On Vacation
Tobi Tortue
Chapter Two: In Which Are Panthers, Whales, and Sandwiches
"Houshi-sama?" the demon slayer asked. She dropped the rag she had been using to polish Hiraikotsu. She pushed her weapon off her lap and began to stretch her legs.
"Hmm?"
"Have you seen Inuyasha recently?" she queried.
Miroku answered her question by leaning to whisper in her ear. "No, I haven't seen him." The monk continued to breathe softly on her neck.
She swatted his face away with a playful scowl. "No really, do you think he's with Kagome-chan? Trying to make her come back?" She paused, and felt a hand reach behind her.
THAK!
Miroku rubbed his cheek, which now sported a red handprint.
"I'm trying to be serious!" she cried indignantly. "You don't think he went after Kikyou while Kagome-chan was gone, do you?" she asked worriedly.
"He's probably just sulking, Sango dear," he chimed, hooking a loose hair behind her ear. He leaned toward her. "And with both Kagome-sama and Inuyasha gone, it leaves us alone."
She turned and stared at him flatly. He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"Hey Miroku! Sango! Guess what me and Kirara found!" a young voice cried, bursting in through the door.
"What is it, Shippou?" Sango asked, and the kitsune started to rapidly speak about some flowers or wreath or something.
Miroku sighed. "Okay… maybe we're not alone…."
Kagome woke up when she heard Inuyasha's voice, and, as usual, he was loud and angry.
"Well? Who the hell is that guy?"
"Pease just let it go, Inuyasha." Her mother's voice wafted into the room.
Kagome listened for her hanyou's grumbled "keh" and, after being satisfied by the low reply from the other room, Kagome stretched and opened her eyes.
The sunlight flooded into her room, making it bright and comfortable. Even the room, with its Hawaiian artwork and floral bedspread, felt tropical. She crawled to the end of her bed, attempting to get up, but only managing to sprawl on top of her covers. Her contented gaze moved to the window, where she could see blue water, white breakers, and some tall puffy clouds deep on the horizon. The girl sighed happily and pulled herself out of bed, stumbling into the other room.
Her mother had already started breakfast, and there was a pot on the stove, lidded shut. Inuyasha was staring out the windowed doors that led to the porch. She assumed he was staring out at the ocean. Souta was sitting on the seafoam-and-floral cushioned couch, reading a magazine about the island.
"Good morning, Kagome!" her mother called from the kitchen.
"Good morning," she replied, smiling sleepily.
"Morning?" Inuyasha asked, turning from the window. "It's nearly afternoon!" he added, although it was only 9:00.
"That's the point!" Souta told him, looking up from the magazine. He had not changed out of his pajamas.
Inuyasha turned back to the window. "But does that guy have to put that car-thingy there? It's right in the way!"
"I told you to just let it go…" the woman in the kitchen reminded gently.
Kagome walked over to the boy wearing lots of red and peeked over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a bluish pickup parked on the other side of the street, complete with a middle-aged man in the driver's seat.
"I didn't realize you cared so much about the view," she teased, He snorted and moved his head away from hers. She tugged on the closest white ear. He jerked away, out of her grasp and gave her a dirty look.
"I thought I've told you not to touch my ears, wench!" he said angrily. She giggled back and looked out through the door again.
"Hey! He's leaving!" she cried happily. She stared out at the beautiful scene of dark blue water.
"Where's Grandpa?" Souta asked, putting down the magazine.
"He went out shopping or something," Mrs. Higurashi answered, moving into the front room and sitting on a couch that matched Souta's.
"Higurashi-san," Inuyasha said, watching Kagome's mother intently and a little suspiciously. "What about breakfast?"
"Oh, it's ready!" she chirped back, happy that she had finally ground enough manners into the hanyou so he no longer referred to her as "hey you" or "woman."
Inuyasha started to pounce on the kitchen, and would have been closely followed by Souta had he not been startled by a cry from Kagome.
