Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. However, I do own the original characters, so yeah...

Oh...my...freaking...god. I had the most AMAZING dream! Ah...It's too amazing to tell. Just know this: Inuyasha can be VERY sweet when he wants to. Ah...enjoy scroll thirteen!

Scroll Thirteen
Ordinary People

She was seventeen, and last night had been her first kiss. Well, that did count as a kiss, right? Even if it was three seconds...no, minutes...hours...how long did it last again? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that her lips met a boy's lips. So that had to count, right?

Perhaps it wasn't the most romantic of situations, but then again, the boy in question wasn't the romantic type either. If someone had told her, about two months ago, that her first kiss would be with an angry hanyou who's life she would spare even though he was after the jewel she was guarding, she would have shot whoever it was that told her with an arrow. It was just so ludicrous. None of it made sense. Yet...it did. She sighed. Was she going crazy?

It was just not right for her to be kissing anyone in her present situation. She was the guardian of the Shikon Jewel. She knew that much but...she just wasn't sure anymore if she could continue playing guardian anymore. Perhaps she would have given up protecting the jewel a long time ago if her promise to the lord didn't bind her to her duty. And she had chosen the role as priestess for the sole purpose of helping. After all, she wasn't born with spiritual powers for nothing. Like her wise teacher had once said, "If you have the skills, it's a crime not to use them."

But Inuyasha was...like a loophole in an agreement. Sure, she wasn't allowed to date, or have a boyfriend, or even have a crush for that matter. But nothing said she couldn't have a friend who was a boy. Nothing said she couldn't spend hours upon hours just sitting next to him. Nothing said she couldn't just be with him for long periods of time. She wasn't doing anything bad. She was just spending lots of time with her...best friend.

Smiling, she traced her lower lip with her index finger. They were still friends right? Friends...kissed right? No. Even she knew that couldn't be right. She sighed, a long, quiet sigh, and tied her hair back with her white ribbon. She grabbed her bow and arrows, and prepared herself to start her daily morning routine of demon extermination. She just didn't know anymore.

Well, whatever it was that was happening to her, a simple fact remained.

She had had her first kiss.

Now the question was, would there be a second one?

-

He didn't know what to feel. Happy? Angry? Embarrassed? Relieved?

He scratched the side of his face with one of his claws. Maybe confused was the most appropriate word. Yes, that was it. He was confused.

Very confused.

After all, it wasn't as if he went around kissing girls everyday.

He had played the action over and over again in his head, trying to figure out how the hell it had all started. Let's see...they kissed because he pulled her to him (accidentally, of course), he pulled her to him because she was being a stubborn bitch, she was being a stubborn bitch because...because...he growled. "I was only trying to help her," he spat out angrily. "Stupid girl...who understands her anyway?"

That night was supposed to be like any other night. He'd meet with the miko, argue with her, then she'd leave. How was he supposed to know his first kiss would be with a girl that he fought with (verbally and physically) since the day that he met her? It just made no sense. They made no sense. Yet...that's what made it so interesting.

The only thing that intrigued him more that the wench's attitude was the awkward effect the kiss had had on him. The kiss just...caught him completely off guard. He snorted and focused his eyes to the gray sky. Maybe...maybe...if she hadn't pulled away so suddenly...he would have given her a real kiss. He didn't want her to think he was some sort of wimp when it came to intimacy. "'Cause I'm NOT!" he screamed out suddenly, causing some birds in the neighboring tree to fly away. He sure as hell was not a wimp...at anything. He huffed out a frustrating sigh and crossed his arms. "I could kiss her if I wanted to," he assured the bald tree he was resting on. He was sure he could.

He just wasn't sure if the miko was willing to try again.

-

When Kaede left for the festival, Kikyou went back to her hut. The sun was already setting and she wanted to get a good rest from all the action that had happened in the last couple of days.

Today she didn't see Inuyasha, but she could sense him everywhere she went. She didn't know if he was keeping an eye on her from demons, to avoid her, or just to get on her nerves, but she was sure he was there. She just didn't feel like talking to him today.

She was getting ready to go to sleep, when someone called for her from outside.

