A/N: Sorry it took so long, though the readers of my other story are probably even more mad at me...winces Anyway, yeah. I split the original chapter into two so the third chappie should be up soon also. Enjoy!
...
Yusuke arrived home that afternoon, slamming the door shut and walking towards the kitchen. He turned the corner and...SMACK!
He stumbled back, stars filling his vision. "Ow! What gives, Keiko?" he protested.
"We were supposed to go to the movies today, remember?" she demanded angrily.
"Oh, yeah..." he said, remembering, "Sorry about that. I completely forgot!"
"It doesn't matter," she said, "We had a great time without you."
"We?" he asked suspiciously. "By 'we,' you mean you and Botan, right? RIGHT?"
"No," she said breezily, "Koenma gave her some errands to run, so she couldn't make it."
"Then who—"
"Hey, Keiko! Do you know where the peanut butter is?" came the familiar voice. Kuwabara poked his head around the corner. "Oh, hi, Urameshi."
"Second cupboard to the left," replied Keiko, as if nothing had happened.
"Thanks he said and disappeared again into the kitchen.
Yusuke's mouth dropped open and he looked like he'd just swallowed a particularly juicy fly.
"You-you went with him?" he demanded.
"Yes," she responded, ignoring his tone, "and Kuwabara was a perfect gentleman. He even took me out for a drink when the movie was over."
"But him?" he said again, unable to think of anything else.
"You don't need to make it sound so bad, Urameshi," said Kuwabara, reproachfully poking his head out of the kitchen.
Puu flew out of the kitchen at that moment and landed on Kuwabara's shoulder.
"Great," Yusuke muttered, "Even my inner self is against me." He then proceeded to gawk and fume silently as Keiko ignored him and talked to Kuwabara.
"Thanks so much for coming," she said.
"It was nothing," said Kuwabara, blushing brightly.
"Well, I had a good time. We should do this again some time. I'll call you next time Yusuke ditches me at the theatre."
"Err...yeah," he said and hurriedly took his leave, both feeling and seeing Yusuke glaring fiery hell-daggers at him. Puu detached himself from Kuwabara and landed in Keiko's arms.
"Again?" sputtered Yusuke as Keiko closed the door. "With him?"
"Yes, Yusuke," she said, "with him because you don't seem to be capable of keeping your promises. And stop repeating yourself. You sound like a parrot."
"Keiko, I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it? It just...slipped my mind."
"'Slipped your mind'?" she repeated angrily. "That show how important it is to you."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SORRY! Look, I'll make it up to you...this Friday," he said quickly, naming the first date that came to his head.
"What about this Friday?"
"We'll go...see a movie. Whatever movie you want. My treat," he said, making it up as he went.
Keiko thought about it for a moment. "Okay," she agreed finally, "but you'd better show up this time."
"Don't worry," he said, relief written all over his face, "I'll be there for sure."
&&&
Dinner at Yusuke's house was always a particularly casual thing. Most of the time, he just grabbed something random out of the fridge. However, tonight his mom decided that they needed to eat together.
She prepared a surprisingly decent meal and made him sit down at the table.
"So what did you do today, Yusuke?" she asked in an I'm-a-good-mother tone that seemed quite strange coming from her mouth.
Yusuke, looking at her suspiciously, answered vaguely. "Hung out with a few of my friends."
"That's nice," she said, at a loss for what to say next.
They sat in silence for a moment, before Yusuke, unable to bear it any longer, asked, "What?"
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.
"Oh gimme a break, Mom. What is it? What is all this about?" he asked, gesturing at the food and the table.
"Well..." she began hesitantly. "You know those tickets I bought for our trip tomorrow?"
"Yeah," he said, trying to figure out what she was thinking.
"I kind of...bought two kids tickets instead of a kid ticket and an adult ticket."
"You what?" he asked, "Can't you change it?"
"I tried, but they said that everyone was traveling at this time so there would be no way I could get an adult ticket until fall."
"So you're saying I have to go alone?" It wasn't that it'd matter too much whether she was there or not, but at least she was someone he knew.
"Well, it wouldn't be that bad," she said. "Since we have an extra ticket, you can take one of your friends along with you. I bet Keiko would be happy to go with you."
Well, not all alone then, he thought.
"Ah! Keiko!" he shouted, suddenly getting up and surprising his mom. "I'll be right back," he called, running to the phone.
He picked it up and quickly called Keiko's number, praying that she would answer. "Hello, Yukimura residence," came the prim voice at the other end.
"Hey Keiko, it's me," he said.
"Hi, Yusuke." Her voice was cheerful as ever, seeming to have forgotten the afternoon's incident.
"Err...About Friday...I forgot to tell you something," he started nervously.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice resigned, as if she'd already expected him to cancel. He thought he'd detected a hint of hurt in it as well, but told himself he was imagining things.
"Well, the bad news is, I can't make it because I'll be in Tokyo," he paused, waiting for the explosion that he knew was coming.
To his surprise, she only said, "Oh."
However, this made him even more nervous. It was one thing to have her mad at him, but when she acted like this...
"Good news is you get to come with me," he blurted out quickly, hoping for a good response.
"Oh my god! Are you serious?" she asked excitedly.
He smiled. "Of course I am. Mom accidentally bought two kids tickets so she can't go."
"That's too bad," she said.
That's Keiko for you, he thought fondly, Always have to think of someone else.
"Can you be ready by tomorrow?" he asked.
"So soon? Wait, it was tomorrow and you still told me to go to the movies with you on Friday?" she said.
"Keiko!"
