Chapter II: It's the time to disco
"This pizza thing sure is great!"
"Inuyasha, would you please not chew with your mouth open, or at least not talk with your mouth full. And it's not nice to eat on the street."
"Not, not not! What are ya'? My mom?"
"No, but since you came, you should at least behave.
"Huh! Don´t make any ideas. I only came because it´s a new moon and I can´t do squat in my time, this state I'm in. And I hate hiding. At least here I´m out in the open."
The evening promised to be very interesting, although with a prospect towards the surreal. Our four heroes had just finished dining at the Pizza Hut, and were now walking down the street. Dressed as they were, they would have blended in almost perfectly and nobody would have even suspected a strange origin, if not for some details that gave away their... "uniqueness" and made them one of the queerest groups on the street.
Inuyasha had a doggy bag in his hands, from where he periodically pulled out one triangle of pizza, that he ate exactly like someone who hadn't eaten pizza in his entire life. He was pretty strange: a tall, beautiful kid, that some people couldn't even tell whether he was a boy or a girl, with very long black hair -that would have made the envy of any woman... or rocker- a sword hanging from his waist and white sneakers which did not go at all with his dark suit, but were the only type of shoes he had accepted. Even those made him walk a little funny.
"You could have worn a pair of jeans to those sneakers, you know?" Kagome suggested.
"Jeans... oh, yeah, I tried one of the damn things on. I don't think you would have liked me with my hand down my crotch all the time. Those stupid torturing devices were really crushing my..."
"! On second thought, sneakers to a suit are very trendy."
Miroku, on the other hand, had no problem with his pair of jeans. As a top, he wore one of those doubled blouses that look like a t-shirt over a long sleeve. Over his palm tunnel he had a fingerless glove, like the ones body-builders use. Nothing funny funny about him... except he gave almost every girl he saw the eye and blew kisses, waved, winked, and uttered things like "Hello, beautiful!" even to those that were accompanied by other men. Miroku was very handsome, but that lewd behavior simply repelled the girls he was trying to get the attention of.
"Miroku, please control yourself!" Kagome begged.
"It's bigger than me! I've never seen so many beauties together in one place. This is Paradise!"
"I should have just shoved you all inside a cab, instead of taking you for a walk."
Sango said nothing, but stared in amazement, her mouth wide open, at all the tall buildings, cars, luminescent signs, lights and commercials. Sometimes she would trip and bump into people, because her head was always turned in a different direction than the one it was supposed to be. She looked like a very beautiful loon.
Kagome was constantly walking between the three, scolding and giving them directions. She was by far the most normal of them all, but all her restlessness made her look weird, too. The whole group was quite an eyeful.
"Kagome, can I have another Coke?" Inuyasha asked.
"But you've had two already. That stuff's got caffeine. It's bound to make you nervous and agitated and it's not like you're usually a picture of calmness. You should stop with the pizza, too, or else you'll stuff yourself with food and won't be able to dance anymore."
"Dance?!" Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha shouted at the same time and then began each one of them with his own reasons.
"But I can't dance... at least not to that thing you listen to, and call music!"
"I don't think it would be appropriate for a monk to dance."
"I'm not bloody dancin' for all the pizza in the world!"
"Quiet down you three!" Kagome tried to settle things. "Modern dancing is a lot like fighting and you're all excellent fighters. Now stop fidgeting. Here's the disco club."
They had arrived in front of a building, which said, in big, sparkling, Latin letters: DISCO BLACK. Some kind of rhythmic thud came from inside and there were lots of kids and young people standing outside it or walking in and out of it. Inuyasha made a sound like he had seen a monster that really scared him and hid behind Miroku.
"You're not taking me inside there!"
"Aaah, come on, Inuchan, it will be fun!" Kagome pulled on his arm.
"Don't you "Inuchan" me! I said you're not..."
"Kagome!" two girls and a guy waved at Kagome and approached her.
One of the girls was older, taller and had blond hair with blue eyes. Both Inuyasha and Miroku stared at her, the former because he had never encountered such a type of complexion and the latter because... well, you know Miroku! The other girl was a very delicate thing, classmate of Kagome, that Inuyasha had seen before from a distance. The guy was:
"Hojo! Michelle, Kaori! I´m so glad you came!" Kagome welcomed them warmly.
