A/N: Chapter four! Yay! So, how're you all liking this story so far? I hope this doesn't disappoint! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I'd be a mega-millionare (if not billionare) if I owned Inuyasha and X-Men...and I'm not, so obviously, I don't...seriously, people. Lol.
Chance Encounters: Chapter 4
Kagome sat down and pulled her knees to her chest, sighing deeply. Why does he do that? There was no reason for any of that argument. Ugh, I'll never understand him. Sometimes, I swear, if I didn't love him so much, I'd just hand over what we've collected so far and go home for good. Of course, that's not gonna happen. I'll forgive him, we both know it. Well, he should know it, at least. But, given the situation, he shouldn't have started an argument that didn't have to happen. I know he's confused and worried about what's going to happen, but, there're better ways to handle it. I suppose I could've handled it better, too, though. Of course, if I tell him, he'll never let me hear the end of it. Oh God, I'm gonna cry, aren't I? Come on, Kagome, don't cry! You're stronger than that! Her mind began wandering in an effort to distract herself from what was going on currently, and it instantly flashed back to the dreams she'd had recently. Try as she might, she couldn't prevent the image of Inuyasha's dead body hanging limply from the ceiling, the blood still dripping off of his clawed fingertips. That was all it took to break her restraint. Without thinking, she stood and ran directly to the half demon that was slowly approaching her.
Inuyasha paused when the scent of her tears reached his nose, fearing another 'sit' command was about to come. After a moment, he continued towards her. When she stood and ran towards him, he stopped again, thoroughly confused. It took two seconds for her to reach him, and when she did, she clutched his haori tightly, burying her face in it. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly, holding her close to him, and he gently nuzzled the side of her face in an effort to comfort her. After a moment, her words drifted up to him.
"I'm scared, Inuyasha. I'm afraid about what might happen before we get back home. What if-what if my dreams come true? What-what if you..."
"I won't. I promise you, Kagome, I'm not goin' anywhere. I'll be here to protect you the entire time; no one's gonna change that."
"I'd rather not take the chance. I just wanna go home."
"Like it or not, we'll prob'ly have to go back to chasin' Naraku once this is over; no time for you to go to 'school'." Kagome smiled a bit, though he couldn't see it.
"No, Inuyasha. Not the shrine; your era. I want to go back and see our friends."
"Well, yeah, but you said 'home'."
"I know, but your era...that's-that's what I was talking about." Now probably isn't the time to get into 'Feudal Japan feels more like home than my era; mainly because you're there, and you know what they say 'home is where the heart is', hehehehe, yeah, that'd go over well.
"Yeah, I get it." There was more to that, but now prob'ly ain't the time to get into that. Least I know that she thinks my era's her home, too. Wonder if she'll ever tell me why? Keh, she spends enough time there-focus, dammit! He thought, mentally shaking his head at himself and inhaling Kagome's scent, in a misguided effort to clear his mind. Of course, it didn't really work.
After a couple of minutes of just clinging to him, Kagome was finally able to get her emotions under control again. Releasing her grip on his shirt, she pushed back a bit, inwardly wishing she didn't have to, and smiled up at him, the remnants of tears in her eyes making them sparkle more. "Thanks, Inuyasha. I guess I needed that. Sorry about before." As she expected, he nodded once and let go of her, saying "Keh. Don't mention it, wench." Of course, what she didn't know was that he didn't want to release her any more than she wanted him to. Of course, Inuyasha, being in his typical mood after an argument/crying session with Kagome, he wasn't quite willing to have an audience.
Turning around, he glared aggitatedly at the gathered X-Men. "Oi, what're you lookin' at? Can't a guy get a bit o' privacy?" Behind him, Kagome sighed and shook her head, a small smile on her face. Not feeling like another argument, she grabbed hold of his hand and began walking towards their hosts. As she'd suspected, Inuyasha shut up the moment her hand took hold of his.
"Sorry about the drama; I guess all this stress is getting to me." Kagome offered by way of explanation.