"Look! A whale!" she pointed straight out into the water.
Everyone immediately went to look, and were rewarded when a small black shape (resembling a cucumber) lifted and fell, far off on the horizon.
Inuyasha declared that it was lame, and Souta immediately followed his example. The boys went into the kitchen to eat. After about two minutes of whaleless watching, Kagome joined them.
Inuyasha still hadn't decided how to eat oatmeal.
Souta and Kagome both showed him the dried fruit and nuts to put on it, and gave him a bowl filled with the stuff.
"But we don't have any milk yet so you can't put any on, but we always do," Souta explained as he sat down.
Inuyasha fumbled with the spoon but eventually got the hang of it. He did need it to eat, after all.
Suddenly, the door to the kitchen opened, and in came Kagome's grandfather. He held plastic shopping bags in his hands and kicked off his flip-flops and he entered.
"So you're back and you got some fruit too!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed as she took the bags from him. She put them on the counter and began to cut and arrange the fruit for eating.
"No milk?" Souta whined from the table. His grandfather shook his head. The two siblings sighed and slouched in unison.
"I think I'll scramble some of these eggs, if you want," offered their mother. The four others in the room nodded.
"Hey, did you see that Inuyasha's here too?" Souta asked his grandfather.
"Yes," said Inuyasha coldly, just as a surprised "no" came from the old man.
Kagome and Souta exchanged glances, but Inuyasha was spared from explaining when the eldest Higurashi looked out to the front porch and told them all to look at the strange birds.
The kitchen emptied, except for Mrs. Higurashi, as the group stood in the living room to watch two good-sized black and spotted birds walk around on the porch railing.
Soon, however, they all lost interest. But Kagome's mother had already finished the eggs, so they ate those.
"See, this is where we are," Kagome showed Inuyasha during the eggs, "Kapa'a, Kaua'i."
"Kawai?" Inuyasha asked, clearly a little alarmed at the island's choice of name. (See note below.)
"No, not kawai…" Kagome started to explain through Souta's laughing fit.
"Kawaii?" the hanyou tried, wondering if he really wanted to be on an island of that name. It sounded more like a place Miroku would be interested in.
"No," Kagome cried, falling into laughter herself. "It's not either… it's a Hawaiian name so it doesn't mean either…." Her laughter died down, and Souta wiped the tears from his eyes.
The dog demon folded his arms across his chest and muttered, "Keh!"
Mrs. Higurashi walked up to the group at the table, followed by Grandpa. She was carrying her purse.
"We're going to go out and do some shopping. We'll be back in a little while. Go ahead and watch TV; I brought some DVD's. Well, enjoy yourselves," she said on her way out the door.
The kids decided to watch a DVD. Kagome complained about it, stating that they could watch a DVD anywhere. But she was outnumbered, because Souta wanted to see a movie, and Inuyasha hadn't gone out of his fascinated-with-TV phase yet.
So they watched the Pink Panther. None of them knew what was happening during the beginning, and they weren't too clear towards the end of the two-hour movie. They ended up laughing during serious moments by commenting on people-s clothing. Souta was at the age where he watched half of the kisses and looked the other way during the deeper ones, while Inuyasha complained about the romance by telling them that if he had wanted to watch people kiss, he could just go spy on Miroku. Kagome chided him for that.
Just as the end credits rolled across the screen, the back door opened, admitting Mrs. Higurashi and her father-in-law.
"Children!" she called, "Please help us unload the van, will you?"
The obedient siblings did as instructed, and even convinced Inuyasha to help. In no time at all, they were finished and Kagome's mom went to lock up the white rental van.
She returned with another bag, and presented it to Inuyasha. "These are for you," she explained before going to put all of the new food into its various places.
He fished his hand into the bag, and pulled out… a shirt? It was a red t-shirt to be exact, and still in the bag were khaki shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses, a hat, and Hawaiian-print swim shorts. They were red with white pseudo-flowers. ("Psuedo", because what kind of man would he be if he had flowers on his shorts?)
