Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay…school is being extremely time-consuming. And what with my swim team starting and still trying to visit with friends, it's very difficult. So, here is a very much delayed update. Hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: Due to the fact that my name is NOT Rumiko Takahashi, there is no possible way that Inuyasha and company belong to me…but if any of you manage to steal them and (for some unexplainable phenomenonical reason) decide that you don't want them anymore, then you're more than welcome to give them to me….^_^!
A quick note on a dedication here. I just wanted to let you all know that this story will be dedicated to KagomesJewel. She has been awesome in trying to keep me on my toes on updates and sending me her pictures. Oh, and if any of you haven't read her stories, you should! Check 'em out at her pen name which is KagomesJewel. But I already said that…^_^
Mistaken Identity
Chapter 8
Swimming
Kagome and Inuyasha arrived back at the house about ten minutes later. Inuyasha lowered himself to the ground and, reluctantly, allowed Kagome to leave his back.
"Well! That was an interesting shopping trip!" she cried cheerily. "That's the least amount of money I've ever spent at a shopping center in my entire life!" Shakily, she made her way to the house, trying to center the heavy load of her yellow backpack.
Inuyasha sighed and plucked the pack off of her shoulder as if it weighed no more than a bag of feathers. "Pathetic human…" he muttered just loud enough for Kagome to hear. But instead of glaring, Kagome smiled back gratefully. Inuyasha's face flushed slightly. "Keh!" he declared, as if that settled the matter.
"Well, we'd better hurry up and change into our suits if we don't want to miss the sun!" suggested Kagome, trying to rid Inuyasha of his embarrassment.
"Keh," Inuyasha 'agreed'. Kagome rummaged through the backpack until she found the two bathing suits. Handing the one Inuyasha had chosen to its owner, she grabbed her own and headed towards the bathroom.
"I'll change in here! You can take the bedroom," ordered Kagome. Inuyasha's response was to head towards the bedroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oi! You ready yet, Kag?" Inuyasha called impatiently, now back to his former self, from outside of the bathroom. "How long does it take to get into that damn thing anyway?!"
There was a crash from inside the bathroom and Inuyasha winced. "Stop distracting me! All you have to do is pull up some trunks!" she called back indignantly.
"You're the one who picked the suit out!" Inuyasha retorted.
Kagome shrieked and another crash was heard. Inuyasha smirked, but remained silent. A few minutes later, Kagome stepped out of the bathroom.
Angels sang and a light from heaven came down and spotlighted the beauty in front of him! Inuyasha coughed and turned his head, trying to hide the blush creeping up his face. Kagome was wearing a black bikini with pink cherry blossoms in the top right corners of both the top and bottom pieces. Kagome glared at Inuyasha playfully. "Well? I'm ready now, so let's go!" she prodded, grabbing his arm and completely missing his blush.
But of course, Kagome had only wanted to leave so quickly, so that she could cover her own burning face at the sight of Inuyasha's well-muscled body.
The two of them walked leisurely away from the house and towards the lake, Inuyasha resolutely focusing his gaze on the upcoming hill and Kagome, lost in thought, did the same. Although, Kagome's gaze was less strong, and she couldn't help stealing glances at the tanned chest belonging to the hanyou walking a mere foot away from her. Inuyasha felt her eyes trying to get away with these cautious looks. He smirked arrogantly.
"Like what you see?" he asked teasingly, startling Kagome out of her thoughts and making her jump.
"W-what do you mean?" she grumbled, flushing, but Inuyasha only cocked an eyebrow at her. "Hmph!" she declared, and sped up her pace. Inuyasha grinned to himself and followed the fuming girl in front of him.
Soon they reached the lake and, extremely cautiously due to past experiences, picked their way down the hill towards the body of water.
Edging towards the lake's shore, Kagome tossed down her backpack (which she had brought just in case) onto a grassy patch of earth situated between a clump of bushes and an old willow tree. Then, cautiously, she walked to the water and dipped her bare foot into it.
"Goodness, its freezing!" Kagome declared, shivering. "No way will I be able to get into this!"
Inuyasha had other ideas. Unknowingly to Kagome, he crept up behind her while she stood at the edge of the lake, looking down into its murky depths. He got closer and closer. He stretched out his hands and was inches away from her when suddenly –
"Hey Inuyasha?" she called loudly. Inuyasha, being much closer than she had thought, jumped at the loud noise. He lost his balance and waved his arms wildly, trying very hard not to topple into the icy waters beneath him. In a last attempt, he grabbed at Kagome's arm. Kagome yelped as she felt herself falling with him. The two fell headlong with a loud splash.
Kagome surfaced with a scream. All of the birds in the area flew away swiftly, cawing and squawking at the disruption.
"Ooooo, I'm going to KILL you Inuyasha!" she raged, slamming her fists into the water and kicking her feet madly to stay afloat.
Inuyasha's head bobbed up a few feet away and he snickered loudly at her. "Like you could do anything to me!" he crowed arrogantly.
