Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I was a little nervous since it was my first time posting anything, but you have all allied my fears. This means that you shall receive more fics, InuYasha and otherwise, whether you want them or not. You have been warned. Also thanks to my best girl Jay-chan, without whom I couldn't have posted the first chapter in the first place…
Disclaimer: As previously stated, I do not own InuYasha or any of the other characters mentioned in this story…not even Kirara. (sniffle) Too bad.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
It was early afternoon in the feudal era forest. Giant, puffy cotton clouds floated lazily across the blue sky, casting welcome shade for a small group of travelers leaving the dusty road behind in favor of the cool trees. They stopped in a tiny clearing just inside the forest, more than ready for a rest.
"Oh, it's such a gorgeous day!" Kagome sighed happily, raising her arms over her head and stretching as hard as she could. Near her feet, Shippo stretched as well, imitating Kagome as he always did. The schoolgirl smiled. It was almost like having another little brother, just in the feudal era. She giggled as the tiny kitsune let out an enormous yawn.
"Feh. What have you got to be tired about, fox? You've been riding on someone's head all day!"
Kagome's cheerful expression immediately soured. Leave it to InuYasha to ruin the moment. The half-demon had been sulking all morning. "Leave him alone, InuYasha. It's not his fault he has tiny legs. He gets tired easily."
"Yeah." Insulted, Shippo directed a raspberry and the all-powerful stink eye at the scowling dog-demon. "And it's not my fault you got caught doing something stupid, either, so—waaaugh!"
"Shut up, you rotten little runt!" Snarling ferociously, InuYasha lunged after Shippo, who had already taken refuge behind Kagome. "I told you we were never gonna mention that again!"
"Sit, boy." Kagome heaved a much put-upon sigh as the angry half-demon got up-close and personal with some dirt, small rocks, and a few tiny insects. "Alright, you two. InuYasha, don't pick on Shippo. Shippo, don't antagonize InuYasha. That includes saying anything about my clock. Agreed?"
"Okay! Can we have lunch now?" Seeming to have already forgotten what the problem was, the fox-demon jumped off Kagome's shoulder and sprinted toward the two other members of the party, who had been ignoring the whole episode. "Sango, Miroku, do you wanna have lunch yet?"
"Oh, are the three of you finished?" Miroku looked up from polishing the rings on his staff. "Yes, I think lunch is a wonderful idea. How about you, Lady Sango?"
Sango stretched, removing Kirara from her lap and getting up off the rock she had been sitting on. "Absolutely. Um, Kagome… is InuYasha alright?" The dog-demon was still facedown in the dirt, making some very threatening (though somewhat muffled) growling and snarling sounds.
Kagome sighed again. "He's still mad about last night. And I think I might have added insult to injury when I asked him to carry my bag… Oh, well. He's InuYasha. He'll be over it in no time if we just leave him be for a while."
"As you say, Kagome." Sango left the conversation at that and crossed the clearing to set down her boomerang bone next to Kagome's backpack, lying next to a tree where InuYasha had dropped it. "So, what is there for lunch? Other than ramen."
InuYasha's furry ears perked, then drooped as his companions began to discuss plans for lunch that did not include his beloved ramen. Pulling himself up out of the dust, he began to inch toward the trees, growling softly. What was it going to take to get some of those blasted noodles?! He leapt lightly onto a promising branch. The fiasco from the night before kept coming back to haunt him at the rate of about once every five minutes; not only was he a hungry hanyou, but also one whose pride had been miffed.
"InuYasha!" Kagome's voice suddenly brought the dog-demon back to the present. "We've decided to go back to the river we just crossed. Miroku thinks he can get us some fresh fish for lunch. Do you want to come with us?"
InuYasha pointedly ignored the rumbling in his stomach and sneered down at her. "No thanks. I've got better things to do."
"Uh-huh." Kagome raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Such as…?"
"Feh. None of your business."
"Alright, fine." Shrugging, she turned to go, calling back to the foul-tempered beast in the tree as she did so. "We'll bring you back a fish, so the least you can do is make a fire while we're gone, okay?" There was no answer from the tree but a bad-tempered rustling in the leaves. "Okay?"
"Feh."
