Disclaimer: I own nothing from Inuyasha except some DVD's.
Inuyasha: What the hell are DVD's?
They are little videos of your show.
Inuyasha: Show? What is a show?
Kagome: You know the little plays that are on the TV that we watch? Those are shows.
Inuyasha: You mean that I am a TV show?
Yep! Pretty cool isn't it.
Chapter 27
Kagome sat on the ground eating lunch with her three girlfriends. Directly above her, perched comfortably in the tree sat Inuyasha; still pouting over the 'sit' treatment he had gotten before venturing out here. He didn't eat, he didn't talk; he only sat there and sulked; trying to make Kagome feel guilty. Kagome was used to his behavior and found it easy to ignore his antics.
Her friends on the other hand were not so used to his anti-social tendencies and obsession with hanging in trees. Yuka naturally found him amusing, having heard stories about the hanyou from her father. Eri and Ayumi just stared at him, wondering who this guy really was.
"Aren't you hungry, Inuyasha?" Yuka ventured, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had weaved its way around the group.
"I ain't hungry! Your old man ruined any appetite I had."
Yuka snorted and Kagome tried to hold in her giggles. Inuyasha scowled at the pair; they had been laughing at him about the whole situation since they found out what exactly Kouga HAD taught the hanyou today. The two remaining friends just studied the three bickering companions with confusion. They felt extremely out of the loop today. Kagome finally sighed and stood up, "Inuyasha, stop pouting. Come down here and eat your lunch."
"Oi bitch, I said I wasn't hungry!"
Ayumi and Eri gasped at his 'endearment' for the schoolgirl. Yuka on the other hand broke out into peels of laughter. She stood up next to Kagome and whispered, "He means that in the nicest way, he really considers you his bitch." Although she had whispered the comment so her friends could not hear it, she knew the hanyou had still heard it. She smirked at him as his cheeks flamed at the comment.
He glared at the female wolf demon; she smiled back at him confidently. "Wench, I should kill you for that!"
Eri and Ayumi gasped, "Don't anger him, Yuka!"
"Jeez, calm down you two. He really is harmless; he's all bark and no bite. Pardon the pun." She laughed, apologizing to the hanyou. "He would never hurt anyone who cared about Kagome."
"I would change that for you, wench."
"Inuyasha, get down here before I MAKE you get down here." Kagome threatened, glaring at the hanyou.
He returned her glare in kind, Kagome's friends watching the stand off between the pair with amusement.
"Higurashi?" A voice came from behind Kagome, catching her off guard. She jumped into the air and turned to the visitor.
She instantly knew her hanyou had emerged from his sulk to possessively stake him claim to the perceived threat. Not only could she sense that he was directly behind her, he also growled in her ear at the intruder. "Houjo-kun." She sighed, leaning back into her hanyou, hoping to calm him without saying a word. The growling ceased almost instantly, so it must have worked.
"Higurashi, it is nice to see you again." Houjo eyed her mysterious protector with concern. He had come to the solution over the weekend that he might be able to help her get over her 'Inuyasha', now that he was gone. Suddenly he found her surrounded by another guy, who wasn't himself. That did not make him happy, he hated this new guy more than anything, thinking he could just come and take Kagome from him. "A new friend already Kagome? I thought it would take a little longer for you to get over that 'Inuyasha' guy you claimed to have feelings for." Houjo said bitterly.
"Oi, you idiot! Kagome would never get over me that easily." Inuyasha growled, his violet eyes flashing with anger at the intruder.
Houjo eyed the stranger carefully before smirking confidently, "You aren't Inuyasha."
"The hell I ain't!" Inuyasha bit out in surprise.
Houjo puffed up his chest, giving the hanyou a look like he had solved the world's problems single handedly. "I have met this Inuyasha as well as seen pictures. You aren't him. The Inuyasha I met had-"
"Silver hair and gold eyes?" Ayumi offered, interrupting him.
"Yeah." Houjo said, surprised.
"Yeah, we wondered the same thing. Kagome swears it is Inuyasha. I just want to know what happened to his hair."
