Hey guys! Another update, just for you! Enjoy!
Dedicated to my first reviewer, penguinlover7! Also dedicated to digigrllover. You know why? My 400th reviewer! Yay! Keep reviewing everyone!
26 - A Spicy Stomach Ache
Alternate chapter name - The Return of Inuyasha and Miroku's Cooking
"Are you sure you're okay, Miroku?" Kagome asked for the sixth time in ten minutes as they walked up to Sesshomaru's front door.
He smiled that disarming smile of his and held up his right hand. "Dear Kagome, I'm as fine as someone with a hole in their hand could be. But please, don't worry so much. Stress causes wrinkles!" he said with a laugh as Inuyasha knocked on the door.
'I guess that's his way of telling me to shut up about it,' Kagome thought meekly as the door opened and they were attacked by two bundles of energy.
"Oh Miroku! Are you okay?" Rin said as she held his wrist carefully, examining the large bandage with critical eyes.
"Ah, little Rin, I'll be just fine!" he said as he ruffled her hair slightly, earning a giggle.
"You know what would make it better?" she asked shyly. He shook his head, signaling that he indeed didn't know. Her face flushed slightly as she brought his wrapped palm to her lips, kissing it quickly before completely letting go of his wrist. "There. I kissed it and now it will be better."
A light smile crossed his face. "It feels better already! Thank you so much, Rin!" he said with flourish, causing the little girl to blush even brighter.
"You're engaged Miroku! Stop flirting with younger women!" Sango said lightly as she came up next to him, flashing Rin a smile.
"You had better not be talking about my daughter," came a familiar cold voice from the door. Sesshomaru's tall frame filled the gap in the wall, his long silvery hair playing easily in the wind. "Come in," he instructed as he quickly plucked Shippou from Kagome's head.
"Oh dear! What exactly happened?" Kagura questioned as she took in the site before her. Inuyasha was fine, considering the scowl on his face was always there. Kagome looked quite tired and distressed, but otherwise unharmed. The other two... they concerned her the most. White bandages peaked out from under Sango's blouse and jeans, covering a great deal of her body, plus a little of her cheeks. Miroku's right hand was bound tightly and his left shoulder was wrapped, causing his upper body to look unbalanced. Overall, they were quite the eye full.
"Yura attacked, we cut some hair, Miroku got stabbed, and her comb broke," Inuyasha said with a tone that told everyone the subject was closed.
Kagome smiled. 'Inuyasha always protects me,' she thought gratefully as they all plopped down side by side on the couch, which really wasn't made for four people.
"You speak of this too lightly, little brother," Sesshomaru said as he dropped Shippou, who scurried to the warmth of Kagome's lap. He snickered when he heard Inuyasha growl. "This attack signals that-"
"Yura's was a moron," Inuyasha finished for him. "Honestly, if Naraku were here, wouldn't he have attacked before now? Honestly, it's been two months! What could he have been doing all that time?"
"You don't understand," Kagura said from the far corner of the love seat that sat perpendicular to the couch. "We took great measures to ensure that no one could find out location. That's one of the many reasons we moved to this little town, in hopes we would not be found. But, I suppose that was foolish of us, no?" She smoothed Rin's hair down as she climbed into her lap, burying her small hands in the loose material at the hem of her mother's shirt. "Running from problem's just delays their solution."
"She's right." Sesshomaru moved and in an unusual show of affection, placed his hand gently on Kagura's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do right now except for stay alert of any strange happenings. Naraku is looming nearby. Knowing him, he only brought his best agents."
"Yura and Tsubaki," Sango supplied.
"Yes. We can't make you stay here, so keep your eyes open." Sesshomaru gave each one of them a hard glare, showing how serious he was.
"We know, we know," they groaned.
The room was silent. No one knew what to say, because nothing could change that the lifestyle they had finally gotten used to was being threatened once again.
"Momma! I'm hungry! Can we eat breakfast?" Rin asked, pulling lightly on Kagura's shirt.
A warm smile crossed her face as she tweaked Rin's nose gently. "Of coarse. What does everyone want?"
Inuyasha and Miroku instantly stood, grins lighting up their faces. "Let us cook breakfast, Kagura!" Inuyasha said as he strode to their immaculate kitchen.
"Yes, it's the least we can do for everything you've given us!" Miroku winked as he ducked in after Inuyasha.
Kagome and Sango both groaned. "This is just great..." the magenta eyed girl said, sliding into the couch.
