A/N: So sorry for not updating! To be honest, I have a lot of this story written—more than most of you would probably care to read, but it's on one word document, and I have to break them up onto separate documents to upload them. And I am lazy. Very, very lazy :P But here is the next chapter, and hopefully I will remember to put up some others!
Chapter seventeen: $hopping
Kagome ran out of the main castle as quickly as she could, with the money she had in her hands. Kaede stayed true to her words, and was waiting patiently at the bus stop, and no one else was there, either.
Kagome boarded the bus quickly, and Kaede hit the gas, hard, causing Kagome to stumble backwards slightly, as she lost her footing.
"Kaede! Watch it!" She scolded.
"Sorry child, we just have to get there soon, ye were late, and I might be late for my next bus shift."
"Oh, sorry then, and thank you for doing this."
Kaede nodded, and took a sharp turn. Kagome bit her tongue, she knew the old lady meant well, plus it was basically her own fault, she had been late, it was nice of Kaede to even bother to take her to the city. Kagome glanced out the window to look at the seemingly endless poppy fields. They looked like little fallen clouds resting on the surface of the earth. She found it rather odd that plants could even grow in such a climate; the surrounding area was 100% desert. The kingdom must use a lot of resources to get enough water to grow anything. Kagome sighed, she wondered what she would get Sango to cheer her up. Inuyasha gave her five hundred dollars, so her budget wasn't unlimited, but it would do very nicely, she desperately wanted to pay him back, but didn't know how. She pondered this for a second, she felt like Santa going on a mini-spree. She chuckled, imagining herself in a giant Santa costume, having crying little kids sit on her lap while they got their picture taken. She laughed aloud. Kagome always wondered what the other world was like, the free one. A world where there was freedom and equality spread throughout the land. One not ruled by lords, or kings of any sort. They did have a government, or so she had heard. Kagome was once again whipped out of her thoughts by hitting her head on the back of another seat on the bus.
"Child, we're here, I'll be here to pick you up at 5:00 PM, don't be late child!" Kaede warned.
Kagome said good-bye to Kaede, and stepped off the bus, only to have her senses over ridden with the scent of smog, grime, alcohol, and many other unpleasant things.
Kagome crossed the road, and looked at all of the shops. There were food stores, that Kagome ignored, she wanted to get her friend something special, that would last a long time. Minutes seemed to pass by like seconds, there were so many sights to see in this city, and Kagome wouldn't be able to see half of them. Kagome finally decided to pull into a small trinket shop.
The store was really cozy, it almost felt like she really was Christmas shopping. Kagome glanced at the small displays, and items on the shelves, but none of them seemed like Sango's style. The store clerk looked at her in question, but Kagome shrugged it off, and continued browsing. Kagome really had to restrain herself, as she liked everything she saw, but she was shopping for Sango, not herself. Kagome sighed in defeat, wished the saleswoman a good day, and walked glumly out the door, causing the little bell to ring on her way out.
It took Kagome nearly thirty minutes, and she still hadn't seen anything she liked for Sango. She had, however, bought herself a cute fuzzy diary, and pen for only 6.99. It was just so cute, and Kagome just couldn't help herself. The girl sat on a bench, and looked around. She was about to give up when a pet store caught her eye. 'Perfect!' She thought. Kagome rushed over to the store, and began to look at every little animal there; they were all so cute! One in particular caught her eye; it was a small cat. A most unusual thing too, it was a beige cream color, with two big red eyes. Its ears had black tips to them, and so did its two tails. She assumed it was a demon cat, more or less.
"Can I help you, miss?" The salesman asked.
"Yes, um, how much is this cat here?"
"That thing? It's been here for years, we were actually going to put it to sleep. Are you sure you want it?"
"That's terrible! What is wrong with her?"
"It is a demon, that fact scares most people away, it doesn't seem to get along with too many people either."
"Can I hold her for a minute, and decide for myself?"
"Sure, please take her if you like—free of charge."
Kagome eyed the man suspiciously, but thought better of it. He took the small cat out of the small cage it had been kept in. Kagome laughed slightly as the cat demon hissed, and snapped at the man, the cat jumped angrily from him, and into Kagome's lap with much grace.
"Hey there baby! Aren't you just the cutest?" Kagome laughed, toying with the demon cat. The animal gave no objections, and purred, chasing Kagome's fingers across the floor as she moved them.
