Disclaimer: Nothing owned here except for the ficlet idea.
Chapter Four: The Rabbit Encounter
He awoke early that Monday morning, nothing really unusual, except maybe for the runny nose and a bit of a cough. It was nothing though. He was too determined to let a little cold get the best of him! He had questions he needed answered and he was going to get them! His only concern now was avoiding Hatori long enough to sneak out and go to school. He knew the doctor would make him stay home in bed all day and he couldn't let that happen. So with the agility befitting of a rabbit, Momiji got up, dressed and rushed to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. His ears drank in the silence of the house and he knew Hatori had yet to awaken and for that he was glad. He grinned to himself as he poured a bowl of cereal, added the milk and sat down to enjoy it. He sniffed a few times and hid his coughs behind his hand, he was sure that he wasn't making too much noise. Things were going too well, he couldn't afford to take any risks.
However, a certain doctor was in fact already awake, just fighting off the lingering effects of sleep from the edge of his bed. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and yawned. With unhurried steps he ridded himself of his sleeping attire and dressed for the day. He had just finished buttoning up his vest when a quiet cough caught his ears, a cough that didn't sound very good at all. Giving his body one last stretch, Hatori made his way through the hallways leading to the kitchen where he knew the cough had come from. When he entered the kitchen his eyes fell upon a pale Momiji munching on a bowl of cereal. The doctor immediately placed his palm against the blonde's forehead.
"Morning, Ha'ri." Momiji smiled slightly and inwardly cursed at not being able to escape in time.
"Don't move from that spot. I'm taking your temperature." Hatori turned to exit and stopped when Momiji spoke up.
"Why? I feel fine. Besides, I have a test." he lied and hoped the dragon didn't realize that he had.
"Your health is more important." Hatori turned and gave the boy a stern glare, "I will decide if you're well enough for school or not."
"Alright." he gave a heavy sigh and watched Hatori leave the room in search for the thermometer. Once he was out of sight, Momiji bound towards the front door, leaving behind his unfinished bowl of cereal. He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his bag and umbrella and bounced out the front door. He had more important things to do today and he wasn't letting a minor cold stop him!
Hatori returned a few minutes later, thermometer in hand, but was greeted by an empty kitchen and a bowl of cereal. He rushed to the front door and noticed all of Momiji's school items were gone. A string of silent curses left Hatori's mouth as he reached for his jacket and keys. He hadn't expected Momiji to be so careless and reckless and knew he had to find him soon before his body became too weak and he transformed. The last thing he wanted to do today was remove memories from people who had seen a blonde boy change into a little yellow rabbit.
Kagome awoke with a start that morning from nightmares plagued with her friend's screams and cries of pain and anguish. She sat there disorientated, holding her head and trying her hardest to hold back the sobs building in her throat. A few tears escaped her blue eyes before she wiped them away and took a deep breath, steadying herself and her emotions before getting up and starting to get ready for the day. Her body protested the sudden movements and she knew she was still troubled by the lingering effects of using the Shikon's power a few days earlier. She pushed her way through the pain and headed into the hallway. She was oblivious to a lot of things around her and completely missed the book bag lying on the floor just ahead of her. She tripped; her whole body falling forward and landing on the floor with a solid thump. She groaned and rolled onto her back, kicking the bag out of her way as she went. Her eyes caught the gray clouds outside the window and she shouted a curse as her fist slammed against the floor. It was raining again, just another thing to add to her already horrid morning.
She finally made it to her kitchen and managed to make some toast that, not at all surprising her, came out burnt. She was beginning to hope that at least one thing would go right for today, though she knew it was unlikely as she glanced at the clock and knew she was going to be late for school. She let loose a heavy sigh and munched on her extra crispy toast. She didn't care if she was late. She was in no mood to rush.
After brushing her teeth, Kagome gathered her things from the hallway, slipped on her shoes and started out the front door. The rain was light, but consistent. She groaned again and clicked her blue umbrella open. She smiled briefly in remembrance of why she had bought that umbrella in the first place. She had purchased it for Inuyasha to use in their travels, but he had outright refused to use it. He had said something to her about being a guy and looking foolish carrying such a girly item. Kagome smiled at the memory. He had ended up sharing hers in the end.
It had been raining the day she left, both in the past and when she got home. She was lucky her mother had said, but Kagome knew she wasn't. It was a few days after her return that she had learned the hard way that Naraku was far from done with her and that he still wanted the jewel to be in his possession.
She had come close to losing her family, but the jewel was apparently against it and gave her the strength and knowledge to protect them and to protect others. She had done it everyday since then and would continue until Naraku was gone. But the coward hadn't shown himself in a long time. He just kept sending underlings and weaker demons, things Kagome could easily handle. But, now things were becoming different. It seemed as though the wind witch, Kagura, was still around as well. Kagome wondered if she was the only one of Naraku's incarnations still around.
