Feudal Christmastime
By Ekonika
Chapter 8: The Night Before the Day Before Christmas
Disclaimer: My computer crashed, almost. Luckily, it was able to recover--- almost everything. Except for the file that said I owned InuYasha. Actually, that never existed. So it did an excellent job of re-boot. I'm going to back these up now, on a CD or thumb-drive or something.
As Kagome and InuYasha walked in the door, a delicious scent swirled through the air, making both of them start to hunger. Dinner was cooking, and it smelled excellent, wafting into every corner of the house. Sota ran up to them excitedly.
"Hey sis! InuYasha! Are you staying the night? You can sleep in my room! I'll go get the pull-out bed ready?" Sota said, barely making it a question. InuYasha nodded, and Sota smiled and ran upstairs. Kagome walked InuYasha into the dining room. She was welcomed by her grandfather in the living room and said hi to her mom through the doorway to the kitchen on her way upstairs. When she got to her room, she had InuYasha set the big box on the floor and pull out all of his bags. Kagome took out everything of hers, and soon there was nothing left but food.
"Kagome, where can I keep these until I get them wrapped?" InuYasha said, gesturing to all his shopping bags lying by the door.
"You can keep them on the shelf above all the cabinets in the kitchen. If you tell everyone that that stuff's yours, they'll leave it alone."
"Okay, but I have something that needs to stay cold. Where can I keep it?"
"Can it go in the refrigerator?" I hope it's not food… please, InuYasha, please have gotten SOME Christmas presents!
"No, you can't see it."
"Uh… well, I guess we have a cooler. Just put a little ice in the cooler, and it should be ok."
"Thanks." InuYasha gathered his gifts and headed downstairs.
Kagome watched him leave, and then started getting ready to go to the feudal era to drop off a roll of wrapping paper. She took all the food downstairs and put it in the fridge on a shelf that she cleared off. She took a piece of paper and labeled the shelf 'Kagome's'. Afterwards, she picked up an unopened roll of wrapping paper and her jacket, and headed out the door to the well.
On the other side, she looked up. It was dark, and there were a few stars that she could see from the square of sky.
"Hello! Miroku! Sango! Anyone there?" Kagome shouted up as she climbed the ivy in the well. Soon, she saw Miroku and Sango poke their heads over the edge of the well. Sango reached down to pull Kagome out, and Miroku helped.
"Hey. I just came to drop off the wrapping paper. InuYasha's staying at my house tonight, with Sota. I have to go make sure he's not peeking at his present. See you!" And she jumped back into the well.
Back in her time, she laughed in her head because she acted like she'd just gone next door instead of 500 years into the past. She climbed up the ladder that was in the well and went up to her house. Her mom was on the front porch looking around. Kagome ran up to her.
"Kagome! There you are! I have something for you and your dog-eared friend. Well, it could be for him, it's up to you to decide what happens to it." She gave Kagome a box wrapped in a ribbon. Kagome undid the ribbon and took off the lid, letting out a small gasp.
"Mom, it's beautiful!" Kagome exclaimed. There was a sparkling red-gold locket, the same size as her gold locket that she kept in her dresser.
"Thank you so much! I love it! It's perfect!" Kagome thanked her mom, who laughed.
"I'm glad you like it." Kagome placed it gently back in the box after pulling it out and opening it.
"Kagome, make sure you come down for dinner."
"Okay mom." Kagome hugged her mom and started upstairs to her room. She set the locket down on her bedside table and rummaged through the top drawer until she found the small leather bag that held her gold locket. She pulled it out and laid both lockets right next to each other. Which one should I give InuYasha? The reddish one… it will match his haiori better. I have to get pictures to put in them… the photo booth down the street should be perfect!
She wrapped up both the lockets and put them in the box, which she sealed in her dresser drawer. She grabbed a couple coins, enough for four pictures, and ran downstairs.
"InuYasha! Feel like going for a walk?"
"Huh?"
"Good, let's go. Mom, we'll be back in five minutes, just going down the street to the photo booth really quick."
"Alright, see you."
"What?" -InuYasha
Kagome dragged InuYasha out the front door and climbed onto his back. He stood there, staring at her over his shoulder.
"What're you so happy about?"
"I need some pictures of us. Mush!"
"Whatever." InuYasha said, his temper flaring up at being treated like a dog.
