DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha or anything to do with it.
A/N: Dedicated to Trevor. Thank you very much! J
You're not Alone
By: Of Memories Past
Part XI
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The clock on the classroom wall made an annoying clicking sound as the seconds passed by. Students stared uninterestedly into space, drumming their fingers on their desk or balancing pencils on their upper lip—like Shippo. So far he had succeeded in balancing two pencils, a pen, and a magic marker on his lip. Girls sitting near him giggled at the handsome young man with his mouth pursed as he tried to keep the objects from falling.
Shippo merely flashed them a flirtatious grin, but unfortunately the action caused the utensils to fall clattering to his desk. A high-pitched chorus of aw followed, and the kitsune had to refrain from sticking his fingers in his ears. Didn't they realize how loud they were and how shrill that pitch was?
Luckily for him, the bored bunch of females returned to their absent minded staring a few moments later, some gawking rather obviously at him, and Shippo was left to glare at the clock on the wall as it noisily ticked away. His fingers joined in with the drumming beat caused by many other boys in his class as he secretly wondered along with them where the teacher was.
Not to mention that he had no idea where the one person was that he was stuck in school for again.
Shippo grimaced. It just had to be Health 101 too.
He had not seen Kagome since the day before when Inuyasha had drug her out of the apartment in an overprotective huff, declaring the entire way that she would be staying with them until the situation with Kikyo was taken care of—no questions asked. Assuming that her mother would not be too thrilled with the idea, Shippo had assumed that the two had stayed the night at Kagome's in order to try and convince her mother that it was the safest bet. Oh, he totally agreed that Kagome would be safer with them, but on the other hand he could also sympathize with Mrs. Higurashi's point of view. After all, Inuyasha and Kagome were getting quite a bit more affectionate as each day passed. He could both see and smell the evidence.
Shippo snickered.
Unfortunately, the teacher coming into the room interrupted his mischievous thoughts. Students began straightening their backs and sitting as upright as possible with their hands folded in their laps, but Shippo frowned and remained slouching over his desk, not even bothering to look up. He didn't want to be there anyway.
"Good morning, class."
Shippo froze as the class responded with their own chorus of good mornings. The teacher's voice was distant and yet very familiar. The calm, and cool monotone held no emotion or warmth, and he could almost feel a cold stare trying to penetrate him. He silently cursed himself for not recognizing the scent that now threatened to overwhelm his keen sense of smell.
He slowly lifted his emerald eyes and registered his gaze with that of a walking grave.
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"Sorry, Kagome, but this is the way it's going to be. Like it or not." Inuyasha hefted her heavy suitcase over his shoulder and onto he bed in Kirara's room "Whether or not you want to believe it, you're safer with us."
"Keep telling yourself that, Inuyasha." Kagome scowled and slumped down onto the bed. It was just her luck that her mother would freak out about the whole situation and practically fling her daughter at her future son-in-law. She glared at the memory, silently trying to burn right through her fiancé. After all, no mother was supposed to allow their daughter to stay in the house of the man that they loved and were extremely attracted to. It just was not decent. Kagome had even been ready to try the whole 'you don't want me to give into temptation, do you?' bit. Her mom was then supposed to gasp at the sudden realization and tell Inuyasha that Kagome would just have to stay home and have her family protect her. She had been relying on that factor to keep her in her own house and in her own bed.
Kagome narrowed her eyes agitatedly, beginning to wonder in the first place why she expected her mother to try and protect her virginity. The woman had made it clear that she trusted Inuyasha with her and her daughter's life.
"You being cute was suppose to make my mother worry," she mumbled.
Inuyasha stopped and gave her a smirk before sitting down next to her. "You think I'm cute?"
Kagome glared. "I'll say you're gorgeous if you'll let me go back home."
"Not a chance." Inuyasha leaned forward for a short kiss before tweaking her nose and getting up. He whistled on his way over to the closet, happy with the fact that he had won the argument. Of course, she could still argue, but she would not get anywhere with it.
"Here," he said, flinging open the closet door, "Kirara cleared half of this out, so you can fill it to your heart's content."
"Inuyasha, I'm not staying here." Kagome lifted her eyes and locked them with his, her look stoically serious.
Sighing, Inuyasha crossed the room once more and joined her. He smiled at her mischievously before taking her hands in his. "It's bunking with Kirara or bunking with me."
A deep shade of crimson stole into Kagome's cheeks at the proposition, and she half wanted to slap Inuyasha for mentioning such an intimate matter. Then again, the other half of her wanted to take the offer.
"We're not married, you dolt," she chided, looking up at him. "And I'm not even sleeping in the same bed as you until we are."
"Feh, you didn't object to sleeping in my lap all those times back in the past."
"But I didn't know how you felt then either," Kagome added. "Forget it, Inuyasha." Kagome swallowed and inched back a bit when a sly grin stole onto his face.
"I'll stop, but I won't forget it." He winked at her and then left the room.
Kagome snatched a pillow and threw it at the door, growling the entire time.
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"Jerk."
Inuyasha gaped at Kirara while in the process of taking a bit out of his sandwich. "What the hell did I do now, you dumb feline?"
"You upset her again," Kirara replied shortly. She finished wiping down the kitchen counter and began pulling various items out to start dinner.
Taking a bite of his sandwich, Inuyasha leaned against the counter and glared. "You know, you're attitude has gotten a hell of a lot worse since you've shown us this new form of yours." He snorted. "Does growing a few inches affect your hormones or something?"
A loud snap reverberated through the tiny kitchen when Kirara slammed a pot down on the counter. She turned to Inuyasha with her pink eyes blazing. "What the hell is that suppose to mean!"
