A/N: Thanks to all of you who are still reading my story! I hope you like this chapter, too!
Disclaimer: Only in my wildest, luckiest, dreams, do I own either Inuyasha or the X-Men.
Chance Encounters: Chapter 3
At roughly 8:35 that morning, Kagome woke up slowly. How late is it? Inuyasha will kill me if I'm late again! Wait, where am I? Since when did I get a red pillow? Wait a sec, is that-!
"'Bout time you woke up, wench. I've been awake for almost an hour." Inuyasha's rough voice teased as his arm tightened itself around her waist ever-so-slightly.
"Inuyasha? Oh my God, I'm sorry. You could've woken me up or just moved me, I would've understood."
"I know, but you needed me, an' I didn't really mind. How'd you sleep?"
"The second time? Great, actually. I haven't slept that peacefully in a long time. Thanks. And you?"
"Fine." Inuyasha replied, biting back the rest of his statement. A knock on the door interrupted their moment. Before Kagome could move, she felt his grip tighten again, and she could literally feel the growl building up in his chest before she heard it.
"It's ok, Inuyasha, it's probably just one of the X-Men. I'll get it." she said, slightly confused by his behavior, and moving to get up, when she was pulled back down.
"No. I'll get it." he growled, releasing her waist and getting up. He was at the door by the time she was even sitting up.
Inuyasha opened the door aggitatedly, a glare plastered on his face before it was even open. Jean stood on the other side, her arms full of a folded, white, fabric. She didn't seem to mind the glare, most likely used to such early-morning responses from Logan. "Good morning, Inuyasha. I hope I didn't wake either of you?"
"You didn't wake us." he said, calming slightly, but not much.
"Don't be so rude, Inuyasha. Good morning, Jean. Did we miss breakfast?" Kagome said sweetly, trying not to remember the image of her dead on the floor from her dream.
"No, Rogue's just started, it won't be ready until around 9:30. I've brought the two of you some robes, for you to wear after you shower, should you want to, while we wash your clothes. Of course, it's completely optional, we obviously can't force you to shower, or wash your clothes." she said with a smile.
"Oh wow, thanks Jean. I'll definitely take you up on your offer, my uniform's pretty dirty after that fall yesterday." Kagome said thankfully, taking the two robes from Jean.
"Don't mention it, Kagome. There's a laundry shoot in the bathroom, just toss down your dirty clothes, we'll have them ready before breakfast."
"Thanks again," Kagome said as Jean waved and walked away. Kagome shut the door and turned around to see Inuyasha with a weird look on his face.
"What?" she asked, unsure of why he looked so confused. He said nothing for a minute, then he walked up, grabbed one of the robes, and said:
"What're these, what's a shower, and what the hell's a 'laundry shoot'?"
Kagome stiffled a giggle at the questions, knowing they were legitamite questions for him to ask. "These are robes. They're just a big piece of white fabric that you wear after bathing, before getting dressed. Kind of like a kimono. A shower is a modern-day method of bathing. I'll show you in a minute. A laundry shoot is a...tunnel that runs inside of the walls of a house and you throw your dirty clothes down it, and they end up in the room where they get cleaned. We don't have one in my house, they aren't that common any more, really."
Inuyasha nodded slowly in understanding. "Are you going to use the 'shower' thing?"
"Yeah, I really need one. I'll show you how to work it after I'm done if you want to use it." she offered. Again, he nodded. Kagome turned and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
About 20 minutes later, Inuyasha heard the water turn off, and a minute later the door opened and Kagome stepped out. In nothing but a white, cotton, robe with a belt tied around her waist. Her hair was still wet, and it was hanging down around her shoulders. Inuyasha couldn't breathe. She looks...amazing. Damnit to hell! I didn't think she'd look so...beautiful. Damn, control yourself, you have to control yourself. Breathe, damnit!
"Inuyasha, you ok?" Kagome asked, noticing his stare. He quickly looked away and muttered a "yeah". "Well, did you want to take a shower?"
When he nodded, Kagome turned to lead him back into the bathroom, and instructed him on how to use the shower. She then showed him the laundry shoot, should he decide to use it, and exited the bathroom, being sure to leave the robe on the counter.