"'S ok. I have a question, though, since he didn't answer when I asked. How do you do that? Y'know, make him eat dirt?"
Kagome giggled a bit at Jubilee's definition of the subjugation spell's effect on Inuyasha. Inuyasha scoffed and crossed his arms, waiting to see how she'd explain that, and hoping it didn't involve a demonstration. "Well, it's kind of an...interesting story, actually."
"'Interesting'? Who woulda guessed you were so violent." Inuyasha teased, moving to lean against a tree while she talked.
At precisely that moment, Betsy and Rogue appeared, curious as to why they'd been out by the lake so long. "Howdy ya'll, what's up?"
"You be just in time for story time, chere. Y'ought to see what de petite can do to de boy."
"Keh. Keep dreamin', Pal."
"Ignore them. So? How do you do it?"
"It all started the day I fell through the well..."
Nearly ten minutes later, Kagome had finished her tale, barely managing to avoid using the word 'sit'. Jubilee and Gambit were out-right laughing, Logan, Betsy, and Rogue were grinning, and Inuyasha was silently relieved. He'd honestly been worried for a moment that she was actually going to sit him. It took them a minute to compose themselves somewhat, and then Betsy spoke up. "Ok, though my imagination gave me a nice image of that, I'd like to see it. Jubilee, do you mind if I borrow the image from your memory?"
"Nope; that was way too good not to share, help yourself." Jubilee replied, her grin returning.
"Ya'll had better share that with me, too, when you're done, sugah." Rogue stated.
"Don't worry, I will." Betsy promised. Then she stepped forward and gently placed the fingertips of her right hand on Jubilee's forehead and shut her eyes. After a couple of seconds, Psylocke's hand returned to her side and she began chuckling slightly. "That is bloody priceless! Here, Rogue." She said, placing her left fingertips on top of Rogue's head, where they were protected by her hair. Rogue was grinning twice as big as before when Betsy was done.
"You're right, priceless! Oh, boy, ah almost feel sorry for ya; that looks kinda painful."
"Keh. I can take it; I ain't built like you humans, y'know." Inuyasha replied, not moving from his place against the tree.
"Ease up, Sugah, ya'll ain't the only one with thick skin after all. That don' mean it don' hurt."
"All right, that's enough everyone. I just got a call from Jean; it's lunch time. If you're hungry, follow me." Betsy stated, turning and walking away from the lake.
"Oh, yeah! I'm starved, lead the way, Betts!" Jubilee called, running to catch up with the purple-haired ninja. The rest of the group fell into place behind them quietly, except for Inuyasha, who had once again decided that trees were the way to travel.
Lunch consisted of chicken and/or beef sandwiches with chips on the side, while Betsy did the friendly psychic thing and shared Inuyasha's most flattering moments by the lake with Jean and Ororo. Ororo, of course, found it less amusing than the rest of them, but that was to be expected. "Blessed Goddess!" Was all she said as she watched, in her mind's eye, what Jubilee, Logan, and Remy had seen first-hand. Jean chuckled a bit and shook her head as the dishes floated to the sink and her glass of lemonade refilled itself. Right at that moment, the phone rang. Inuyasha growled, as he'd done the first time, and his ears flattened defensively against his head. Jubilee stood to grab it when Betsy's voice stopped her.
"Jubilation, I'll get the phone." Jubilee sat back down, grumbling under her breath, as Betsy caught the phone on the third ring. "Hello? Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning, Betsy speaking?"
"Betsy? Hey, it's Kitty. Um, is it alright if Peter, Illyana, and I come home early? Like, this evening early?"
"Of course it's alright, why would you even ask such a question, Katherine?"
"I just wanted to be sure nothing, y'know, weird, was going on, is all. I mean, if for some reason, it would be really inconvenient for us to come back early. Which reminds me, how're things going over there?"
"Oh, things are fairly typical. We have a couple of unexpected guests; no one you know. You?"
