Summary: The day just refuses to go well for Kagome. Everywhere she goes mishaps seem to follow, and the rain isn't helping. (oneshot)
Hello, this is my first oneshot and my third fanfiction attempt. I apologize if anyone has done something similar to this already. It was inspired by something I said in one of my stories (and it could possibly work its way into one of them as well).
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.
Special Thanks: to those of you who take the time to read this and review, and to ReviewerWriter who has already pointed out some things for me to correct.
When It Rains It Pours
A young woman raced through the pouring rain that fell in sheets on the sidewalk beneath her feet.
She tugged her pink coat closer to her and muttered, "He had better appreciate this."
As she ran through the puddles collecting on the walkway, she kicked up additional water and soaked her short green skirt that was barely visible from under her coat. She continued to run with her eyes on the sidewalk. She looked up when she saw the bottom of the grocery store's automatic doors slide open to allow her passage. As she stepped inside the building, a cold blast of air blew by her, and immediately her body shook as a shiver ran down her spine and goose bumps coated her legs.
"It's freezing in here. Of course, that could be due to the fact that I'm drenched." She moaned.
Gingerly, she peeled off her wet coat and shook the water off, flinging water all over the tile floor. She slung the coat over one arm and took habitual steps towards the third aisle. Quickly, she scanned the shelves.
'There it is.'
Standing on the tips of her toes, she reached up and scooped the stores remaining boxes of ramen off the shelf. With her arms laden with the small cups of ramen, she hurried back down the aisle and towards the check out line. Unfortunately, the line trailed for quite a distance, and the woman at the check out did not look as if she cared to be rushed. It did not help her cause that the women in the line all seemed to want to use a variety of outdated coupons. Kagome, the young lady buying the ramen, began to tap her foot impatiently and glanced repeatedly at her watch. Finally, when her turn to pay for her goods came, she dumped the contents of her hands onto the conveyer belt and waited for the cashier to ring them up. She did not realize however, how slow that process could be. Finally, she decided that it would be best if she helped the cashier bag the food. Thankfully, the woman seemed to appreciate the help, and Kagome was soon done and paying for her things. When she finished, she practically ran for the door.
Unfortunately for Kagome, she had been so flustered when she came into the building that she did not realize what shaking the water off her coat would do. As she stepped over the threshold, she stepped on the water from her coat. Her right foot began to slide backwards, and soon the rest of her body followed it. The ramen in her hands flew through the air, and she landed in an undignified heap on the cold, hard tile. Groaning, she tried to sit up; however, the effort made her so dizzy that she continued to stare at the floor and waited for her head to stop swirling. A few moments later, a hand reached into her field of vision. Gratefully, she grasped the proffered hand and began to stand, but fate was not through laughing at her. Just as she regained her footing, her hero slipped on the same patch of water, and they both became entangled in each other's limbs and came crashing to the floor.
"That's it, I am going back home; being kidnapped wasn't half this bad," she muttered as she began to disentangle herself.
"Higurashi?" A familiar masculine voice halted her tirade.
Sheepishly, she looked up at her hero. "Hojo? What are you doing here?"
'Great going, Kagome,' she yelled mentally, 'What do you think he is doing in a grocery store?'
Hojo did not seem to think her question was stupid— if he did think the question was odd, he probably contributed it to her chronic illnesses. "Actually, I was coming here to look for something for your latest illness."
She shuddered at the thought of his last gift— dried lizards. She blinked and mentally groaned, "Oh, thank you, Hojo. I am really feeling much better you don't need to do that." She closed her eyes and waved her head and her hand 'no'.
"But I insist, if you are ever going to be well enough to go anywhere with me, you will need this cure. Besides, what are you doing out in this weather when you are ill? You should know better." He looked at her disapprovingly.
"I had to get some food for a friend." She waved her hand around the area, motioning to the scattered ramen cups on the floor.
"Ramen?" he asked disbelievingly.
"Well, he is allergic to everything else," she smiled and hoped that it would add credibility to her words. Apparently it did, Hojo reached around and gathered her scattered ramen and then helped her to her feet. Cautiously, she moved her feet forward to the exit.
"I really have to get home, Hojo, but it was nice seeing you." She forced a smile and began to walk rapidly away before breaking into a full-fledged run. Had she looked back, she would have seen a slightly bewildered Hojo, whose mouth was agape from her sudden departure.