Four times in the next 15 minutes Kagome found herself almost walking into the bathroom for various reasons. The first time she heard a loud, dangerous, string of curse words coming from within the room, but she ignored it. The second time she had her hand on the door knob before she knew what she was doing, because of a loud 'thud' from inside the shower. When she'd called to him, he'd assured her that he was fine. Another round of curses a few minutes later was followed shortly by a loud shout of "IRON-" "INUYASHA, NO!" Fortunately, he obeyed.
When Inuyasha stepped out of the bathroom, he was wearing his fire-rat robes. "Inuyasha, why didn't you send your clothes down the laundry shoot? Don't you want them to be cleaned?"
"Yeah, well, I can do it myself when we get back home. What bastard invented that 'soap' stuff?"
Kagome couldn't control herself, she started laughing instantly at his question. "I...have...no...idea!" she said between laughs. Inuyasha sighed and shook his head to dry his hair. Kagome shrieked as she was showered with the water from his hair. Her arms flew up to cover her face. "Inuyasha! You're soaking me!" Any anger she'd hoped to put into her voice failed to be noticed as she laughed happily. She failed to see his big smile at her reaction. Gods I love her. Why the hell can't I tell her? She's so damn beautiful, especially when she laughs like that. And they say I don't have any self control, keh, shows what they know. If I had no self control, lets just say I'd know by now whether or not she feels the same way. An' if she doesn't, I'd probably have a broken back, and a brand-new rosary, seein' as how she'd have probably broke the other one.
Kagome sat down on the egde of the bed and sighed. "Did I ever finish telling you about the nightmare, Inuyasha?"
This got his attention back where it belonged, and he shook his head as he sat down next to her. "No, do you think you want to now?"
"'Want to'? No. But, I think I should, because I think it's important."
"But, if it's important, shouldn't you wait 'til breakfast?"
"I don't really want to tell a bunch of people I barely know about a dream where they were all dead. I was, kind of, hoping you could help me tell them, if I need it."
"Sure. Now talk."
"Where did I leave off?"
"You saw me dead."
"Oh, right. Well,..." Kagome began, telling him about the dream, which, of course, she remembered in detail.
Kagome had her knees pulled up to her chest when she finished, and tears in her eyes from the memory, and she shivered as she remembered the feeling of Sinister's tongue on her ear. Inuyasha was audibly growling by the time she was done telling him about her dream. When she shivered for the third time, Inuyasha pulled her close to him to comfort her. She didn't resist him in the slightest. "It's gonna be ok, Kagome. We'll figure out what's goin' on, and I promise I'll take care of it. If this Sinister guy is real, I'll rip him apart. And don't worry about Muso. That bastard won't get near you, in any form, especially if he is reincarnated."
"Thank you, Inuyasha." Kagome said quietly, feeling the tension flee from her body as he held her.
Their moment was again shattered when a knock sounded at the door. Grumbling, Inuyasha released Kagome and stalked to the door, while Kagome followed quietly behind him, her eyes on the floor. When Inuyasha yanked open the door, he wasn't at all surprised to see Jubilee standing there, with Kagome's school uniform in her hands. "Here ya go, Kagome. Oh, and breakfast'll be ready in five minutes, you'll have to hurry if you want anything. Rogue cooked an old-fashioned southern thing, and Gambit's already trying to call dibs. Anyway, see ya in a few!" she said, before she took off down the hall.
Kagome changed in the bathroom while Inuyasha waited near the open bedroom door, his eyes never leaving the bathroom door. She came out two minutes later, having tossed the one used robe down the shoot. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Inuyasha still in the room. "I thought you'd be downstairs getting food. Why'd you stay?"
"To wait for you, why the hell else?" his angry facade was his way of hiding his worry, but Kagome knew that he cared, though she had no idea how much. She smiled in thanks, not in the mood to argue with him.
Nearly two hours later, they'd all eaten breakfast, and Kagome had just finished her tale. The X-Men said nothing for a minute. There had been a few moments when Inuyasha had almost had to intervene for the sake of her emotional well-being. And he'd been unable to supress the growl when she got to the parts about Muso and Sinister's...ear fettish. Finally, after nearly two minutes of silence, Jean spoke.
"Kagome, have you ever met Sinister before?"
