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…
Disclaimer:
You know what? Today I'm taking a break. You're going to get a truly long chapter, even if I have to put two plotlines together and forego all evil cliffies! So, as to prove that it is truly a long chapter, I will not by putting in a disclaimer story.
I'm sorry if this causes any disappointment. Let's pretend the disclaimer characters are on holiday.
I don't own the cast of characters that we all know and love from the very well-known story, Inuyasha.
…
The Stamp of Gold
Snails
By Pwalefriend
…
When Kagome left the nice little café where she had been having lunch and met her rickshaw boy, the poor lad was surprised. After all, three of his four clientele had disappeared! Kagome gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry." She said. "I know that you do groups, but I'm afraid my family had to leave for their vacation."
"Didn't you wish to see 'em off, miss?" Asked the boy suspiciously.
"I did." Kagome said. "They wouldn't let me."
This was very odd and the urchin had no qualms about telling Kagome so in no uncertain terms. Kagome just nodded.
"I quite agree." She said. "But tell me, do you have any crazy family members?"
The boy thought about his cousin, who went around eating grasshoppers and standing in buckets of water singing songs he learned from sailors.
"I understand perfectly, miss." The boy said with feeling. "I'll make an exception, and am at your service for the rest of the day."
Kagome smiled brilliantly at him.
"Oh, thank you ever so much!" She said, ignoring the little voice in the corner of her mind that was laughing evilly. She hadn't meant to take advantage of the situation!
"Do you have a specific place that your wishing to go, miss?" The boy asked. Kagome handed him a piece of paper that had an address on it.
"Can you take me there?" Kagome asked him. The boy gave her an old look.
"Yeah, I can." He said. "Old crazy man, miss. I mean, I can't see why you'd be wanting to go there."
"Call it a hunch." Kagome said. "I think that I just might be able to learn something there."
And off they went.
…
All right.
There is only so long that you can't meet anyone in your own house.
It had been three hours, Inuyasha had searched every damn last room in his mansion and still, there wasn't a single sign of anybody! There was no one in the kitchen, there was no one in the nursery,there was no one in the stables, even the horses were gone! There was no one in the lavatory, there was no one in the cellar, and there was no one in the "Secret Meeting Room".
No one.
Except for him.
So now Inuyasha was sitting in front of the mural and sulking.
How could several hundred people just disappear? It didn't make sense! Especially since he didn't notice them disappear!
Inuyasha got to his feet with a sigh, and then left to go look outside again.
…
"Here we are, miss." Said the boy. "I'll be waiting out here if you don't mind."
"That's alright." Kagome assured him. "I won't be long."
They were outside a small apothecary's shop. The street around them was bustling and busy and sunny, but this little shop stood out, stark and dark against the surrounding shops. The windows here dusty and an old sign with the words Help Wanted-Inquire Within stenciled thickly on it. Kagome walked through the wooden door, little jingle bells jangling when the door swang shut behind her, and found (to her distaste) that the inside of the shop was just as dusty as the windows.
"Miss Kagome!" Said a little voice in surprise. "Well, this is a surprise! A pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless! What brings you to my dear little shop?"
Kagome, looking to the left, smiled when she saw the shop's proprietor beaming up at her from behind his counter.
"Hello Myoga." She said. "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me."
The welcoming grin on Myoga's face began to fade when he heard that.
"Qu-questions, eh?" Myoga stuttered. "W-well, I c-can't guarantee anything, b-but I'll t-try…"
Myoga then noticed that as his smile faded, Kagome's smile widened. This, he decided, was not a good sign. Kagome took a step closer.
"Some questions," she continued. "About Inuyasha."
Myoga gulped.
"W-w-well," he tried to say, though his stutter worsened. "I-I w-was n-never much of a p-p-part of I-Inuyasha's l-l-life, so, erm…"
"Oh, but these questions are easy." Kagome protested in her most innocent voice, she took another step. "I can't imagine how you wouldn't be able to answer them!"
Myoga tried to shrink down in his stool, and his eyes darted to the exits. Kagome pretended that she didn't notice, as she was not directly in front of the counter and looming over the poor small man.
"After all," Kagome continued in that "innocent" voice. "They're just simple questions about his temper!"
Myoga released a little whimper, and his eyes raised to meet hers.
"…Oh dear." Myoga said.
…
"Okay," Inuyasha said, speaking aloud to himself. "I know that I've already searched the kitchen!"
"Lord!" Suddenly Inuyasha heard an annoying squeaky but familiar voice! Oh, what a nice thing to hear once more!
"Clingy!" Inuyasha said brightly as the Elemental zipped down to meet him. "You're alive!"
Clingy gave Inuyasha an odd look.
"We were never not alive…" Clingy said slowly, very confused by his normally not-as confusing Lord.
"Where is everyone else?" Inuyasha asked hurriedly.
Clingy gave him another odd look.
"…They did leave a note, Lord." Said Clingy, pointing to a folded scrap of paper on a nearby kitchen counter. Blushing, Inuyasha walked over and picked it up. Sure enough Inuyasha was neatly scrawled on one side. Unfolding it, Inuyasha found the note that his staff had left him before their mysterious disappearance.
Inuyasha-
We (meaning your staff, your family, the Higurashis, and your family's staff and those five guys who don't actually do anything, but seem to live here all the time) have all decided to take a vacation. Kagome's staying home with you, so don't think you've been let off the hook. The pair of you had better be good while we're gone!
Dinner's in the icebox.
Love
Your staff, your family, the Higurashi's, and your family's staff and those five guys who don't actually do anything, but seem to live here all the time
P.S. Sango and Miroku eloped! Isn't that nice!
