Chapter 8: Cat in a Tree

POV: Kagome

It's been weeks since we've heard from Inuyasha. Miroku at least gets to see him in class, but he said they haven't discussed the accident. It can't be easy, but at least his father is alive. Humph, he better pressure him into coming today! This park is a great place to hang out and just relax. Plus, Mama keeps baking him stuff and I haven't been able to find him even once. It's like he vanished off the face of the Earth! He needs to- "Inuyasha! It's good to see you finally!"

"Yo. Sorry about that, my brother's been an ass."

"Miroku mentioned that. Extra kendo lessons? There's only so fast you can train before you just get exhausted. Honestly, if you need to lie about your whereabouts for a bit, I can claim you're training at our family's dojo. Or just kick your brother's ass for you," offered Sango.

That's an idea. Maybe getting taken down a notch would make him more personable. "Knowing Sesshomaru he doesn't even know the definition of grief! He should've let you hang out, be around your friends."

Inuyasha only scoffed at that. "Keh! I'm fine. Dad's too tough to not pull through. And Sesshomaru's training hasn't been all bad."

I suppose if he's acting like his normal self, he can't be too out of it. "I hope so. Oh! Before I forget, Mama baked these for you. Well and Sesshomaru, but I can't picture him eating anything sweet." To say Mama likes to bake is an understatement. She sent brownies, multiple varieties of cookies, and even some red bean cake. And this is the fifth batch!

Inuyasha would never admit it, but he practically lives for Mama's sweets. Well, he probably did tell Mama at some point considering she makes more for him than anyone else. And having too many will be a good excuse to get him away from Sesshomaru and to visit his mother. "Mama didn't have to and geez how am I supposed to eat all this stuff?"

Sango gave a gesture vaguely resembling a cringe. "Don't look at us to help. I've had a yearly supply of sweets this month. Kaede even cut off Shippo."

Of course, Miroku would have to add, "Ah but Sango, nothing could ever be sweeter than you."

And she doesn't care for it. "Can it."

Even Inuyasha has a small smile. He's not gonna ditch us for this long again. I swear it! "So do you guys want to go somewhere for the afternoon. Maybe shopping at the mall or to the movie theater?"

"Shopping sounds fun. As long as we hit the pet store, I'm low on cat food," replied Sango.

"Kirara still eating enough to feed a bear?" A nekoyoukai must put the food bills through the roof!

Sigh. "Always."

Unsurprisingly, Inuyasha did not try to hide his cringe at the idea of shopping. "I'd rather hit the theater; you girls have plenty of time to shop whenever." But that's ok, I'm sure he'll take option B.

"They do have the new Marvel movie." Ha! Miroku took the bait.

"They do? Ha, then definitely the theater!" Full smile on Inuyasha. Perfect!

"Sorry Kags, we're not winning to a Marvel movie with Yash." I bet Sango knew it would land on option B too. Besides, didn't we just go pet shopping 2 days ago? How low can she be?

"That's ok. I think Yash's opinion should get priority today anyways. Let's head over. When's the next showing?"

"Excuse me?" Huh? Oh, a young boy. He can't be much older than Souta.

He looks agitated. "Hello, do you need something, are you lost?"

"No, I live just down the street, but my cat climbed into that tree and won't come down, and I'm too small to climb it." Sure enough, the tree at the edge of the park appeared to have a small orange blob near the top. Hmm I'm all for climbing a tree but that's a little high.

"That's a little high maybe we should call someone. Inuyasha, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Well, it looks like he's about to climb that tree that's tall enough to give him a broken bone if he falls.

"Are you sure? Be careful."

"Keh! This ain't nothing." Wow, it really doesn't look like anything the way he's practically bounding branch to branch. "Gotcha! Ow!" Oh no! The cats gonna fall… He grabbed it?! What reflexes! "Ugh, here's your dumb cat."

"Wow, that was great! Thanks Mister."

"Yah yah, it was nothing."

There he goes. "Keep a better eye on your cat from now on!"

"I will."

"That was sweet Inuyasha. You're that boy's hero now."

"Keh! I said it ain't nothing." Poor Inuyasha, do you even realize you're blushing? I know how to make it worse: a hug! "Kagome!" Huh? "It wasn't a big-" What's this feeling? "I was just-" A demonic aura? "Ugh, thanks." A demonic aura, on Inuyasha? Oh no!

"Bye Sango! Oh Miroku, I wanted to ask you a quick question before you go. And you, Inuyasha, see you soon this time?"

Sango was content with the short reunion to see her friend in good health and parted with a brief wave.

"Definitely. I'm really so sorry for disappearing on ya." A blush again? "Do you wanna maybe catch up a little more soon? Um, coffee, just the two of us?"

Yes! "Yes! I'd love to!"

"Great. I'll have to figure out when but hopefully sometime this week?"

"Perfect! Just text me when you can." Inuyasha just nodded at that, still that adorable blush on his face as he too went on his way.

Seeing his clue, Miroku moved closer. "So, Kagome what did you want to ask?"

"I'm not sure, it's just well, I swore I sensed a demonic aura on Inuyasha when I touched him."

That caught Miroku's attention. "What, like a curse? I didn't sense anything."

Seriously Miroku? "We both know my spiritual powers are far better than yours at sensing things. I definitely sensed something on him."

"Sorry sorry, it's just surprising. Inuyasha has never cared for the stories about youkai so it would be unlikely for him to have come across anything containing a curse."

That's true, but "didn't he say Sesshomaru has been going over some family history stuff with him? And his dad has an old weapon collection. He might've come into contact with something!"

That idea appeared to agitate Miroku. "It's possible, but also really not good. Something like that would need to be destroyed at the source or with a strong purification spell on Inuyasha. He wouldn't be willing to go through a, to him, fake purification ritual so the only option is destroying the source. Your theory is plausible, but trying to get near any of the collection could be near impossible. Even his father was reserved and never let anyone near his collections except during special exhibitions, let alone how Sesshomaru will handle it. Even if we requested access, he would never grant it."

Ugh, how are those two related! "So, then we have to perform a purification ritual on him!"

"Kagome-"

"No, I got it! I didn't really want to ask Sango for help because the demon slayers tend to be a bit more…destructive, but we can totally ask her for some sleeping pills. I'll slip it in his coffee during our date."

"Hmm that could work, a youkai might pick up on being fed the pills, but a human wouldn't. And we can always blame him fainting on Sesshomaru overworking him."

"A double win! I'll let you know when he texts me so we can prepare."

"Until then."