Catse: Hiyya everyone! It's me! And here's chapter numbah thwee! (Okay...I think I just rhymed there, but oh well) I just finished watching an excellent movie called the Dead Poets Society. I thought it was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen, but apparently my television set didn't because it kept messing up during the movie. Well, now I'm inspired to write but it's almost midnight and I have exams tomorrow. Oh well. Well, here ladies and gentlemen, is the chapter where all the fun starts. I give you, Chapter Three!


Disclaimer: See chappie one...where it always is...heheheheheheeh


Inuyasha watched as Kagome leapt from her bed, approximately thirty minutes later than usual, and as she hopped around her room, trying to put skirt, shirt, and socks on at the same time, and all the while trying to brush out her hair and pack her textbooks into her bag.

He sighed, closing his one eye as he tried to pretend he was asleep so she wouldn't sit him for watching, and then reopened it after he heard the door in her room slam closed. Apparently she hadn't even realized the hanyou was on the upper branch of the tree right outside her window, and had left with that same knowledge.

He remained there until he watched her leave her home and walk down the sidewalk to her school, still not ready to move from his comfortable perch. When he was on the verge of deciding whether to go back to sleep on the branch, or investigate her room a little further for "new time discoveries", her mother Mrs. Higurashi came out of the home and spotted him in the tree.

"Oh. Inuyasha dear. What are you doing up there?" she inquired, adjusting her handbag on her shoulder a little better.

"Keh. None of your business." He murmered, deciding that maybe sleep was his best option. After all, the last time he investigated Kagome's room, he had accidentally swallowed an entire bottle of something called "perfume" and hadn't been able to taste his ramen for weeks without it's flavor still stinging his tongue.

"Well. I was wondering if you'd like to go shopping with me at the mall today. I know you don't know much on this time period, but I figured I show you a few things as we shopped for Kagome's birthday presents."

Inuyasha thought about the statement a bit, before he nearly fell out of the tree he was in at the mentioning of Kagome's birthday.

"Birthday! When? Where? Huh?" He inquired quickly, as he stood rubbing his butt from it's abuse on the hard ground.

Mrs. Higurashi giggled at him, and then gave him a warm motherly smile. "Kagome's birthday is two weeks. Today is the only day I have to get her presents, and considering you seem to know her better these days, I was figuring you could help me out in finding her a few things. Would you like to come?"

Inuyasha thought about it a moment. He didn't know about this time, and it would help if he did. He definitely didn't want to down another of that scented liquid stuff like he had time before last, and if he knew things about this world, it would also prevent him from fishing out of the fish tank in Souta's room when he was hungry, and keep the people along the sidewalks of this town from staring at his silver hair and his ears.

After a moment, Inuyasha agreed to Mrs. Higurashi's request, and accompanied her to the sidewalk after she had passed him the same red cap he had worn on his last outing into the city. Considering Mrs. Higurashi wasn't the richest person in town, she didn't have one of the loud metal monsters Inuyasha had seen whizzing down the black stream of road in times in the past, so they ended up walking the short distance to the mall.

Once inside, Inuyasha nearly gagged on the strong smells of human flesh, food, more of that "perfume" stuff that apparently many of the humans had eaten earlier that day, and much of the cleaning stuff like what Mrs. Higurashi used when cleaning up her house at the shrine. Inuyasha believed it was called "bleach" or something like that. Or was that used in cleaning clothes?

"Let's check out that clothing store first. I believe Kagome had told me about getting her some baggy pants with plenty of pockets for the Fuedal Era the last time I talked with her." Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed, her pleasant voice reaching Inuyasha's ears over the crowds of heavy smoke residue, food crumbs, and cologne.

When he realized that Mrs. Higurashi was already walking away towards a store, Inuyasha practically shoved people out of his way to keep up. He had already determined upon walking in, that a mall was no place for a sensitive sensed hanyou such as himself.

They stayed in the clothing store for a while, as Mrs. Higurashi searched and picked out a pair of black jeans with zippers running along the pant legs for carrying many items at once. Since it didn't cost very much, she could get it and a couple more gifts.

There next stop was a Bath and Body Works shop because Inuyasha had drunken Kagome's only bottle of perfume on one of his most current visits to the modern Era. Inuyasha had to stand outside though, because the strong smells from inside made him sicker than a dog (excuse the pun).