Months of constant running in the feudal era, brought Kagome swiftly to her yard and into the shrine. She rushed to the side of the well, put her muddy shoes on the ledge, and jumped in. Arriving in feudal Japan, she began to climb out of the well; however, the rain had caused the sides to become slippery and muddy. Every time she tried to climb up, she would end up sliding all the way back down. Taking a moment to rest, she stood at the bottom of the well and stared at the top. Skid marks from her shoes were visible all over the well walls. She huffed angrily and marched over to one of the walls to try again. Several feet up the side, she grasped one of the large vines that covered the walls. She began to pull herself up using the vine as leverage, but the vine refused to cooperate and tore apart dropping her unceremoniously to the ground and back to the modern era. After seeing that she was back in her era, Kagome growled low in her throat and leaped back into the past.
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"Doesn't he know that just makes it worse?" Shippo shook his head at InuYasha's stupidity and watched the hanyou as he leaped franticly from tree limb to tree limb. Miroku and Sango shook their heads in answer to Shippo's question and stared at InuYasha.
The rain had poured down that afternoon in the feudal era. InuYasha had spent the first part of the afternoon grumbling about the rain, and now he was trying to avoid it. He had never been a huge fan of water, and the last time he had stepped in a puddle, he had misjudged its depth and sunk midway to his knees. Immediately, he had leaped to the shelter of the trees, but every time he landed on a branch, he was showered with the water from the branch above it. Angrily, he hopped from branch to branch trying to find a dry spot.
The rest of the group watched InuYasha, and then they went back to what they had been doing. Sango continued to polish her weapon and completely ignored the monk seated across from her.
Earlier when the rain had first stopped, Kirara had transformed and used her flames to dry off a spot big enough for Sango and herself to sit on. Mindful of Sango's current feelings toward Miroku for his behavior at the last village, Kirara refused to dry a spot for Miroku. Now, he sat as close to the fire as possible and grumbled about the unfairness of life. Occasionally, he would glance longingly at Shippo's place on Sango's lap. He had already suggested to Sango that she sit on his lap so as not to inconvenience Kirara, yet the only reward he received for his trouble was scorched robes.
'And to think this is the same woman who offered to bear twenty of my children.'
He snorted in disgust and continued muttering.
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Kagome was beyond frustrated. She was weary, and her coat and skirt were no longer recognizable in their original colors. The only thing going well for her right now was the fact that it was not raining here in the feudal era. Finally, she gave up on getting up the wall on her own. She knew just the person for the job.
"InuYasha!" her call bounced slightly off the well walls.
She waited and waited, but he did not come. Thinking that he was ignoring her, she took a deep breath and yelled.
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InuYasha pushed off the wet limb of a towering tree and landed on a neighboring branch. Instantly, he was doused with water. A frustrated growl rumbled in his throat as he shook his wet body and launched into the air again. His foot reached out as he rapidly closed in on the next branch. Expecting to feel the wet bark of yet another tree limb, he was quite surprised to feel himself hurdling towards the ground face first. Faintly, his mind registered the quiet 'sit' that had sounded a moment earlier from the direction of the well. As he waited for the ability to move once again, he attempted to look up. With the limited movement his head was allowed, he found that a five-foot wall of mud surrounded him. Inwardly he seethed and his anger rose rampant, but he was helpless to do anything about it… that is until he was able to move. Rising rapidly he ran in the direction of the well, not noticing the quizzical stares coming from his companions.
As InuYasha neared the well, he could feel the utter frustration emanating from the person trapped inside, and the smell of the salt from her pooling tears was so sharp that he could almost taste it. A small part of him softened at the revelation that Kagome was crying and that she needed him, but the dominant side of him still wanted revenge. He walked to the edge of the well and put his foot on the side, as if he was about to come to her aid. Then ignoring the sight of her tear stained face, he decided to tease her.
"Hey, Kagome, would you hurry up and get up here?" He crossed his arms across his chest and smirked evilly. "I thought you were a powerful miko."
He was fairly proud of himself for being able to push aside his guilty feelings and hurt her like she had hurt him. That is he was proud of himself, until he noticed Kagome's eyes darken and then a storm worse than the earlier weather swirl in her eyes. He gulped.
Kagome had had enough. She was through with this idiot. What did he think she was—someone that he could just ignore and then insult without any apparent remorse? It had been all for him!
"SIT, InuYasha!" she yelled.
He rapidly joined her at the bottom of the well. As he lay there with his face plastered in mud, she angrily raised the bag of ramen in her hand and shook it over his prone body. The cups of ramen flew out of the bag and bounced off InuYasha's head.
"Do you see this? Do you know what I went through for this stupid ramen? First there was the rain, and then the check out line," she began to check the items off on her free hand. "Then when I was finally on the way out I slipped and fell, and then Hojo just had to be the one to rescue me"
Kagome rolled her eyes, causing her to miss the growl rumbling in InuYasha's throat and the slight reddening of his eyes at the mention of Hojo's part in her day's activities. She continued in her narrative.
