Last time: Charlie had made a strange transformation, and is now supporting a body, much like yours or mine. Except he's really tall. How will they manage to get Charlie normal again, and if they find out, will he want to be normal?
Chapter 3: The Trouble with Clothing
"Come on, Charlie!" Kay yelled as she dragged the dog-boy out the door by his arm. Sota and Michelle followed them, who were following Kagome, who was leading them to stores with clothes. Charlie was now wearing Kay's sweatshirt, seeing as he wouldn't be able to go into the stores without a shirt, and an extra pair of shoes Kagome's family had. He also wore the same hat as yesterday.
"I don' whanna go to the stwore," Charlie complained.
"Usually you love going on walks!" Kay argued.
"So?"
"Just shut up and come on! You don't want to be naked while you fight demons, do you?" Kay said, glaring at Charlie.
"Fine..." he said, sighing and caving in.
Soon enough they were at the store, after having to tackle Charlie whenever a cat or small animal was nearby. Charlie walked into the store and gasped in amazement of all the interesting things they had in the store. He'd never been to one, and the only place he was really welcome in was the vet's office.
"Come on, Charlie, I'll help you pick out clothes and try them on," Sota said, taking his hand and leading him to the men/teens' section of the store.
"I'm glad that Charlie learned how to use a toilet, or else we'd be in trouble here," Michelle said, heading towards a random section.
Kagome put a hand on Michelle's shoulder and pointed to the sign. "That says lingerie," Kagome said. Michelle blushed and looked at the clothes she was heading towards, and it was, in fact, clothes that may arouse sexual feelings in men. Fun.
While Kay, Michelle, and Kagome searched the clothes for anything they might want to wear, Sota came and dragged them to the boys' dressing rooms.
"Ladies and... ladies! I present to you, Charlie!" Sota said, pulling back the door and leaving the girls to stand there to look at what was inside.
Charlie had his hair in a tight ponytail that was tied at the nape of his neck. His ears were hidden by a black hat, and Sota had apparently gone wild and searched all over before deciding on a dark blue t-shirt and black, baggy jeans with a black belt. And... Charlie's tail was obviously stuck in one of the pant legs... There was a bulge in the right leg.
"That will work for the modern era... How much is it, Sota?" Kay said, looking at the clothes carefully.
"Everything, including his undershorts, was on sale!" Sota said, smiling. Kagome went to the counter and asked if their friend could wear the clothes home, and soon had charlie sitting on the counter, having the tags pulled out, the bar code read, and the tags ripped off the clothes, including the boxers.
As they walked home, Kay tried to get Charlie to speak properly, managing to advance quite a bit, and making him sound like he was speaking for years. Now I don't have to make him stupid sounding!
- - -
"It's good to be back in the feudal era... We should get some clothes that match this era; that will help you fit in better," Kay said to Charlie.
Charlie nodded and said, "Sure. I would like that." He followed her to the town, and while Michelle and Kagome went back to Kaede's hut, Charlie and Kay went to find a tailor. After asking around, Kay walked into a hut slightly larger than Kaede's with Charlie following her. He crawled around on all fours, sniffing the clothing that was piled up on the floor and hung from the walls.
Kay walked up to the seamstress and smiled at her. "Sorry for just barging in, but we need some clothes for him," Kay said, pointing at Charlie, "and we heard that you were the best tailor in town."
"Oh! Yes, I am. But... why would a demon want human made clothes?" she asked as Charlie's hat fell on the floor and he picked it up.
"Believe me, he isn't a normal demon. Cripes, he's my best friend. So, will you make the clothes?" Kay asked, pulling Charlie up by his shirt collar and making him stand up strait.
"Sure! Well, sir, do you want anything particular on your clothes?" the seamstress asked.
"I don't really care," Charlie said, "but I want a hole in the back for my tail... I don't like it crowded up in my pants."
"All right then. What kind of fabric would you like?" the woman asked.
"What about something that is like armor?" Charlie asked.
"Sorry, just normal fabric here."
"What if I get some demon fur?" Charlie asked.
"I suppose I could make something with that..."
"It's settled then! We'll go get a demon and bring it back for you to make some clothes for Charlie!" Kay said, pounding her fist in her hand. "Charlie, you stay here and get measured while I go gather the others."
"Measured? Wait--" Charlie started, but Kay was already out of the building.
Kay walked into Kaede's hut and she looked around, confirming the fact that everyone was there. "We're going on a mission!" Kay yelled at them all, waking whoever was asleep and startling whoever wasn't.
"What mission?" Michelle asked.
"We're going to go find a demon so we can use it's fur for a protective kimono that Charlie will wear!" Kay's exuberance was contagious, for everyone except for InuYasha.
"There's no point in slaying a demon then!" InuYasha argued.
"So what? It'll be fun! And you've just been sitting on your ass lately, and you need to get up. I'm surprised that you haven't already tried going out to kill a demon," Kay said, rolling her eyes.
"Fine," InuYasha grumbled.
Sango thought for a moment and then asked, "What kind of demon were you thinking of slaying?"
"Well... a strong demon with lots of fur... There are dragons... What about a dragon?" Kay asked.
"A dragon!" Shippo yelled.
"Keh. We can take a dragon down easy," InuYasha said, grabbing his Tetsusaiga and standing up. "If we're going to get one, let's go already."
"Cool!"
"Hm... Hachi said that he was going to come soon. How about we wait for him and then we can all ride on him? It'll be easier," Miroku said, looking around to InuYasha.
