Disclaimer- Now if I owned Inuyasha, do you honestly think I would be sitting here writing this instead of vacationing in the Bahamas? I think not.
AN- I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I was a little worried about it being too mushy so soon. :-)
School Again
Kagome trudged up the stairs to her bedroom after giving her mom a quick kiss on the cheek and saying good night to her grandfather and brother. All in all, it had been a pretty calm day until just over an hour ago, but for some reason she felt exhausted. As she lifted one heavy foot after the other, she began to have trouble keeping her eyes open. 'Must be the adrenaline wearing off,' she thought with a large yawn. 'Bath, then bed for me.' She just hoped she didn't fall asleep in the tub. Now wouldn't that be the icing on the cake? Inuyasha was already pissed for having to rescue her from two teenage thugs, she could just imagine his reaction if he had to save her from drowning in her own bath tub. 'He'd probably let me sink to the bottom and stay there, just to spite me.' Of course that train of thought led to what would happen if he actually did burst into the bathroom to save her from some very waterlogged dreams, and she felt her face heat up. 'Maybe I'll just take a bath in the morning when I'm not so sleepy.' But even as she threw out the suggestion to herself, she could feel her scalp start to itch from the sweat that had dried there after her impromptu jog to the shrine.
Deciding she would take the risk of drowning in her sleep, she quickly grabbed an oversized t-shirt from her room to use as a night gown and a fresh pair of undies, then headed to the bathroom. As the tub filled with hot water, she brushed her teeth, briefly wondering as she did so, why Inuyasha was being so quiet. Shouldn't he be picking another fight with her about being careless or about how he might not be there to fight off attackers for her next time? 'What am I thinking? It sounds like I want him to yell at me or something. I'm not that much of a masochist am I?' Sighing at herself for being so ridiculous as to question her good luck in having a pissy Inuyasha keep to himself for once, she lowered herself into the tub and turned off the water. Kagome gave another little sigh, this one from absolute contentment. There was nothing like a nice hot bath to forget a bad day. Unfortunately, there was nothing like a hot bath to help you relax either, and soon she found herself drifting off as her head tilted forward onto her chest. At the last moment before sleep took her she suddenly jerked awake at the sound of her brother pounding up the steps and yelling, "Night momma, night gramps!"
'Ah, I knew this was going to happen.' Sitting up straight, Kagome turned on the cold water faucet and let a small trickle of water flow onto her hands before splashing it on her face. 'Oh! Cold, cold, cold!' Fortunately though, it had the desired effect and she immediately felt her tiredness slip to the background for the moment. Deciding to keep the water on just in case, she began to wash her hair with her favorite berry scented shampoo. After rinsing all of the suds out, she smoothed in some conditioner and clipped up her hair while she scrubbed at her skin with a soap bar. Figuring she was a squeaky clean as she was going to get, she unclipped her hair and gave it a quick swishing in the water to remove most of the conditioner. Feeling altogether much better, she stepped out of the tub, turned of the cold water and let it drain, wrapping a towel around her body and another around her hair. She let herself drip on the rug for a minute before rubbing her body dry and putting her night clothes on. She glanced at the fogged up mirror and in a flash of childishness drew a big smiley face on it. Eying her work critically she deciding it needed something. She made a few more marks with her finger, and then stepped back with a little smile. 'Perfect.'
The smiley face now sported a set of fangs and two fuzzy pointed ears on top of its head.
She gave her hair a quick squeeze and patted as much of the water out as she could before laying the towel to dry on the rack next to the other. On her way out she dropped her old clothes in the hamper next to the door. When she reached for the handle she briefly wondered if she should warn Inuyasha this time. Opening the door with a mischievous smile, she decided against it. She was only slightly disappointed at the lack of hanyous falling to the floor when no sound came.
"Time for sleep," she said, heading to her room. And boy was she ready for it. 'I'm gonna be out as soon as my head hits the pillow. Inuyasha should be happy I won't be bugging him tonight.' She gave an inward chuckle as she remembered his exasperation to all her bedtime questions.
She reached her room and shut the door, then turned off the light and flopped onto the bed, not even stopping to comb out her hair. Crawling under her comforter she called out a sleepy, "Night, Inuyasha," just before closing her eyes. Ah but irony was a cruel thing.
