Flowers
Author's notes: Happy White Day everyone! Since I didn't write a Valentine's day one shot this year, I decided on white day. I'd also like to note that this has no connection with my Valentine's Day one shot I wrote last year entitled 'Valentine Chocolate'. Completely different stories.
Inuyasha sat stubbornly against the wall of Kagome's room, watching her back as she sat at her desk and fruitlessly attempted to do her homework. Kagome glanced at him over her shoulder every so often before sighing and returning her attention to her math homework.
Finally, it seemed to affect Kagome more than she preferred because she turned around and gave him a dark look. "Would you stop looking at me?"
"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted but turned his face away, frowning to himself.
Kagome wrinkled her nose and turned back to her work, scribbling away at her papers. "Kagome?" his voice carried to her and the girl set down her pencil. Inuyasha wasn't going to leave her alone, it appeared.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said calmly before Inuyasha could speak. "I'm not going through the well with you until my homework is finished, so stop asking." He'd been asking every five minutes for the past half hour and it was getting on Kagome's nerves tremendously.
"That's not what I was going to ask, wench," Inuyasha said with a scowl. Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Then what were you going to ask?" she questioned, genuinely curious but opting to remain annoyed for the sake of her dignity. She wouldn't wilt under him. Inuyasha continued to scowl at her for a few minutes before answering.
"What's that?" He jabbed a finger towards the collection of gifts on her bed, littering her comforter with wrappers and ripped wrapping paper. Kagome sighed and turned her attention away from where Inuyasha had indicated and to the dog demon before her.
"Those are White Day presents," Kagome said dryly, wishing his never-ending questions would cease so she could return to her homework.
"White Day?" Apparently that wasn't happening any time soon. Kagome frowned at the realization of her neglected homework being put off for another day.
"You remember Valentine's Day?" Kagome asked. A month ago she'd explained the concept of Valentine's Day to her friends and had given them each a box of chocolate. Inuyasha nodded. "Well," Kagome said with a gentle sigh as her fingers raked through her hair, pulling at the tangles and snarls that had collected throughout the day. "On March fourteenth, instead of the girl's giving chocolate to their loved ones and their friends, the guys have a chance to return the favor… by giving presents back to the girls."
She shrugged and turned her attention away, trying her hardest to ignore Inuyasha. The said dog-eared man sat there leaning against the wall, his lips curved downwards in a thoughtful frown.
White Day came and went and it was all rather uneventful for Kagome. Hojo dropped by with flowers and a new cure for one of her many diseases. She'd long since lost count of how many diseases she'd had much less which ones. The ointment that he presented to her looked promising until Hojo informed her that it would help cure her of her athletes' foot. Why anyone would buy such an excuse for her to be out of school was a mystery to Kagome. But then again, another mystery was how she was able to stay in school with the amount of class she was missing.
Sighing, Kagome stuffed her supplies into her bag and prepared to return to the other world of long ago.
Turning around, she nearly screeched when she found the all too familiar red haori and hakama before her. Inuyasha looked down at her, a small frown on his lips.
"Holy crap, Inuyasha," Kagome accused, her heart beating fast. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"I wasn't. I was standing here," he protested, his eyebrows slanting downwards.
Kagome sighed. "How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough," he fidgeted.
Kagome ran her fingers through her hair, a nervous habit she'd picked up. "I'm not going back until after dinner, Inuyasha."
"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted and his cheeks turned a light pink as he stared at his feet. His attempts to hide his embarrassment with his tough guy attitude did not go unnoticed by Kagome.
Said schoolgirl frowned. "What's the matter, Inuyasha?"
"Nothing!" Inuyasha said a little too quickly, still fidgeting.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome trailed off warningly.
"Fine, wench," Inuyasha snarled, took a step towards her and thrust something into her hands. Kagome blinked in surprise and, before she could respond, Inuyasha was already talking. "You're mother said you liked these." His cheeks flamed red and he darted out the window before Kagome could so much as utter a syllable.
The schoolgirl stood stupidly in her room, holding the bouquet of flowers in her hand. Blue eyes shifted from the bouquet to the window and back to the flowers again. A small, tender smile spread over her lips as she examined the bouquet.
