Author: Jennifer Rezny
Rating: PG-13, for possible later content
Genre: Inuyasha; romance/humor
Disclaimer: All characters as of yet belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I am not that person. (I wish I was ;-;)
Notes: Whee, I feel inspired, and I want to continue. Because... this is a nice story, I think, and I've gotten alot of praise both on and off this site. Rate me please?
Changes: I'm an idiot, and I messed up Kagome's friends. They would be Ayumi, Eri and Yuka. None of them are named Rita. Heh... sorry 'bout that.
Update: New version uploaded 5/31/04 - minor mistakes fixed, italics and that fixed. Love me
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Chapter Two
The movie was over. Text was sliding up the screen quickly for what seemed like a long time, and it moved so fast Inuyasha could barely read the words. He was unsettled, too unsettled to even care about what the words were saying. Both were silent. He could hear Souta wandering around downstairs. Neither moved, even when the screen glowed blue and the tape started automatically rewinding to the beginning, he nor Kagome even shifted. He stared at the empty screen while she watched the floor. He was tempted to move his arm from the back of the couch, where it was nearly around her shoulders, but didn't dare move a muscle. It was too awkward.
"So... where do you wanna bed down tonight?" she said suddenly in a really quiet, forced voice. He watched her, thinking. Common sense told him that her parents wouldn't like it if he slept in her room, but he wanted to be close by incase anything happened. The TV room was only a room away from Kagome's room. He could be there in a flash if something happened.
"Here, I guess." he shrugged uncomfortably, and Kagome climbed down from the couch and ejected the movie from the player, placing it in its plastic case and shelving it.
"'Kay." she murmured and smiled faintly. "I'll get you some blankets and stuff." and she went to the door, leaving down the hall. He sat there for a moment before abruptly standing up, accidentally knocking the empty popcorn bowl to the floor, where the unpopped kernels spilt across the carpet. He ignored it and ran after her, catching up to her in the hall.
"Yes?" she said as he touched her shoulder gently, turning away from the shelves in the linen closet. "What is it?"
He was unusually sensitive. With a slight hesitant voice, he asked, "Are you sure your mother won't mind me staying?"
She shook her head with the same faint smile, and loaded her arms with blankets and a few spare pillows. "They won't... they're gone to a relative's for a few days. An aunt that lives alone. Me and Souta are home alone for the next two days."
"So that's why you had to leave?" he said, taking the stuff from her arms and carrying it to the TV room, and she led him along the hall with a nod. "Why couldn't you have just stayed with us?"
"Souta's in third grade, Inuyasha. He's eight years old. He can't stay home alone for almost a whole week." she said with only a twinge of exasperation. He considered this. She had a point... but she still was needed back home too.
But instead of picking an argument, he unsurely continued his former question, "But you're absolutely sure its not a problem if... I stay the night?"
She bobbed her head and began setting up the bed, tucking in the sheets over the couch cushions and arranging the thick over blanket. He watched silently, and neither spoke. It seemed the entire night was lined with awkward silences and endless staring at each other. He was getting quite irritated from it, but he felt extremely calm at the same time. She finished putting together his bed, and watched him with her brown eyes, the color of dark chestnut tree bark.
"I'll... I'll be in my room." she said, in a humble voice, and she backed from the room with a quiet, "Goodnight, Inuyasha."
As she shut the door behind her, he stood for a moment, facing the door. He listened to the tap-tap of her stockinged feet on the floor, ears flicking every few minutes, arms limp at his sides. Then he sat down on the couch, moving his eyes to the wall. He could hear her through the wall, her chair wheels rolling sluggishly across the carpet, a pencil scratching at a paper. He just listened, nothing more.
Kagome was in love with him. He knew it, saw it. Although she never admitted it, he had a very strong impression of her feelings for him. The blushing, the leaning against him, the constant 'I want to be with you' attitude... it was such a dead ringer.
With a painful pang, he recalled him and Kikyo when they were younger... that's what they were like, too. Except... he had long moved on from that, hadn't he? He'd moved on from Kikyo and was now dedicated only to Kagome, yet still he was unsure whether it was a sense of duty or a deeper calling. He and Kikyo had had a failed relationship that ended in sorrow and heartbreak. And now, he didn't want that to start over with Kagome. He had a fresh slate now, he supposed. Kagome was not going to end up like Kikyo, pitted against him.
Did he love her back? Did he?
He wasn't even sure. All he knew is that the moment he had had with Kagome alone was lined with a very powerful feeling. A feeling of calm happiness. Nothing to worry about. It was a very magical moment, prematurely destroyed. He gazed sadly at the wall. That's what it was. Wishful thinking that it would actually happen.
Awkwardly dragging his makeshift bed onto the floor, he lay down on his back, stretched out on the floor between the TV and the couch. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes, oblivious to the fact that the girl on the other side of the wall was doing the exact same thing.
........................
"Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome's head lifted up. "Ever hunt wolves?"
"No." was the simple reply, flat and emotionless. He replied with with a wild grin, "Then you've never lived!"
She shook her head and insisted, in the same bored tone, "But we shouldn't. We might hurt them."
Inuyasha replied with a cheerful voice, "I know! That's what makes it fun! Come on... start building some memories, we won't kill them, just stir them up a bit. Just look at them, they're begging to be beat up."
Kagome shook her head in a melancholy way, refusing still, even as she looked up at the demon wolf tribe on the next hill. He watched too, as the grey grass waved in the breeze. It was like watching the world without color. The only color he could see was his robes and her schoolgirl outfit. However, the color on Kagome was faded to a green-grey, but he took no notice.
He watched as the pack of wolf demons started running towards them at a lighting speeds, in a battle stance and weapons drawn and spears aloft. He watched in terror as Kagome was swept into the arms of Kouga, the wolf-demon who was smitten with her, and carried off. He couldn't move, and Kouga sneered in his face as he ran off with her. He was frozen still. His feet were tied in the grass. He shouted, but no noise came out, and Kagome's color faded completely into shades of grey. He felt empty, and torn. The wolves were laughing and throwing seeds at him, so the small brown kernels rained on him.
And then the dream was over.
Sitting bolt upright, cold sweat dripping down his face, he barely missed hitting his head on the TV stand. His t-shirt was clinging to his shoulders and sides, and his silvery hair was draped down his shoulders as he leaned forwards, breathing hard. A dream. It was only a dream. Kagome was not taken away from him. She was still asleep in the next room, soundly dreaming good dreams, unlike his own reverie.
But the thought alone did not assure him this, so he did not hesitate to stay in the room. Standing up and retrieving tetsuaiga from underneath the couch, where he had hidden it, he tied the sheath to his waist and wandered down the hall, his feet soundlessly stepping against the floor. In the room across from Kagome's, Souta was snoring lightly. He turned to Kagome's room, one hand on tetsuaiga's battered hilt.
Kagome's missing door, blasted from its door frame, was replaced by a blanket hanging across the door frame. Carefully, he drew it aside, and peered in. Kagome was sitting at her desk, slouched over and lying on the tabletop, using her arms for a pillow. She was breathing lightly, perfectly asleep, face blank and emotionless, the girl lost in her slumber. He padded over to her, and leaned over her to check that she really was sleeping. She was, a few papers scattered across the desk with a small book with a metal contraption locking it closed. Glancing at her bed, he went over to it and pulled back the covers, before going back over to her and carefully taking her into his arms, where she shifted slightly with a murmured, "Oh, just five more minutes..." and he paused, halfway across the room to her bed, waiting for her to settle before moving again.
