"Communication Issues"
A/N: Thanks to Agent-doo for the idea. He/ she mentioned in a review to my other story "The End to the Feudal Fairy Tale" how interesting it would be to see Kagome 'sat.' So I thought it'd make a really good one-shot. Here goes! Please R & R!
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Shippo fished a bag of peanuts out of Kagome's huge yellow backpack. This was going to be one of those epic fights, he just knew it. Tearing open the honey-roasted peanuts, he dashed back to Miroku's shoulder. Miroku and Sango were sitting in the grass, faces aghast to the scene before them.
"I don't know why you can't understand that I need to go home!"
"Because I said so, wench!" Inuyasha shouted, eyes blazing.
"I have tests and homework and family!"
"Dammit! You have to stay, those shards won't find themselves y'know!"
"How can you be such a jerk?" Kagome clenched her fists tightly at her sides. "Osuwari!"
Inuyasha crashed into the ground, mumbling curses. His clawed hands gripped the edges of his crater angrily.
Miroku grabbed a small handful of peanuts from Shippo and stuffed them into his mouth. They'd been arguing for the better part of an hour, and Inuyasha'd been sat, by his count, twelve times. "All this over-" chomp "Kagome wanting to go home-" chomp, chomp, Miroku cleared his throat. "for some tests?"
"Houshi-sama, shhhh." Sango shushed.
"Yah! This is getting really good! My money's on Kagome!" Shippo happily chimed in.
"But Kagome-sama always wins these sorts of arguments." He pouted.
"Kagome-chan-" Sango was mesmerized by the chaos.
"I said I'm going! That's final! I have to take my finals or I'll fail!" Kagome turned quick on her heels.
"No you're not! I don't care about some stupid, tests things-"
"OSUWARI!"
He pulled against the spell. "Oy! You're not-"
She breathed deeply and Miroku swore that he saw the steam coming out of her ears. "Inuyasha! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! O-SU-WA-RI!" Kagome practically screamed.
The tree Inuyasha had used to steady himself was now nothing more than splinters under his twitching body. Kagome just huffed loudly and raced to her backpack. "I'm going home Sango-chan." She said with the utmost calm. "I'll be back once my tests are over, in about a week."
"Mphmm Itchhhh" was Inuyasha's only reply.
"Better make that two weeks." Kagome smiled and started jogging in the direction of the well.
The spectators just continued to stare at Kagome's retreating form until she disappeared from sight. They were awestruck. This sort of thing always happened, but never to such an extreme.
"I imagine that Inuyasha's going to be unlivable for the next week or so." Miroku finally broke the silence.
"Yeah! He's probably so mad that he'll pound me into the dirt for saying anything!" Shippo curled behind Miroku.
"Maybe we should leave him alone for a while." Sango raised a hand to quiet the other two. "He's standing up."
All attention turned to the dusty half-demon as he lifted himself free from the rocky ground. They held their breath, awaiting the tirade, but none came. He just looked in the direction that Kagome had gone with something akin to regret on his face, then turned to walk away. Inuyasha didn't seem to care that anyone was around, he just quietly moped away.
"What's wrong with Inuyasha?" Shippo asked.
"I wasn't expecting that." Replied Miroku.
"What should we do now-" Sango froze. Shippo peered around her to see a roaming hand caressing her bottom.
THWACK!
Miroku lay prone with a smile on his face and a giant bump on his head.
"Come on Shippo." She stood.
"Where are we going, Sango?" he was still staring at Miroku's damaged body.
"Out."
"Oh. Okay." He jumped up to her shoulder and shook his head. Miroku was in for a rough life.
vvvvvvvvvv Later that day vvvvvvvvvv
"Inuyasha, the only way to remove the curse, is for Kagome to remove the beads. I cannot help ye." Kaede spoke over her stew pot.
"I know that." He spat. "But-"
"But what, Inuyasha? What is it that ye desire then?" she sipped her soup quietly.
"I want-" his ears drooped.
Kaede was actually stunned. It seemed that his travels with Kagome and the others had changed the once bitter half-demon. "Ye want what?" she prodded.
"Oh, forget it, it's stupid!" he spun around to leave.
