Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything to do with Inuyasha.
Kagome finished taping the last fold of wrapping paper over the box and stood back to admire her handiwork. It looked nice she decided— with the metallic red paper shining brightly over the gift as she picked it up. She turned it around to examine the back and decided it passed the test. With a quick smile, she reached over the table to grab the role of ribbon and promptly snipped a strand off. Tying the ribbon around the package in the shape of a bow, she skillfully used the scissors to curl the ends into elegant ringlets cascading neatly on top of the bundle. She set the package on the table she had been working at and gave a happy sigh; it was 11:00 at night and she was quite exausted.
Giving a quick glance at the other three gifts sitting on the work-table, she nodded tiredly— as if satisfied, and stood up. It was really time she go to sleep, but she had wanted to stay up to make sure everyone's Christmas presents were perfect. She cared about her friends from the feudal era a lot, and she wanted to make sure they all got a great present from her. She seriously doubted whether any of them had ever heard of Christmas before and she knew these were probably going to be their first Christmas presents ever. Christmas was really an American holiday but Souta, hearing about it from his teacher three years ago, had insisted that they took part in it as well. He seemed thrilled with the idea of celebrating a holiday based on giving each other gifts and wouldn't shut up about it until their mother finally gave in and let him have his holiday. And ever since they had started celebrating Christmas, it had quickly become the Higurashi family's favorite holiday. It always gave Kagome a special feeling in her heart when Christmas time rolled around, and she bought presents for her family and the people she loved. And she had naturally wanted to share Christmas with her friends. By friends, that counted Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo from the feudal era. So that was why she had stayed up until 11:00 wrapping their gifts.
She gave one last tired glance at the last present she had been working on and noted that it was Inuyasha's. It was the largest of the presents, and she had wrapped it specially in red paper, knowing that he obviously liked the color. She smiled thinking of the look on his face he would have when she handed him the beautiful package and sighed. Surely even Inuyasha would be greatful for a present? She decided he would, and turned to walk out of the room, turning off the light switch as she went. Making her way over to her bed, she felt that same Christmassy feeling of happiness stir within her and her smile broadened. As she turned off the light in her room and climbed under the covers of her bed, she felt she couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Kagome climbed out of the well with some difficulty the next day, as she strained noticeably to haul the large sack of presents out behind her. She had gotten them half way out of the well and had unconsciously stepped backwards to brace herself for another tug when she felt her foot slide clumsily over a rock. She gave a small yelp of surprise and felt her body lurch forward into the well as she lost her footing. The bag of presents began to drop back down the hole as she shot forward, and she half expected to find herself back in her own time once again, as she plummeted over the side. But just as she was about to completely fall into the well a hand shot out and grabbed her by the ankle. With a sharp tug she felt her entire body being lifted out of the well almost effortlessly, presents and all, and found herself peering into a pair of amused amber eyes.
"So Kagome, going back so soon? But you just got here not thirty seconds ago!" A familiar hanyou's voice teased.
Kagome noticed her skirt was starting to ride down her thighs from being held upside down and demanded Inuyasha put her down.
"Inuyasha set me down already, your claws are digging into my ankle!"
Inuyasha blinked in surprise and immediately dropped her, letting her crash to the ground in a heap.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted angrily as she sat up brushing dirt off her skirt. She shot him one of her famous glares and stood up huffily.
"You could have at least warned me you were going to do that!"
"Wha-?? You told me to put you down so why the hell are you yelling at me now?" He asked in confusion.
"Yes I told you to put me down but I didn't mean like that— oh never mind lets not fight today, ok?"
Inuyasha who had opened his mouth to argue more was quickly cut short by Kagome's statement. He folded his arms into his haori sleeves and frowned moodily.
"Feh, whatever."
Kagome just ignored his bad attitude, she was used to it, and bent to pick up her backpack and bag of presents. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and holding the presents in her arms, started to stagger forward under the weight. Inuyasha watched in amusement as she struggled with the large sack for a few minutes before his curiousity got the better of him.
"Hey Kagome, what's with the sack?"
Kagome stopped walking and glanced at him over her shoulder.
"Umm.....er well they're Christmas presents." She explained shortly. She really didn't want to tell him too much about them before she started handing them out to everyone. He just stared at her for a moment before repeating, "Crist-mis? What's that?"