Inuyasha blinked at the shirt he held up in front of himself.
"Now you can go around the island with us," Kagome's mother said from behind him, her face in the fridge.
"Let's go swimming!" Souta shouted, noticing the swim trunks in the bag. He ran to a closet in one of the bedrooms, pulled out his trunks, and then raced off to a bathroom.
"Okay!" Kagome agreed. "Inuyasha, you can use the bathroom connected to my room if you want. To change clothes," she added after taking in his puzzled expression. "Just don't come out until I say you can, 'kay?"
He nodded and they walked to their changing areas. Kagome shut the door behind him (there was no lock), and began to change into her swimsuit, feeling a little nervous about it for the first time. Inuyasha had never seen her in a bikini before…. She wondered what his reaction would be.
She knocked on the door and told Inuyasha she was decent, and it immediately slid open.
Startled, the girl toppled backwards, arms flung out to catch something that would stop her fall. But the hanyou reached forward, grabbing her wrists and pulling her back upright. Too far upright, she realized, because she fell forward onto his chest. And there she was, pressed into his bare chest, only in her swimsuit, and of course it had to be a bikini.
Both immediately jumped away from each other. Both also immediately turned bright shades of red. Inuyasha noticed her blush went all the way down her neck before realizing where his eyes were about to focus. He turned away, and his face matched his shorts. Where the gold eyes were traveling wasn't lost on Kagome either. She felt as if her face was on fire.
"Uh… I need a towel," she squeaked and scooted past him into the bathroom. He nodded and stepped aside.
Kagome tossed him a towel and they walked into the other room as their blushes faded. Souta was waiting on the couch.
"Mama and jii-chan are coming too, so we have to wait for them," he told the pair, who sat down on the couch and began to fidget nervously, both refusing to look at the other. They missed Souta's raised eyebrow, but he didn't ask.
As soon as everyone was ready, (and they had convinced Inuyasha that a hat was necessary,) they walked out into the sunshine. The clouds from the morning had disappeared, and only a few wisps remained, high in the sky.
They walked down to the place they had played the night before, talking about the lower tide and the fact that they could see the reef that was about thirty or forty feet out in the water. Once they reached the sand, Kagome and Souta rushed in. Inuyasha hung back, watching Kagome and checking their surroundings.
Mrs. Higurashi remained on shore as well, setting up a chair and an umbrella so she could settle down with a good book. Grandpa started wading into the water.
The siblings, however, started running down the beach, trying to stay in sand that would allow them to sink up to their ankles.
"Whoa!" Souta yelled as the sand swallowed a leg up to his mid-calf. Kagome ran to knock him over, but he managed to run up onto shore, where he promptly stuck out his tongue.
She accidentally stepped into the space he had just vacated, and sunk deeply. Souta ran down for the kill, but his sister removed her foot and ran away, sloshing water onto him.
"Race you back to Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. They took off, running on the edge of the tide. Kagome and Souta decided they had tied, because they both tried tripping each other on the way there.
All of a sudden, both grabbed Inuyasha and began dragging him toward the surf, despite the dog demon's weak attempts to get away. Inuyasha suddenly struggled harder, flinging Souta to the ground, but his efforts were cut short by Kagome's hiss of "don't make a scene!" Once they had gotten the hanyou in a sandy spot about three feet deep, he heard a terrible sound.
"Osuwari!" Kagome cried cheerfully.
Inuyasha face planted into the waves. After an instant, he flung himself out of the water and, gasping, tackled Kagome.
"Wench!" he shouted, he hat floating away.
She shrieked and laughed a little, before noticing the hat, or rather, the lack of hat. "Souta!" she yelled as Inuyasha attempted to push her under, "find the hat!"