"Do you think we should supervise?" Kagome questioned her friend.
"No, they would make us leave. It will take them at least an hour to cook anything, so let's take a walk." Sango stood and offered a hand to Kagome, which she gladly accepted.
"Kagome! Will you take me and Rin to the park?" Shippou begged as he hugged Kagome's leg.
"Yeah! Please?"
"Sure, why not?" Kagome scooped up Shippou in her arms and Sango took Rin's hand and they walked out the front door.
"Do you think they're safe?" Kagura asked her husband as he slipped onto the love seat next to her.
"Naraku will take a couple days to collect his forces. There's nothing to worry about for now." He draped his arm along the couch behind Kagura as she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest.
"Is something bothering you?" she asked. As soon as she said it, she knew it was a stupid question. 'Of coarse something's bothering him! The kids were attacked yesterday...'
"Miroku needs to pay me back for Sango's wedding ring."
She raised her eyebrow for a moment, then chuckled lightly. "Is that really what's on your mind? Or were you being... dare I say it? Funny?"
He gave her a small grin, causing her heart to beat a little faster. "Both." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "And I'm also concerned for our health. I don't think eating the boy's breakfast would be a good idea."
"Why's that?" she asked, curling her legs up onto the couch and wrapping her arms around Sesshomaru's chest.
An unenthusiastic frown crossed his features, causing her to smile. "I've sampled their cooking. It just... Not normal."
"What?" Tsubaki said, not believing her ears.
"Yura's dead." Naraku dropped a little figure in a space suit into his gold fish bowl, being careful not to hit his beloved fish. "Shame too. She was good... I guess not good enough."
"How..." Oddly, Tsubaki found this news hard to take. 'Why do I even care? Yura was a slutty moron. I should be grateful to the little brats for getting rid of her.'
"Does the space man look good in the tank?" Naraku asked, but when he looked up Tsubaki was gone. He clicked his tongue and went to retrieve some gold fish treats. "What a temper..."
Down the hall, the gray haired woman found her eyes burning and a lump growing in the back of her throat. 'Damn... What's my problem?' She charged into the little 'living room' and plopped down on the lumpy couch. She squeezed her stony eyes shut, attempting to block the tears she was threatening to spill.
"Why? Why do I feel like this? I didn't even like Yura!" she whispered. She thought back to all the time she was forced to spend with the hair demon over the last couple years. "It wasn't that bad," she reasoned with herself. "Sure, she was annoying. Sure, she was always horny. Sure, she was whiny. But... she's the only one who even ever pretended to care." She stood and opened her now dry eyes. "So now I'll pretend to care, too. I kill those brats. Not for Naraku. No, he doesn't deserve anything really. But... for revenge."
- 3 days later
"Ohhhh..." Kagome groaned and rolled, knocking the cold wash cloth off her head.
"Geesh, sit still will ya?" Inuyasha said softly as he sat next to her on the bed and gently turned her back over, setting a new wash cloth on her warm forehead. "Now go back to sleep. Rest."
"Ohhhh..."
He shook his head lightly and watched her as she quickly fell back into sleep. She had been sick for three days, and Inuyasha couldn't help but feel bad about it.
- flash back
"Um... this almost looks... normal!" Kagome said as she sat down at the kitchen table. She and Sango had just brought the kids back from the park and found Inuyasha and Miroku's breakfast ready to be served.
"Never judge a book by it's cover," Sesshomaru said from a couple feet away, glaring at the innocent looking scrambled eggs with his sharp amber eyes.
"And never, ever judge their cooking by it's look," Sango said, trying to figure out what they did to their breakfast.
"Aw, come on! We aren't that bad cooks..." Inuyasha said, drooping his ears.
'Poor guys, they worked so hard... Oh well. It could... maybe... be good!' With a confident look, she nodded her head once in self-assurance. She plunged her fork into the eggs and took a large bite.
"What's in it anyway?" Shippou asked from Kagura's arms.
"Well, eggs of coarse," Miroku said.
"And some extra spicy hot sauce," Inuyasha added.
"With some cut up hot tamale candy-"
"chili powder-"
"bannana peppers-"
"some weird red sprinkles we found in the cubbard-"
"coffee beans-"
"some... Hey, where are you going, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked innocently as he watched her run quickly to the bathroom with her hands over her mouth. He followed her closely and everyone else glared at Miroku.
"Hehe... What?" He scratched the back of his neck and looked away.
