Chapter Nineteen

Good Times

The rest of the school day lingered and swaggered along and Inu Yasha found himself growing impatient and tapping his foot against the floor rapidly. He received a few angry glares from people who were agitated by the noise, but none seemed to be disturbed enough by it to tell him to stop.

But, at last, school had come to an end and he gathered up his things in a hurry and leapt out of his last class like some startled deer and galloped across the school to the front gates where he would meet Kagome and the others.

Kagome came first. He waved as he saw her trim outline, clad in white and green, appear out of a hallway. "Hi!" he called to her. She turned her head towards him and he saw her flash her white teeth in smile and she trotted briskly across the distance between them to meet him.

"Inu Yasha!" she called as she neared him. She reached him and waved, flashing another of her sweet smiles. "I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!" she said and she curled er hands into little fists and held them to her shaking them in excitement. He let loose a small laugh.

"My feet haven't stopped tapping since lunch." he said. Now, of course, he was very glad to be spending some time with his friends, but oh! -the idea of eating pizza! Fresh hot pizza! He couldn't even recall when he'd had it last. And they would be in a restaurant. Not a drive through window at a fast food place. Something about the whole thing made him immensely happy, and incredibly nervous.

What if he didn't act properly in the restaurant? What if the food was bad and took really long to order or what if the waiter got mad and decided to pee in the drinks? Well, it was highly unlikely that the waiter would pee in their drinks, but he had heard about things like that happening when listening to some parts of the news while making dinner. And even if the food wasn't great, he had eaten worse.

Sango and Miroku appeared together, holding hands of course, being the over affectionate couple they were. "Hi Kagome! Hi Inu Yasha!" called Sango friendly. Miroku waved shyly as Sango ran ahead of him and jump tackled Kagome in a very unique hug. Miroku couldn't help but find himself wondering 'How come she never does that to me?'

Sango and Kagome chattered in squeals that Inu Yasha and Miroku could only assume were not in English. But the whole idea of the night ahead had them all very excited. They waited outside of the school building before Miroku's mother, a friendly brunette woman, picked them up in her Volkswagon. Miroku sat up front, and Kagome, Sango and Inu Yasha sat in the middle row of seats, jammed together like sardines. Inu Yasha leaned his head against the window, the rapidly beating heart inside of his chest exhilarating him. He felt all his senses come alive. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, everything he felt was a hundred times stronger. Hence, he squealed lightly when the car hit a hard turn and Kagome's head fell on his shoulder and did not remove itself for several seconds.

"You okay?" she asked apologetically.

"Oh!" he grinned. "Its nothing!" he said and waved. Contrary to what some would like to think, the squeal he made was more out of pain than surprise. His arm was still sore after having been dislocated and then repositioned by none other than himself. It was a bit swollen but his long sleeve red shirt would cover any bruising if any at all. He propped his head against his hand and stared out the window watching the row of planted trees go by him one by one.

He faintly felt his shirt sleeve being tugged and snapped out of his dream like state and turned to face Kagome. "Inu Yasha? Hellooo?" she said and waved a hand in front of his face.

He turned pink and ducked his head. "Eep!" he squeaked softly. "Sorry Kagome!" he said. "I was just kind of um ..."

"Out of it?" she asked, trying to fill in the gap in his sentence.

"Uh yeah. I didn't sleep well last night I guess." he said and shrugged, tossing a small smile her way.

"Well, we're at Miroku's house now, so you're going to have to get out of the car." she said. "And I wouldn't advise you keep drifting off like that or Miroku's mom will suspect you're on drugs or something." she said and giggled. Inu Yasha stifled a laugh. The idea was slightly amusing and Kagome meant it playfully, but remembering all the things he saw when he was younger, all the tragedy he had been through because of his father's habits, it almost made him insulted that anyone would even suspect him of that. Kagome missed the wince he made before his throat rumbled with a small laugh.

"Come on." she said and climbed out of the Volkswagen. He followed her into Miroku's house.