Carefully, he laid her down on the pillows and cushions, and taking the edge of the blankets and pulling them up over her chest to her shoulders, he watched her for a moment, her chest rising and falling as she breathed easily. Unsettled, he sat down on the very end of her bed, watching her dream quietly.
He picked up the book on the desk, the gold fastening on the side undone. Sliding it off, he flipped open the book, and leafed through the pages, finding an entry dated October 29th. He looked at this carefully, and looked at the calendar on her desk. Yes, that was today.
........................
Dearest Diary,
Today, Inuyasha came over to the present day Tokyo. In the middle of my Halloween party. My friends took it pretty bad, but considering he managed to wreck my door, a small portion of the wall and the toaster oven, I don't blame them. I'm not mad though. Inuyasha was just concerned - and probably missed me too. I missed him so much too... I was actually happy he came. My friends were just being nice to want to throw a party with me, but I just was getting bored with their halloween party at my house. For once, I didn't want to go home. I made a promise to Inuyasha that I would stay with him. I promised. I'll never leave his side. Inuyasha's the person I want to be with. I don't know how he'd react if he knew I was this far in love with him, but I'll never leave his side, never, no matter what. I can't.
Inuyasha's in the next room tonight. I wonder what he's doing, so quiet and soundless. I taught him to use a microwave and make popcorn after he destroyed the toaster oven trying to make it, and then we curled up on the couch to watch a movie. We watched Lady and the Tramp... Inuyasha picked it, after finding out it was my favorite. I don't think a few things in it made sense to him... I know he was confused about the guns and some of the animals in it and stuff. But he was very nice, sitting through it with me, though he much have been bored from his mind.
I don't know what happened between us tonight, but sitting there on the couch something did happen. I think we were about to kiss. We were so close. So very close. I wanted it so much... but was it my imagination? Its all so confusing sometimes... did he really want to kiss me, or did he want to tell me something? I swear, Inuyasha is so different from other guys. You can never tell with him. I can't tell anymore... Kikyo and I both want to be with him, its the only thing in common we have, yet I can't find out who's with him. Technically, I am with him more - physically. But is -with- Kikyo? Or with me?
Oh, I love him so much... I realized it a long time ago, right before I went back after the fight, when I still wanted to stay with him. And I don't know if this love is meant to be or not. I pray it is. I couldn't stand to be parted from him again.
-Kagome
........................
He reread this a few times. So this was the source of the pencil scratching. Each time he reread this, he found himself more and more sad. Did she truly love him? Was this the irony of Lady and the Tramp? The gentle and kind sweetheart falling in love with the rough-around-the-edges devil? And... was he in love with her too? He placed the book on the table in the same spot it had been before, leaving the lock open and dangling from the clasp, like he had found it. Kagome would not have been pleased if she knew. He realized only after reading - this was supposed to be a secret book of her thoughts.
With the tetsuaiga in its sheath across his lap, he stood guard over her, listening carefully. "Do you really love me, Kagome?" he whispered to her, though she wouldn't answer in her napping. "Because... I think I'm in love with you too." he added gingerly, almost sadly. "And... I don't know if its right to be in love with you... I have a lot of enemies. People... people would use you to get to me. And admitting I love you... it would mean taking the chance of you getting hurt."
He remembered months ago, when Kagome saw him and Kikyo under the tree, hugging. He had felt destroyed. He had rejected her, and had chosen to say goodbye forever, because he had chosen Kikyo over her. But she, she came right back to him, and made things right again. That was the time she mentioned in the entry. When she swore to stay with him. She didn't try and win him off of Kikyo... but she still came back, even though she knew there was no place for her in his heart, even though she knew she had been rejected.
"There's still my promise to Kikyo, which I have not carried out... I cannot swear to love you and never leave you if I'm set to die for another woman... an undead woman made of clay."
But was there room for her now? Kikyo had betrayed him and he no longer held any place for her, leaving a painful void that needed to be filled. There was room for Kagome. There was more room for her than anyone else. And he always wanted to be with her.
"Kagome.." he muttered, and the memory came back to him perfectly, like a vision. He had come to the well go see her one last time and say goodbye.
But she was there, waiting for her. She had looked at him. "I went back to the present and thought it over... wondering about you and Kikyo... and about me." she had said, and when he stuttered, she had continued, "Its ok... I understand how you feel... and because of that I convinced myself that I couldn't stay here with you."
He had replied in the only way he had known. "Kagome... until I met you, I didn't trust a single soul. But I watched you cry for my sake, you've always stayed by my side... whenever I'm with you, I feel so peaceful and happy, but, I'm not supposed to be all at ease and cheerful." then there had been an incredibly awkward silence, and he had continued, "Kikyo... Kikyo came after me and risked her life.... its only right that I repay her with my own."
Kagome had smiled sadly at him. "I know I can never match Kikyou. After all, I'm still alive... but I've been thinking about me and Kikyo. She and I are completely different. There's all this talk that I'm a reincarnation of her, and even if that's true, I'm still not Kikyo. You see," she trailed, and said softly, "my heart belongs to me." There had been another pause, and she had continued truthfully, "Here's the thing I do understand. One feeling that Kikyo had, something that we share, is that we're alike in our want to be with you."
He had given a soft noise of confusion at this, and Kagome had continued once more, "Strange, you know? The moment I realized that we were alike in our desire to be with you, I felt a little bit better... the desire to be with you gives us a common bond, and that's how I was able to summon up the courage to come and see you..." Inuyasha had stared at her as she softly said, looking away from him, "I want to be here with you, Inuyasha. I try to forget you, but I just can't. Let me stay with you."
"You'd... stay with me?" he had stammered, and she had nodded firmly, and taken his hand. He could still remember the feel of her hand, her fingers so much smaller than his, curled around his palm and skin soft against his battle-worn hands. It had been a turning point in their relationship, for good or bad.
"You're in my heart, Kagome." he presently whispered, staring endlessly at him. She stirred the bed, as if hearing him, and he settled into his spot at the end of her bed, sitting at her feet, closing his amber eyes and falling asleep sitting right there.
........................
When morning came, he was quite startled. When he awoke, he was slumped over on his side at the foot of her bed, with a blanket draped over him. The tetsuaiga was lying neatly on the table, which was now clean of paper and pencils. The secret-filled book was missing. Where was she? The bed was made, and he lay atop the blankets, and the room was tidy. All the the mangled wood littering around the door was gone. He stood up, sniffing, and wandered downstairs, following a scent of cooked pork drifting around the house. With it was the wonderful smell of eggs and toasting bread.
Picking up his pace, he made his way down the stairs and slid neatly into the kitchen, eyes falling immediately on Kagome. She was preoccupied with her cooking, and a black box sitting on the counter sang out music that she hummed to cheerfully. He stood there for a moment, still clad in his pajamas, and then asked, "Why didn't ya wake me up?"
She gave a surprised yelp, startled, jumping and nearly upsetting a narrow carton of milk on the table. Kagome's eyes landed on him and placed and hand on her chest, saying breathily, "Do not scare me like that!" in a slightly unnerved voice, and he chuckled.
"Well? Why didn't you wake me up?"
She moved the eggs around in a pan with the spatula, so they did not burn. "Well," she said with a smile, a slightly shy one, and her cheeks blushed a bit. "you were sound asleep, and I figured you'd want breakfast ready when you awoke."
He smirked, raising an eyebrow, "Oh? Why would I want your cooking? Its not that great."
She threw him a sarcastic glance, fighting fire with fire, and said, "I'll remember that next time you want ramen noodles, then."