"Hey wench, don't go to sleep yet. I still need to talk to you."
She cracked her eyes open a little. She knew it was too good to be true. "Can't this wait til tomorrow?"
"No."
Kagome turned her head and groaned into her pillow. Why did he want to talk tonight? Why not yesterday or the day before? No, not Inuyasha. He had to wait for the night she doesn't want to stay up and chat to say, 'We need to talk.' Jerk. She turned her head back and said reluctantly, "Fine."
"Good," he said, and then threw himself into the speech he had been practicing before he could forget it all. "Now first off, I wanted to say again that relying on me to save you all the time is a stupid idea. You need to get it out of your head right now that I'm going to be here to protect you against whatever might come up and learn to keep yourself safe. You're careless and clumsy when it comes to protecting yourself. You walked right into those two bastards! What if I hadn't been there? You could have been…" Here he trailed off, not wanting to think of what might have happened to the girl laying above him if he had not been around. "But anyways, that's what I'm trying to get through to you here. You can't rely on me. I'm not your hero." He paused again. "I'm not…anyone's hero. I'm just a stupid hanyou who was cursed into helping others despite what he wants." A trace of bitterness had crept into his voice as he said this last part, but his voice resumed its former determined pitch as he spoke again. "There's something you need to know right now Kagome. I could be gone from you at any time. I don't have any control over how long I'm here and I don't get any warning before I leave. You could wake up tomorrow and I'd be gone. Whether I wanted to be or not…" He stopped his speech to glance up from the floor he was sitting on. "Do you understand?"
There was no response. Frowning, he stood up and looked down at the bed.
She was asleep.
'What the hell! How dare she fall asleep with me pouring my heart out to her like this! I aught to push her out of bed right now.' He was sorely tempted to do just that and was actually reaching out to her when she stirred in her sleep and opened one eye halfway. He snatched his had back guiltily before he remembered she couldn't see him.
"…yasha? Don't worry so much…" And with that she rolled onto her other side to face the wall and fell back asleep.
With a surprised look on his face, Inuyasha plopped cross-legged onto the floor and stared at her sleeping back. 'Guess she was listening after all.' Deciding to take her advice, turned his body and leaned back against her bed in his usual night time position, for once not thinking about what might happen in the morning if she woke up and he wasn't there.
"Time for school Kagome! Wake up!"
Kagome jerked awake at the loud voice yelling at her from a foot away. "Inuyasha! Don't scream in my ear like that, I'll go deaf."
"You better hurry if you're going to be on time."
"What?" Looking over to her clock she realized she had forgotten to set it the night before. Grabbing it from the night stand she shook it and brought it up close to her face as if to make sure it was working properly. "Oh my gosh! School starts in half an hour. I'll never make it! Why didn't you get me up earlier!" Kagome dashed around her room throwing books into her backpack and stuffing the papers off of her desk into a folder before tossing that too in her bag. She ran to her dresser and began throwing clothes onto her bed and then began frantically rifling through one drawer. "Where are my socks? I can't find my socks!"
"Try the next drawer down."
Slamming the drawer shut she reached down and yanked open the next one, reveling several pairs of long white school socks. "Ah ha!" Tossing them onto the bed with everything else, she turned around and began stripping off her night shirt.
"Hey! Warn me before you do that!" Inuyasha abruptly spun around, turning his back to her. His cheeks burned a deep red as the sight of her pink polka dot underwear burned itself into his brain.
"Sorry! I'm just in a hurry." Her voice was muffled as he imagined she was pulling her uniform top over her head. Not that he was imagining her getting dressed right now… Dammit there went his cheeks again. For the hundredth time since he met her, he was glad Kagome couldn't see his reaction to her. He would probably have died from embarrassment a long time ago. He looked up as Kagome dashed past him, flinging her backpack over her shoulder as she swung open the door and headed down the hall to the stairs. She was already half way to the front door by the time he caught up.
"Bye mom! I'm running late, can't stop!"
"Oh Kagome don't forget your lunch. I left it by the door!" he mother shouted from the kitchen.
Kagome spotted the neatly tied bundle on an end table and grabbed it with one hand while sliding open the font door with her other. "Thanks mom!"
