The Storm
By: AniuLonewolf
Chapter 6 - Shopping
The next morning, birds sung sweetly in the trees outside as the sunlight peered in through Kagome's window in her room. Kagome and Inuyasha were both laying in Kagome's bed, both with peaceful expressions on their faces as they were both still lost in their dreams wrapped in each other's arms.
*R R R R R I I I I I N N N N N G G G G G !*
The sudden shrill from Kagome's alarm clock broke the peaceful silence that filled the room. The ear-splitting scream of the alarm clock sounded right beside the sleeping couple.
The poor dog demon wasn't expecting the sudden loud noise and he jolted away with a gasp. He thought it was something attacking them and he jumped up to defend himself and Kagome - only to fall off the bed and onto the floor, Kagome landing on top of him.
*R R R R R I I I I I N N N N N G G G G G !*
Kagome got up off of Inuyasha and hit the alarm clock on the head to turn it off - but the button was broken and it wouldn't turn off and continued to get louder and louder.
"Why won't it turn off?" Inuyasha yelled, his hands clamped over his ears as it sensitive sense of hearing were in agony. His eyes were wide in fear from the scream of the alarm.
"What!" Kagome yelled back at him, unable to understand what he said since the alarm was getting louder and louder.
"WHY WON'T IT TURN OFF?" He yelled louder, his golden eyes still wide as he got up to stand beside Kagome but leaned away from the alarm, his ears protesting against the noise.
"WHAT!" Kagome yelled back, trying multiple times to slam on the alarm to turn it off but to no avail.
"WHY... oh forget it!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the clock out of her hands, opening the window and chucking outside. It hit the pavement and smashed into little pieces.
The atmosphere went silent once more, except for the ringing in Inuyasha's ears and he knew the start of a headache was coming any minute now.
Kagome leaned out the window to see her alarm clock splattered against the pavement, pink chunks of plastic everywhere. She turned back to Inuyasha with an angry look on her face. "Inuyasha! You broke my alarm clock... again!" Remembering the past events where her alarm clock was murdered.
Inuyasha looked at her. "That stupid thing wouldn't shut up," His ears twitched. "And my ears are still ringing."
Kagome sighed, oh well - it was just a cheap alarm clock. It can be replaced. She walked up to Inuyasha and looked up at him with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was set." She looked back down at the dead clock on the pavement below. "I wonder if it had been going off every morning while I was gone."
Inuyasha looked down at Kagome and saw that she looked sad that it was her fault. Not wanting her to continue to be sad, he just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Plus, it's not like that was the first time. Right?" He looked down at her with a slight smile.
Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha and then took a seat on her bed. "Yeah, I remember. That was the time I went home after the fight with the Birds of Paradise and you got mad about Koga." She looked down at her lap.
:.: Flashback :.:
Kagome sat down beside Inuyasha on the grassy hill. She had to get this fight done and over with, she hated fighting with Inuyasha. "Well, uh, Inuyasha..."
"Ok, I'm sorry." He grumbled to her.
"Huh?" She was taken totally by surprise. This was probably the very first time that he said that to her.
Inuyasha looked over at Kagome and saw that she was staring at him. "Why are you staring at me like that? Your still holding a grudge aren't ya?"
"Oh no, I'm not mad anymore. I'm just shocked that you actually came out and apologized first. I really appreciate it." Kagome smiled up at the sky, looking at the puffy clouds in the sky.
Inuyasha stuck his hand into his haori and pulled out a busted alarm clock. "You sure?"
"Is that what you're apologizing for? For breaking my alarm clock?"
He looked away, "I got nothing else to apologize for."
:.: End Flashback :.:
There was a sudden soft knock at the door and the two jumped apart. Kagome quickly turned around and opened the door to see her mother standing there with a smile on her face.
"Good morning you two," Mrs. Higurashi said sweetly from the doorway. She saw that both of them had messy hair and they looked tired. "I didn't wake you up did I?"