She sighed nonchalantly and began walking again as she answered his question. "It's a holiday in my time." Inuyasha stopped to take this in for a moment before he fired his next question.
"Ok...so it's a holiday. What's this about presents though? Do you mean you brought more ramen or something?" At this, his eyes brightened up hopefully and he leapt forward to keep pace next to Kagome. Up until this point he had been walking behind her, and his sudden presence startled her. She fumbled clumsily with the sack, which had become dislodged from her sudden movement, and blushed lightly. Inuyasha stared at her skeptically, waiting for an answer. He sighed impatiently when she failed to answer him right away, and shot out a hand to grab the sack before she could stop him. He hefted the sack easily over his shoulder and pushed his face right up into hers.
"Answer the question!" He said impatiently. Kagome glared at him and grabbed the locks of hair that hung over his shoulders, pulling his face closer to hers so she could shout at him properly.
"No it's not ramen you food-obsessed pig! But there are special presents in there for you, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo so I would appreciate it if you give me that bag back and don't you dare look at the presents until we get to camp!!!"
Inuyasha winced in pain at the force of her voice next to his sensitive ears and dropped the sack, not out of courtesy to her but to cover his ears, which were ringing in pain. He quickly tried to cover up his pained expression with anger however, and began shouting at her about how she was an evil power hungry demon who loves shouting in people's ears to see how loud you have to be to make them deaf. But Kagome had seen the look of pain on his face before he could cover it up. She immediately let go of him and felt bad about shouting at him like that with his sensitive ears. Inuyasha just glared at her and she knew she had hurt him even if he wouldn't admit it.
Inuyasha who's ears were starting to adjust back to normal felt himself start to feel guilty for yelling at her and grabbing the sack. He knew he really had no right to grab her stuff and felt bad knowing that they were gifts for him and the others. He deserved getting yelled at by Kagome and he knew it. With a frustrated sigh, he turned and leapt into the nearest tree with a look of disgust on his face. He was sick of fighting with her and she looked livid at the moment. It was better just to leave her alone.
Kagome watched him leap into the trees and felt her face soften sadly. She had wanted today to be a day where they didn't fight, and here she had only been in the feudal era ten minutes and she had already sent him running off into the forest. She sighed exasperatedly and felt the guilt start to wash over her at the look of pain on his face. She really shouldn't have shouted at him like that......
"Kagome!"
Kagome barely had time to raise her head before a ball of brown fluff came hurtling into her stomach, locking her in a tight embrace.
"Shippo! Hi!" Exclaimed Kagome, happy to see the little fox cub so excited to see her.
"Hey Kagome, did you bring me any candy?" Asked Shippo excitedly. Kagome smiled at his childish innocence and nodded yes. Miroku and Sango appeared then, riding on Kirara, and Kagome waved in greeting. Sango half waved in greeting before she screamed in outrage and used the hand she had started to wave at Kagome to slap Miroku across the face. He fell off Kirara and landed in the grass with a doffy grin on his face and a red hand print on his cheek.
"You pevert! Try that again and it will be your head!" Sango screamed angrily. Miroku just sighed contentedly and replied, "To touch you, Sango, it would be worth it."
Sango blushed furiously and gritted her teeth in exasperation. Kagome smiled, a bit cheered up by their antics, and excitedly called them over, eager to give them their presents.
"Hey you guys, I have something special for you! Come here!"
Miroku got up, still staring at Sango as if longing for another grope, and reluctantly listend to Kagome and sat down. Sango sat down next to Shippo, still livid at Mirkou, and waited for Kagome to talk. Kagome glanced around, hoping Inuyasha would come out so she could give him his present as well, but when he didn't show up she sighed and pulled out Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's presents and left his in the bag. She handed each person his or her present and smiled happily in anticipation. She waited for a couple minutes, watching them as they turned over their presents and wondered why they weren't opening them.
"Err......umm thanks Kagome?" Sango tried, totally confused. "I, umm like the color of this very handy umm box thing."
Kagome blinked in surprise and stared at the innocently confused look on Sango's face and burst out laughing. Sango's look turned from confusion, to shock, and then to irritation at Kagome's odd response.