"Lady Kikyou! I need your help!"

Kikyou automatically got her bow and arrows and ran outside. In her haste to get outside, she bumped into a girl, sending the girl straight into the filthy ground.

"Oww...!"

The miko was startled for a second, and wondered where the danger was, frantically searching for any demons that might have sneaked into the village. It took a moment for her to ask the girl on the ground if she was all right.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But don't be alarmed, Lady Kikyou!" said the girl. "I just wanted to ask you something!"

Kikyou sighed. A deep, calming sigh, that told her to control herself, even if she wanted to give the girl a good scolding and tell her the story about the "Boy Who Cried Demon". "What is it?" she finally asked.

The girl brushed off some of her brown bangs from her hazel eyes. Standing up, she smiled at the miko. "Are you going to the festival?"

"...No."

The girl's smile faded into a pout. "But why...?" she asked, nearly whining.

"Well...I don't wish to—"

"Oh no! Who am I gonna go with now? I really want to go, but I'm too scared to go alone!" cried the girl. "What if a demon attacks me? I don't know how to ward off any demons! I'll become their dinner for sure! Oh no, oh no, oh no! What to do, what to do, what to do? Please Lady Kikyou! You've got to help me out!"

Kikyou stared at her. "...Look...uh..."

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Kaori! I'm that girl everyone says is crazy, remember?" she laughed, pointing at herself.

"Oh," Kikyou said. She did remember. Kaori was known for telling farfetched tales about the future. Kaede had told her some of her stories, which included giant snakes that gave rides to humans of their backs and giant birds that also transported humans on their backs.

"I swear we'll come back in two, no...three hours! Please, Lady Kikyou!" pleaded Kaori.

It didn't take long for Kikyou to decided whether to go with Kaori to the festival or not. It was probably sympathy for the girl's reputation that urged the miko to give the girl a chance to enjoy herself. After all, who was she to deprive Kaori of a festival held only when a new male heir was born? "All right...but only—"

"Really? That's great! Let's get ready then!" She pulled out two kimonos from a sack Kikyou had not seen. "I brought one kimono for you and one kimono for me!"

And before Kikyou could protest, Kaori was well inside her hut, happily lighting all the candles and desperate in getting started with the dress-up.

-

It was his sense of smell that never failed, whether human or not. It just so happened that some rich people were having a party on the other side of the river, and the enticing aroma of food reached his human nose without fail.

He leaned on a tree, his arms crossed, contemplating whether to go to the festival or not. He would have gone and met with the miko, but the events of last night weighed down on his mind, and he wasn't sure how her reaction would be. And going to her right now was a bit too risky in human form. 'I just can't risk anyone seeing me like this,' he thought.

He sighed lazily, curling his lower lip outward, thus sending the exhaled air up to blow his raven bangs from his cinnamon eyes. It was so weird watching things through black bangs rather than the usual silver.

Being human sucked.

Not only was his human body weak, and tired easily, but all his senses were kicked back a notch. He could only hear half the distance he could see, and he could only see half the distance he could see in half-demon form. His flesh was more sensitive therefore making it easier to injure and his tongue made his breath stink.

But as his stomach growled, he realized that it didn't matter whether he was half-demon or human, because his stomach would always demand food. And it was that demand for food that pushed him to go to the festival, unless he tried his luck on hunting with no superior sense of smell, sight, or claws. He stomped his foot, crushing many dead leaves in the process, and with a murmured curse word, he walked to where his nose took him.

-

Kikyou kneeled to look at herself in the tiny round mirror again. As Kaori had so plainly put it, she looked exactly like a doll. Her long, jet-black hair was pined up traditionally and her face was as white as the snow itself. Her eyebrows had been completely covered by the white cover-up and replaced by thinner and darker lines. The only lively color on her face were her small, crimson lips.

"I don't think anyone will know who you are wearing that! I know it's not the best kimono, but I think it looks great on you! My mom said I could wear it when I fill it out from the top, but I don't think that'll be any time soon. If she weren't so sick, then maybe she and my dad would go with me to the festival, but then again, it's more fun when you go with someone around your age, you know what I mean? Oh! That's such a beautiful color, Lady Kikyou!" exclaimed Kaori, examining the shell in her hand. "This looks really expensive. Did you buy it?"