Everyone turned and faced Kagome and Inuyasha, looking for an explanation. Kagome sweat dropped, worried about what to say. She could feel Inuyasha tense behind her. Stealing a look at Yuka, the wolf demon looked as panicked as Kagome felt. She needed a feasible explanation and quickly, one that wouldn't seem suspicious. "Umm…well Inuyasha is a hanyou. You know how he wanted to be a full demon, so he always made himself look as much as a demon as he could. Yeah…so now…um he decided to be with me and stay here. So he came here and decided to try to blend in as best as he could. He has the ability to take on his human characteristics to fit in better. So…this is what Inuyasha looks like as a human. He can turn back to look like his hanyou whenever he wants." She peeked at Yuka, who flashed a grateful smile to her friend.
"Really? He can switch back and forth? That is so cool! I want to see it happen." Eri clamored. "Is it true that he really had dog ears?"
"What the hell is the obsession with the dog ears?" Inuyasha muttered darkly, glaring at someone he was certain had an extremely strong obsession for his ears. She grinned in response to his perusal, knowing that he didn't mind HER obsession with his ears.
"I won't believe it is really him unless I see it myself." Houjo said snidely, hoping that it really wasn't Inuyasha. Maybe Kagome would see the guy for the imposter he was and turn to him in her grief. He smiled at the thought.
"Not here. I don't want everyone knowing his secret! Maybe later." Kagome said; glad to have avoided the conflict.
"There is no one in the alley over there." Ayumi pointed to a deserted area that was secluded. It was also where no one could see them.
Kagome groaned, knowing she had no choice now. She turned to Inuyasha and gave him an apologetic smile. "Fine, let's go." She said in defeat. As the group headed off to the alley ahead of her, she grabbed her hanyou and whispered, "I will just distort the spell on your necklace; it will be fine."
"It better be fine!" he bit out, nervous about showing all these people who were practically strangers his hanyou form. Things really have changed; it wasn't long ago I didn't want people seeing my human form. Now I don't want people seeing my hanyou form. He sighed, catching up with Kagome in one slight leap.
As they all settled into the deserted alleyway, Kagome said, "Alright Inuyasha. Just think about your demon blood taking over you." Then she quietly whispered a spell, undoing part of the concealing spell on the necklace. She watched as his real form was revealed to her friends, dog ears and all.
"He really does have dog ears!" Ayumi cried, reaching for the appendages on the top of his head.
He snarled, showing his fangs as he dodged her aim and headed for Kagome. Kagome laughed as he let her rub his ears to her heart's content, calming him. "He's a little particular about his ears. I know how hard they are to resist touching them, though. They are just so cute."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the comment. "Alright, you've all seen the silver hair and dog ears and gold eyes. It's not that big a deal."
"Not a big deal! You look completely different!" Eri cried. "You are definitely the Inuyasha we met though."
Hearing that, Kagome quickly chanted a few words to conceal him again. "Well we should go before someone discovers us off here. We need to finish our lunch before class begins." The group emerged from the alley and sat down at the tree again. Inuyasha had finished his sulking and sat with Kagome and ate his lunch as well. Houjo left without saying a word, he seemed disappointed by the events of the day.
A couple of minutes later, as they ate in amicable silence a cry erupted out of nowhere. Yuka reacted instinctively, by stomping on the crying mushroom by her feet. "It's for you." She said snidely.
Eri and Ayumi looked at her in shock. "What was that thing?"
"Nothing, forget about it." She answered, until another one popped out next to Inuyasha.
He plucked it up and said, "He's still using these stupid things?"
"Let's go find him. He is obviously waiting-" Kagome was interrupted by yet another crying mushroom, this time on the tree next to her head. "He's impatient." She finished darkly yanking it off the bark. She stood up, grabbing Inuyasha's hand and dragged him to his feet.
Yuka followed the pair, telling her friends she would be right back. The three of them made their way to the edge of the school grounds, where Shippo was waiting for their arrival. "Oi, what's going on, Shippo?"
