Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I own Beyblade.
Chapter 5: Some other Day
"Hey, are there any pancakes left?" Asked an angry Kagome, about ready to stab Tyson with her fork if he reached for her food again.
"Nope, Max got the last one." Tyson said, slumping down in his chair.
"You can't complain Tyson; you had more than anybody else!" Said Kagome, swatting Tyson's hand away.
"Too bad we've run out of ketchup, or I'd have eaten them all!" Tyson said, grinning and narrowly dodging a fork from Kagome.
Kagome pretended to gag. "The only reason I can eat today is because you didn't have your ketchup, no wonder Kai never eats breakfast with you guys!"
Max grinned sheepishly. "Even if we didn't put ketchup on everything, Kai still wouldn't eat with us."
"Who can blame him?"
Rei narrowed his eyes at the bandages barely peeking from above Kagome's turtleneck. "Hey, 'gome, what's with the shirt?" He asked.
"Yeah, who wears a turtleneck in the middle of summer?" Max asked.
Kagome gulped. "Well, I was...I was cold this morning so I decided to wear something warm." She said, pushing the sausage around on her plate.
'Okay, if beating around the bush won't work...' "You mind telling us about the bandages?" He asked.
Kagome froze, "Uhhh...what bandages?" She asked in a mock innocent voice.
"She got into a fight when we were in town. Right Kagome?" Kai asked, walking into the room.
"Yep! But I beat him though!" Kagome said grinning with Max and Tyson.
"Oh, so that's why you didn't eat dinner yesterday, I was kinda worried." Rei said, getting up and collecting his plates.
Kagome nodded and ate the rest of the sausage on her plate so that she wouldn't have to give a vocal answer.
Kai sighed in frustration. "Would you all hurry up, we need to practice today since we missed all of yesterday's practice." He said, crossing his arms and tapping his boot against the floor.
Max and Tyson grumbled and reluctantly left the table, followed soon after by a full Kagome.
"So, what's on the agenda?" Kagome asked as they all stood outside by the training facility.
"We're gonna work on some manuevering and then some offensive moves today." Kai replied.
"So we're heading to the second half of the training hall first?"
"Correct."
"All right then let's go!" Kagome said pumping a fist into the air, "Last one there is a rotten egg!" She shouted, taking off.
Kai all but grinned as the other three took off, shoving each other to make sure that neither got the bad title. He walked behind the others. "If I had known that that would get them to the training facilities faster I would have done it myself." He mumbled.
"Hey Wyndel, why do you think Master has been in such a bad mood today? He nearly lopped my head off when I brought him lunch."
The dark haired kageyoukai shrugged. "No clue, he was pissed when he came in last night. Apparently he'd gotten beat up by someone, when I came in he was nursin' some serious wounds." He replied, looking at the slightly shocked demoness.
"You serious? Who could have hurt lord Tatsumaru? He's owned the Eastern lands since way back in the feudal era! There was only one person who could beat him then, and that was the Taiyoukai of the West... Do you think it was him?" She asked.
"Dunno, Jade, but if it had have been Sesshoumaru, he would have had more wounds than what he came in with...it couldn't have been the Taiyoukai of the West."
"Then who?" Jade asked, wide eyes peering at the laid back demon.
"How the hell should I know? Prob'ly some other demon we haven't heard about. Leave me alone for a minute, I need a quick nap before its time to go get his lunch."
"Hurry up, Kagome! It's almost lunchtime!" Yelled Tyson from the sidelines of her and Max's battle.
"Give me a break Ty! Besides, we just ate breakfast not to long ago!" Kagome said, taking a sharp turn to dodge Draciel.
They had gotten through maneuverability practice without a problem, even Kai seemed impressed by Kagome's quick reactions, he could tell that she had been practicing without them.
Kagome frowned in concentration, stepping into her patented 'battle mode'. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Sorry, but I can't go easy on ya!" She said, feeling her miko energies rise as Midoriko burst from the surface of her bit chip. She could faintly hear Dizzy speaking excitedly in the background.
"I'm so glad I got back in time to see this match up and get some data on that bit chip!" Kenny said as he scanned his computer, looking at the stats on the screen.