Kikyou looked at Kaori's reflection in the mirror. "It was a gift."

"Wow! What a nice gift," she responded. "Was it from a rich friend?"

"I...don't think he's rich," said Kikyou, still staring at herself in the mirror. Was that really her?

"He? Oh...so a guy gave you this..." stated Kaori, and she smiled slyly at the miko.

Kikyou turned to look at Kaori. "He's just a friend," she said, more seriously than intended.

"Is he...that Inuyasha guy?"

Kikyou looked hard at her. Was she also trying to pry into her life? Would she tell others in the village what they had spoken of? Although Kaori was only fourteen, and pretty naive to all aspects of society, Kikyou couldn't help but doubt the friendship she had thought honest. But as she stared at her, at her big, innocent hazel eyes, she noticed that she was just that...very innocent. She just couldn't ignore the bright purity her aura was oozing. Letting out a small sigh, Kikyou said, "Yes. He's 'that Inuyasha guy'."

Kikyou hadn't expected Kaori's reaction. Kaori squealed and jumped around the small room, smiling brightly and letting out broken phrases that implied that she knew...something. Kikyou just stared at her until she calmed down. 'What a...lively child,' she thought.

"I knew it! I knew it, Lady Kikyou!" she explained five confusing minutes later. "I knew you and Inuyasha had something special going on! I knew it!"

Kikyou's eyes widened. "Something...special?" she asked almost skeptically.

"I knew it was with him that you spent all your extra time with! And everyday you smile more and even laugh sometimes! You're not as serious as you were two months ago! That would be around the time you met him, right?"

"Have you been stalking me?" asked Kikyou, staring at the energetic girl as if she were transforming into some strange creature.

Kaori's excited hazel eyes twitched, and she collapsed in front of the miko, kneeling in front of her so that they were now at eye level. "What? No! Of course not! I just like to observe people, and you just happen to be a very interesting person at the moment! Anyway, how's it going with him? Does he like you too? Well, duh! He gave you this pretty lip-gloss! I didn't even know you could have a boyfriend. Most women in the village talk about you, and they say you can't have one. Is that true?"

"We are just friends, Kaori."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I annoying you? I...I sort of tend to do that a lot," said Kaori, lowering her eyes to the floor and absentmindedly trailing her finger around the crevices of the shell in her hand.

Kikyou folded her hands in her lap and let out an amused sigh. "No, you're not annoying me. Um...what do people think of me now?"

Kaori smiled apologetically at Kikyou, whether it was because she thought she was annoying or because of what she was about to say, Kikyou couldn't tell. "Well...most of the women don't think it's...right of you to be his friend. Actually, most of them think you and him are...romantically involved." Kaori tucked some of her short, brown hair behind her ear. She sighed deeply before continuing and stared at the ground. "They've managed to keep quiet long enough so you wouldn't feel uncomfortable, but most of those old women can't stand the fact that you've befriended a half-breed. They don't think you guys are ordinary people."

Kikyou looked to the side, and wondered why. Why was it so bad for someone to be different? Why did they insist on judging someone based on their differences? It just didn't make any sense.

"Lady Kikyou, I want you to know that I don't think it's bad that you, uh, befriended him. I don't care if he's half-demon or not. I know he's a nice guy."

Kikyou didn't look at her, but she could tell she was being sincere.

"Lady Kikyou, please don't be sad."

It wasn't until the miko felt Kaori's hand on hers that she felt her hands were tightly grasping the kimono Kaori had lent her. Her cold hands relaxed to the warm touch of her younger friend and she looked at Kaori. She smiled. It was nice to know someone cared.

"Anyway, so can we go now?" said Kaori in her usual happy voice, and she handed Kikyou her shell back. "We don't wanna be late for the dance, do we?"

"Dance?" asked Kikyou, but Kaori was already heading toward the exit. Kikyou stood up and straightened out her kimono. She put the shell next to the mirror and prepared herself for a night out incognito.

