Disclaimer: I do NOT own InuYasha or any characters affiliated with the series. Don't sue me either as most of my money has been spent on fixing my car after some idiot in the parking lot hit my rear bumper and drove off…hit and runs are great aren't they?
Life's Little Imperfections
By LadySword04
December 2004
GoldAngel2: Thanks for being my first reviewer on this story! However, I apologize for the last chapter. I did not realize that I had put up the wrong file originally that did not include a dedication or review reply to you, and I am very angry with myself for doing something so stupid. I feel like such a jerk. If you haven't seen it, the correct file was put up five minutes after, but I bet the whole e-mail alert thing sent the original one I posted. I hope beyond hope that I did not offend you!
Previously on LLI:
With that last thought, he leaned back against the trunk of the God Tree and closed his eyes. Even though he didn't intend on falling asleep, the land of dreams beckoned and he answered the call. Besides, tomorrow would be rather trying to say the least; he would need all the rest he could get if he was going to live through the interrogations of his friends when they all pounced on him.
Chapter Three: Testing the Strength of a Hanyou's Resolve (Part Two)
Dawn had arrived with the sun peaking out from behind the clouds that had rolled in during the night. She stretched her golden fingers over the land as she slowly called each diurnal creature back to the waking world. A few rays of her beautiful light meandered across Inuyasha's face as he slept, warming the flesh the beams came in contact with, and causing his lids to flutter open to take in the sight of the morning sky.
A few wispy white cumulonimbus clouds decorated the horizon which by now had turned shades of pink, purple, orange, and yellow; off directly behind Inuyasha was a moon that was almost full among a cluster of barely visible stars.
However, the beauty of the scene was not at all appreciated by the brooding inu hanyou as his mind was fifty years in the past during his routine morning 'meditation' on a certain undead miko.
After about an hour or so of brooding, Inuyasha looked to the sun to see how much longer he had until the group woke up and called him in for breakfast, and the questioning they most certainly would force him to deal with.
'I just hope that those three humans and kitsune stay asleep longer than normal. I ain't talkin' to them about my plan that's for sure. And I'm definitely not telling them why I want that sword either. I'm just glad Kagome wasn't here when this happened, and probably won't be 'til later tonight. For once though, I wouldn't mind if she came back a whole day late, though I better keep watch of that well to make sure she doesn't come through at a bad time.' He thought darkly from his perch.
Making his way to the well at a light jog, he knelt by its' side, placed his crossed arms on the top wood planks and heaved a heavy sigh before he peered into the darkness. After a few moments of staring into the nothingness of the well, he whispered into its inky depths, "Kagome, please for once come late if you come back at all."
His whispered prayer complete, Inuyasha ran back to the hut to make sure his friends did not miss his presence. 'Not being there when they wake up will make them wonder more, then ask me additional questions as to where I went. I don't want to deal with that.'
Fortunately for him, by the time he got back to the hut his friends were just starting to wake up. 'I guess the disturbance I caused must have stolen a few hours of sleep from them last night. They must have been trying to regain those lost hours by sleeping in late. Good, they probably didn't notice I was gone.' When he looked into the window, Kaede had just rekindled the flames to start boiling water for the group's breakfast.
To avoid suspicion, Inuyasha strode in like he did every morning; brushing the reed mat aside so it flapped a few times before settling into place. He then promptly sat down cross legged on the floor while eagerly awaiting Kaede to finish cooking the meal. Kaede never missed a beat in her work, and merely went about her business as usual.
When she was mostly finished with her stew, Miroku and Sango were wide awake, and both were quickly joined by Kirara and Shippo. The usual morning greetings occurred before the room fell silent as everyone ate.
'The proverbial calm before the storm as Kagome would say. They're being quiet now while trying to act normal, but I know different. I know they're gonna' start questioning me after they finish eating. Better get it over with, the sooner the better.' Inuyasha reasoned.
His meal finished, Inuyasha stalked out to the base of the Goshinboku tree to await the inevitable arrival of his friends. An hour had elapsed and his friends had yet to arrive; not that he was complaining. This time alone gave him time to think about his plan.