"Then, when he was helping me up, we tripped and landed on the ground with each other. Then I come here and I can't get out to give you this stupid pasta, you ignored me when I called, and now you come here just to insult me? This is just too much!"
InuYasha was finally able to sputter, "What— what do you mean you called me?"
He glared up at her, his anger coming back full throttle.
"The only call you gave to me was to tell me to sit, when I didn't even know you were in the area, and I just happened to be in the middle of leaping from a tree branch!"
His answer surprised her. "You didn't hear me? Couldn't you have at least caught my scent?" She looked down at him questioningly.
He attempted to meet her eyes, but the best he could do was to see the tops of her shoes.
"NO, I didn't hear you. The water wouldn't stop getting in my ears and my hair is matted all over them, and it just rained, woman. You should know that covers up most of the scent. I'm not a full blooded youkai, you know; I can't smell and hear everything," he said bitterly.
Kagome's lips formed a silent O.
InuYasha stood, now looking even worse than before. His clothes were coated with enough mud to grow a garden, and his hair was just as he said— matted all around his downcast ears. She looked up to his face and saw that it was caked with mud. She reached up to his face and tried to wipe the dirt away, but only succeeded in adding another streak from her muddy hand. InuYasha stood frozen by her actions, only occasionally breathing in a much-needed breath.
"InuYasha, I'm—I'm sorry for sitting you like that, but I could find no other way to get your attention. I really thought that you were ignoring me."
"Keh, as if I would."
He crossed his arms and took a step back. Guiltily, he looked away from her.
He mumbled, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there to rescue you instead of that Hojo guy. Next time—"
His voice was cut off as the clouds above them suddenly broke loose and emptied there contents all over Kagome and InuYasha's heads. Hurriedly, InuYasha grabbed Kagome and leapt out of the well before it could get any muddier. Outside the well, Kagome hurriedly climbed on his back and tightly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Then they set off at a pace that rivaled the imminent lightening.
Arriving back at camp, they met the makings of a very unhappy group. Kirara had transformed back into her little form and had crawled inside the sleeve of Sango's clothing, and Miroku sat staring blankly at the non- existent fire. His face registered extreme shock. Slowly InuYasha set Kagome down. He glanced over at Miroku's shocked expression and the dead fire and realized that he had left the cause of this whole fiasco at the bottom of the well. He groaned and raced back to get the ramen.
Kagome sat down by her friends, and Shippo ran and huddled in her lap. Then he took a leaf out of his pocket that transformed in one much larger. Gratefully, Kagome pulled it over both hers and her son's heads. When InuYasha came back, she offered to share the leaf with him. He looked as if he would refuse, but the rain only poured down harder, and he rushed under the scanty shelter that the leaf provided. Miroku still sat unmoving, only blinking occasionally. Suddenly he leaped to his feet mindless of the pouring rain.
"You would not believe the thought that just came to me!" he exclaimed.
InuYasha reached over and covered both of Kagome's ears at the same time as she placed her hands over Shippo's ears. They both blushed at the contact, but neither moved.
"Is it really appropriate to share, Miroku?" InuYasha asked, obviously not thinking that anything Miroku would value would be appropriate to share in any audience.
Miroku clasped one hand theatrically over his heart. "Of course it is, InuYasha, you wound me."
InuYasha looked skeptically at Miroku, but loosened his hold on Kagome's ears and nodded at her to do the same to Shippo's ears.
When Miroku had seen that he had all the members of his audience's full attention, he began. "Well, you see it is quite complicated really, yet it seems almost simple to lesser educated minds. My inspiration was drawn from—" Miroku's oration was cut short as four mouths yawned and one yelled for him to hurry up.
Miroku only became more animated, and the rain intensified as if building up to his amazing revelation.
"The thought is thus: 'When it rains, it pours.'"
InuYasha snorted and Sango appeared to snore as Miroku stood there in complete amazement at the vastness of his mind.
Finally, Shippo spoke, "Yeah, that is definitely going to go down in history, Miroku," he said as he rolled his eyes.
Then no one understood why Kagome burst out laughing.
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Well, what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it since I enjoyed writing it. Please do not write any flames, but I will take kind constructive criticism. Thanks!
Oh, and to those of you reading "Are You My Father," I doubt that I will indeed be able to put the next chapter out today or even tomorrow. I have yet to really begin writing it, and I would like to actually send it to my beta first this time. I hope you enjoy reading this in the mean time.