Chapter 5! Kayo gets annoying, Sho becomes a regular. Enjoy! Please review!
Disclaimer: Still don't own Inu Yasha. But I think Sho is original. ... I think.
The next morning, Kaze and Kiara spent breakfast reviewing Japanese phrases so Kiara wouldn't have a meltdown while Kaze was gone.
"So, Suki helped you?" Kaze asked in Japanese, having finished her breakfast. She leaned back in her chair and began braiding her wet hair.
"Um hm," Kiara answered. "Kayo-san was no help at all." She rolled her eyes "I'm pretty sure she was insulting me," she said, also in Japanese.
"Well, your Japanese is getting better," Kaze appraised, finishing her braid. "Keep working on it with Suki while I'm gone." Kiara nodded as Kaze washed their dishes.
The two girls left the house, Kaze carrying her bow again. As they walked to class, both girls heard "Kaazee-chan! Kiara-chan!" Kaze groaned, gritting her teeth as Kiara rolled her eyes in exasperation. Kayo and Suki ran up to them, Kayo grinning widely.
"What do you want, brat?" Kaze asked, frowning at Kayo.
Kayo's smile faltered, but it was back in full force a moment later. "Where did you go, Kaze-chan?" She asked slyly. "I didn't think you were so scared of that old well that you'd run away!" Kayo laughed as Suki edged away warily.
The wall splintered when Kaze punched it, effectively shutting Kayo up. "You open your fat mouth again today and I will hurt you, brat," Kaze threatened, glaring at Kayo. She shrunk away from Kaze's glare and Kiara and Kaze walked away from the younger girl, leaving Suki to comfort her.
"That was a little harsh, Kaze-san," Kiara chided, walking next to Kaze. "I think you might have scarred her."
"'S not the only thing I scarred," Kaze muttered through gritted teeth. Kiara blinked at her in confusion until she lifted her hand into Kiara's line of sight making Kiara gasp in sympathy.
Blood poured from Kaze's knuckles, dripping to the ground in fat drops. Kaze's face took on a green tinge as she tried not to look at her blood. "Oh, no!" Kiara cried, reverting to English. "You still have hemophobia, don't you?"
Kaze nodded, leaning against a wall to catch her breath as Kiara pulled out a handkerchief and tied it around Kaze's knuckles, trying to stop the flow of blood. "Let's get to the school," Kaze suggested, still in Japanese. "I'll stop by the nurse's office on my way to class."
Kiara nodded in agreement walking close to Kaze to keep her from fainting as they walked into the building.
Kaze kept her promise, waving Kiara off and staggering into the nurse's office. Kiara's handkerchief was completely soaked through and the nurse tutted in exasperation, wrapping Kaze's knuckles professionally and tossing the ruined handkerchief into the incinerator.
"Be more careful, Kaze-san!" The nurse cried as Kaze walked out. Kaze laughed apologetically waving the nurse off and walking to class,
With their classes finished and Kaze done with her archery practice, the two girls walked out of the building, discussing the loss of Kiara's handkerchief. "I know you really like that one, Kiara," Kaze said apologetically. "I'm so sorry, I'll try to find you one like it. If I could have saved it I would have."
Kiara waved her friend off, smiling. "That's fine, Katy-san!" She said. "If you'd lost any more blood you might have fainted!" They laughed in relief until Kiara noticed a familiar set of clothes. "Ah, Katy-san," she muttered, pointing towards a boy in a ball cap.
"Is that my hat?" Kaze asked. Kiara nodded, giggling. "Why did he take my hat?"
"Probably his ears," Kiara replied, holding her fingers to her head to mock Inu Yasha's dog ears. Both girls laughed, attracting Inu Yasha's attention.
In Yasha intercepted them, glaring angrily at Kaze. "Why are you bleeding?" He asked suspiciously, eyeing her.
Kaze lifted her hand up to show him that it was wrapped. "I punched a wall and my hand started bleeding," she explained. "What are you doing here, Inu-san?"
"Just making sure you really do intend to come back, Inu Yasha answer, frowning at Kaze. "What took you so long?"
"I said I had class!" Kaze answered as the three began walking back to the house. "I needed to finish those classes, dummy."
When they got to the house, Kaze told Inu Yasha to stay in the Living room, snatched her hat off his head, and ran into her room to change.
As she was gone, Kiara turned to Inu Yasha. "Why were you wearing her hat?" She asked him.
"I didn't want humans in your time to see my ears," he answered, scratching one ear. "I'm not exactly human."
"And how did you get in the house to steal her hat?" Livy asked raising an eyebrow.
"One of her windows was open," he answered, snooping around the living room before perching on the couch. "I just jumped through and, when I realized she wasn't here, I took a hat and followed her scent to that place."
Kiara nodded in understanding just as Kaze ran out of her room, a backpack on her pack, her bow and quiver in her hands, her hair braided, and her clothes changed into dark jeans and her black skull shirt.
