Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or Fruits Basket characters
This... was not good.
Shigure practically felt the tears begin to form as he thought over what had happened. If only Kagome-san hadn't went downstairs for the vacuum, if only Kyo hadn't gotten back just to start argue about why the woman shouldn't be there, if only he hadn't stormed out of the room, if only Kagome-san hadn't broken through that floorboard, and if only Kyo hadn't tried to save her when she fell backwards, none of this would have happened.
Now that he thought about it, if only he had had the floorboard fixed earlier, absolutely none of this would have happened.
So it was his fault then. That made it somewhat worse.
"Kagome-san~," he cried as he clutched onto her arm as dramatic tears fell from his long eyelashes. "I'm so sorry."
Bless her kind heart, she simply smiled painfully and waved his apology away. "No worries. It was my fault not noticing where I was placing my feet after all."
Tohru-kun had, as soon as she saw Kyo's transformed body and Kagome-san's bleeding foot and head, immidiately gone into a fit. Both trying to help Kagome-san and divert the older woman's attention from Kyo, she had managed to make everything seem all the more suspicious. Yuki had managed to steer up the situation however, helping Kagome-san into the dining room, where Shigure had first seen her hurt state.
After that, her forehead and foot had been tended to. And she hadn't said anything about Kyo's transformation, even though it was apparent that she was curious, with the looks she was shooting the quiet boy.
"But, Shigure." He shook his head and returned to the present at the use of his name. Kagome looked sternly at him, her mouth set in a firm line. "How long has that floorboard been broken exactly?"
Shigure laughed.
"More or less two years," Yuki answered in his place, giving Shigure a none-too-happy glare. Shigure laughed some more.
Kagome-san let out a long-suffering sigh, wincing slightly and put her hand to her head. "Really, Shigure-san – take care of your home some more will you? How do you think it feels, being neglected like this?"
"Kagome-chan~, that hu~urts." Shigure whined putting his cheek on her shoulder and offering her his best impression of puppy eyes.
"I'm not buying that crap, Shigure-san." Kagome-san's left eyebrow was twitching, moments before she pushed him away from her. "You're a man; go fix it. Better yet," this time her electric blue gaze was fixed on the two boys and she frowned. "There's two, albeit young, men sitting right there who can help you, right?"
Kyo, not surprisingly, bristled. "Hah? What are you doing, coming here and-"
"Higurashi-san," Yuki interrupted, looking upset.
"Or did you stupid men think that Tohru-kun would do it?" Shigure was both impressed and frightened by the intensity in Kagome-san's voice. Kagome-san shook her head and managed to glare at the three of them at once. "To think that I was in the company of gentlemen, but it seems that, as usual, it's us women who has to do all the hard work. Isn't that right, Tohru-kun?"
The girl had been sitting and turning her head from person to person, as though she was watching a game of volleyball. Now she began denying, shaking her head and waving her hands. "That's not true, Kagome-san! I-I don't mind helping around the house, I'm grateful to be able to pay back somehow..."
"Hah? Are you using the girl as a maid?" Kagome-san looked furious by now. Sadly, Shigure was the closest to her and received the full force of her glare. "Shigure-san, I thought better of you. I'm di-sa-ppoint-ed."
As though someone had been waiting for every punctuation of the word, Shigure felt tiny jabs of several imaginary-arrows hitting his heart. He laughed weakly and shuffled some distance away from Kagome-san's leaking fury.
"I mean – look at me! I could have been hurt a lot worse than this!" She gestured to her foot, neatly wrapped in bandage and resting beside her, and her forehead, equally wrapped in dressings. Her lower lip pouted and she crossed her arms. "I suggest that you get that floorboard taken care of immediately. You're lucky that none of you have trampled through that trap yet. Right, Tohru-kun?"
Oh, clever. Shigure silently applauded the young woman at her cunning tactic as he saw both Yuki and Kyo stiffen. Using the fault-tactic and future-fault-tactic in one go to get them to do her bidding. The concept of Tohru-kun getting hurt hadn't seemed to enter their minds at all, until she brought it up. He could guess – no, he knew, what the boys thought of that.