'Maybe tonight I can try using my sword on my ears since I can't get Sango's from her. It should transform for me even if the moon is almost full, though holding it properly enough to slice my ears off completely will still be awkward. I will only have one hand to support this heavy thing, as I know I'm gonna' have to use the other to hold my ear still enough to get a clean cut. Come to think of it, I had better not try to stage a death for myself either. I don't have the time, and it will be too complicated. Not to mention the fact that I would definitely have to tell the houshi and taijiya why I need to have their assistance and cooperation on this task. That would require talking to them, and mean more questions for me to answer. Then if they know that the whole thing was staged, they might slip up and call me by name and blow my cover permanently. I can't afford that now or ever if my plan is to work.'
With that final thought he jumped up into a fairly high branch where he felt he would not be seen from the ground by his friends. 'I think a short nap would be a good idea. That way I can stay up all night tonight and stay awake tomorrow when Kagome should definitely be back. I am after all half demon, and as such I should not need as much sleep as a normal human. I should be fine pulling an 'all-nighter' as she would say. Plus, the day should pass faster if I sleep it away. I'll know if she gets here, though she's not due back by afternoon at the earliest, though knowing Kagome, it'll probably be late evening before she comes back; no matter though as I am not going to get her. She's gonna' have to come back here and apologize to me first. Though I do wonder what she's doing right now. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, she's probably still in school taking those test things again. Who cares anyway?' "Feh!" Letting out a small yawn before stretching, Inuyasha laid out on his perch and closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to pull him under once more.
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Meanwhile 500 years in the future
- - - - - - - - - - -
Kagome was currently in her third class of the day enjoying yet another fascinating lecture on geometry. 'B-o-r-i-n-g! I mean how difficult does he think proofs are? I can do this in my sleep!'
Much to her delight, the rest of her day slipped by quickly and without any problems, gym class with Hojo included. Quickly and without problems that is until Kagome went to her last class.
As soon as everyone had greeted the teacher, and he acknowledged the class, they all sat down as Mr. Sotatsu began his lecture with an announcement about a quiz on the differences between mitosis and meiosis that would be given tomorrow. As if that was not bad enough, he mentioned that the students had to draw diagrams of both processes, label each stage, and describe everything that was occurring in each particular phase.
'Oh MAN! Inuyasha's definitely going to have my head when I go back. That stupid teacher of mine decided to have a quiz tomorrow, and it figures that biology is my last subject of the day! Well, he hasn't come to get me yet, so I am willing to bet he's either forgotten the three day rule, or that he would be fine with letting me stay here for another day. I am so looking forward to my weekend! This quiz is not going to be fun.' She thought while trying to pay attention to the lecture.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Back in Feudal Japan
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Inuyasha ended up sleeping most of the day; that is until he heard Kaede open what sounded like a cup of ramen as she and Sango were making lunch. He practically fell out of the tree in his haste to make a beeline for the hut and the ramen that would be waiting for him. That morning, soon after the chores were done and everyone was done digesting their meals, Shippo and Kirara had convinced (more like pestered to death out of sheer boredom) Miroku and Sango to play a long game of hide and seek to pass the time before Sango had to go inside to help with lunch. Miroku was glad for both breaks. Sitting around the hut was not something he enjoyed doing for days on end, and the game of hide and seek was a great way to get outside and exercise. However when Sango quit, the game ceased which Miroku was glad for as well; running around seeking out the hiding places of his friends got to be rather tiring after awhile.
As of late, Kagome had been leaving a lot of her foodstuffs from her time here with Kaede so that when she was absent no one, in particular Inuyasha and Shippo, would have to miss out on their favorite of her time's luxuries. Well that, and the fact that she did not like want to lug the extra weight around in her pack if she didn't need to. After a bit of convincing, and much to Kagome's delight, even Kaede had tried a few items and decided she liked them.
Lunch came and went, the dishes were done again, and everyone sat back to relax and chat after the meal. Surprisingly, no one brought up the topic of last night's incident.
