A Valentine For The Void
A/N: My first Inuyasha fic! I simply got addicted (once again…) to Inuyasha when I played the Juso no Kamen game for PS2…the IY characters in 3d-chibi form… it was just cute and fantastic. Okay…anyway, the story starts when Kagome tells everyone that it's Valentine's Day. But the rest of the Inu-tachi is clueless about the holiday. So, she explains what Valentine's Day is…and Inuyasha finds the idea stupid. And so, trouble ensues. But Shippo notices something in the bushes and decides to follow it. And then he sees…a girl. And that meeting may change their lives forever! Come one, weird characters deserve their moments, too!

Kagome woke up one bright Saturday morning, finding herself lying on one of the comfortable futons in Kaede's humble home. She got out from the sheets and noticed that everyone was already up- yes, even Inuyasha.

"Ah! This is so embarrassing! I overslept again!" Kagome said frantically. She then noticed something was missing. "The alarm was supposed to go off…WAIT! Where is my alarm clock?" She rummaged through her backpack and still found no alarm clock.
"Huh…oh well…as long as I'm awake." She sighed and gave up the search. She went outside the house and looked at the happy blue sky. The clouds were rolling by and the sparrows flying around seem to be very cheery.

"What a wonderful day!" Kagome said aloud, lifting her arms.

"Sure is! Good morning Kagome!" A familiar male voice came from behind her. She turned around and saw a monk dressed in a dark kimono and a purple toga-like robe. It was Miroku, who had probably gone out early to woo another village girl.

"Good morning Miroku!" Kagome greeted back. "Everything seems so happy…I wonder why…"

"Well, I really don't know for myself, but every 14th of February, everything just seems to liven up," Miroku explained, thinking aloud to himself. "It's like there's a sudden rush of-"

"WAIT! Did you just say 14th of February?" Kagome put a finger of Miroku's lips, shutting him up. Miroku just nodded. Suddenly, Kagome jumped a little air from the ground and grabbed Miroku's hands and danced around.

"Was it something I said? And why're you twirling us around?" Miroku asked, very confused on why Kagome was acting this way.

"Oh, sorry." Kagome instantly let go of Miroku and apologized. Just then, Sango appeared from the woods' entrance, carrying her humungous Hiraikotsu. Kirara was soundly asleep in one of her arms. She has just finished her daily training.

"Gone on your daily routine, Sango?" Miroku asked the Demon Slayer. Sango appeared to be sweaty and a little bit tired.

"Yeah…I always need a good sweat." Sango said to Miroku. "Oh hey, Kagome! What are we talking about?"

"I can't believe you people don't know what today is!" Kagome said in surprise. Miroku and Sango looked at each other.

"…It's February 14. Why?" Sango blankly said. Kagome shook her head, not believing that these people don't know what February 14 is.

"Well, in my time, February 14 is considered special-" Kagome then heard some noise. "What now?"

"AAAAAAHHH! Go away, Inuyasha!" A little boy's scream was heard through the village. "Kagome, help!" The three of them saw Shippo running away recklessly. The little fox demon was being chased by Inuyasha, the dog hanyou. It seems that Shippo did something mischievous to Inuyasha again. Inuyasha was dripping with mud and isn't too happy about it.

"Come back here, you little maggot!" Inuyasha came running after the almost exhausted Shippo. The little fox demon jumped into Kagome's arms for safety. Inuyasha then spotted Shippo and started to lunge at him. But a quick word from Kagome took care of things.

"Stop it Inuyasha! SIT!" Kagome commanded. Within an instant, the enchanted necklace Inuyasha was wearing glowed and sent him falling face down on the ground.

"Serves you right! I was just having a little fun…" Shippo taunted Inuyasha. The dog demon glared at Shippo with a pair of livid golden eyes.

"FUN? You said you saw a demon near the farm! And then you pushed me into the muddy rice field!" Inuyasha began to argue, straightening his self up. He then noticed Kagome was already up and made his usual goad. "Oh, I see you enjoyed your sleep. You woke up late!"

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, everyone. My alarm didn't go off." Kagome apologized to everyone. Inuyasha froze. He then sweatdropped at the thought of the alarm clock.

"Uhm…was it the small, pink, square thing that has all those numbers on it and the sticks…and makes that annoying beeping sound?" Inuyasha asked Kagome nervously. Everyone could see that he had something to do with the missing clock. Kagome was suspicious.

"…Yes…why do you ask? Have you seen it?" Kagome asked, a little suspicious and irritated. Inuyasha quickly denied it and told her he hasn't seen it. Suddenly, a villager came up to the five of them and went to Inuyasha. He was holding a tattered pink alarm clock that looked like it was been chewed on.

