No proof-reading for this chapter, so there might be tons of mistakes 3 As usual, anything spoken in bold is spoken in Chinese.

And warning for some curse words, as our dear hanyou love to say those. ;p

Chapter 7: A detour and my dear fiancee

The petro-fueled vehicle was indeed an ingenious design of humankind. Simple, aerodynamically-shaped metals sitting atop four squat wheels and an engine allowed limitless travel across the vast expense of terrestial grounds.

InuYasha was slowly regretting the fact that he didn't become acquainted with the slick, black BNW that his father owned...or that Rolls-Royce...or that particularly new fashioned hybrid car...But he was definitely getting acquainted with the thousand-year old wagon belonging to the Higurashis, which inched along at an agonizing snail's pace. His breath hitched in his throat as the wagon bumped upon yet another rock. For the umpteenth time, he wondered why he was not graciously located at the front of the wagon.

Before the Saturday sun was up yet, the trio's slumber was broken by their hosts. Within half an hour, they were dressed and tucked into the limited confines of the wagon. Mama Higurashi smiled as she waved the travelors off. Sango, grandpa Higurashi and Kaede were sitting at the front, and from what InuYasha could see, they were having a great time chatting about various topics. And he was left with Miroku, Souta, and Kagome at the backseat. The former two were seated on the other side of the wagon, and much to InuYasha's embarrassment and horror, Kagome was squashed between Souta and him.

Ever since two days ago when InuYasha had accidentally saw Kagome's nude figure, the two had been avoiding one another like they were different poles on the magnet. Or they just pretended that the other didn't exist.

InuYasha darted a surreptitious glance at Kagome's direction. She was absorbed in watching Miroku teach Souta Japanese and occasionally added a comment or two. Keh, at least she didn't seem to feel awkward. Unlike me. The young man thought miserably as he became all too aware of the close proximities in the small space of the wagon. Hey, I think I might just have claustrophobia.

"Ko-ni-chee-wa."

"You got the right pronounciation now!"

Souta's eyes gleamed in happiness as he jumped up and down on his seat, shouting "Ko-ni-chee-wa" non-stop. The wagon swayed precariously to the side.

"Woah, woah, cool down," Miroku stuttered as he tried to hold Souta in place.

"Be careful back there, you just might flip the wagon off the road," Kaede called back and immediately the boy stopped his bouncing. He muttered something intangible under his breath. "And Souta, if you dare talk behind my back again, I will spank you." Said boy blushed and forced an innocent smile onto his face even though he knew that Kaede would not see it.

"Where are we heading now?" Sango asked the old woman.

"We are going to the Kanas Lake. There will be a Nadam Fair in the upcoming week. We will be going there to do some check-outs of the site today." Kaede said cheerfully, her face lighting up in rare excitement.

"The Nadam Fair? What is that?"

"Oh, you will see in due time, child, in due time. But trust me, you will enjoy it. If not, the guys will definitely enjoy it."

Sango did not like the statement about how the guys would enjoy the fair, and so decided to pursue another line of question: "Talking of which, Grandma Kaede, how did you know Japanese so well? I have always been wondering about that," Sango inquired.

The old woman looked momentarily surprised. "Didn't you know yet? It must have slipped 's mind to inform you guys before you come."

"You knew InuYasha's father?"

Kaede's gaze became clouded as she recalled long-ago memories. "Aye, I knew him for quite awhile. Back around 22 years ago (for I am indeed forgetful these days and cannot remember the years correctly), but back around 22 years ago, I worked under Mr. Taishou's tourism company. I was in charge of the Chinese division then and it was my job to report periodically back to the headquarters in Japan. As a result, I have to learn the language in order to have a smooth communication. Aye...but even then, Mr. Taishou and I did not know each other very well. It was a particular incident that made us close acquaintences.

had just opened another new tourism site in Jiu Zhai Gou, and he had decided to scout out the new site personally. He brought his pregnant wife with him. To tell the truth, he must be a daring man to have brought his wife along when she was due any time soon." Sango smiled knowingly at Kaede's descriptions of InuYasha's father. As the old proverb says, like father, like son. Both of them are equally daring when it comes to challenges…Though InuYasha tended to complain more.

