Hey everyone! I'm extremely sorry for the late update! I can't believe I haven't updated since October! What can I say? Life's been busy, and Winter Break's almost over! T-T Anyways, thank you soooo much for all of your reviews!
Review Responses
XxDemonic-PrincessxX: Thank you very much for your review! I'm really sorry for the late update! Happy New Year to you! Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
InuKagLOTS o'KIDS: Thank you for reviewing! I love your name by the way! :) I'm really sorry for the really late update! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Amanda/Kagome: Hey Amanda! Thanks for reviewing! Lol, nope Tai isn't Kouga! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks!
Inugurl617: Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate you betaing for me! I hope you like this chapter!
Punkgirl12304: I'm glad you like my story so far! And thank you very much for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter!
Lost Taijiya: Hey! Thank you for reviewing! As for the Romeo and Juliet thing, you'll see… :) Key Club is a club where people come and do community service and do projects to benefit the community and stuff. Thanks for answering my question! I'm also sorry for the awfully late update…I'm such the procrastinator… Thanks again!
Morgan Gabriela: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you really like it! I look forward to your works! Thanks again!
Binkytingson: Thank you for your reviews! I'm certainly glad that you like my story so far! I'll keep your suggestion with Kouga in mind for later chapters! Be assured that I will use it! Thank you! Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Three
Inuyasha widened his eyes at the sight of the steps of the shrine. It looked like a formidable mountain. He sighed; it was going to be a long climb to the top. Maybe it would have been better to meet at his house…
Kagome was lounging around in her hip huggers and a light blue t-shirt when she saw a certain someone through the window, come up to the front door. She rolled her eyes and let out a tired sigh.
"Great, it's Inuyasha…and I have to spend a few hours with him under a tree practicing Romeo and Juliet..." she thought, but then scrunched up her nose.
"Why do I get romantic situations that I don't want?"
She got off the couch, turning off the TV while brushing away her laziness. It was better to get it over with now then deal with it later. Her footsteps were muffled with her socks on the way to the door and opened the door.
There he stood, with the usual smirk on his face. Kagome rolled her eyes, arrogant jerk.
"So you gonna invite me in?" he asked. She bit her lip, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea. But it was wasted time, seeing as he smoothly slid in under her arm that was holding the door open.
Her eyebrows lifted in surprise,
"Okay…"
Okay, maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised, she was thinking of Inuyasha after all.
"You gonna stand there all day? The house is getting cold ya know." Inuyasha said from behind. This remark however, made Kagome even madder.
"Shhhhhhh! My mom and grandpa are sick alright so they need all the rest they can get." Kagome hissed in a whisper, her brown eyes in slits.
Holding both of his hands in surrender, he quickly agreed, it wasn't pretty when Kagome was mad. He figured that out really quickly…let's just say you have to learn fast if you want to live with Kagome around.
Politely, he took off his shoes and followed Kagome with his socks. Kagome led him into the kitchen and indicated that he could take a seat on the stool next to her.
Inuyasha looked around, it wasn't all that bad. The place was kept clean and was decorated nicely. He knew that it was pretty big, judging from the outside.
"Would you like anything to eat?" Kagome asked. He looked up to find her standing in the kitchen. There was a counter and bar-like counter that were separating the both of them. (A/N I don't know what it's called…but you guys know what I'm talking about right?)
He shook his head, he wasn't hungry since breakfast was just an hour ago and lunch was in an hour or so. Kagome shrugged.
"Are you ready to practice?" she asked, making her way to Inuyasha's side. He nodded his head,
"Where will we be practicing?"
His dark amethyst eyes looked around. Kagome smiled, but just a little bit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Out there, in the back. There's a tree called the Goshinboku and it's a ways from the house, so we won't disrupt my family." He nodded and slid off his chair. Kagome led the way to the front, where their shoes were kept. Pausing for a moment to stuff her feet into some comfortable shoes and slip herself into a jacket, she headed out, with Inuyasha trailing behind her. He didn't need a coat since he was clad in some jeans and a dark blue sweater.
