Preview from last chapter:
Kagome knelt before the young fox kit, "We're just going to go to my time for a little bit. Which reminds me, do you know where everyone is? We didn't see anyone on the way here."
"Oh! They told me to tell you that they're all in the woods somewhere, and that you shouldn't bother looking for them. I meant to tell you, but I got sidetracked."
"I see," Kagome said as her heart sank, "could you tell them we'll be back soon? I don't know how long Venia-chan and Tora-kun intend to stay, but however long it is, we'll be back."
"Okay! Don't forget that chocolate stuff!"
"I won't!" Kagome called as she joined the others at the well.
Shippo waved at the four figures at the well and watched as they disappeared. Turning around and whistling, Shippo watched as Miroku, Sango, Lunia, Kaede, and Kagura stepped out from the nearby bushes, brushed themselves off, and smirked at one another.
It would be very interesting when the four came back, and none of the six that were left behind intended to miss it.
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Chapter Eleven:
Simply Irresistible
At the Higurashi Shrine....
"Ramen!"
"White chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts, please!"
Mrs. Higurashi stepped back a step, for she hadn't expected so much bravado when she'd asked if anyone wanted anything to eat.
"All right, the Ramen will be done shortly, and the cookies will have to take a while. Kagome, Venita, do you two girls want anything to eat?"
"No thanks, Mom."
"No thank you, Mrs. Higurashi."
Watching as Inu-Yasha nearly permanently attached himself to Mrs. Higurashi's hip, Kagome and Venita couldn't help but giggle as they watched the hanyou scurry out of Mrs. Higurashi's way as she went about putting the Ramen in the microwave and begin making Tora's treat.
Speaking of the jovial tiger, Tora sat patiently right outside the kitchen door, watching as his treat was being prepared. He intended to be the only one, other than Mrs. Higurashi of course, to get his hands on the plate of cookies. He'd even gone so far as to change into a type of half demon form. His goal was to conserve energy, yet still manage to be cute and irresistible.
"Soon I shall have within my possession the precious white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies!" Tora thought as his striped tail swished back and forth.
"Aww look, K-chan," Venita said as she rummaged through her bag, "Tora-kun's got his tail."
"And ears, Ookami-sama!" Tora said jovially as his ears twitched, "You like?"
"It looks good, Tora-san. It really does." Kagome said as she watched Inu-Yasha happily snatch his Ramen from her mother.
"Arigatou, K-chan!"
"You're welcome," Kagome said as she looked over to where Venita was trying to pull off the socks Tora had insisted she wear, "what's the matter, Venia-chan?"
Fighting with the socks for a little while longer, Venita finally stuffed them into a corner her bag with a smile, "Just getting my 'Kyo' clothes out. I just wish I could at least go out as Leota. That way Tora-san wouldn't be able to call me a cross dresser."
Ears twitching at the sound of his name, Tora turned his head and smiled, looking on as Inu-Yasha slurped the remainder of his Ramen and placed the plastic cup into the trashcan Kagome had shown him earlier.
"I don't see why you couldn't. I suppose you could just say that you're Kyo's even more aggressive sister."
Venita's eyes brightened at the idea, "Wow I really must be stupid. I never thought of that, K-chan! Heh, if Yuka and Eri thought Kyo was bad, wait until they meet me!"
"No kidding, Ookami-sama. You're ruthless."
"Why thank you." Venita said as she grinned evilly.
"You're quite welcome, Ookami-sama." Tora said, his tail making idle loops.
"So where's my Kouga-kun?"
At Venita's question, Tora's tail became a tangled knot. He sat untying it as he answered.
"I can't tell you."
"You can't or you won't?"
Tora pretended to think it through, "Um, hm, I'd have to say both."
"Well why can't you?"
"Kouga-sama won't let me."
"All right, why won't you?"
"I won't let me." Tora smirked as the wolf woman's anger became more and more apparent.
Rather than attack him with any sharp object, as Tora would have preferred she'd done, Venita merely sat down crosslegged on the floor with her head in her hands.
Surprisingly, Inu-Yasha was the first one to glare at Tora, followed quickly by Kagome, who even threw in a scowl and a shake her head.
Tora walked over to his saddened friend, placed an arm around her shoulders and said, "I'm still not gonna tell you where he is."
For that, Venita punched Tora in the stomach, grabbed her clothes, and marched off to the bathroom.
"Hn, you deserved it." Inu-Yasha said dismissively.
Smiling, Tora said, "Well at least that's the Ookami-sama I know. I rather she hit me than cry. It's weird seeing Ookami-sama cry, I don't know how to explain it, but it just is."
"We know what you mean," Kagome said as she looked through her stack of schoolbooks, "but you still deserved it."
"I know." Tora replied jovially.
"Tora-san, your cookies are ready," Mrs. Higurashi said as she came out with a plate of the aforementioned treat, "my, my, my, don't you look anxious?"
Indeed Tora did look anxious, for his tail was swishing from side-to-side on the floor and his green eyes were in their 'pleading mode', "They smell good, Mrs. Higurashi, thank you oh so very much!"