"Really Kagome, I don't see what's so funny. I was only trying to thank you for the gift."
Between chokes of laughter Kagome finally managed to cough out that they were supposed to tare the wrapping paper off and the gifts were inside. This new nugget of information did nothing but make everyone even more confused however, and they told her so.
"But Kagome, why would you give us a gift and then expect us to tare it up? It makes no sense!" Kagome sweat-dropped at Shippo's comment and sighed exasperatedly.
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! You're not tearing up the present you're tearing up the wrapping! Oh— here let me show you." She grabbed Shippo's blue wrapped parcel and gently, dislodged the tape on the wrapping. Sticking her finger into the hole she had made, she wiggled it around and created a tear in the paper. Shippo bit his lip in worry, wondering if Kagome was ruining his present and watch nervously as she continued to rip the paper off. After a few good tares she finally broke through the wrapping and discarded the paper onto the grass to reveal Shippo's present.
"Oh!!! I get it now!" Shippo shouted happily as he dived into Kagome's lap to rescue his present.
"Wow Kagome! Look at all the candy! And— oh cool a ball!" Shippo was estatic as he dug through the little box of goodies and toys Kagome had given him. Kagome smiled happily that Shippo approved of her gift and watched him as he tried one after another of her special candies from the future. Sango looked at Miroku and they nodded, both understanding how Kagome's presents worked and lifted up their own gifts. They both simultaneously ripped into their packages and gazed in wonderment at the gifts Kagome had bestowed upon them.
"Oh Kagome! This is so beautiful!" Sango exclaimed, completely breathless at the new kimono she held up before her. It was light purple with silhouettes of white cherry blossom petals floating along the upper part of the fabric while it faded into a pinkish dark purple sunset towards the bottom. Sango was blushing profusely at the lavishly given gift and smiled genuinely at her friend. She dropped the kimono back into the box and wrapped Kagome in a thankful hug. Kagome blushed in embarrassment at how much her friend liked the gifted and commentated that it was no big deal.
Miroku on the other hand was totally silent as he studied his gift with fascination. Kagome looked at him nervously, waiting for him to say something.
"Well, um do you like it?" she asked. "It a book containing the entire history of Japan. There are beautiful maps in it and drawings of your time— the feudal era. It's really really long I'm sure, but it just such a beautiful book I thought you'd like it."
Miroku looked at her happily and smiled just as big as Sango and Shippo had. "Kagome I love it.....but just what did we do to deserve such wonderful gifts?" He asked curiously.
Kagome blinked in confusion, for a moment until it finally dawned on her she had never explained to them about Christmas.
"Well, you see, in my time there is a holiday going on called Christmas. And during Christmas everyone gives each other gifts and so......well I couldn't just leave you guys out of it even if you don't celebrate it." she explained.
"I think Christmas is my favorite holiday!" Shippo piped up happily. "I mean if we all get our very own presents that we don't have to share with anybody, what's better than that?"
Kagome laughed at his comment. She was glad everyone was happy........well almost everyone.
"Hey, I don't have to give Inuyasha any of my candy do I?" Shippo asked with a frown.
"Inuyasha....."
Kagome stood up grabbing Inuyasha's present and glanced back at Shippo before walking away.
"No Shippo, Inuyasha has his own present. I need to give it to him....." She trailed off lamely as she went off to find the hanyou.
"Inuyasha!" she called loudly, hoping he would answer her. She had been walking for 15 minutes and she still had not found him.
"Where is he!?" she wondered aloud to herself. She really wanted to give him his present and apologize for yelling in his ears. Was it possible that she had upset him that much that he wasn't even going to answer her?
"Inuyasha, please if you can hear me answer me!" She tried again. When she heard no reply she bit her lip in worry. What if something happened to him? What if he had been attacked by a demon while they were opening presents and gotten hurt? What if he was unconscious? She really began to panic now. Even when he was mad at her al those other times, he had never purposely ignored her so why wasn't he answering?
"Inuyasha!!" she cried again, this time with a hint of panic in her voice. She ran forward, crashing through the brush frantically hoping he would answer her already. She cradled his present protectively to her chest as she began calling out his name over and over again.