"It means that you have an issue with your attitude!" he yelled back. "You know that Kagome being here is the best thing for her, so why are you giving me grief about it?" He brushed past the fire-cat and glared at her. "Get rid of the attitude, Kirara." He left for the living room and a little peace. Everyone was shouting in his ears today.
"Oh, I have an attitude?" Kirara snapped back, following him out. "Well, try this one on for size, jerk!" Kirara stood in front of him and fumed. It took all of her effort not to reach out and let him have it. "It starts with jewel shards. You want them. You treat everyone like crap because you can't come to terms with yourself. Naraku happens. You're moody. We defeat Naraku, and the well seals. You sulk for one hundred years, but we stick by you. Then the woman you've been waiting for comes back into your life, and you still have an attitude!"
Inuyasha stood, his own temper rising dangerously high as his eyes burned into hers, but Kirara raised her chin defiantly. "What happened to the cute, little fur ball that didn't ever speak?!" he shouted.
"I'm still a cute, little fur ball!" she shrieked. Tears suddenly sprung into her eyes. "But I'm an alone cute, little fur ball!" Kirara gasped when she realized what she had just said, and her hand flew to her mouth.
"What?" Inuyasha's eyes widened as Kirara sank down to the couch in tears. He cringed. Kirara crying was as bad as Kagome crying. "Kirara, you're not alone." He sat down and sighed before wrapping his arms around her. Even though they argued heatedly constantly, he loved the fire-cat as much as he did Shippo. He growled softly. "You guys make me soft." He grinned at her shaky laughter.
"It fits you. You suck when you're moody," she said, and Inuyasha chuckled.
"Do you feel better now that you've insulted me?" he asked dryly.
Kirara nodded and wiped at her eyes. "Just don't make her resent being with us. I don't want her to leave."
"She won't."
Kirara smiled up at the hanyou. "I'm taking a nap." Two seconds later, a tiny fur ball curled up between the couch and the back of Inuyasha's neck, falling to sleep peacefully underneath a thick curtain of silver hair.
"That was quite an argument."
Inuyasha looked up at Kagome before straining his neck to get a look at Kirara. She was already deep in slumber, small chirps coming from her occasionally. "Things are cooled."
Kagome nodded and joined him on the couch. She lightly scratched Kirara's back before idly lacing her hand with his. "That was quite and argument."
"It's over now. She just needs some sleep."
A smile touched Kagome's lips when the soft sound of content purrs reached her ears. "I'm not going anywhere," she whispered, scratching the small fire-cat once more. She smiled at Inuyasha. "Guess I'm going to be here for a while, huh?"
"Yeah," he grinned, leaning closer to her, "so get use to it." He leaned down and closed his eyes, tilting her chin up to meet him.
"NO!"
The front door slammed and Inuyasha and Kagome flew apart, Inuyasha fixing the intruder with a heated glare.
"Don't look at me like that, Inuyasha," Shippo growled. "I just got out after hearing about the lovey dovies for the past hour. Spare me."
Shippo marched straight in and dropped his backpack onto the floor with a thud so loud that Kirara was awoken from her sleep. She growled dangerously and fixed her own pink glare on the kit.
"Oh, stuff it, Kirara," he spat. "It won't kill you to miss your catnap."
Kirara was glowering.
"What's wrong, Shippo?" Kagome asked, worry etched in her voice. The fiery gleam in his emerald eyes screamed out how angry he was.
"What's wrong?" he laughed cynically. "He made me go to school to watch after you."
Kagome turned to Inuyasha and scowled. "Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha clamped his hand over her mouth. "Not right now."
"Oh yes, right now!" Shippo shouted, stamping his foot. "We've got HUGE problems on our hands."
Inuyasha stared. Shippo had not done that for centuries.
Kagome brought her fingers up to massage her temples. "What happened?" She tried to ignore the oncoming headache.
"One," Shippo said, dropping onto the couch next to his surrogate mother, "I was stuck in health this morning. Of course, you weren't there like you were supposed to be, so I had to amuse myself. He even glared at Kagome for a moment. "Two, I'm hearing more about sex than I ever wanted to know, and three, I'm hearing it from Kikyo!"
"Kikyo?!" Inuyasha and Kagome exclaimed at the same time.
Hearing the priestess' name, Kirara grabbed her concealing necklace in her teeth and nudged Inuyasha until he slipped it over her neck.
"Kikyo?" Kirara asked, once she could talk. "I thought she was working with the authorities?"
"Well, not anymore," Shippo sang lightly. "See the problem?"
Kagome groaned. "Now I'll never get back into school."
Shippo smirked as she lamented. If she wasn't going, then neither was he.
Inuyasha clenched his teeth and pinched the bridge of his nose. Could life be easy for them just once? "Shippo," he said, standing, "go and call Sesshoumaru. Tell him and Rin to get over here as soon as they can." He paused for a moment, hating the next words that would come from his mouth. "And tell them to bring the mangy wolf with them."
Kagome's head snapped up. "Kouga?"
"Kouga!" Kirara cheered. She grasped her friend's hand. "Kagome you should see him now. He was cute when you knew him, but now…"
"Kirara!"
Kirara looked up and caught the glare Inuyasha directed her way. "What? I can't appreciate good looks?"
Inuyasha walked away, mumbling something about his life having gone to hell.
A/N: Sorry about the long wait. But life is full of busy little surprises (and writer's block). My next goal is to add a new chapter to at least two or three of my other stories, and then I'll start the cycle again. Please have patience. I hope that you enjoyed this. Let me know what you liked or disliked, but please only constructive criticism. Thanks and God Bless! ~Of Memories Past