Kyo tched and stood up, stomping to the shojidoor and opening it.
"Haaah, leaving already?" Kagome-san said, keeping the annoyance in her voice. Shigure could see a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth though.
The orange haired boy glared at her over his shoulder and wrenched the door open, hurrying out of it. Soon after Yuki went as well, bowing slightly to Kagome-san before he left.
"Very clever, Kagome-san," Shigure said, now actually applauding her actions. "I didn't know you had it in you, to use such clever and deceitful words to get other to-"
"Shigure-san." Kagome-san interrupted him. She bent forward and leaned her elbow on the table, in turn letting her left hand hold up her head. He blinked at her, curious as to what she was about to say. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes momentarily before opening them slowly, the blue only shining through the slits of her normally large eyes. "I suggest that you go with them."
Shigure had to blink rapidly at the badly concealed threat in her voice. "Eh~? But-"
Her eyes narrowed further and they seemed to flash as she said with a reprimanding voice, "Shigure-san."
With another whine he complied.
God, if he didn't love the feminine creatures of the human race, he would definitely fear them.
-ooo-
Kagome couldn't help but to let out a little giggle as soon as Shigure-san had closed the shoji door behind him. "God, that felt good."
"Kagome-san, you didn't have to be so harsh on them!" Tohru-kun fidgeted where she sat, worriedly fingering on the first aid kit still in her hands after treating Kagome's wounds. "R-really, it's not a problem about anything of this at all." She gasped and Kagome was sure that if it could, the younger girl's hair would have stood in every which direction. "Not to say that it isn't a problem, since you got hurt, Kagome-san!"
She felt that Tohru-kun was beginning to grow on her. She was like the little sister Kagome never had, but her constant nervous manner could be a little bothersome. "Tohru-kun, calm down."
"Y-yes." The girl let out a sigh and it was as though all air went out of her; her slim shoulders dropped, head bowed slightly and her face lost it's horrified expression only to adopt a spaced out look. It was such a sudden and unexpected change that Kagome had to laugh outright.
"You are so cute!" Kagome gushed, giggling as Tohru-kun blushed happily. Definitely some of Rin's genes, Kagome thought to herself, wondering who Rin had ended up marrying and whether Sesshomaru-sama had attempted to kill the poor boy for asking for his precious ward's hand. "Is it all right if I call you Tohru-chan?"
"Thank you, Kagome-san. And, yes, please do", Tohru-chan said, bringing her back to the present. The girl was smiling, but it was solemn and almost sad, a stark contrast against her normally happy smile."You know, my mom used to call me cute a lot; it was a way of saying that she loved me."
"'Used to'?" Kagome could already sense where this conversation was going. After returning from the past she had lost most of her powers with the Shikon no Tama, but she could read aura's well enough. But even with her aura-reading skills help, she would have been able to sense the sadness and acceptance wafting from the petite girl. Kagome felt a lump form in her throat.
"She died last year in an accident." Tohru-chan said and looked up at the older woman, as though sensing Kagome's eyes on her. What she saw threw her into a new fit of nervous babble. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to babble on like that!"
Kagome sniffled and giggled, drying her eyes. "It's alright, Tohru-kun. I easily get emotional." She looked at the girl and offered a gentle smile. "I'm sure she was a great mom."
Tohru-kun perked up. "She was! Did you know she once saved my friend Uotani-chan..."
She told her all about her mom; how she had taught her that it was important to be yourself, that her mom had been a yankee – Kagome had gotten a coughing fit, not seeing the sweet girl before her as the daughter of a yankee – and many other things. Her eyes sparkled as she talked about her mother in such an adoring way.
From time to time they heard the boys fighting in the other room, with Shigure-san commenting on the work here and there that seemed to only annoy them further. Kagome sighed and Tohru-kun giggled weakly each time this happened.