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, Inuyash—oof"
She stopped abruptly as she ran straight into the very hanyou whose name she had been calling. She slammed into his chest and noted the look of surprise on his face as she started to fall backwards from the force of impact. He quickly reached out and caught her wrist before she fell and steadied her.
"Inuyasha!" she breathed, letting a small smile of relief fall across her face as she looked up at him. "What are you doing running around calling my name for?" He asked quizzically, his eyebrows arching suspiciously. "You're not planning on dragging me along to slay some stupid demon to save an ungrateful village again are you? Cause I'm not doing it so you can forget it— unless it has a shikon shard I—"
"No!" Kagome interrupted forcefully, causing Inuyasha to stare. "I— I just wanted to find you to apolagize."
"For what?"
"Well, for yelling in your ears. You were right, that was taking it to far and I know it hurt you." She said, staring at the ground guiltily.
Inuyasha seemed a bit surprised at this and stared at her in confusion for a moment before relying. "So let me get the strait. You come tearing through the forest screaming your lungs out looking for me, to tell me you're sorry for yelling in my ears? Some how I just can't believe that's it."
He moved closer to her, peering into her eyes with that suspicious look on his face again, and Kagome felt herself smile involuntarily. He really looked funny when he made that face, with his head cocked to the side like a dog and his ears twitching.
"Ok now what's so funny?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice this time. He hated it when people laughed at him like he was some kind of joke....
"Calm down Inuyasha, I'm not laughing at you like that." She said, sensing him stiffen up thinking she was laughing at him. She knew he hated it when people made fun of him.
"But to answer your question you're right. I didn't just come looking for you to apologize. First of all I was worried something had happened to you...." she stopped here looking up at him with concern. She looked him over for the second time to make sure nothing had happened to him that he was trying to hide, and decided with a smile that he really was fine. Inuyasha's eyes softened at her comment and he closed his eyes with a smile.
"You should know by now, Kagome, that I'm strong enough to kill anything that's stupid enough to try and attack my with my tetsusaiga."
Kagome nodded, "Yes but that doesn't keep me from worrying. And.......in any case, that's not the only reason I was looking for you." She said, suddenly feeling shy. "Everyone has opened their presents already since you were gone, and I wanted to give you your present."
Kagome finished taping the last fold of wrapping paper over the box and stood back to admire her handiwork. It looked nice she decided— with the metallic red paper shining brightly over the gift as she picked it up. She turned it around to examine the back and decided it passed the test. With a quick smile, she reached over the table to grab the role of ribbon and promptly snipped a strand off. Tying the ribbon around the package in the shape of a bow, she skillfully used the scissors to curl the ends into elegant ringlets cascading neatly on top of the bundle. She set the package on the table she had been working at and gave a happy sigh; it was 11:00 at night and she was quite exausted.
Giving a quick glance at the other three gifts sitting on the work-table, she nodded tiredly— as if satisfied, and stood up. It was really time she go to sleep, but she had wanted to stay up to make sure everyone's Christmas presents were perfect. She cared about her friends from the feudal era a lot, and she wanted to make sure they all got a great present from her. She seriously doubted whether any of them had ever heard of Christmas before and she knew these were probably going to be their first Christmas presents ever. Christmas was really an American holiday but Souta, hearing about it from his teacher three years ago, had insisted that they took part in it as well. He seemed thrilled with the idea of celebrating a holiday based on giving each other gifts and wouldn't shut up about it until their mother finally gave in and let him have his holiday. And ever since they had started celebrating Christmas, it had quickly become the Higurashi family's favorite holiday. It always gave Kagome a special feeling in her heart when Christmas time rolled around, and she bought presents for her family and the people she loved. And she had naturally wanted to share Christmas with her friends. By friends, that counted Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo from the feudal era. So that was why she had stayed up until 11:00 wrapping their gifts.