"No you didn't, the alarm clock woke us up. Oh... speaking of that." She gave a short glare at Inuyasha and then turned back to her mother. "I need a new one."
"Again?" Her mother asked, remembering that this wasn't the first time that Kagome had to get a new alarm clock because of the dog demon.
Kagome turned to look back at Inuyasha who huffed and then she turned to look at her mom again and laughed, "Yeah."
"Ok." Mrs. Higurashi smiled, not worrying about the situation. "Well how are you feeling this morning?"
Kagome blinked at her mother for a moment and then realized why she had come back to her time in the first place. She had gotten a fever being out in the rain. Remember? "Oh yeah, I'm feeling much better," She looked down at her ankle and saw that the swelling as already been reduced to nothing but a yellowing bruise.
"That's good to hear. Well if you want we could go to the mall after you're done eating." Mrs. Higurashi offered. "We could also get Inuyasha some new clothes while we are in the mall, if you're feeling better."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha who sat beside her. "Do you want to go?"
The half demon took a moment to think it over. He figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal since he knew it would make Kagome happy. "What about school?" He questioned. The whole reason they got into the fight in the first place was that Kagome had a test she needed to study for. Remember that?
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Kagome looked up at the ceiling with her finger on her chin in thought. "Well the test isn't until tomorrow morning so we can go to the mall after lunch and then when we come back I can get a bit of studying done. Then I can go take the test in the morning and then come back home so we can go back to your time."
Inuyasha thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Fine," He said and earned a smile from Kagome.
"Ok. We'll leave after lunch." Mrs. Higurashi said and she turned to walk down the stairs.
"Oh Mom," Kagome called after her mother. "What are we having for lunch?"
The woman thought for a moment. "Ramen," She said simply and continued down the stairs. She heard Inuyasha's cry for joy and she let out a giggle and went to the kitchen.
"Oh yeah!" Inuyasha said, punching the air happily.
Kagome turned to face the half demon who had a very happy smile on his face. "Is that all you like from my time?" She asked, shaking her head at the half demon's affection for the instant noodles.
Inuyasha looked at her and gave her a smirk. He seemed to be contemplating something and then he slowly walked up to her and grabbed her by the waist. "Nope," He said and caught her lips in a quick kiss but pulled away before she could respond to the kiss. "You are the best from this time. By far."
Kagome had been shocked, still not getting used to the idea of them being together after their confession last night. But she smiled up at the half demon, both of them had a tinge of blush on their cheeks, neither of them fully used to the fact that they could be so open about their feelings.
But suddenly the phone rang, snapping both out of their trance. Inuyasha jumped, not used to these common future era noises. Kagome walked into the hallway and picked up the phone and put it up to her ear. "Good morning, this is Kagome."
"Hello Kagome," A male voice came from to the other line.
"Hojo?" She questioned, recognizing the voice of the guy in her class. Why would he be calling her, shouldn't he be in class? She looked over at where her alarm should have been to check the time, only to growl in frustration at remember that it was now smash among the pavement.
"I was just calling to check in on you. I saw that you weren't in class again today and wondering if you were doing alright." He said on the other line. She could hear the stuttering in his voice. He was nervous about something. "I was also wondering if you were feeling up to it, that I could treat you to some herbal ice cream after school today."
That was the thing he was nervous about asking her. "Oh... Well…." Kagome bit her lip. She hated being in these kinds of situations. How would she be able to let him down without hurting her feelings? "Well… I, urm…"
"That is, if you're feeling better," Hojo said. "Your grandfather told me that you were in bed with the plague."
Kagome almost fell over at what Hojo said. Her grandfather was lying to her school, telling them that she was suffering from bizarre and crazy illnesses to cry and cover up her absences due to her being in Inuyasha's time. She made a mental note to yell at her grandfather to dial down the severe illnesses – her classmates were probably planning her funeral memorial as she spoke!
"Oh, I'm fine. I just got over a nasty cold." Kagome answered before her mind could realize her mistake. Why would she tell him that she wasn't sick! He would start to think he would have a better chance of taking her out now.