"N-No, I've never even heard of him before. Not until last night. Do you know him?"
"Yes. He's an old enemy of the X-Men's. But we've never heard of anyone by the name of Muso. Have you?"
"Yeah. But, he's supposed to be dead."
"An' so am I. That doesn't mean much when Naraku's involved, you know that." Inuyasha said bluntly.
Kagome sighed. "I know that, Inuyasha."
Suddenly, Inuyasha's head tilted up, and he sniffed the air. Then he growled lowly for a minute before standing and heading over to the door that lead outside from the kitchen and throwing it open. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?"
"There's a wolf nearby."
"A wolf? That's odd, we don't usually get wolves around here." Jubilee stated. Rogue nodded her agreement, even as Logan stood and walked over towards the doorway. "Wolvie? Are there really wolves out there?" Jubilee asked quietly.
"Smells similar, but, somethin's...different about it."
"'Different' how?" Betsy questioned, placing her coffee cup in the sink.
"Demon. Wolf demon. An' there're two." Inuyasha stated, his hand resting on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga.
"Two wolf demons? Inuyasha, do you recognize their scents?" Kagome questioned, not sure whether or not she wanted to see that particular 'friendly-face' at the moment, considering their predicament.
"Yeah. Both of 'em. But what the hell's that damn flea-bag doing here? An' why's he hangin' out with Ayame?"
"Kouga and Ayame? In America? That surprises me. Inuyasha, why're they still...around?"
"They're full-demons, Kagome, they're immortal. As long as no one kills 'em, they're here to stay."
"Ok, who're you guys talking about? What demons?" Jubilee asked, feeling very out-of-the-loop.
"Kouga and Ayame are wolf demons from the Feudal Era. Inuyasha and Kouga don't really...get along too well. Kouga decided that he was in love with me, and Inuyasha gets jealous when-" Kagome began, only to be interrupted.
"I DO NOT GET JEALOUS!" Inuyasha shouted, spinning around to face her. Kagome sighed and shook her head.
"So, then, what do you call it, Mutt Face?" Kouga's voice asked, as he appeared about 10 feet away from the door. Ayame appeared a moment later, shaking her head, her red hair flying with the motion. Neither of them had aged much since the Feudal Age of Japan. Inuyasha spun once again, now facing the wolves.
"What the hell're you doin' here, Flea-Bag?" Inuyasha growled, his hand resting, again, over Tetsusaiga.
"I could ask you the same question, seeing as how you're supposed to be in Japan. Caught wind of yer scents when we were passin' through town. How're you, Kagome?" Kouga asked, ignoring Inuyasha and stepping into the doorway before two growls, only one of which he was expecting, greeted him.
"Uh, I'm fine, thanks. Inuyasha, you don't really need to growl, do you?" Kagome said, attempting to reason with him.
"Hey Bub, step back, I don't wanna have ta force ya." Logan warned, blocking Kouga's entrance.
"Logan, perhaps you could try being a bit more gentle with him?" Ororo suggested in vain.
"Kouga! What're you doing, inviting yourself into someone else's home? Get your butt back out here!" Ayame lectured, pulling him none-to-gently back outside. Then, she turned towards Inuyasha and Kagome. "Hey, sorry about him. Manners are hard to teach after all those centuries of not needing them. Uh, Kagome, you seem...younger, what are we missing?"
"I'm seventeen, how old am I supposed to be?"
"Seventeen!" Kouga and Ayame stated simultaneously. Glancing at each other, they nodded once, and Koga spoke. "Nevermind us, we were just passing through. See ya around, Mutt!" With that, they both turned and sped off, leaving dust in their wake. Like always.
"Oooookkaaayyyy, that was odd. Who were they?" Jubilee asked the moment Kouga and Ayame were gone. Behind her, Rogue and Betsy just shook their heads, all too used to her blunt way of asking things.
"They're some...friends of ours from Feudal Japan. Or, rather, their older selves. Inuyasha and Kouga don't actually get along very well..." Kagome's voice trailed as she looked away, feeling the half-demon's eyes watching her intently from the still-open doorway.