When they got to the photo booth, Kagome made him sit on a stool and smile at a dot on the wall above the camera. He obviously didn't want to smile, so she made him pretend.
"Be triumphant. Like you just defeated Naraku or something."
Now, InuYasha smiled. The machine took two pictures, and Kagome gasped at how good they came out. Both of them were pretty identical. InuYasha had his head up turned a little to the left with his chin dipped down slightly, looking very--- handsome, she had to admit. Now it was her turn.
"InuYasha, out. My turn, alright? Ok, when I say so, press this button twice." She showed him what to do, and ducked into the booth. She lined herself up with the camera, and said Ok. The camera flashed twice, and she came out, dazed a little, only seeing shadows. When her vision cleared, she picked up the string of four pictures and put them in an envelope provided. She hopped on InuYasha's back, pleased with the results, and once again 'mushed' him. He stubbornly refused to move.
"Oops… I mean, Let's go home." Now InuYasha smiled and bounded to Kagome's house. This time when they walked in the door, Ms. Higurashi called them from the dining room.
"Come eat! Your food's getting cool, it should be perfect to eat now."
Kagome took off her coat and hung it in the closet before going to join her family at the dinner table. InuYasha had a seat at a head of the table, and Kagome's grandpa had the other. There was an empty seat between her mom and InuYasha, so she sat down. Kagome's mom placed a plate in front of her (InuYasha already had one) and Kagome began to eat heartily, rivaling InuYasha in the time it took to finish her plate. She excused herself from the table while InuYasha asked for seconds, and washed off her plate in the kitchen. She hastily put it in the dishwasher before hurrying upstairs and closing her door behind her.
She turned her room into a temporary workshop, locking her door, closing her curtains and locking the window. Out of her top drawer, she took scissors and a little ruler. She leapt onto her bed, put her pillow under her chest, and got to work cutting out the pictures. She fitted them to the frames, and made slight adjustments when necessary. Finally, she held up the finished products, and was amazed with how well they turned out. She slowly clicked them shut and re-wrapped them in the box.
After she cleaned up all the scraps and scissors, she unlocked her door, followed by opening her curtains and unlocking the window. Kagome took a deep breath of the night air, which enticed her to lean out the window. She looked up at the cloudless, clear sky. Well, little or no chance of snow this year. A bright light suddenly lit up the sky from the east. Kagome turned her head in surprise, and in the second of luminescence, she saw InuYasha's outline in the tree outside her window. His face was turned towards the shooting star as well. She watched as he closed his eyes, and closed her own to make a wish. I wish…
(A/n: I can't tell you what she wished for. Then it won't come true! )
Kagome opened her eyes, and InuYasha was sitting in the tree, still, although now he was looking at her.
"Come in, InuYasha. It's cold. I'll let you in through the balcony." Kagome said, pointing out the window to her right. She ducked in the window, closing it and the curtains before going down the short hallway to Sota's room. She knocked on the door for a second, and then came in when there was no answer. She walked through Sota's room and opened the balcony door, stepping outside. The night air, which was so welcoming from her room, now chilled her to the bone. InuYasha noticed her shiver, and jumped out of the tree towards her, already half out of his haiori. He placed it around her shoulders and closed the balcony door once they were inside.
"Thanks"
"Thank you"
They both thanked each other at the same time; both looked away, suddenly embarrassed. Kagome handed back his haiori, and left to her bed. She stopped outside her bedroom door and looked back at InuYasha.
"Goodnight InuYasha."
"G'night."
This is a revision. The other one may have been better or worse. I know there was a cutesy little scene in it, so I might throw that in the next chapter, but yeah. The other chapter was a lot shorter. I'm tired. I got my first 'job' today. I woke up at 6 and unloaded 10 bales of hay, walked two high-strung horses, didn't get to my morning routine till 10, and my step dad's been strange these last few years. Mostly by hinting towards a divorce. Why am I typing this? I dunno. I had fun through all of it (except the last part… and not having breakfast till 10) Happy reading. Look forward to the Sun and Moon's sequel. Enjoy. Watch anime. Read manga. Get lives. (I need one 'a them. I have no life… so you're better off than me. ) I'm not complaining. I like my un-life. There's music and InuYasha and horses.
As I sat and watched the light turn from red to green, then yellow, then back to red, I wondered: was life all just a bunch of honking and shouting? Sometimes it seemed that way.
–Jack Handey