Kagome made a rush for the holder and hit the speaker button. "Hello?"
"Kag, it's Sango," came a familiar voice.
"Ah Sango," Kagome said with a grin. "Calling to check up on me?"
"Kinda," Sango laughed.
"No, I haven't ended my life in a fit of dramatics, and yes, I am sober," Kagome said laughingly as she settled back into her seat, nodding her head at the phone and rolling her eyes at Inuyasha. He smiled, but didn't comment.
"Well that's good, because I, your best friend, the mother of your godchildren, the best agent on the earth, the wind beneath your wings--"
"Skip to the point where you ask me what you want," Kagome said without heat.
"Miroku's working late tonight, as usual, could you be the dearest of chums and watch the kids tonight? You could stay over in the guest room, so we can still go out tomorrow. And I'll feed you, so it's all good."
"What time do you need me over there?" Kagome asked, already getting up to locate her wallet and keys.
"They should be home from school by three thirty, could you meet them?"
"Roger that."
"Thanks Kag, you are the best!"
Kagome sighed wearily. "I know. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."
"And you pull it off so well," Sango said, just buttering her up all the more. Kagome laughed and blushed even though it was over the phone. Praise always made her blush. Inuyasha couldn't stand it any longer, he had to snicker. He had to admit that he had never before heard such an exchange between women in all his life, and he had been around a lot of women when he was in his fame. Sango went quiet for a second. "Kag, was that you?"
"Busted," Kagome said with a smirk. "We're not alone in the universe San, you know that."
"Kagome." There was a warning in her tone. The same tone that a mother used on an obstinate child. Kagome sighed.
"Okay, okay, I have a friend over. Is that okay?"
"And this friend would be?" Kagome laughed a little.
"My friend Inuyasha," she said with a chipper smile, and turning to him. "Just introduce herself before she goes into the third degree." Inuyasha shrugged.
"Hello," he greeted lamely. "I'm Inuyasha Dai....um, I'm Kagome's pizza boy." There was a brief pause between all parties. "Shit, that sounded so much better in my head," he said aloud. A second later, both females burst into hysterics.
Sometime after that, Kagome pulled herself to the table. "I'll see you tonight Sango."
"Okay sweetie, don't drive too fast." There was a mutual snicker, then Kagome hit the end button.
"You're my pizza boy, huh?" Kagome asked with a smirk. "So that means I can hire you on a daily basis?"
"Only if you want to live off of what Myouga makes, and trust me you don't," Inuyasha said quickly. "I've seen what goes on in the kitchens." Kagome giggled and finally found her discarded keys.
"Well I hate to kick you out," she said with a friendly smile. "But duty calls."
"No problem," Inuyasha replied good-naturedly. "I got free pizza out of the deal."
"That's true," Kagome commended him. "We should hang out again sometime, this was nice."
"Yeah, it was," he said, sounding surprised. He hadn't been around other fighters since his retirement, and Kagome had never been popular with the rest of her competitors. It was nice to be among a familiar element.
"So I'll just have to call for another pizza then," she said with a smile, grabbing her coat from where it was still laying on her bed. She also tossed her toothbrush and a change of clothes in a duffel bag to take with her.
"Ask for me though, they might send Nazuna if you don't."
"The peppy girl who answer's the phones?"
"Yeah, she can drive."
"If she drives as fast as she talks, the world at large is in trouble."
"You're telling me," he said fearfully. Kagome laughed again and opened the door for both of them, locking it once they were outside. "Let me ask you something."
"Shoot," she replied, listening interestedly.
"Do you still plan to train? Even though you can't fight professionally, are you going to just give it up?"
"Give it up? Never," she said seriously. "I may not be in the ring, but I'm still a fighter." Inuyasha nodded.
"That's admirable." Kagome shrugged. "What gym do you go to?" he continued.
"Um, the one up on third and seventh. 'The Shrine House.'"
"I go there too," he said with a half-smirk. "Three days a week. Maybe you could show me your skills some time."