"Your brother has some news. We are headed out tonight. Apparently that if someone gets their hands on both the youkai jewel and the Shikon jewel, they have control over both the human and youkai worlds, be they a youkai or a human. The reason someone is after Kagome is to obtain the jewel. We are looking for a human by the name of Netawaki. Apparently he has discovered about the youkai underground and with the use of the youkai jewel is attempting to control it."
"What is the youkai underground?" Kagome asked innocently.
"It's a group of youkai mercenaries who hate humans and want to take over the world and bring youkai's to power again. Most of us are fine living side by side with humans." Yuka explained. "Is Netawaki having problems controlling the mercenaries?"
"He's a human. He's having a difficult time of it. They resent the control he holds over them with the jewel he has right now. If we succeed in getting the jewel away from him and back in Shinju's hands, not only will he lose the control over them, she can get them back in line as well." Shippo answered. "Having this much power without Shinju keeping them in line is not a good omen."
"What are our plans? We need to get the jewel back but keep Kagome's jewel from their hands, correct." Inuyasha said thoughtfully. "Kagome's gotta stay here. We can't risk her getting involved."
"I am not staying out of this." Kagome bit out, glaring at the hanyou.
"It's too dangerous, Kagome. I am not going to risk losing you again."
"We need her, Inuyasha."
"For what? She slows us down and I will be distracted trying to protect her all the time."
"She will be unprotected here, you stupid hanyou!" Shippo said exasperated. "You can't just leave her behind. They will immediately come after the jewel, you know that!"
Inuyasha growled in frustration. "Yuka and Kouga can watch her, protect her. I trust them both."
Everyone stared at him in amazement. "Did you just say you trusted Kouga to protect me?" Kagome said, laughing.
"I have left you in his care before. It wouldn't be the first time."
She sighed, "I am going, Inuyasha. I can handle myself. I was made the protector of the jewel because I have the ability to protect it."
"No!" He insisted, glaring at her.
"Inuyasha, we don't have a choice. We need a miko and that miko is Kagome."
"We will get another one!"
"Like hell you are getting another miko!" Kagome yelled, clenching her fists in frustration.
"We don't have a choice." Shippo said quietly. "Even if we wanted another miko, we couldn't. There is only one left."
"What? I thought you said Miroku and Sango's descendents turned out to have either Demon slayer ability or spiritual powers." Kagome bit out.
"Yes, but slowly they have dwindled out. Now there is only three left with any of the original powers."
"Three?" Kagome sighed, "Shinju has the demon slayer ability and Makoto and I have the spiritual powers, correct?"
"Dammit, Shippo! Why didn't you say anything before?" Inuyasha roared.
"It doesn't change anything. Listen we are leaving tonight. We will pick you up at home at 6:00 and head out from there. Be packed and ready to go. I am not sure how long we will be gone." They watched as the kitsune turned and walked away.
"Dang he is so cute." Yuka exclaimed, staring after him.
Inuyasha stopped and stared at her in shock. Kagome managed to choke out, "Shippo?!"
Yuka nodded, "I am going with you guys; you know that right?"
"Why?" Kagome asked, curious.
"You need all the help you can get. I can get into places with Shippo that others can't. We both have had run-in's with the underground before. Besides, he asked me to come." She said turning around to head back to Eri and Ayumi to finish her lunch.
Kagome sighed, leaning into Inuyasha. "This whole thing gets stranger and stranger. I wonder when I am going to wake up from this nightmare."
"Oi! You aren't the one returning to Kouga's class in a few minutes." Inuyasha growled in annoyance.
Kagome just laughed thinking about how through his teacher was being with the subject of the day. "Don't forget to get your homework from him."
"Don't remind me. I would rather fight Naraku again than return to that classroom today. Does everyone really learn all that crap?"
"Yep, sadly we all had to sit through that." Kagome laughed dragging him back to their lunch.
Well things are starting to move. They should finish up the day at school and then head out with their group of companions.
Inuyasha: You mean I have to take homework with me?
Yep! You are in high school just like Kagome, Yuka and Shinju. There will be a lot of studying amongst companions this time.
Inuyasha: Studying amongst companions? Just what are we studying?
NOT that!!!