Kai approached him, a bit curious about Kagome's bit beast. "So, what's the deal with her Kenny? " He asked, looking at the screen and reading off her stats.
Kenny pushed his glasses up atop his head at their normal place. "Well, it says here that her bit chip isn't registered, but from what I can tell it's got a really old beast, at least 500 years or so. I believe I've heard the name Midoriko before but I can't really remember." He said as some new data popped up on the screen.
Kai frowned. "500 years, that's the oldest date I've ever seen on a bit beast...I think that's way back in the feudal era." He said, hands tucked into his pockets. Too bad he had never really paid any attention in History class.
Kenny nodded. "It is, I've got Dizzy doing a check on her." He said, typing furiously on his high powered laptop.
Both looked up as a bright light beamed from the beystadium, behind it, Kagome was seen with a look of sheer determination.
"Do you think she can beat him?" Kai asked in a low voice.
"I don't know really, but...things aren't looking good for Max." Kenny said, watching the match from underneath his bangs.
"C'mon Midoriko, I know you can take him!" Kagome said, her voice was different in an odd way. It wasn't the kind one she normally used, nor was it depressed or sarcastic...it was blank of all emotion except for the sharpness to it.
Max shielded his eyes in the blinding light and just barely saw his beyblade fly over the edge of the stadium. It took a moment for the light to die down but as it did the sawing sound of beyblades was heard, but only one was still spinning inside the stadium. Max sighed and scratched the top of his head. "Man Kagome, you really had me scared there."
Kagome blinked, feeling her own aura crackle around her body, she tensed, looking around at them all to see different expressions. Max was grinning sheepishly, Tyson was cheering with a goofy grin, Rei was smiling calmly, and she couldn't tell the look on Kenny's face because his eyes were shaded by his bangs and Kai... Kai had his eyes narrowed and his mouth was slightly open with shock.
Kagome patted the hairs on the back of her neck and gave a little laugh to try to ease the tension. Seeing that it didn't work, she took a deep breath to ease the flowing energy around her body and picked up her beyblade. "Umm...I'll uh...be right back, see ya after lunch." Kagome mumbled, walking out of the room hastily.
"Oh Yeah! Time for lunch guys!" Tyson yelled, hopping over the small stadium and running to the door, soon joined by Rei, Kenny and Max.
Kai stood up from his seat, looking at the place where Kagome had been standing. "That...was not normal.."
Kagome closed her bedroom door and flicked the lock, turning around to her bedroom window. "Man...That was a close one..." She said, flopping on her bed, enjoying the crisp summer breeze.
"Well, it's official, Kai defiantly has some demon blood in him. No sense in calling Sesshoumaru down here to find out, I saw it for myself. " She said, remembering the strong youki emanating from him and reacting against her miko energy.
"I wonder what kinda demon he has, too bad he doesn't even believe in demons or he'd probably know.." She said, ignoring the small thud from outside her window, it was probably just a bird or something anyway...
Kai raced to the garage, knowing that Kagome was running off to her room. He needed to know what it was that he'd felt during and after her match with Max. Her face had shown him that she'd felt it too, and her hasty retreat gave him evidence that she knew more about it than she let on. No way was she going to get away that easy.
He took a leap and grabbed the edge of the roof of the garage, pulling himself up easily. He settled outside her window just as he heard the door close and silently celebrated his victory with a little smirk.
"Man...That was a close one..." He heard her say.
So she does know what happened Thought Kai.
"Well, it's official, Kai definately has some demon blood in him. No sense in calling Sesshoumaru down here to find out, I saw it for myself. " Said Kagome.
Kai's eyes widened slightly as he words and their meaning flittered into his mind. What the hell is she talking about, you mean she believes in that crap...she's loony...that's the only excuse for it...
"I wonder what kinda demon he has, too bad he doesn't even believe in demons or he'd probably know.."
Kai shook his head in disbelief. Kagome was not loony...she was perfectly sane actually, and that's what troubled him. He pushed himself off the garage to avoid hearing anything else, landing on the ground with a soft thud.