She quickly shut the door behind her as she ran out to the courtyard. As she passed by the steps to the main temple she saw her grandfather sweeping off the leaves from the cement. "Bye gramps!"
Looking up from the ground, her grandfather lifted a hand and waved as his granddaughter rushed past. "Have a good day at school Kagome!"
"Thanks!" She reached the entrance and slowed down slightly to make her way down the steps. It wouldn't do to start her week off by falling down the stairs and breaking her leg. Finally reaching the sidewalk, she broke out into an all out sprint and navigated her way through the early morning pedestrian traffic, occasionally calling out an apology as she ran into someone. Nearing her school she glanced up at one of the giant clocks that graced the front of some bank or another. 'Ten minutes! I might just make it.' Putting on a little extra burst of speed, she smiled as her school came into view around the next corner. She saw her friends standing at the entrance waiting for her and her smile grew even more. Seeing her sprinting towards them, her friends lifted their hands and waved at her.
"Hurry up Kagome, the bell's gonna ring any minute."
"Wow, did you run the whole way here? You look exhausted."
"Too bad you didn't get here a little earlier, that nice boy from A class was here looking for you."
As she reached the final steps leading into the school her friends bombarded her with chatter. Together they hurried on to their first period class and slipped into their seats just as the first bell rang. Leaning over from her seat across the aisle, Eri gave her a little wink and whispered, "Cutting it awfully close this time Kagome."
Grinning, Kagome leaned over and replied back, "Don't I know it. I forgot to set my alarm last night."
"I'm surprised you made it all in that case. You should try out for the track team running like that."
"Yeah right. I only run like that to escape detention." 'And juvenile delinquents.'
"Class, attention!" The two girls fell quiet as the teacher began to take attendance.
The day wore on as only a Monday could. Very slowly. Inuyasha found himself listening to familiar speeches about the importance of studying for the finals and reminders that next year they would be taking entrance exams for high school, so keep on top of their work if they planned on being accepted to a good school, yadda, yadda, yadda. He'd heard basically the same thing from every teacher since the time he began keep guard over Kagome. It was starting to get on his nerves. He could only imagine how annoying it must be for her. She actually had to pay attention to them. Or at least she was supposed to. For the second time that day, he caught her staring out the window as her teacher droned on about their future. She had such a thoughtful expression on her face, he wanted to ask what she was thinking, but he knew better, so he kept his mouth shut, lest she get annoyed and yell at him later when they got home. Now that was strange… When had he started referring to her house as home? Or more specifically, when had it started to feel like home? He grinned remembering yesterday afternoon when she and her mother had been preparing lunch and Mrs. Higurashi and innocently asked if Kagome's 'friend' would like something to eat and that it wouldn't be any trouble to make extra. He had expected Kagome to tell her he didn't need to eat, but instead she had waited to hear his reply. He said 'no' and Kagome related to her mother that he wasn't hungry. It had shaken him a little, to be so included, so…welcome. He had later asked Kagome why she hadn't just told her mother what he had told her. She had just blushed and said that she wouldn't have minded making extra for him either. When he pointed out he wouldn't have been able to eat with them anyways, unless she wanted her brother and grandfather to find out, she had just called him an idiot and told him to shut up. After which they had gotten into a rather heated name-calling session. He grinned again. That had been fun. She could be very creative when she was angry. Maybe that was when it had started to feel like home?
The teacher was now writing down the next day's assignment on the blackboard. He leaned over from the window he was sitting on and called out to the school girl across from him.
"Oi, pay attention."
Kagome snapped out of whatever daydream she had been having and turned her interest back to the front of the classroom. She picked up her pencil and copied down her homework, inwardly counting down the days til school was over. So far every class had given at least three different assignments to be due at the end of the week and one thing due the next day. And it wasn't even lunch yet. The bell rang suddenly, signaling the end of class. Ah, there it was. Kagome stood up and bowed to the teacher with the rest of the class before packing up her things. Her friends joined her at the door.
"Man I thought lunch would never come, I'm starving." Ayumi held her stomach and made a face as if in pain. "I need food."
Kagome laughed at her friend. "Well let's go find a spot to sit then." The four girls headed out to the courtyard and chose an unoccupied bench to sit at.