"Ah get it. That 'Kouga' fella had a thing for ya 500 years ago, so Inuyasha don't like him none, even though it seemed to me that the other guy was pretty over it." Rogue stated, placing one hand on her hip and barely suppressing her satisfied grin.
"Keh." Inuyasha replied, before walking outside and towards the trees that separated the forest from the institute. A moment later he had disappeared into their foliage.
"Well, he took that well, dontcha think?" Jubilee asked, her own grin spreading across her face. Kagome just shook her head and sighed, sitting back down in the chair she'd only just vacated.
"This is so typical. He'll stay up there, sulking, until something needs killing, or until I try talking to him. Which would probably start an argument."
"He's a pretty argumentative guy, then?" Jubilee commented, glancing at Logan without thinking as she said this.
"Oh yeah."
"Well, let's ignore him for a while, then. I'll give ya the 'grand tour' of the place. Well, what you haven't already seen, anyway."
After twenty minutes of touring the rest of the mansion, Jubilee led her to the bottom level. The Danger Room. "Ok, so, behind these doors is the room we call the 'Danger Room'. It's a place where we get to practice using our powers by fighting realistic holograms. I know it sounds kinda hokey, but it works pretty well. You can program literally anything you can think up, and it'll create it. We also use it for a gym or whatever. If we go up this staircase over here," Jubilee paused, indicating the staircase just off to their right before heading up it, "we enter the Control Room. This is where you can manually program your 'workout' or just watch whoever's using the Danger Room while you're up here. Oh! It looks like Gambit and Wolvie are using it, come on, ya gotta see this!" She said, grabbing Kagome by the arm and dragging her over to the large windows so they could watch the fight going on below them.
"Um, are these windows breakable?" Kagome asked tentatively.
"Nope. That would be kinda stupid, don't you think? They're way beyond bullet-proof."
"Ok, just checking. Wow, I didn't know this kind of technology existed."
"Um, well, it doesn't, actually. Y'see, we got it from some alien friends of ours. I know, that's pretty weird, but, we've met a lot of aliens. Professor X is actually sorta romantically involved with one. I don't know, that's a hard relationship to explain. Anyway, they have waaayyy better technology than us, so, they lent us some. Pretty cool, huh?"
About another ten minutes later, Gambit and Wolverine were finally done and the Danger Room deactivated automatically. Logan looked up towards the control panel and smirked. "Enjoyin' the show, Jubes?"
"You know it, Wolvie! I'm gonna show Kagome the outside area next, wanna come with?"
"Maybe I'll join half-way through. Got a call to make."
"Ok, cool." A moment later, as the men exited the room, the girls met them at the foot of the stairs. Together they walked to the elevator and took it back up to the living room, where Gambit headed off towards the game room with a grin and Logan headed upstairs, most likely to his room.
"C'mon, Kagome, I'll show you the lake. You'll love it!" She stated, dragging her new friend out the front doors and cutting across the lawn. Kagome was trying her best to keep up, laughing at the same time behind her. As they were headed towards the lake, they passed a small rock formation where Betsy was meditating. Kagome slowed and called to Jubilee to wait a moment.
"Betsy, do you know if Inuyasha's come down yet?"
"Last I checked, he was still sulking in the tree."
"Ok, thanks." She said, shaking her head and continuing to follow Jubilee.
A short while later, they had found Breakstone Lake. "Wow. It's beautiful. You're so lucky, having a lake on your property."
"I know, it's a lot of fun. We usually spend half the summer out here. Especially when Bobby's not around." Jubilee stated, plopping down next to the lake.
"'Bobby'?"
"Yeah, Bobby Drake. His codename's Iceman. Ice is his power. He's a major help during the summer."
"I'll bet." Kagome agreed, laughing with Jubilee as she sat down next to her.
"So, how long d'you think your friend'll sulk up there?" Jubilee asked after a few minutes of silence. Kagome sighed and took a few moments before answering.
"It depends. He could sulk until dinner, if he's upset enough, but-" She never finished that sentence.
"I don't sulk! An' I'll stay up here 'til I feel like comin' down, so deal with it!" Inuyasha's voice snapped argumentatively from a nearby tree.
"Inuyasha! How long've you been up there, spying on us?"
"Who said I was spyin' on you? How many times do I have to tell you, I ain't interested in spying on you! Get that through your head!"
