Potential

By: Camigwen

- Chapter 8 -

The dim light of the evening sun kept in through the window as Inuyasha awoke. He squinted and shaded his eyes with the back of his hand as he waited for them to adjust to the lighting. When they did, he immediately jumped off the bed.

"What is this place!?" He exclaimed. The room was similar to Kagome's room, but he didn't recognize anything in it, except for Kagome.

Kagome, sat up and yawned, awoken by the hanyou's outburst. She smiled at him, "Good morning, Inuyasha."

Good morning!? How come a morning where he wakes up in a strange place be good. Trying his best to keep his temper at a minimum level as to not spark hers and get sat, he calmly asked: "Where are we?"

She stared at him for a moment not answering, as if she assumed he knew the answer to his question. Then, realization dawned on her and she laughed, remembering that Inuyasha had been unconscious/incapacitated for most of the trip.

"What's so funny?" He demanded, growing impatient.

"Nothing," the miko replied. She'd badger him later about yesterday, but she had things to do today--Slayer things. "We're in Sunnydale, a…um, village in the United States. Remember?"

He groaned as he thought back to boarding the thing Kagome called a 'plane.' He didn't remember much from that point onward. Just the feeling of being miserable. "Oh," he responded dryly, not wanting to discuss his loss of memory.

Hoping of the bed, she strolled up to him and tapped his nose playfully with one finger. "Don't worry Inuyasha, not everyone saw you pass out onto Buffy's front lawn."

"I did not pass out on this 'Buffy' person's front lawn!"

Kagome laughed and moved away from him. She wasn't going to argue. He could deny it if he must. She was just about to leave the room, when Inuyasha grabbed hold of her arm before she could turn the doorknob.

"Who's Buffy?"

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"A safety pin?" Buffy held up one of the three charmed safety pins that Willow had laid out on the dinning room table. "Doesn't look enchanted to me, Will."

Willow plucked it out of her hand and set it down with the other two. "Oh, it's enchanted alright. If I did the spell properly, which I'm pretty sure I did, we should be able to communicate with them without using Giles as a English to Japanese dictionary."

"So, why are there three of them? Kagome plus Inuyasha equals two."

"Well, I got to thinking: what about Cho-An? I mean, we can't exactly communicate well with her either, so it only made sense for me to make one for her to." She shrugged lightly.

The Slayer nodded. "Thoughtful."

A light knock sounded from the entryway to the room and both women turned at the sound.

"Gomen," Kagome said apologetically with a bow. She hadn't meant to disturb them.

From behind her, Inuyasha snorted. He could care less if he had interrupted their 'meeting.'

Instantly, Willow grabbed two of the safety pins and rushed towards them.

Kagome blinked in confusion as Willow pinned one of them to her blouse. "Uh…" she stammered. "What is this?" She then sighed, realizing that they couldn't understand what she was saying. "Never mind…"

Buffy grinned, "Will, you are the master."

The redheaded witch beamed. "Oh yeah."

Even more confused, Kagome starred at the two in awe. Had they just spoken in Japanese? "You speak Japanese?"

"Not exactly," Willow said. She explained to Kagome about the spell she used to charm the safety pins so they could communicate better.

She nodded, understandingly.

Willow then moved to pin the second one to Inuyasha, but the grumpy hanyou jumped away from her, landing on the decorative railing on the second floor. She was about to head up the stairs to pursue him, but Kagome caught her arm.

"Please," she said with a grin, "allow me. Osuwari."

The beads that encircled Inuyasha's neck lit up and set him crashing back down the first floor. He moved to get up, but Kagome sat him again.

"Osuwari." Kagome sighed, "He'll be immobile for a few seconds…"

Understanding, Willow quickly rushed over to him and pinned the safety pin to the collar of his haori. She backed away when he shifted and rose to his feet.

"What the hell was that for, wench!?" Inuyasha screamed at Kagome.

"Well," Buffy mused, "he certainly has a mouth on him. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, buddy?"

"Huh?" That made no sense in his mind. "Kiss…my…mother?"

Kagome sighed and patted his arm, "Never mind Inuyasha. It's one of those modern slang terms that you don't get."

"Feh."

Her job done here, Willow grabbed the last safety pin and headed up the stairs to find Cho-An.

Buffy smiled at Kagome. "Well, ready to begin your training? You're going to have to be prepared for a demon, if--when it attacks."

The miko and hanyou remained silent for a few moments, before Kagome burst out laughing.

Inuyasha dismissed both of them with a scoff and leapt onto the second floor, retreating back to Buffy's room.

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To be continued…

I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Inuyasha; I am simply a fan.

3/19/04