Broken Mold

123

"Kagome, breakfast!"

"I know, mom!"

Pushing herself out of bed, Kagome quickly snatched a pair of dark blue jeans from her dresser and slid on a blouse. She'd gone a week without Inuyasha, she thought suddenly, as she brushed her hair. A whole week without dodging demons, sifting through corpses, walking for hours…

It was irrelevant. There was no point bitching about things that had to be done, things that were her fault and her responsibility. At least she had caught up on her schoolwork and met Eri's new boyfriend. It was a little disappointing. He had been as ditzy as his date.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Higurashi was minding the stove. She was, as far as anyone else was concerned, a wonderful mother. She cleaned the house, cooked the meals, ironed the clothes, made the beds, and anything else that was expected of her position. She enjoyed every minute of it. Mrs. Higurashi was a caring, nurturing mother of two. She would raise two caring, nurturing well-adjusted kids. She would raise them through trust and example.

Which, coincidently, was why she smiled placidly and put the last of the fish down on the dining table when she saw Kagome coming down the stairs. Mrs. Higurashi was an excellent mother. Mrs. Higurashi never missed a beat.

She didn't say anything when she saw her daughter plop down in her chair. She pretended not to notice when her daughter asked for a third serving. In fact, she remained delightfully ignorant of Kagome's numbing urge to pop open the front of her jeans and relieve the blistering pressure of the waistband.

No, all Mrs. Higurashi did was enable her daughter's hunger. She loved helping. She hated the consequences. Mrs. Higurashi wouldn't acknowledge the consequences. "Do you want some more, honey?" "This tastes simply wonderful. I can understand why you're so famished!" "Fourths? Don't look embarrassed; let me help you…"

She didn't mention how the flare of Kagome's hips sometimes made the denim audibly groan. Nor had she mentioned the visible plumber's crack Kagome exhibited when first she sat down. All Mrs. Higurashi did was smile placidly in the background, noting with a tinge of sadness how her daughter's choice of jeans caused love handles to surge forward and her cute little tummy to bulge out against the tight blouse. Mrs. Higurashi was unsure if the wardrobe choice included a half-inch of bare midriff. She never asked.

A caring mother would never tell her child she was gaining weight. Mrs. Higurashi was a caring mother. Mrs. Higurashi had never called her daughter fat. She never intended to.

Souta had. She hadn't.

Kagome, however, knew her mother's eyes hadn't left her fork since she sat down at the table. Grandpa's small talk was getting annoying. He didn't care. He didn't even notice.

"I've got to go back to the Sengoku era," Kagome announced. "It's been a week and I don't think they've gotten anything done without me." She put down her silverware. Now her mother was listening. "I'm going to go back to Inuyasha."

Her grandfather was on the phone to the office before she walked out the door. Outside, she unbuttoned her jeans with a sigh of relief. The waistband still hurt her sides.

Kagome had looked into her bedroom mirror and she had seen herself. She had fat pants and an oversized shirt or two. Large shirts made her look cute. She looked lost in them. But when Kagome looked in the mirror she didn't see jiggly thighs and a size 8 butt in size 4 clothes. She saw attention. She saw Kikyou. She saw differences.

Inuyasha wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off her, she thought gaily as she plummeted down the well. He'd see her. He'd want to help her, even if her family didn't.

"It's been a week, Inuyasha," Miroku stressed, "A week! You've got to go get her! I know you want to go get her!" Miroku was begging. Inuyasha was pouting. Inuyasha wished Miroku knew that immaturity ran in his family.

"She'll come back when she wants to come back, monk." He said it with an air of finality that demanded an end to the conversation.

"What if she's hurt?"

Miroku understood the nuances of the conversational tone like he understood Japan's laws against lechery. The only difference was he chose to indulge in the former, and vehemently avoid the latter.

"Kagome's smart enough to keep out of trouble," he shot back uncertainly.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Inuyasha," Miroku said dejectedly. His head was hung with sorrow. "I suppose we can go on without her. She contended well with those metal beasts of the future."

"What do you mean 'contended well'! Kagome isn't dead yet!"

Miroku coughed. "Oh, yes. Of course she isn't." He turned around and headed back to the village, stating just loud enough for Inuyasha to hear, "The stages of mourning are always hardest on the loved ones."

The monk didn't need to turn around to tell Inuyasha was sprinting to the well. He smiled.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, wasn't smiling. He was sprinting. He had to make it to the clearing and into the well. He had to-

Inuyasha ran headfirst into a tree.

"Are you okay?" a familiar voice shrieked. The sounds of footsteps were getting closer. Inuyasha, lying on his back, looked towards the voice with blurry vision. It was Kagome. The monk was wrong.

"I just had the weirdest vision." Inuyasha rubbed his head. "You were there. So were a lot of Shippo's chocolates." His head still hurt. Kagome pulled him to his feet. Why did he keep hearing stretching fabric?

Kagome had laughed lightly. He didn't think too hard on it. "Come on, let's get back to the village. We need to get going." Inuyasha nodded vaguely and trailed along behind her. He conveniently forgot to let go of her hand.