"Baby's breath, calla lily, red carnations, daisy, gardenia, lilac," She trailed off as she listed all the flowers in the bouquet. Some weren't even native to Japan.
'He must have gotten help from Mom while I was at school,' Kagome realized, but a smile still touched her lips. 'He really can be sweet when he wants to be.'
The baby's breath was scattered throughout the arrangement, the small white flowers peeking between the larger ones. There were two calla lilies nestled towards the center of the bouquet, bustling high above the others. Four red carnations in all; two on either side of the calla lilies. The daisies nestled among the baby's breath created a soft look on the floral arrangement. The gorgeous white gardenias bustled in the plants, some in bloom and others still budded. Finally the lilac, instead of the traditional purple color, was a dull, almost rusty, colored red.
"It's gorgeous," she remarked and silently congratulated her mother on helping Inuyasha pick out the perfect bouquet.
She shifted through the bouquet again and her blue eyes softened as she looked at the flower nestled in the center.
"Lily of the valley," she said gently, her fingers reaching out and touching the small, white bell shaped flowers. "They're so beautiful," she whispered to herself, not realizing she was speaking out loud. Lily of the valley was her favorite flower.
Coming downstairs, she smiled at her mother. "Mom, thanks for helping Inuyasha."
Mrs. Higurashi looked up from where she was preparing dinner. She watched her daughter put the red and white flowers into a vase and touch them tenderly. Mrs. Higurashi wiped her wet hands on her apron. "Well, he wasn't sure what to get you so I suggested flowers."
"Well, I'm glad you remembered what kind of flowers I like," Kagome said with a smile.
Mrs. Higurashi looked confused. "Sweetie, I didn't pick out the flowers. I just brought Inuyasha to the floral shop. He picked out all the flowers himself."
Kagome felt her heart stop. "Really?" At her mother's nod, she felt her cheeks turn pink. "How did he know what my favorite flowers were? Does he even know what all of the flowers mean?"
"I'm sure he does," Mrs. Higurashi said tenderly, her lips quirked into a smile. "He was rather picky about what flowers were acceptable and what weren't."
Kagome nodded her head, touching the flowers again before brining the vase up to her room. Once there, she plucked a lily of the valley from the collection to dry. Once it was, she'd press it in a book to keep forever.
Inuyasha glanced up from his position in his tree as Kagome's bright yellow backpack appeared, followed shortly by the said girl. With a small snort, he hopped from his tree and landed before her, seizing her arm and pulling her from the time portal.
She smiled in greeting. "Thank you."
"Keh!" he snorted, still a little embarrassed by the bouquet that he'd given her earlier. Perhaps she'd forgotten about it?
As Kagome continued to smile at him he answered his own question. No. She hadn't.
"Thank you for the bouquet," Kagome said, as if directed by a cue. Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands into the long, billowing sleeves of his haori. She tilted her head. "How did you know that those were my favorite flowers?"
Inuyasha's cheeks flamed. If he told her the truth, he would never live it down. "I guessed," he lied.
Kagome's lips pursed for a moment and blue eyes swirled with confusion. "Do you know what the flowers meant?"
Inuyasha's blush deepened to a more vibrant color. He snorted and huffed, trying to cover his uneasiness of the conversation. But Kagome was being insistent.
"Lily of the Valley is my favorite flower," Kagome said.
"I know," he answered before he could stop himself and turned away with a blush.
Kagome seemed satisfied with that answer and didn't question how he'd known this. He'd watched her admire the flower many times, and knew that it, along with orchids and lotuses, were her favorite flowers.
Her smile seemed to grow. "Thank you, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha sighed in defeat. "Happy White Day, Kagome."
Author's notes: It's short, but I didn't want to make it too long. Short and simple, I always say (and I've been traumatized ever since Midnight Kiss).
And just to be nice, I'll tell you what all the flowers meant. Baby's breath means innocence, calla lily means magnificent beauty, red carnations mean love, daisies mean share your feelings, gardenia means purity and joy, lilac is love's first emotion, and lily of the valley means happiness.
And to make the record straight, both Inuyasha and Kagome knew what the majority of the flowers stood for. So good times, ne?
Beta's notes: YOU've been traumatized!