Chapter 11 Preparation
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A/N: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I feel like I'm behind… with this story and all the three other ones that I'm writing as well. So please be patient with me and supportive! I'd really appreciate it!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERII! SWEET SIXTEEN! YEAH BABY! Lol. Our lovely little Berii turned sixteen not long ago! The 12th!
TriGemini- I couldn't agree more with everything you said. I really liked those songs too. Thanks for being constant support for this story!
alaskagirl24- Thank you!
Berii- Thanks hott stuff. Lol.
inuyasha1818- Thank you!
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Over the next few weeks Inuyasha practiced with Mrs. Higurashi for hours each day. They would begin practice the second Kagome was out the door and practice would end a few minutes before they were due to return. It was like clockwork. The next few days passed in a blissful sweetness. Inuyasha reveled in the dancing. (Despite the fact that it was with Mrs. Higurashi instead of Kagome.) He seemed to be improving a lot, much to the delight of not only himself but Mrs. Higurashi as well. It would be wrong to say that she did not take great pride in herself for his achievements. He was doing his hardest, and getting quite good actually.
He had a sense of grace she had never seen before and knew it had to be because of the agility and strength he needed to survive in Feudal Japan. If it were not for that, teaching him may have been a great deal harder. Despite what some might think, it takes a great deal of strength and muscle to be a dancer.
Kagome didn't seem to suspect a thing. It did not seem odd to her that Inuyasha was always there when she left for practice and was still there when she returned. It now just seemed like a normal thing for him to be waiting for her after her practices with Isamu. For after a morning with Isamu she and Inuyasha would spend the afternoon together either talking or Kagome would take Inuyasha out on the town to show him modern technology. Inuyasha enjoyed this time and was always surprised at what new thing she had so show him. Kagome often would laugh at his excitement at what seemed to her to be the smallest of things. Sometimes Isamu would tag a long, but that was not very often.
Rightly, he had given Kagome up to Inuyasha. It was more a silent surrender that no one other than himself knew about; although it was possible Inuyasha may know of its existence as well. Isamu knew Kagome loved Inuyasha and he her. And he cared for Kagome so much he wanted her to be happy with the man she loved, or in this case Hanyou she loved.
The weeks for the next round of the competition were quickly coming to a close. It was now only couple days until they were to compete and everyone was feeling the pressure. So one day after one of Kagome's practices with Isamu, Mrs. Higurashi immediately sent Kagome off to the store to get some 'much needed' supplies. This allowed Isamu, Mrs. Higurashi, and Inuyasha a good hour to discuss what was to happen in only 2 days.
They were now gathered in the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi checked the outside one last time to check that Kagome was gone and that Sota and Gramps were still cleaning out the shed. They had not been informed of what was to happen for fear one of them may 'accidentally' slip word to Kagome.
"Its all clear." She informed them once she was satisfied.
"Good." Isamu nodded. He waited for Mrs. Higurashi took her seat at the kitchen table before he continued speaking. "So when Kagome and I are up, she should already be on stage. That is when Inuyasha and I shall switch places and when the music starts her will make his entrance."
"We probably should make a trip there to make sure Inuyasha understands what exactly he has to do." Mrs. Higurashi suggested.
"Yes. But the only problem with that is Kagome. We have to do it when she is not around." Isamu said "The problem is she is always around Inuyasha or I and it would be strange if I just said 'Kagome, Can I please take borrow Inuyasha for a bit?' She may think I'm mad."
"I can fix that. I'll just call her friends and she can spend the day with them." Mrs. Higurashi said.
"Okay good. We can do that tomorrow. That just leaves one more problem." Isamu said looking directly at Inuyasha. "What are we going to do about your hair and ears? There has to be some way we can conceal them. As you should already know people in this time don't exactly except… your kind. Who knows how they will react." Isamu added lightly.
"In two days it's the night of the new moon." Inuyasha said simply not looking at either Isamu or Mrs. Higurashi. They were both confused but waited for him to continue. He gulped. "And every night of the full moon I loose my demonic powers and demon appearance."
"So to anyone who did not know you, you look human?" Isamu asked excitedly.
Inuyasha nodded. "That's perfect! Then it will all work out then!" Isamu rose to his feet.
"But no one else must know of this. It is my most guarded secret. If you tell anyone…" Inuyasha trailed off his eyes boring into Isamu's.
"It'll be our secret. I will not tell a soul. You have my word. And if I break that word I give you permission to exact punishment of your choice."
Satisfied Inuyasha relaxed and Isamu took his leave just as Kagome was returning.
"Where are you going?" She asked as he passed by her on her way to the kitchen.
"I got some things to do today." He shrugged' "I'll see you later."
"Okay." She hugged him with her free hand. "Bye."
"Bye." He opened the door and left while Kagome continued on towards the kitchen. "I got the stuff you wanted mom." She said dropping her grocery bag on the kitchen counter.
"Thanks dear. I'm sorry I had you run out like that so suddenly." Mrs. Higurashi apologized. She got up from the table and proceeded to put away the supplies she had Kagome go and get.
"It's alright Mom. It was no biggie." She turned to Inuyasha sitting at the kitchen table. "So what are we going to do today?"
"How about you go and help Sota and Gramps clean out the shed?" Mrs. Higurashi proposed.
"No way!" Kagome said immediately.
"Why not? You never know you could find some interesting things! Come on! They probably need some extra help anyway!" Mrs. Higurashi smiled.
Kagome immediately thought of the old boxes filled with her old clothes and toys she couldn't part with as a child. She couldn't let Inuyasha see that stuff! "No!"
Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. "You are going to help them! Now get out there now!" She began pushing her daughter out the back door until she was outside. Inuyasha followed behind.
"But Mom!" Kagome tried to protest.
"No buts! Just go do it! You'll be done before you know it!" Her mother went back inside and closed the door behind her. Thereby ending the discussion with the slam of the door.
"Come on." Kagome said leading a smirking Inuyasha to the shed. "Let's get this over with. And wipe that smirk of your face Inuyasha. This is not going to be fun."
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"When do you think Kagome and Inuyasha will be coming back?" Shippo asked absentmindedly as he played with Kirara.
"I suppose when this competition of Kagome's is over." Miroku answered lazily as he stretched in the afternoon sun.
"And when do you think that will be?" Shippo wondered.
"Maybe in a few days."
"Well I hope so." Sango yawned and leaned back in the grass. "It has been awhile since we have seen them." She mused.
"Yes it has." He agreed. "I miss their bickering."
Sango chuckled. "Yeah. Me too. It's odd isn't it? To think we would miss something so trivial as that."
"It is." They elapsed into an awkward silence where neither of them spoke.
"They'll be back soon." Shippo said after a while.
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Hours later the painful cleaning of the shed was finally completed. Inuyasha had actually enjoyed it a lot more than Kagome and Sota had. It was fun seeing what was in those boxes. There were so many memories in each and every one. He especially enjoyed the boxes filled with Kagome's stuff; although Kagome didn't seem too pleased about it. She hated it every time he asked her to tell him about each one. It's not his fault he wanted to know what memories each one held. But as they went a long she began to relax and lighten up. He thought she rather came to enjoy telling him about each item he found. He especially liked her baby clothes! She was so small as an infant! He could imagine Mrs. Higurashi holding her daughter much the way he supposed his own mother did.
Inside Mrs. Higurashi rewarded them with some chocolate chip cookies. After hours of working they were the best any one had ever tasted! Then after they ate their fill of cookies Kagome took Inuyasha out on the town again.
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The next day Mrs. Higurashi performed the dirty task of phoning Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka and asking them if they could please keep Kagome busy for a few hours. She just needed them to get her out of the house. They hastily agreed, stopping by around 10:30 that morning. Kagome was so surprised to see them; it was hard not to keep the anger out of her voice.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked trying not to raise her voice.
"Just thought we'd stop by and spend a lovely afternoon with our very best friend!" Yuka chirped.
"But I have to practice today." Kagome said looking to Isamu for support.
"I was going to tell you that we'll skip practice today anyway. You should rest up before tomorrow. We need you at full power. So why don't you go out and hang with your friends?" He said totally dismissing any chances she had of getting out of this mid morning excursion.
"But what about you?" Kagome asked. "What will you do all day?"
"Don't worry about me. I'll be right here, waiting for you, when you get back. Go on have some fun."
Before Kagome could utter a word of goodbye she was pulled out the door by her overexcited friends. "Okay! I'm coming! You can let of me now!" She snapped snatching her hands out of their grasps.
"So, where to first?" Eri wondered, pretending not to notice the rudeness of Kagome's voice.
"How about we stop somewhere for coffee!" Ayumi offered.
"Sounds good to me!" Yuka smiled. They linked arms with each other and were off, pulling Kagome along with them.
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"You think that was right of me? To call Kagome's friends like that just to get rid of her?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she drove her car. She was feeling guilty for doing that to her daughter.
"What else could you have done?" Isamu said from the passenger seat. He looked behind him to see Inuyasha sitting in the back seat with queasy look on his face. He grinned. Looks like this was his first car ride.
"Yeah you are right." Mrs. Higurashi agreed rather reluctantly. They drove the rest of the way in silence.
A few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot and climbed out. "Let's get this over with." Isamu sighed, leading Mrs. Higurashi and Inuyasha inside.
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"Okay. So when the song begins Kagome will be standing here." Isamu informed the hanyou. "You are to walk towards her as so," He demonstrated. "And then take her hand and spin her so she faces you." He looked up into Inuyasha's eyes. "Got it?" He nodded. "And then the dance begins."
Inuyasha nodded again. His words seemed to fail him now as he allowed his eyes to travel along the rows and rows of seats, which in only 24 hours would be filled with possibly hundreds of people. Their eyes would be all on him…. Watching him if he messed up….
"Inuyasha!" A voice called startling him from his thoughts. "Are you clear on what you have to do?" Isamu asked roughly.
"Yes." Inuyasha whispered.
"Are you sure? Because this is a very important event. We need to be sure everything goes as well as possible. Any unnecessary mistakes…"
"I got it!" He snapped.
"I'm sorry." Isamu apologized. "It's just dancing is my life and I tend to get worked up when it comes to things like that."
"S'okay." Inuyasha muttered.
"Ya know, every one gets nervous their first time. It's a natural thing." Mrs. Higurashi tried to sooth the young hanyou. She rubbed his shoulder gently.
"Just do what I do when I'm nervous." Isamu offered. "Don't think about anyone else but Kagome. The feel or her small body against yours…." Isamu closed his eyes as if remembering. Inuyasha growled lowly and Isamu continued. "And keep your eyes locked on hers. And I promise everything will go perfectly. You will forget all about being nervous."
"Right," Came the hanyou's sarcastic reply.
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Just to let you readers know I can only see about three or two more chapters to this story before it ends. When I first began writing this story I only expected it to have ten chapters. So it's really a surprise to me that is has carried on as long as it has! But I just wanted to let you guys know that. Thanks for reading and being so patient with me and Berii with our late updates! Thanks and Please R and R!
My first update of the year 2006! Wow. I feel lazy!
Clouds of the Sky