She gave one last tired glance at the last present she had been working on and noted that it was Inuyasha's. It was the largest of the presents, and she had wrapped it specially in red paper, knowing that he obviously liked the color. She smiled thinking of the look on his face he would have when she handed him the beautiful package and sighed. Surely even Inuyasha would be greatful for a present? She decided he would, and turned to walk out of the room, turning off the light switch as she went. Making her way over to her bed, she felt that same Christmassy feeling of happiness stir within her and her smile broadened. As she turned off the light in her room and climbed under the covers of her bed, she felt she couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Kagome climbed out of the well with some difficulty the next day, as she strained noticeably to haul the large sack of presents out behind her. She had gotten them half way out of the well and had unconsciously stepped backwards to brace herself for another tug when she felt her foot slide clumsily over a rock. She gave a small yelp of surprise and felt her body lurch forward into the well as she lost her footing. The bag of presents began to drop back down the hole as she shot forward, and she half expected to find herself back in her own time once again, as she plummeted over the side. But just as she was about to completely fall into the well a hand shot out and grabbed her by the ankle. With a sharp tug she felt her entire body being lifted out of the well almost effortlessly, presents and all, and found herself peering into a pair of amused amber eyes.
"So Kagome, going back so soon? But you just got here not thirty seconds ago!" A familiar hanyou's voice teased.
Kagome noticed her skirt was starting to ride down her thighs from being held upside down and demanded Inuyasha put her down.
"Inuyasha set me down already, your claws are digging into my ankle!"
Inuyasha blinked in surprise and immediately dropped her, letting her crash to the ground in a heap.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted angrily as she sat up brushing dirt off her skirt. She shot him one of her famous glares and stood up huffily.
"You could have at least warned me you were going to do that!"
"Wha-?? You told me to put you down so why the hell are you yelling at me now?" He asked in confusion.
"Yes I told you to put me down but I didn't mean like that— oh never mind lets not fight today, ok?"
Inuyasha who had opened his mouth to argue more was quickly cut short by Kagome's statement. He folded his arms into his haori sleeves and frowned moodily.
"Feh, whatever."
Kagome just ignored his bad attitude, she was used to it, and bent to pick up her backpack and bag of presents. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and holding the presents in her arms, started to stagger forward under the weight. Inuyasha watched in amusement as she struggled with the large sack for a few minutes before his curiousity got the better of him.
"Hey Kagome, what's with the sack?"
Kagome stopped walking and glanced at him over her shoulder.
"Umm.....er well they're Christmas presents." She explained shortly. She really didn't want to tell him too much about them before she started handing them out to everyone. He just stared at her for a moment before repeating, "Crist-mis? What's that?"
She sighed nonchalantly and began walking again as she answered his question. "It's a holiday in my time." Inuyasha stopped to take this in for a moment before he fired his next question.
"Ok...so it's a holiday. What's this about presents though? Do you mean you brought more ramen or something?" At this, his eyes brightened up hopefully and he leapt forward to keep pace next to Kagome. Up until this point he had been walking behind her, and his sudden presence startled her. She fumbled clumsily with the sack, which had become dislodged from her sudden movement, and blushed lightly. Inuyasha stared at her skeptically, waiting for an answer. He sighed impatiently when she failed to answer him right away, and shot out a hand to grab the sack before she could stop him. He hefted the sack easily over his shoulder and pushed his face right up into hers.
"Answer the question!" He said impatiently. Kagome glared at him and grabbed the locks of hair that hung over his shoulders, pulling his face closer to hers so she could shout at him properly.
"No it's not ramen you food-obsessed pig! But there are special presents in there for you, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo so I would appreciate it if you give me that bag back and don't you dare look at the presents until we get to camp!!!"
Inuyasha winced in pain at the force of her voice next to his sensitive ears and dropped the sack, not out of courtesy to her but to cover his ears, which were ringing in pain. He quickly tried to cover up his pained expression with anger however, and began shouting at her about how she was an evil power hungry demon who loves shouting in people's ears to see how loud you have to be to make them deaf. But Kagome had seen the look of pain on his face before he could cover it up. She immediately let go of him and felt bad about shouting at him like that with his sensitive ears. Inuyasha just glared at her and she knew she had hurt him even if he wouldn't admit it.
Inuyasha who's ears were starting to adjust back to normal felt himself start to feel guilty for yelling at her and grabbing the sack. He knew he really had no right to grab her stuff and felt bad knowing that they were gifts for him and the others. He deserved getting yelled at by Kagome and he knew it. With a frustrated sigh, he turned and leapt into the nearest tree with a look of disgust on his face. He was sick of fighting with her and she looked livid at the moment. It was better just to leave her alone.