She turned the corner of the house and headed to the back of the house. While they walked, Inuyasha glanced around. The grounds were a littered with dry leaves that fell, leaving the trees bare. However, they were cherry blossom trees, so the beauty of the blossoms would return the coming spring. Overall, the shrine grounds were cement but it was still…well a shrine. They passed a shed on their way; its paint was peeling after years. And finally Kagome stopped where Inuyasha guessed was the Goshinboku.
Inuyasha was surprised, he didn't expect it to be so….well so big. It was a giant compared to the surrounding trees and as tall as a skyscraper.
"Here we are." Kagome stated. "You know, legend states that an inu hanyou, who lived in the feudal era, was pinned to the tree by a miko from a sacred arrow, who had been his love. It's a complicated story on how and why, but the miko's reincarnation somehow traveled through time by a well and released him. He mistook her for his former love, nearly killing her, going after the Shikon Jewel which could grant wishes to anyone who wished upon it. But when the reincarnation shattered the jewel on accident, they went on a quest to gather the jewel shards, for they make the holder of the shards even stronger. This meant trouble, for many demons who were after it for the use of evil. As they progressed through their journey, they met a perverted monk, a kitsune, and a taijiya. All of which were stained by the hands of Naraku. He was the bad guy who caused everyone, except the reincarnation, pain and suffering. To sum up a rather long story, the group defeated Naraku after a long battle and regained all of the jewel shards. The reincarnation was proclaimed the protector. But the most interesting part in my opinion would be when the inu hanyou let go of his former love, who was resurrected from the dead, and fell in love with the reincarnation. Rumor has it that the two lived in the Feudal Era and had offspring. But that's it, it's like they disappeared off the earth after a few decades. But you know what I think? Since the reincarnation was the protector of the jewel, she is immortal until the jewel is wished upon. And the hanyou had a long lifespan. So if they mated, their lifespan would be the same. So who knows? Maybe there are demons running around and perhaps the two lovers are still living today."
Kagome touched the tree under her slender fingers; its rough bark slightly scratching her digits. But then she looked behind her, wondering if Inuyasha was still there, listening to her babbling. To her surprise, he was sitting down right next to her standing figure, unnoticed. His head was leaned back against the tree, enjoying the cool air.
"What did you think of my long narrative?" Kagome asked, after a moment of silence.
"It was interesting. I wonder what it's like to be a demon…" Inuyasha murmured.
"Well you should know, your name is "dog demon" after all," Kagome stated.
Inuyasha shrugged, "It was a name that my dad was obsessed with, so it became my name."
The two remained under the tree, the cold breeze making tresses of raven move around. Kagome absent-mindedly placed a strand behind her ear.
"We should get started." Kagome gently said. Inuyasha nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I have the script from Mr.Yamato. He said that we only have to memorize this one scene and perform it in front of the class."
Kagome perked up, this was an easy assignment, piece of cake. It seemed to her that it wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
"Alright, first, we'll read the scene and then we'll memorize our lines on our own. After that, we'll just practice the whole thing on the rehearsal day Mr. Yamato's going to give us. Okay with you?" Inuyasha said casually as he stood up, his violet eyes looking at her.
To say the least, Kagome was shocked, she didn't think Inuyasha would care about this project at all. Well, at least she didn't have to work alone on a group project…for once. "Well, you ready to read this thing?" Inuyasha asked, with his eyebrows raised. Kagome nodded.
Inuyasha cleared his throat, reciting the Shakespearean lines with emotion.
"How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
A lightning before death: O, how may I
Call this a lightning? O my love! My wife!
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
O, what more favour can I do to thee,
Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain
To sunder his that was thine enemy?
Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
Here's to my love!"
He paused, taking a deep breath. It wasn't exactly easy to read old English without practicing. And this was where Romeo would be drinking the poison from the goblet.
"Wait a second; Mr.Yamato changed the script from the original script…" Kagome stated out of the blue.
Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah, he cut out the other characters so it's only us."
"Okay, go ahead with your line." Kagome said.
"O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."