He grinned apologetically as she placed a plate of eggs, ham and toast on the table in front of him. He sat down to eat anyway, and lifted a piece of scrambled egg to his mouth gingerly, tasting it. With a smirk, he looked back at her, and said, "You know, you aren't too bad a cook... when you're in your time."
She narrow her eyes and slyly said, "Oh, well, Inuyasha, I suppose we could let you cook for us more often... then you wouldn't have to eat what Sango, Shippo, Miroku or I cook."
Inuyasha looked slightly panicked at this, and countered, "But I can't cook! Cooking is the woman's job, anyway! And... cooking is boring. Real men don't cook."
"Shippo's only a little boy, so he's being nice, and Miroku helps us when we ask him to, and he doesn't complain." she said with a smile, as their argument was a friendly one, "Why can't you?"
"Yeah, well, Miroku just wants to get an excuse to be close to Sango," Inuyasha replied snarkily, yawning and downing a glass of milk in one swig and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth, and continued with a full mouth, "Because Miroku's a perverted monk, so I guess if cooking gets you close to Sango's butt, then its his favorite pass time."
She laughed, and he grinned, swallowing his mouthful, and she said, "Is that so?" with a grin, and then added, "Do you want to bring back some stuff to the feudal era, then? Some ramen and stuff like that to tide you and the other over until I get back?"
"Who said I was leaving without you?" he replied stubbornly, glancing over at her, his golden amber eyes locking on hers.
Kagome lifted an eyebrow and said with a surprised voice, "You're going to put up with me and Souta for two days?" He nodded firmly, handing her his now-empty plate for her to refill. She complied, loading his plate with heaps of eggs and ham, and then said, "Well, you should at least tell Sango, Miroku and Shippo so they don't worry about what's going on."
He shrugged, and began wolfing down his second helping as she seated herself across from him at the table, picking up her chopsticks and eating her meal in a mannerly fashion. He finished his meal quickly, and stood up, saying, "I'll be back in a few then, I'll go tell them."
She nodded, and watched him dash from the house, still wearing the pajamas, giggling madly and watching him disappear into the old shrine. She would have killed to see everyone else's faces when they saw him like that.
........................
Sango and Miroku were perched on the edges of the well, talking and conversing casually about random things, when Inuyasha scaled the inside walls of the well and popped out the top, panting for breath. Both looked up and quieted immediately, Miroku gaining an amused look on his face. Sango looked somewhat shocked, and she spoke first.
"Inuyasha, I won't ask what you've been up to, but Kagome is not with you." Sango said seriously, watching him with a stony look. "I would say you've had another fight..." she said, but her voice gained a tint of sarcasm to it, "but judging by the fact you aren't wearing your robes, I assume all is well?"
His eyes widened and he looked down at himself, still wearing the t-shirt and the loose pants. Blushing angrily, he glared at both of them, quite annoyed. This was all he needed.
"Shut up." he said irritably, hitting Miroku over the head with his fist as the monk started laughing. Miroku winced, but stifled more laughs.
"It appears our great hanyou dog-demon has turned fully human." Miroku chuckled, giving Inuyasha's shirt sleeve a tug. Inuyasha growled, jerking away, and his friend continued, "Dear Inuyasha, what have you been up to?"
"I damaged my other ones, so I borrowed these." he growled back, and Sango smirked, "How exactly did you damage your old ones?"
"Arrrg!" Inuyasha vented, "Never mind that! I just came to tell you that I'm staying with Kagome for the rest of her absence... her mother and grandfather are making her stay home, and its just her and her brother, so I figured I might as well keep her company."
"It appears Inuyasha has been brainwashed," Sango smirked again, turning her eyes onto Miroku, "wasn't it just yesterday he was yelling at us about how much he hated the future because it was so full of stupid things that take Kagome away, which prevents him from getting the jewel and hunting out Naraku, which means he can't get his revenge and become a youkai?"
"Shut UP!" he snapped again, and climbed back into the well. "I'm going back, okay?! I'll explain some other time!"
Miroku, smiling and laughing, continued where Sango left off, in his upbeat voice, "I would have never suspected that Inuyasha would want to leave the quest to defeat Naraku."
Inuyasha did not reply verbally, as instead he went to jump down into the well. However, jumping onto the rim of the well, he ended up tripping over the edge of his pajama pants, unused to the slightly too long pant legs that went over his feet. Dropping headfirst down the well, he felt himself being sucked back through the time warp, where he felt the air shifting around him, like he was floating through water. He was used to this by now, but dropping into the bottom of the well in Kagome's time, he landed quite upside-down and on his head. Rolling over to sit up, still annoyed over his strange conversation with Sango and Miroku, he grumbled, and began climbing up the side of the well.
........................
"The weather sucks."
Inuyasha's grumbles brought Kagome back to reality. She had been sitting at her desk, reading textbooks, and she turned in her seat to glance at him, sitting on the floor and playing with Buyo, the fat calico cat. He would grab Buyo by the scruff of the neck and tease him a bit, then let him go, and just as the poor cat tried to run, he would be snatched up again, left at the dog-demon's mercy.
"Its no reason to torture the cat, though." Kagome replied, scooping up Buyo from the floor as Inuyasha went to grab him again. She cuddled him against her chest, and said in a cooing voice, "Poor kitty... is the doggie bothering you?"
The 'doggie' scowled, folded his arms, and said bossily, "Lets go shopping or something."
Kagome shook her head, and put the cat down in the hall, where the cat scampered downstairs immediately. Inuyasha muttered an indignant, "Why not?"
"I have to study." she said firmly, and he gave a pouty look, mixed with irritation and a scowl. Repeating herself for effect, when he looked rebellious, she said, "No. I have to study."
"Fine. I'll go on my own." he said firmly, rising to his feet. She immediately shadowed his movements, and blocked the door, with a shake of a pointed finger and a steady, "No", as if she was scolding a dog.
"Awww, c'mon Kagome, we need to get more bandages and stuff anyway." he said, using the knowledge that she was always concerned for first aid to his advantage. She sighed, looked at the floor for one minute, and then replied in a bereaved voice, "One minute, I need to get dressed."
He grinned, and vanished from the room, going down the hall to 'his room' to change into his robes.
........................
Wandering around the shopping mall, wearing his normal outfit minus the haori jacket, a baseball cap crammed over his ears, Inuyasha followed Kagome through aisles of boxes and bottles in the drugstore. Or rather, she dragged him past things be would normally stop to look at.
"Okay, Inuyasha..." Kagome said, pulling him to a stop in the center of the shopping mall underneath a huge clock in the middle of the food court. "I have to study, but you can wander around here, okay, but remember the rules, right?"
"Blah blah, don't take off the hat, blah blah, don't talk to anyone, blah blah, don't start fights, don't attract attention, blah blah blah... feh... Kagome, I'm not stupid." he rattled off, and she looked serious.
"Inuyasha, I will meet you here at five o'clock." she said in a dead no-nonsense tone, pointing at the clock. "You have to be standing right here, underneath this clock, when the big stick is pointing at the top, and the shorter stick is pointing at the five. Right there, okay?"
He rolled his eyes, and said in a mock-polite voice, "Yessss, Kagome. Can I go now?"
As he turned to leave, she gripped his arm to stop him and said forcibly, "Remember... no stealing either. I'm going to be sitting here in the foot court studying. If you aren't back by five, I am leaving without you and you can find your own way back."