He walked towards the thick forest a ways behind the house to a particularly comfortable tree that had been his previous hiding spot before Rei had found it. He needed to think, and he had a lot to think about...
Kagome jumped at a knock at her door, looking up from her bed. "Oh crap...must have fallen asleep...sounds like it's raining now..." She muttered.
She heard the knock again and got up, sprinting to the door and opening it to find Rei standing outside her door. She tilted her head slightly in question.
Rei had to grin at the questioning gesture...it was far too cute... "Hey 'Gome-chan, have you seen Kai anywhere? We went back outside to finish practicing but he was nowhere in sight. " He explained.
Kagome shook her head slightly, "Nope I haven't seen him since practice either..."
Rei sighed. "I knew it..." He muttered, turning and walking down the hallway.
Kagome blinked in confusion and jogged to catch up with him. "You knew what?"
"He's out in the forest, which was his last hiding spot."
"Hiding spot?"
"Yeah, sometimes he disappears for hours to go do whatever it is that he does by himself...mostly to train." Rei said as they climbed down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Hey guys, we know where he is." Rei said.
Tyson looked up from his sandwich. "In a hiding spot?" He asked through a mouthful of whatever ketchup-soaked delicacy he was currently eating.
Rei nodded slightly and joined them. "No sense in going after him, he'll come back."
Kagome blinked. "But...isn't it raining outside? What if he catches a cold?" She asked.
The four boys looked up at her in disbelief.
"Kai's pretty good at taking care of himself, besides, I thought you two hated each other?" Max asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.
Kagome could feel her cheeks start to warm up a bit. "We do, but If he catches a cold we ummm...uh...we won't be able to argue as much!" She said, fighting down the urge to twiddle her fingers.
She was greeted with the sight of one knowing look from Rei and chuckling from the other three as they made fun of her.
"Pfft...I do not like Kai." She said, storming out of the room and grabbing an umbrella.
Kai laid back in his favorite tree, the branches separated low on the trunk so it was easy to climb and he could lay comfortably on the sturdy branches. He let his thoughts wander to Kagome's words. Try as he might, he just couldn't believe the fact that Kagome was a lunatic, even though it was the first thing he thought of when he'd heard what she said.
"I can't believe I'm actually thinking about this seriously. I can't be a demon, the very idea of it is insane. Demons are nothing but myths, things that exist only in stories to scare children...Well, I suppose she's just brought up to believe that crap... She does live in a shrine" He mumbled, fighting to keep his eyes open as the sky rumbled above.
Kai's crimson eyes reopened when he felt a drop fall upon his pale skin. Staring up at the darkening sky. "I must've fallen asleep." He murmured, sitting up from where he lay. He sighed as the hesitant raindrops turned to sheets of cool rain. Soon his clothes were soaked and his two-toned hair was plastered to his head.
He raised his head as the sound of footsteps bounding towards him rung in his ears. He didn't know how he heard such things, but he knew the sound because he'd heard it before. Slowly a figure came into view.
'Damnit, why does he have to be so far out in the forest? ' Kagome thought as she halfway panted from jogging the whole way there. She smiled as she began to make out a figure in a wide tree, facing her. She waved and continued forward with the umbrella in her hands. She stopped at the foot of the tree and took in some much needed air.
Kai looked down at Kagome, somewhat surprised that she had apparently run all the way out here. He felt a slight tightening in his chest, wondering what could have happened for her to do such a thing. "What happened?" He asked, jumping out of the tree and landing besides her. He braced a hand on her back for her support.
Kagome's eyes slightly widened as she felt his hand on her back. She stood up straight, hoping that he thought her face was flushed from the run. "Nothing happened, I just came to get you out of the rain." She said, trying not to notice how good he looked with his hair down.
Kai's eyes widened a fraction. "You rushed all the way out her... Just for me?" He asked.
Kagome's blush darkened at the look she was given. "It's not impossible you know! Now c'mon and get out of the rain before you catch a cold." She said, holding out the umbrella.
Kai frowned 'Is she serious? ' He wondered, staring at the umbrella with an emotion Kagome could comprehend.
Kagome fidgeted slightly. " What's the matter, it won't bite you, c'mon." She said, taking his hand and placing the umbrella in it.