"Can I ask you something, Tohru-kun?" Kagome asked after some time. The males in the house still wasn't done repairing the floorboard, which was probably thanks to their constant fighting and Shigure-san. Mostly Shigure-san.
Tohru-kun looked up from her teacup. She had brought them new tea while they waited for the males to finish their business. She took a sip. "Yes?"
Kagome bit her lip, unsure whether or not to ask the girl. But, judging by her earlier motions, she decided to just jump at it. Leaning over the low table and keeping her voice low, she whispered. "Is Kyo-kun cursed?"
The younger girl dropped the cup in her hands and simply stared at Kagome, frozen in her position. It would have been comical, with the girl's hands staying in the same position at her mouth as though she was about to drink air, but Kagome grew worried. Fear and stress grew around the girl, emotions that had been too close to Kagome's own heart all those years ago.
"D-don't worry, Tohru-kun," she tried, waving her hand before the stricken girl's face. "I'm not gonna tell anyone about it." Then she smiled. "Actually, I will tell you a secret of mine in exchange, if you promise to keep it."
The girl came out of her frozen form and mechanically blinked at Kagome. She took that as a yes.
"Promise not to tell anyone?"
A nod.
"Not a soul?"
Another nod and a growing curiosity that fit the girl better than sadness and nervousness. Kagome smiled, but caught herself and settled for a frown.
"Swear on your mother's grave?"
This time Tohru-kun frowned as well and nodded firmly. Kagome beckoned her forward and whispered into her ear.
-o-
Hours went by after that. Tohru-kun was shocked by Kagome's confession, but nonetheless promised not to tell anyone. Kagome herself was surprised that Tohru-kun had believed her words that would have had anyone else raise their eyebrows in disbelief. Then again, Tohru-kun certainly wasn't as everybody else.
So, it's Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun and Shigure-san who turns into animals, Kagome thought to herself where she was lying on her back on the mattress she had been borrowed. And that's only when they are weakened or are hugged by a female.
Shallow moonlight filtered in through the now cleaned window of her new room, showing sparkling dust that had yet to settle down.
"That can't be right," Kagome whispered to the room. She had hugged Shigure-san. She knew that – her body didn't somehow conjure up an idea of what his body felt like against hers. But he hadn't turned into an animal.
It couldn't be the jewel since it didn't exist anymore. Could she have some sort of immunity against turning Shigure-san, and only him, into an animal?
Somehow she doubted that.
Groaning in frustration she turned over, pulling the blanket more firmly around her. How come that no matter what century, no matter where in the world, she somehow managed to land in the midst of it?
At least I've Tohru-kun there with me, she thought glumly, but then felt bad. It couldn't have been easy for the girl to be the only outsider that knew about this curse. As much as she had told Kagome, it was clear that she had wanted someone to talk to about all this.
And who was a better person to talk to than the Shikon no Tama's last protector?
She turned over again, now lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. Not that she had told Tohru-kun that she had been the protector of one of the most powerful gems in history, and not in the sense of money, but she had told her some about curses she herself had encountered and a little about demons. The not-quite-so-intelligent ones, of course, which was enough. Poor Tohru-kun had looked as pale as a newly-washed sheet when she began explaining about Mistress Centipede.
Tohru-kun had been somewhat worried though, not wanting to reveal a secret that wasn't her own to share. Kagome had calmed her though, saying that she would speak with Shigure-san later about the matter.
Her back was killing her. Flipping over so she was lying on her stomach, Kagome stared at the opposite wall. A clock somewhere in the house tick-tock-tick-tocked.
"Rargh!" She kicked the blanket off of her and sat up. Tousling her hair she looked out of the window, seeing the small amount of moonlight. The night of the new moon. "That's why I can't sleep." Always being with InuYasha at the new moon, when he was at his weakest, keeping guard. It had been exhausting, both physically, mentally and emotionally. InuYasha could be such a jerk when he was no more than human.