"One of the routes in the tourism program involves hiking through dense bushes and mountains – you must understand, this new site is more suitable for those who are adventurous, hence the company prepared a route that requires slightly more physical work. But where am I going? Ah, anyways, on that fateful day when we were hiking through the mountain grounds, Lady Izayoi accidentally slipped. Oh my, what a bad slip! Her amniotic sac burst and initiated a series of contractions. We were so worried that it was a miscarriage. But to make it worse, the signal was weak around the mountain area and Lady Izayoi's foot got caught firmly in the dead logs. In such an urgent moment, I did not bother whether was my employer or not. I just commanded him to head for the jeep down the mountain and drive for help. With nary a choice, he did as I bid. I, on the other hand, kneeled down beside Lady Izayoi and tried to comfort her as best as I could. Though being familiar to this site, I knew all too well that the nearest hospital was an unearthly three-hour ride away – assuming that no traffic got in the way (very unlikely) and the driver was speed-driving.

"And so the clock ticked by as the contractions got worse. By then, it was getting really dark and cold, so I took off my jacket and placed it on the poor woman's body. We huddled together in the dark, waiting for her husband's return. I lost count of time, but I knew that I dozed off and was suddenly awaken by Lady Izayoi's screams. There were bloods pooling at her feet. Unfortunately, her husband had not returned yet. I didn't know what to do and only helped her to the best of my abilities...well, to cut a long story short, guess what saw when he returned?"

Sango's eyes widened. No... "Did she...?"

Kaede caught on to Sango's horrified expression and chuckled. "No, no, not what you think. Lady Izayoi didn't have a miscarriage. When he returned, he saw the most beautiful baby boy resting in his wife's arms."

"InuYasha? He...was born in China?" Sango's eyes managed to widen a fraction bigger as realization hit her.

"Yup, he was born then. Even as a baby, he was one with a fiery temperament. I am not surprised that he had an even bigger temper now. Ah, I see that you are confused as to why InuYasha's passport indicates a Japanese nationality. That's because InuTaishou took care of the procedures afterwards to ensure that the passports and birth certificates were changed. But don't tell InuYasha that. I got a feeling that he won't appreciate the fact that his original birthplace was in some area 'far from human civilization.'"

Sango gasped. "You heard our conversation back then? I thought you were not in the compound!"

"Hmm. Not many people pay attention to an old woman's whereabouts," Kaede smiled. "And Miroku was quite something, isn't he?"

The wagon rolled slowly onwards as the first ray of sunlight gleamed across the dust-paved road. By now, Souta had found a new form of entertainment in scaring his guests.

"Did you know that there are monsters in the Kanas Lake? They are around ten meters long!" He started in a low and ominous voice, darting his eyes about to make sure that he got everyone's attention. "They say that the monsters drag horses and sheep down when they are near the edge. Perhaps even humans too."

"Silly Souta, these are not monsters we are talking about. They are just the Hucho Taimen." Kagome admonished her brother on his wild fantasies involving man-eating creatures.

"Hucho Taimen?"Miroku asked curiously.

"The Hucho Taimen are big, red fishes that we see rarely. Sometimes they swim in pairs, sometimes in groups. I think they occupy the deep areas of the lakes so that we don't see them that often. But we like to create stories about them so that we can scare little children who are being naughty."

"Ah, sounded like the monsters we fabricate to scare our children too when they were misbehaving," Miroku nodded in understanding.

InuYasha snorted in the corner. What did that lecher know about child-rearing? More like child-bearing. Strangely, he felt left out of the whole cheerful ambient. Why is it he that always got the bad end of the deal?