Inuyasha sat down, next to Kagome where she sat under the Goshinboku, without making a move to kiss Kagome who was supposed to be lying dead.
Kagome was relieved because that would have been her first kiss.... but why did she feel kind of…kind of disappointed?
The two of them sitting beneath was supposed to symbolize that they were lying down. His violet gaze turned to her, waiting for her to start.
On the script, it says that Juliet stirs, Kagome then said her lines.
"What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:
O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make die with a restorative."
Kagome stopped. There was quite a long pause before Inuyasha said something.
"Why'd you stop?" he asked, his eyes closed and his head leaned back.
"Um, because this is where we're supposed to kiss…" Kagome said shyly, a blush rose up on her cheeks.
"Keh, is that all?" Inuyasha asked, arrogantly in Kagome's opinion.
Kagome sighed, "Yes, that's it. What if I don't want to kiss you?"
"Then don't…you'll just have to wait until we perform in class." Inuyasha simply said, as if not having a care in the world.
On the other hand, Kagome was secretly stressing about it. Her first kiss was supposed to go to someone she loved…someone that definitely wasn't Inuyasha.
Kagome continued with her lines,
"Thy lips are warm."
Kagome paused, pretending to snatch a dagger from Inuyasha's side.
"O happy dagger!
This is thy sheath;
Stabs herself
there rust, and let me die."
Kagome dramatically pretend plunged it into her heart. From her standing stance, she collapsed next to Inuyasha, sitting cross-legged. She joined him in relaxing, placing her head against the tree and closing her eyes. The late fall- early winter breeze caressed their faces.
"So, we done?" Inuyasha finally said. Kagome nodded. "Then I guess I should go," He continued.
"But let's go back to the house first and I'll get you something to eat first before you leave."
Kagome got up and started for the house, leaving no room for argument from Inuyasha. He shrugged, he had no where to go anyway. He followed the girl into her house, placing himself onto the high chair.
Kagome rummaged through the freezer for some ice cream. Since their practice session didn't take long, they were still between lunch and breakfast, so it was snack time. She took out two medium sized bowls and a scoop. She took the stuff to the counter and sat next to Inuyasha.
"Ice cream?" Kagome asked.
"Yes please." Inuyasha responded, minding his manners. Kagome scooped two big scoops of Very Berry Strawberry into the bowl and slid it to Inuyasha. (A/N Name of ice cream courtesy of my sister) She scooped some for herself and started digging in.
"So, how was your first day of school on Friday?" Kagome asked, trying to start some conversation
"Hmmm, it was okay. No matter which school I go to, it's all the same," He shrugged. "So are you going to do that community service thing for Key Club?"
Kagome quickly swallowed her spoonful of a big chunk of ice cream, making her get a brain freeze. Her hands rose to her head, clutching it, while her eyes closed tightly, waiting for it to pass.
"B-Brain F-freeeezze!" she stuttered out. She heard Inuyasha chuckling beside her. Kagome glared at him. But he didn't stop, he chuckled even more, his question long forgotten.
"Shhhhh! My family's still sleeping, remember?" Kagome said, once the freeze was over. Inuyasha's hands flew over his mouth, but his shaking body was indicating that he was still laughing his hardest.
Kagome slapped him for laughing at her.
"What's so funny?" Kagome wondered out loud, expecting him to answer.
"I-it's just so funny when you get mad and you should've seen your facial expression." Inuyasha managed out, his laughter subsiding.
"Kagome? Is your friend here?" a voice called from the hallway. The sliding door that led to the hallway slid open revealing Kagome's mother in a robe. The two looked at her with guilty looks on their faces.
"Mama, did we wake you up?" Kagome said, with worry. Her mother was really close to recovery and all she needed was rest to get back to her normal health.
Her mother smiled, "No, I was awake anyway, I just came down when I heard you and your friend laughing. So Kagome, introduce me to your friend."
"Alright, this is Inuyasha Takahashi mama," Kagome said. Inuyasha stood up from his chair and smiled,
"Nice to meet you ma'am." Kagome's mother nodded,
"It's nice to meet you too." She looked at the kitchen clock hung on the wall, "Well, looks like it's close to lunchtime. Inuyasha, why don't you stay for lunch? I'll be making my specialty, a special soup with a base of ramen."