"Grrrr," she growled, in a very Inuyasha-like growl. This only made Inuyasha laugh harder. "I challenge you, oh unworthy competitor, to a race of speed and endurance! The course will be one circulation of this body of water!" Kagome stated elegantly.
"So you wanna race around the lake?" he offered bluntly. Kagome glared.
"Yes, you moron. And I will be the victor here!" she insisted! And with that, she dove off to her left.
Kagome was a pretty good swimmer. She had never been on a competitive team or anything like that, but she had always enjoyed any outdoor activity, and the pool had been her main hang-out over the summers.
But, unfortunately for her, Inuyasha was a hanyou. A very strong hanyou! He easily caught up to her in only a few strokes. Inuyasha struck up an easy pace (easy for him!) and swam just hard enough to keep up with Kagome without passing her. Kagome saw this and pushed the water passed her harder and faster. Her lungs were burning. The finish line was looming up ahead! She was so close! Suddenly, something moved in front of her. She stopped abruptly and yanked herself backward.
This caused Inuyasha to run headlong into her. "Shit! What'd you do that for?" he cursed, rubbing his sensitive ears. Kagome didn't answer, but latched onto his arm, wrapping her legs around his torso. Pointing a shaky finger, she indicated a ripple of movement a little ways away from them.
"What? You're scared of fish?" he teased.
"It might have teeth!!" she whimpered, flinging her arms around his neck. Inuyasha certainly wasn't arguing about the current position they were in, so he thought he'd make the most of it. He swam a little closer to the ripples.
Kagome's grip tightened. "What are you doing?!" she hissed, eyes darting around wildly.
"Chill! I'm just seeing what's over there!" Inuyasha responded casually. Slowly, ever so painfully slowly, Inuyasha tread water towards the rippling water.
Suddenly, a GIANT fish leapt out right in front of him! Kagome screeched in panic and scrambled up Inuyasha's back, wild with fear. Inuyasha bolted towards the shore. He could hear the shark-like fish gnashing its teeth and giving chase. Swiftly it dove underwater and popped up a few feet in front of Inuyasha, blocking his path. Inuyasha cursed as the fish charged straight at them.
"Hold on tight!" he commanded Kagome. Not that he had to; she was doing quite a good job at this without any encouragement.
"Heh!" he cried confidently. "You picked the wrong guy to mess with Mr. Fishy!"
Kagome looked at him incredulously. "Are you friggin' crazy?!" she ground out angrily. "Don't make it mad!"
Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at her. "Just watch!" he declared arrogantly. He didn't have time to say anything else because at this point, Mr. Fishy got tired of their little conversation. It leaped at Inuyasha with a hungry look in its eye. Inuyasha grinned and pulled his hand back over his head.
"SANKON TESSOU!" he cried and his claw-like nails came swooshing down upon the poor fish. With a loud 'smack', Mr. Fishy came raining down into the lake in little bitty pieces.
Kagome's mouth was hanging open in shock. "W- what the- how did you- WOW! I knew you were half-demon…but my goodness!"
Inuyasha gave her a lop-sided grin. "Told ya so!" he exclaimed. He looked so proud of himself that Kagome couldn't help but start laughing. "What?" he asked.
Kagome reached up and patted his head. "You're too cute!" she responded, thinking aloud. Inuyasha froze at the contact as the two of them seemed to realize how close they were. Kagome pressed up against Inuyasha's back; resting her head on his shoulder. Kagome quickly slid off of him and said "Uh…uh…nice weather we're having isn't it?" Then she mentally slapped herself. 'Way to go Kag, that was a VERY discreet way to change the subject…'
Inuyasha wrinkled his nose while looking up at the sky. "Not really…"
Kagome glanced up and saw that Inuyasha was quite right. Ugly black clouds were streaming in from behind them, and the sky had turned a boring grey. "Yah…I guess not…" she agreed. A cold wind picked up and began shooting through the cattails surrounding the lake. "Looks like a storm," Kagome stated the obvious. Inuyasha nodded. "Let's head back."
The two swam over to the nearest shore and Kagome shouldered her enormous yellow backpack. Light raindrops began to pitter patter down on their heads, and Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's hand and pulled her onto his back. Kagome didn't argue. With a mighty leap, he began on his short run home; racing the raindrops.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inuyasha kicked the door to the farmhouse open with his foot. Walking over to the couch, he dropped his luggage (a.k.a. Kagome ^_^) on the couch. Kagome sighed happily as she snatched the think, hand-knitted blanket off the top of the couch and wrapped it around her shivering form. Inuyasha sat down next to her and grabbed half of the covers. Kagome glared.
"Go get your own blanket!" she grumbled, but she let him have half anyways. Outside, the thunder and lightning argued with each other very loudly, but the two people inside the little farmhouse were unaffected by the outside storm. Although neither would admit it, being in each other's company was enough
Author's Note: Sorry that the chapter is kind of short…but hey, there was fluff! The next chapter will either be about the next morning or about what happens during the thunder storm. It's all up to you guys! Pleeeaaase review!!! You all send the most sweetest reviews ever!! I love getting them and it makes me want to update more and more! So please send me your comments and I'll get your chapter out sooner! Love you all! *blows kisses*