Disclaimer: Nope, it seems Inu's not up for grabs right now...sniff
Miroku
slowly made his way up to the tree Inuyasha was hiding in while the
girls talked. He held his staff carefully in one hand and sat down at
the base of the tree. He could see Inuyasha's red haori flicking
slowly in the wind from here and knew the human half-breed wasn't
that far up. Probably because, last month he fell out of the tree
when he was human and hurt himself badly. Well, at least he learns.
Miroku thought, chuckling at the memory.
"What are you
laughing about, priest?" Inuyasha's gruff voice asked from the
branch above Miroku.
"Oh nothing, just thinking about the
past." Miroku answered. "So...where'd you and Kagome run
off to? Kagome told me that you went to her house with her to get
clothes...was that all you did?"
He heard Inuyasha scoff and
smiled to himself. If there was one way of getting Inuyasha to talk,
it was aggravating him.
"We went to get clothes, nothing
else you pervert." Without warning, Inuyasha jumped off the
branch and landed in front of Miroku.
Miroku studied Inuyasha
carefully. Inuyasha looked quite anxious with a hint of anger behind
it. He also had a hand in the front of his haori. The hand moved
about until it found what it was looking for, then brought the
finding out of the shirt and plopped it into Miroku's lap.
"Read
it to me," he ordered gruffly, sitting down in front of Miroku
and gazing at him intently.
Miroku always knew Inuyasha couldn't
read and wasn't about to say anything about it. Even in human form,
Inuyasha was a deadly contender. Slowly, he picked up the book and
read the cover.
"Where did you get this, Inuyasha?"
Miroku asked flatly, all playful and sly tone gone.
"From
Kagome's room."
"Did she let you borrow this?"
Inuyasha
thought for a moment. "Not really."
He soon
became impatiently and cracked his knuckles in front of the priest's
face. "Just read it!"
Miroku nodded and pulled open to a
page Kagome had placed a book mark at. For a moment, Miroku started
to read the page to himself, until Inuyasha cracked his knuckles
again. Miroku's eyebrow went up so far it disappeared into his
hairline.
"Are you sure you want me to read this?"
Miroku asked quietly. "I don't know why Kagome would be reading
this though..."
"Read. It." Inuyasha growled, his
voice growing deadly.
"Fine, but I don't understand. Maybe
you will. It starts off with 'The alpha dog would normally control
the pack with stern looks, deep growls, and, if necessary, attacking
them. The only exception to that rule would be when the male
encounters a female that it wishes to make its mate. It would then
control the female by a swift, gentle bite to the muzzle, as if
telling her that she had to listen to him. The bite would normally be
a controlling one, but it is also used as a form of a kiss between
dogs. It is also used during mating..."
Inuyasha didn't hear
the rest, he just stared at Miroku with his eyes wide and jaw dropped
to the floor. So Kagome was reading up on the bite! And this is what
she found?! But why didn't she confide in him? Oh, wait, she did...
He thought to himself guiltily. Grrr...but she didn't have to go to a
book like I was some...some regular....dog! Anger surged through him
and he grabbed the book back from Miroku.
"I have to go talk
to Kagome, now!" Inuyasha yelled before racing back towards
Kaede's.
Miroku shook his head and stood up. He had the weirdest
feeling that this definitely wasn't going to end well....
Inuyasha
tramped through the doorway of the hut relentlessly, almost taking
the bamboo curtain off in his wake. Kagome and Sango were still
talking, but stopped instantly when they saw how angry Inuyasha was.
Kagome, however, looked at the book he was holding. How did he get a
hold of that? She asked herself exasperadetly, a hand going up to her
chin.
"Kagome, we have to talk!" He roared, walking up
to her and taking her by the arm.
"Oww! Inuyasha, that hurt!"
she cried and felt his anger flicker slightly into concern.
He let
go of her arm and walked out of the hut, pausing to make sure she was
following. Kagome looked back at Sango for a moment, then followed
Inuyasha all the way to the Goshinboku where he whirled around
suddenly to face her.
"What is this?" He asked, shoving
the book in her face.
"It's-It's a book." She
answered.
"A DOG book!" Inuyasha said accusingly and
angrily. "What were you trying to do, read up on my behavior
with a DOG book?! Like I was some type of regular LAP DOG or maybe a
PET?!"
Kagome stared at him, shocked and at a loss for words.