"Well, I don't want to intrude…" Inuyasha started off, but he really didn't have plans and his favorite food was ramen. "But I think I'll accept your invitation." Her smiled widened.
"Wonderful, now, you sit here with Kagome and talk while I get started." Her slippers scraped against the tile floor and then she ducked out of sight, pots and pans were rattled in search for the right one.
The two conversed but was soon interrupted by a voice by the doorway.
"Kagome, who's that?" Souta asked curiously. He had returned from a friend's house, being insisted by Kagome.
"Hi Souta, this is Inuyasha, a friend from school." Kagome said patiently.
"Cool! Inuyasha, do you play soccer?" Souta asked, sounding a little hyper. Inuyasha let out a little laugh,
"As a matter of fact, I do. I was captain of my team in my hometown before I moved here."
Souta's eyes widened, as if he found a brand new hero to look up to.
"Can you show me some moves then? Please, please please? Souta pleaded, as if his life depended on it. Kagome rolled her eyes; her brother was lovable…but not all the time.
"Souta, Inuyasha might not be up to it…he might have some plans after lunch." She gently said, trying to "rescue" Inuyasha.
To her surprise, Inuyasha declined.
"Nah, I can stay. Sure kid, I'll teach ya some of my signature moves after lunch." Inuyasha said nonchalantly.
Once again, Kagome rolled her eyes, it seemed to her that Inuyasha was capricious; she couldn't tell what mood he was in, even though they had hung around each other for a while now.
One minute he's calm, then he's arrogant, then who knows what. Kagome thought.
After that, things were pretty uneventful, until Inuyasha met Kagome's grandfather.
"Who might this young man be Kagome?" he asked. His eyes wandered up to the top of his head suspiciously. Kagome looked sky-ward, she dearly loved her grandfather, but did he have to be so weird around people? Once again, he was looking for signs of a demon; his latest obsession had been cat-like ears on top of people's heads. He said something about being half demon…but it was all non sense in Kagome's opinion.
Legends were legends, as were myths. As much as she wanted to live in a world full of demons and priestesses, they were only tales, stories that were not true.
Her attention shifted back to reality, where she noticed her grandfather had taken some ofuda out of his traditional priest outfit.
"Demon be gone!" He bellowed, sticking an ofuda on Inuyasha's forehead. Kagome's face turned bright red in an instant out of embarrassment. Her face down, she quickly appeared in between her grandfather and Inuyasha.
"Grandfather! He's not a demon!" Kagome raged, pulling off the ofuda on Inuyasha's forehead.
Inuyasha looked quite shocked, not to mention weirded out. Luckily, Kagome's mother saved the moment.
"Everyone! It's time for lunch!" she called from the kitchen. Everyone herded into the dining room and sat down. Kagome's mother brought out a large pot of soup and placed it on a pot holder on the table. She ladled out the soup into equal portions into bowls and handed them to everyone.
"Go on, dig in!" she said. On cue, everyone dug in.
Compliments filled the air as the meal went on. Eventually, everyone finished and Kagome's mother insisted that she clear the table so Inuyasha could show Souta his moves.
The two moved to the other side of the shrine while Kagome followed. They neared the side of the shrine where the well house was located. There was plenty of space for them to kick around a soccer ball. Kagome sat outside on the well house steps, watching the two boys run around.
She looked overhead; the skies were cloudier than usual. Now that she thought about it, the forecasters' predicted a snowstorm coming their way.
Long chapter wasn't it? Lol, think of it as an apology for the rather long wait for this update! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
Also two points, the place that this story is taking place in is fictional I don't know a place that fits with the details with this story…who knows? There might be! And Inuyasha is human in this story, not half demon, so as much as I love those adorable ears and those amber eyes, we'll just have to live without them in this story. T-T
But please tell me what you think! Comments, suggestions, and ideas are welcomed! Please review! I'll try and update as soon as possible!
Animemistress419