"And I could see if you've lost your edge?" she challenged, blue eyes dancing.
"You wish. I may be three years from the ring, little girl, but I could wipe the floor with you any day."
"In your dreams," she taunted, thrusting out her chin proudly and walking away with her head high. "I'll call for a pizza and we can talk details."
"Whatever," Inuyasha said with a sarcastic smile as he watched her get into her car, and he returned to his own. Kagome waited for him to leave first before following him out of the entrance. He turned left, she went right.
It Kagome twenty minutes to drive from her apartment to Sango's neighborhood. She and Miroku had bought a house in outside of the city two years ago, upon the official adoption of Rin. Kagome parked her car at the corner bus stop and waited to pick up the kids. She didn't have to wait to long, because a minute later the huge yellow vehicle rolled up and a few children hopped off the steps with a Friday-spring in their steps. The last two off the bus were Shippou and Rin. Kagome got out of the car and waved when they spotted her.
"Aunt Kagome!" Shippou yelled, grabbing Rin's hand as they ran down the sidewalk to her car. Kagome received two huge hugs with a happy return.
"Hey munchkins!" she laughed, picking up Rin in her arms and hugging Shippou to her waist. "Your mom called me to watch you this afternoon." Rin used her hands to sign out a variety of happy words and Shippou yelled a hearty 'yay.' Yup, being an aunt was the greatest thing in the world. And yet, Kagome knew being a mother would be ten times that. To bad she couldn't have that.
"Mommy said you weren't coming until tomorrow," Shippou said as he buckled himself into the backseat beside his sister. Rin nodded, signing out a question of her own. 'Are you staying over?' Being a mute, Rin could only make primitive sounds, but she was fluent in sign language. Kagome, as well as the Houshi family, were also fluent.
"Yes, I'm staying over tonight and we can hang out all day tomorrow." The children grinned largely, and then Kagome asked them about their day at school and how things had been going. They talked for a while once they reached the house as well.
Kagome helped the kids with their homework after they got home, so they could be scott-free the rest of the weekend. They watched a Disney movie on DVD and Kagome even cooked dinner for when Sango and Miroku got home that night. A little spaghetti can go a long way. (Kagome's expertise in cooking doesn't extend beyond the noddle-family, Mac & cheese, spaghetti, and Ramen.)
When the two adults did return home, they were both tired and grateful for the prepared meal. It wasn't long after that, that both children and parents retired to their rooms for the night. Kagome was the last one up. She sat in the dark living room of a while, laying on the couch, contemplating her existence. Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. Maybe, just maybe, she could survive this. Maybe, just maybe, she could live beyond the ring. Kagome laughed a little and sighed. She needed a miracle if that were ever to happen. Her life was too complicated for any simple solution. She never knew wrong she was until much later on.
A/N: Okay, here we are! I want to take this time, while I still have your attention, to hype my other fic. It's called Curse of the Gypsy. It's also a romance action/adventure AU. Only, that involves mystical things and it's magical and pretty and stuff. This is a more serious, down-to-earth story. *hugs the story* I love this story. I'm also cooking up another for when I finish this one, so be prepared! Thanks for reading and remember to review!
I'm doing stuff a little differently this time. I'm going to start the chapter with my shout-outs instead of waiting to the end. Just to keep ya'll on your toes! And then you can skip to Chapter 3. So here we go!
Najou: Thanks for the review, for reading, and the support. I do hope this story will be a hit!
IridescentEverdream: I'm so glad you approve! Of course there are fight scenes in this story! It's an action/adventure romance is it not? The beginning is pretty mellow, be believe me when I say that there are some tough battles ahead for the hero and heroine! And I have an ace in the whole for my fight scenes--an action-obsessed twin brother! Muhahaha!
silentslayer: *bows* Thanks for the love of my work. I loved this story too. (I was inspired by a movie my brother made me watch, 'The Quest' with Jean Claude Van Dam.) I hope to do something good with it, hehe. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
LilNezumi LilInu: The requested and highly anticipated third chapter, for your reading pleasure. Thanks for the support and the reading!