"Do you even think about what the food will taste like while you're cooking it?" Kagura asked as she picked up the bowl of eggs and dumped them in the trash.
"Hey! Those were perfectly-" Miroku complained before being cut off by the sound of Kagome emptying her stomach. They all glared at him, daring him to say it. "Horrible! You were correct to dump them out!"
- end flash back
"I wonder if we used bad eggs?" Inuyasha thought out loud.
"The ingredients were bad..." Kagome mummbled as she cracked her eyes open to look at Inuyasha's pouting face. "You should have warned me... Spicy things tear my stomach up..."
His expression instantly softened. "Sorry, babe." His claws brushed against the skin on her upper arm lightly, sending her heart racing. "Open," he said as he poked a thermometer at her lips.
With a giggle she slid the cold metal under her tongue. 'It's so cute how Inuyasha has been acting as a nurse lately... Taking off of work even! That hardly ever happens! He's so sweet... I'm lucky to have him really. Always protecting me, even from the very begining. Back when I first moved to Tokyo, I would have never thought that in less than six months I would be in America, running from assassins and engaged! Life is never boring...'
The beeping sound of the thermometer shook Kagome from her thoughts as Inuyasha plucked it from her mouth. "Only 99.7 this time. Much better! Tomorrow I'm gong back to work and you're going to school!" he announced happily.
Kagome pulled her covers up to her chin and stuck out her lower lip. "Are you sure? I'm still not feeling that well..."
He grinned and ran his claws through her short raven locks. "Why do I feel like I'm talking to a child?"
"Aw, but I wanna stay home and play games with you all day!" she whined, gripping his hand between hers.
"Ha, you're the one who said we couldn't 'play games' until we were married!"
She put on a fake look of disgust. "That's right, you pervert! You've been hanging around Miroku too much..." A large yawn escaped her as she brought a hand to her mouth.
He brushed her bangs back gently. "You should get some sleep." He moved to leave, but she grabbed the edge of his shirt.
"Um... Would you... Uh..." she mummbled, her eyes slowly closing. With a grin he hopped into bed next to her, spooning her to his chest. "You know me too well..."
"Yeah, yeah... Get some sleep," he whispered in her ear as he settled in. Soon her breathing regulated, a soft snore escaping her lips every few seconds. Inuyasha contemplated getting up, but then decided against it. This was too comfortable.
- the next day
"And he made you come back to school?" Sango asked Kagome as they walked to their homeroom.
"Yeah," she grumbled. "He had to practically throw me in the shower. Got my pajamas wet, too."
Sango laughed as they stopped at the vending machine to grab a granola bar. "Oh well. Just get through these last four days of exams and then it will be over for a while. This summer we'll-"
"What do you mean 'exams'!" Kagome exclaimed.
"Um... End of the year exams start today. You knew that Kagome."
Before Sango could finish she had run off toward her locker. Sango just smiled, grabbed her breakfast from the plastic vending machine flap, and followed.
"But what about dinner?" Inuyasha whined when he got home from work to find Kagome's books all over the kitchen table. "How can we eat with your school crap everywhere?"
If looks could kill, Inuyasha would've suffered multiple deaths from her icy glare.
His ears fell to his head and a light scowl played across his features. He quietly crawled on the floor to her chair leg and took a deep breath. Putting on his best puppy face, he pulled on the hem of her skirt...
"So Kagome kicked you out, too?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha entered the restraunt that sat on a corner one block from their apartment building.
"So what?" He said coldly as he slid into the booth across from Miroku.
Miroku just smiled and offered his dog earred friend some of his fries. "These tests are important to the girls, Inuyasha. We should leave them be. They must do well."
"Yeah, I know. All I wanted was dinner..." he complained as he stuffed a fry in his mouth.
"Why didn't you cook something?"
Miroku froze at the glare Inuyasha sent him. "After my cooking made her sick? I'll just leave the cooking to her."
"Yes, Sango said she looked much better today."
He nodded in response. "I was worried about her... It didn't seem like she was going to get better."
"She just had a stomach infection. Perhaps it was the spiciness of the dish?"
"That's what Kagome told me. Have you heard from Sesshomaru or Kagura?"
Miroku thought for a moment. "Yes, Sango told me they called yesterday to check up on Kagome. They didn't call you directly in fear of making you angry. They know how on edge you get when Kagome's in danger."
A small grin crossed his face. "I can't help it. I love her."