"Oh that's good. So do you want to go?"
Kagome sighed and looked over at Inuyasha who currently had his head stuck out the window, looking down at her dead alarm clock. "Umm... Sorry Hojo but I can't."
"Is it too soon? Because if you need more time to rest I can…"
Kagome cut him off before he got too far. "That's not it. I…. uh…" She looked at Inuyasha who was now playing with her desk lamp. The half demon managed to turn on the light bulb just as Kagome got an idea. "I'm kinda busy tonight. Going out… Going out with my boyfriend." Well, it was bound to come out sooner or later.
The line was quiet for a moment. "Boyfriend?" Hojo repeated.
"Yeah. I'm really sorry Hojo but I just don't like you that way," Kagome sighed. "I wasn't trying to lead you on or anything like that. Please understand."
"I see," There was another awkward pause between the two on the phone
The silence was broke but a quiet smash that came from Kagome's room. Looking over, Kagome growled loudly as she saw Inuyasha stressing over her now broken desk lamp. She was about to hell at the half demon when Hojo cleared his throat to speak again.
"That's ok Kagome, no prob." He said in his cheery voice on the other end of the phone. "I'll see you when you return to class then. Bye."
"Well, uh… ok. Bye" And with that she hung up the phone with a dazed look on her face. Well that went easier than expected. A moment of silence was spent staring at the phone before the girl realized that there was a certain half demon in her room and he broke another one of her things.
Mrs. Higrashi was downstairs busy with making everyone's lunch when she heard her daughter yell angrily, "Inuyasha!" The woman at the stove couldn't help but giggle to herself as she poured the noodles into separate bowls.
Kagome flopped down on her bed with a frustrated sigh. She could feel a headache coming on. Inuyasha went over to the side of her bed and sat down on the floor with his back against the bed, pouting because he got in trouble again.
It was quiet for a moment but Kagome broke the silence with another sigh and rolled over so she was facing Inuyasha's back. Without saying anything, she absentmindedly moved her hand over to Inuyasha's ear since it was right there and began to play with his furry ear. Inuyasha just sat there, staring out the window, enjoying Kagome's touch.
And with that the anger left the room. The only thing that broke their silence after that was Kagome's mother calling them down for lunch.
The two made their way down the stairs, Kagome wincing only once as he stepped down too hard on her bruised ankle but she waved it off saying that it was fine. The two sat at the table and Mrs. Higurashi brought over two bowls of steaming hot noodles. But before she sat down, Kagome's mother went back to the stove and brought over two more bowls.
"Who's the other bowl for?" Kagome asked, pointing at the extra bowl in her mom's hand.
"For Inuyasha of course," Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she placed the second bowl in front of the half demon.
Inuyasha looked up from his bowl at Kagome's mother with a surprised look on his face. "Thamk chuu," He said his thanks, his mouth already full of noodles.
"You're very welcome dear," Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she sat down beside Kagome. "But before you get the other bowl of noodles, you have to answer my question from last night."
Inuyasha swallowed his noodles and looked over at the woman sitting beside Kagome. Kagome also put down her chopsticks and looked at her mother. Question?
"Are my grandchildren going to have cute doggie ears like you?"
Kagome chocked on the noodles that she was chewing on and had to down a full class of orange juice in order to get the mouthful of noodles down. She coughed loudly as she saved herself from her lunch and looked at her mother with a shocked expression.
"MOM!" She yelled in embarrassment.
o-o-o-o
After lunch was finished, Mrs. Higurashi cleaned up in the kitchen and went out to the truck while Kagome went upstairs to get dressed.
Kagome was still blushing after what her mother asked. She tried to hide her embarrassment with acting all angry when really she was very flustered. She grabbed a shirt and a pair of jean shorts and headed to the bathroom. "Inuyasha, I'm going to take a quick shower... You can go outside or…. something."