"Yeah, yeah..." he said impatiently, and wrestled his wrist from her hold. "I told ya, I'm not stupid, I'll be there..."
Walking off and pushing through the crowds, he looked only slightly out of place next to everyone else. If it weren't ('What was it called again?') that stupid holiday, he might have gotten weird looks. Instead, he received a few compliments, regardless of whether or not they knew what he was supposed to be dressed as. Damn, future humans were weird. He was slightly annoyed that Sango and Miroku's kind were going to mutate into these weird, wimpy mortals that were so very dependent on electricity and machines. It was a sickening thought.
Wandering in and out of various stores, he found himself standing in a very colorful store full of toys, the last store in the entire mall. He had timed it carefully so he could visit each store, and had five minutes to explore this last shop before he had to meet Kagome. Rows of dolls, aisles of electric boxes and tons and tons of colorful boxes, and many other things crowded the store. Looking through it with interest, he found a rack of plastic swords, and two little boys playing with them. Watching them brandish the weapons pointlessly and with no care, he snatched them from their hands and said,
"Hey! HEY! Those should be treated with respect! Do you even know what you're doing?"
One of the boys, looking very upset, tilted his head back to look up at him, and said, "We were just play-fightin', mister, we won't hurt them."
"No, no, do you know how to USE a sword?" Inuyasha shook his head, voice incredulous. How could children their age NOT know how to fence properly? Most young boys learned to fight at age seven... "Didn't anyone teach you?"
The boys slowly shook their heads, and Inuyasha re-equipped them with their plastic weapons.
"You see, you don't just randomly slash... you have to aim your blows, and try and hit your opponent's weak points, y'see?" he explained, taking the tetsuaiga from its sheath. He had insisted on bringing it with him, with the promise of not using it. However... now was an important occasion. Boys needed to know how to fight. It was very basic training!
"So when your opponent jumps at you like this..." he continued, gesturing the movement in slow motion, "then you have to block like this..." he moved the tetsuaiga up to show blocking.
The boys nodded, and stood off against each other. One jumped hesitantly at the other, but the other blocked the blow much too fast, causing it to be more of a light tackle, and both boys landed on the ground with a thump.
"Now, really, if an enemy ran at you like that, I'd say that your enemy was some kind of retard for being such a sissy."
One boy started to cry, and he picked him up by the collar.
"Kid, you gotta kill your enemies, right? Why would you run at them like a pansy?"
The boy burst into noisy tears, drawing the attention of shoppers. A rather round lady came over, and imperiously demanded, "Just what are you doing to my boys!", brandishing a big handbag. He stepped back, dropping the boy so he landed on the hard floor on his butt, and cautiously replaced the untransformed tetsuaiga back in its sheath in a non-threatening way.
"I was just teaching them to fight. All boys need to know how to fight." he shrugged, and motioned at the toy swords littering the ground. The lady was not impressed, and began making a loud fuss, swinging her handbag at him. Instinctively, he drew his sword, to block the attack, but the fabric handbag just split and was cut cleanly in two with the block, sending the contents flying. Coins, plastic tubes, little packets, bills of paper and various things flew everywhere, and he took the opportunity to run for his life.
Running so fast he could barely be seen, he lost the lady and her children, plus all the security guards that had picked up on him. He skidded to a halt on the floor, the borrowed pair of sandals from Kagome's attic providing bad traction and causing him to slide haphazardly across the tiled floors. Checking the clock, he swore when he saw her table empty and the clock five minutes past the allotted time. Damn, damn, damn. Lifting his head in the air, finding her scent, he went to follow it. Yes, at least it would be easy to track her.
Taking off at a rapid pace, he began the trek back to her house.
........................
Was is her nature to never be around or something? Why was it every time he went to look for her or turned around, she was gone? It was slightly disturbing, really, how she moved around in the future. And now, walking into the house again after a long walk home and a relatively 'uneventful' shopping trip, he was wondering why the house was so bloody silent. However, as silent as it was, there was scents everywhere still. Souta's scents went out the front door, suggesting that the boy had gone outside to play or something, and Kagome's went up the stairs.
Figuring she was in her room, he went up there first, but she wasn't there. Her scent radiated all over the house, and it was difficult to pick out the freshest scents among the older spores. Making his way down the hall, he checked every door, and he found her strongest scent leading directly to the last door in the hall. Putting his hand on the handle, he twisted it open with an unusually loud click, walking in.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw her. She was sitting in a huge porcelain bowl filled with water, the top of the water coated in thick bubbles. He was silent, just staring at her bare back, and she slowly turned around suddenly, and caught sight of him standing there, and began screaming.
She ducked low, shouting, "Sit!" at the top of her lungs to no avail, and burying herself deep in the bubbles up to her chin. He just froze and stared for a moment, before stepping out and shutting the door. And he thought Souta's timing was horrible...
"Why don't you just lock the friggin' door?" he said, leaning against the door frame irritably. He listened to the sound of water swishing around, and she replied snappily, her voice both embarrassed and angry.
"I did lock it! You broke the lock!"
"What?! Do I break everything or something?!" he retorted indignantly, folding his arms across his chest and waited for another reply, but heard only an enraged sigh, like a venting noise.
"Kagome...?" he trailed, after a few moments of hearing only scowling noises and shuffling, and the watery swish of moving water. He waited impatiently, and finally added, "Kagome, I didn't know you were in there."
The door opened, and she brushed by, a bathrobe draped over her and tied at the waist by a sash, and she walked towards her bedroom as if he wasn't there. He watched after her, and called her name again. She didn't reply, but he could sense the anger fuming off of her. He stood there, watching her disappear into her room with a swish of a curtain.
"Kagomeeeee?" he called, dragging out the last syllable in an exasperated tone, tired of the whole I'm-mad-at-you-and-want-apologies thing she kept pulling on him. However, as tired as he was of the predictable routine, he childishly called back, "What's the matter? Gonna run home just because I accidentally walked in on you?"
Her head appeared in the door, and she snarled, "I'm already home, stupid!" before going back inside.
He was blank for a moment, just staring, figuring he had that one coming. Way to go, Inuyasha, speaking before thinking.
"Well, fine!" he spluttered, "Stay home! See if I care!"
She rolled her eyes and snapped, as her head reappeared, and she shouted, "Its your turn to run home now!"
Every single nice thought he had been thinking the previous night vanished completely from his mind. Clenching his fists into tight balls and storming over to her, he snapped, "I'm not leaving without you!"
"Oh, yes you are!" she snapped, "You're leaving RIGHT NOW. Go home, doggie!"
"Why you little..." he growled, then roared back, "You were in SUCH a good mood this morning? What happened, did you get a rock shoved up your ass or something? Or is it that time of the month?"
She hit him. Hard. A quick slap across the cheek left it stinging and red, and she squalled back, "You jerk!" and disappeared into her room behind the curtain again. He stood there, angry, face prickling in protest to the strong slap.
I will not hit a woman. I will NOT hit a woman.
"Damnit, Kagome, its not like I SAW anything, for your information!" he retorted, and resisted the urge to follow her in. "And its it not like I haven't seen it before!" he added with a smirk, and he heard her stomp her foot on the ground inside.
"Peeping tom! Pervert! Lech!" she accused, each word relatively familiar to his ears, though they were rarely ever used on him. Normally, those were words for Miroku, not him.
"I just said, I didn't see anything!" he insisted, angrily digging his claw into a piece of still-intact door frame to prevent himself from getting too angry. "Why the hell don't you believe me?!"
