What the Deaf Mute Heard

By: LunaGirl2001

Chapter 13: It's a date!

I still have some readers! YAY! Thank you to those who know that I didn't forget about this story! You guys are awesome!

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'What on earth is going on! I'm sure Inuyasha would admit if there were clones of him wandering around...'

Kagome finally spoke. "Sorry! I suppose I should know better than to kid I--"

From behind the mother's back, Inuyasha shook his head frantically mouthing 'Not my real name!'.

"Ah... I... err... ra.. Ranma!"

"Ranma?" Kagome's mother repeated.

"Ranma?" Inuyasha repeated.

Kagome's mother glowered at him.

"Ranma? S-silly Kagome! You shouldn't start calling me by first name already! I'm Ranma-kun!" Inuyasha nervously insisted.

Kagome went along with it. "Yeah! Sorry Ranma-kun! I should know better than to speak so informally, otherwise, my parents will think I have a boyfriend!"

"Which I am not, because your mother threatens to gut me like a fish if I were!"

"Exactly!"

Kagome's mother smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry. I was assuming things that weren't true. I suppose I can leave you alone for now."

On that happy note, she turned and left to go to the kitchen. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's arm and pulled him outside.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing here! And what's with your... everything?"

"Why'd you have to pick a stupid name like 'Ranma'! Couldn't you pick something cool like 'Ken' or 'Kyo'?"

Kagome gave Inuyasha a glare that was ninety times scarier than her mother's was. Inuyasha quickly decided to answer questions first.

"I'm a half-demon, remember?"

Kagome nodded. "Yes. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Inuyasha pointed to his face. "Once a month hanyou become human. And that means: no claws, no fangs, no unrealistic hair color, and no freak-show ears. Unfortunately, this only happens once a month."

Kagome looked closely at Inuyasha. He really did look completely human.

"So basically," Kagome concluded, "You're telling me that tonight's your time of the month?"

Inuyasha's face turned a deep shade of red. "For lack of a better way of saying it... yeah. I guess that's what it means."

"How long does it last?"

"Until dawn."

Kagome thought for a bit, then asked her second question again. "So, why are you at my house."

Inuyasha quickly turned around, and started walking away. "Well, be seeing ya."

"Hey!" Kagome ran after him. Even when the two had caught up with each other, Inuyasha kept walking away.

"I'm going to keep following you until you give me an answer." Kagome insisted.

Finally defeated (and now standing outside the main gate to the Higurashi shrine) Inuyasha stopped.

Keeping his face turned to the sky, he finally answered. "Remember when I told you that I've been to your house before you moved in?"

"Yeah, you said you haven't been there in 12 years."

"No... I just said twelve." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and started walking away again, "... as in, twelve days."

"Twelve days?"

Inuyasha kept walking. "Yeah. When I turn human, Sess-- uh, my brother... he has an even shorter temper than when he usually does. And he knows he can wail on me a lot easier, and make it hurt a lot worse than usual. Your house was close by, and it was empty with an insulated attic. It seemed like the perfect place where I could stay."

Inuyasha became quiet. He was now a short distance from the shrine, and there was no way Kagome would be stubborn enough to want to follow him all the way out here...

"I suppose that makes sense. Death is a good thing to avoid."

Inuyasha stopped walking. "Aren't your family going to worry about you?"

"Ignorance is bliss." Kagome answered, "You assured them that we're only friends, remember?"

"You mean that they actually believed me?"

Kagome nodded. "Yep. So, were are you off to now that someone's moved into your secret base?"

A smirk appeared on Inuyasha's face. Kagome looked up at him confused. That was the closest thing to a full-on smile she's ever seen on him.

"Do you want to see?" Inuyasha asked, still smirking.

Kagome wondered why Inuyasha was suddenly acting weird. "...um... see what exactly?"

Inuyasha looped his arm around Kagome's, and started walking.

"I suppose I owe it to ya, after all the crap I've put you through since ya moved here." Inuyasha said, his walk quickening slightly, "But I'm not paying for ya. You buy your own."

"My own what?"