"My horse can't chew this, Inuyasha! And I doubt it's anything magical!" The villager said angrily and placed the clock in Inuyasha's hand and went away. Miroku, Sango and Shippo all laughed at Inuyasha. Inuyasha then turned to look at Kagome, who had her fist clenched and ready to hurt him.

"You…" Kagome said in between gritted teeth. Inuyasha quickly became panicked.

"Wh-what was I supposed to do? It was making too much noise!" Inuyasha said as an excuse.

"SIT!" Kagome said loud enough to have birds fly out of the woods. And at once, Inuyasha found himself kissing the dirt once again. The others, minus Kagome of course, laughed even louder. Okay, after all the hoo-haw about the clock and Inuyasha being pushed in the mud, Shippo asked Kagome.

"So…what're you guys talking about?" Shippo asked Miroku, Sango and Kagome.

"Kagome was just about to tell us what's so special about today." Sango said to Shippo.

"February 14?" Shippo inquired. Kagome nodded.

"Yes…I'm surprised you guys don't know of Valentine's Day." Kagome said to all of them. Perplexed expressions formed on her friend's faces.

"What's this…er…violent pines day about? Do the trees attack people?" Inuyasha asked, getting up from the fall.

"Not violent pines day, Inuyasha. Valentines Day!" Kagome laughed at Inuyasha's silly understanding. "It's another special time of year when you value the person you love the most, or declare your love for that special someone. It's kind of a festival for love and hearts."

"I like the sound of this Valentine's Day." Miroku said, looking lecherously at Sango. Sango shot a very irritated stare at him that had, "forget it, buddy!" written all over it. Kagome then continued on.

"You give gifts to your valentine-"

"Gifts? Like toys and sweets?" Shippo butted in. Kagome laughed.

"Sort of like that, but you have to give it to a person you consider special." Kagome said, images of chocolates in heart-shaped boxes and roses swam in her mind. "It's somewhat of an exchange of love for each other. It's very romantic." Kagome felt herself swooning in one of little daydreams again. Sango, Miroku and Shippo found the idea of Valentine's Day very engaging, but to Inuyasha, the thought of the holiday was just a waste of time.

"I can't believe you'd spend one whole day giving gifts to people, when there are demons and Shikon shards to be fought and found!" Inuyasha complained, not really being too keen on the whole Valentine's Day idea.

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Musclehead! Life can't be all demons and shards!" Kagome retorted. "You need to lighten up a bit, you know that, Inuyasha? 'Cause you've been getting on my nerves for too long!"

"Oh boy…another argument." Sango said to Miroku. Miroku nodded.

"It seems they can't start the day without one. Well, we'd better sort things out, Sango." Miroku beckoned Sango to do some damage control between Inuyasha and Kagome. Shippo, on the other hand, just watched as Miroku and Sango were trying to keep Kagome from killing Inuyasha and Inuyasha from shredding Kagome with his Tetsusaiga. Shippo didn't really care about the whole Valentine's Day thing, after all he didn't know much about love anyway. He never fell in love with someone before.

I just can't understand grown-ups. Shippo thought to himself. When they think they have things under control, they take the first step of letting things get OUT of it. But then, Shippo sensed something moving in the bushes. The grown-ups don't seem to notice, maybe because they were pre-occupied with their own problems. Not wanting to alarm anyone, he kept it to himself and decided to follow it. He wasn't worried if it was a demon, because if it was, Inuyasha or the village dwellers would've known a while back. He just assumed it was a dear or a stray cow. He followed the rustling sound in the bushes, until he came across a trail of footprints.

"Aha! So someone was spying on us!" He said to himself. Shippo continued to follow the trail of clues and eventually, the footsteps led him to a clearing. The little fox demon remembered that no clearing used to be in the woods…well, at least not like this one. The clearing was surrounded by trees, and there was a huge rock in the middle. There were also flowers all around in the grass…it was the most beautiful thing Shippo had seen. He entered the clearing and looked around a bit. There were different colored flowers all around: white daisies, pink jasmines, violets, sunflowers and many others. He also noticed the huge rock. When he first saw it a few seconds ago, no one was sitting on it. But now…to Shippo's surprise, and fear, someone was sitting on the boulder. The beam of light that came from the absence of a tree patch shone down directly on the boulder, bathing the one who was sitting on it in a radiant light. Shippo moved closer to recognized the person sitting there.

"Intriguing…" A faint, soft girl's voice came from the person sitting on the rock. Shippo froze. That cold, dismal voice…he'd recognize it anywhere. The girl on the rock slowly turned her ivory head to face Shippo. The little fox demon gasped, both in fright and surprise.

"Intriguing…"