"Because you're a pigheaded jerk!" came her aggravated voice, and she jerked back the makeshift door, eyes narrowed and her own fists clenched. She was still wearing the bathrobe, clutching it shut although the sash was tightly tied, as if she was afraid it would open.
He cowered back slightly at the angry look on her face, and said in a wildly confused voice, "Why do you get so angry over this? Will you just shut up and get over it?!"
She gave an angry sigh, and snapped, "Okay, this is just getting stupid! Why are you so immature?!"
"Me?!" he said incredulously, "I'M the one being immature?!"
"Yes!" she said furiously, but then the strangest look came over her face. He stared in confused awe, with a sulky, "What?" and she began to laugh.
He blinked, watching her laugh her head off, and then he grabbed her forearms, giving her an annoyed jerk and leaning very close and quietly snarling, "What is so damned funny?!"
She continued to laugh, and then said, between laughs and giggles, "This... this... this happens all the time, and I just... realized how..." more laughs shook her, and she choked out, "many times we have had... the EXACT same argument..."
Inuyasha looked at the girl he was clutching, her blue-grey eyes shut from laughing so hard. She looked so... so happy all the sudden, and although he didn't quite understand why it happened at that exact moment, but the whole thing really was so damned comical. She was laughing, obviously over it, and he was feeling quite funny inside.
Then there was nothing left to do but kiss her...
Rating: PG-13, for possible later content
Genre: Inuyasha; romance/humor
Disclaimer: All characters as of yet belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I am not that person. (I wish I was ;-;)
Notes: Whee, I feel inspired, and I want to continue. Because... this is a nice story, I think, and I've gotten alot of praise both on and off this site. Rate me please?
Changes: I'm an idiot, and I messed up Kagome's friends. They would be Ayumi, Eri and Yuka. None of them are named Rita. Heh... sorry 'bout that.
Update: New version uploaded 5/31/04 - minor mistakes fixed, italics and that fixed. Love me
Chapter Two
"So... where do you wanna bed down tonight?" she said suddenly in a really quiet, forced voice. He watched her, thinking. Common sense told him that her parents wouldn't like it if he slept in her room, but he wanted to be close by incase anything happened. The TV room was only a room away from Kagome's room. He could be there in a flash if something happened.
"Here, I guess." he shrugged uncomfortably, and Kagome climbed down from the couch and ejected the movie from the player, placing it in its plastic case and shelving it.
"'Kay." she murmured and smiled faintly. "I'll get you some blankets and stuff." and she went to the door, leaving down the hall. He sat there for a moment before abruptly standing up, accidentally knocking the empty popcorn bowl to the floor, where the unpopped kernels spilt across the carpet. He ignored it and ran after her, catching up to her in the hall.
"Yes?" she said as he touched her shoulder gently, turning away from the shelves in the linen closet. "What is it?"
He was unusually sensitive. With a slight hesitant voice, he asked, "Are you sure your mother won't mind me staying?"
She shook her head with the same faint smile, and loaded her arms with blankets and a few spare pillows. "They won't... they're gone to a relative's for a few days. An aunt that lives alone. Me and Souta are home alone for the next two days."
"So that's why you had to leave?" he said, taking the stuff from her arms and carrying it to the TV room, and she led him along the hall with a nod. "Why couldn't you have just stayed with us?"
"Souta's in third grade, Inuyasha. He's eight years old. He can't stay home alone for almost a whole week." she said with only a twinge of exasperation. He considered this. She had a point... but she still was needed back home too.
But instead of picking an argument, he unsurely continued his former question, "But you're absolutely sure its not a problem if... I stay the night?"
She bobbed her head and began setting up the bed, tucking in the sheets over the couch cushions and arranging the thick over blanket. He watched silently, and neither spoke. It seemed the entire night was lined with awkward silences and endless staring at each other. He was getting quite irritated from it, but he felt extremely calm at the same time. She finished putting together his bed, and watched him with her brown eyes, the color of dark chestnut tree bark.
"I'll... I'll be in my room." she said, in a humble voice, and she backed from the room with a quiet, "Goodnight, Inuyasha."
As she shut the door behind her, he stood for a moment, facing the door. He listened to the tap-tap of her stockinged feet on the floor, ears flicking every few minutes, arms limp at his sides. Then he sat down on the couch, moving his eyes to the wall. He could hear her through the wall, her chair wheels rolling sluggishly across the carpet, a pencil scratching at a paper. He just listened, nothing more.
Kagome was in love with him. He knew it, saw it. Although she never admitted it, he had a very strong impression of her feelings for him. The blushing, the leaning against him, the constant 'I want to be with you' attitude... it was such a dead ringer.
With a painful pang, he recalled him and Kikyo when they were younger... that's what they were like, too. Except... he had long moved on from that, hadn't he? He'd moved on from Kikyo and was now dedicated only to Kagome, yet still he was unsure whether it was a sense of duty or a deeper calling. He and Kikyo had had a failed relationship that ended in sorrow and heartbreak. And now, he didn't want that to start over with Kagome. He had a fresh slate now, he supposed. Kagome was not going to end up like Kikyo, pitted against him.
Did he love her back? Did he?
He wasn't even sure. All he knew is that the moment he had had with Kagome alone was lined with a very powerful feeling. A feeling of calm happiness. Nothing to worry about. It was a very magical moment, prematurely destroyed. He gazed sadly at the wall. That's what it was. Wishful thinking that it would actually happen.
Awkwardly dragging his makeshift bed onto the floor, he lay down on his back, stretched out on the floor between the TV and the couch. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes, oblivious to the fact that the girl on the other side of the wall was doing the exact same thing.
"Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome's head lifted up. "Ever hunt wolves?"
"No." was the simple reply, flat and emotionless. He replied with with a wild grin, "Then you've never lived!"
She shook her head and insisted, in the same bored tone, "But we shouldn't. We might hurt them."
Inuyasha replied with a cheerful voice, "I know! That's what makes it fun! Come on... start building some memories, we won't kill them, just stir them up a bit. Just look at them, they're begging to be beat up."
Kagome shook her head in a melancholy way, refusing still, even as she looked up at the demon wolf tribe on the next hill. He watched too, as the grey grass waved in the breeze. It was like watching the world without color. The only color he could see was his robes and her schoolgirl outfit. However, the color on Kagome was faded to a green-grey, but he took no notice.
He watched as the pack of wolf demons started running towards them at a lighting speeds, in a battle stance and weapons drawn and spears aloft. He watched in terror as Kagome was swept into the arms of Kouga, the wolf-demon who was smitten with her, and carried off. He couldn't move, and Kouga sneered in his face as he ran off with her. He was frozen still. His feet were tied in the grass. He shouted, but no noise came out, and Kagome's color faded completely into shades of grey. He felt empty, and torn. The wolves were laughing and throwing seeds at him, so the small brown kernels rained on him.
And then the dream was over.
Sitting bolt upright, cold sweat dripping down his face, he barely missed hitting his head on the TV stand. His t-shirt was clinging to his shoulders and sides, and his silvery hair was draped down his shoulders as he leaned forwards, breathing hard. A dream. It was only a dream. Kagome was not taken away from him. She was still asleep in the next room, soundly dreaming good dreams, unlike his own reverie.
But the thought alone did not assure him this, so he did not hesitate to stay in the room. Standing up and retrieving tetsuaiga from underneath the couch, where he had hidden it, he tied the sheath to his waist and wandered down the hall, his feet soundlessly stepping against the floor. In the room across from Kagome's, Souta was snoring lightly. He turned to Kagome's room, one hand on tetsuaiga's battered hilt.