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Miroku sighed. He was bored out of his skull. Mushin had ordered that he wasn't to come back home without slaying that demon he discovered. And there was no way that he could just ask Kagome if she would allow him to take off the head of her best friend.

He sat down at a bus stop, considering what he could do to pass time.

"You don't have the money to buy yourself new clothes, but you're able to get three pounds of sweets?"

Miroku's head spun around so fast that he almost thought that it was going fall off. Directly behind him stood two people. One was a boy with long black hair, and the other was Kagome.

The boy was holding a plastic bag that was filled with various types of candies and cookies. He was eating a chocolate ice cream cone, and despite the fact there was melted ice cream all over his mouth he looked like a serious person. Kagome reached into the plastic bag, and pulled out a chocolate bar-- which she promptly started eating.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha asked sternly.

Kagome kept eating her chocolate. "You owe me, remember? You said it yourself."

"I also said I'm not buying anything for you."

Kagome laughed. "Like you could eat all of this by yourself!"

Inuyasha finished off his cone. "Of course I could!" Inuyasha answered, "If you could only eat sweets for twelve hours out of the whole month, you'd gobble them up in abundance too!"

This excuse made Kagome laugh even more. She handed Inuyasha a handkerchief for his face as she pulled out a small package of cookies. Inuyasha didn't say anything, but gave the girl an annoyed glare, while wiping up his face.

"So, Kagome, why'd you move to Tokyo?"

Kagome finished her first cookie, then spoke. "It's grandpa's fault." She crunched the bag of cookies in her hands, turning the cookies that were still uneaten into a pile of crumbs.

"Mom, Souta, and I moved in with him because when Dad died his wife had died, and it seemed like God was telling us to join him in our loss. Unfortunately, he keeps moving to different temples to try and find the one his family used to own a long time ago. This time he thinks he's finally found it, but I'm willing to bet my left arm that it's not going to be the 'magical' place that'll make him rich and we'll up and move again."

"Well that sucks."

After a few seconds, Inuyasha spoke again. "You know, my family's rich. If it came to that, I can pretend to find religion and donate to your shrine. Then... you can finally stay in one place."

Kagome stared at Inuyasha. She could tell he was probably embarrassed, because he wasn't looking at her when he spoke. She smiled at first, then realized something.

"Hold on a second. If you're rich, then how come you can't afford new clothes?"

"That's easy." Inuyasha stated, "My brother may despise me, but respects my father more than words can explain. His last words were along of 'take care of him Sesshoumaru' so he pays for things that are a necessity, like tuition and rent. But for frivolous things like say: food or clothes, those I have to buy myself. If I get a fake letter saying that they're raising tuition, I should be able to get enough to help you."

"Food is trivial?"

"It's been proven that a person can last a month without eating. I can last three times that length."

"And you know this because..."

Inuyasha nodded. "I started working when I was eight years old, because I got too hungry to even last a full day in school."

Inuyasha spoke quietly, only because he isn't used to having someone he could confide in. His hushed tone made it easy to hear the sound of Miroku approaching, considering that the staff he was carrying making loud jingles with each step.

"Why Kagome-chan! Fancy meeting you here!" Miroku said cheerfully, "How are you doing?"

Inuyasha zipped behind Kagome. He recognized Miroku from school, and didn't want to be recognized himself.

"I'm very good Miroku-kun! Just walking around with my friend, Ranma-kun!"

Miroku looked at the boy who was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact. The monk in training turned back to Kagome.

He leaned down to her ear. "Kagome, when did you turn into an ice queen? I'm honestly thinking about fulfilling my duty as a monk when it comes to Inuyasha..."

Kagome shook her head and whispered back, "I'll explain the details to you tomorrow at school, but that is Inuyasha."

Miroku's eyes went wide. He went over to the young man, and turned him around. Without a doubt, this guy had the same face as Inuyasha-- even though he had only seen the 'mute' once or twice before. Inuyasha glowered at the monk.

"My, Kagome you're right! The long hair does look good with his features!" Miroku lied.

Inuyasha gave Miroku a confused look. Miroku turned back to Kagome, said, "Be careful." and then started walking away to who knows where.

"What the hell just happened?"

