Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Author's Note: I'm soooooo sorry for not updating any of my stories! My Internet is being so weird. Sometime's it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know why it does that. The other reason is that damn Writer's Block. If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please send me a message or write it in your review. Thank you! So, again, I'm really sorry for the waiting time. Here's Chapter 5!
Freedom
The attic. She was sitting on the red sofa in the attic again. For all she knew, he was going to come back. She wondered why he went outside just to watch the waves wash over the shore. It was so unlike him to do something calm and soothing like that. Was there another side of him that she didn't know about? A passionate aspect, perhaps?
Sango sighed out of boredom. Miroku had put her in a bad mood this morning when he spotted her in only a towel, and only Inuyasha could cheer her up.
But something about him seemed different. This room felt altered, too. Like someone else was in here besides Inuyasha. She took a whiff of the air. No sweaty sex scent. Just plain old attic and inu-hanyou smells.
The wooden door creaked open slowly. She whirled her head towards it so fast she could've gotten whiplash.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha questioned.
Sango folded her hands over her lap. "I'm sad and angry at the same time." She pouted.
"I know," he bluntly said. "I woke up because of it."
The brunette chuckled nervously. "Um, yeah, sorry about that." She watched him quietly sit down on the edge of his bed, bangs shadowing his eyes. "Is something wrong?" she timidly asked.
He shook his head. "Nah, just tired."
"I'll . . ." Sango stood and headed for the door. "Leave you alone, I guess." She closed the door and headed downstairs without waiting for a reply.
Inuyasha's head dropped between his knees with a sigh. Truthfully, he was thinking about how just one girl completely turned his life around. She was a famous dead cheerleader, damn it! How can he act normal after meeting her?
Speak of the devil, here she is.
Inuyasha lifted his head to meet the gently waving black hair of the girl he was thinking about. She was standing by the French doors of the balcony, gentle hands grasping the brass handles to close the double doors.
"Hey," he murmured.
She turned swiftly, glossy raven hair swaying gracefully over her shoulder. She must've forgotten his demonic senses of smell and hearing. "Um, hello," she nervously greeted, resuming to silently closing the glass doors. "Aren't you going to ask me where I've been?" She sat next to him.
He stared straight ahead at the normal wooden door through bored, half-lidded eyes. "No."
She held her breath as she stared at his high cheekbone. Something about him has changed. Yesterday afternoon, he was all happy and energetic. Around her, he seemed cautious.
"Hey," Kagome said.
Without moving his head, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah?" he prompted.
"How about I, you know, meet your friends?"
He jerked his head towards her. "Are you nuts?!"
She frowned. "No, I'm not a peanut!" She obviously still had no clue about modern language.
"No, I mean, are you crazy? My friends would freak out if they saw a zombie cheerleader!" He mentally thanked his father for making the walls soundproof.
Kagome sighed. "Listen carefully, okay? I want to meet them, but not as myself."
He raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it."
"What I'm saying is maybe I can meet them in a disguise, you know?"
Inuyasha nodded slowly. "And how do you expect me to find a disguise for you?" he asked.
Kagome sighed and rolled her brown eyes. "Buy me something!"
The hanyou stood up and turned to face her. "Okay, let's focus on reality here. I'm in a souvenir shop, buying a very pretty little sundress in front of all my friends. That afternoon, you come in the exact same dress." He made a circular motion with his hands to ask Kagome if she got it.
She shrugged. "What's the problem with that?"
He slapped his forehead, and let his hand slowly slide down his face. "It's very suspicious to people nowadays," he said.
"Oh, you could've said that instead." She crossed her arms, flopping backwards on the bed. "So, what can we do?"
Inuyasha went to his dresser and pulled out his smallest T-shirt and jeans. "Here, try these on," he suggested, throwing the apparel to her.
She stared at the clothes with a puzzled expression, but shrugged it off. She nodded, and went into the bathroom to change.
The half demon sat down on the sofa. He'd much rather walk around with Kagome Higurashi than her disguise. Then again, if she were still alive, she'd be eight years older than him, most likely married. She was as close to perfect as perfect can get. The only problem was that she was kind of sort of dead and would never age.
"It's kind of baggy, but I think I can manage."
He looked up to see Kagome wearing his clothes, turning around to model the outfit for him. She looked like one of those skater girls.
"Yup, you look good," he declared.
She smiled at him.
"Now," he said as he went behind her to get a hair tie. He handed it to her. "Tie your hair up."
She took the white band and bunched all her hair up into a messy ponytail. "How's this?" she asked.
"You're almost done." He went to his dresser and picked up his black sunglasses that he rarely used.
Kagome took the glasses and put them on. She hadn't worn sunglasses before, and she flinched a little at how dark it suddenly became. "Why is it so dark?" she asked like a curious young girl.