Josie: Yes, Inuyasha is a pizza boy. I had to give him a demeaning job and my brother went to me 'If you want a loser, make him a pizza delivery boy.' Thus it was born. Ah! You are the only one to inquire about that. I was wondering if anyone would catch that twist, hehe. Unfortunately, I'll be stringing you along for a while on that issue, but give it a few chapters and the truth will be known. Thanks for the review!
Leomae: Ah! You figured out he was the pizza boy? Oh darn, I'd hoped to shock a few people. It was the chapter title that gave it away, wasn't it? Oh well. Well, unfortunately, there won't be any fluff for a few chapters. I'd say it'll start getting juicy around chapter 4 or 5. Thanks for reviewing!
KireiHanyou Ko: Thank you and thank you! Heh, thanks a third time as well. I like the idea too, it was something different. More chapters are coming, just give me a little while. Thanks for reviewing!
Okay, here's the highly anticipated third chapter.
A Fighter's Story
Chapter 3
Kagome whistled through her teeth as she drove out of the parking lot of her apartment. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and turned up the volume on her radio. Considering all that had transpired over the past 24 hours, she was feeling remarkably well. She was dressed, her hair was brushed and pulled back, and best of all--she wasn't hung over anymore. That fact alone was enough for some praise. Especially after the conversation that afternoon with a certain ex-fighter who ate half of her pizza.
Inuyasha had stayed so they could talk. The 'pizza boy' hat and the sunglasses were discarded. She heard a suspicious sound that reminded her of a relieved sigh. So they had laid around her living room, eating pizza and knots, drinking Pepsi, and talking about idle things. Inuyasha complimented her apartment--a very airy place it was. Kagome was never one to over decorate. There was sparse furnishings, and pictures that hung on her walls. Most of them were of her father and her when she was young, a few of her and Sango.
"So tell me why you can't fight anymore," Inuyasha said after a while of silence. Kagome winced, despite the fact that she had seen it coming.
"Well, what can I really say?" she said, looking down into the Pepsi in her hands. "Have you ever heard of the Kiyomatsu Tournament?"
Inuyasha sat up, and looked like he was thinking hard. Then he nodded his head, eye brows together. "Yeah, that's that tournament held in Japan every twenty years right? 'The best of the best by invitation only' and all that. The winner receives something called the Shikon Jewel."
Kagome nodded grimly. "I tried to enter."
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow and cast her an amused glance. "But they don't allow women entries."
"So I noticed," Kagome muttered. "It's a tradition, at least one member of my family has competed in the tournament since it was established." She tossed him a level-eyed gaze, blue sparking with gold. "Four centuries ago."
"Damn," Inuyasha said, sitting up on the couch. "That's a hell of a tradition."
"Yeah," Kagome said darkly. "And it's just my luck that I break it."
"How the fuck d'you manage that?"
"I was born a girl, I think that sums it up," Kagome said with a pause and a nod for emphasis. "Women can't enter, and I'm the last of my family. Well, me and my Dad, but he's too old to compete now." Kagome leaned over with a sigh, hugging her knees and taking a long gulp of soda, wishing it was some form of alcohol. "He was in the last tournament, came in fourth position too. The last match was with a monster Turkish dude. Nearly broke my Dad's back. Now, he can't carry anything heavier then thirty pounds or he'll pull muscles and have to stay in bed for days."
"Maybe it's a good thing you can't enter then," Inuyasha said rationally. "I mean, if your Dad got hurt that bad, why would you want to go through it?"
Kagome glared at him with icy eyes. "Because I'm a Higurashi. Because I want to prove that I am good enough to fight against the best fighters in the world. I'm just as good as any man."
"No arguments here," Inuyasha said, raising his hands in a mock surrender.
"I guess I just have something to prove," Kagome said with a sigh, staring into the dark liquid in her cup. "The tournament seemed to be the best way to do that, an honorable way."