"Happy Birthday!" the girl named Kaori said. "This is from all of us!" and she handed her a huge very fluffy toy, a white puppy, which could roll its eyes and barked when pressed on its belly. Inuyasha reached out and sniffed it.
"Ahem!" Kagome went and she pulled the toy away from him, while the blond girl laughed, looking at Inuyasha from under her eyelashes.
"Hello!" Miroku took both the girls´ hands into his. "I´m Miroku. What are your names, enchanted angels?"
"This is Kaori, my classmate. She´s an excellent dancer. And this is Michelle, an exchange student holding the French and modern dance classes. She´s actually from France." Kagome explained, taking the girls´ hands out of Miroku´s.
"Misheru?" Inuyasha mangled her name, in Japanese. "France?"
"Yes, have you ever been there?" Michelle asked him, with an accent, like the purring of a cat.
Inuyasha shook his head. He seemed fascinated by the girl's looks and her way of speaking. Back in his time, only demons looked like her. But this one smelled human. Michelle seemed to like him, too.
"What´s your name? Are you carrying a sword?" she continued.
"Why don´t I make the introductions properly?" Kagome suggested, a little concerned by the obvious chemistry between the French girl and... her date. "This is Inuya... Inuya. He is my... cousin. Distant cousin. He lives in a village in the mountains, where they still keep to some of the old samurai habits. And these are Sango and Miroku. They´re from the same village. So don´t be surprised if they will seem a little out of place to you. And over here we have Hojo, and you´ve already met Kaori and Michelle."
"Hi, there!" Hojo said. "Do you like the puppy, Kagome? I picked it out myself."
"Yes, I love it!"
"Yes, I love it!" a jealous Inuyasha mimicked her in a low tone, but Kagome heard and kicked him with her elbow in his stomach.
"I thought you were gonna bring that strange white-haired girl." Kaori winked at her.
"E-he-he..." Kagome scratched her head. "What white-haired girl?"
"Yeah, what white-haired girl?" Inuyasha repeated.
"There are rumors" Kaori explained to Inuyasha "that your cousin is hanging out with a weird, bare-footed, white-haired girl, dressed in a red ancient kimono, but with a big cap on her head. "
~Girl?!~ Miroku and Sango guffawed, while Inuyasha tightened his lips and frowned disapprovingly.
"These rumors are ungrounded. The ones spreading them must have mistaken me for someone else. ~And Inuyasha for a girl.~ Shall we go inside?" Kagome hurried up to change the subject.
"Yes. Let´s go, Inuya!" Michelle said with her delicious accent and took Inuyasha´s arm, pressing against him and making him blush.
"Careful, Michelle!" Kagome strived to seem as if she was joking -although she was not- "Inuya may be my cousin, but he is still my date." and she took his other arm. Inuyasha was now very cocky.
"Well, ladies!" Miroku offered himself.
"What the heck? Let´s do this, too!" Sango braced herself and took Miroku´s arm, while the gentle Kaori took Hojo´s.
Inside the disco, the music resounded very loud, with a powerful and fast base, that the three feudal friends realized it was the thud that could be heard even in the street. Colorful, bright lights were continuously flashing in what otherwise had been total darkness. Strange hidden pipes gave off large amounts of steam. Sango was once again amazed. Miroku seemed to like it, especially when he saw all the provocative, beautifully dressed girls, winding around on the dance floor. Inuyasha felt his head exploding. Even in that night with no moon, being half-dog had a clear effect on his senses, meaning they were far more heightened than those of a normal human being. His eyes were sore from all the flashing lights, the base pounded from his ears into his head like a hammer, and he could feel vibrations all over inside his body, scratching his heart. For a second, he felt a faint and staggered towards Kagome.
"Are you ok?" he could read on her lips and saw she was worried. "We can go out if it´s too loud for you."
"No!" he shouted, showing off and defying what he actually felt. "I just need a little time to adapt!"
"We´ll sit down. I´ve rented a couch."
A little further away from the dance-floor, the music wasn´t so loud anymore. A waiter showed them to a couch around a table, which they occupied. He then took their orders.
"Two Cokes!" Inuyasha ordered when it was his turn, being used from the previous restaurant.