Kagome watched him leap into the trees and felt her face soften sadly. She had wanted today to be a day where they didn't fight, and here she had only been in the feudal era ten minutes and she had already sent him running off into the forest. She sighed exasperatedly and felt the guilt start to wash over her at the look of pain on his face. She really shouldn't have shouted at him like that......
"Kagome!"
Kagome barely had time to raise her head before a ball of brown fluff came hurtling into her stomach, locking her in a tight embrace.
"Shippo! Hi!" Exclaimed Kagome, happy to see the little fox cub so excited to see her.
"Hey Kagome, did you bring me any candy?" Asked Shippo excitedly. Kagome smiled at his childish innocence and nodded yes. Miroku and Sango appeared then, riding on Kirara, and Kagome waved in greeting. Sango half waved in greeting before she screamed in outrage and used the hand she had started to wave at Kagome to slap Miroku across the face. He fell off Kirara and landed in the grass with a doffy grin on his face and a red hand print on his cheek.
"You pevert! Try that again and it will be your head!" Sango screamed angrily. Miroku just sighed contentedly and replied, "To touch you, Sango, it would be worth it."
Sango blushed furiously and gritted her teeth in exasperation. Kagome smiled, a bit cheered up by their antics, and excitedly called them over, eager to give them their presents.
"Hey you guys, I have something special for you! Come here!"
Miroku got up, still staring at Sango as if longing for another grope, and reluctantly listend to Kagome and sat down. Sango sat down next to Shippo, still livid at Mirkou, and waited for Kagome to talk. Kagome glanced around, hoping Inuyasha would come out so she could give him his present as well, but when he didn't show up she sighed and pulled out Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's presents and left his in the bag. She handed each person his or her present and smiled happily in anticipation. She waited for a couple minutes, watching them as they turned over their presents and wondered why they weren't opening them.
"Err......umm thanks Kagome?" Sango tried, totally confused. "I, umm like the color of this very handy umm box thing."
Kagome blinked in surprise and stared at the innocently confused look on Sango's face and burst out laughing. Sango's look turned from confusion, to shock, and then to irritation at Kagome's odd response.
"Really Kagome, I don't see what's so funny. I was only trying to thank you for the gift."
Between chokes of laughter Kagome finally managed to cough out that they were supposed to tare the wrapping paper off and the gifts were inside. This new nugget of information did nothing but make everyone even more confused however, and they told her so.
"But Kagome, why would you give us a gift and then expect us to tare it up? It makes no sense!" Kagome sweat-dropped at Shippo's comment and sighed exasperatedly.
"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! You're not tearing up the present you're tearing up the wrapping! Oh— here let me show you." She grabbed Shippo's blue wrapped parcel and gently, dislodged the tape on the wrapping. Sticking her finger into the hole she had made, she wiggled it around and created a tear in the paper. Shippo bit his lip in worry, wondering if Kagome was ruining his present and watch nervously as she continued to rip the paper off. After a few good tares she finally broke through the wrapping and discarded the paper onto the grass to reveal Shippo's present.
"Oh!!! I get it now!" Shippo shouted happily as he dived into Kagome's lap to rescue his present.
"Wow Kagome! Look at all the candy! And— oh cool a ball!" Shippo was estatic as he dug through the little box of goodies and toys Kagome had given him. Kagome smiled happily that Shippo approved of her gift and watched him as he tried one after another of her special candies from the future. Sango looked at Miroku and they nodded, both understanding how Kagome's presents worked and lifted up their own gifts. They both simultaneously ripped into their packages and gazed in wonderment at the gifts Kagome had bestowed upon them.
"Oh Kagome! This is so beautiful!" Sango exclaimed, completely breathless at the new kimono she held up before her. It was light purple with silhouettes of white cherry blossom petals floating along the upper part of the fabric while it faded into a pinkish dark purple sunset towards the bottom. Sango was blushing profusely at the lavishly given gift and smiled genuinely at her friend. She dropped the kimono back into the box and wrapped Kagome in a thankful hug. Kagome blushed in embarrassment at how much her friend liked the gifted and commentated that it was no big deal.
Miroku on the other hand was totally silent as he studied his gift with fascination. Kagome looked at him nervously, waiting for him to say something.