As she stepped onto the grounds of the school, something began tugging at her very being, pulling her out of her silent musings. It was an urgency she hadn't felt before. Someone needed help, her help. All she could do was let the feeling pull her along. She entered the school, rushing through empty hallways, ignoring and students she happened to come across. The feeling was beginning to overwhelm her and she felt like sobbing at the intensity.
The feeling weakened when she finally reached the roof. She looked around frantically, not seeing much of anything. She wandered the expanse of the rooftop looking for what ever it was that had lured her up there.
She was starting to give up when she saw a pile of clothing lying near a bush and huddled inside was a tiny, shivering, yellow rabbit. She blinked a couple times and shock filled her. She knew this had to be one of Kyo's cousins and judging by the clothing size, she guessed it was Momiji.
"Are you alright?" Kagome knelt next to him. The rabbit's eyes opened slightly and he trembled, "It's alright. I'll bring you someplace better than this, Momiji-kun."
His little eyes grew wide when she spoke his name. She reached into her bag and removed the towel she had brought along to dry herself off with after the wet walk. She wrapped his shivering form in the dry towel and shoved his soaked clothing into her bag.
"What? How?" Momiji's whisper caught her ears. She threw her bag back over her shoulders and scooped him up, cradling him against her chest.
"I'll explain it later." she spoke softly, "I want you to just rest. How long do you think it'll be until you change back?"
"I won't as long as you keep holding me like this." he replied, "I shouldn't have left home. Ha'ri will be mad. He knew I wasn't feeling well."
"Just rest and stay quiet. I'll get us out of this."
She made her way to the main office, keeping the rabbit in her arms covered and held protectively against her chest. She was surprised to find Momiji's three cousins there talking to an older man. She was going to slip back out unnoticed, when Haru turned towards her.
"Kagome-chan! You're soaked!" he exclaimed and the others looked. She shied away from their stares, especially Haru's. His eyes were wandering lower and lower from her eyes. She cleared her throat and his head snapped back up.
"Uh, yeah. I was running late and forgot my umbrella." she lied, well sort of. She had forgotten her umbrella on the school's roof. She slowly turned back towards the door, intent on leaving when she stopped and turned back, "Um...Kyo-kun, can I talk to you alone for a moment?"
She didn't wait for him to answer her and hurried into the hallway. He excused himself from his cousins and followed her, curious why she sounded almost frantic. He found her pacing back and forth just outside the door, clutching a towel to her chest. Was she hurt?
"Kagome-chan?"
"Kyo-kun..." she looked around first before speaking again, "It's Momiji..."
"Have you seen him? Hatori is looking for him!" Kyo paused when Kagome glanced down at the towel in her hands, "Oh no...he didn't..."
"I found him on the roof. He's very weak." Kagome said softly, It's not safe for him here so I'm taking him back home, well, to my home I mean."
"But, Hatori..."
"Can't know I know and I know I can help him. You'll just have to come over after school to get him."
"Wait a minute!" Kyo yelled and quieted when Yuki stuck his head out of the office, "This could be bad, Kagome-chan."
"I'm sorry, Kyo-kun." Kagome frowned, turned from him and ran from the building.
"What was that about?" Yuki questioned him as he started to walk away.
"Mind your own business, stupid rat!" Kyo shouted and left Yuki scowling at his back as he walked away.
The rain that had started as light and consistent had turned into a moderate rainfall as Kagome ran as fast as her long legs could carry her. She pushed on through it knowing she needed to get herself and Momiji out of the troublesome weather or else she'd likely become ill as well.
Her brain was in overdrive as well, pondering the reasons behind Kyo's, and now Momiji's, transformations. No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't understand the reasons behind it. She pushed all thoughts of it aside as she reached the steps leading up to her home.
"Kagome-chan?" Momiji's soft, strained voice reached her ears when she stopped.
"What is it?" she questioned him as she began climbing the stairs. The clouds above burst and a heavy downpour fell, taking her completely off guard, "Shit!"
"Is it still raining?"
"Pouring!" Kagome ran up the remaining steps with admirable speed, "Don't worry. We're at my home."
She unlocked the door and stepped inside. After kicking her shoes off and running into her bedroom, she set him down on her bed and shrugged her bag off.
"I'm going to be in so much trouble." Momiji said sadly. He knew he'd never be forgiven for his actions.
Kagome unwrapped him from the damp towel and slid his shivering form under the thick blankets, resting his head on the edge of her pillow.
"Listen to me, Momiji-kun. No one needs to know anything." she said softly, "I know about this happening to Kyo-kun and I've kept it quiet. Promise me you won't say anything?"
"You already know?" he was surprised by her revelation.
"Yes, now promise me you won't tell anyone."
"I promise." he replied softly.