"Don't you lecture me, Mister! You're the one who couldn't handle my explaining Kouga to the people who've been nice enough to help us while we're trapped here!"
"Hey, we wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't gotten mad at me for no good reason and insisted on goin' home! That makes this entirely your fault!"
"Oh boy, them's fightin' words." Jubilee muttered, watching with amused interest as Kagome stood and turned in the direction Inuyasha's voice was coming from.
"My fault? It's not my fault, you jerk! You're the one who couldn't keep his mouth shut! If you hadn't said those things, I never would've been upset enough to want to go home!"
"So you're blaming me for all this? Get real, wench, I didn't do a damn thing to cause this, an' you know it!"
At this point, Jubilee was trying not to laugh; what she didn't know was that it was about to get a lot funnier. And there was about to be another witness, because right then, Logan walked up. Of course, he'd been able to hear most of the argument. He just wanted to see it. So, it seemed, did Gambit.
"What dey arguin' about, petite?"
"Who's fault their 'situation' is. Well, right now, anyway. Originally it was that he does/doesn't sulk. It's been progressing rapidly since that."
"What did you just call me?" Kagome asked in a dangerous voice that, as usual, Inuyasha missed entirely.
"You heard me, wench! An' it's still your fault, too!"
"It is not my fault, now get down here!"
"No. I'm gonna stay up here until I feel like comin' down, so deal with it. And it is your fault."
"'Deal with it'? I don't think so. It's not my fault, and I'm not going to say that again, now stop being a jerk and come down!"
"Nothin' doin', wench." It never even occurred to him that his fate hadn't yet been sealed before he'd said that.
"That does it. Inuyasha, SIT boy!" She commanded, hands fisted on her hips and an angry glare in her eyes. With a 'hmph', she spun around, crossed her arms, and tilted her chin up a fraction of an inch. He's such a jerk sometimes!
Jubilee, Remy, and Logan watched in amused shock as Inuyasha let out a sound best described as a wimper and then plummeted, face-first, into the ground. From a good ten feet above it. And he made a nice two foot deep hole, too. Logan let out a low whistle and noted with a hint of amusement that Gambit had taken a subconscious step backwards. Jubilee was trying, and failing, to stifle her laughter. Only Logan could make sense of the jumbled words that Inuyasha was muttering from his highly unflattering position. He figured everyone was safer that way, too.
"Dammit, Kagome, why the hell'd you do that!" Inuyasha grumbled as he managed to pull himself to his feet. When she didn't respond, he took an angry step forward and reached to grab hold of her shoulder to spin her around.
"Don't! I'm still mad at you, Pal, so you'd better watch it."
"Mad at me for what! It ain't like this is the worst argument we've ever had or somethin'!" He stepped backwards, much like Gambit had, when she spun back around.
"I'm aware of that! And, honestly, it's not the argument, so much as the fact that we argued." At his puzzled look, she elaborated. "We're in an unusual situation; we have no idea when, or even if, whoever brought us here is going to appear, and you're busy getting angry that Kouga showed up! Then, once you were over that, you intentionally picked a fight with me, for no reason! That's why I'm angry."
"C'mon, Kagome, it ain't like you've never picked fights with me! Besides, I wouldn't have let anything happen to you!" Behind him, Jubilee shook her head.
"SIT boy! Ugh! You're such a jerk sometimes!" She muttered, turning again and beginning to walk around to another part of the lake.
"I think you need a new argument, bub. Yours ain't workin'." Logan stated as Inuyasha slowly climbed out of his new hole.
"Tell me, mon ami, how does she do dat?"
"Do what?" Inuyasha asked, not really paying attention, as he watched Kagome sit on a different part of the lake shore.
"Duh, make you eat dirt, what else?" Jubilee rephrased. Inuyasha 'keh'd' and walked away, towards the young priestess. Jubilee was about to open her mouth at being shuned so rudely when Logan's hand fell onto her shoulder and he shook his head. Reluctantly, she shut her mouth and watched in silence.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Before I forget, if at some point, Kouga is spelled Koga, it's because I originally typed it up that way, and attempted to go thru and change it. So I may've missed one or two. Again, I hope you liked it! Please R&R!