"Alright, alright, but you have to be more responsible, Yusuke."
He sighed. "I'll come to your house tomorrow morning and help you bring your stuff over," he said.
"Okay. When's the train leaving?"
"Err...I don't know," he said.
"Well go ask your mom, then!" she said, as if stating the obvious, which she was.
"Okay, okay! You don't have to yell at me, you know." There was a clatter as he put the phone down. A moment later, he returned, saying, "Five o'clock in the afternoon. We should get there some time at night."
"Sounds great," she said and he could actually hear the smile in her voice.
"Alright," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"'Kay. Bye."
&&&
Kagome slipped quietly into her house later that night. Sliding the door closed, she tiptoed upstairs into her room, dropping her bag and grabbing a towel and some soap. She made her way to the bathroom down the hall and closed the door behind her, hoping she hadn't wakened anybody up. Turning on the faucet, she made herself a nice, hot bath, sighing gratefully as she took off her clothes and got in, allowing the water to soak away a weeks worth of grime and demon blood. There was nothing like a bath to make a person feel human again, she thought, content.
She got a bar of soap and began scrubbing, humming lightly to herself, thinking of the past week. Now that school was over, she could spend a lot more time in the feudal era. They had gotten three shards this week, quite an achievement. Naraku already had over half of the jewel, but they were working hard to get the rest of it. They may be able to get enough to equal his power, but they had beaten him before. Now they just needed a bit of a boost. At least, that's what they told themselves. What else was there to believe?
Kagome sighed. Now was not the time to think of those problems. Leaning back into the water, she rested her head on the rim of the tub. She must have fallen asleep because she was awakened when she suddenly realized that she was breathing, not air, but water. She erupted from the water, coughing and sputtering as she gulped in mouthfuls of air.
She looked out the window (A/N: which I decided, for whatever reason, had to be open while she was taking a bath...-;;) to find that it was early morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and the cool morning air was making her shiver; that and the water that had turned icy while she slept.
She quickly got out, dried herself up and wrapped a towel around her hair. Gathering her things, she walked back to her room. It was still early and nobody in her family had awakened yet. And I shouldn't be either, she thought, yawning. She hung her towel back up in her bathroom and put on her pajamas before flopping into bed and sleeping until late morning.
She woke up feeling comfortable and refreshed. She went downstairs, still in her pajamas and found her mom in the kitchen, cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
"Oh, good morning, Kagome," she said when she noticed her daughter's presence.
"'Morning, Mom," she replied, grabbing a bowl and going over to the cupboard to get some cereal.
"How was your time in the feudal era?" asked her mom in the tone a normal mom would be asking 'How was your day at school?'
"It was fine," replied Kagome vaguely as she munched on a spoonful of cereal. "We got a few more shards."
"That's great, honey. I'm glad you're home."
"Yeah. Me, too."
There was a moment of silence as Kagome continued to eat her cereal contentedly, not suspecting that anything was wrong. Finally, her mom spoke up again, clearing her throat.
"Erm...Kagome?" she began hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"I have a favor to ask you..."
"Sure, what's up, Mom?"
"Well, your cousin Yusuke is coming to stay with us for a while."
"Little Yusuke? Wow, I haven't seen him in ages. How is he?"
"Well, I guess he's doing well. My sister is quite vague...The point is, Kagome, he's going to be staying with us for quite a while and I wanted to ask if you could stay here, instead of going with Inuyasha, at least for a little while."
"What? But I have to go! They need me!"
"Just for a little while," her mother pleaded. "Just show him around and when he gets settled in, we can think of an excuse to let you go."
Kagome thought about it for a while. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "When is he getting here?"
"Tonight, around nine. Would you like to come pick him up from the train station with me?"
"Sure, Mom. Just call me when you leave."
"Okay, dear. You can leave those dishes in the sink, I'll do them."
Kagome had finished her breakfast and brought her dishes over. "Thanks, Mom," she said before heading back to her room to change.
&&&
That night, the station was packed full of people. Kagome and her mom stood to the side, waiting for the train to get there.
"Attention ladies and gentlemen," came the female announcer's voice on the loudspeaker. "Train 10 has been delayed, but should be arriving shortly. Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience."
"Wonder what's taking so long," said Kagome, craning her neck to see if the train had arrived yet.
...
A/N: So, anyone curious as to what's going on aboard the train? Well, read the next chapter to find out!
Special thanks to all my reviewers!
Peachy Garlic: Hm...all I have to say is READ IT! Well, I s'pose you don't have to since I'm not reading all of yours, but...! -
Majinzahne: Lol. Well, thanks for reading my story despite your doubts. I won't exactly tell you how it will end up (partly because I'm not quite sure myself) but since I agree with you wholeheartedly, I think you'll be quite satisfied.
Saiyuki Luver: Lol. Well, I don't know what happened exactly, but that's how it turned out. I had a lot of fun writing it. Heh. Apparently, I like making idiots outta my characters Shrugs I guess you learn something new about yourself everyday.
KitsuneMIKO: Thank you for reviewing. I kind of already have a semi plan for the story, but I'll take your opinion into account...
Alex36: I'm trying. My comp crashed and took all I had of the next chapter. Argh! KILL ALL VIRUSES! Sry...got a bit carried away...I'm gonna rewrite it, but it'll take a while once again, because, once again, my comp crashed so I have to use other comps. Grr.
Lady of the Squrriles: Well, the pairings are going to be a surprise. There is romance, but I don't know if this will be a typical Inu x YYH but it's not like the few I've read so far...