"Good. I'm going to change real quick and make some tea. I'll throw you clothes in the dryer too so they'll be dry when you change back." She pet him gently on his head and grabbed a set of dry clothes for herself as well as his wet clothing and left the room.
After throwing their wet clothing into the dryer, Kagome made a pot of herbal tea and brought it and two mugs into her bedroom. She wasn't startled that Momiji had changed back. He gazed up at her with sleepy, sad eyes as she entered. After setting the tray down she reached out and touched his forehead.
"Kagome-chan..."
"Momiji-kun, why did you go to school when you knew you were really sick?" she brushed a few strands of his blonde hair from his eyes.
"I wanted to talk to you about the other day." he replied softly. He closed his eyes and frowned, "You really were glowing. I saw you."
"You risked being caught just to talk to me? Momiji-kun, you could have waited until you were better to talk to me. It wasn't that important."
"It was to me." he protested weakly. She pulled back to stare down at him.
"Why?"
"You were really glowing. You looked like an angel. Shii-chan agreed with me too." he coughed a little and Kagome helped him to sit up.
"I can tell you what you want to know, Momiji-kun, but I'm afraid you can't tell anyone. Kyo-kun already knows and we've kept things between us. It's important that no one knows." Kagome said sternly, "But for now I want you to drink some tea and rest. Kyo-kun will be here after school lets out and I want to make sure you're well enough to walk home."
"How?"
"You'll see." she smiled sweetly and poured him a cup of tea, "It's hot, so be careful."
"Thank you." he sipped his tea while she poured herself a cup, "You have a nice home, Kagome-chan."
"Thanks. You're the first person I've had over as a guest since I moved in."
"You live alone?"
"Yes, the rest of my family lives in Tokyo." she nodded and he frowned.
"But, you're so young. Why do you live all by yourself?"
"It's just better this way." she said simply. She didn't want to scare him so she kept the full details of her reasons to herself.
"Don't you get lonely?"
She thought to herself a few moments. She was lonely, but it couldn't be helped at that time. She had to make sure Naraku was defeated once and for all before she could let herself lead a normal life.
"Yes, sometimes I am, but it's for the best. Besides, I call my family everyday and I have new friends." she stood and set her cup down, "Alright, Momiji-kun, you need your rest. If you want, you can change into these sweat pants and t-shirt. I doubt its very comfortable to be naked. I'll be down the hall if you need me."
"Thank you, Kagome-chan."
Tohru jumped a foot out of her seat when Kyo slammed his book down onto the table. All day the cat had been agitated, though none of them knew exactly why. They could only assume that he was worried with Momiji's disappearance. It was partially true. He was worried for his cousin, but he was more angry that Momiji had gotten Kagome further involved in something that he wanted to keep her away from.
"K...Kyo-kun?" Tohru's hesitant voice reached his ears and he glanced over at her, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine." he mumbled and took his seat. His eyes drifted out the window to the rain filled sky. He was too tired to deal with everything.
"Are you worried about, Momiji-kun?"
"That brat? I'm sure he's fine."
"We're going to help look for him after school. Haru said he might know where he is."
"Doubt it." Kyo mumbled again and put his head on the cool desk. All he had left was ten minutes of school before he could leave. He wanted to take a long nap, but knew it would have to wait until he visited Kagome and gave Momiji a nice lump on his head for his stupidity."
"Are you sure you're alright, Kyo-kun?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." he gave Tohru a warm smile that kept her silent.
As soon as school let out, Kyo hurried from the grounds after giving Tohru and excuse of where he was heading. He didn't lie. He was going to look for Momiji. He just happened to know where the little runt was and he was looking forward to teaching that brat a lesson.
He reached the steps leading up to Kagome's home in no time at all, surprising himself at how much energy he had. He hurried up the steps and knocked on her door. There were several silent moments that passed when the door opened, revealing Kagome.
"Hello, Kyo-kun." She spoke softly and motioned for him to come in. As he stepped in he opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome cut him off, "Momiji-kun is asleep right now. When he wakes up he should be able to go home on his own. He'll just need a bit of energy is all and the tea I made him drink will help a little with that, but I will do a little more before the two of you go."
Kyo mentally cursed at Momiji for causing so many problems. Now he had to wait for the damn brat to wake up! On top of that, he was alone with Kagome...who was staring at him, waiting for him to speak.
"Thank you." he said quickly, "I hope he hasn't caused you too many problems."
"He hasn't caused me any problems, but I'm sure that there will be problems on his side. He said he's likely going to be in trouble. I suggest devising a good lie to cover up the truth." she spoke, continuing to use a soft, hushed voice and motioned towards the kitchen, "Would you like some tea? You look exhausted."
"Sure." he nodded and followed, after kicking his shoes off at the door.