"So, just because you can't get into this hundred-year-old tournament doesn't mean you can't prove it to the world in a ring here at home," Inuyasha commented rationally. "There's no reason to give up a career for a half-ass reason like that."
"Why'd you give it up?" she retorted, her pride hurting.
Inuyasha winced, turning away. "I gave it up for a stupid reason."
"Then go back," Kagome pushed. "I can't see you being happy as a pizza boy."
"We are talking about you here, not me," he snapped, glaring her way. "My business is my own." Kagome gave him a half-shrug.
"Well, getting back to our previous conversation, the tournament comity put a ban on me. I am now forbidden from fighting in any authorized tournament for the rest of my life. They even stripped me of my nationals title." She sighed and leaned back on the couch, one hand shielding her face. "Behold my honor."
"So," Inuyasha commented thoughtfully. "You're first thought after this wasn't to contest the decision but to go get fucked up?"
"Who's side are you on?" Kagome yelped in surprise. She truly hadn't expected a lecture from him and Sango in the same day.
"No one's side," he said rationally. "I'm only surmising the facts."
"Jerk," she muttered.
"Harsh, you cut me with your words," he laughed. "But ok, I sympathize."
"There's one major difference between our situations," Kagome said evenly, though her eyes spoke volumes. "You left the fighting world willingly. I was cast out."
It stung, but Inuyasha suppressed the urge to flinch. "Fair enough." So they went on in silence fore a little while, eating Kagome out of house and home in the meantime. When Inuyasha couldn't stand the silence any longer, he began a new line a questioning. "So what do you plan on doing now?"
Kagome sighed, looking pensive. "I've been asking myself that for two days."
"And?"
"I still don't know," she said with a half-smile. "I have a college degree, so I could apply for a few jobs, but I have enough money to last me past the summer if I don't find anything right away. And if all else fails, I can always move back home with my Dad."
"You'd move back in with your parents?" he asked in surprise. "But you're like twenty four!"
"Actually, I'm twenty five," she clarified. "And it's just my Dad. My mother died when I was a baby. I'm sure he'd be happy for my sparkling company again."
"But still, isn't it a little demeaning?" Inuyasha pressed. He couldn't believe that she would consider moving back home. He never did, even though his brother had offered him a place. Maybe Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had never been close, but they were still related. And it shamed Sesshomaru's upstanding name to know that his half-brother was floating around somewhere in the west without strings. Inuyasha was certain that the up-tight executive in New York City would have a heart-attack if he knew about the pizza boy job. Inuyasha internally smiled.
Kagome only shrugged. "It's just a thought. I doubt it'll happen. I like it in the city, and I'm sure I'll get some kind of job before I'm thrown from my apartment." Then she leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Why are you so adamant about my going home? Don't tell me that you, the great Inuyasha Dai, have ever been reduced to living with Mom and Dad."
Inuyasha gave her the cocky smile that he had been famous for back in his fighting days. Talking to this girl made him feel like his old self again. "Mom and Dad have been dead since my teen years. I've got an older brother in New York who would love to lord it over my head if I ever came home."
"So the plot thickens," Kagome joked. "I'm just lucky I guess, that I'm an only child."
"Yes you are," he muttered. She smiled happily.
"I'm a godmother though, so I'm not without responsibility." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow in question. Kagome got to her feet and walked into her bedroom, returning a moment later with a small framed picture. She tossed it into his lap without flurish, then collapsed on to the seat next to him. "That's Shippou," she explained, pointing at a small boy with rusty-brown hair and big green eyes. He looked about eight years old, though he was small. "And that's his sister Rin," she continued, pointing to a little girl with short black hair and a missing-tooth smile. She couldn't have been more then six.
"They're cute," Inuyasha ventured, knowing the way women worked. If one said the wrong thing in reference to children, they were libel to take your head off. Kagome surprised him though, with a sly smile.
"You don't have to play it cool," she taunted. "If you think I'm one of those women who drag out the baby pictures on the first date, you're far mistaken. This is just a visual aid." Inuyasha shrugged. "They're my friend Sango's kids. Sango and I grew up together, so I get the privilege of being the aunt. That is, by far, the best job in the world."