"They're used to block the sun," he answered. He took a step back and looked her up and down. "That's good. Let's go."
She took a step forward, only to bump into the bedpost and nearly trip. He caught her by the waist, catching her before she hit the ground.
She quickly straightened herself up. "Um, is it okay if I don't wear these?" she asked, removing the glasses.
"Yeah. We don't want you crashing into everyone and knocking them down." He headed for the balcony.
"That'd be kind of . . . Um . . . What's the word? Whack?" Kagome was trying to sound as modern as she could.
Inuyasha stared at her. "Um, sure . . ."
She cocked her head. "Do people say that nowadays?"
He shook his head, feathery silver bangs swaying above his smooth forehead. "No. Not really."
"So, what do they say?"
"Bad. Or retarded."
"Ah." The zombie girl nodded in understanding.
With that problem solved, both teens climbed down from the balcony. They knew it'd be very awkward to have an anonymous girl climb downstairs from Inuyasha's bedroom, so sneaking out was the best option.
- - -
"See anything you like?" Inuyasha asked as he led Kagome into a clothing shop. They headed into the women's section, where several other young women criticized random articles of clothing with their best friends.
"Oh my goodness!" Kagome gasped as she grabbed a swimsuit hanging from a plastic hanger. "This is so revealing! Who'd wear this in public?"
The half demon sweat dropped. "Um, Kagome, that's a bikini. You swim in that."
"I see." She nodded. "But this is basically a thong!"
He clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up. You're too loud," he growled.
She nodded, letting out a whine that sounded like a puppy. She pried his hand from her mouth, gasping for breath. "Oh, I can't breathe," she panted. She glared at the hanyou. "Don't do that again!"
"Don't be so loud," he retorted with a roll of his golden eyes.
She searched through the circular rack of clothes and found a gorgeous sapphire blue sundress with spaghetti straps. She glanced at the price tag. Fifty dollars. Kagome bit her lip.
"Did you find something?" Inuyasha asked from beside her.
"No!" she lied, releasing the dress.
He raised an eyebrow, but reached for the swinging dress. He pinched the material between his clawed fingers. "You want this?"
"No! Absolutely not!" she lied again, laughing nervously.
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not!"
He narrowed his eyes.
Kagome sighed in defeat. "Okay, I am lying. But that's so expensive! I don't want to waste too much of your money."
"Kagome," he sighed as he lifted the dress out from the rack. "My dad's a well-known billionaire. Fifty bucks is nothing compared to a billion."
She tilted her head in confusion again. "Um, fifty bucks? Do you mean male deer? Is that the modern currency?" she asked.
"No. Buck is another way to say dollar."
She sighed loudly. "At this rate, I'll need you to teach me modern language," she quietly said, resuming to browse through the racks of outfits. She pulled out a few more dresses of assorted colors and handed them to her escort. "Can I try these on?" she begged.
"Yeah," he said. Inuyasha walked to the women's dressing rooms, counting the amount of clothes along the way. "Here," he said as he handed the clothes to her. "When the lady asks you 'how many', just say eleven, okay?"
She looked up at him. "You're not going with me?" she asked.
Inuyasha thought that Kagome looked like she was on the verge of tears. "No," he answered, shaking his head. "Guys aren't allowed."
She let out a deep sigh, as if contemplating whether or not to try on the dresses.
He scoffed. "Oh, come on. It's not like you're going to go cliff-diving."
She giggled. "I know. But I've never been out in public by myself. It's a little . . . nerve-wracking," she explained.
"You'll be fine," he reassured her.
She nodded and headed to the counter, where a woman in her mid-twenties was standing, folding up clothes.
"How many, Miss?" she politely asked. Her brass nametag read Suzuna.
"Um, eleven," Kagome answered in a very feminine voice.
Wow, did I sound girlier over the past ten years or something? she wondered as Suzuna nodded and pulled out a plastic card with a large hole in it and the number '11' written on it in bold font.
"Right this way," Suzuna said, walking down a narrow hall that twisted and turned a few times until there was a long hallway with dressing rooms lining both sides. The sounds of clothes being moved around and plastic hangers clinking on the metal hooks filled the bright room. Suzuna let her hand drag over the doors as she passed them until one door swung inwards. "You may use this one," she told Kagome as she hung the card on the latch.
"Thank you," Kagome said. She went inside the small room. There was a bench that lined one side of the square dressing room with four hooks hanging from the walls. A full-length mirror hung on the door. Kagome hung her dresses on the hooks and started undressing to try on the colorful garbs.
- - -
Inuyasha flipped open his cell phone, checked the time, then snapped it shut. It had been ten minutes since Kagome went in the dressing rooms. He hoped she wasn't struggling with opening the door or anything else stupid.
His phone played a quick little tone, signaling a text message. He opened it and read the message from Sango.
