Kazix's AN: Well, originally Xessive was gonna write this chapter...but since he never got around to it, lol, I decided I'd write it. Oh, don't worry, he'll write one soon...not. Anyway, sorry I haven't updated in, oh, forever. Really, I am. If you're waiting for an excuse, there is none. Hehe...don't hurt me.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, why would I be writing fanfiction?
Last Chapter:
"And how's that?" Kagome's muffled voice asked.
"Crazy Asian people competing for nothing at violent and physical games," Sango answered, turning the volume up. Kagome shot her head up from the pillow and looked at the TV. Sure enough, her favorite game show MXC was on. The game show, called Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, showed Asian people competing for absolutely nothing. Score was kept, but no prize was ever given. It was really only for entertainment purposes, and boy did Kagome love entertainment. She blanked her mind in order to fully understand the mindless hypnotic trance the hosts Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano put her in and soon began to relax.
The Hospital
Chapter 4: Truce
The sun shone brightly, making a wonderful setting for a beautiful weekend. Kagome walked down the sidewalk, her mood completely the opposite of the weather's, but exactly the same as Inuyasha's, who was trailing behind her on crutches. The three days had passed a little too quickly for the pair and now they had nothing to look forward to but each other's company. It might not have been so bad but for Inuyasha's incessant name-calling and Kagome's fiery temper.
"Are we almost there, wench?" Inuyasha demanded to know.
Kagome stopped dead in her tracks, finally unable to keep her temper. "That's the seventh time you've asked me in the past five minutes! Can't you just be patient? We'd get there a lot faster if you'd just hurry up!" Her outburst didn't surprise Inuyasha. He was only badgering her for entertainment now, knowing that it would annoy her. He seemed to delight in her displeasure. They continued walking, Inuyasha in a much better mood, and Kagome in a much worse one. Finally reaching the longest flight of stone stairs Inuyasha had ever seen, Kagome turned to him.
"We're here now, so stop complaining," she said.
"We gotta walk all those steps!?" he shouted, ignoring Kagome.
"I said no complaining!" she shouted back.
Inuyasha complied, but continued to glare at the girl who seemed intent on making his life a living hell. Kagome began to lightly walk up at the stairs without offering any help to him in his condition. He quickly decided that it would be easiest to climb the stairs without his crutches barring his way. He tucked both of them underneath one arm and began limping up the stairs, wincing at every step.
Four hundred and fifty-two steps later, Inuyasha and Kagome had finally reached the top landing. While Inuyasha seemed to be breathless, Kagome was just fine. She had climbed these stairs many times and was, by now, quite used to them. She opened the door to her house and walked inside, not even motioning for Inuyasha to follow her. He did so anyway, not caring if he was rude or not.
"Mom! I'm home!" Kagome yelled. The house remained still; no reply answered her call that echoed throughout the house. "Mom?" she called again, wandering through the house. She went to the kitchen first and found a note on the fridge.
Dear Kagome,
Your Grandpa, Souta, and I have gone to the Festival in Kyoto. I know how much your studies mean to you, so I thought it'd be best if we left you to study in peace. I'll call tomorrow to check up on you. I bought plenty of groceries, so feel free to make whatever you want. I don't know when we'll back, but we shouldn't be gone for more than a few days. Have fun, dear!
-Mom
'Oh great,' Kagome thought, 'I get to spend the next few days alone with dog-face. Lovely.' She sighed and threw the note in the garbage can. Inuyasha stared blankly at the note before noticing Kagome's even more irritated face.
"What was that about?" he asked. It wasn't like him to be curious, but if she was any more angry and yelled at him, he had a right to know why. Kagome slowly turned around and glared at him, wishing that somehow he would spontaneously combust. When that didn't seem to happen, she sighed again and turned to open the fridge.
"Mom's not going to be home for the next couple of days, so I'm going to be stuck here all alone with you," she said as she rummaged through the fridge for something to eat for dinner.
"Are you serious!?" shouted Inuyasha, appalled at the idea of sharing a house all alone with a psycho like Kagome.
"Oh, you think I'm happy about it?!" she shouted back, now turned to him.