"'Kay," He said, while lying on her bed. When he heard the water running behind the closed door of the bathroom, the half demon got up and jumped out her window. He landed on the ground without a sound and looked down at the broken pink alarm clock. Letting out a frustrating sigh, Inuyasha walked over to the God Tree and jumped up into its branches.
The God Tree hadn't changed very much between his time and Kagome's time and the half demon didn't waste any time in finding his favourite branch to lounge on. If he concentrated his hearing, he could pick up on all the sounds of the city but he focused on Kagome's humming from the bath room. Leaning against the truck of the tree, Inuyasha let out a sigh of content. He closed his eyes and felt the wind blow through his hair - it was peaceful in Kagome's era, no demons to deal with.
When Kagome was done her shower, she dried off and got dressed before going into her room. She thought she would have found Inuyasha in there but all she found was Inuyasha's sword Tetsusaiga lying on her bed. Taking a guess at where he was, she walked out of her room and headed outside.
It didn't take her long to find the half demon up in the green leaves of the God Tree. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky and there was a gentle breeze playing with the leaves of the trees around the shrine.
Kagome walked into the shade of the tree and looked up at Inuyasha. "Come on, Mom's waiting for us down in the truck." She called up into the tree.
"I'ma coming," Inuyasha answered back and jumped out landing in front of Kagome.
"Here," She said, holding a hat in her hands. She saw the annoyed expression on his face as he looked down at the hat. "Sorry but people in my time haven't seen someone with dog ears. There are no demons in my time and it would freak some people out."
Inuyasha didn't say anything but Kagome could hear the growl he was holding back. "Fine," He said gruffly and let Kagome lead him to the truck where her mother was waiting.
When Mrs. Higurashi saw her daughter and Inuyasha coming towards the car, she smiled from where she sat in the driver's seat. She watched as her daughter talked to Inuyasha about something and then started laughing at something the dog demon had said. 'My little Kagome has grown up so fast. It wasn't just a coincidence that she fell down the well and ended up 500 years in the past. She doesn't belong in this time; she belongs in Inuyasha's time.'
Just then, Kagome opened the door to the truck. "Hey Mom, sorry we took so long. Inuyasha didn't agree with the hat idea at first." She giggled as the half demon behind her grumbled something.
"That's alright dear. We're in no hurry." Mrs. Higurashi smiled to her daughter. 'Just don't grow up too soon.'
It took quite a lot of coaxing just to convince Inuyasha that the truck wasn't going to eat him. The half demon had never seen a vehicle before and wasn't sure what to think of it. When they finally got him to sit in the seat and figured out how to put the seatbelt on, Mrs. Higurashi started the truck.
"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" The half demon almost jumped out of his skin. "Kagome!" He yelled in fear and instantly clung to Kagome in fear of the monster from her time.
Kagome was surprised at the sudden closeness between her and the half demon. "Inuyasha…. Inuyasha, it's ok," She said calmly but trying to hold in her giggle. "It's ok, Mom just started the truck. It will start moving now but it's ok."
Inuyasha slowly let go of Kagome as he looked around the truck once more and gave a weary sigh. This time was just way too weird – the food was good, but everything else was so different. Why couldn't they just walk?
Mrs. Higurashi slowly let go of the break and the truck moved a bit. Inuyasha saw that the truck was moving and grabbed onto Kagome's hand. He didn't like this 'truck' or whatever it was called.
Kagome looked down at their hands and then at the frightened Inuyasha. She squeezed his hand and smiled, "It's ok, trust me."
o-o-o-o
To Inuyasha, the trip in the truck took forever but it really wasn't that long. In a couple short minutes they made it to the mall and Kagome helped Inuyasha out of the truck. He was happy to get out of the weird thing that moved.
"That is one thing I do not like about your time." He growled at the parked truck but then when he turned to follow Kagome, he stopped and looked with wide eyes at where Kagome and her mother had brought him.
The mall wasn't the biggest shopping centre in the city but it was the first shipping mall the half demon had been to. There were so many people and new smalls overpowering his demon senses. "Wow," was all he could get out as he looked around him.