Kagome laid back down. After fifteen minutes of more restless twisting and turning she let out another groan and crawled out of bed. Perhaps a walk would make her tired enough to finally go to sleep.
-o-
Shigure hummed to himself, sitting on the porch with a blanket over his shoulders while smoking a cigarette. A nasty habit, as the "God" used to tell him, but he simply couldn't go without one smoke per day. It was... calming to feel the poisonous air fill his mouth, defile his lungs before escaping out said mouth again. As though everything bad went out with the white tendrils.
Besides, it made him look cool.
He drew another smoke-filled breath and blew it out, watching as the thin smoke escaped out and up, encircling the sliver of the moon that was only just peeking out at the world. The new moon. How fitting; something new came to his house and the moon saw it fit to inspect it.
Talking about new...
Shigure frowned, an occasional happening when the time demanded it. He would have to talk to Akito soon, though he held no desire for that conversation. But the sooner the better; if Akito somehow heard from another source that Shigure housed another outsider...
There was no telling what the half-mad "God" would do. Hatori's lost eye was a testament to that fact.
His ears perked as a soft sound echoed from within the house. Turning his head slightly and perking his ears as much as his human-form could do, he listened. Soft footfalls, going down the stairs. Someone who couldn't sleep? Maybe one of the boys, or Tohru.
Or perhaps the little female that could hug him without the animal in him coming out to play.
Well, without the real animal part of him.
The footsteps stopped just short of the shoji door beside him before it slid open softly. One small, dainty foot wrapped in gauze stepped out.
"Can't sleep?"
He was amused by her surprised squeak, but only for a little while. Her appearance caught his attention.
Clad in white pajamas – sweatpants that was baggy around her hips and a tank-top – and ruffled hair, Kagome made quite the sight.
She placed a hand over her heart and exhaled sharply. "Kami, you scared me. But yes, sleep's escaping me." Kagome noticed his cigarette and frowned. "It isn't good to smoke, you know?"
He hummed and patted the space beside him. She sat down, with her legs over the rim of the porch. "Well I happen to find it reassuring, poisoning myself."
A deadpanned glare. "It's death. On a stick."
He chuckled, but indulged her as he snuffed out the cigarette. Leaning back on his hands he looked down at her. The weak moonlight managed to make the crown of her head glisten otherworldly.
"New places can be a little hard to adjust to, especially with two brats like Yuki and Kyo fighting all day long." He leveled a mock-glare at her. "I blame you, you know. All their hormones running amok over not one but two females."
Kagome leveled another deadpan look at him. "And I'm sure, Shigure-san, that you haven't had any such hormones at all."
"Kagome-san! How can you think something so lowly of me? I simply enjoy watching the young have fun!"
"Uh-huh." Clearly she didn't believe him. Which she was right not to do, he supposed.
"What kept you awake?" Shigure asked, subtly changing topic. Things about him never held much value either way, if one listened to the other Sohmas.
Kagome gave him a look that promised the topic wasn't forgotten, but she indulged him anyhow. "Don't know..."
Even if he hadn't been cursed with the dog, he could have sniffed that lie from a mile away. But he didn't call her on it.
"Aaw, don't tell me you missed having me by your side?"
The cute blush made him almost giddy.
"What? No!" Kagome shouted, then slapped a hand to her mouth and glanced uncertainly into the house.
"So... you didn't miss me?" Shigure put on his best puppy eyes, not caring in the slightest if anybody woke up if it meant seeing that blush of hers. "You don't want to spend time with me?"
"Oooh, no mister, I'm not gonna fall for that. I get my share of puppy tears at the animal hospital – I'm immune." Her words were sure, yet her tone and fidgeting posture wasn't. This was his victory. Shigure powered up the puppy look. "... oh, crap. Stop it, will you?"
Shigure smiled brightly. "If you tell me what really is troubling you I will. Can't have your beauty-sleep disturbed."