"And should I interest you in our list of cocktails?" the waiter said looking at Sango, Michelle and Miroku.
"Cocktails?" Sango asked confused.
"It´s alcohol." Kagome whispered in her ear. "You and Miroku are of age and you´re allowed to drink it in a public place."
"Oh! Alcohol in a small quantity always loosens one up. Yes, we shall have that list, if it´s not too expensive for you, Kagome."
"Don´t worry about it. I´m covered for this evening. And I´m sure you won´t over do it."
"Hey, I'm of age, too!" Inuyasha objected at Kagome's ear.
"You're 19! You have to be 21." Kagome explained.
"I ain't 19! I'm 69!"
"I don't think they would understand the fact that you were stuck to a tree for 50 years. So, drop it! You're not getting any alcohol!"
So Sango ordered something called Orange Delight and Miroku, much to the embarrassment of all the girls at the table, took the one called Sex on the Beach. Sango only took a few sips from hers and Miroku did the same. They agreed it was much milder than the sake, but the combination of different sweet flavors plus alcohol would have been devastating, especially for someone not used to it.
Inuyasha emptied off one bottle of Coke and was down to the second one, all the while watching the people breaking loose on that strange, fast music. Miroku was beginning to get the hang of it and even sustained the rhythm with one foot. Kagome did the same with a finger on the table.
"Would you like to dance, Kagome?" Hojo asked.
"I thought nobody would ever ask!" she answered cheerfully, getting up. "Don´t you wanna come, Inu? I could teach you..."
"I don´t think so!" and Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the couch.
"You can teach me!" Miroku offered.
"I´ll teach you." Kaori also got up.
"You go ahead." Sango urged them. "For now I´ll just watch you do it."
"Come on, Sango" Miroku grabbed her arm. "When´s the last time you had fun?"
Persuaded by his words, Sango got up and they all walked towards the dance-floor. Inuyasha stayed behind, with his usual frown on his face. He had gotten used to the loud noise, but was now beginning to feel the effect of the Coke, Kagome had told him about: faster heart beat and a strange trembling in his muscles. He watched Kagome showing Sango a few simple steps. She was radiant, which meant that the dance thing really made her feel good at that point. And she was right: for a fighter, trained to control his body, it wasn't difficult to dance the way those kids did; movements were very simple, with some basic ones that had different variations. Ancient dance theater required a lot more skill and control than the jittering he saw there. For someone really athletic, it could have been a piece of cake to get the show really started. Inuyasha waited for the right time.
A lot of guys looked at Kagome dancing, because she was very elastic, and at the same time smooth and sexy. She really put her heart in what she was doing. That Hojo guy kind of touched Kagome a lot, though. Inuyasha felt a growl coming, but abstained as he saw Michelle looking at him: she had stayed behind, too.
"Why aren't you out there, Misheru? Weren´t you like an expert in this dancing thing?"
She giggled and came closer to him:
"I thought I'd stay here with you to get to know eachother. I love the way you pronounce my name, by the way. And your accent is very strange, like nothing I've ever heard in Japan nowadays."
"Yeah, you talk pretty funny, too!"
She was dangerously audacious, nothing like the Japanese girls. With such a woman, even a demon was bound to get into trouble. Inuyasha didn't need something like that, but he suddenly saw Kagome spying on them, while she was dancing, and quickly approached Michelle and opened up a subject, so as to seem that they, too, were entertaining themselves.
"Tell me about what's going on here. We don't have discos back where I come from. This music is new to me."
"I thought so. What do you want to know?"
Kagome couldn't believe how jealous she felt. ~Why that double-crossing…~ She let her feelings out through dancing, moving closer to Hojo. Inuyasha saw that and snickered. He listened to Michelle as she was explaining some things to him. The type of songs varied from a kind of long, repetitive pieces of music, mainly instrumental and electronic, which Michelle identified for Inuyasha as "house" and "club" to slightly more complex, but shorter songs with lyrics, most of them in other languages. Different names, like "hip-hop", or "reggae" or simply "dance" entered one ear and left the other, but not a single move or step escaped Inuyasha´s vigilant eye. The songs were glued together perfectly, according to rhythm, a process called "mixing".
"Your friends seem to have taken a liking to this music." Michelle said.