His eyes wandered as she led him to the kitchen. Her home was practically empty. A few pieces of furniture were scattered throughout the rooms he got to look into. It was a quiet home and it felt calming and peaceful to him. He figured if it had been his home, he'd be asleep by now. He eyed a few pictures along the way, pictures he assumed were of friends and family. He stopped to look at a picture of her and three others. Kagome was dressed in a green and white school uniform. The male to her right was dressed in robes of black and purple, a monk staff was clutched in his hand. He wore an innocent grin, but his amethyst eyes sparkled in a playful manner. Just behind Kagome was another girl. She looked slightly older than Kagome and her smile was friendly, but her eyes seemed sad and pained. The last person, a male with white hair and dog ears, stood to Kagome's left. His eyes weren't directed to the one taking the picture, but at Kagome instead. Kyo could see that this guy clearly cared about Kagome...maybe even loved her.
"They're old friends of mine." Kagome said softly. She avoided looking directly at the picture and grabbed onto Kyo's wrist, dragging him away from the picture and to the kitchen. As soon as they entered she released him and set about making tea.
"Do you ever see your old friends?" he took a seat at the small table. He watched her stiffen and pause, her head bent downwards. She shook her head a little and went back to work.
"No. They're dead." she said quietly and silently hoped that he refrained from asking anymore questions on the matter. It wasn't a subject she wished to discuss with him.
"I'm sorry." he said sadly. Kagome shook her head at him and smiled gently.
"We should come up with that plan while he's still asleep." Kagome quickly changed the subject as she continued getting the tea ready, "How many people in your family know he took off this morning?"
"There are four of us and Tohru. That damn brat made them all worry." Kyo sighed angrily. He looked up as Kagome set the teacup in front of him and then sat down across from him, "Thanks."
"Let's see." she pursed her lips and Kyo caught himself looking at them. He dragged his eyes back to the cup in front of him, "Why not just say you found him in the woods between my home and your cousin's? He could always say he tried to make it there, but failed and changed. You could say you happened to come across him after stopping by my house to see if I had seen him, you know, since I'm in the area and all."
"Yeah, I suppose that'll work. He'll have to convince Hatori of that lie, but I'm sure he can if he tries hard enough."
"I will." Momiji said quietly from the doorway of the kitchen and entered as Kagome motioned for him to come in and sit down. She poured him a cup of tea and set it in front of him. Her hand slid to his forehead and she pressed her palm against it, gauging the severity of his fever.
"Good, it went down a little." she muttered to herself, "I'm going to lower it just a little more, but you're still not going to be better. I wouldn't want them to think you got better in less than a day. No doctor could believe that."
She concentrated and felt the familiar tingle in her hand right before it glowed softly, startling Momiji and Kyo. She shot Kyo an amused glance at his reaction considering he had seen her do it once before. She cooled his fever down a few degrees and pulled her hand away. Her eyes caught his wide-eyed, shocked expression and she laughed out loud at how cute it was. She nodded to Kyo and let him explain to the young male what he was to say to his family while she hurried from the room to retrieve his clothing. When she returned to them a minute or so later, Momiji was sporting a lump on the top of his head and Kyo looked slightly more relaxed. She set the dry clothing on the table in front of Momiji and sat back down.
"Thank you for your help, Kagome-chan." he bowed his head and Kagome giggled.
"That's an impressive bump you've got there." she set her hand over it and turned her gaze to Kyo, "You could have waited until he was better, Kyo-kun."
"The brat deserved it now."
"Kyo-kun's just jealous that I got to spend time with you and he didn't!" Momiji chirped and hid behind Kagome when Kyo jumped to his feet.
"We're going." he snapped, his cheeks bright pink. He turned away from the two of them, "Get dressed brat so I can take you home."
Momiji grinned at his cousin's behavior, but did as he was told and slipped into the bathroom to change back into his clothing. Kagome rose to her feet and began picking up after them and herself. She was setting the cups in the sink when she realized Kyo was standing next to her. She gazed up at him and blushed when she saw how badly he was blushing.
"Kyo-kun?"
"Thank you again for taking care of him. I'll make sure he keeps his mouth shut." Kyo muttered, keeping his eyes on anything but her.
"Okay, thank you." she answered and turned back to face Momiji as he re-entered, "I better not see you at school tomorrow, Momiji-kun. You need your rest and I don't want a repeat of today's performance. You made a lot of people worry about you."
"I'm sorry. I promise to get the rest I need." he bowed to her quickly and followed after her as she walked them to the front door.
"Please be safe walking home." she smiled as they started off. Momiji waved and Kyo just nodded. Once they were gone from her sight she closed the door and leaned against it before walking back towards the kitchen. She stopped briefly before the picture Kyo had looked at earlier, her fingers tracing lightly over the faces of her friends, "Don't worry guys. I won't let him win. Someday I will defeat Naraku and I will finally be at peace."