The wagon managed to reach the spot by early afternoon. Sango was the first one to gasp in delight at the sight before her. If she thought that the scene she saw on the road when she first arrived was beautiful, then this was exotic. Now in addition to the yellow deciduous trees was a lake whose intense blue looked unreal. She was down the wagon in no time and was running towards the lake shore, followed by Miroku and Souta. Kagome was less enthusiastic. She got down from the wagon, but before she left the wagon, she turned back towards InuYasha and said silently.

"Mr. Miroku thought me some Japanese today, and there's one word that I thought suit you well: hentai." With that, the girl flicked her hair to her back and joined the others by the shore.

InuYasha was rooted to the spot. Did she just called him a pervert? He might not have recognized what the other Chinese words she said, but he definitely knew the word 'pervert' well enough, especially when Kagome took the pain to enunciate it carefully. He turned and saw Kaede staring at him strangely.

"What? Did I just grow a third head?" InuYasha demanded harshly in order to hide his rising embarrassment.

The old woman shook her head. "Nay, though with that expression on your face, you might as well have a third head." And she also left him alone on the wagon.

Not long thereafter, a few other wagons arrived and the Higurashis went off to chatter with the people. They were discussing about the layout of the festival, what people are responsible for bringing and how many people there are going to be. When he joined his friend, InuYasha was feeling disoriented and uneasy. Unfortunately, his ever perceptive friend noticed his mood.

"Say 'Yash," Miroku adopted InuYasha's nickname, "did something happened between you and Kagome? You guys were awfully cold to each other."

"Hell no, nothing happened! Who would be lively living at a place like this?"

"If it's only that simple, InuYasha. Kagome had been acting strangely too. Every time anyone approached her, she would jump like a startled rabbit. She's scared of something." This time it was Sango's turn to point out the abnormality.

"Look, what she's scared of or not scared of is none of my business. Besides, you have only known her for, oh, six days? And you are telling me that she is acting strangely when you barely know that person?" InuYasha defended himself haughtily, but it did not chased away the doubtful looks in his friends' eyes.

"Woman's instincts," Sango replied nonchalently, "they tell me that something happened between you and Kagome."

"Instinct Sminctinct, they are all a bunch of bull," InuYasha mumbled. But he knew that the two of his friends were still staring at him intently and that they would not give up until he told them the truth. Why did he made friends with such perceptive people? Finally, he unfolded his hands from his chest and sighed. "Some accident happened, okay?"

"Go on," Miroku grinned, always happy to hear about some 'accidents' concerning woman and man relationship.

InuYasha shuffled around uncomfortably, "Remember that day when Sango and you had an argument in the compound and almost hit me with a sandal? I went off and tried to cool myself down, but ended up rolling down a fucking hill. But to cut a long story short, I accidentally saw that wench bathing, and she saw me looking at her. So yeah, that's our current situation right now."

"You saw her...bathing? Like...Nude? Naked?" Miroku asked, his interests at a perk now. "How was it, buddy? Does she have nice curves? How about the brea-" A slap from Sango was all it took to silence the overly excited pervert.

This time, it was Sango's turn to question InuYasha, albeit at a more grim and serious tone. "Did I hear right when you said that you saw Kagome naked?"

"Yes, but it was by acci-"

"Yes, yes, I know it was unintended," Sango waved impatiently as her brows creased together worriedly as if she was deep in thought. "This is going to be bad..." She muttered to herself.

"What is bad?"

"Sango dear, you have to explain yourself."

Said woman seemed to debate something in her mind before turning back to the two men, her expression solemn. "InuYasha, I read some information about this place before we came, and I was particularly interested in some of the believes they have in this culture. There's a section in a book about marriages. Apparently, for women in this culture, the first man that saw her naked would become her future husband." A deep breath. "InuYasha, I am afraid you might have a fiancee."

Oh fuck.

A/N: Finally another update! The past few weeks have been so hectic that I can't even write properly.

Caseclosed621: Well, Miroku found out what happened this chapter! ;p I would think that he would tease InuYasha even more int he future now.