Miroku, in particular, was very good at dancing: he was what is usually known as a "natural". Kaori had no problem showing him lots of steps and moves. He easily undertook the task of also teaching Sango, since Kagome seemed very preoccupied with Hojo, who was accepting all her attention happily. As he watched Hojo making his move on Kagome, the way he couldn't bring himself to do it, although he sometimes would have liked it, Inuyasha mercilessly bit his lip, feeling the caffeine kicking in stronger and stronger.
A new song began. It had playful notes and seemed a favorite of Kagome, since she jumped up and clapped her hands at the sound of it. The lyrics were in Japanese so Inuyasha could understand. It began: "I'm dancing under your eyes/ And the wind caries away my dream/ Of flying into the sky with you."
Inuyasha startled: did he just see Kagome giving him the eye? The song continued: "You don't seem to know my feelings,/ For, when I come closer to you,/ You always treat me so cold."
No, he didn´t imagine it, for there it happened again: Kagome threw him a look. She was singing to those lyrics, and when she looked at him that way, he felt like she was dedicating them to him.
"If you knew how much I love you,/ You would let me carry you towards the stars,/ Bathed in lights of fire./ Is love just a game to you?" ~Is she teasing me?~
The refrain went: "You're playing games with me/ But you're afraid of my lovin'/ As if I'd want to eat you up/" ~Oh, come oon!~
Kagome sang the lyrics and made a playful move on Hojo, as if wanting to scratch or tear him apart.
~Eat me up?~ Inuyasha thought. ~Right now I would eat that guy up. He´s lucky there is no moon, or I would have sooo turned into a yokai!~
Sango returned to their place in the middle of the song, all sweaty, and collapsed on the couch.
"It´s great, but I´ve had enough for now. Are you sure you don´t wanna try it, my friend?" she addressed Inuyasha who said nothing, and just stared at the dance-floor.
"I believe in your love/ But I can't wait anymore/ All I really want is you." the song went, but when she turned towards the couch, Kagome saw no trace of Inuyasha or Michelle. She looked at Sango and asked her with her hands where they were, but Sango shrugged. ~Are they gone? Sonofa...~
"Hey! Look at that!" Hojo drew her attention towards a group of people, who seemed to be gathering around something, clapped their hands and gasped in amazement.
"Hm, must be some show offs!" Kagome presumed. "Wait, where are Miroku and Kaori?"
There was a sudden change of rhythm, as the DJ mixed the song with another one, making it faster and more agressive, yet keeping the basic line. Kagome saw her class-mate flying through the air, inside the circle which had formed in the middle of the dance floor. The kids whistled loudly, approving. Kagome made her way through the crowd, together with Hojo. What she saw was the surprise of her life. Inside, there were two couples of dancers: Miroku, who was spinning Kaori around like a pro at a dance contest and... Inuyasha with Michelle. The French girl was very confident and you could see she was a professional, but she didn't actually dance with her partner, but was more a beautiful prop in his show. With a different style than Miroku, who was very smooth and "slippery", the hanyo was rougher, as was his nature, but nevertheless very good. He had thrown away his jacket and the long hair was now undone. His athletic, unreal movements looked a lot like the Brazilian martial art called Capoera, but were way more spectacular. He danced as if he was protecting Michelle from an invisible foe, and he managed to do that in the rhythm.
"Wow! Can that guy move!" "And he´s also cute!" "Must be a fighter!" "A sexy one!" Kagome could hear the comments around and, as much as she hated to admit it, she found them correct. Inuyasha saw Kagome and flew at her, as if wanting to attack her, but stopped at a very short distance, ranking her.
"And you´re afraid of my lovin´/ As if I´d want to eat you up" he mimicked the last song lyrics, looking Kagome right in the eye. Everyone noticed that and released wolfish sounds. The song was now finished and the music stopped all together. There was a round of applause which Inuyasha received, stepping proudly in the middle of the circle, hand in hand with Michelle, and Miroku by taking a bow together with Kaori.
Kagome was boiling up. She entered the circle, grabbed Inuyasha by the shoulder and turned him around to face her. The kids whistled. The two confronted looks, Inuyasha breathing a little hard, threads of sweaty hair stuck to his forehead. Kagome did not know whether to slap him or kiss him. ~Damn it, he is sexy! Even as a human!~ She felt like she was seeing him naked all over again.