"If ye do not tell me, then I cannot help ye." Kaede took it in stride. She carefully spooned her soup into a bowl and sat down at her small table.
"Fine!" he practically yelled.
Kaede set down her spoon.
"I want-" he stuttered, "I-I want Kagome to u-understand."
"Understand what?"
"This!" he yanked at the prayer beads around his neck.
"Why?"
"Because she abuses it! Every time I say something she doesn't like, she says it! If I argue with her she says it! If I don't like an idea she has-"
"Oh my." Kaede said, "I never expected that she would use it so often." As if considering something, she put a hand to her chin.
"I don't care what I have to do! I just need to teach her a lesson!" Inuyasha shoved his hands into his sleeves and glared at the corner.
"If this be the case, I believe that there is something I can do to help ye." Kaede spoke slowly.
"Well then old woman, get on with it!"
"If ye wish for me to help ye, then I suggest ye do not speak to your elders that way."
"Keh." He huffed. "I'm listening."
Kaede shuffled over to her shelves and began rummaging through some bottles. After an hour of patient waiting, which meant tapping his foot and looking over her shoulder, Kaede handed him a bottle of tan liquid. "Here. Drink half of this."
"What for?" he started.
"Do not question me, Inuyasha. Do ye want my help or not?" She squinted her good eye.
"Keh." He lifted the bottle to his nose and sniffed. It smelled like wet dog. "This stuff reeks!" Inuyasha held it far from his face.
"Just drink it. Or, if ye want things to continue as they are-"
He threw the bottle against his lips and pinched his nose with the other hand. Corking the bottle immediately afterwards, he breathed loudly. "It better be worth it for that-" his tongue lolled out of his mouth. "That was the most disgusting thing I ever-"
"Now," Kaede continued to ignore his commentary, "Have Kagome-sama drink the other half."
"What will this do exactly?" he examined the glass bottle again.
"Ye will have to wait and see." She smiled.
"Keh."
"All I can tell ye is that the effects of this potion will last for twenty four hours. Also-" she returned to her soup bowl and picked up the spoon. "Ye must get Kagome to drink it within the hour for it to be effective."
"Why didn't you tell me that before!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Ye are wasting valuable time."
Inuyasha shoved the small bottle into his clothes and ran through the door into the forest. She'd only given him and hour and hadn't even told him what the damned thing did. "Stupid old woman!" he mumbled to no one in particular.
Kaede picked up her spoon and wrinkled her nose. "It is cold. Oh well."
vvvvvvvvvv
Inuyasha leapt through the trees as fast as he could. If he was going to get Kagome to trust him enough to drink this smelly thing, he needed as much time as he could get. Catching sight of the well, he huffed loudly, then jumped in. Inuyasha felt time slip around him as the familiar glow lit the well house. Climbing out, he wondered just how mad Kagome would be when he arrived.
His answer came when he reached the window. She was asleep at her desk, resting her head on a blue notebook. Apparently she'd fallen asleep while studying, because the pencil was still in her hand and Inuyasha distinctly heard her say something about equations. Sliding the window open with a thud, he wasn't surprised when Kagome popped her head up and shouted, "Fifty-three!"
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, "Inu-yasha?"
"Keh." He smirked.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me? Wait a minute!" Kagome jumped to her feet and held the notebook against her chest. "If you've come to take me back, I can't go! I have a lot of studying to do this weekend."
"Like I would, stubborn wench." He winced; he hadn't meant to sound so coarse. "I just came to bring you this." Pulling the bottle out of his shirt, he held it towards the frazzled girl. "I got it from Kaede. Drink."
"What is it?" she asked, timidly reaching for the bottle.
"Dunno. She wouldn't tell me." Well it was the truth.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'll drink it later."
"No!" he hurriedly added, "uh- she said that you should drink it as soon as possible."
"So that's why you came here so quickly." Kagome sat at her desk with a light 'thump' and uncorked the bottle.
He nodded.
"Ew." She sniffed the mysterious liquid, "this smells awful."
"Just pinch your nose and swallow it." He looked away, afraid of what this potion might do. After all, Kaede was known to play mean tricks on him.