Kagome gave Inuyasha a sweet smile. "Don't worry about it. So, what else is there to do besides pig out on sweets?"

Inuyasha smirked again. "Yeah, of course there is. Now that I'm human, I can do anything."

Kagome thought for a second. "Your hair..."

"What about it?"

"It looks exactly the same as it usually does, except for it's color." Kagome said, looking over the locks carefully.

Inuyasha started on a lollipop. "Yeah. The only thing that changes when it comes to my hair is its color. Why are we talking about this anyway?"

"So you're saying, that if we cut your hair tonight... then it will stay that way when your hair becomes silver again."

Inuyasha was so shocked that he dropped his candy and the plastic bag he was carrying onto the cement.

Five minutes later...

"I refuse! I resign! I'm not doing this!"

"It's not like it's painful!"

Kagome was pushing on Inuyasha's back as hard as she could, but he was able to keep his grip on the doorframe to the room he was being forced into. The people in the salon stared at the pair who was currently yelling at their entrance. Inuyasha held to the doorframe with all of his weak human strength.

"I'll kill you if you cut even one hair!"

"I'm not going to cut anything, they are!" Kagome shouted back.

The beauticians looked a little scared.

"I'm not going in-- Augh!"

Kagome had slammed her elbow into her friend's back. Being human, he was a lot weaker than usual--and it REALLY hurt. Inuyasha fell to his knees, holding his sore spine.

"Psycho." he muttered.

Kagome instantly changed from Satan, to her usual sweet self.

"Now, are you going to get a haircut?"

"No way in hell."

Kagome glowered.

"I-I'm not going t-to be scared into anything!"

"Oh really?"

Inuyasha stood back up. "Feh! I have more pride than that!"

Kagome didn't answer, but instead fished her hand through the plastic bag she now carried around her wrist. Inuyasha smirked confidently.

"I know what you're thinking." he said, crossing his arms and turning the other way, "I'm not that desperate for sweets. I can easily just wait for another day, so don't think by taking away a few candies I'll--"

"September 18th. Today I drew a picture of the girl with long brown hair who always hangs out with that freak Miroku."

Inuyasha's face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

Kagome continued. "She was wearing the short-sleeved version of the uniforms and I couldn't help but notice how lovely her arms look."

Inuyasha tried to take the sketchbook out of the girl's hands, but she just turned the opposite direction--every time she moved, almost ripping out the page she was reading.

She's obviously really strong, and her form is perfect for practicing how to draw the female bod--"

"I'm sitting at the chair already! Now will you knock it off!"

Kagome grinned. She's found Inuyasha's weakness. And, in case you're wondering why she's not offended in the least about the description that Inuyasha gave, that is because Kagome made it all up. She was just lucky that Inuyasha didn't notice. (What he really wrote was: September 18th. Today I drew a picture of the girl with long brown hair who always hangs out with that freak Miroku. She was wearing the short-sleeved version of the uniforms and I figured she's as good a model as any.)

'Inuyasha should start paying attention to what he writes.' Kagome thought as she walked over to the embarrassed teenager in the salon chair. She giggled. He shot her a glare.

"I'm here. Give it back."

Kagome hugged the book tightly. "No way. Not until you're finished."

Inuyasha stared miserably at his lap. "Fine... just... don't read it."

Kagome nodded. "You have my word."

Some time after that...

"I'm so relived I could cry!"

Kagome laughed as she watched Inuyasha hug his long mane of hair. All Kagome had the beauticians do was trim his hair, even his bangs a little, and wash it. (It was really cheap for something that simple, so she paid herself.)

"I was so sure that you were going to make me bald." Inuyasha said, taking back the sketchbook.

Kagome laughed. "Like I'd be that cruel! We're friends after all!"

"With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

"Come on, admit it. Your hair is better like this."

Inuyasha ran his fingers through his hair. "Well... it's softer... I guess."

"See? It's a lot better!"

"Whatever."

Kagome looked at the closed sketchbook in Inuyasha's arms. "Do you carry that everywhere you go?"

"Duh." He reached into the plastic bag Kagome was still carrying, and pulled out a small tin box. Through a small plastic window, you could see that there was a set of worn drawing pencils inside.