"About how I expected. Mom isn't in so great a mood; we said 'hi' to all my old college buddies, and now we're ready to come back. We'll probably get back around 8:00 p.m. tonight, just to let you know. What's the deal with your guests?"
"Well, they fell out of the sky yesterday afternoon. They're from Japan. I'll have Jean fill you both in on the rest when you get here; it'll be simpler that way. Anything else?"
"Yeah, um, where do you want Illyana to zap us to so they won't see us?"
"Don't worry about that; we told them who we are. Though, come to think of it...the foot of the stairs might be a good idea. The young man's a bit...jumpy. Not that I can blame him, of course. You'll understand why when you get home. Everything's all right, though, I hope?"
"Yes, we just got done visiting early is all. Ok, well, I've gotta go; we'll see you at the foot of the stairs at 8:00 p.m., then. Bye!"
"Good-bye, Katherine. We'll see you when you return." Betsy said, hanging up
"Kitty and the others are going to be coming home at eight o'clock this evening. I've told them to matieralize by the stairs, so as to avoid startling our guests. Jean, I told Kitty you'd explain the current situation when they got back."
"Thanks for the heads-up, Betsy. Now let's go explain to our new friends that three people will be appearing inside the mansion tonight." Jean stated, setting her glass inside the sink and following Betsy out the kitchen door, where the rest of the group had congregated. Betsy spoke up, since she had taken the call.
"That was Kitty. She and the others are coming home tonight, instead."
"Did she say why? They were not planning on returning until tomorrow evening at the earliest." Ororo commented, instantly worrying about her friends.
"Relax, Ororo, they're fine. They've already visited all of the people they planned on visiting, so they're going to come home. Which leads me to my other point." Betsy paused, turning to face the two mis-placed Japanese teenagers; well, one was a teenager. "Our friends that are coming back this evening won't be returning by taxi or even by plane. One among them, Illyana, has the mutant ability to teleport through the use of what are called 'stepping discs'; they're gold energy-circles, if you will. They will be using those to come home; I've told them to matieralize at the foot of the staircase, so it would be best if you'd avoid the stairs around eight tonight. Is that ok with you?"
Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged glances and, after a moment, Kagome spoke. "Yes, that's fine. Thank you for explaining that."
"You're welcome. We'll explain more about our friends when they arrive; that way they'll have the chance to tell you about themselves." Betsy finished, sitting down on one of the sofas next to Jean, who was sitting next to Ororo. Remy and Rogue were seated on one of the two loveseats; Logan and Jubilee on the second couch. Inuyasha and Kagome were occupying the other loveseat. The silence stretched for a few minutes, as everyone contemplated their own lot in life.
After nearly ten minutes of silence, a high-pitched shriek emitted from the yellow-clad firecracker sitting one seat away from Wolverine. Everyone tensed, and both Logan and Inuyasha growled in response to Jubilee's volume. Suddenly, Jubilee flung herself into Logan's lap pointed a shaky finger at the arm of the couch that she'd been leaning against. "KILL IT! KILL IT!"
"'It'? What're you talkin' about, Sugah?" Rogue asked, moving to stand when Logan shook his head dejectedly.
"A spider. Darlin', after all you've been through, yer afraid of a spider? Ya don't scream that loud when ya see Apocalypse 'r someone."
"Get over it! Kill the stupid spider! I hate spiders, ok! They totally creep me out!"
"You'll have to get off o' me if you want me to kill it, Jubes." Logan stated calmly. Jubilee was out of his lap and standing on the other side of the couch in an instant. With a nearly inaudible sigh, he stood and walked over to the side of the couch that she'd been sitting on a moment before. A few seconds later, the spider was dead. "Happy now?" He asked rhetorically as he returned to his seat.
"Yep! Thanks, Wolvie!" Jubilee said as she plopped down beside him. He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't comment on the fact that she was still avoiding the spot she'd previously been sitting in.
"Well, that was certainly interesting." Jean commented with a small chuckle.