Miroku nodded his agreement as Inuyasha ordered some food for himself and more for Miroku, considering he ate all of his.
"So how's the hand?" Inuyasha said after inhaling his burger.
Miroku looked down at his right hand cautiously. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but..." He grimaced. "Every time I change the bandage, I can't help but notice the hole that is left. The doctor said a couple months..."
"Then be patient and don't over do it."
"Coming from you, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he replied with a smirk.
"You've got a point..." Inuyasha agreed with a grin.
The two friends finished their meal and headed home.
"Geesh, I hate calculus..." Kagome muttered as she retrieved a glass of water from the sink. "I kinda feel bad for kicking Inuyasha out, but he knows how important this is to me... to us."
Suddenly she heard a scratching sound from the sliding door in the living room. Hesitantly she passed by the couch and peeked around outside.
"I must be going crazy from all this studying..." she thought out loud as she turned away.
Then she heard it again, but this time she knew what it was. The sound of cracking ice... or glass.
She tried to run, but it was too late as the sliding door shattered.
"Damn that idiot for sticking me with the check," Inuyasha said to the stairwell as he climbed to his and Kagome's apartment.
Near the door he stopped when a familiar, yet sickening smell drifted to his nose. He unlocked the door quickly and ran in, nearly ripping it from it's hinges.
What he saw made him want to cry.
To my Friends and Reviewers -
penguinlover7 - I don't know if this one is as long as the last, but it's a good 10 pages. I'll try harder to get longer chapters, but this seemed like a nice place to stop! Thanks!
sapphire-glass - Hehe! I know what you mean. I'm too lazy to go back through and check for them myself, so I asked the readers to! I'm so bad! Short stories aren't bad! Yay, fluffy chappie for me! Can't wait, Sapph-chan! Love and Hugs, my furry friend!
Sangonesan - Hehe, thanks! Yeah, like they say, all good things must come to an end... In about a month, give or take a week. Yep. It will be sad, but that means I can write new things! But I will miss LAK... Yay! Thanks!
Manda - Yeah, I'm not a big action writer yet... I'm working on it though! Thanks!
Lizzie Welling - Wow, thanks so much! It's reviews like your's that make me really happy as a writer! I'm going to go through and fix my mistakes when the story is completed, and I'll make sure to fix those! Again, thanks so much!
Life sucks. live with it - THANKS A LOT! HEHE!
pistachio564 - Oh, I know! I thought I was the only one who cried for dead animals! Yay! I needed some MirSan fluff in there and I'm glad you liked it! That was a fun scene to write! I know I'd want to cry from nearly dying! Thanks so much!
demon mind69 - Yay! Hehe! Thankies! Inu-clown got so much love! Glad you like him!
digigrllover - First off, thanks for being my 400th reviewer! Thanks so much! Yeah, sometimes I just threw random characters in there. Hehe! I think I only made up one character in the entire story, and that was the flight attendant. You're so sweet!
Brickwall847 - Wow, thanks! When I get tired of this story, I take a little break and work on a Rurouni Kenshin fic. I don't know if it will ever get on the website, but it's a break! When I edit the story I'll try to add more detail to that part! Thanks!
JadeElemental - I know, I know, you hate Yura! Couldn't you imagine Miroku with Inu and Kagome when they ran into Yura? Haha! Wow, my brian hurts, too. Luckily for some reason I don't need my brain to write! Love and Hugs to you my friend!
Lanerz - Cool! I'll add you! Yeah, Summer of a Lifetime is my next stop. You can read it now if you like, It just won't be updated until... October, most likely. Considering I'm going to edit the entire story... That's gonna take me a bit of time! Boston? Cool, I've never been there. Ew, that would stink! Hope you had a nice time despite the plane ride! Love and Hugs!
Oozaru Angel - Hm, I wonder why the review button wasn't working? Anyway, thanks!
This story is getting so long... But never fear! It will end on it's one year anniversary! Exciting, no? I want to say thank you to everyone for over 400 reviews and well over 4800 hits since the end of June! You guys are awesome! Oh, and please check out my homepage! www. freewebs. com/ tsuki-hana/ (take out the spaces, of coarse!) It houses all my fanfics, some fan art, some photos, and my favorite sites, plus more! So drop by and give me a shout! Well, not much to say here this time. I'll be starting school August 30. Sophmore! Yay! So updates might be a little slow right around there, but it WILL be done by my deadline! I promise! Adios, mi bien amigos y amigas!
Ash