But then there was a sudden gust of wind that lifted the hat off of the dog demon's head. Kagome let out a gasp and ran after the fly-away hat as fast as she could. She managed to get it back quickly but the few seconds that it had been off of Inuyasha's head was enough for some people to see.
"Did that guy have ears that looked like a dog's?"
"Look at his weird outfit."
"He has such long, silver hair."
Inuyasha could hear everyone around them whispering. "Uh… Kagome, I think we should get out of here." He growled, not liking all the negative attention he was getting.
Kagome looked around at the people who were standing around them and looking. "Come on," she said as she pulled Inuyasha after her mother who had walked into the mall already.
The mall was huge and so full of life. There were people everywhere, walking down the walkways that lead to so many different stores. Inuyasha looked all around and looked up, seeing that there was even a second level with even more stores. There was just no end to this giant place. And according to Kagome, it wasn't even the biggest shipping market in her area.
Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome dragged Inuyasha around everywhere, showing him electronic stores, book stores, mini grocery stores and even pet stores. They showed him the food court, and then dragged him over to where the clothing stores were on the second level.
They had been walking around for about two hours when Mrs. Higurashi suddenly remembered something. Letting out a slight gasp, she looked at the watch on her wrist. "Oh! I just remembered that I have to pick Sota and Grandpa up in about half an hour. I should get going if I'm going to make it in time."
"Where did they go?" Kagome asked as she turned around to look at her mother. The fingers of her left hand were intertwined with Inuyasha's fingers so he wouldn't wander off too far.
"Sota was sleeping over at a friend's house and I have to pick up Grandpa at the airport. He was out of town for a few days at a Bonsai Tree convention." Leave it to Grandpa to go so some 'old-man' convention. "You two stay here and shop. I'll go buy you a new alarm clock and desk lamp on my way out and I'll come pick you up in an hour."
"Ok, thanks Mom." Kagome smiled and turned to smile at Inuyasha. But the half demon was too busy looking at everything around him. She turned back to her mother, "We'll meet you at the south entrance at 4:00?"
Mrs. Higurashi looked at her wristwatch and then back at her daughter. "Ok sounds like a plan. I'll see you two in a bit then. Have fun." She gave Kagome a quick kiss on the forehead and then left to go back towards the truck.
When her mother left, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and squeezed his hand to get his attention. The half demon looked down at her with a tilt of his head. "Shall we go get you a new outfit?" Kagome asked and before Inuyasha could answer, she pulled him towards the nearest clothing store.
o-o-o-o
The store Kagome led the half demon into was playing the latest upbeat music and was busy with several high school students looking around at the clothing racks. Kagome took a quick look at the men's section, deemed it suitable for their mission and dragged Inuyasha over towards the clothes.
While Kagome and looking through the hangers one of the store associates walked up to the couple. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Kagome looked over at the girl who greeted them. "Oh, hi. We're just trying to find him something to wear." Kagome explained with a tint of blush on her cheeks as she watched the girl in front of them look at Inuyasha's clothes.
"I see…" The girl's voice faded quietly as she looked over at Inuyasha. "Shopping for your boyfriend?" She questioned as she looked up at the half demon who had his arms crossed over his chest in a very tough looking stance.
"Umm… yeah," Kagome blushed as she looked up at Inuyasha who stayed quiet.
"Well how about I put together a couple of outfits for him to try on? Is there anything that he would like in particular?" The girl asked, not wanting to ask the standoffish guy himself.
Kagome took a moment to look up at Inuyasha. The half demon just looked down at her with a questioning look but didn't say anything as Kagome turned back to the girl in front of them. "Umm, a little bit of everything might be good."
"Will do." The girl chirped happily and ran off to collect some clothes for Inuyasha to try on.
o-o-o-o
A couple minutes later the girl brought back several folded clothes and pulled led Inuyasha over to one of the nearby changing rooms.