"Well, um do you like it?" she asked. "It a book containing the entire history of Japan. There are beautiful maps in it and drawings of your time— the feudal era. It's really really long I'm sure, but it just such a beautiful book I thought you'd like it."
Miroku looked at her happily and smiled just as big as Sango and Shippo had. "Kagome I love it.....but just what did we do to deserve such wonderful gifts?" He asked curiously.
Kagome blinked in confusion, for a moment until it finally dawned on her she had never explained to them about Christmas.
"Well, you see, in my time there is a holiday going on called Christmas. And during Christmas everyone gives each other gifts and so......well I couldn't just leave you guys out of it even if you don't celebrate it." she explained.
"I think Christmas is my favorite holiday!" Shippo piped up happily. "I mean if we all get our very own presents that we don't have to share with anybody, what's better than that?"
Kagome laughed at his comment. She was glad everyone was happy........well almost everyone.
"Hey, I don't have to give Inuyasha any of my candy do I?" Shippo asked with a frown.
"Inuyasha....."
Kagome stood up grabbing Inuyasha's present and glanced back at Shippo before walking away.
"No Shippo, Inuyasha has his own present. I need to give it to him....." She trailed off lamely as she went off to find the hanyou.
"Inuyasha!" she called loudly, hoping he would answer her. She had been walking for 15 minutes and she still had not found him.
"Where is he!?" she wondered aloud to herself. She really wanted to give him his present and apologize for yelling in his ears. Was it possible that she had upset him that much that he wasn't even going to answer her?
"Inuyasha, please if you can hear me answer me!" She tried again. When she heard no reply she bit her lip in worry. What if something happened to him? What if he had been attacked by a demon while they were opening presents and gotten hurt? What if he was unconscious? She really began to panic now. Even when he was mad at her al those other times, he had never purposely ignored her so why wasn't he answering?
"Inuyasha!!" she cried again, this time with a hint of panic in her voice. She ran forward, crashing through the brush frantically hoping he would answer her already. She cradled his present protectively to her chest as she began calling out his name over and over again.
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, Inuyash—oof"
She stopped abruptly as she ran straight into the very hanyou whose name she had been calling. She slammed into his chest and noted the look of surprise on his face as she started to fall backwards from the force of impact. He quickly reached out and caught her wrist before she fell and steadied her.
"Inuyasha!" she breathed, letting a small smile of relief fall across her face as she looked up at him. "What are you doing running around calling my name for?" He asked quizzically, his eyebrows arching suspiciously. "You're not planning on dragging me along to slay some stupid demon to save an ungrateful village again are you? Cause I'm not doing it so you can forget it— unless it has a shikon shard I—"
"No!" Kagome interrupted forcefully, causing Inuyasha to stare. "I— I just wanted to find you to apolagize."
"For what?"
"Well, for yelling in your ears. You were right, that was taking it to far and I know it hurt you." She said, staring at the ground guiltily.
Inuyasha seemed a bit surprised at this and stared at her in confusion for a moment before relying. "So let me get the strait. You come tearing through the forest screaming your lungs out looking for me, to tell me you're sorry for yelling in my ears? Some how I just can't believe that's it."
He moved closer to her, peering into her eyes with that suspicious look on his face again, and Kagome felt herself smile involuntarily. He really looked funny when he made that face, with his head cocked to the side like a dog and his ears twitching.
"Ok now what's so funny?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice this time. He hated it when people laughed at him like he was some kind of joke....
"Calm down Inuyasha, I'm not laughing at you like that." She said, sensing him stiffen up thinking she was laughing at him. She knew he hated it when people made fun of him.
"But to answer your question you're right. I didn't just come looking for you to apologize. First of all I was worried something had happened to you...." she stopped here looking up at him with concern. She looked him over for the second time to make sure nothing had happened to him that he was trying to hide, and decided with a smile that he really was fine. Inuyasha's eyes softened at her comment and he closed his eyes with a smile.
"You should know by now, Kagome, that I'm strong enough to kill anything that's stupid enough to try and attack my with my tetsusaiga."
Kagome nodded, "Yes but that doesn't keep me from worrying. And.......in any case, that's not the only reason I was looking for you." She said, suddenly feeling shy. "Everyone has opened their presents already since you were gone, and I wanted to give you your present."