Kagome's missing door, blasted from its door frame, was replaced by a blanket hanging across the door frame. Carefully, he drew it aside, and peered in. Kagome was sitting at her desk, slouched over and lying on the tabletop, using her arms for a pillow. She was breathing lightly, perfectly asleep, face blank and emotionless, the girl lost in her slumber. He padded over to her, and leaned over her to check that she really was sleeping. She was, a few papers scattered across the desk with a small book with a metal contraption locking it closed. Glancing at her bed, he went over to it and pulled back the covers, before going back over to her and carefully taking her into his arms, where she shifted slightly with a murmured, "Oh, just five more minutes..." and he paused, halfway across the room to her bed, waiting for her to settle before moving again.
Carefully, he laid her down on the pillows and cushions, and taking the edge of the blankets and pulling them up over her chest to her shoulders, he watched her for a moment, her chest rising and falling as she breathed easily. Unsettled, he sat down on the very end of her bed, watching her dream quietly.
He picked up the book on the desk, the gold fastening on the side undone. Sliding it off, he flipped open the book, and leafed through the pages, finding an entry dated October 29th. He looked at this carefully, and looked at the calendar on her desk. Yes, that was today.
Dearest Diary,
Today, Inuyasha came over to the present day Tokyo. In the middle of my Halloween party. My friends took it pretty bad, but considering he managed to wreck my door, a small portion of the wall and the toaster oven, I don't blame them. I'm not mad though. Inuyasha was just concerned - and probably missed me too. I missed him so much too... I was actually happy he came. My friends were just being nice to want to throw a party with me, but I just was getting bored with their halloween party at my house. For once, I didn't want to go home. I made a promise to Inuyasha that I would stay with him. I promised. I'll never leave his side. Inuyasha's the person I want to be with. I don't know how he'd react if he knew I was this far in love with him, but I'll never leave his side, never, no matter what. I can't.
Inuyasha's in the next room tonight. I wonder what he's doing, so quiet and soundless. I taught him to use a microwave and make popcorn after he destroyed the toaster oven trying to make it, and then we curled up on the couch to watch a movie. We watched Lady and the Tramp... Inuyasha picked it, after finding out it was my favorite. I don't think a few things in it made sense to him... I know he was confused about the guns and some of the animals in it and stuff. But he was very nice, sitting through it with me, though he much have been bored from his mind.
I don't know what happened between us tonight, but sitting there on the couch something did happen. I think we were about to kiss. We were so close. So very close. I wanted it so much... but was it my imagination? Its all so confusing sometimes... did he really want to kiss me, or did he want to tell me something? I swear, Inuyasha is so different from other guys. You can never tell with him. I can't tell anymore... Kikyo and I both want to be with him, its the only thing in common we have, yet I can't find out who's with him. Technically, I am with him more - physically. But is -with- Kikyo? Or with me?
Oh, I love him so much... I realized it a long time ago, right before I went back after the fight, when I still wanted to stay with him. And I don't know if this love is meant to be or not. I pray it is. I couldn't stand to be parted from him again.
-Kagome
With the tetsuaiga in its sheath across his lap, he stood guard over her, listening carefully. "Do you really love me, Kagome?" he whispered to her, though she wouldn't answer in her napping. "Because... I think I'm in love with you too." he added gingerly, almost sadly. "And... I don't know if its right to be in love with you... I have a lot of enemies. People... people would use you to get to me. And admitting I love you... it would mean taking the chance of you getting hurt."
He remembered months ago, when Kagome saw him and Kikyo under the tree, hugging. He had felt destroyed. He had rejected her, and had chosen to say goodbye forever, because he had chosen Kikyo over her. But she, she came right back to him, and made things right again. That was the time she mentioned in the entry. When she swore to stay with him. She didn't try and win him off of Kikyo... but she still came back, even though she knew there was no place for her in his heart, even though she knew she had been rejected.
"There's still my promise to Kikyo, which I have not carried out... I cannot swear to love you and never leave you if I'm set to die for another woman... an undead woman made of clay."
But was there room for her now? Kikyo had betrayed him and he no longer held any place for her, leaving a painful void that needed to be filled. There was room for Kagome. There was more room for her than anyone else. And he always wanted to be with her.
"Kagome.." he muttered, and the memory came back to him perfectly, like a vision. He had come to the well go see her one last time and say goodbye.
But she was there, waiting for her. She had looked at him. "I went back to the present and thought it over... wondering about you and Kikyo... and about me." she had said, and when he stuttered, she had continued, "Its ok... I understand how you feel... and because of that I convinced myself that I couldn't stay here with you."
He had replied in the only way he had known. "Kagome... until I met you, I didn't trust a single soul. But I watched you cry for my sake, you've always stayed by my side... whenever I'm with you, I feel so peaceful and happy, but, I'm not supposed to be all at ease and cheerful." then there had been an incredibly awkward silence, and he had continued, "Kikyo... Kikyo came after me and risked her life.... its only right that I repay her with my own."
Kagome had smiled sadly at him. "I know I can never match Kikyou. After all, I'm still alive... but I've been thinking about me and Kikyo. She and I are completely different. There's all this talk that I'm a reincarnation of her, and even if that's true, I'm still not Kikyo. You see," she trailed, and said softly, "my heart belongs to me." There had been another pause, and she had continued truthfully, "Here's the thing I do understand. One feeling that Kikyo had, something that we share, is that we're alike in our want to be with you."
He had given a soft noise of confusion at this, and Kagome had continued once more, "Strange, you know? The moment I realized that we were alike in our desire to be with you, I felt a little bit better... the desire to be with you gives us a common bond, and that's how I was able to summon up the courage to come and see you..." Inuyasha had stared at her as she softly said, looking away from him, "I want to be here with you, Inuyasha. I try to forget you, but I just can't. Let me stay with you."
"You'd... stay with me?" he had stammered, and she had nodded firmly, and taken his hand. He could still remember the feel of her hand, her fingers so much smaller than his, curled around his palm and skin soft against his battle-worn hands. It had been a turning point in their relationship, for good or bad.
"You're in my heart, Kagome." he presently whispered, staring endlessly at him. She stirred the bed, as if hearing him, and he settled into his spot at the end of her bed, sitting at her feet, closing his amber eyes and falling asleep sitting right there.
Picking up his pace, he made his way down the stairs and slid neatly into the kitchen, eyes falling immediately on Kagome. She was preoccupied with her cooking, and a black box sitting on the counter sang out music that she hummed to cheerfully. He stood there for a moment, still clad in his pajamas, and then asked, "Why didn't ya wake me up?"
She gave a surprised yelp, startled, jumping and nearly upsetting a narrow carton of milk on the table. Kagome's eyes landed on him and placed and hand on her chest, saying breathily, "Do not scare me like that!" in a slightly unnerved voice, and he chuckled.
"Well? Why didn't you wake me up?"
She moved the eggs around in a pan with the spatula, so they did not burn. "Well," she said with a smile, a slightly shy one, and her cheeks blushed a bit. "you were sound asleep, and I figured you'd want breakfast ready when you awoke."
He smirked, raising an eyebrow, "Oh? Why would I want your cooking? Its not that great."
She threw him a sarcastic glance, fighting fire with fire, and said, "I'll remember that next time you want ramen noodles, then."
He grinned apologetically as she placed a plate of eggs, ham and toast on the table in front of him. He sat down to eat anyway, and lifted a piece of scrambled egg to his mouth gingerly, tasting it. With a smirk, he looked back at her, and said, "You know, you aren't too bad a cook... when you're in your time."