Inuyasha crumpled up the note and threw it against the wall angrily. Mr. Lee had definitely written that. That man really had the most annoying sense of humor ever.
And since when were Miroku and Sango in love? Maybe Miroku had finally gotten Sango drunk enough to agree to bear his children.
Inuyasha tried to picture it, and couldn't. But it was a much more likely then the two of them being involved all this time and Inuyasha just not noticing.
"…Wait…" Inuyasha said slowly. He jumped over to where the note had fallen and picked it up, uncrinkling it with one hand.
Yep. It still said it.
Kagome's staying home with you, so don't think you've been let off the hook.
Did that mean that Kagome was staying with him-…them?
Inuyasha certainly hoped that it did. But Kagome clearly wasn't there, after all, it was Sunday (her day off), and so he probably couldn't expect her home for a while.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha had always considered dinner and lunch to be interchangeable. And it couldn't hurt to just look in the icebox.
The rickshaw boy was waiting patiently outside Myoga's shop, juggling three leather balls that he carried around in his back pocket for his own amusement when his clients were busy. But when a shadow flitted across his light the little street rat looked up and jumped to his feet.
"My lady!" He said, shocked. He nodded his head and touched his hat. "I didn't see you there!"
"Not at all." Kikyo said, staring through the window. "I was just passing by, as you were."
The boy gulped and went back to his juggling, though he was too nervous to actually have much success. But when Kikyo told you to do something, you did it.
Kikyo frowned as she watched the young woman chat with a frightened looking Myoga. She remembered the time she had done that.
"This is interesting." Kikyo said. "You, boy!"
The rickshaw boy jumped up again, fighting not to salute.
"Yes, my Lady?" He asked.
"You tell the girl this from me." Kikyo said sternly. "Tell her that if she's not more careful, then snails will come and eat her toes."
"…I should tell the young miss," said the rickshaw boy slowly, gesturing into the shop. "That unless she's more careful like, snails will eat her toes."
Kikyo nodded.
"Yes." She said seriously. "But you must drop the like part." Kikyo spat out the word like as if it were filthy.
"…Okay, my Lady." Said the rickshaw boy. "I'll tell her."
"See that you do." Kikyo said, nodding. Then she tossed the boy a silver coin to him and strode off to where her own private rickshaw boy waited. Our urchin shuddered. No one liked Kikyo's private rickshaw boys. They were a creepy, pale almost reptilian lot who never said a word and who were always taking Kikyo places and when they weren't doing that they were silently gathering food for her. It was disturbing.
When Kagome came out of Myoga's shop twenty minutes later she made to climb into the rickshaw, but the urchin stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"I've a message for you, miss." Said the rickshaw boy. "From Lady Kikyo, and she told me to tell you, so I won't be denying her, but please don't laugh at me miss. I swear it's what she said."
At Kikyo's name Kagome was immediately on alert, and a little frightened.
"She said that if you're not more careful, snails will come and eat your toes." The rickshaw boy said seriously. He watched a strange expression filter across the face of his client.
"I just have one last job for you." Kagome said quietly but firmly. "Take me to the horse market."
The boy gave her an odd look, but nodded.
"Alright."
Kagome got into the rickshaw. The train that would take her to the Feudal Era wouldn't leave till twelve that night, and she wanted to get out of the town immediately. A horse would get her back home faster then the train would if she waited. And she had enough money left for a good horse.
On the way to the horse market they passed the stationary shop that Kagome had shopped at during her first visit to town. With an idle glance in its direction, Kagome was pleased to see that the stamp she wanted was still there. Wasn't that odd? That in a time like this she still was acting slightly materialistic. Kagome pondered this on the rest of the way to the market. She didn't even notice the growing storm clouds that were starting to mass above her head.
…
Inuyasha sat at the window in the Entrance Hall, staring idly out of it into the rain. It had started falling just a few hours ago, and he wondered how Kagome was faring. He knew that the train that would bring her back home wouldn't leave for another few hours yet. 'Ah well…' Inuyasha thought. 'May as well use this time to think of excuses to explain to her why all the food is gone.'
Ten minutes later Inuyasha had come up with an elaborate excuse involving snails, talking broccoli, spoons, his mind and Clingy when the front door slammed open with a bang and a wet and sopping Kagome tumbled into the hall just as Inuyasha leapt up. Somehow the two of them managed to collide and even before they were done falling Kagome had managed to wrap her hands around Inuyasha's throat and when they had landed Inuyasha found himself staring up into Kagome's raging and wild eyes.
"Food…" Kagome hissed. "I…Want...Need…Food…"
'Well,' Inuyasha thought. 'The vicious monster is hungry. Now, what was it I was going to say again?'
But when he was staring up into Kagome's frightening eyes and had her hands around his throat he could only remember one bit.
"Snails ate it all." Inuyasha said, and then suddenly he could sit up because Kagome had somehow managed to jump to the other side of the hall and was now pointing at him and shaking violently.
"You!" Kagome gasped. "And her! Connected! In head!"
Inuyasha squinted at her.
"…What?" He asked.
Kagome just sneezed.
If you don't remember the mural, refer to chapter seven.
Remember, the Feudal Era is what Inuyasha's mansion is called.
Well, there we go! A brand new chapter! And I was better about updating this time around! Yay for me!
Sigh. Sorry fellahs, not feeling particularly chatty or funny right now, so I'll make it brief.
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and the Review Lion-
Roar!!!
Is back in business, so you'd best get cracking on those reviews!
Sincerely
Pwalefriend