Miroku's house was a normal looking abode. It had two bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. It was not very big, but it was definitely bigger than what Inu Yasha was used to. He looked around and wandered about for a bit as Miroku gave them a short lived tour through his home. Miroku's bedroom was not very exciting at all. The walls were a baby blue color and there hung a bulletin board on one of them, with a calendar, and random pictures of him with Sango and other friends of his. Numerous papers of his were scattered across the fridge, he noticed, and all had A's on them. He began to wonder if Miroku was an overachiever.

"Well. Um... It's not much, but, it's home." he said quietly. Sango gripped his hand and rocked back and forth, whistling cheerily. After a short silence, he broke in and suggested, "Want to go play on my XBox?" The others in the group nodded and followed him into his room.

A while later, Miroku was beating everybody's ass at StreetRacerz 2. Sango was in second, close behind Miroku, Kagome was thrid, and in dead last was Inu Yasha, losing miserably. This was understandable, of course, because he had never held a console controller in his life. He bit his lower lip and narrowed his eyes and squirmed in irritation as his car flew off of a jump and into a lake. He growled as his fourth of the screen went blank and then appeared again, showing his car at the last check point he had visited. His eye twitched in annoyance and he mumbled to himself, "God damnit ... I give up."

He fumbled around with the huge black controller until he decided to just give up, and placed it on the bed that he was sitting on next to Miroku. He sunk to the floor and sat inbetween Sango and Kagome, passing advice to them when he saw a bonus points icon, or a pit that the cars would fall into. Eventually, Miroku noticed that everyone had moved to the floor so he sat next to Sango who managed to distract him enough to let Kagome slip ahead of him and her car won the next game they played.

She made a happy girl sound and held up her hand and gave a high five to Inu Yasha who reluctantly slapped her hand, briefly wondering if she planned to remove it before he could hit it. But even if she planned on doing this, he realized that he could move faster than she could so she would not be able to do that. Then she leaned over and thanked Sango, who was sitting on Miroku's lap, nuzzling her head against his chest affectionately. Inu Yasha noticed the light pink blush that Miroku wore when Sango was around him return.

Then Miroku's father came into the room. His eyes followed Sango as she rolled off of Miroku's lap, jerking her head away so fast that Inu Yasha thought that it might have caused damage to her spinal cord. He made a small grunting noise which sounded like he was clearing his throat. "Well, it's time to go now, so you guys should all go into the car."

Everybody nodded and stood up except for Miroku, who asked his father which car they were taking. His father replied, "The van." and then he left the room. A few of the teens had taken off their shoes and put them back on before going to the garage and piling into the silver van. The van was bigger than the other car, Inu Yasha noted. This one had three rows of seats which were covered in the fuzzy gray material he recognized as the same as the material in the car his mother had. Miroku made a leap for the front seat but was pulled back by Sango and he muttered his apologies before getting in the mid row with her.

Inu Yasha did not know Miroku's mother and therefore did not feel comfortable sitting next to her so that left the back row which had a longer row of seats than the mid row because the mid row had to allow the people going to the back row room to get there. He sat on the edge farthest away from the sliding van door and watched as Kagome came in. As she climbed up, he worried that maybe she would not sit with him and watched her more intently than before, before patting the seat next to him and smiling. She looked up and her eyes widened as she plopped down next to him and sent him a grin.

He tingled with a warm prickly sensation that he had gotten used to since he had become friends with Kagome. It was like he was being poked with hundreds and hundreds of little pins, but the pins did not hurt, and the did not feel bad. He actually somewhat enjoyed it. But the thought of the little pins scared him just a little, so he stopped relating it to that.

Before he knew it, the car was in motion and his body shook as they hit a speed bump near Miroku's house. When they reached the restaurant, Kagome's head was comfortably suited on Inu Yasha's shoulder which was tilted because he was leaning over to see out the window and blushing a nice shade of pink.