She narrow her eyes and slyly said, "Oh, well, Inuyasha, I suppose we could let you cook for us more often... then you wouldn't have to eat what Sango, Shippo, Miroku or I cook."
Inuyasha looked slightly panicked at this, and countered, "But I can't cook! Cooking is the woman's job, anyway! And... cooking is boring. Real men don't cook."
"Shippo's only a little boy, so he's being nice, and Miroku helps us when we ask him to, and he doesn't complain." she said with a smile, as their argument was a friendly one, "Why can't you?"
"Yeah, well, Miroku just wants to get an excuse to be close to Sango," Inuyasha replied snarkily, yawning and downing a glass of milk in one swig and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth, and continued with a full mouth, "Because Miroku's a perverted monk, so I guess if cooking gets you close to Sango's butt, then its his favorite pass time."
She laughed, and he grinned, swallowing his mouthful, and she said, "Is that so?" with a grin, and then added, "Do you want to bring back some stuff to the feudal era, then? Some ramen and stuff like that to tide you and the other over until I get back?"
"Who said I was leaving without you?" he replied stubbornly, glancing over at her, his golden amber eyes locking on hers.
Kagome lifted an eyebrow and said with a surprised voice, "You're going to put up with me and Souta for two days?" He nodded firmly, handing her his now-empty plate for her to refill. She complied, loading his plate with heaps of eggs and ham, and then said, "Well, you should at least tell Sango, Miroku and Shippo so they don't worry about what's going on."
He shrugged, and began wolfing down his second helping as she seated herself across from him at the table, picking up her chopsticks and eating her meal in a mannerly fashion. He finished his meal quickly, and stood up, saying, "I'll be back in a few then, I'll go tell them."
She nodded, and watched him dash from the house, still wearing the pajamas, giggling madly and watching him disappear into the old shrine. She would have killed to see everyone else's faces when they saw him like that.
"Inuyasha, I won't ask what you've been up to, but Kagome is not with you." Sango said seriously, watching him with a stony look. "I would say you've had another fight..." she said, but her voice gained a tint of sarcasm to it, "but judging by the fact you aren't wearing your robes, I assume all is well?"
His eyes widened and he looked down at himself, still wearing the t-shirt and the loose pants. Blushing angrily, he glared at both of them, quite annoyed. This was all he needed.
"Shut up." he said irritably, hitting Miroku over the head with his fist as the monk started laughing. Miroku winced, but stifled more laughs.
"It appears our great hanyou dog-demon has turned fully human." Miroku chuckled, giving Inuyasha's shirt sleeve a tug. Inuyasha growled, jerking away, and his friend continued, "Dear Inuyasha, what have you been up to?"
"I damaged my other ones, so I borrowed these." he growled back, and Sango smirked, "How exactly did you damage your old ones?"
"Arrrg!" Inuyasha vented, "Never mind that! I just came to tell you that I'm staying with Kagome for the rest of her absence... her mother and grandfather are making her stay home, and its just her and her brother, so I figured I might as well keep her company."
"It appears Inuyasha has been brainwashed," Sango smirked again, turning her eyes onto Miroku, "wasn't it just yesterday he was yelling at us about how much he hated the future because it was so full of stupid things that take Kagome away, which prevents him from getting the jewel and hunting out Naraku, which means he can't get his revenge and become a youkai?"
"Shut UP!" he snapped again, and climbed back into the well. "I'm going back, okay?! I'll explain some other time!"
Miroku, smiling and laughing, continued where Sango left off, in his upbeat voice, "I would have never suspected that Inuyasha would want to leave the quest to defeat Naraku."
Inuyasha did not reply verbally, as instead he went to jump down into the well. However, jumping onto the rim of the well, he ended up tripping over the edge of his pajama pants, unused to the slightly too long pant legs that went over his feet. Dropping headfirst down the well, he felt himself being sucked back through the time warp, where he felt the air shifting around him, like he was floating through water. He was used to this by now, but dropping into the bottom of the well in Kagome's time, he landed quite upside-down and on his head. Rolling over to sit up, still annoyed over his strange conversation with Sango and Miroku, he grumbled, and began climbing up the side of the well.
Inuyasha's grumbles brought Kagome back to reality. She had been sitting at her desk, reading textbooks, and she turned in her seat to glance at him, sitting on the floor and playing with Buyo, the fat calico cat. He would grab Buyo by the scruff of the neck and tease him a bit, then let him go, and just as the poor cat tried to run, he would be snatched up again, left at the dog-demon's mercy.
"Its no reason to torture the cat, though." Kagome replied, scooping up Buyo from the floor as Inuyasha went to grab him again. She cuddled him against her chest, and said in a cooing voice, "Poor kitty... is the doggie bothering you?"
The 'doggie' scowled, folded his arms, and said bossily, "Lets go shopping or something."
Kagome shook her head, and put the cat down in the hall, where the cat scampered downstairs immediately. Inuyasha muttered an indignant, "Why not?"
"I have to study." she said firmly, and he gave a pouty look, mixed with irritation and a scowl. Repeating herself for effect, when he looked rebellious, she said, "No. I have to study."
"Fine. I'll go on my own." he said firmly, rising to his feet. She immediately shadowed his movements, and blocked the door, with a shake of a pointed finger and a steady, "No", as if she was scolding a dog.
"Awww, c'mon Kagome, we need to get more bandages and stuff anyway." he said, using the knowledge that she was always concerned for first aid to his advantage. She sighed, looked at the floor for one minute, and then replied in a bereaved voice, "One minute, I need to get dressed."
He grinned, and vanished from the room, going down the hall to 'his room' to change into his robes.
"Okay, Inuyasha..." Kagome said, pulling him to a stop in the center of the shopping mall underneath a huge clock in the middle of the food court. "I have to study, but you can wander around here, okay, but remember the rules, right?"
"Blah blah, don't take off the hat, blah blah, don't talk to anyone, blah blah, don't start fights, don't attract attention, blah blah blah... feh... Kagome, I'm not stupid." he rattled off, and she looked serious.
"Inuyasha, I will meet you here at five o'clock." she said in a dead no-nonsense tone, pointing at the clock. "You have to be standing right here, underneath this clock, when the big stick is pointing at the top, and the shorter stick is pointing at the five. Right there, okay?"
He rolled his eyes, and said in a mock-polite voice, "Yessss, Kagome. Can I go now?"
As he turned to leave, she gripped his arm to stop him and said forcibly, "Remember... no stealing either. I'm going to be sitting here in the foot court studying. If you aren't back by five, I am leaving without you and you can find your own way back."
"Yeah, yeah..." he said impatiently, and wrestled his wrist from her hold. "I told ya, I'm not stupid, I'll be there..."
Walking off and pushing through the crowds, he looked only slightly out of place next to everyone else. If it weren't ('What was it called again?') that stupid holiday, he might have gotten weird looks. Instead, he received a few compliments, regardless of whether or not they knew what he was supposed to be dressed as. Damn, future humans were weird. He was slightly annoyed that Sango and Miroku's kind were going to mutate into these weird, wimpy mortals that were so very dependent on electricity and machines. It was a sickening thought.
Wandering in and out of various stores, he found himself standing in a very colorful store full of toys, the last store in the entire mall. He had timed it carefully so he could visit each store, and had five minutes to explore this last shop before he had to meet Kagome. Rows of dolls, aisles of electric boxes and tons and tons of colorful boxes, and many other things crowded the store. Looking through it with interest, he found a rack of plastic swords, and two little boys playing with them. Watching them brandish the weapons pointlessly and with no care, he snatched them from their hands and said,
"Hey! HEY! Those should be treated with respect! Do you even know what you're doing?"