He was yelling at her, pretty much screaming at her because of a book
he shouldn't have seen in the first place. It wasn't as if she was
looking up on his behavior, it was just something she had to do for
school.
"I-Inuyasha...it's n-not what you think at all!"
Kagome said when her voice decided to come back to her. "You've
got it all wrong!"
"I got it all wrong, me? Your the one
looking me up like you could find out what I was thinking!"
Kagome could now hear that he was sounding hurt as well as
angry.
"Inuyasha...it was for a project I got at school...not
about you." Kagome said carefully, but she didn't think Inuyasha
heard.
"You can try to look me up all you want, but you'll
never find anything! I can't believe you tried to look up dogs
because I bit you-" He stopped short and looked down at the
ground.
"I-Inuyasha..."
"Take your book and
leave me alone!" He yelled suddenly, throwing the book at her
feet and racing off.
"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, wait!"
Kagome
watched him until he couldn't be seen anymore, then looked down at
the book. It looked innocent, lying at her feet, innocent and dirty.
It was just a book, a book for a project she had gotten, and Inuyasha
had found it. Kagome dropped to her knees in front of the book,
picked it up, and threw it as far as she could into the woods.
Kagome sat in the spot Inuyasha had left her at
and stared at where he had ran off. This was all her fault, she
shouldn't have left the book on her dresser. If she had just brought
it back to the library, Inuyasha wouldn't have become curious and
take it. But, why did he take it in the first place?
After a
while, Kagome stood and turned around. She was at a loss for what to
do, at a loss for anything. If she went back to Kaede's, she'd be
bombarded with awkward questions, mostly by Shippo. If she followed
Inuyasha, she'd probably get herself lost or maimed by a demon. The
latter of the two made her slightly jumpy and she decided on Kaede's
as the best choice; besides, she had to speak with Sango.
Slowly,
she made her way back to the hut, Inuyasha haunting her mind. This
was just the way things went all the time between them, one minute
they could be on the verge of telling each other they like each
other, then the next minute they're arguing. The hut came into view
once more, except this time it looked more foreboding than welcoming.
Maybe they'll just let me sleep tonight, Shippo especially.
But
when she entered the hut she found Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and even
Kirara asleep. Smiling sadly, she pulled out her blanket, forgot her
pajamas once again, and laid down near Sango and the dieing fire.
She'll talk to Sango tomorrow.
The next morning was normal as
ever. Sango was the first to rise, followed by Miroku. Once they
woke, they got ready for a day of traveling. Shippo was normally the
last to wake, but this time woke before Kagome herself and gently
slipped out of Kagome's arms. The movement caused Kagome to wake in
turn and also caused her to flip out. She couldn't believe she slept
so late!
Grabbing her things, she threw them into her book bag
before closing it and tossing it over her shoulder. She tipped wildly
for a moment, then hooked her other arm through the loop and regained
her balance with a relieved sigh. I wonder if Inuyasha's waiting
outside... She thought sadly, making her way out of the hut with a
slightly forced goodbye to Kaede.
Kagome glanced around at her
friends outside. Inuyasha wasn't among them. Feeling her heart grow
heavy, she let out a sigh and forced a smile for them.
"Well,
I guess we should try to find Inuyasha before we go anywhere..."
Kagome said softly.
Miroku nodded. "Yes, though I doubt he's
very far from here. I can still feel his aura."
Sango glanced
at Kagome questioningly. She had known that Inuyasha wasn't there in
the hut with them that night, but she didn't know the reason. Kagome
should tell me later, if she wants to. Sango told herself while
hoisting her Hirakotsu onto her back.
Kagome caught the glance
and smiled slightly. She knew Sango was as curious as ever, she
always was curious with what goes on between her and Inuyasha. Sango
just never voiced her curiosity before, and she thanked her friend
for that. But where was Inuyasha? Normally he would be right with
them, no matter the fight they got into.
"There's no need to
go looking for me, I'm not a wimp you know." A gruff, growling
voice said from behind them.
Kagome whirled around and faced the
now hanyou Inuyasha. He didn't look at her, just stared at Miroku,
deliberately averting his eyes from anywhere near her. She felt hurt,
but she had to think how Inuyasha must feel. With a hand placed
against her chest, she turned back around and nodded to the
others.
"Well, another day of searching for the shards."