They tumbled out of the car, and Inu Yasha took Kagome's hand and helped her out before turning to face the restaurant. The restaurant was called 'Factory Pizza' and a strong smell of garlic and cheese wafted from the building and Inu Yasha felt saliva accumulate in his mouth. He swallowed and turned to Kagome, his face alit with hunger. Aside from the occasional midnight snack he could smuggle and his father's little gifts of food, he had no stable food supply.

He found out that Kagome had been packing extra food for him for his lunch and he felt bad because he did not want to burden her. But he did not tell her not to give him food because without her meals, he would probably not have been able to survive through the year. His torso had begun to thicken a little bit over the course of the few months he had sent in the ninth grade and he could only see his ribs when he leant over backwards.

The teens trotted over to the restaurant, with Miroku's mother is pursuit. When they entered, they were seated by a pretty looking red headed waitress. "Right this way." she told them, scooping up a few menus. They sat at a round table and Inu Yasha was seated next to Kagome and Miroku, who sat next to Sango, who was next to Miroku's mother.

He flipped through the menu and looked at all the names of food. A lot of them made no sense. He leaned over to Kagome and whispered "What's an anti-pasta?" She giggled and turned to him and told him it was a meat dish. He nodded.

When the red head came back, she asked, "What drinks would you like?"

Inu Yasha's eyes widened. "We get to choose?" He sounded shocked. A few giggles erupted from the circle of people at the table and Kagome failed miserably at trying to suppress her laughter. "What?" he asked and looked around.

The waitress cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Get to choose? This wouldn't be a very good place to eat if you couldn't." she said and made a small laughing noise.

Inu Yasha nodded and smiled, but then he realized he didnt know what to choose to drink so he picked a random soda. "Sprite." he said.

The other's placed their orders for drinks. They had unanimously decided on getting pizza and garlic bread with a side order of bruschetta. Inu Yasha asked what that was as well and Kagome told him it was like bread with tomatoes and spices and you dip it in balsamic vinegar and it is very good.

As the group waited for the food they made light chatter. Inu Yasha noticed that Miroku's mother kept a close eye on Sango. Sango's style of dress may have led her to believe that this girl was perhaps not so wonderful for her son? And if not that, Inu Yasha wondered if Miroku had told his parents at all. So he leaned over to him and whispered so quietly that Miroku had to ask him to raise his voice. So he repeated. "Um … does your mom know about .. Sango? You know?" And Miroku looked puzzled for a moment before replying.

"I don't think she's ready to here that. I'm not allowed to date until I get to high school." Inu Yasha nodded and his silver hair flipped around him as he did so and Kagome giggled.

"Inu Yasha. Pt. You hair got in my mouth!" She rubbed her mouth and the teenagers laughed. Even Miroku's mom giggled a little bit.

The conversation was light, the mood was happy and the aroma of the restaurant was intoxicating. Inu Yasha took a sip of his soda when it came and was surprised at how good soda tasted. He hadn't been able to drink anything other than water for a long time. Once, when he was younger, his father actually took him to a carnival. At the time, he thought it was for his sake, but as an older more wise fifteen year old. He knew that this was only because the man wanted to go there himself, and didn't want Inu Yasha to do anything bad while he was away. He had purchased a coke and shared some with the boy, to the child's delight, and just now was he reminded of that time.

At last, the food arrived. A giant pedestal with a pizza on it arrived and Inu Yasha's jaw dropped noticeably. He waited until everyone else grabbed a slice before looking around in a confused manner. "Inu Yasha?" asked Kagome. "Aren't you going to eat some?" He looked at her then turned to the giant pizza and pulled a slice out. His eyes glazed over as the cheese oozed and the aroma filled his nose. It was so intensely intoxicating that he looked like he was somewhat asleep as he took his first bite. Never in his life had he had better pizza. Or perhaps he had never had pizza at all in his life. Either way, this was good. He devoured his first piece, then ate another. Then he ate bruschetta, which was very good, like Kagome had said, and a piece of garlic bread which was zesty and made his mouth water.