One of the boys, looking very upset, tilted his head back to look up at him, and said, "We were just play-fightin', mister, we won't hurt them."
"No, no, do you know how to USE a sword?" Inuyasha shook his head, voice incredulous. How could children their age NOT know how to fence properly? Most young boys learned to fight at age seven... "Didn't anyone teach you?"
The boys slowly shook their heads, and Inuyasha re-equipped them with their plastic weapons.
"You see, you don't just randomly slash... you have to aim your blows, and try and hit your opponent's weak points, y'see?" he explained, taking the tetsuaiga from its sheath. He had insisted on bringing it with him, with the promise of not using it. However... now was an important occasion. Boys needed to know how to fight. It was very basic training!
"So when your opponent jumps at you like this..." he continued, gesturing the movement in slow motion, "then you have to block like this..." he moved the tetsuaiga up to show blocking.
The boys nodded, and stood off against each other. One jumped hesitantly at the other, but the other blocked the blow much too fast, causing it to be more of a light tackle, and both boys landed on the ground with a thump.
"Now, really, if an enemy ran at you like that, I'd say that your enemy was some kind of retard for being such a sissy."
One boy started to cry, and he picked him up by the collar.
"Kid, you gotta kill your enemies, right? Why would you run at them like a pansy?"
The boy burst into noisy tears, drawing the attention of shoppers. A rather round lady came over, and imperiously demanded, "Just what are you doing to my boys!", brandishing a big handbag. He stepped back, dropping the boy so he landed on the hard floor on his butt, and cautiously replaced the untransformed tetsuaiga back in its sheath in a non-threatening way.
"I was just teaching them to fight. All boys need to know how to fight." he shrugged, and motioned at the toy swords littering the ground. The lady was not impressed, and began making a loud fuss, swinging her handbag at him. Instinctively, he drew his sword, to block the attack, but the fabric handbag just split and was cut cleanly in two with the block, sending the contents flying. Coins, plastic tubes, little packets, bills of paper and various things flew everywhere, and he took the opportunity to run for his life.
Running so fast he could barely be seen, he lost the lady and her children, plus all the security guards that had picked up on him. He skidded to a halt on the floor, the borrowed pair of sandals from Kagome's attic providing bad traction and causing him to slide haphazardly across the tiled floors. Checking the clock, he swore when he saw her table empty and the clock five minutes past the allotted time. Damn, damn, damn. Lifting his head in the air, finding her scent, he went to follow it. Yes, at least it would be easy to track her.
Taking off at a rapid pace, he began the trek back to her house.
Figuring she was in her room, he went up there first, but she wasn't there. Her scent radiated all over the house, and it was difficult to pick out the freshest scents among the older spores. Making his way down the hall, he checked every door, and he found her strongest scent leading directly to the last door in the hall. Putting his hand on the handle, he twisted it open with an unusually loud click, walking in.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw her. She was sitting in a huge porcelain bowl filled with water, the top of the water coated in thick bubbles. He was silent, just staring at her bare back, and she slowly turned around suddenly, and caught sight of him standing there, and began screaming.
She ducked low, shouting, "Sit!" at the top of her lungs to no avail, and burying herself deep in the bubbles up to her chin. He just froze and stared for a moment, before stepping out and shutting the door. And he thought Souta's timing was horrible...
"Why don't you just lock the friggin' door?" he said, leaning against the door frame irritably. He listened to the sound of water swishing around, and she replied snappily, her voice both embarrassed and angry.
"I did lock it! You broke the lock!"
"What?! Do I break everything or something?!" he retorted indignantly, folding his arms across his chest and waited for another reply, but heard only an enraged sigh, like a venting noise.
"Kagome...?" he trailed, after a few moments of hearing only scowling noises and shuffling, and the watery swish of moving water. He waited impatiently, and finally added, "Kagome, I didn't know you were in there."
The door opened, and she brushed by, a bathrobe draped over her and tied at the waist by a sash, and she walked towards her bedroom as if he wasn't there. He watched after her, and called her name again. She didn't reply, but he could sense the anger fuming off of her. He stood there, watching her disappear into her room with a swish of a curtain.
"Kagomeeeee?" he called, dragging out the last syllable in an exasperated tone, tired of the whole I'm-mad-at-you-and-want-apologies thing she kept pulling on him. However, as tired as he was of the predictable routine, he childishly called back, "What's the matter? Gonna run home just because I accidentally walked in on you?"
Her head appeared in the door, and she snarled, "I'm already home, stupid!" before going back inside.
He was blank for a moment, just staring, figuring he had that one coming. Way to go, Inuyasha, speaking before thinking.
"Well, fine!" he spluttered, "Stay home! See if I care!"
She rolled her eyes and snapped, as her head reappeared, and she shouted, "Its your turn to run home now!"
Every single nice thought he had been thinking the previous night vanished completely from his mind. Clenching his fists into tight balls and storming over to her, he snapped, "I'm not leaving without you!"
"Oh, yes you are!" she snapped, "You're leaving RIGHT NOW. Go home, doggie!"
"Why you little..." he growled, then roared back, "You were in SUCH a good mood this morning? What happened, did you get a rock shoved up your ass or something? Or is it that time of the month?"
She hit him. Hard. A quick slap across the cheek left it stinging and red, and she squalled back, "You jerk!" and disappeared into her room behind the curtain again. He stood there, angry, face prickling in protest to the strong slap.
I will not hit a woman. I will NOT hit a woman.
"Damnit, Kagome, its not like I SAW anything, for your information!" he retorted, and resisted the urge to follow her in. "And its it not like I haven't seen it before!" he added with a smirk, and he heard her stomp her foot on the ground inside.
"Peeping tom! Pervert! Lech!" she accused, each word relatively familiar to his ears, though they were rarely ever used on him. Normally, those were words for Miroku, not him.
"I just said, I didn't see anything!" he insisted, angrily digging his claw into a piece of still-intact door frame to prevent himself from getting too angry. "Why the hell don't you believe me?!"
"Because you're a pigheaded jerk!" came her aggravated voice, and she jerked back the makeshift door, eyes narrowed and her own fists clenched. She was still wearing the bathrobe, clutching it shut although the sash was tightly tied, as if she was afraid it would open.
He cowered back slightly at the angry look on her face, and said in a wildly confused voice, "Why do you get so angry over this? Will you just shut up and get over it?!"
She gave an angry sigh, and snapped, "Okay, this is just getting stupid! Why are you so immature?!"
"Me?!" he said incredulously, "I'M the one being immature?!"
"Yes!" she said furiously, but then the strangest look came over her face. He stared in confused awe, with a sulky, "What?" and she began to laugh.
He blinked, watching her laugh her head off, and then he grabbed her forearms, giving her an annoyed jerk and leaning very close and quietly snarling, "What is so damned funny?!"
She continued to laugh, and then said, between laughs and giggles, "This... this... this happens all the time, and I just... realized how..." more laughs shook her, and she choked out, "many times we have had... the EXACT same argument..."
Inuyasha looked at the girl he was clutching, her blue-grey eyes shut from laughing so hard. She looked so... so happy all the sudden, and although he didn't quite understand why it happened at that exact moment, but the whole thing really was so damned comical. She was laughing, obviously over it, and he was feeling quite funny inside.
Then there was nothing left to do but kiss her...