Hours later, after dinner, they were all once again gathered in the over-sized living room. Jubilee had convinced them all to watch a movie, so they were just finishing up Pitch Black when eight o'clock came around. "Man, I love that movie!" Jubilee stated as she ejected the DVD.
"Sugah, any movie with Vin Diesel is worth lovin'." Rogue added confidentally.
"Should Gambit be jealous, chere?"
"Hate t'interrupt, ladies an' gents, but they're here." Logan stated, smelling the slight change in the air that occurred a moment before Illyana's stepping disc appeared about a foot above the ground. The group stood and turned to face the newcomers, Kagome and Inuyasha at the back of the group to allow them to reunite. They watched in silent fascination as three people appeared literally out of nowhere.
"Hey everyone, we're home!" Illyana announced with a grin as her stepping disc disappeared. The young Russian woman had her long, blond hair in a ponytail and was wearing a long, white skirt and a green tank top that said '90 Demon, 10 Devil--100 Attitude' in white lettering.
"Welcome home, friends. How was your trip?" Ororo asked curiously, giving them each a hug.
"As good as could be expected, Ororo. Mom says 'hi', by the way." Kitty replied, returning the hug with a smile. She had her hair down, in curls, and blue jean shorts with a white tank, a pink, short-sleeved, jean-jacket over that. And, of course, Lockheed on her shoulders.
"Our stay was good. Katya made many good friends while in college." Peter commented after Ororo had released him from their hug. He had on a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt.
"What can I say, I've always had good taste in people." Kitty joked, lightly punching him in the arm with a small laugh.
"Kitty tells us that we have guests. So, who's doing intros?" Illyana reminded, looking around the room to get a glimpse of Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Ok, guys, this is Inuyasha and Kagome. They're both from Japan, only - get this - he's from Feudal Japan. Y'know, like, 500 years ago. They're kinda stranded here 'til the Prof. brings back the Blackbird." Jubilee introduced, one hand on hip, the other pointing towards the people she was talking about.
"Hi." Kagome said politely.
"Hi. It's nice to meet you. I'm Kitty Pryde, this is my best friend Illyana Rasputin and her older brother, Piotr Rasputin. You can call him Peter, though. Oh, and this little guy is my other best friend, Lockheed. He's an alien dragon, just so you know. Lockheed, say hello." The aforementioned purple dragon flew a few feet away from his 'mistress' and cooed obediently. The X-Men did not miss Inuyasha's subconscious reflex that caused his left hand to twitch a bit.
"Did you say alien dragon? Wow. The only dragons I've ever met have all been back in the feudal era."
"They have dragons back in Feudal Japan? Cool." Jubilee interjected.
"Keh. Of course they do. Demons, too, obviously." Inuyasha commented bluntly.
"Um, are you two mutants or something?" Illyana asked tentatively.
"No, I'm a priestess and Inuyasha's a half-dog-demon."
"Nice. Well, in the spirit of sharing. In addition to being a teleporting mutant, I'm also a demonic sorceress. My codename's Magik; though the demons down in Limbo call me Darkchilde, too." Illyana explained, rocking back on her heals and shoving her hands in her back pockets.
"Oh yeah. My codename's Shadowcat. I can phase through things. Basically that means that I can walk through solid objects, like walls and people." Kitty stated, subconsciously petting Lockheed's snout.
"I am also known as Colossus. I am able to turn my flesh into organic steel. This also increases my strength and involnurability."
"Do you need anything explained?" Jean asked nicely, seeking to make certain that they had understood everything. After a moment, Inuyasha shook his head, as did Kagome.
"So, what did we interrupt?" Illyana asked, plopping down on the couch and reaching for the discarded bowl of half-eaten popcorn.
"Nothing. We just finished watching Pitch Black when you got here." Jubilee stated, stealing a handful of popcorn.
"Hm, too bad we missed it, I love that movie. What's next?"
"I'd like to see the three of you in the professor's study, actually. Would you follow me?" Jean asked, walking towards a door on the far end of the room. Wordlessly, Peter, Illyana, and Kitty followed her into the room. When they got there, Kitty spoke.