Kagome held her nose tightly and lifted the bottle to her lips. She gulped and then chugged the substance down quickly. "So, do you feel any different?" Inuyasha spoke up.
"No. Did Kaede say that there was any particular reason for me to drink this?" apprehension was evident in her voice now. Maybe it was a sleeping potion or something to drug her so that she could be ferried off to the feudal era again. What if it had really bad side effects? Just what could Kaede want to help her with- She stopped mid-thought; a realization hit her.
"Why was there only half a bottle of that stuff?" she stalked closer to Inuyasha who was now a bit wary of what she might do to him.
"Uh-" he managed.
"Why were you so eager for me to drink it if you didn't even know what it did?"
He audibly gulped and backed towards the window.
"Come to think of it, why would you do an errand for Kaede anyway? I didn't think the two of you got along very well."
Inuyasha made it to the window, and seeing the anger flaring up in Kagome, he jumped and started heading for the well house. "Wait just a minute you!" He turned and saw her flying from the window, in his direction.
"Dammit Kagome! What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha turned and caught her as she fell. "You could have gotten yourself killed doing something stupid like that!" he yelled.
She pulled out of his arms, dusted her skirt off, and took two confident steps backward. "Inuyasha?" Kagome gave him the look of death. He knew what usually followed, so he prepared to eat dirt. "Osuwari!" she shouted.
Inuyasha felt the tug of the beads pull him into the ground. Then he heard something that he never expected, Kagome screaming.
"What the-" She was suddenly flung to the ground, moments after Inuyasha. The wind was knocked from her lungs and she cried out sharply. The ground cut off her words and she struggled to turn her head to breathe. How did this happen?
Standing from his prone position, Inuyasha gaped at Kagome. "Why did that- Kagome!" he ran over to her side and helped her to stand. She was covered in dirt from head to toe and her legs had some scratches on them.
"Are you alright?"
"What did you do?" She turned her gaze on his eyes, staring him down, looking for answers that he didn't have. "What happened to me?"
"I think you were 'osuwari-'" He felt it before he finished his sentence. Kagome was pulled down in his arms and half a second later, so was he. She now lay on top of him, helpless to get up.
"At least this time, I got a cushion." She sarcastically replied. After the spell wore off, she stood again. "Just what is going on here." Again, she stared at Inuyasha. "You'd better tell me."
"Or what," he smirked, "you'll say 'it.' You know that if you do, you're going to be suffering too."
"I-" Kagome paused. He was telling the truth. "Let's take this to the other side of the well. It's late and I don't want to wake Mama or Souta."
"Keh."
He followed her to the well house and jumped in behind her. "Now," she started, "would you please tell me everything that Kaede said so I can figure this out?"
Inuyasha stood in silence.
"Please?" Kagome approached him and begged with her eyes.
"A-a-alright! Geez!" he stuttered. "You don't have anything to worry about, she said the effects only last a day."
"Oh." Kagome looked down, "Did you know what this potion did?"
"No."
"Honestly?"
"Keh, don't you trust me? I didn't know anything. You think I'd want this to happen?"
Another long pause. "Did you? Honestly?"
"Did I what?" he barked.
"Did you want something like this to happen?" Kagome whispered.
He didn't answer.
She sat down and patted the ground next to her signaling Inuyasha to join. He reluctantly sat down. "From the sound of that non-existent answer, I guess you did."
"I didn't say that!" he faced her.
"Listen." Kagome drew her knees up to her chest. "It's just the two of us here and I promise I won't tell anyone. But, I've got to know if we're going to be friends. Why would you want that to happen to me?"
Inuyasha sighed loudly and stared at the sky. "I wanted you to know how it felt."
"To be-"
"Yeah."
"Oh." She closed her eyes. "Why?"
"Because, you always say 'it' whenever I'm not 'Mr. Agreeable' and it ain't no picnic." He kept staring at the stars, avoiding her possible judgments. "You abuse it and treat me like a common dog."
"I didn't realize that." Kagome giggled to keep from crying. "If you want, I'll-" she reached for the beads around his neck.
"No." he grabbed her hand to still it. "Sometimes you need these. They've saved my life." They'd kept him connected to Kagome as well. Somehow he couldn't deal with removing them.