"So how was your weekend Kagome?" Yuka asked around a mouthful of food.
Kagome thought about that for a minute. 'Well, I found out I have an invisible boy following my every move. Only he's not really a boy, he's a half-demon and he supposed to protect me from bad things even though he doesn't want to. He has a short temper, a foul mouth and the cutest little ears on his head that look they belong on an Akita. Oh, I was also almost assaulted by two teenage punks last night and boy did I get an earful about that one.' Maybe a little less information?
"It was okay."
"Mine was pretty boring too, what about you Eri? Weren't you and your mom supposed to go pick out baby clothes?" And the discussion turned to Eri's mother and the baby sister she was expecting sometime in June.
'Last class of the day. I can't wait to go home.' So far the homework assignment streak hadn't been broken and as the teacher wound up the days lesson and began writing on the board, she could see she was going to have a very full night. 'Only three more weeks, only three more weeks.' End of year couldn't come fast enough in her opinion. She was looking forward to laying around for two weeks, doing nothing. Of course they'd probably give her assignments anyways, just to ruin her fun.
Kagome then heard the most beautiful sound in the world ringing through the class room. Aaah, school was over and not a second too soon. She joined her friends once more and walked with them through the crowded halls, trying to elbow their way around crowds of kids just as eager as them to get home. They walked together down the sidewalk gabbing about nothing and all agreeing they had way too much work to do when they got home. Kagome split away from them when she reached her street and waved good bye.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye Kagome!"
"See ya!"
"Don't forget to set your alarm tonight."
"I won't Ayumi, bye!"
She turned back and started down towards her home. It wasn't to long before she heard Inuyasha's voice next to her.
"Why do girls always talk so damn much?"
Kagome laughed at his disgruntled tone. "I don't know, maybe because we have a lot to say."
"Everybody has a lot to say, but they don't always say every little thing that's pops in their head."
"True. I guess we just like to hear the sound of our own voices then."
"Feh, must be."
She laughed again; glad he was in a somewhat good mood. After his reaction last night, she had been afraid he would go back to being all defensive. She remembered him saying a lot of stuff last night about not being around all the time, admitting to herself she probably could have paid a little bit closer attention before drifting off, and it was a relief to see he hadn't gotten himself in a bad mood because of it. 'Hopefully he won't be so difficult to talk to now that he has all that out of the way. Boy, I hope I didn't miss anything important before I fell asleep…'
Out loud she said, "I've got some much work to do tonight, I'll probably have to skip dinner to get it all done."
"Somehow, I can't picture you skipping dinner…"
"Don't be rude!"
"I'm not."
"You were too. You were implying I eat a lot."
"There you go reading into things again. All I said was I couldn't picture a glutton like you missing a meal. That's all."
Kagome stopped in her tracks, jaw dropping. 'Did he just…'
"You jerk!" she yelled when he started chuckling at her expression of outrage.
"You should have seen your face," he manages between laughs.
Kagome just gave an indignant huff and started walking again, her footsteps pounding on the sidewalk as she pictured a certain hanyou's face under her heel. Still snickering slightly, Inuyasha followed.
Homework was taking just as long as Kagome predicted, though she didn't skip dinner as Inuyasha had so observantly pointed out. After four straight hours of reports and dissecting sentences though, she felt she deserved a break. Algebra would have to wait until after dinner and a bath. Unfortunately for her the equations didn't get any easier when she was full and clean.
"Aaarg!" she cried, pounding on her math book in frustration. "Make sense already!" Just when she would think she had the answer right to a problem, she would try to put the answer she had found for X back into the equation and it wouldn't work. "I hate you!" Upon this declaration she dropped her head down to her desk and on top of the book with a thump. "Math sucks."
"You just have to know how to do the steps properly and in the right order. You're doing them all wrong."
Kagome lifted her head from the book a few inches. "Since when did you know so much about algebra?"
"One of us actually pays attention in class."
She blushed at this. Had he caught her gazing out the window during class? Wait a minute, who was she kidding, of course he had. "I pay attention… It's just hard to understand sometimes."
"Once you get the basic order of things, it goes a lot easier. Here, I'll show you how if you want."
"You...you'd help me with my homework?" she asked, a little stunned.