"So, what's going on, Jean?"
"You need to be caught up on what, exactly, has been going on here in the past two days. It'd be easiest if you'd just let me show you."
"Go ahead."
The rest of the group stayed in the living room and politely vetoed Jubilee's next suggestion for a movie, not feeling like watching another movie at that moment. They talked about random things, some more talkative than others. After a few moments, Jean and the others rejoined them in the living room. The conversations continued in various inner groups, always changing, for a while. In the middle of these conversations, Kagome, who'd been talking to Rogue and Betsy, noticed that Inuyasha was being oddly quiet. "Inuyasha, is something the matter, you look kinda tense?"
"It's nothin'."
"Don't give me that. What's wrong?" She pressed, knowing him better than to believe that nothing was wrong when he had that look on his face. He hesitated a moment, not sure of how he should answer. While he decided how to answer, she slid from her seat on the couch to the floor beside him and placed her hand on his arm comfortingly. He sighed inwardly and began as best he could.
"It's just, I have a bad feelin', an' it's been way too quiet today. Nothin' happened. I'd thought that maybe we'd figure this all out by now."
"I understand. But you need to try and relax while you can; if you keep this up, you'll just get angry and there isn't anyone to take your aggressions out on. That said, is there anything else?" She could see the reluctance in his eyes as he obviously struggled with himself to bring up the 'other thing' that was bothering him. He knew she'd probably get upset with him over it. He also knew that he didn't have much of a choice; she'd bug him until he caved, or, more likely, blurted it in an argument; possibly along with things he didn't want to say anytime soon.
"Whenever this guy decides to show himself, we'll have to fight him, right? Well, how the heck're you supposed to fight without your arrows? You'll be defensless, an' you're already on this jerk's hit-list!" He clenched his fists to try to contain his anger at the thoughts running through his head. Kagome's hand slid up to his shoulder and squeezed gently, knowing there wasn't much else she could do to help his anger fade.
Inuyasha. I know you worry about me; not that I can blame you. "Thanks, Inuyasha." Then, an idea struck her, though she wasn't sure how well it would go over. Only one way to find out. She thought. "Um, excuse me, but, can I ask a favor of you?" She stated loud enough to be heard by the closer X-Men.
"Go ahead." Jean encouraged, turning her attention to the young Japanese woman.
"Well, earlier today, Jubilee showed me a room downstairs where you train yourselves and can just work out your aggressions. I was kind of wondering if, maybe, Inuyasha and I could use it. Would there be any way we could arrange that?" She began to get worried when she noticed Jean hesitate. It took a moment before Jean was able to respond.
"Normally, we wouldn't let our guests utilize the Danger Room. However, I suppose it would be helpful if we knew what each other was capable of. I know we've told you what we can do, but that doesn't really amount to much, does it? I tell you what, we'll all go downstairs and take a shot at the Danger Room. Are you up for that?"
"Absolutely. Thank you so much!" Kagome accepted with a smile. Inuyasha gave her a look that reminded her that he had no idea what she was talking about, so she told herself to explain it to him on the way down. She refocused when Jean stood and stepped into the center of the room, next to the coffee table.
"Excuse me, everyone, but it occurs to me that there's something that we need to do." She paused while everyone's attention turned towards her. When she was sure she had all of their attentions, she continued. "It seems that, though we've explained our abilities, we haven't proven our capabilities. Knowing your allies capacity in a fight is crucial to being victorious in a battle. I know we all know this. Also, it seems Inuyasha is in need of a good workout. So, I suggest we all take a trip downstairs to the Danger Room, what do you say?" After a brief pause of consideration by some of the X-Men, they all agreed and then the group moved towards the elevator, which was, in itself, an interesting experience. On their way down, Kagome and a couple of others explained to Inuyasha what the Danger Room was.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Dun-dun-dun! Lol. Yes, it's Danger Room time; it had to happen. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and will read the next one...it's about half-way done now, I believe...R&R and then read some more! Please? Lol.