'Hey, where r u??'
He had no clue how to reply to that. Well, sooner or later, he'll think of something. Right now, Kagome just came out.
"Did anything fit, Miss?" he heard the lady at the counter asked.
"Oh, these six didn't fit," Kagome replied, hanging them on a rack behind the woman.
The woman thanked her and smiled.
Kagome smiled back. It took her a moment before she spotted Inuyasha and came bounding toward him.
"What took you so long?" he demanded. He truly was curious.
She fanned her pink face with her hand. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I was getting claustrophobic!" she panted out.
"Looks like it. Your face is all pink and your hair's messed up." Inuyasha took the clothes from her.
"Can we go now?" she whispered.
"Yeah, let me pay for these," he said.
"I'll stand outside so that I can cool off," Kagome said. She took off after receiving a nod from the hanyou.
- - -
Kagome sat down on the wooden bench just outside the store. The frigid soda machines beside her felt very relaxing on her hot skin. Inuyasha was being a real gentleman to her, and she really appreciated that.
During her childhood, when she was alive for real, guys only asked her out to gain popularity. They never treated her with respect, and they only acted gushy to her when they were around friends. It was sickening and disgusting, especially if you're the one being used.
"Hey, baby!"
Kagome looked up and saw a boy with long black hair that twisted in an unattractive fashion. His red eyes flashed in the sunlight and a flirty smirk spread over his face.
"Um, excuse me," she said. "But I am not your 'baby'. Please go."
"Aw, come on, babe," he said, sitting next to her. "Don't be like that."
"I have no knowledge of who you are," she tried again to make him walk away, but he only scooted close to her so that their thighs were pressed together.
"Would you like to get to know me?" he seductively asked. He slipped an arm around her shoulders.
His body odor made Kagome flinch in disgust. This man was in desperate need of lotion and deodorant. "Not really," she muttered, shrugging his arm off her.
"I want to know you," the boy huskily whispered. He leaned in closer and closer until he was nose to nose with her.
"Hey!"
The guy and Kagome looked up to see a scowling Inuyasha glaring at the male, arms crossed with a bag in his hand.
"Get away from her," Inuyasha muttered dangerously.
The boy smirked.
Before he could taunt the half demon, Kagome firmly rose from the bench. "I am sorry, but I am with somebody already. So I'd really appreciate it if you walk away wordlessly. Also, I'd like to recommend something to improve your body odor. That'd be nice, too," Kagome calmly stated as she walked towards Inuyasha.
The boy only gaped at her as she gently clasped her hand on Inuyasha's elbow and walked away from the market.
Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at the dumbfounded guy. "Wow, you really burned him," he told Kagome.
She shot him a weird look. "I didn't toss him in a fire pit," she said in a quiet, yet confused, tone. "Although I sure wish I had."
"No, I meant you left him dumbfounded."
"Oh." She waved a hand carelessly. "That boy needed to learn not to flirt with the first girl he lays his small eyes on. And my prescription for deodorant was very logical, if I do say so myself. His odor was so nauseating that it made me flinch in disgust. I could've collapsed if I remained next to him any longer."
The half demon traded the plastic bag in his hands. "Yeah, but I think he was also surprised about your, um, extended vocabulary," he added.
Kagome shrugged. "Well, it's not my fault that modern language is so discrete from ten years ago," she bluntly said. "And if he couldn't understand a single word that came out of my mouth, then he needs to attend some special English classes or read a dictionary."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Read a dictionary?" he repeated. "Nobody does that anymore unless they're weird."
"Well, call me weird or an oddball if you must, but I did that while I was hiding in your beach house," she casually informed him, tucking a loose strand of black hair behind her ear. "You have very few books in your house, you know that?"
He smiled. "My family's not much of the reading type."
She made an impression of a goldfish, opening and closing her mouth. Finally able to speak, she asked, "There's types of families now?"
He chuckled. "You take things way too seriously. You act like I just said that you are fat like a sumo-wrestler."
"The word 'type' actually shocked me," she argued. "I mean, type means a category or kind of thing, and . . ." Her voice drifted off, her hand hovering in midair. She started staring off into space.
"Let me guess," Inuyasha smugly said. "You looked that up in the dictionary?"
"Yes, but I summarized the definition in my own words. Paraphrased it, if you will."
She talks so old-school, but she is so hot, Inuyasha thought, watching the way her ponytail gently swished back and forth as she walked next to him. Maybe, just maybe, she was the perfect girl.
Suddenly, Kagome stopped in her tracks. "Oh no," she whispered in a dead voice.
"What? What's wrong?" Inuyasha hurriedly asked, watching her with caution.
"I just realized something," she said slowly. She turned her head to look at him. "I don't know how to swim."
The hanyou sweat dropped.
This might be harder than I thought . . .