Making a strangling motion in the air with both hands, Kagome stalked off after Sango, muttering to herself. "Just go ahead and keep it up, buster. I'll sit you so far into the ground you'll be able to shake hands with the tree roots!"
"See you later, InuYasha," Miroku called, scooping Shippo onto his shoulder and following the girls. He got no answer, but then, he hadn't been expecting one. "I hope he has the good sense not to do anything foolish while we're gone…"
"You don't think he's gonna go after Kagome's ramen again, do you?" Shippo asked, darting a glance back at the apparently-empty tree.
"Well, Shippo, there's always that possibility. However, after last night, I don't think even InuYasha would be that stupid." Snickering quietly, monk and kitsune vanished into the trees.
O.O.O.O.O
InuYasha waited a full five minutes before coming down from the tree. He looked cautiously all around, and even followed their trail part of the way to the river to make sure they had really gone. At last, certain he was alone, the half-demon headed straight for the unguarded backpack. Sulking in the tree, he had come up with the perfect plan. Kagome had asked him to build a fire. To build a fire quickly, he needed matches. The matchbox was in Kagome's backpack.
Grinning evilly to himself, InuYasha opened the backpack. Oh, he would get the matches and start their fire, sure enough. But he would also get some ramen while he was at it. And he wouldn't try to take all of it this time, either. Just one bowl, and he could disappear into the forest with the evidence. When the others returned from the river they would find a fire burning and hot water ready, and be none the wiser.
"It's not like Kagome's actually gonna count the ramen," he reasoned to himself, pulling out the matches. "She'd never miss one little bowl. Ah, now I need wood!"
Sprinting into the trees, he soon returned with an armload of sticks and twigs. Tossing them down haphazardly on the ground in the center of the clearing, he pulled out a match and soon had a reasonable facsimile of a cook fire going. Pouring several bottles of the crew's drinking water into a small kettle, he placed it on the fire to boil and leapt on the backpack.
"Oh, ramen? Where are you, my tasty little treat? A-ha!" Pawing his way past a toothbrush, a hand mirror, and a pair of panties with a chibi bunny-rabbit pattern, InuYasha grabbed a bowl and pulled it out. He held it up to his face, sniffing deeply.
Ah, this one was pork flavored. He could smell it right through the Styrofoam. Licking his lips, the hanyou returned to the fire and pulled the paper top off the bowl. Any minute now, the water would be ready and victory would be his.
Leaving the bowl on a rock next to the fire, InuYasha went back over to the backpack. After all, he needed chopsticks to eat his ramen. Reaching into the bag once more, though, he had a thought. Mightn't he just take one more bowl…? Pork ramen was delicious, but then, so was shrimp ramen. And who could forget chicken flavored ramen? It was cruel to take just one flavor. Telling himself this, the dog-demon stuck his hand back into the backpack.
"Huh?" The object his hand closed around was definitely not a bowl of ramen. Curious, he pulled it out. "What in the world…?"
The thing was round and flat, as large as his hand when he spread his fingers, with buttons all around the edge. A careful sniff proved it to be made of the same odd material as Kagome's hairbrush; plastic, and blue as a clear summer sky. But what was it?
Turning it in a slow circle, InuYasha realized that what he held was not the object in its entirety. A long cord was connected to its side, trailing back down into the depths of the backpack. A quick tug brought the end of the cable to light. As he held up the forked end of the cord, the two tiny plastic pieces bumped together with a clink. Now he knew what the object was.
On one of his few visits to Kagome's time he had seen many people—more people than he had once thought possible—milling on the sidewalks and streets. And some of them, he recalled, had carried objects just like this with (it had seemed to him) a great deal of pleasure. Now, if he remembered right, the two little pieces went… He glanced quickly around. There was still no sign of Kagome or the others. Satisfied, the half-demon stuffed the plastic pieces in his ears.
"Let's see what this thing does…" Surely, if the pieces went in the ears, sound must be involved. He wasn't sure how, but he meant to find out. Completely forgetting his vow of abstinence from all curiosity-arousing future devices, InuYasha began to push buttons.
