Those Scribbles on Tree Bark
A/N - Why hello there! I thought I'd post this to give you a bit more of a taster to the story as a whole because there's a bit more interaction in this chapter between Inuyasha and Kagome, but I wouldn't expect any lovey-dovey bits. You know the whole, "as she treats his wounds he looks into her eyes and realises how in love he is"…think more "she puts a little more of the stingy stuff on his wounds then is strictly necessary while he threatens to bite off her nose"…or something like that. Fear not my friends, this is still an InuKag.
Thank you so much to Tweak3013 who gave me my first comment – you cannot imagine how happy you made me! My cat on the other hand, can not only imagine how happy I was, but will probably tell you how annoying it was to be repeatedly told about said happiness.
I do not own Inuyasha, or Crabtree and Evelyn…or many other things…
Chapter 2 – We Cannot Tame a Wild Thing
When she was seven years old Kagome had found an injured feral cat in the temple grounds. She had taken in to the vet, who had stitched up a large cut on the animal's back leg. Then she had brought down a blanket from her own bed and made a warm comfy place on which it could sleep, often bringing warm milk and leftover food to help the cat regain its strength. Having taken care of it for almost a month she had even named him and decided that he could sleep in the house, and perhaps be her pet; Kagome had always wanted a cat. One day however when she went to see the cat, carefully holding a saucer of milk in her hand, he dodged away from her and ran straight through the storage room door. Kagome had hurried after him, searching until it was dark and calling his name over and over again. Her mother had found her sitting by a large tree, tears streaming down her face. Picking her up gently her mother had patted her back,
"You did a good thing, Kagome, now he can happily return to where he came from, thanks to you taking him in and caring for him so well. But the cat was wild. We cannot tame wild things and we cannot change their nature."
This thing that had staggered through her door and promptly collapsed, sparked her memory of the feral cat, it was dripping wet and caked in mud and seemed to be in a rather bad state. Cautiously she backed away from it, returning with a rolling pin in her hand in case it was some sort of wildman, a woman who lived alone couldn't be overcautious Kagome reminded herself. Gingerly stepping closer, Kagome raised the kitchen implement, reading to strike at the slightest provocation. The thing appeared to be stirring slightly, it was making groaning sounds and slowly it lifted its head, amber eyes suddenly opened.
And then it jerked backwards in surprise, the sudden movement causing Kagome's nerves to crack, and she hit the man on the head with the rolling pin.
Almost instantly realising that the man had not actually been about to attack her, and realising that surprise was probably the correct reaction to waking up and finding a murderous looking woman clutching a rolling pin, staring at you; Kagome dropped the rolling pin and bent to inspect the damage.
He was definitely unconscious now, but on closer inspection his face and body were covered in blood and wounds. Taking a cautious sniff Kagome also came to the conclusion that the man smelt rather bad, like the neighbour's dog after it had been swimming in the local pond.
Deciding that she needed to get him clean before looking at any cuts, Kagome attempted to haul the man to the bathroom. Due to what she would swear was his heaviness and certainly not her weak strength, she ended up picking up his feet and dragging him to the bathroom splayed on the floor like some sort of sacrifice. Feeling rather primitive for clubbing her victim over the head and dragging him around like some sort of cavewoman, Kagome attempted to make up for it by putting her nice bubble bath into the pristine white tub. It was usually reserved for her mother's visits or if Kaede ever stopped by. The bath was filling quickly and Kagome checked the temperature with her hand as she swished the water around creating more bubbles.
When the bath was full Kagome turned to look at the man lying, arms above his head and legs akimbo from being dragged, then deciding that she couldn't bring herself to undress him, slowly and awkwardly dumped him haphazardly into the bath. Turning to leave, planning on letting him soak like a saucepan with a stubborn stain, she hesitated and quickly returned; remembering just in time to pull his head out of the water and sort of dangle it over the side of the bath.
Standing on a chair in the kitchen in order to reach the top cupboard, Kagome pulled out a box stuffed with plasters, cough syrup and antiseptic. She walked back into the bathroom to see how her newly acquired patient was doing.