Mrs. Higurashi walked out with yet another bag and passed it to Inuyasha. "You're a big strong guy. I'm sure you can handle a little baggage."

Inuyasha obliged, keeping his nose far away from the bag, and followed Mrs. Higurashi closely through the store as she searched for an electronics shop for a CD player and a new CD. Her shopping finally done, she decided that before heading home, they might stop at the food court and pick up a few meals.

Mrs. Higurashi figured that the best thing to start Inuyasha off with at the beginning of his getting used to modern Japan, would be to introduce him to a familiar food that had been in the Japanese food chain for years.

The food…Burger and fries!

But on their way there, Inuyasha practically froze in front of Jewelry shop, his eyes frozen solid as they stared at one certain bracelet that had caught his attention. It was a simple silver bracelet, with a twining of gold running around it's thin shape like a vine, and tiny diamonds pressed into its shape. The part that caught his attention however, were a set of pink shard like jewels hanging loosely around the bracelet as they twinkled. They looked just like shikon shards!

"What about that? Wouldn't Kagome like that?" Inuyasha wondered out loud, as Mrs. Higurashi looked on.

"It certainly is pretty." She replied, but upon noticing the price, she shook her head and snatched Inuyasha's hand. "But it's too expensive and I don't have that kind of money. Come on Inuyasha, we better get to the food court."

Inuyasha nodded, looking back on the bracelet on last time in thought. Where can I get enough money to get that for Kagome?

"How may I help you?" The woman at the front of a Burger King inquired brightly as they came to the front of the line.

Mrs. Higurashi looked over the food as Inuyasha thought about what exactly the woman could help him with, when it finally struck. "I know! You could give me some money so I can get Kagome that bracelet!" He announced, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Maybe he would get that money after all.

"What?" The woman at the front asked in confusion, as her face seemed to squish into a mix of fright and anxiousness.

"Don't mind him dear." Mrs. Higurashi assured, patting the woman on the hand over the counter. She couldn't believe that Inuyasha would ask for money here, but she figured he was simply confused in the workings of this world. "He's not accustomed to be out of doors if you know what I mean. His father was rather abusive and kept him locked away, and I just barely managed to adopt him, so he doesn't know what goes on half time. I do think I will take two of your largest combos please."

A moment later, after the hysteria of the order, Mrs. Higurashi lead Inuyasha to a table, a tray of food in her hand and sat him down, placing the bag in front of him.

"Alright Inuyasha, lesson one." She replied as Inuyasha's stared at the Burger King bag. He wasn't sure what the contents were, but his nose ensured him whatever it was had to be delicious. He was so entranced by the bag of food in fact, that he hardly even heard Mrs. Higurashi speak. "When a woman at the counter asks if she may help you, you don't ask her to help in your daily problems. You go to a psychiatrist for that. Secondly, if you want money, you have to figure way out for yourself to get it instead of sitting around and expecting everyone else to do it for you. And third…" She replied, grabbing a folded newspaper on the nearest table and rolling it up. With a bop on Inuyasha's head, she continued. "…you listen when someone is talking to you here. Otherwise it is rude."

Inuyasha nodded like frightened puppy, his eyes now on Kagome's mother instead of the food before him.

"You can eat now, you know." Mrs. Higurashi informed him as she reached in and pulled her own food out of the bag.

Inuyasha eyed hers warily, watching as she pulled out he burger and fries, before following suite. When he had unwrapped his burger, and stared at his fries, he began to ask questions. "What is this?" He inquired, poking the burger as if it would jump up and attack him with long sharp teeth at any moment.

"That there, Inuyasha, is a Cheeseburger. It's a major food source of modern Japan these days. Many people eat them."

"Do you eat it with chopsticks?" He inquired, now looking at the contents of the burger as he pulled up the bun on the top. With a sniff, he looked back up at Mrs. Higurashi expectantly.

"No Inuyasha. You don't. It's a finger food. You just pick it up like this…" Mrs. Higurashi picked her own up as to demonstrate. "And then you take a bite, like this." She finished the conversation with a huge chomp of her jaw around the burger, before ripping away some of the food and chewing on it. Inuyasha followed her lead once again, and picked up with burger with both hands, before biting into it. The mix of flavor from the meal was almost too good to be true. There was meat! And it was seasoned! And there were vegetables in it too! Not like he favored vegetables. He despised them will everything he had unless they were in a stew or something of that sort. But this way, he could eat the vegetables, and keep everyone else from hounding him to do so, and get his meat in the exact same way.