"Feh!" Inuyasha muttered and turned around, crossing his arms in the process. Kagome grabbed a soda from the fridge and slammed it shut, leaving the room and grumbling about ungracious ingrates. Inuyasha stood in the kitchen for a moment before following her out of the kitchen and into the living room. She looked up from her spot on the couch.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly.
"Nothing from you, wench," he said and continued to cross the room. He looked out the window and saw the most beautiful tree he'd ever laid eyes on. "Hey," he said softly, in a trance-like state as he stared at the tree, "Is that your tree?"
Kagome, shocked at the sudden change in voice, stared blankly before shaking her head. "Y-yeah, that's the goshinboku. It's been there for centuries. Why?"
Inuyasha didn't say anything and instead walked out the door and to the tree, Kagome following at a distance, confused at his behavior. She watched as Inuyasha jumped diligently into the branches of the tree, despite his broken leg. As she stared, a sudden warm feeling came over her...as if not only the tree was protecting her, but the hanyou now sitting in the tree as well. She mentally slapped herself and walked back inside. As if that jerk would protect anybody! She sat on the couch and flipped through the TV channels.
Inuyasha felt a strange sense of peace come over him once he sat in the tree. It was comforting and soothing, like he belonged there. Wait, what was he thinking?! Him belonging at the Higurashi shrine!? That was a laugh! But in any case, he quickly grew attached to this tree and fell asleep peacefully.
Kagome yawned and checked the VCR clock. Wow, it was 10 o'clock already? She turned off the TV and got up to go to bed, until she realized that Inuyasha was still outside. Grumbling she went through the door and stepped into the chill night air. Pulling her arms close around her, she walked to the tree.
"Inuyasha?" she called up. When he didn't stir, she called his name louder. "Inuyasha?!" This time, Inuyasha grumbled and sleepily opened his eyes. He peered down into the darkness at the shivering Kagome and sighed.
"What do you want?" he asked through a yawn.
"I want you to come inside. You're going to catch a cold out here," she answered.
"What, are you worried about me?" he chuckled.
"No, but the longer you're sick, the longer you have to stay at my house and that's not exactly pleasant," she answered icily.
"Feh, I don't catch colds. Besides, I don't have anywhere to sleep."
"You could sleep in my brother's room, my mom's room, grandpa's room or on the couch," she explained, "I wouldn't recommend grandpa's room since he's got anti-demon talisman's in there. Mom's got a bunch of girl stuff, and I'm pretty sure that's not your style, and Souta's room has a bunch of toys everywhere, including the bed. That leaves the couch."
"I'm not sleeping on the couch," he said stubbornly.
"Well you're going to have to, unless you want to sleep in my room, and that is not happening."
"Fine, I'll sleep on the couch. Anything is better than sleeping anywhere near you." At this, a rock flew from the ground and hit Inuyasha on the head, causing him to fall out of his tree with a loud thump. "Ow! What'd you do that for, wench!?" But Kagome had already gone back inside and to her room. Inuyasha stood up and limped toward the house, closing the door behind him and flopping down on the couch. He sighed before falling back to sleep again.
Kagome yawned and stretched as the morning broke in through her window. She could smell the wonderful aroma of bacon and eggs wafting in from upstairs. She happily followed the scent downstairs to the kitchen and was surprised to find Inuyasha working over a stove to make breakfast.
"Inuyasha?" she said in disbelief. Inuyasha flicked his fuzzy dog ears in her direction and turned.
"Oh, hey Kagome. Just a minute, breakfast is almost ready," he answered as he dished the eggs into a bowl. Kagome looked over and saw that the table was set for two people. That meant that he wasn't just cooking for himself. Surprised at his sudden change in characteristics, she stared quizzically at the back of his head.
"Inuyasha, why are you being nice?" she blurted out. She didn't really expect him to answer, so when he did, she was the recipient of yet another surprise.
"I couldn't sleep in this morning because I don't like sleeping on couches, so I decided to busy myself by making breakfast. I hope you don't mind," he said as he placed the food on the table and filled the cups with orange juice. He turned to her and smiled, pulling out a chair and offering it to her. She numbly sat down and Inuyasha pushed her in. He then walked around to the other side of the table and sat. "I hope you like it," he said. When Kagome merely sat there, Inuyasha took action. "Here, I'll serve you." With that, he dished some eggs onto her plate and forked some bacon onto it as well before serving himself. Kagome carefully took a bite, still wondrous at Inuyasha's sudden change in behavior. That's when she saw the devious smile playing across his face and the evil eyes that emerged. She quickly spit the eggs back out and tried to wash the disgusting taste out of her mouth with the orange juice. She just as quickly spit that back out too and ran to the sink to rinse out the taste with tap water, while Inuyasha laughed up a storm.