Kagome's footsteps were louder than usual. Were they running? His vision was clearing up as they maneuvered through the trees surrounding Kaede's village. The first thing that came into focus was the bare small of Kagome's back and, his eyes bulged, the full figured curve of something he'd only vaguely remembered noticing before. He was going to say something, but demons didn't sound very insulting when they stuttered.

The rest of the walk back to Kaede's village went quietly. If there was one thing Inuyasha understood, it was self-preservation. No, he had decided, commenting on her weight was stepping over the line. He couldn't do that to Kagome. Granted, on the other side of the line lay a broken back and a small Inuyasha-shaped crater, which probably provided most of the incentive. But no, he could respect her that much. Respect never broke any bones.

As they reached the top of a hill, Kagome was finally able to look over a familiar sight: the village. Off to the east was where she first met Inuyasha. Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a pang of rejection, as well as worry: all Inuyasha had done was sneak patronizing glances at her fat ass. When she had thought of his attention, the thought that he'd find her disgusting with only a little extra weight hadn't occurred to her. Was he so shallow that fifteen pounds meant the end of any budding relationship?

Her heart fluttered. Did she manage to ruin her chances with him in the span of a week of binge eating? It couldn't be. He loved her. He was supposed to say some scathing comment and just laugh it off. He wasn't supposed to care. But here they were, alone, and all she could do now was loathe her obese existence.

"Not everyone has a perfect figure!" she shouted, then slapped her hands over her mouth. That wasn't supposed to come out.

Inuyasha turned to look at her, smiling. It was that half-cocked superior grin of his. He was mocking her! She felt lightheaded. How could she have done this to herself? She thought of the clothes she had stuffed into her backpack. They were her "fat" clothes. She didn't want sweatpants. She wanted Inuyasha.

His tone matched his smile. He said, "I didn't say everyone did," then turned and started down the hill. I will not call her fat, he thought. I will not call her fat. I will not call her fat…

Kagome followed indignantly, now very conscious of her wardrobe choice. She found herself gravitating closer and closer to Inuyasha as they approached the village. When the pair strode by the inhabitants, it took all of her willpower not to go running into the nearest hut. But the demon didn't care; he was used to ignoring stares and whispers.

She tugged up the seat of her jeans and hurried the pace to Kaede's. By the time they reached it, she was blushing profusely. Inuyasha pretended not to notice.

When they entered, Kagome let herself drop back onto the hardwood floor of the elder's hut. Her newly convex tummy bulged forward, and for the first time Inuyasha noticed the opening in the button flies and the small patch of pink fabric that sent him into an outrageous coughing fit. Kagome remained blissfully unaware.

"Sango and Miroku are probably in the kitchen," she said after the room's tension had lapsed. She sat with her legs spread out in front of her, hands steady behind her as supports. She always felt comfortable here.

"Probably." Still standing, Inuyasha thrust his arms into his haori and fixed his eyes on a particularly large crack in the wall. A fire beetle was trying to push its way through. It wouldn't fit. I will not call her fat. I will not look at her panties. I will not call her fat. I will not…

"I've been gone a week," she announced arbitrarily. "I would have expected that by now you'd be dying to get back on Naraku's trail."

You could definitely use the exercise. His gaze idly dropped back down to her stomach. What has she been eating? His eyes dropped lower still, butt then quickly shot back to the beetle. "Not everything revolves around you, you know." There was a pause, as if he was going to say something more, but he let it go.

"I know," she said dumbly.

"No, you don't!"

"What?"

"Every time you come back here, there's always some new goddamn drama I have to put up with! Last time, you hadn't finished your tests. The time before that, you forgot Shippo's crayons. What is it this time, Kagome?" He was venting. "Care to tell me?"

Sango and Miroku could be heard from the other room. Instead of answering, Kagome waited until they walked in. It was hard to tell when Miroku's nose started bleeding. They didn't work like the subject-changer she had expected them to.

"Kagome!" Sango gasped, staring.

She sighed.

"Kagome!" Miroku squealed, staring.

Inuyasha growled, but he still looked at the miko expectant of an answer.

She caved in. "Okay, fine-" Kagome looked at Sango, "-I may have put on a few… pounds." She felt a little better getting it out.

Sango shook her head, "No, er," and pointed to Kagome's waistline.

When the girl looked down, her blushing returned with full vigor and she was struck speechless for a few seconds. The room was silent, except for the sound of Shippo outside with a ball. Finally, dumbly, Kagome asked meekly, "Has it been that way the whole time?"

Inuyasha nodded.

She had begun to buckle it, but sitting down the two flaps wouldn't reach. She stood up. The room was silent. She still felt uncomfortable full from breakfast. The flaps wouldn't reach. She sucked in her tummy, wishing desperately she had left before having that fourth helping. The waistband just wasn't large enough. She couldn't clasp it. Her face was red with exertion when, only a scant thirty seconds later, Inuyasha cut in. "God, you've gotten fat," he snarled and grabbed the ends of her waistband. He had vaguely heard, "These are designer jeans!" but ignored the cry, firmly closing the two flaps and doing both buttons. She felt huge. Her thighs felt so thick.

The sound of Shippo bouncing the ball was something everyone took comfort in. It sure beat the awkward air of the elder's hut.

Eventually, Miroku had said, "So, they're pink?" and everything went back to the pretense of normal.