Well he hadn't drowned, but his red clothes had billowed out where air was trapped inside making him appear rather like a large fat man with an inordinately small head.
Then she noticed the state of the bathwater, brown and murky in a way that pond weed would not have looked out of place in it. She briefly considered pushing his head under and holding it there for this affront to her beloved white bathtub.
No, she realised, the bathtub wouldn't have wanted it to be that way.
Reaching into the murky depths with a wince, she pulled the plug and watched the muddy water drain away. Kagome then picked up the showerhead from its stand above the bath and switched it on; she swilled off her victim, idly wondering when he had changed in her mind from "patient" to "victim".
Directing some spray towards his face she continued until her attention was caught by two dog ears on the man's head. Rolling her eyes in understanding she realised that this was probably some drunken student from the university in fancy dress. Sighing she reached down and pulled at the fake ears, they didn't budge. Brushing her fringe aside with her arm, a slight frown on her forehead, she tried again.
The ears were definitely attached to his head; she could feel where the bottom met with the top of his head. She ran her thumbs along the insides and round the back, and then began to scratch behind them absentmindedly. The ears gave a twitch, and the man appeared to be slowly regaining consciousness. Amber eyes slowly opened, blinking profusely as the man took in his surroundings. Once again Kagome felt the eyes bore into her own,
"Another one of Naraku's wenches? You think you can beat me with your wooden baton?" with a groan he attempted to lift himself, but his arm gave out and he sank back into the tub.
"What? Naraku? What on earth do you mean?" Kagome said, taken aback by the sudden questioning.
"You have that stench like a demon, in fact, this whole room stinks!" He complained, raising a hand to cover his nose.
"That's Crabtree and Evelyn bath bubbles, luscious scent of rose and hibiscus!" Kagome quoted from the bottle, "Demon stench? This is expensive stuff I'll have you know!" she said shaking the bottle at him in her irritation. Then she reached into the tub and attempted to haul him out.
"What are you doing? Get your hands off me wench!" he shouted, arms weakly attempting to bat Kagome away as she tried to drag him from the bath tub. Eventually managing to get him into a slumped sitting position on the floor, Kagome stood up and with her arms folded glared down into a narrowed pair of eyes.
"Now listen here…dog, man…thing! This is my flat you barged into; I have not only cleaned you up while you were unconscious-"
"You were the one that knocked me unconscious…with your demon weaponry!" he added for good measure
"That's not the point al- wait. Demon weaponry? You mean the rolling pin? That for making pies you idiot!"
"Ah! I knew it! You're trying to make me into a pie!" He finished his sentence by growling at her.
Kagome breathed in a deep breath and mentally assessed the situation in the same way she ran through plot lines. There was some sort of mutant man in her bathroom, he was accusing her of being a demon as if she were the weird one in this setup, he still appeared badly injured and, oh yes, thought she was going to make him into a pie and eat him. Briefly her mind considered if anyone could have slipped something into her drink.
"Look," she began calmly, "I'm not a demon, and I'm not going to eat you or hit you again with the rolling pin. So will you kindly dry yourself off on that lovely fluffy towel over there – not the posh one with the rose pattern mind – and I'll try and find you some clothes." Kagome turned and walked away firmly shutting the door behind her, not bothering to wait for an answer.
Walking into the kitchen where Buyo stood by his food bowl yowling, she picked up the cordless phone. Scrolling through a list of phone numbers she reached Hojo's and pressed the call button. He answered after a few rings and Kagome, thanking her mind for being the mind of an author began her story.
"…So you see Hojo, my friend is in a very delicate state at the moment and he needs some clothes. I'm so sorry to trouble you this late at-"
"Honestly Kagome, don't worry about it. He must feel awful, I didn't realise we had wombats in Japan…or that they sometimes attacked in herds. Having had his hair accidently bleached in a chemical truck crash just before must just add salt to the wound I should imagine! I'll drive over; hopefully if the traffic isn't too bad I'll get there in about ten minutes."