-

It was a lucky thing that most of the food was free because he had no money. Since he was human tonight, he was sure he looked as ordinary as any other guy in the festival did. But, just in case, he had tied his hair back, thinking that maybe it would help disguise him some.

It was very bright that night, despite the lack of moonlight, and it was mostly due to the many oil lamps hanging from the entrance of the many shopping, gaming and restaurant stands all across the field. Everything smelled great, but not all of the food tasted as great as the aroma smelled. There was much music and entertainment, mostly for kids, and everywhere he turned there were people dressed in their best. It surprised and comforted him that there were so many people, because it lessened the chance of him being easily spotted.

As he walked down the streets, trying out different dishes, he got some funny stares, mostly from girls, which really annoyed him. He tried to ignore them, but they kept staring at him with their big, girlish eyes. It got to the point where he knew he was being stalked by a group of giggling girls, and he was about to tell them off when a man next to him started to yell an announcement.

"To all single, beautiful women: Do you wish to show off your stuff? Do you know you have what it takes to show that pretty face to the audience? Well, now is your chance to strut your stuff on the first ever Beauty Contest, were the audience gets to judge how lovely you really are!" Various young girls had gathered around the announcer, including the girls stalking Inuyasha, and were giggling and gossiping amongst themselves, waiting for him to finish. "Third place will win a one-of-a-kind set of make-up from Japan's best make-up artist, Mana Akamatsu. Second place will win the fabulous make-up set and a gorgeous kimono designed by Japan's best designer, Mitsuo Yasuhiro. First place will win the fabulous make-up set, any one choice of a designer kimono and..." he paused for a while and searched the crowd, and found many young female faces quietly staring at him. He smiled. "The winner gets a special dance with the eldest son of the lord!"

As soon as the announcer finished the last sentence, swarms of girls flocked over to him, asking him where the contest was being held, if it wasn't a scam, and other incoherent questions Inuyasha didn't bother listening to. He snorted. 'Girls really are stupid,' he thought.

He walked away to find another restaurant when a sign on a particular restaurant caught his dark eyes. 'All You Can Eat...For Free!' is what it said. Inuyasha smirked. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Two bowls of tasty soup later, he screamed to the chef, "Hey! Give me some more of this soup!"

The chef looked at him with a forced smile. "Sure!" he said. He grabbed a new ceramic bowl and poured hot soup in it. "You know, this is pretty expensive stuff," he said, sprinkling green stuff over the soup. "You sure you got enough to pay?"

Inuyasha frowned. "What are you talking about? That sign says this is all free!"

The chef's smile quickly faded. "You really think we'd give all this food for free?" he asked, the volume of his voice steadily rising. "And what sign are you talking about?"

"That one," said Inuyasha, pointing to the sign at the entrance.

The chef rolled his eyes. "Idiot! Read closer!" screamed the chef.

Inuyasha gave the chef a glare and turned to reread the wooden sign. In smaller letters, right beneath the 'All You Can Eat...For Free!' words, it said: with the purchase of one meal. "Hey! You tricked me!" cried out the raven-haired boy angrily.

"Now I didn't! You're just an idiot!" screamed the chef, grabbing the nearest butcher knife.

By this time, a small crowd had gathered around the entrance of the small restaurant.

"I'm gonna make you regret that, old fart!" screamed Inuyasha angrily, cracking his knuckles to prepare them for battle.

"Excuse me, excuse me! Please don't fight! This festival if for celebrating, not fighting!" said a voice from within the crowed. Both the chef and Inuyasha turned to look at whomever it was that dared to interrupt their fight.

Sensing the bad vibes the fighters were giving off, one by one the people moved to the side to reveal the one person who had spoken out. He was a short young man, wearing plain clothing and sprouting from his head long, messy raven hair. He calmly walked up to the chef. "Good sir, how much does this man owe you?"

The chef gaped at him for a second, then stuttered out the amount. The short man paid the chef and turned to look at Inuyasha. "Your debt has been paid," he said, giving him a friendly smile.