The younger sibling did as he was told, seeing that his sister was occupied, her head being thrust under the water. As soon as her head broke the surface, she jumped at Inuyasha. He tried to doge, but the water caught at his legs and he ended up falling over.
Kagome stood laughing as Souta, who had successfully retrieved the hat, used it to dump water on the hanyou's head and squish it on at the same time. Inuyasha growled and pulled Souta's leg forward, tumbling the boy backward.
"You're next," he growled at Kagome. She tried to run, but the quick demon tackled her again. She splashed salt water at him, and then at Souta when he arrived. Inuyasha let Souta take his place as the hanyou sloshed out of the water.
"Stop! Time out! Time out!" Kagome cried after a few minutes of intense water fighting. "I think," she said, breathing heavily. Inuyasha willed himself not to stare at her chest rising and falling as she panted. When did he become such a pervert? "Well, I think… that I'm… gonna… go in now."
Kagome walked up into the sand, where she sat down, and ended up lying all the way down. The sun was bright, and she closed her watering eyes.
Suddenly a hand pressed down on her shoulder as another pressed on her stomach. Her eyes flew open, and she stared into Inuyasha's amber orbs. For a fleeting moment, she had the insane idea that he was going to make out with her on the beach. That mental image was quickly thrust away as a handful of sand dropped onto her.
She struggled, but Inuyasha held her down. Souta piled sand on her. The hanyou had to find some way to get her arms, because she kept pushing the stuff off, so he grabbed her wrists in one hand and held them above her head. Now she felt as if she was going to make out (or worse) with Inuyasha against her will. But couldn't she just get her mind out of the gutter?
With an angry glower at the boys, Kagome stopped struggling and let them get it over with. In a short amount of time, she was covered in sand up to her neck.
It was heavy, pressing down on her. Actually, it was a pretty uncomfortable position, because she knew some of the sand was going to be in her suit, and to add to that, her leg itched. Right behind her knee.
Souta whispered into Inuyasha's… hat… and, after a loud "No!" and more whispering, they both had very mischievous looks on their faces.
Her little brother began to fashion a tail for her, and Kagome thought that awww, she was going to be a cute little mermaid. That is until Inuyasha dropped tow lumps of sand onto her chest, and began patting them down with a devilish smirk on his face.
"What are you doing?" she yelled, her face turning terribly red.
"Making you into a mermaid," Souta replied from the tail. He looked up and began laughing as hard as he ever had as Inuyasha shaped the mounds into mermaid boobs.
Souta picked a spot near his sister's stomach and poked his finger in until he poked flesh.
"Is that your belly button?" he asked.
"No!" she replied huffily.
"Well it is now!"
Both boys laughed and made her arms that extended out like she was waving and had an arm at her side, commenting on how her hair looked funny because it really was her arms under the sand.
"Okay," Kagome said, finally deciding that she had put up with way too much. "I'm getting out!"
She wiggled and cracks appeared on the sand, before her arms burst free and she sat up.
"It lives!" Souta yelled in mock terror.
Kagome bent her knees, which caused the tail to bend as if she were swimming. Then she pushed herself up, the sand falling off her in an avalanche. She went straight to the sea and plunged in, rinsing much of the sand off. She floated for a few moments, but couldn't relax because she feared the boys and their habit of splashing people. So she rose from the water and looked onto shore.
Fortunately, she was standing in water when she saw Inuyasha digging like a dog. That's why she didn't hurt herself when she fell over.
Apparently, Souta had convinced the hanyou to help him build some sort of sand wall. A wall because it wasn't quite pretty enough to be called a castle. She caught her breath after her laughing fit as Inuyasha packed down the freshly dug sand into the wall with an expression that read, "I really don't care about this."
"Kagome! Souta! Inuyasha!" a mother's voice cried from farther up on the beach. She stood with the chair folded in one hand and the umbrella tucked under the other arm, and Grandpa stood beside her, sunglasses included.