"Kiss her!" someone clamored and there followed a choir of bellowing voices: "Kiss-her! Kiss-her! Kiss-her!" The lights went down low with a headlight on the two. Kagome did not know what to do. Inuyasha put an end to the circus, much to the disillusion of their spectators, backing up from Kagome, turning around and walking away, in sounds of disappointment. But they didn´t last, since the DJ had put on a love song and the crowd scattered, while boys and girls began pairing up, for the slow dancing. Michelle cast her arms around Inuyasha, drawing very close to him. Inuyasha now looked clumsy for a change. But, about the same height, they completed eachother so well that Kagome felt like crying. Nevertheless, she was grateful he hadn't kissed her in front of all those people. Hojo offered his hand to Kagome, who felt like everything but dancing. However, she accepted his invitation.
It was a very beautiful and sad song. It was in French. Kagome understood it and the lyrics felt like a knife to her heart: "Everything will change in one night/ We won´t believe it´s real./ Should I keep my hopes up for tomorrow?/ Should I dare to feel you,/ Touch you, fall into you?/ You look at me, my head is spinning around./ And all I wish is for you to still be here tomorrow."
She couldn´t take her eyes off Inuyasha and the boy looked at her, much in the same way. Everytime their eyes met as they slowly span around with their partners, all they thought was that they should have been in eachothers arms, instead of the ones they were dancing with. It was like they were the only ones in the club.
Although Kagome thought otherwise, Michelle was whispering the translation of the song, which was called "Dearest", into Inuyasha´s ear: "Where are you late at night, when I need you?/ Why won´t you come and find me?"
Inuyasha would have kissed Kagome right there, but it would have aroused suspicion among her friends. He couldn't have let their cover be blown. If there had ever been a time he wished they were a normal boy and girl, that was it. Those lyrics spoke by themselves:
"For every second that I did not know you,/ Dearest, take me in your arms and hold me tight./ For every moment I felt like crying,/ Dearest, take me in your arms and kiss me."
Without a warning, Michelle kissed Inuyasha, although he was reluctant to co-operate. Kagome ran away from Hojo's arms and squeezed swiftly through the crowd.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha cryed out, breaking free from Michelle who shrugged, confused.
***
"Kagome? What happened?" Sango asked when she saw her coming.
Instead of an answer she grabbed one cocktail from the table and threw the contents down her throat.
"No!" Sango snatched the glass out of her hand, but it was already empty.
In the mean time, Kagome had drunk off also Miroku's cocktail.
"Men are pigs!" she stated, slaming the empty glass on the table.
"Did you have to drink those?"
"I was thirsty... Whoops!" she staggered to one side.
"Kagome, it wasn't my idea!" Inuyasha shouted, heading towards her, but the girl ran away once again.
With agility, she climbed inside the D.J.'s booth, not up the stairs, but on the rail in front of it.
"Inuyasha, she drank all that alcohol…" Sango told him.
"And now, it's the time for Karaoke!" the D.J. announced on the microphone. "Our first contestant is already here. What's your name, beautiful girl?"
"Aaah… Ka..gome…" they could hear her utter with difficulty; she was already tipsy.
"Hello, Kagome! Being our first contestant, we'll let you chose from our list of songs…"
"Ooh, this one, this one… I want this one…"
"She sounds… drunk." Miroku noticed.
"Ok!" the DJ said. "Please step up on our stage and keep your eyes on the screen for the lyrics. Ladies and gentlemen: Kagome with "You're my number one"!"
Applause. Everyone looked up as the headlight fell on a small stage, near the DJ's booth. Kagome was there, with a microphone in her hands. Some people recognized her from before and acclaimed her. The song began. It had an enticing, oriental rythm. Kagome moved slightly to it. The kids encouraged her, clapping their hands to the rythm. She sang:
"You´re my lover\ Undercover\ You´re my sacred passion and I have no other." and she swayed her hips.
Inuyasha´s jaw dropped. Sango covered her eyes.
"Hey! She´s good!" Miroku told Kaori.
Kagome sang on more confident:
"You´re delicious\ So capricious\ If I´ll find that you don´t want me I´ll be vicious" and as a personal addition she shouted into the microphone: "I love you, Inuyashaaa!"