He ended up getting two refills on his drink, and did not finish the second refill. His stomach was so full, he doubted that he would be able to eat for days because for one, he was so stuffed that he wouldn't need any food, and for another, any other food was garbage compared to this. Well, this was with the exception of Kagome's mother's cooking. That was definitely at least ten times better, but still. He couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten something that wasn't three days old and sitting in a forgotten cabinet of his fridge.

It was over way too fast, it seemed, because the next thing he knew, he was leaving the restaurant and waving good bye to the red headed waitress. He sat in the back seat of the car again with Kagome while Miroku and Sango sat in the middle, holding hands underneath Miroku's jacket.

Kagome looked tired and she made sleepy eyes at Inu Yasha, who offered her his lap. Her head rested on his thin legs and he delicately put his hand on her head and smoothed her hair out. Not that it really needed to be smoothed, but he liked touching her soft hair and skin. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was light. He smiled gently down at Kagome and his eyes were soft, like that of a mother looking at a newborn, or a kitten. He listened harder and could pick up the faint 'bump' of her heartbeat. Its rhythm soothed him and he sighed. So absorbed in her was he, that he did not even notice Sango and Miroku occasionally peak around and chuckle lightly at him. Sango made an 'Aw!' sound which he missed and Miroku made a soft laughing sound which he muffled with his hand.

Inu Yasha opened his eyes and gave Kagome one last stroke of the head before peering out the window.

The sky was dark and grey. The contrast of the light horizon and the dark black and blue sky could only strike terror in his heart, not the intended awe that the natural beauty was supposed to produce. He held his breath in his chest as he realized that it was already way past six o clock.

He knew who would be waiting for him when he came home. His father. He knew what would be waiting for him when he came home. A beating.

'Shit.'

For lack of a better metaphor, he was dead meat.

Author's Notes

First off: (Hugs reviewers and gives mega slurpees to all) And if you haven't checked it out, I suggest Fingertips! It has gotten a lot of really good responses and I will be updating every week, so no worries there! And its short, and a good read if ya have nothing better to do! Please check it out for me:smiles all big like:

Oh nuu! I guess I better prepare myself for another hurting scene. Abuse comin' up my darlings! Whee!

Well, sequentially, after getting un grounded, I was grounded again, but I am at my mom's house now so HAH! And I finally have time to finish this chapter up. It's late, I know, but at least its long! … Hmm … Maybe … too long? Nyeh.

Well, I have to thank you guys for your reviews. Made me down right chipper, they did. I was so happy you guys cared enough bout me cheer me up so nicely! Specially Picken and Irish Leprechaun! Thank you guys so much, you have no idea how much it means to me.

I am glad to say, I am feeling much better now. With the help of some friends of mine and your reviews I am a much happier Inu Kun! So thanks a lot! I had a lot more people review me last chapter than the ones before, which was cool, but I don't want the only way for me to get reviews to be by feeling shit. (I joked with my friend, "Hey, maybe I should be depressed more often?") So please review every chapter! I know it can be annoying, but I want to know how many people are reading the story, because if a lot of people are, that motivates me to update quicker. But thank you for all the support guys! Loves ya!

Inu Kun- Please review:pouts:

Inu Yasha'sFan1234: This is your first fic you've read? Wow, I feel special! Hope you enjoy it! (coughsandreviewcoughs) Lol.

Suaru: Hey, and thanks for reviewin' me! I hope everything turns out all right for you and Sara, she seems cool. It's real weird that you were giving her my story when she was going through an abusive situation herself huh? I wonder if she relates to it at all? Mebbe not … After all, she is lacking in the male genitalia, unlike little Inu Yasha here … Um, irrelevant. But I am glad you guys like it!

Irish Leprechaun: You're reviews are so great! It really cheered me up a lot to read it! And the one on Fingertips was really nice too! So, um, thanks a lot! I hope you read the next chapter cause I sent your cuz a message! And, yea, I know the story is fine and all, but it just kind of downs the inspiration level when my own father does not like my stuff. It's nothing, I guess, just kind of makes me not like my story. But you really cheered me up so thank you! (glomp)