'Ok this is weird. Usually they're all over me for answers. So far they both are acting like the whole thing never happened. Either they're planning something, or they feel like they won't get an answer out of me regardless of what they do. Not that I mind or nothin'; I hate it when they poke and prod me with their questions when they don't have any business poking their noses in my personal life.' Inuyasha then began pondering the possibilities as to what drastic measures his friends might take to extract information from him later that day.
Had Inuyasha been paying attention, he would have heard Sango, Miroku, and Kaede discussing the fact that the three of them would need to go and assist Kaede on an errand in an adjacent village that had a family in need of a healer such as herself. Of course, Miroku and Sango jumped at the chance to get out of the hut for a change, and had eagerly accepted the offer as Kaede might need to be protected from some form of evil on their trip.
They reasoned that Shippo and Kirara would stay with Inuyasha to make sure he didn't try anything in their absence, and that he didn't beat up on the poor little kitsune youkai while they were gone. When Kaede had left to clean the dishes, the two shared knowing glances while they waited for the hanyou to come back to reality from where ever his mind had wandered to.
Of course, just when Inuyasha tuned into the real world again, his friends decided to start their questioning.
That said, Miroku carefully asked, "Inuyasha, we have waited all night and all morning for an answer from you. Please, tell us what has been troubling you will you?"
To that he snapped, "There's nothin' wrong with me. Lay off monk. Go bother someone else."
Slightly irked at the barrier Inuyasha was quickly putting up, Miroku became bolder when he reasoned, "There is no logical explanation as to why you would want Sango's sword when you have a perfectly good one strapped to your waist."
"It's none of your business you nosey monk! I ain't answerin' you or your pointless questions. Not now, not ever." Inuyasha spat angrily.
Sango stood up while she narrowed her eyes and glared menacingly at Inuyasha before she spoke in a deceptively silken voice that tried somewhat successfully to hide her anger. "Like I told you last night Inuyasha, it is MY business because that Was MY sword you tried to take last night, and MY SLEEP you Interrupted. I want an answer."
"Fine, I wanted your sword so I could KILL you both for annoying me! You Happy now?"
"I know that's not the truth Inuyasha."
His only response was, "Feh. Whatever," before his friend once again waved him off and headed outside.
"Well, that didn't go as well as we hoped it would. We got nothing out of him. He's trying hard to hide something. I only hope Kagome can get it out of him before he ends up hurting himself or someone in our group." Sango stated to Miroku.
A half an hour later found the hanyou up a tree as his friends bid him farewell for the rest of the day, and told him they would return before sundown at the earliest. He was also told there was ramen left for everyone, and not to try anything stupid while they were gone. Shippo and Kirara were currently taking a nap inside the hut after the meal as they tuckered themselves out while playing tag, and then stuffed themselves to the breaking point at lunch. Tryptophan is such a wonderful thing.
'Well, they'll be out for awhile. Since there's noffin' better to do, I guess I should catch up on some sleep too. Kami I sleep a lot when I'm bored.' He mused before jumping into a lower branch of his favorite tree and reclining to rest until the others got back. . .or his stomach woke him.
By sundown that night, his friends were not within scenting range so Inuyasha went about making ramen for himself and his two 'companions' as the scent of him cooking would wake them and their appetites up. All three ate in silence, and when they were done, the two young demons curled back up to go to sleep while Inuyasha kept watch in the Goshinboku Tree for his friends, the old hag, and any demons that would be stupid enough to bug him.
Roughly an hour later his friends came up the path, and by the time they reached the hut they were too exhausted to notice the cups of ramen everywhere, let alone do anything other than set their supplies on the floor and hit the hay for a well deserved rest. The village was a good distance away and they did not have Kirara to help shorten the journey either. They arrived at their destination about four hours before the sun was due to drop below the horizon, and they still had yet to provide their assistance to the family that needed their help.
As luck would have it, the family that had mysteriously fallen ill about three days prior to the trio's arrival had in fact been the victims of a manipulative young snake demon that had chosen to invade one of the statues in the family's Shinto shrine.