"That´s it! I´m getting her down!" Inuyasha decided.
"No, wait!" Sango stopped him. "Don´t make a scene."
Kagome looked like she was just warming up. She threw her hair artistically over her shoulder and continued:
"Say you´ll love me\ And you´ll have me\ In your arms forever and I won´t forget it." and she sent a kiss into the crowd.
"How could she have gotten drunk so fast?" Sango wondered.
"Don´t you get it? Something´s wrong with her! I knew this was a bad idea from the start. Get Miroku and our stuff. We´re outta here!" and Inuyasha set out towards the stage.
In the meantime, Kagome gave her best:
"Say you´ll miss me\ Come and kiss me\ Take me up to heaven and you won´t regret it."
Inuyasha grabbed her arm.
"Let´s go, Kagome!"
"NO!" she shouted and escaped his grip. "Why don´t you go back to blondie?"
Inuyasha felt a hand on his back.
"Kid, don´t make any trouble!"
It was one of the club´s bodyguards. But Inuyasha couldn´t care less who it was and proved it by punching the man down the stairs. He threw Kagome on his shoulder, although she was not happy about it.
"You put me down, you dog!"
Two more bodyguards swooped upon him, but Inuyasha had no problem disposing of them, using only his legs. He headed towards the exit. Sango and Miroku followed.
When they came out, Inuyasha put Kagome down. With no warning, she slapped him as hard as she could. Saying nothing, Inuyasha blinked amazed and hurt. He slowly reached to his reddened cheek. Kagome covered her mouth, terrified at what she had done, torn by the look in his eyes. Her heart burned like fire and stung her painfully.
"A cab?" one driver asked them.
Sango and Miroku came out, running. Behind them, a lot of bodygards treaded on the ground.
"There they are!"
Inuyasha pushed Kagome inside the cab, with Sango and Miroku joining them.
"Just go! Anywhere!" he urged the driver.
***
It was almost one week since she had gone to the Feudal Era. She simply couldn´t face him. It had already been bad enough that she had to appologize and pour a bunch of lies to Kaori, Hojo and Michelle... The worst part was that Inuyasha would usually come to get her, when she stayed away for that long, but this time, neither he, nor Sango or Miroku seemed to know she still existed.
Things had gone horrible on her birthday. She had tried to bring Inuyasha into her world and failed miserably. One more proof that it could have never worked out between them. And it wasn´t even his fault. She had forced Inuyasha to act like someone from her own time, her own kind and he had done his best. So she held herself entirely responsible for what had happened.
Since that night, Kagome was sad, quiet and kept everything to herself, no matter how nice her whole family was to her. She was convinced that not even her mom could forgive her if she knew what she had done. The girl cried a lot in her room, listening to "Dearest" over and over again and burrying her face in the shirt Inuyasha had worn. The jewel shards had lost their purple gleem and their faded aspect showed exactly what went on in their owner´s soul. The stinging sensation in her heart reminded her constantly of the one she felt in her palm, when she had slapped Inuyasha. The look on his human face had become a cliche in her mind that tormented her days, while her nights were tormented by nightmares.
It was a rainy afternoon and she had locked herself in her room. She lay on the bed, hugging her pillow, crying. "Dearest" was playing on her mp3 device. She could hear the rain pouring heavily and every drop of rain crushed her soul. Suddenly, there was a knock on he door. She raised her head.
"Mom? Please... I´m ok..."
"Kagome?"
She startled. It was Inuyasha´s voice. She hurried to unlock the door. The last time she had seen him, he was human and that image of him was the one that had stayed with her. Now, when she opened the door she startled again seeing him as a half-demon: bare-footed, wearing his red kimono, the long silvery hair hanging down his shoulders, unhuman piercing eyes, dog ears... it was how Kagome had missed seing him. She let him in and closed the door.
He looked at her, frowning, at a loss. She didn´t know what to say either. Inuyasha finally broke the silence.
"How... are you?"
"I´m fine. Been going to school. And you?"
"I´ve been keeping busy, too..."
Silence fell again. Inuyasha continued:
"I wanted to give you a little time on your own. But I thought you´d come by yourself in a day or two. It seems it´s me who always has to drag you across time."
Kagome smiled slightly. He looked at her more attentively.