"Better then being a Mom?" he questioned, not really sure why he was treading there.
"Much," she agreed with a nod. "I get to spoil them rotten, don't have to worry about discipline or college or dentist bills, plus," she paused, taking the picture back from him. "I get to see them whenever I want so it's like being a mom in a few ways." She sighed, more to herself then him, then smiled again. "I'd make a bad mother. I can't say no to any kid, plus there would be that whole pregnant thing. I'd die." With that, she hopped to her feet and returned the picture to her room. "So, your brother have any kids?"
"Sesshomaru and kids in the same sentence?" Inuyasha joked. "That would be a sign of the apocalypse."
Kagome was about to ask him another question, but the phone rang and she jumped. "One second," she told Inuyasha. He nodded his consent to wait as she grabbed for the phone. But the portable's battery was dead from laying on her table too long. Kagome made a rush for the holder and hit the speaker button. "Hello?"
"Kag, it's Sango," came a familiar voice.
"Ah Sango," Kagome said with a grin. "Calling to check up on me?"
"Kinda," Sango laughed.
"No, I haven't ended my life in a fit of dramatics, and yes, I am sober," Kagome said laughingly as she settled back into her seat, nodding her head at the phone and rolling her eyes at Inuyasha. He smiled, but didn't comment.
"Well that's good, because I, your best friend, the mother of your godchildren, the best agent on the earth, the wind beneath your wings--"
"Skip to the point where you ask me what you want," Kagome said without heat.
"Miroku's working late tonight, as usual, could you be the dearest of chums and watch the kids tonight? You could stay over in the guest room, so we can still go out tomorrow. And I'll feed you, so it's all good."
"What time do you need me over there?" Kagome asked, already getting up to locate her wallet and keys.
"They should be home from school by three thirty, could you meet them?"
"Roger that."
"Thanks Kag, you are the best!"
Kagome sighed wearily. "I know. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."
"And you pull it off so well," Sango said, just buttering her up all the more. Kagome laughed and blushed even though it was over the phone. Praise always made her blush. Inuyasha couldn't stand it any longer, he had to snicker. He had to admit that he had never before heard such an exchange between women in all his life, and he had been around a lot of women when he was in his fame. Sango went quiet for a second. "Kag, was that you?"
"Busted," Kagome said with a smirk. "We're not alone in the universe San, you know that."
"Kagome." There was a warning in her tone. The same tone that a mother used on an obstinate child. Kagome sighed.
"Okay, okay, I have a friend over. Is that okay?"
"And this friend would be?" Kagome laughed a little.
"My friend Inuyasha," she said with a chipper smile, and turning to him. "Just introduce herself before she goes into the third degree." Inuyasha shrugged.
"Hello," he greeted lamely. "I'm Inuyasha Dai....um, I'm Kagome's pizza boy." There was a brief pause between all parties. "Shit, that sounded so much better in my head," he said aloud. A second later, both females burst into hysterics.
Sometime after that, Kagome pulled herself to the table. "I'll see you tonight Sango."
"Okay sweetie, don't drive too fast." There was a mutual snicker, then Kagome hit the end button.
"You're my pizza boy, huh?" Kagome asked with a smirk. "So that means I can hire you on a daily basis?"
"Only if you want to live off of what Myouga makes, and trust me you don't," Inuyasha said quickly. "I've seen what goes on in the kitchens." Kagome giggled and finally found her discarded keys.
"Well I hate to kick you out," she said with a friendly smile. "But duty calls."
"No problem," Inuyasha replied good-naturedly. "I got free pizza out of the deal."
"That's true," Kagome commended him. "We should hang out again sometime, this was nice."
"Yeah, it was," he said, sounding surprised. He hadn't been around other fighters since his retirement, and Kagome had never been popular with the rest of her competitors. It was nice to be among a familiar element.
"So I'll just have to call for another pizza then," she said with a smile, grabbing her coat from where it was still laying on her bed. She also tossed her toothbrush and a change of clothes in a duffel bag to take with her.