"Yeah well, it's not a big deal or anything alright. I just can't stand your whining anymore." He sounded gruff when he said it, but she would bet anything that if she could see him, he would be blushing.
"Alright then."
"Okay," his voice was coming from over her shoulder now. "First thing you need to remember is to always do the parts in the parentheses first."
Inuyasha explained the steps to her slowly, helping her when she got stuck and pointing out mistakes she made along the way. He wasn't always the most patient of teachers with her, but he clarified things in a no nonsense way. By the time she finished, she couldn't say she exactly understood what she was doing, but she did know what she had been doing wrong and how to fix it in the future.
"Thanks, Inuyasha, you were a big help."
"Whatever, you should get to bed now."
Realizing how late it was, she suddenly gave a huge yawn. "You're right." She pushed back from the desk and stood up, grabbing all her books and papers and arranging them in her backpack to be ready for the next day. Just in case. Making sure everything was ready, she set her alarm clock and turned off her light.
"Good night Inuyasha."
"Good night Kagome."
He was expecting it this time, so when her voice rang out in the dark a few minutes later he was actually smiling a little.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes Kagome?"
He could hear the sheepish grin in her voice when she spoke again. "Sorry, but I was wondering how you knew so much about math. And don't tell me from paying attention in class either. Mr. Takashi isn't that good a teacher."
"You're more observant than I thought. You're right, I don't pay attention during your class, I lied."
"I Figured. So?"
"I guarded a tenth grade algebra teacher for nine months. Even you would be able to pick it up after that long."
"Hey!"
"Just kidding, just kidding! Watch where you're swinging that thing!"
"What? You mean I wasn't way off that time?" she said taking another swipe at him with her pillow.
"Okay, I'm sorry! Stop waving that thing around already, before you knock my head off."
"That would be an accomplishment worth bragging about." But she ceased her swinging anyways, settling the pillow back beneath her head.
"Now go to sleep."
"Okay, good night."
"Good night."
He knew better though. As soon as she took a breath two minutes later he said, "Good night Kagome."
The only response he got was a loud exhale of breath and the sounds of Kagome rolling to face the wall somewhat roughly.
She was in the forest again, this time sitting on the side of the well in the clearing. As she gazed around at her surrounding, she saw what she hadn't the last time. Her tree. The God Tree from the shrine. Suddenly feeling as though this is what she had been looking for the last time, she jumped down from the well and headed into the forest. She was nearly to the tree when she heard the same voice call out as before.
"Inuyasha!"
Once more she turned and saw the girl priestess that looked like her. She looked to be in a lot of pain as she raised her bow and pointed it to the side. "Die…Inuyasha!"
Slowly, as if in a bad dream (which it was, so it fit) she turned to see where the arrow was pointed. There she saw him, clutching something in his hand and staring toward the priestess with a shocked look on his face. The girl let loose her arrow, aiming straight into Inuyasha's heart.
Kagome's own heart stopped for a second, just before she cried out a warning that came to late. "No! Inuyasha!"
He tried to leap out of the way, but the arrow soared to its mark with unwavering accuracy. The arrow struck, pinning him to the tree.
Then her world went dark.
AN- :-)
(Q and A)- I'm receiving several questions at a time now, so I'll just answer them at the bottom as I get them. Feel free to ask more. You can look for your name if you asked something, and if I've left someone out, it isn't on purpose so just email me again (is this just a ploy to get another review? Damn they're on to me…) and I'll answer in the next chapter.
Q. Kawaiinu- Are you really 23?
A..Yes… I feel so old now…
Q. Chixon- Was Inuyasha having hentai thoughts at the end there?
A. Only the good kind. LMAO at the rolled up newspaper…
Q. Animewriter13- Will Kagome ever go through the well and see Inuyasha in his own time?
A. I demand you get out of my head this instant or I will start charging rent.
Q. pwalefriend- Is Kikyo going to be in this story later? And what about Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Naraku, Sesshomaru, and all the other guys? And what about Kouga or Houjo?
A. Highly doubtful unless I make this story very long. Although they might be in a sequel…
Q. InU-DragoN-Girl- Can Kagome see Inuyasha now?
A. Only at the well and the sacred tree, the hint being that she can only see him when he is in contact with something connected to his time.
That's all I think.
Bye for now.