"You´ve been crying!"
"Oh..." Kagome lowered her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Inuyasha raised her face gently by the chin. He spoke kindly:
"Don´t tell me you´ve been crying all this time."
"Don´t be nice to me!" and she pulled away from him. "I´ve been awful to you."
She reached to his cheek with her fingers, but withdrew them, as if it burned her. Inuyasha leaned his cheek into her palm and closed his eyes.
"Now I feel better..." he whispered.
"I´m sorry... for hitting you!" Kagome also whispered. "I just... I just..."
"It´s ok!"
"No, it´s not ok! I insisted that you do something I consider fun and I was certain you´ll fit in. But I got drunk and made a fool of myself. I slapped you. All because I saw you with another girl."
Inuyasha pricked up his ears.
"You were jealous."
"No!" Kagome was all red. "I mean yes."
He looked away and mumbled:
"I was, too."
"What was that?"
But he didn´t repeat it. Instead he reached inside one of his large sleeves and pulled out something, which he handed her. She looked at it: it was a beautiful, small comb, made of green bone, encrusted with small white gems that formed a crescent. It glistened like the pale moonlight. Kagome looked inquiring into Inuyasha´s eyes.
"It was my mother´s. She would sometimes comb my hair with it." he remembered, with a smile. "I want you to have it."
"Like a present?"
He nodded.
"Thank you."
Kagome was very touched. She knew how much Inuyasha had loved and respected his mother and how much he missed her. He had given her an object that reminded him of the one being that had loved him truly and unconditionally, something so rare for a hanyo. ~Even I have started to have expectations from him. I don´t deserve this present.~ She remembered Sango had suggested her she should talk to Inuyasha about the turmoil inside her.
"Inuyasha... I..." but once again, the words wouldn´t come to her.
The boy looked at her intensely. He pulled her into his arms. The rain kept pouring. Kagome felt like she was sinking into him. A nice warmth got hold of her. Inuyasha stroke her long soft, hair.
"Should I dare to feel you\ Touch you, fall into you?" the song went in the background.
"Dearest... " Inuyasha whispered and Kagome didn´t know whether he was naming the song or calling her his dearest.
"Is this real? Are you really here, in my room, holding me?"
"I´ve missed you."
He touched her cheek with his. Kagome felt her body reacting in ways so new to her. It was very pleasant, but at the same time, her hurt stung her violently. The warmth she was feeling was turning into a fever.
"Kagome... I don´t wanna let go." he whispered into her ear. "I´m losing myself into you." she felt his lips on her cheek.
She clenched her fingers into his back and hugged him stronger:
"I wish this would never end!"
Suddenly, Inuyasha felt something strange and alarming. It was the same sensation that he had when he was turning into a yokai. He quickly broke contact with Kagome.
"What is it?" the girl asked, confused.
"Something´s not right!"
He felt an earthquake inside of him and the terrible urge to tear Kagome apart like a pray and devour her. He dashed out on the rim of the window and stood in the pouring rain, breathing deeply. His whole body was pulsating. The cold water soothed him.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome looked at him worryingly.
"I´m ok. But for a second there, I thought I was..."
"You were what?"
"Nothing!" ~I must look into this. Somehow, it was being close to Kagome that made me ready to transform. I could have hurt her. Damn it!~
"Come inside. You´ll catch cold!"
"Huh! Don´t be silly!" he barked in his old, usual way. "It´s like you said: a ten foot monster can´t bring me down. Do you think that a few drops of rain or a slap in the face can?"
Kagome became cross, when hearing his tone:
"For a second there I thought something, too: that you had actually grown mature and sensitive. But I guess I was wrong. Why don´t you give me the real reason you came here?"
"We´ve got a quest going on, and you´re moping around in your room, listening to corny music."
"It wasn´t corny one minute ago, when you were "losing yourself into me"!"
"Please! It´s not like my mouth hurts to say sissy stuff like that. By the way, Sango said you´ve got something to tell me. So, go ahead and spit it out."
"Forget it!" Kagome yelled and she slammed the window, making him fall off.
"You hurry up and come to the well!" he shouted from the yard.
"Shut up! I´m coming, you big bully." Kagome answered gathering her things, not sure whether she had dreamed everything, imagined it, or witnessed it for real.