"Photographers go everywhere with their camera because they want to make sure that if something happens, they'll be able to capture it before it's too late. It's the same thing with artists." Inuyasha said putting the pencils back.

"Inuyasha... you've drawn a lot of things, haven't you?" Kagome asked, "Does that mean... have you drawn me before?"

Inuyasha flipped through the pages of his sketchbook. "Yeah, I drew one picture of you before. Here."

Kagome took the book, and looked at the taller boy, shocked. "You're letting me look?"

"You stole it before, didn't you?"

"I didn't steal it. I found it."

"If you find it, and don't give it back immediately, it's stealing."

"Since when?"

"Since always."

"How so?"

"If someone happened to find your favorite shirt and then gave it back after it's been worn ninety times, what would you call that?"

Kagome grew silent. Unable to think of a comeback, she looked at the picture... then stared.

"Inuyasha... what is... that!" Kagome shouted pointing to the picture.

"It's you. With cat-ears and a tail."

It was. Kagome was a chibi little girl, with a fat face and an almost perfectly round body, no fingers, with cat ears and a tail. This Kagome was sitting in the middle of the road, with a car approaching it.

Kagome glared at the paper. "That... looks nothing like me."

Inuyasha took the sketchbook away. "I know that. But from far away, when I first saw you, you looked like that. Small and like a cat that's about to be road kill."

"Oh."

Silence appeared out of nowhere. The quiet stayed strong until finally, Inuyasha broke it.

"You know... If you hate it that much, I can draw a better picture of you now."

For some reason, Kagome blushed slightly. "Really?"

Inuyasha nodded. "I mean, I draw what happens to me during the day... and I've spent almost all of it with you. It would only make sense right?"

Kagome nodded. "Of course!"

Inuyasha held out his hand, which she accepted. "Come on, There's a park near here that's really well-lit. I'll draw you there."

Kagome couldn't help but stare at Inuyasha's expression. For some reason, the idea of drawing Kagome made him have a sweet smile over his face.

'Weird...' Kagome thought, '...even though this is the first time I've seen it... that smile seems so familiar...'

Before she knew it, Inuyasha had stopped and let go of her hand. The two of them were standing under a large streetlight with a bench underneath. Inuyasha sat down on the ground a short distance from in front of where the bench was, and catching the hint, Kagome sat down on the bench.

"You don't have to hold perfectly still like the people on TV, but could you try not to move too much?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome nodded. "You bet! I'm actually pretty excited--"

"Kagome..." Inuyasha interrupted, "Don't. move. too. much. I want this picture to look good."

"Oh right. sorry." Kagome said moving back into position. "May I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"If you're a demon, how come you're cute?"

A bright red blush spread across Inuyasha's face, as his pencil slipped out of his hand, rolling onto the cement ground. He moved his head away from the paper staring wide-eyed at Kagome.

"Ah... no. That didn't come out right. What I meant was, when Grandpa'd tell me of the demons that used to travel across Japan, I'd always expect them to have a bug body and a human torso with lots of arms, or to be giant spiders with long necks red eyes and fangs, or to have eyes all over their bodies and green skin."

A very weird sound came from the other side of the paper.

'Is he...laughing?'

Sure enough, Inuyasha was chuckling under his breath, covering his mouth with one of his hands.

"Hey! focus! That picture's not getting done any faster now is it?" Kagome reminded.

"It's just..." Inuyasha said calming down his laughter, "Your grandpa told you this when you were growing up? What kind of bedtime story is that! It's shocking that you don't have nightmares whenever you go to sleep! What'd he follow up with? Vlad the impaler?"

"Hey! They were actually good stories, thank you very much! and you didn't answer the question!"

Inuyasha sighed, picked up his pencil, and got back to work on the portrait. "Actually, there really were demons that looked like that. the first one sounds like a centipede demon, and second was a lot like the spider-head demons of the feudal era."

"And the last one?"

"And the last one...was Hiei from yu yu hakasho." Inuyasha said with an annoyed tone.

"oh... right. How'd you know all that?"