"Well, I owe you something for all of the times that I've said 'it' for no real reason right?" she wiped the stray tears from her eyes.
"Huh?" Inuyasha was genuinely confused. He'd expected Kagome to be mad, or upset, or even downright angry, but certainly not for her to owe him a favor.
"Let me see." She moved closer. A million thoughts raced through her mind. She'd better do it now while she had the courage and a decent rationale. "I think I-" she swallowed hard, "I think I know a-a way to repay you."
"How?" Inuyasha backed up slightly, his ears twitching.
"You have to trust me." She bated quietly.
"O-o-kay."
He listened as her heartbeat sped up. She was planning something and it seemed like she was scared. She was so close to him that he had to consciously try not to blush. He told himself to calm down, to relax. At least she couldn't 'sit' him right now, and hell, she'd even said she wanted to do him a favor. Just what kind of favor was she planning? Ramen? No nagging? What if she wanted to- he turned red despite his efforts. "K-kagome?" she seemed to be lost in thought herself.
Kagome had thought about this for years now. But what if he didn't understand? What if he resented her for all of the abuse she'd put him through and didn't appreciate what she was planning? How was this going to make up for all of the torture she'd pushed on him? All she could think about was all of the times that she'd been hurt or nearly died and how upset he'd been. Surely he at least forgave her- "Um-I-Inuyasha?"
She faced away. "Would you close your eyes?"
"Huh?" he snapped back to reality. "What for?"
"Just do it okay? Humor me?"
Inuyasha warily closed his eyes. "How long do I need to sit like this?"
"Just a minute, okay?" Kagome scooted closer. "I'll tell you when you can open them."
"Okay?" he remarked. What kind of gift could she have out here. She didn't know that they'd be here now, under these conditions, did she?
Pushing away all of the worries that plagued her, Kagome inched forward towards Inuyasha's face. She moved slowly, cautiously, trying not to alert him that she was getting close. Her lips were an inch from his when he suddenly opened his eyes. Her eyes widened with the shock and she almost fell backwards.
"K-kagome? You were- you were- what were you doing?" Inuyasha tried to hide the shock. She was going to kiss him? His heart jumped in his chest. If she was going to do that, did it mean that she loved him? Inuyasha shook his head to collect himself.
Kagome panicked. "Oh, no." she gasped. "I'm so sorry- I didn't-"
She was cut off when Inuyasha reached out and held her chin. "Oy." He stared right into her eyes, looking for the truth. "Were you going to- um-"
"Uh-uh-I was going to, b-but if you don't-" she stumbled over the words, discovering that when the love of your life has you, quite literally, in the palm of his hand, muscle control ceases to function.
"Then why didn't you?" Inuyasha turned his eyes to the ground.
"I-I thought, y-you opened your eyes-" Kagome managed.
"Is that all?" his golden eyes met hers again and any control she had melted away.
She nodded a little.
"Keh." With that, he scooped his other arm around her back and pulled her into a kiss. Kagome's eyes widened at the contact, but quickly fell shut as instinct took over. His lips were softer than she expected, and the kiss was so tender that she didn't notice Inuyasha was now wholly supporting the weight of her body. They broke apart for a moment.
"I-Inuyasha?" muscle control was slowly coming back.
He just looked at her. Kagome shivered, it felt like someone had just seen her naked or something. She continued, "I-I should tell you, I-I've wanted to tell- tell you for so- long-"
Inuyasha raised a finger to her lips. "I know, wench. Me too."
"Really?" Tears formed in her eyes. He nodded once.
"I love you so much, Inuyasha!" She leaped into his arms and pressed her lips to his again.
He pulled back for a moment, "Just don't tell Kaede or the monk, okay?"
"I will if you don't stop talking right now." Kagome started to lean in.
"One more word." He fell back, pulling Kagome on top of him.
"Okay." She conceded nervously, staring into his impish eyes.
"Osuwari." He whispered.
She felt herself pulled fast towards his waiting lips. He almost grinned through the kiss.
vvvvvvvvvv
A/N: Well, what did you think? Let me know with some reviews please! This is only my second fanfic on but if you like it, I will try to do more one-shots. I take suggestions, criticism, and story ideas, no flames please!