"What did you do!?" Kagome demanded to know once she regained composure. Inuyasha wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and struggled to stop laughing.
"Y-you sh-should've seen y-your f-face!" he blurted out as he fell out of his chair, the laughter not subsiding in the least.
"I'll ask one more time before I kick you out, what did you do!?"
"Hehe, I put, hahahaha, l-lots of g-garlic powder in-in the food! Hahahahaha!!" He said, trying to calm down.
"And here I thought you were being nice for once! All men are jerks!" she shouted and stormed to her room, slamming the door shut. Inuyasha had now stopped laughing and stared after Kagome, unsure of why she had gotten that furious. He had only meant it as a joke, not to make her angry. He quietly stood up and cleaned up the dishes before finally going upstairs to check on Kagome. He knocked twice before putting his ear up to the door. He heard loud music playing and a female voice singing along with it. He cracked open the door and peeked inside. He could now see that the female voice was Kagome's, singing along to a pretty good band. He decided now was not the time to apologize to her. 'Wait,' thought Inuyasha, 'Since when was I going to apologize to her!?' He walked downstairs and sat on the couch, not bothering to turn on the TV. He simply made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, running through his thoughts.
Kagome slowly creaked open her door a crack and peeked through the small crack. She strained her ears to hear any unusual, or usual, sounds. Nothing could be heard or seen from her room upstairs. She finally opened the door all the way, careful to minimize the squeaking from the door. Poking her head out and looking around, she saw that no one was there. She then quietly crept down the stairs and looked at the couch to find Inuyasha peacefully asleep. Kagome couldn't help but let a small smile cross her lips. He always looked so innocent when he was asleep and she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay mad at him forever...unless he did another incredibly stupid thing. But she would wait until then to be mad. For now she needed to eat some real breakfast.
She rummaged through her fridge and pulled out a container of leftover rice and a jug of milk. Setting those items on the counter, she then went through a cabinet and got out some cinnamon and sugar. Peeking back into the living room, she decided that it wouldn't hurt to turn on the radio. If Inuyasha woke up, that was his problem, she decided as she walked to their stereo system and turned on the radio. But of course the only thing that was playing was commercials, so she decided to listen to one of her favorite CDs. Making sure her My Chemical Romance CD was in, she turned it on and headed back to the kitchen. She stuck the rice in the microwave and waited until the timer beeped before taking it out and dishing some into a bowl. Soon she had made a wonderful rice cereal which smelled as good as it tasted.
Kagome grabbed a spoon and turned around, nearly jumping out of her skin to see Inuyasha standing right in front of her, staring curiously at her bowl of rice cereal.
He sniffed the air once and pointed to the bowl. "What in the world is that?" he questioned.
"This," Kagome said as she walked around him, "is rice cereal. It's the best breakfast food ever created."
Inuyasha stared at the ground as Kagome took a seat at the table. "Can I have some?"
Kagome, just about to take a bite of her delicious food, slowly turned around and stared evilly at Inuyasha. When she saw him looking down at the ground, though, her eyes softened and she got up. "Fine, but let me show you how so you don't mess it up, since it seems like you're no good at cooking," she sneered playfully.
"Feh," was Inuyasha's smart reply as he watched Kagome dish some of the still warm rice into another bowl and pour the milk. She then started to put some sugar on it, and seemed to nearly drown it with the stuff. "If you don't put enough sugar on it, it doesn't taste good," she commented, seeing his curious stare. She then sprinkled some cinnamon on it and took a spoon from a drawer, handing it and the now prepared food to him. "Truce?" she questioned, heading back to the table and sitting. Inuyasha sat opposite her and put his food down.
"Truce," he agreed, sticking out his hand. Kagome grinned and grabbed it with her own hand, shaking it. The two then began peacefully eating their breakfast, wondrous at their ability to cooperate with each other.