After chewing that bite, he took another, and soon started eating the fries with a spot of the red sauce stuff Mrs. Higurashi called "Ketchup". Before long he had finished the meal, and had started sniffing around for more, when Mrs. Higurashi stuck a cup with a straw towards his face. "Drink this. You'll like it."

Inuyasha took a sip of the soft drink. He wasn't surprised by the play of carbonation on his tongue as Mrs. Higurashi had originally thought. In fact, he was almost completely normal with it. He murmured, as he and Kagome's mother stood up to leave.

They walked out of the mall in silence, and then got home with enough time to hide the bags and cook dinner.

Of course, Mrs. Higurashi inquired if he would like to help, and not wanting to offend Kagome's mother, he accepted the offer.

Inuyasha wasn't one of the best cooks of course. He was more accustomed to eating his prey raw, so Mrs. Higurashi gave him a few lessons about cooking meats, and how to cut vegetables pretty well, and he took on to it rather quickly.

Cutting vegetables he was good at. He had always had a natural knack with any sort of sharp equipment when it came to cutting into something. It was mixing the batter from dessert and other things he had trouble with, because the batter constantly slipped out of the bowl on him, and seasoning the meat caused him to turn the once red meat into a grey pepper and salt hidden chunk of terrible flavor. Of course they could clean off the meat and then re-season it, this time with Mrs. Higurashi's supervision.

As they cooked, they talked, in which Inuyasha learned even more from the older woman than he had of this world on first glance. She talked of how the streets were far more dangerous than they had ever been before, and that when she was Kagome's age she was thinking more on marriage than on school. It was one of those things that had lead her into an early marriage at sixteen, with Kagome being born only a few years later. She stated how she hated her choice of life, and hoped that Kagome wouldn't follow her path. After a while though, the question Inuyasha had been thinking about surfaced, and they began to talk about it too.

"How is it possible for someone like me to get money in this world?" Inquired Inuyasha, as he dumped the rest of the cucumber into the salad bowl to his right. He still had a tomato and an onion left for cutting.

"Well. There are several ways. You're best bet would most likely be getting a job of some sort in this time to make the money with." She replied, checking on the meat in the oven.

"What kind of a job could I get? I don't know this time period very well, and the only things I know how to do is fight, kill, and protect."

"Well, those are good standards for a police officer, but they don't allow anyone in unless they take school for that. Hmm….Anything else?"

"Well…I have farmed before." Inuyasha confessed, starting his knife on the tomato.

"You—farmed? That almost seems unlikely for you Inu-dear. How did you get around to that?"

Inuyasha blushed slightly as he answered. Not even Kagome knew about that fact. "When I was younger, I would get jobs in some of the villages for money, in order to stock up in case I should need to buy anything with it. I still have quiet a collection of it somewhere, but I don't think this world takes the old gold coins."

"No. You're right. They don't." Mrs. Higurashi commented as she took a seat in front of the table where Inuyasha was cutting. "But that also leaves me at a dead end. For one, there aren't many jobs around here that would need you for farming. Most of the times, machines do the work for us. And considering you're only familiar with the gold coins keeps you from jobs that involve money. Hmm…"

They were silent for a little while, as Inuyasha finished the tomato and started on the onion, fighting the tears in his eyes as the fumes fought to make him cry.

"I know!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed all of a sudden, nearly causing Inuyasha to cut his finger in surprise.

"What!" Inuyasha shouted angrily, dropping he knife so as to prevent himself from nearly doing it again.

"I'll set you up for some jobs. Some of the things you're good at. I have a few ideas, but I'm going to have to get you interviews for them. OH! And you'll be able to wear my husbands old suits! Oh, finally they will have been some use! Yes!" Mrs. Higurashi leapt up from the table and skipped up the stairs, leaving Inuyasha with a half cut up onion and a frying pan of rice on the stove that had decided it would burn.


Catse: This so far must be the longest chapter I've written for this story. It probably would have been shorter, only this was one whole long chapter and I didn't want to break it up. Oh well, if you liked the story, please review. If you don't, then, well...we'll get to that another time (maybe). In any case, I would love to hear your comments! So please send them over, by clicking the little bluish-purple button...

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