"My father has a huge library with books, maps, and stuff like that. I go in there time to time when I'm bored." Inuyasha said, "Anyway, you don't have to worry about them, both of those species were extinct by the meji period."

"Extinct?"

"Well, you don't see any demons walking around everyday, now do you?" Inuyasha answered.

Kagome smiled. "Right, but... you're part demon aren't you?"

Inuyasha nodded, grabbing another pencil from his tin. "My brother and I are the last of our 'race'. It is believed that other 'races' like Ookami and Kitsune, who could easily hide with humans because of their human appearances are still alive. But there aren't any firsthand accounts that prove this as fact."

Kagome stared at the dark-haired boy. "You really know a lot."

"Well, before I met you, my life was pretty boring. I read a lot."

Kagome laughed. "I certainly hope that there isn't going to be a test later, because I don't think I'll be able to remember all this information. I've sure learned a lot about you, haven't I?"

Inuyasha didn't say anything for around ten minutes.

"Um... Inuyasha?" Kagome eventually asked.

"It's weird..." Inuyasha said quietly.

"Huh?"

Inuyasha looked up, straight into Kagome's eyes. "Ever since I first saw you, for some reason, I knew I could trust you. almost like I've known you the entire time."

Kagome stared back, surprised. She had felt the same way, but had no idea why. Inuyasha's face reddened, and he quickly looked back at the page.

"Wow..." he said mostly to himself, "That sounded a lot less gay when I heard it in my mind."

Kagome started laughing so hard that tears came from her eyes. "Inuyasha, you're so blunt, it's hilarious!"

To Kagome's surprise, Inuyasha didn't tell her to hold still like last time, but kept drawing.

"I'll try to take that as a compliment." Inuyasha said as he finally put his pencil down.

"You're done already?"

Inuyasha nodded, looking over his work. "You're really easy to draw."

He stood up, and held the open book for Kagome. She gasped.

"Inuyasha..." She said as she took the sketchbook, "It's so beautiful..."

Inuyasha didn't say anything, just watched as Kagome admired his work. The picture contained a human Inuyasha, who was miserable because he had absolutely no hair at all. He was rubbing his shiny bald, head with one hand, looking as though he was so miserable that he could jump off a bridge. But the main focus of the picture was the person next to him. There stood Kagome, laughing over what happened to the Inuyasha's hair, drawn beautifully. Her hair was carefully shaded, and her face was drawn so realistically that she looked as though she could just walk out of the page. With different shades for shadows, and an overall softness that showed how sweet Kagome looked when she laughed... beautiful was all that a person could say about it.

"I'm guessing that you like this one a bit better than you getting run over by a car huh?"

A large smile appeared on Kagome's face. "Yes. I like it very much."

"Good. I didn't want to argue with you over how you looked in this picture too." Inuyasha chuckled, as he walked back over to where he was sitting to pick up his pencils.

As Kagome looked over the page, she saw the title at the very bottom.

Laughing Kagome and bald me, November 10th (2)

'Two?'

She glanced back at Inuyasha. He was chasing pencils that were blown away by the wind. Curiosity sinking in, Kagome quietly turned to the page before the one she was on. This page was drawn with a dark pencil, and sketched as though it was the result of wrath. The picture had Inuyasha as he regularly appears, but instead of his normal uniform he was wearing a one-piece janitor's uniform. In his arms he held a small girl, who was sleeping with her head against his shoulder. His body was facing one way, but his head was facing the other. The reason was because the woman who Kagome saw in the color picture when she last saw his sketchbook was there, holding his chin with one hand. Her face was close to his, and had a cruel expression on it. Surrounding the two of them were a few flowers, but the majority of the picture was surrounded in fire. This picture's title was:

I won't let her win, November 10th

"Remember that curse you read about?"

Kagome jumped. She was so focused in the drawing that she didn't even notice when Inuyasha had finished gathering his things and walked directly in front of her.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha, I—"

"It's nothing." He answered, a solemn expression on his face. He sat down on the bench next to her. "My curse… the one on my family… She's the one who started it."

Kagome stared at Inuyasha, who was looking straight in front of him, and at nothing in particular.