The three reluctantly walked over and they all walked the block back to the house. Kagome and Souta took showers first, after calling dibs before anyone else. Actually, they were the only ones to call it at all, the others either not caring or not knowing what the hell "dibs" was.
After Kagome finished scrubbing herself clean of sand (and thankfully not plugging up the drain with it), her mother showed Inuyasha how to use the shower before she left to (probably) make something to eat.
When he finished, he followed Kagome's clean scent outside to the porch. But once he opened the door he nearly fainted.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he shouted, covering his nose with the collar of his t-shirt before he passed out.
"Painting my toenails," she answered simply from her seat on the wide railing. Her back leaned against the wall of the house. "I thought that since I won't be wearing shoes most of the time, I might as well. And also, I didn't have time to do it before I left because I was so busy with you…. I'll be done in a second and you'll be able to breathe again."
He watched in silence as Kagome finished painting her toenails a deep pinkish red. As soon as she finished, she screwed the brush/lid back onto the bottle and set it down under her bent legs. After a moment, the hanyou cautiously removed the shirt from his sensitive nose.
Souta suddenly appeared by opening the doorway and sticking his head out. "You two want ham and cheese sandwiches?" he asked.
"Oh! Yes please," Kagome nodded happily.
"Sure," Inuyasha replied.
"Thanks Souta!" the teenage girl called as her brother ducked back inside.
Kagome looked out at the ocean as her toenail polish dried. The sun was moving behind the house, so she was sitting in more and more shade. Cars drove by, and a few people walked by, and there even was a young man on a bike.
"So, Inuyasha," she started. He opened his eyes and stopped sniffing the strange scents in the air to look at her. "I was wondering," she continued, "if you were enjoying your vacation so far."
He stared at her, a bit startled at the question. This was her vacation, and he wasn't about to be suckered into sitting around on his butt all day while there were things to do.
Before he could reply, the door opened, and Souta's face appeared again.
"Do you want lettuce?" he asked.
"Yes," said Kagome and Inuyasha stated a flat, "No."
"Okay." The younger boy disappeared back inside once again.
The hanyou and the young miko sat in silence for a while, the sounds of the waves and strange bird calls washing over them. The breeze from the ocean dried their hair.
"Inuyasha, you never answered my question…" she started, trailing off so he could say something.
He didn't reply for a long time. But when he did answer, he managed to surprise her.
"It's your vacation, not mine."
He turned away, the wind blowing his hair so that locks of it floated behind him. She saw him look up towards the roof, and she sighed softly as he leapt up there.
Why did he have to be so stubborn?
She let her gaze drift back to the ocean. It seemed as if sometimes she knew the hanyou perfectly, and at other times (although they were rarer and rarer) she had no idea who she was talking to. The rhythmic rushing of the tide soother her, and made her remember something important. Kagome was on vacation, and she shouldn't have to worry about an arrogant, stubborn boy who acted like a child. One that, even though he was in Hawai'i, didn't want to relax and have fun.
She watched a car pass. Inside the blue Honda SUV was a couple, the blonde in the passenger's seat leaning against her boyfriend, or fiancé, or husband. A very American laugh floated out the window, and Kagome sighed.
A rooster suddenly ran out in front of the car, and was narrowly missed.
"Look! A rooster!" the girl cried, pointing. It seemed so odd to have such an ordinary bird running around on a tropical island. (Little did she know that there are thousands of them on Kaua'i.)
She heard Inuyasha's feet thud to another part of the roof, closer to the rooster. Then the footsteps returned to their starting place.
Waves crashed. Kagome sighed and looked back out at the ocean.
Her eyes suddenly caught a peculiar wave, spraying mist high into the air. Wait… it was a whale!
"Inuyasha! It's a whale!" she shouted, pointing again, her face lit up with excitement. This one was closer than the ones earlier that day. Maybe it would jump, or do something interesting.
Inuyasha's feet pounded closer, right above her. She was still unable to see him, but her eyes were scanning the horizon anyway.