Quickly dampening a cloth, Kagome attempted to clean her precious floor. Buyo, apparently annoyed at being ignored, decided to waddle over and roll on the dirty floor. Having managed to get most of the dirt and mud off the floor, so Hojo didn't think that she habitually dragged her friends across floors, Kagome heard the bell ring and started towards the door.
And stopped again.
The mutant man had dog ears poking out of his head for God's sake! Hojo would probably notice this small irregularity. Squeezing her eyes shut, Kagome wished for it all to go away and to go back to being a normal person with a normal life; someone who didn't harbour mutants in their bathrooms on a Friday evening.
When she eventually accepted that this method wasn't working, she rushed back to the bathroom and knocked on the door,
"Dog-boy, I'm coming in so get a towel and wrap it round your waist!"
Entering the room she was relieved to see that he had done what she'd asked, reaching into the bathroom cabinet she pulled out a baby-blue towel with an elastic loop sewn at one end.
"Right! My friend is here to give you some warm clothes so you're going to have to put this on your head."
Sniffing the proffered blue towel, the man sneered and stuck his nose in the air, "What ever the hell that is wench, I am not wearing it!"
"It's a turby-towel dog-breath! I made it in textiles ages ago, it's so you can easily make a turban on your head that'll stay in place because of the elastic." Before he could protest further, Kagome shoved it on his head, twirled it and secured the turban with the elastic. Seeming satisfied with her creation, if the proud nod was anything to go by, she ran to answer the door.
"Hojo! Sorry it took me so long; it's good to see you." Kagome smiled as she led him into her lounge.
The dog-man was in her lounge, crouched down; and he was sniffing Buyo.
"Oh, so this is the thing that had Kirara's scent."
"He does seem deeply disturbed" Hojo said quietly, crouching down. Very slowly he began to talk to the dog mutant, "I've brought you some clothes you can wear, don't worry about returning them, you keep them as long as you need. Kagome here will look after you until you're better, and I'm almost fully trained as a doctor, so any minor ailments and you come straight to me." He smiled kindly as if talking to a child, Kagome watched in horror as the dog-man moved forward, his face incredibly close to Hojo's.
"Who the hell said I'd want your clothes? I sure as hell don't want to dress like you! These weird garments, who'd wear them? I'm certainly not going to, you can forget it human!" and then he stuck his nose into the air and glared at Hojo as if he were some disgusting smell he was eager to avoid.
Kagome gave Hojo's arm a slight tug, "Well, as you can see he's not really up to seeing people at the moment so it might be best if you left." With a charming smile she proceeded to steer him in the direction of the door, "Thanks so much Hojo, I don't know what I'd have done without you. I'll see you soon, bye!" and as Hojo absentmindedly murmured his goodbye a shout was heard from the lounge,
"What the hell is this contraption? Are you trying to trick me demon? I can't see, I can't see!" followed by a loud bang.
Shutting the door and turning quickly, Kagome went back into the lounge. Disturbingly the dog-man appeared to be wrestling with a pair of jeans around his neck, and a sock on his hand.
Disturbingly, Kagome noted, the jeans and sock appeared to be winning.
Having finally managed to get the mutant dressed in some jeans, Kagome began looking at the wounds on his chest. One large gash ran along his side, and it had started to bleed, Kagome noted that the mutant appeared rather pale and was definitely in a lot more pain then he was letting on. She dabbed some cotton wool with disinfectant and applied it to the wound. The dog-man let out a howl, and with a surge of strength managed to run a few feet before collapsing again.
"Oh grow up! It doesn't hurt that much, and I'm trying to help here, you could at least stay still because I'm certainly not going to chase you." Then with a gasp of surprise, brown eyes widening in horror she ground out, "You're getting blood on my cream carpet! Do you know how hard blood is to get out huh? It's worse then red wine, at least then you can just pour white wine on top of it!"
The dog-man did not appear to appreciate the house keeping tip, and instead was quietly growling at her, amber eyes narrow and suspicious.
"Trying to kill me with your magic potion wench? I am Inuyasha, and I will not be killed by a little girl!" He sneered, looking her up and down disgustedly.