"You're welcome, Tora-san. Enjoy."
"Oh I shall, I shall! Mine! No touch!" Tora said as he quickly turned around to block Buyo's wandering paw.
"Meow." Buyo protested as the defeated cat walked over to the couch and plopped down upon it.
Venita came back out wearing her usual khakis, this time with an ocean blue halter top, silver crescent moon earrings, five bracelets on each wrist, and a silver anklet upon each ankle; all of which jingled whenever she walked. The last thing to appear was the sword on her left hip; something her male counterpart also wore just to stop stupid people from talking to him. Giving Tora a glare of her own, Venita's hair suddenly changed from white to black, and her eyes from cobalt blue to an emerald green. Reaching into her pocket, the human form of Venita pulled out a black hair tie and pulled back her dark tresses into a high ponytail.
She turned to Kagome, "Do I look menacing enough?"
"I don't know. Don't you need a necklace?"
The older woman smiled, "I didn't know if I should wear it or not. I decided against it just because I thought all this silver looked good enough."
"True, true. I think Yuka and Eri will definitely think twice about even thinking about coming over to talk to me."
"That's exactly what I want them to do." Venita smiled cynically with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Personally," Tora began with a mouthful of cookie, "I think you should paint your fingernails black. Then you'd really fit the part."
Looking at Tora from the corner of her eye, Venita stuck her tongue out at him, "No thank you. I don't want to bother with nail polish. It's too messy for my tastes."
"So, are you gonna go by Leota, then?" Inu-Yasha asked from his place against the wall.
"I'm supposing so, if that's all right with everyone?"
"It's fine with me." Kagome smiled.
"Me too." Tora smirked, another cookie having been shoved into his mouth.
"Doesn't matter to me."
"All right then, Leota it is!" Kagome said cheerily, "It's a good thing I didn't banish that name from this world, huh Ota-chan?"
"No kiddin', I don't know what I'd do if you'd banished that name from here." Leota said with a smile as she watched Tora lick the crumbs from the plate his cookies had once occupied.
Aforementioned tiger smirked as he licked his lips, "Yummy."
"I take it you enjoyed your treat?" Leota asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Of course I did, Ookami-sama!" Tora grinned, changing his form to that of a full human, "What're we gonna do now?"
"Yeah, what're we supposed to be doing that you'd guarantee is fun?" Inu-Yasha asked, growing very suspicious of the two full humans across the room.
"Ugh, would you like some cheese with your 'whine'? Relax, it'll be fun!" Leota smiled.
"What will be fun?" Inu-Yasha prompted.
"My plans."
"What kind of plans?"
"The kind I know."
"Which are?"
"The kind you don't know." Leota smiled, becoming extremely amused the more Inu-Yasha tried getting a direct answer.
Growling to himself, Inu-Yasha closed his eyes as he leaned his head back onto the wall he sat against.
"Stupid elusive woman," Inu-Yasha thought as he heard the unmistakable sounds of Kagome and Leota chatting like birds twittering in the trees, "what are she and Tora up to, anyhow? Why'd they wanna come here and what're we supposed to do? And why does everyone keep goin' into the woods for long periods of time? What do they do out there and why can't Kagome or me go with them?"
"Hey, Inu-Yasha-san?" Tora's voice broke into the hanyou's thoughts.
"What?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"About what?"
"Something important." Tora said, his voice filled with urgency.
"All right," Inu-Yasha said as he grabbed the Tetsusaiga and stood up, "it's better than having to listen to those two ramble on and on."
"I'd imagine so."
Looking over their shoulders at the still-talking girls, Tora and Inu-Yasha made their way outside and sat by the God Tree.
"So what did you wanna talk about?" Inu-Yasha asked, a little curious as to the reasoning behind everything Tora and Venita said and did.
Tora looked at the hanyou until the latter thought he'd have to hit the tiger, "Do you love Kagome-san?"
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(November 27, 2004) A/N: Wow! Another chapter within 3 days of the last one! Sorry for the cliffie, but I really didn't feel like writing anymore. I want you all to know that if you have any ideas as to what kind of "guaranteed fun" the group is supposed to have, please tell me!
Also, if you have any questions at all, don't worry about asking me. :-)
Hoshi-ko88— I'm trying to work in the fluff, I swear! ::grabs cotton balls:: Like this? Lol… just kidding, I'm not that stupid, though my friends would argue otherwise… :-)
Lightning Streak— As to the updating, this site really doesn't like working, or it just likes attracting weird virus bug things… yea… this site hates me! ::cries:: I'm done…… glad you like it!
Twocolors007— You really think so? A site, me? I'd love to hear your ideas because I seriously have no clue on how to do that…heheh… ::grins:: I'm so glad you review often, because frequent reviews from the same person really boost my confidence. :-) Thank you! ::bows::
I'll see you all next chapter, yes? Happy Turkey Day!!! (even though I'm 2 days late…)
Oh, by the way: 28 days until Christmas! (yes, that's counting weekends) :-)