As quickly as the people had gathered, they dispersed, leaving only the short young man and a confused Inuyasha; the chef was happily ignoring both. "Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked.

The young man, however, refused to answer him and instead commenced inspecting Inuyasha. He circled Inuyasha like a hawk, looking him over carefully, nodding and shaking his head as if answering questions. Inuyasha, feeling very uneasy, was about to ask what in the world he was doing, when the young man laughed and said, "Perfect!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Inuyasha, disturbing thoughts running through his mind.

"Oh, I apologize for my impertinence. My name is Tomonori Kusakabe," he said, bowing slightly. "If you do not mind, I wish to speak to you in private."

"I ain't moving from here," declared Inuyasha, crossing his arms. "What do you want?"

Tomonori was about to argue, but seeing the determined look in Inuyasha's face, thought better of it and asked the chef if they could "borrow the establishment for a while," giving him two golden coins. The chef gladly took it (seeing as Inuyasha had scared off all his customers anyway), put up a 'Closed' sign, and left Inuyasha and Tomonori alone.

"Excuse me, but may I ask for your name?" asked Tomonori politely.

"No," answered Inuyasha bluntly. "What do you want?"

Tomonori gave a small sigh. "As I have said, my name is Tomonori Kusakabe. I am the eldest son of the lord of this region."

Inuyasha looked him up and down. "Ha! What kind of fool do you take me for? You look like a beggar dressed in those rags!" laughed Inuyasha.

But Tomonori just smiled. "Well, I'm glad I do, because that's what I intended to look like. Do you want to sit down?" he asked, motioning to the stools. Inuyasha merely grunted and stood up straighter. "I'll take that as a 'no'," said Tomonori, pulling a stool from nearby and sitting down on it. "I would like to ask a favor of you."

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested," said Inuyasha, heading for the exit.

"Wait! I can give you whatever you want! Wealth! Women! Anything you desire! I just need you to usurp my identity! Just for tonight!" he pleaded, standing up and grabbing a hold of Inuyasha's sleeve. However, Inuyasha continued to walk away. "Please! It's the only way I can keep my promise to Kikyou!"

Inuyasha stopped. "What did you say?" he growled.

"Er...I can give you whatever you want...?" asked Tomonori uncertainly, surprised by the taller boy's sudden interest.

"No, not that! What did you say about Kikyou? Kikyou!" he demanded, clutching Tomonori's rags with both hands.

"Well, she—wait. You know Kikyou?" asked Tomonori, clearly surprised.

"Um...yeah. So what?" asked Inuyasha indifferently, letting go of Tomonori.

"Well you see...I made a promise to her," he explained. "So I need someone to take my place tonight in the castle. I'm supposed to dance with this girl from a contest, but if I do that, I'd break my promise," he finished, resuming his place on the stool.

"What did you promise her?" asked Inuyasha, careful in keeping his composure neutral.

"I..." he began, showing sudden interest to the ground. "I promised her that I wouldn't touch another girl if she becomes my bride."

Saying that Inuyasha was shocked was an understatement. "You're gonna marry her?" he screamed.

"I will if I keep my promise," said Tomonori, his head somewhere in the clouds at the mention of marriage.

Inuyasha looked at Tomonori, angry and annoyed. If Kikyou was engaged to this idiot, why hadn't she told him anything? It wasn't as if she had lied to him; she never mentioned that she was single or married, but it made him angry that she hadn't told him nonetheless. It made him so angry, in fact, that he had a sudden urge to kill the idiot in front of him so that she would never reach the alter. In fact...After a long pause, Inuyasha said, "I'll do it."

-

Kikyou didn't know how Kaori knew the exact location of the beauty contest. She also didn't know why she had accepted to participate.

"It'll be fun, Lady Kikyou!" she remembered Kaori say, after she had signed Kikyou up as "Ayumi".

Now she and many other participants were standing in a line, waiting to be cheered or booed on by the crowd. As the line advanced, and the cheers, boos and wolf-whistles grew louder, she became nervous. 'So this is how it feels like to be ordinary.'

And in no time, it was her turn to be presented to the crowd. She walked onto the stage gracefully.