"Little girl? I'm twenty two, and it's antiseptic to stop your cuts getting infected. I'm not trying to kill you, despite you tempting me to, so you can stop with all that. And it's not 'wench', it's Kagome. Ka-go-me, not difficult to remember or pronounce." Having finished her deadpan rant she took a deep breath and continued in a more open tone, "So while I am doing you the favour of treating your wounds, and taking you in, and not calling the zoo; you can do me the favour of explaining who and what you are, and what you're doing in my flat."
The dog-man stopped growling and Kagome was able to walk over to him, she patted him on the head and sat down, once again applying antiseptic.
"Pat me on the head again and I'll bite off your nose we-OW" he yelled as Kagome pressed the antiseptic into his wounds a little harder then was strictly necessary.
"No more 'wench', and don't threaten me, the state you're in you couldn't fight Buyo, let alone me." She said through gritted teeth.
The mutant muttered under his breath, and from the tone of his voice Kagome figured she didn't want to know whatever profanities he was describing her with. Clicking her tongue she pressed harder with the antiseptic cloth again,
"OW, stop doing that! Stupid crazy wen-OW! Alright! I'm Inuyasha, I was injured by Naraku, that bastard! When I find him I'm going to-" noticing her glare he rolled his eyes and carried on with his story, "He wants the Shikon no Tama to become more powerful, and will kill any one and anything to get it. Whole villages have been wiped out, and he tried to kill me fifty years ago that was his big mistake-"
"Fifty years ago?" Kagome interrupted, she was listening intently, purely due to her instincts as a novelist she told herself. "You're looking good for fifty."
"We demons don't age the same as you weak and puny huma-OW!" he glared at her, "I think you're hurting me on purpose wench, may I remind you that I am a powerful demon and you are a human with your puny wooden baton as your only protection." He gave Kagome a feral grin and cracked his knuckles.
"Uh-huh, and may I remind you that you already lost once against me and my rolling pin." She put her face close to his and smirked, "So you are a demon then, not a drunken student who glued dog ears to their head or something?"
"I'm a hanyou, a half-demon, yes." He said uncomfortably, "but with the Shikon no Tama I can become a full demon."
"So you and this Naraku bloke are sort of after the same goal then?" She said, and stopped upon seeing his face. His expression was thunderous and he refused to look at her. Sighing deeply, Kagome continued to disinfect his wounds and bandage him up; his company was somehow much more enjoyable when he wasn't talking anyway.
After she had finished, she looked up to find that Inuyasha appeared to have fallen asleep slumped against the sofa. A small amount of remorse crossed her mind, and swiftly exited at the memory of the hanyou's rudeness and immaturity. Still, she supposed she could give up her bed for one night, in the morning she would turf him out and her life would become normal again.
Giving him a slight shake, Kagome managed to half lead and half drag Inuyasha to her bedroom. Pulling the covers over him, she felt his forehead; he was running quite a high fever. Bringing a glass of water from the kitchen, she laid it on a flower coaster on the bedside table, switched off the alarm clock and the light and softly closed the door.
After feeding Buyo, Kagome finally was able to flop down on the sofa and stretch her limbs with a crack. Turning on the TV, she set the volume to its lowest setting and curled up on her fabulously squishy sofa. Her brown eyes fluttered closed as sleep enveloped her in its comforting grasp, one last thought flittered across her mind as she drifted off.
Kaede would be ecstatic to learn that a topless man was currently residing in her bed.
A/N – So I really hope you like this, is it worth continuation or not? At the moment I am unbetad, so all your comments are really appreciated! So please hit the pretty little review button and make my day. Also just as a little information – there is a student at my university who wears cat ears to every lecture and everywhere he goes. Hence Kagome wasn't overly surprised at first, I mean the other day I saw a guy in a man-kini (Borat style) get dumped in a bath full of custard and I saw someone else dressed as a giant chicken going around knocking on doors. We live in a strange and beautiful world don't we?
Next Chapter – Will have more of Inuyasha's POV, this chapter was in Kagome's (in case you couldn't tell).