He spoke monotonously. "She's the reason my brother wants to kill me. She's the reason why I'm not allowed to find happiness. Everyone who shares the demon blood of my family is cursed from the day they're born until the day they die."

"But Inuyasha, you're only half-demon, aren't you?"

That sweet smile appeared again on Inuyasha's face, this time a tiny bit sadder than before.

"Yeah. That's what pisses her off. I'm half human, so she can't fully control me. So she just plans to make me miserable until I either die or trigger my family's curse into motion."

For some reason Kagome started to get nervous. "And… how would you do that?"

Inuyasha's smile disappeared, and he stood up. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

Kagome wasn't so convinced. She turned a few more pages until she was at a blank page. She snatched the tin of pencils out of Inuyasha's hand, and before he could say anything, she pulled out one and began to draw.

"What the… Kagome, what are you doing?"
Kagome 'shh'-ed him. After a few seconds Kagome turned the page around. Inuyasha looked at the paper both confused and amused. The picture contained a stick figure elephant ears and an oddly shaped, huge head.

"What is that?"

"It's you. I wanted to cheer you up, so I drew you."

Inuyasha took the sketchbook. "I have a tomato for a head."

"You do not! That part on top's your hair!"

"I have more hair than that!"

Kagome sighed, and walked over to Inuyasha, drawing a rectangle behind the body of the stick figure.

"There!" she said, "Are you happy now?"

"Your drawing's atrocious." Inuyasha added.

Kagome smirked. "Like you could draw a better stick-person!"

Inuyasha took the pencil out of Kagome's hands and drew a stick-Kagome.

"HA!" Kagome shouted, "You forgot the ears! Plus, I'm wearing a skirt today!"

Inuyasha tried again. This time he forgot to draw hair and a face.

Kagome sighed, "What a shame. You call yourself an artist, and yet you can't even draw a decent stick figure."

"I'll get it eventually." Inuyasha said, joining the joke.

Kagome nodded. "Perhaps if you can teach me to draw something, I'll teach you how to master the art of stick-people!"

"That seems like a lot more work on my part…"

Kagome snickered. "Wow, backing down to a challenge… how out of character for you!"

Inuyasha smirked. "Alright, but something simple. And you're going to have to buy me something."

"I bought you a haircut!"

"I didn't want a haircut, remember?"

"Okay, deal."

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As the sun rose, Mr. Higurashi woke to prepare the shrine for it's first day of business. He picked up a broom and exited the door of the house he shared with his daughter and grandchildren… finding that there was something laying next to the door. After a double take he noticed that it wasn't something, but someone.

Kagome was sitting down, fast asleep, with her head leaning against the shoulder of a boy. This boy was also fast asleep, with his head leaning against hers. He had a red trucker hat on his head--which didn't match at all with the dark blue uniform that he wore, or the oddly colored, long hair that descended down from it. Both of them had a pencil loosely in their hands, and between them on part of both of their laps was an open sketchbook. The page they were on was completely covered in drawings of stick people and cats.

The grandpa was quickly reminded of the description of the person Souta had said visited last night.

"Blue school uniform... loooong hair..."

A small smile playing at his lips, the elderly man turned away and walked to the main part of the temple as though he had never noticed the pair.

Under the new trucker hat he wore, a pair of pointed ears twitched. The sound of wooden sandals scraping across a cement floor had woken him up. Looking down at the paper in his hands, he was reminded of how he and Kagome had spent the entire night drawing, until neither of them could stay awake any longer. He carefully lifted his head, and looked at the girl a smile appearing on his face for a third time. Looking back at the paper filled with 'art' he took hold of the pencil in his hand and wrote a title at the very bottom.

Damn it… I'm in love. November 11th

He closed the book, and carefully put it along with the two pencils into the plastic bag that once upon a time was full of sweets. Cautiously as he could, he picked up the girl and in three leaps was around the house and standing at the windowsill to Kagome's room. With a tap of his foot the window hit the frame, bounced, and slid open. (Sesshoumaru had sliced the lock in two when he first came) He laid the girl down on her pink bed and leapt out the window again, to go grab his stuff and leave.

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Wow, that was an extremely long chapter. Review if you read, thank you please!