"So how are you and Inuyasha getting along?" Sango asked as she twiddled with the phone cord.
"Actually...we're getting along great," Kagome's voice said over the other end of the phone.
"Are you serious? I thought you said you hated him."
"Well, I did. But then he wanted to show me how to make him rice cereal and we called a truce."
"Ah yes, the amazing powers of rice cereal. They never cease to amaze me, you know?" Sango laughed. They had both known that rice cereal was pretty great, but to have such an effect as to calm two angry and fierce spirits was quite astounding. "Ok, at least you guys aren't tearing each other's throats out, but are you going to go back to the hospital?"
"I'm not sure. Dr. Kaede said that some kids would be swarming the place, so I don't want to go back by myself. You know how evil kids are."
"Yeah, you don't have to remind me," Sango said, glaring at her door. Kohaku was on the other side, pounding on the door for her to come out and take him to the mall. "Speaking of which, I've got to go. Kohaku's getting impatient."
"Alright, have fun," Kagome said sarcastically before hanging up. The phone immediately rang again and startled her. Grumbling, she picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Kagome, dear, it's Mom," came the voice on the other end.
"Oh, hey Mom! How's the festival?" Kagome asked.
"It's lovely dear. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but it completely slipped my mind. Don't you have that friend of yours from the hospital over there? The one with the injuries?"
"Yeah, he's here. And we're both fine."
"That's good to hear. Just don't have any parties and make sure to keep the house clean, ok dear?"
"Yeah, will do. Have fun Mom," Kagome replied.
"You too honey." The phone clicked and Kagome knew her mom had hung up. She also hung up and walked to the living room where Inuyasha was now watching a movie.
"What are you watching?" she asked, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.
"Poltergeist," he replied simply. Kagome groaned. This movie had always scared her as a young girl, and it never ceased to.
"Can we watch something else?" she asked.
Inuyasha looked over at her with a smirk. "Why? Scared?"
"No!" she instantly replied. "Ok, yeah, I'm scared," she admitted at his questioning look. Inuyasha stared at the ceiling in thought for a moment before patting the area next to him.
"If you promise not to scream too loud, you can sit next to me if that helps," he said indifferently, staring at the TV again, but Kagome thought she could detect a tinge of pink touching his cheeks. She slowly crawled over to him and sat. They watched the movie, Kagome scared out of her mind and Inuyasha wishing he'd never invited Kagome to sit next to him. When the clown started going after the kid, Kagome immediately clenched her hands on the nearest thing to her, which just so happened to be Inuyasha's sleeve. At feeling the slight tug, he looked down at her and saw her eyes filled with fear. He almost laughed, but instead very slowly began reaching an arm around her shoulders. Upon realizing what he was doing, he snatched his arm back quickly, with Kagome none the wiser.
Kazix's AN: Alright, sorry it's so short. I meant to make it longer, but I couldn't think of anything. And sorry that Inuyasha's sort of OOC. I know he'd never tell Kagome to sit next to him, but it's cute, and it's my story, so there! ::sticks tongue out:: Ok, yeah, onto Reviewer Responses.
Starknight- Nope, the story's not dead! My computer's not fixed yet, but it's well on its way. We think the only thing now that's broken is the power supply, so we ordered a new one. Thanks for reviewing!
Fantasy-Seal- Yes, MXC does rule. Hehe, so funny. Thanks for reviewing!
puritystarz- Yes, there is Kikyou bashing, because it is so much fun! BWAHAHAHAHA. Cheesecake's got an account. His penname is Xessive, so...you'll have to find it yourself though, lol.
Inuyasha's Priestess- Don't worry, there will be more romance, but Kagome would never get drunk. I have a good plan for getting the romance started though, so don't worry. Thanks for reviewing!
Well, that's all for the reviewers. Oh yeah, I've got an important announcement! Or denouncement...however you look at it. Anyway, cheesecake doesn't plan on ever writing anything ::glare:: so sadly, he's not going to be my coauthor anymore. ::evil grin:: if any of you would like to try to convince him to write something, I'd be most appreciative! Give it a shot, coz I can't convince him. Maybe one of his rabid fangirls can though, lol. Thanks for reading, guys! Until next time!