She saw the mist spout again, and watched in awe. But then it seemed as if the whale had left, because there was no sign of it after that.
The two sat in silence for a long time, and it was only broken by Souta's return with sandwiches, and, or course, the waves. The dog demon had to come back down to the porch to get his sandwich, but he didn't even look at Kagome before returning to the rooftop. He just took his sandwich and left.
Finally, it was just a little too chilly for the girl, who was wearing a tanktop and shorts. The sun had passed behind the green peak behind the town.
She got up slowly, her rear end sore from sitting, and returned back inside. She said nothing to Inuyasha, but she knew that he was aware of her departure.
Once inside, she walked to her room, and collapse on the bed. She shut her eyes and tried to think happy thoughts. Here she was on vacation, in Hawai'i, no less. But she kept thinking about a certain hanyou, who never had the chance to relax or have fun.
When she opened her eyes, it was completely dark outside. With a groan, she realized she had fallen asleep. Kagome pulled herself off the bed, and into the kitchen, where her mother was fiddling around and making dinner.
"Oh, Kagome," she said cheerfully. "Will you go get Inuyasha? Dinner's just about ready."
Kagome nodded and walked outside, passing Souta and Grandpa in the living room, watching another Pink Panther. She closed the door behind her and walked out into the night until she could see the hanyou.
He was looking away from the ocean, and his back faced her. His long white hair blew around him.
"Inuyasha!" she called. He turned and crouched on the edge of the roof, looking down at her. "It's time to eat, so come inside."
He dropped down, and they both walked inside. Dinner was ready by then, so they went to wash up.
During dinner or pork, rice, and salad, the family talked endlessly of their day. Kagome was the center of the discussion, talking about the second whale, splashing Souta, sitting Inuyasha in the water, and everything else that had happened.
But it was after dinner that she noticed that Inuyasha hadn't said a word. (Unless she counted the "keh" in response to the story of sitting him.) The girl sighed. It wasn't as if he spoke much in general anyway.
She sat down as her mother put in a DVD of the last four episodes of Sex in the City, and they ended up watching all of it. Thankfully, Souta was still a hair young for some of the raunchier jokes in the American TV show, but at the other jokes, all were gasping for air, despite how shocked they were.
Grandpa had refused to watch such a "crude and horrible show", but Inuyasha just left for the window without a word. Kagome stared after him, but was soon caught up in the show as her mother turned it on.
After the final episode had ended, and all of the characters were happily in New York with their boyfriends or husbands, the vacationing family went to bed.
Kagome, however, went to the windowed double doors in her bedroom, and walked out onto the porch patio. "Inuyasha?" she called softly, expecting to see his bright golden eyes appear above her. "Inuyasha?"
The hanyou did not respond.
"Good night," she said up to the roof. Sadly, she walked indoors and went to her bed. Against her will, her eyes filled with tears. Why wasn't Inuyasha speaking to her? Was he angry? This was supposed to be a fun and happy vacation. One that she could enjoy. She rolled over and buried her face into her floral-print pillow.
She hadn't known that Inuyasha hadn't been on the rooftop when she had said good night.
NOTE: "Kawai", in Japanese, means "scary", while "kawaii" means "cute". Both, to un-Japanese or just untrained ears, can sound exactly like the American pronunciation of the Hawaiian island, Kaua'i. Keep this in mind please, because I will continue to have fun with these and probably will not explain them again.
So, what did everyone think of the second chapter? I hate to say this, because long "ransom" notes annoy me, but please review. I really truly appreciate everyone who does. It can only take about twelve seconds, so please go ahead. I'm going to be busy for a while, so if you want more soon, then you should let me know. (Translation: I'm veeeerrrryyyy lazy, so if you like it, force me to write more.)
See you next time!
Tobi Tortue
"Si on dit que les tortues ne peux pas écrire, que je disais: lisez plus !"