Miroku and Kaede were able to exorcise the demon and lure it outside to a waiting Sango who made quick work of the huge snake. Realizing that no snake demon she ever fought was that large, and that the pieces were still moving, Sango picked through the remains to find a jewel shard before she asked Miroku to clean up the mess with his wind tunnel as there were no parts she could use.
Kaede had then tended to the amount of poison in each member's body, as well as any injuries they had received due to the encounter. As repayment for their help, the family insisted that the trio stay for a meal, which all three willingly accepted, and helped to explain why the group had arrived at Kaede's hut later than they had anticipated.
And as soon as his friends had once again fallen into the grasp of the dream world once again, Inuyasha went to the forest near the well. He wanted to be hidden by the trees and foliage, but still within viewing distance of the well in case Kagome came through. He didn't want her to discover him until his task was complete.
Taking in a calming breath and reassuring himself that this was what he wanted to do, Inuyasha sat down indian style and drew his sword. Focusing like he always did to get the sword to transform, he was satisfied when Tetsusaiga did just that. His hands raised the sword into position as the light from the moon reflected off the steel.
Very carefully, Inuyasha removed his left hand from the hilt in order to grab his left ear. Lifting the sword into position, he continued his self talk that consisted of 'This is what I want. I want to be rid of these stupid things once and for all and this is the only way to do it.'
With one swift motion, Inuyasha flicked the sword at his ear yet he was surprised to say the least when the sword reverted back to normal proportions, therefore not leaving so much as a scratch.
"Kuso. That bites. Guess the worthless thing refuses to hurt its wielder. If I want to get this done, I have to figure something out at least." With that last comment, he fell silent and deep into thought when an idea struck him. 'If I can find a youkai and then get my sword to transform, maybe Tetsusaiga will remain in its real state long enough for me to cut off my ears. That should work.'
Before he allowed himself to finish he was off like a shot to find some lesser youkai to kill. With his incredible speed, and within a ten minute time period, he located one as it was feeding and attacked. However, much to the inu hanyou's utter disbelief and disappointment, his sword reverted back to its previous form once again when he tried to slice off his ears even though his opponent was not struck dead.
'Maybe my claws will work then since this piece of rubbish isn't cooperating.' That said, he tried and failed once more as every time his claws came in contact with his ears he couldn't suppress the urge to both move his ears and take his hand away; apparently the action somewhat tickled, and he wouldn't get a good cut if his ears insisted on moving, or if he was laughing. A sword was his only real option.
'I guess I have to go another night without cutting off my ears. I need Sango's sword, and I need to get that cat nip stuff tomorrow too. Right now though I better get all this blood off of me before it dries cuz' then it will be that much harder to clean, and I am not going to reek of demon all night long. That'll only remind me of how much I long to be a true demon and I don't need to be distracted right now. Tomorrow night I am GOING to get that sword and I am DEFINITELY going to cut my ears off no matter what.'
All that said and done, Inuyasha headed for the hot springs to rinse off before taking a swift run through the forest to dry off and eventually head to his tree. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it, the promise that he could accomplish his task if a certain miko would give him time to do so.
To be continued
Author's end note: Ok another chapter done. Next one will have more action I promise! This one was seven pages long in word…the others have been three to four…as always I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And if anyone is still reading this, I hope you review…even if it's to tell me that you absolutely HATE how I write or the idea, or anything, I would love to hear it! I still feel that I am searching for that ever elusive element that my writing lacks and that every author I admire has in their work. It's frustrating…and to be more descriptive, like I have said to my literature professor, I kinda' feel like a third grader trying to write a high school quality essay. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Until Next time, Ja ne!
Review Replies:
Valese: Thanks so much for the comment about the writing style of the first chapter, and I'm happy you like the idea! You're welcome for the dedication thing last chapter! You're the best! Hugs, smiles, waves! Hope to see you next chapter, and I will definitely talk to you again on IM…I can't wait! Talk to ya soon!