"I'm ready," Kaze said, pulling on her boots. Kiara opened Kaze's bag and stuffed in a bag of food.
"You'll have to come back soon to wash your clothes and get more food," Kiara reminded her. "If you two are travelling, you may not always be able to get a good meal."
Kaze nodded, saying goodbye to Kiara before she and Inu Yasha left. They jumped through the well and Inu Yasha carried her by her bag handle to the top on the other side.
"Oomph!" Kaze grunted when Inu Yasha deposited her on the ground.
"Do you heave the jewel shard?" Inu Yasha asked, peering at her.
"Yes, yes," Kaze sighed, pulling the shard out of the pouch around her neck.
"It's bigger than the last time!" Inu Yasha accused, trying to snatch the shard away.
Kaze tucked it back in the pouch then stuffed the pouch under her shirt. "When we ran into that Naraku guy a shard stabbed my hand," Kaze explained, leading the way to the village.
"Wait, you took one of his shards?" Inu Yasha asked. Kaze shrugged, trudging through the forest. "That's not possible, his are all fused together."
Kaze paled, turning warily towards Inu Yasha. "Ah, about that…." She laughed hesitantly. "You, ah, fainted when a bright pink light flashed. I have a feeling that I… broke it?"
Inu Yasha gaped at her. "Y-you… Broke it?" He yelled, getting angry. "So we have to find all the pieces again?" Kaze nodded warily, turning away to continue walking. "I can't believe this!"
"Well, I wasn't aware that it was so easy t break," Kaze retorted. "If I'd known I would have been more careful."
"It's not!" Inu Yasha yelled. "You have to have this purification ability in order to break it!" The two reached the village with Inu Yasha still yelling.
A small tiger rubbed against Kaze's leg, surprising her. "Aw!' Kaze cried, picking the cub up and cuddling it. "How cute!"
"Ew," Inu Yasha said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Oh, shut up, Inu-san," Kaze snapped. "He's cute!"
The tiger shifted into Sho, grinning at Kaze and kissing her cheek. Kaze screamed in surprise dropping Sho and punching him in the face on instinct. "Ow!" Sho complained, holding his cheek.
"I'm sorry," Kaze said as Inu Yasha laughed loudly, doubling over. "You surprised me." She calmed down, ignoring Inu Yasha's laughing and peered at Sho. "What are you doing here?" She asked, frowning at him.
Sho jumped up to face her. "I want to join you, Kitten!" He said, grinning at her. Kaze backed away as he got closer, but Inu Yasha stood between them.
"I don't think so, cat," Inu Yasha growled.
"You just want Kitten all to yourself!" Sho claimed, pouting.
"What! I don't want her!" Inu Yasha exclaimed, scoffing. "She's just a useless human that-Hey!" He noticed that Sho was no longer in front of him. He turned around to see Sho had latched onto Kaze, purring happily.
Kaze was blushing in embarrassment as he snuggled into her neck and she started trying to push him off. Inu Yasha growled, plucking Sho from Kaze and holding him by the collar of his tiger pelt, a new addition as Kaze noticed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Inu Yasha yelled at Sho.
"You don't want her," Sho said. "So I'm going to take her."
"Buzz off, cat," Inu Yasha growled.
"What are you gonna do, mutt?" Sho growled back.
"Boys, stop," Kaze sighed, turning her back on them. "I don't care what either of you want, we need to start out to find those shards so I can go home."
"You aren't actually going to let this stray cat come with us, are you?" Inu Yasha asked incredulously, dropping Sho.
"Why not? He might be able to help," Kaze answered, shrugging. "Why, did you and Kagome travel by yourselves?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Inu Yasha sighed. "But we didn't have a cat with us. We actually had useful humans too!"
Kaze sighed, ignoring Inu Yasha yelling and Sho latching onto her waist. Rin came up to them then, laughing slightly at Kaze's predicament. "Ah, you're back!" She said unnecessarily. "And you've added to your group! That boy was ere the entire time you were gone, hiding just far enough from Inu Yasha in order to keep hidden."
Sho purred, snuggling again into Kaze's neck. "That's fine," Kaze sighed trying to unlock Sho's arms around her waist. "Have you heard anything lately?" She asked, giving up on Sho when he tightened his arms around her waist. "Anything weird happening in nearby villages or anything?"
"I have, actually," Rin answered watching Sho. "In the next town over, there's some going-on's that you may need to look into."
"Also, I was wondering if you have a horse I could borrow," Kaze began.
"Why do you need a horse?" Inu Yasha snorted.
"I'm not walking," Kaze said with finality as Rin waved one of the villagers to bring a horse over. "You want my eyes, my eyes need transportation."
"Fine," Inu Yasha grumbled.
"I can carry you, Kitten," Sho suggested.
"No," Kaze said, finally breaking free from his arms and climbing onto the horse Rin gave her. Inu Yasha took her bag and the three headed off in the direction of the next town, calling goodbye to Rin with promises of returning.