"Ask for me though, they might send Nazuna if you don't."
"The peppy girl who answer's the phones?"
"Yeah, she can drive."
"If she drives as fast as she talks, the world at large is in trouble."
"You're telling me," he said fearfully. Kagome laughed again and opened the door for both of them, locking it once they were outside. "Let me ask you something."
"Shoot," she replied, listening interestedly.
"Do you still plan to train? Even though you can't fight professionally, are you going to just give it up?"
"Give it up? Never," she said seriously. "I may not be in the ring, but I'm still a fighter." Inuyasha nodded.
"That's admirable." Kagome shrugged. "What gym do you go to?" he continued.
"Um, the one up on third and seventh. 'The Shrine House.'"
"I go there too," he said with a half-smirk. "Three days a week. Maybe you could show me your skills some time."
"And I could see if you've lost your edge?" she challenged, blue eyes dancing.
"You wish. I may be three years from the ring, little girl, but I could wipe the floor with you any day."
"In your dreams," she taunted, thrusting out her chin proudly and walking away with her head high. "I'll call for a pizza and we can talk details."
"Whatever," Inuyasha said with a sarcastic smile as he watched her get into her car, and he returned to his own. Kagome waited for him to leave first before following him out of the entrance. He turned left, she went right.
It Kagome twenty minutes to drive from her apartment to Sango's neighborhood. She and Miroku had bought a house in outside of the city two years ago, upon the official adoption of Rin. Kagome parked her car at the corner bus stop and waited to pick up the kids. She didn't have to wait to long, because a minute later the huge yellow vehicle rolled up and a few children hopped off the steps with a Friday-spring in their steps. The last two off the bus were Shippou and Rin. Kagome got out of the car and waved when they spotted her.
"Aunt Kagome!" Shippou yelled, grabbing Rin's hand as they ran down the sidewalk to her car. Kagome received two huge hugs with a happy return.
"Hey munchkins!" she laughed, picking up Rin in her arms and hugging Shippou to her waist. "Your mom called me to watch you this afternoon." Rin used her hands to sign out a variety of happy words and Shippou yelled a hearty 'yay.' Yup, being an aunt was the greatest thing in the world. And yet, Kagome knew being a mother would be ten times that. To bad she couldn't have that.
"Mommy said you weren't coming until tomorrow," Shippou said as he buckled himself into the backseat beside his sister. Rin nodded, signing out a question of her own. 'Are you staying over?' Being a mute, Rin could only make primitive sounds, but she was fluent in sign language. Kagome, as well as the Houshi family, were also fluent.
"Yes, I'm staying over tonight and we can hang out all day tomorrow." The children grinned largely, and then Kagome asked them about their day at school and how things had been going. They talked for a while once they reached the house as well.
Kagome helped the kids with their homework after they got home, so they could be scott-free the rest of the weekend. They watched a Disney movie on DVD and Kagome even cooked dinner for when Sango and Miroku got home that night. A little spaghetti can go a long way. (Kagome's expertise in cooking doesn't extend beyond the noddle-family, Mac & cheese, spaghetti, and Ramen.)
When the two adults did return home, they were both tired and grateful for the prepared meal. It wasn't long after that, that both children and parents retired to their rooms for the night. Kagome was the last one up. She sat in the dark living room of a while, laying on the couch, contemplating her existence. Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. Maybe, just maybe, she could survive this. Maybe, just maybe, she could live beyond the ring. Kagome laughed a little and sighed. She needed a miracle if that were ever to happen. Her life was too complicated for any simple solution. She never knew wrong she was until much later on.
A/N: Okay, here we are! I want to take this time, while I still have your attention, to hype my other fic. It's called Curse of the Gypsy. It's also a romance action/adventure AU. Only, that involves mystical things and it's magical and pretty and stuff. This is a more serious, down-to-earth story. *hugs the story* I love this story. I'm also cooking up another for when I finish this one, so be prepared! Thanks for reading and remember to review!