"Fine... But he better get here soon!"
- - -
Charlie came back, his ears flat on his head and his eyebrows arched in a frown. In his hand was the hat he was wearing before to hide his ears.
Kay, knowing he was coming back before anyone else, put some rice in his bowl and then a fork, spoon, and chop sticks. Why? Because she's weird like that, and she wanted to let him use each of the utensils fit for eating rice, and if she put a knife in there, it would be really weird.
She stood up and turned towards the door just as Charlie stomped in, his glare piercing anyone who looked at him strangely. He stopped in front of Kay and glared right into her eyes, making anyone who wasn't ready for it cringe.
Kay just smiled and held out the rice for him and said, "Have some rice. I have butter and soy sauce in my bag."
Charlie took the rice, his face softening and he sat down as Kay went over to her bag and took out a small cooler. She opened it up and took out some butter, soy sauce and a knife.
"You know, soy sauce isn't for rice," Kagome said, watching Kay as she handed the open soy sauce bottle to Charlie. He put it on, and not knowing how it would effect his taste buds, put a little too much on before Kay could steal the bottle away.
She whispered to Charlie to mix the rice up and handed him some butter before answering, "I know the stuff isn't for rice, but us Americans love to put it on there. It tastes good." She took her own bowl and loaded the rice on before piling butter and soy sauce on top of it. She ate rice like InuYasha ate Ramen.
"So, Charlie..." Kay started, as she took another bite of rice and pulling her fork out of her mouth, "why were you so angry when you walked in here?"
"Just... Those people... Nothing really..." Charlie said, looking at the ground.
"You know you can't hide anything from me. Now, tell me," Kay said, stuffing more rice into her mouth.
"They started yelling stuff at me," Charlie said.
"Hurtful 'stuff'?" Kay asked. Charlie nodded.
"Welcome to my world," InuYasha said calmly.
"Don't listen to them. They're just like that because they don't know any better. That's how they were raised, and they aren't as open minded as us," Kay said, patting Charlie on the head. He smiled and closed his eyes, slowly moving his head down and nudging Kay's hand. She sighed and started scratching him behind the ears.
"What a weird... person," Michelle said, leaning back and relaxing.
"Even though he's a demon now, he still acts like a dog," Shippo said, bouncing up on Michelle's lap before being forcefully pushed off of her.
"What do you expect? Charlie was a dog all his life," Kay said, scratching Charlie behind the ear harder and gaining his approval by his tail wagging vigorously.
"Yeah, but it's... weird..." Shippo said, looking at Charlie like he was crazy.
"So? You're weird," Kay said, sticking her tongue out at Shippo.
He stuck out his tongue back, but Kay put her hand under her eye and pulled down, making her look strange... well, more strange than she already was.
- - -
The group walked outside of the hut, squinting at the sudden change of light, and Kay smiled, looking up into the air. "There he is! It's Hachi!" Kay said, pointing. Kay put her fingers in her mouth and whistled, catching everyone but Hachi's attention. She growled and Michelle put a hand on her shoulder.
Kay turned to look at Michelle, who was holding her other hand up, like she was praying. "Quiet, grasshopper. Let your sensei teach you the ways of calling ugly flying things," Michelle said, closing her eyes and putting the hand on Kay's shoulder with her other hand, making her look like she was praying.
Kay raised an eyebrow as Michelle took off a shoe and yelled at Hachi, "HEY! ASS FOR FACE! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" When he didn't seem to notice her, she threw her shoe as hard as she could at him, hitting him square in the jaw and making him transform back to his little raccoon-dog form. He screamed and fell to the ground, causing dust to rise and slowly settle.
"Hello, Hachi. We need your assistance. Will you please transport us to the nearest area with a dragon?" Miroku asked, looking particularly... evil, you could say.
"D-dragon? Wh-why would I k-know where a d-dragon is?" Hachi asked, looking at Miroku carefully.
Miroku cracked his knuckles and smirked. "I think you will take us to one, don't you?"
"Yes! Yes, Master Miroku, I will!" Hachi said, bowing slightly.
"Good," Miroku said, smiling pleasantly now.
"Where the hell is my shoe?" Michelle asked, looking up into the sky. Suddenly a shoe fell right on top of her, causing her to cuss the air blue. She clutched her forehead and bit her lip, pounding on the ground with her feet.
Everyone was silently watching Michelle suffer in pain until Kay said, "I laugh at your misfortune."
"Just shut up!"
"We should leave if we want to get there soon," Kohaku said helpfully.
"Yes, we should leave," Kay said, waiting for Hachi to transform. Once he did they happily climbed aboard and set off, searching for the dragon for Charlie's clothes.
Next time: They find the dragon, but what dangers are they going to to get dragon fur? (Yeah, I know it seems weird, but these dragons have fur, OK?) Will Charlie even last through the battle? He hasn't even fought before in his demon form.
Michelle: Charlie's a weakling.
Kay: No he isn't!
Charlie: You calling a person who can eat you in one bite a weakling? You either must be brave, or really stupid.
Michelle: Shut up.
Kay: You're gay and stupid.
Michelle: Don't call me gay or stupid!
Kay: You're homosexual and mentally impaired.
Michelle: Just be quiet.
Kay: Homosexual Michelle wants to introduce the next chapter.
Michelle: Mentally impaired Kay has written the next chapter, Fukayoi.
Charlie: You two are dumbasses.
Kay: And you're a mentally challenged donkey. And Naraku means theatre/theater basement... HA HA!