"And here is the last luck lady of the night! Number 40 and—oh! What a sight for sore eyes! As graceful as a cat and as beautiful as a rose!" cried the announcer with an amazingly loud voice. "Now people, let me hear it! What do you think of this foxy lady?"

Kikyou had never heard so many grown men scream as loud as the men present that night. The ones who couldn't scream obscenities at her were whistling or gesturing obscenities at her.

"Well, I don't think there will be a problem choosing our first-prize winner!" cried the announcer as soon as the crowd calmed down a bit. "Do you men think this lovely lady deserves first prize."

Kikyou found herself shaking her head and mouthing the word "no" to the "judges", but this only seemed to excite them more and they hollered loudly that the lovely lady deserved first prize. "That's it then!" cried the announcer. He looked at a paper he was holding. "Ayumi takes the grand prize!"

Kikyou sighed. This was not happening.

-

"So they organized the contest to get you the best looking wife?" said Inuyasha, tugging at the robes he had been forced to wear.

"Not necessarily a wife...more like a...concubine," explained Tomonori, fidgeting with a strand of his messy raven hair. "My father wants me to uh, experience what it's like to sleep with a woman before I get married."

Inuyasha looked at him strangely. "Why?"

"Well, he just said 'So your wife won't think you suck.'"

"Okay...Anyway, how does your father figure the winner will want to take a spin in the sack with you?"

Tomonori blushed, concentrating on the wooden floor of his sleeping quarters. "He says 'A woman who is willing to let a man judge her body for prizes is more or less the same as a prostitute.'"

"Feh. Whatever. All I have to do is dance with this girl from the contest right?" he asked, trying hard not to change his mind.

"Yes, yes! It's just to give my father an impression that I at least tried! Then after you have danced with the girl, you can do whatever you wish," he said, his friendly smile returning. "And you can eat anything you want. That was what your one desire was, was it not?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Inuyasha irritably. He smirked. That was his one desire, but he had something else in mind. He remembered Tomonori had said he would marry Kikyou only if he didn't touch another woman. And now that he was in expensive robes and a new hairdo, he did look a lot like Tomonori. He wondered what Kikyou would do if she accidentally saw him dance with the girl. "The engagement is off!" he imagined her yell at him. He looked at his hands. It was pretty risky revealing himself to her, but he just had to see the look on her face. 'If I'm lucky, she won't recognize me,' he thought.

"Wow...I guess I was lucky to find someone who looks almost exactly as I do!" laughed Tomonori. He stood up, as did Inuyasha. "I wonder if anyone will notice that you're a bit taller."

"A bit?" snorted out Inuyasha. "I'm a giant compared to you!"

Tomonori coughed. "Yes, well, I hope you know what to do in the dance floor. No one will be watching you, but you still have to dance in the traditional style of our foreign guests."

"Feh! It ain't that hard. All you do is spin around with the girl," stated Inuyasha, tugging at his very high and annoying ponytail.

"Then, when it's all over, I'll explain to Kikyou that it was another who danced with the girl and the engagement will continue," said Tomonori, more to himself than Inuyasha. "Oh...you haven't told me your name—"

They heard a knock on the door and Tomonori scrambled to get inside of his wardrobe. Inuyasha cleared his throat and said, "What?"

"Lord Tomonori, the girl is here," announced the voice.

"Okay! I'll be right there!" said Inuyasha, and he headed toward the sliding door.

"Good luck! Remember: follow the servant with the purple flower on her hair. She'll lead you to where you have to go," he heard Tomonori say from within the wardrobe. "And have fun!"

Inuyasha smirked. "I will." And he walked outside where a girl with a purple flower on her short, brown hair was waiting.

End of Scroll Thirteen

Hm...how did seven pages turn into fourteen pages? I guess it was about time I ran into writer's block for this story. I really didn't mean to have a cliffhanger. Sorry! I'll update as soon as I can! You guys are so nice...:sniff:...so nice.

Now review please! What do you think will happen to these two late bloomers? Who will be my one-hundreth reviewer? I feel cool! Muahahahaha!

Adios!