As the half demon was pushed into the changing room, he was suddenly hit in the head by the clothes as the girl flung the clothes over the closed door. He wasn't the claustrophobic type but he didn't like to be push around, but managed to keep his cool. With the clothes hanging over the edge of the door, the half demon picked up one of the pieces of clothing and realized he had no idea what to do with it.
"I think this might take a while," he heard Kagome's voice on the other side of the door. "He can be a pit picky about clothes."
"Ok, I'll go see if I can find anything else for him," he heard the girl say happily. "I'll be back in a little while. Let me know if he likes anything." Inuyasha then heard her footsteps go off through the store.
There was a knock at the door. "Inuyasha? Do you want some help?" Kagome's voice on the other side.
"Some help would be nice," he answered as pulled open the door to let Kagome in. When they shut the door behind them, the half demon looked down at Kagome and realized that there was limited space in the changing room.
"Ok, l-let's try this shirt on," Kagome stuttered as she pulled one of the shirts off the door. She tried to hide her blushing face as Inuyasha started to untie his haori and undershirt. She handed him a dark blue shirt and helped him pull it over his head and arms through the sleeves.
When the half demon had the shirt on, Kagome stepped back - figuratively due to the limited space – and looked at how well the shirt looked on Inuyasha. The shirt fit him nicely but dark blue wasn't his colour. "I think you should go with the red, it seems to be your colour," she remarked and helped Inuyasha take the shirt off.
With luck, the store worked hard grabbed a red shirt so Kagome got the dog demon to try it on. It was a simple red button-down collared shirt but with faded black tribal markings along the ribs. Kagome deemed it suitable for Inuyasha and then they moved onto the pants.
But for the pants portion of the dressing, Kagome quickly explained how to dress and left the changing room with a fresh layer of blush on her cheeks.
"How are we doing over here?" The store helper asked as she walked back over to the changing rooms.
"We're doing pretty good," Kagome answered and just as she did, the door opened up and the newly dressed Inuyasha stepped out.
The half demon left the red tribal shirt on and dressed in a pair of black cargo pants. Kagome quickly went to find a pair of sandals for him to try on and his outfit was complete. He stood outside the change room with his arms folded over his chest and the hat still resting on top of his head.
"Wow, you look great," the store worker pointed out as she looked over at the dog demon. "You seem to like that hat huh?" The girl pointed out but when the guy in front of her gave her a stern look she quickly stopped smiling. "So uh… can I get you anything else?"
"No I think we're good here, we'll get these." Kagome said as she secretly elbowed Inuyasha in the side for the glare.
The store associate took them over to the counter and Kagome paid for everything while Inuyasha played around with the new dog-tag necklace that Kagome added to his outfit. When everything was paid for, Kagome thanked the store helper and then led Inuyasha to the food court to get something to eat.
They sat in the food court for a while, eating the noodles that Kagome had bought at one of the restaurants. Inuyasha could still hear some people whispering about him, the uncommon hair colour of his was getting him lots of attention but at least it wasn't as bad as when he was still wearing his own clothes.
"What do you think of your new clothes?" Kagome asked as if she could read his mind.
"It'll take some getting used to but they're ok," Inuyasha said lightly, taking more noodles from his bowl with his chopsticks. The new clothes that Kagome had gotten him weren't as comfortable as his clothes but he figured it was only because he wasn't used to them.
After a moment of silence between the two, Kagome looked down at her watch. "Come on, we got some time left. Do you want to go to the arcade?" She offered as she cleaned up their lunch.
"Ar-cade?" He tilted his head in confusion. "What's that?"
"It's a place where people go and play games for fun," Kagome grabbed his hand and led him towards the arcade. The arcade was full of noises of ringing and sirens, buzzers and squeals of little children having fun with the games.
"This should be a piece of cake for you, Inuyasha." She said as she handed him the hammer. "All you have to do is hit the little creatures when they pop out of the holes." She saw Inuyasha smile and added quickly: "But you can't use you demon powers or you're going to break the game." She pointed to the screen. "If you miss ten of them, then the game is done."
"Ok, I get it," Inuyasha said as he got read for what might happen as the game started.