She fidgeted some more, drawing one of her legs up and tucking her chin on the knee. The blush slowly faded and she soon wore a thoughtful and slightly nervous expression. From what little he had figured out about the petite woman, he knew that she was someone who wore her emotions on her sleeve; there for all to see, little to none hidden. That had been proven early on, her crying on the front porch to her apartment and then hugging him in all her joy.
Oh... Maybe he should tell her about that? Shigure glanced down at her. She was so small; the crown of her head reached up to his shoulder, even while sitting down. If he just bent down, and placed his hand on the floor just behind her back, he could-
"Did you know I used to live on a shrine?"
He blinked, realizing he had begun to lean towards her. What's with me? "Really?" Shigure shook his head and righted his posture. His whole being was screaming at him about the danger of being so close to a female.
Kagome nodded. "Higurashi Shrine. After my grandfather, the duty of priest was to be my father's. But when he died in a hit-and-run, there was no one to take over; mom didn't want it. So it was either I or my little brother Souta."
He hadn't heard about her father being dead – then again, he hadn't heard anything about a father from her. "Didn't your grandfather have apprentices?"
"Oh, yes." Kagome nodded, then smiled. "But my father can be a bit... eccentric. In a week he managed to either bore or scare the poor boy or girl away, until he was too old to properly teach anyone. Souta denied immediately. I however, thought it would be a peaceful task."
"Then why this new job?" He had a hard time picturing the woman beside him as someone holding spiritual rituals and such things.
Kagome blinked, tilting her head so her cheek was pressed against her knee. "Because I like animals and like to help those who need it?" She sighed. "Honestly, I wanted something more like when I... like before I turned eighteen."
Shigure sensed there was a history behind that specific number. He raised an eyebrow at her in question.
A bleak smile and her eyes grew moist. "I... lost a few friends around that time in my life." She shook her head at his pitying look. "It's four years ago. I guess what I really want is to move on, and I can't do that at the family's shrine grounds."
They were quiet for a while, the only sound coming – ironically – from a dog somewhere in the woods.
Suddenly she shivered and hugged both of her knees to her chest. No wonder – it was still January and only about a week since New Year.
"You're cold," he said.
She shook her head. "Nah, it was just a cold breeze." Yet her shivering – it was slight, but he wondered why he hadn't noticed it earlier – was telling otherwise.
Shigure shrugged out of the blanket and gently placed it around her shoulders. Again he was amazed how small she was – the blanket merely enhanced that, as she seemed to disappear under it.
Another cute blush as well as a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Shigure-san."
He shrugged and gave a goofy smile. "No worries, miss Higurashi – I'm a gentleman after all. Most of the time at least."
Hi guys. Yeah, I'm super late with all of my stories. And I apologize. For the millionth time it seems. But I tend to do that - write when I feel like it, and submit when I feel like it. Kinda like a diary, with these author notes though ^^'
This one, A Dog's Love, is late mainly because I wanted to check, recheck, and tri-check (that even a word?) before submitting it, and I'm still unsure about a few things. But I thought, "To hell with it!"
Also, for this one and for the other's as well, I lost some interest to write in general. Yeah, that's bad. Having a schedule to write for online courses tend to do that.
And yeah! I've been in the hospital. Nothing major a caraccident (no license - no interest in one, hoho~), but I've had my jaw "fixed", so to say. I had an underbite (don't know if that's what it's called in english) that made me bite wrong, thus giving me migraines. Did one operation, thought I could go home, but nope - one screw had come loose and had to go through another one. For six weeks I'm supposed to have my mouth sealed pretty much shut - I litterally can't open my mouth; not to eat, not to yawn, not to sneeze. I've got just enough space so I can get food through a straw. Jippie-ka-yay, but I miss pommes frites...
I've been scared shitless for that operation.
Maybe that's why I've done over ten one-shot fanfictions afterwards...
Either way, if you've read through this tirade, thank you. And if you've just read the story, also, thank you. If you've read both the tirade and the story, thank you very much.
Do review if you have any thoughts!