"THE WARDEN THREW A PARTY AT THE COUNTY JAIL—"
"GYAAAAAHH!" Scratching frantically at his head, InuYasha grabbed hold of the cables and ripped the speakers out of his sensitive canine ears, cutting off the insanely loud music. He shook his head violently, trying to stop the ringing in his skull. People actually enjoyed subjecting themselves to this! Maybe there was some trick to it he just wasn't seeing…
Very carefully, and at a safe distance from his ears, the dog-demon picked up the speakers. The music still blared. Pushing more buttons seemed like a viable option, and soon yielded up a bit of success in the form of a knob that moved back and forth. With it went the volume of the music.
"Feh, this isn't so hard! I can handle this!" Grinning smugly to himself, InuYasha adjusted the volume to a decent level and replaced the speakers in his ears. He felt quite smart and wanted to play with the new toy some more. In moments he had figured out how to change songs.
"We're caught in a trap… I can't walk out… because I love you too much, Baby…"
"Well since my baby left me, I've found a new place to dwell…"
"You look like an angel… walk like an angel… talk like an angel…"
Grinning hugely, InuYasha pushed the button over and over, listening to the first few seconds of each song, then moving on. Unbeknownst to him, he was reaching the end of the CD when… the hanyou found a song that spoke to his soul.
"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog… cryin' all the time…
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog… cryin' all the time…"
InuYasha's golden eyes opened wide. What was going on? The music was doing something strange to his leg! Without his conscious permission, his foot began to tap the grassy ground, almost as if someone were scratching the magic itchy spot behind his left ear.
"Well they said you was high class… but that was just a lie…
Yeah they said you was high class… but that was just a lie…
You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine!"
Although he felt a bit sorry for the hound dog in question, InuYasha felt himself smiling like a fool as the background singers began to bay like a pack of coonhounds on the trail of a Kibbles 'n' Bits truck. Before he even knew what he was doing, the half-demon was bounding around the clearing, moving his body to the music and snapping his clawed fingers in time with the beat. This was amazing! Why on earth hadn't he ever seen Kagome playing with this wonderful toy?
"They said you was high class… but that was just a lie…
Yeah they said you was high class… but that was just a lie…
Well you ain't never caught a rabbit… and you ain't no friend of mine!
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog!"
As the drums beat out an enthusiastic finish, InuYasha spun twice in the middle of the clearing, flailing his arms like a lunatic, and fell onto his back in the grass, giggling like a tickled pup. He stared up through the branches that reached out over the clearing, trying to remember when he'd last had so much fun. Other than slaughtering problem demons, nothing came to mind. He was reaching for the CD player, ready to listen to his song again, and perhaps even again, when he heard it. A muted sound from somewhere behind him.
Almost afraid of what he might see, InuYasha tilted his head back, staring upside-down across the clearing. There, slack-jawed and speechless, stood his traveling companions. The hanyou did his best to keep his features even, though he knew he must be redder than his rat-fur robe. "What?"
Kagome was the first to break down. She laughed until she was bent double and tears streamed down her face. Shippo fell over and began to roll on the ground at her feet in his hilarity, holding his sides tightly.
"Oh. My. Kami-sama." Sango hurriedly raised a hand to cover her mouth, but couldn't quite dam the flow of giggles that was beginning to stream forth. In moments she was laughing freely, and in a few more was forced to lean against a super-sized Kirara for support as her entire body shook with mirth. The cat-demon simply stared at InuYasha blankly, a string of still-glistening fish hanging from her jaws.
"InuYasha." Surprisingly, Miroku was the only one not laughing. He slowly crossed the clearing until stood in front of the glowering, blushing hanyou. "InuYasha, have you been possessed? Do you require me to perform an exorcism?"
"SHUT UP!" Howling with fury and embarrassment, InuYasha took a swing that left the insanely laughing monk on his back in the dirt. Forgetting even his precious bowl of ramen next to the fire, the mortified dog-demon sprinted for the trees. As he rapidly made tracks away from the scene, however, he could hear Kagome's breathless, giggly comment to Sango.
"Sango, re…remind me to—tee-hee-hee!—to let InuYasha get into muh…my stuff—bwa-ha-ha!—more off…more often! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
O.O.O.O.O
To Be Concluded…
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
(One more) Disclaimer: I also do not own any of Mr. Presley's songs—though I do enjoy them whenever they come on the radio.