"Remember, the hammer is not Tetsusaiga," Kagome warned as she put two coins into the machine. The screen lit up as the game came to life.
"Are you ready, warrior?" A voice came from the game announced as the game started. "3… 2… 1… GO!"
A mole popped up from one of the holes at the base of the game. Inuyasha saw it and quickly moved to hit it, making it squeal and go back into the hole.
"That's it Inuyasha!" Kagome cheered beside the half demon. "Oh, over there!"
Whack! 20 points.
Whack! 40 points.
Whack! Whack! 80 points.
"Go Inuyasha!" Kagome cheered.
Whack! 120 points.
Whack! Whack! 160 points.
'This is a piece of cake.' Inuyasha thought as the machine announced that he had beaten the next level. The moles started to pop up faster now but it was still slow compared to his demon reflexes.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Some kids had stated to gather around the two at the Whack-a-Mole game for they were interested in how far the game would go. Inuyasha didn't mind the children around him and kept his eyes on the moles that popped up. Inuyasha continued on, whacking each and every mole, not missing on and not even breaking a sweat. This was just too easy for him; his demon senses gave him the ultimate advantage.
o-o-o-o
Ten minutes later the half demon was still going! Everyone in the arcade was crowded around him, wanting to see how far he would be able to go. Even the guy who owned the arcade was watching.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
All the kids around the machine started to cheer loudly every time the half demon made it through a new level. Even people who were sitting in the nearby food court came over to see what all the fuss was about. "Go! Go! Go!" They all chanted for Inuyasha.
"Level 18!" The voice of the game announced and everyone cheered louder. No one in history of the mall had ever gotten this far. The little critters were popping out of the moles like crazy but the half demon was still hitting them just as fast as they popped out.
Whack! Whack! Whack! 9,900 points.
Whack! Whack! Whack! 9,980 points.
The last mole came up, almost in slow motion as Inuyasha brought the hammer down and hit it. The game's screen started to flash. No more moles popped their head up. The owner came up and checked the machine.
"Yup," he said, hitting the machine a couple times. "You were playing so long, that the game was overrun. You beat the game!"
Everyone jumped up and down, cheering for the new 'Whack a Mole' champion.
Inuyasha didn't understand what the big fuss was. It was almost a shock to see how many people there were crowded around him; he hadn't paid any attention to anything but the game. The store owner led Inuyasha and Kagome over to the front desk, where all the prizes were. "Take your pick. You beat the game so you can pick whatever one you want."
Inuyasha looked at all the stuffed animals. There were giant lizards and snakes of every colour, but there was on that caught his eye. It was a giant puppy. "That one," he said and pointed to his choice.
The owner smiled and walked over to the shelf to get the targeted stuffed animal. He got it down for Inuyasha and smiled at the couple. "That was the best game I've seen since I opened this arcade! Come back soon, ok?"
Inuyasha thanked the man as he and Kagome made their way out of the arcade. All the kids who had watched the amazing game waved to the dog demon as they saw the couple leave. Kagome and Inuyasha went back to the food court and sat down on one of the benches near the artificial trees.
"That was so amazing Inuyasha!" Kagome jumped in excitement on the bench as she turned to the half demon beside her.
Inuyasha looked over at the raven haired girl beside him and smiled. He handed her the giant stuff puppy that he had won from the game store. "Here, I want you to have it."
Kagome took the giant puppy from Inuyasha and looked at it for a moment. The stuffed animal was white with yellow eyes. Yellow – but not like Inuyasha's golden eyes. The puppy even had white ears like Inuyasha's. She set the puppy down on the beach and gave Inuyasha a hug. "Thank you," she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Just then before Inuyasha could say anything, Kagome's watched beeped. Kagome looked down at her wristwatch and saw that it was 4:00. "Oh we have to go, Mom should be here to pick us up."
Taking Inuyasha's hand in one of hers and the stuffed puppy in her other hand, they headed off to the south entrance to meet Mrs. Higurashi.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
The Storm by AniuLonewolf