Kai blinked and looked away slightly, fighting down the urge to blush at his stupidity. ' She is serious...' He shook his head, and handed it back. "You take it, I'm already wet, and it won't matter much if I get a little wetter." He said.
Kagome grinned. "Well, it's kinda too late." She admitted sheepishly. She was soaked to the bone already. "An umbrella doesn't really work when you're running." She explained.
She turned back towards the house. "You coming?"
Kai nodded, though his mind was already far from the conversation. 'She ran all the way here and got soaked...just to keep me from getting a cold...what an idiot, doesn't she know that she could get sick too?' He thought, walking with her as they began the journey back.
Kagome hummed happily at having accomplished her mission. To tell the truth she had half expected him to refuse and tell her to go back alone. She was startled from her thoughts when the rain ended suddenly. She tossed a glance over Kai's way, sapphire eyes brightening slightly as she smiled.
Kai's jaw clenched slightly as he fought the urge not to smile back. "There's no reason we can't share it. If you catch a cold then you won't be able to train tomorrow." He explained.
Kagome's grin only brightened. "I guess you're right." She mumbled as they walked through the woods, approaching the distant mansion.
Slowly, Kagome's grin lessened as the memories involving the umbrella she stood under. Her eyes darkened as voices and faces she had tried to forget filled her mind. This was the very same umbrella that she had given to Sango when Miroku's hat was broken. A wry grin twisted across her face as she remembered the way Miroku and Sango used to act, trying her hardest not to remember inuyasha aS well, but the memories flooded her mind anyway.
A series of Flashbacks
Hurry it up wench!
Quit whining Kagome!
You've been gone for days, how could these stupid tests be more important than the shards?
I'll stand by your side for as long as you let me Inuyasha
Kagome...I...
I'm sorry
End Flashback
Kagome stopped dead in her tracks, letting her head droop so her eyes would be covered. She was faintly aware of Kai stopping and saying something, but her mind was focused on the picture of Inuyasha's regretful face when he informed her of his choices...his duties to Kikyou.
She felt her legs wobble slightly as her head swam into a frenzy, and nothing but a chocked whisper came out when Kai shook her shoulders.
"Kagome, Kagome? What's wrong? Can't you hear me!" Kai asked as his heart twisted in his chest.
Kagome shook herself from her thoughts before it led to her insanity. Something she was quite sure she could do without. She took in a deep breath, relaxing and finally looking up, unshed tears swimming within her eyes. "I'm fine." She mumbled.
"Like hell you are, what's wrong, tell me." Kai demanded.
Kagome only shook her head, not ready to go into the whole story. Especially not with someone who didn't believe in demons.
Kai growled, and his grip increased on her shoulders. "Kagome, whatever it is you can tell me!" He said, pushing her back against a tree.
A single tear fell from her eye, "No I can't! You wouldn't believe me." She yelled.
Kai's growl grew louder and he stalked towards her, grasping her in what could only be called a hug, even if it was rather tight. "I'll believe you, now tell me."
Kagome couldn't take it anymore, her tears fell one by one as Kai whispered those words into her ear. She wished he would have embraced her like this at some other time when she could have enjoyed it. She found her voice, though it was small compared to his. "Just like you believe you're a demon?" She mumbled.
Kai's crimson eyes widened at that "How could you-"
"-I'm not stupid Kai, and I'm no amatuer when it comes to things like that." She paused for a minute It's not like you can be when you're asleep in a forest surrounded by demons She thought. "I knew you were outside my window earlier...That's why I was talking to myself...or rather...to you."
Kai's looked at her in slight disbelief. "But how could you have known?" He aske. She never saw him, not once did he get caught.
Kagome shook her head. "I'll tell you some other time when you've come to accept what you are." She said in a voice that sounded much more wise than she often let on.
Kai could only nod, figuring that it was pointless to go on. He let go of her, noticing with an inward smirk that she blushed when his heat was gone. "c'mon then...the others will be worried." He said.
. Sorry for taking so long, last week I was on a computer less spring break so I couldn't work on it. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it...Please read and review.