"Awe, Sango will just love you!" Kagome cooed. The cat demon bounced up into Kagome's lap and snuggled with her newfound friend. Kagome stood up, and picked the cat up, and placed her on the counter.
"Excuse me, sir, but how much would that bow, and bells be? Oh, and maybe a cage too?"
"Well, I can just give you the bow and bell honestly, they come with the animal if you want, and then the cage will be 45.63." He said.
Kagome rummaged through the only pocket in her kimono, and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. The sales clerk eyed it warily, and then put the bill into the cash register, and began to pull out change, but Kagome stopped him.
"No, it's alright, just keep the change, I just need the things in a hurry, I'm going to miss my bus!"
The man wasted no time in pulling out the box for the cage, and took a red bow, and two silver bells attached by strings, and handed them to Kagome. She grabbed them, and ran out the door, glancing at the large clock in the middle of the city square. It read, 4:55. Kagome moved as fast as her legs would carry her, with her lugging the huge cage and trying to grasp the slipping bow, bells and diary, with the cat demon following suit.
With not a second to spare, Kagome put her things down at the bus stop, as Kaede pulled up with her bus. The cat demon stared blankly at Kagome and mewed, trying to say something to its master.
"What is it girl?" Kagome asked. The cat pointed its head in the direction of the approaching bus.
"Awe, it's just a bus, no need to worry, um… Hmm, I guess I'll have to figure out a name for you, huh?" Kagome smiled.
The cat mewed happily, and then much to Kagome's surprise, leapt onto her shoulder. Kagome regained her balance, and then smiled, picking up her box and other things. She slowly made her way up the steps of the bus, and smiled at Kaede.
"Looks like Sango should be happy, no?" Kaede grinned.
Kagome nodded, and placed the box on a seat in the front, and Kagome sat on the seat parallel to it. She informed Kaede of all of the things she saw, and what she had experienced, while Kaede would occasionally nod, or reply.
Kagome sat there, petting the cat's two tails absent-mindedly, looking out the window. Her conversation with Kaede had long ended, and that resulted in Kagome being bored out of her mind. Fortunately, the bus ride was coming to an end. Soon Kagome found herself exiting the bus, and walking cautiously over to the place she called home. Kagome peered in the screen door, checking for Sango. Another bonus, Sango was nowhere in sight, meaning Kagome had at least another hour until her friend returned. First thing first, Kagome had to set up the cage for the demon. She ripped open the box in a hurry, quickly dumping the contents onto the floor, like a small child opening their birthday presents.
Much to Kagome's dismay, the directions were in a completely different language, and there were many different pieces to this puzzle. She sighed, and began piecing together the cage, while the cat demon searched and explored its new home.
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Sango was busy sautéing some onions, and peppers when Hachi walked back into the kitchen. There was a rather large, and out of place butcher knife sitting well within the demon slayer's reach. The raccoon demon eyed it warily, looking fairly stressed, and continued glancing over at Sango every five minutes, as if making sure she was still there. Where could she possibly get to in such little time? Her ankle iwas/i broken after all. Finally, after the fifteenth time he looked over at her, she snapped.
"Hachi! What are you doing? What's going on? Tell me inow! /i" She exclaimed in fury, clutching the butcher knife.
Hachi stumbled back a few steps, and accidentally placed his hand on a very hot frying pan.
"Ouch!! Oh, owee!!!" He cried.
"Hachi!" Sango screamed in a warning tone, limping towards him.
"Oh, oh!! My hand! Sango, Master Miroku merely asked me to…owe…look after you…owe." He said.
"Well stop! It's getting annoying! That creep Miroku probably couldn't care less about me anyways! He'd probably think I was ilying/i or something anyways." She said in an extremely bitter tone.
"Sango, maybe you should take the rest of the day off, you seem just a little tense." Hachi suggested, backing away from the angered woman. Suddenly her facial expression changed completely. There was now a happy little smile gracing her lips, along with starry eyes that could make anyone's heart melt on the spot.
"Oh! Thank you sir!" Sango exclaimed, hobbling over to Hachi, and giving him a bear hug.
Hachi blushed, and backed away in terror, fearing what his master would do to him for hugging his lady.
"Um, your welcome Sango, now go before you miss the six `o clock bus."
Sango dashed out of the kitchen as fast as she possibly could in crutches, and headed to sign out for the day.
There were only a couple of the names on the sheet for signing out for the day, and Sango immediately recognized one name; Higurashi, Kagome. Sango was slightly jealous of her friend's early dismissal, but thought better of it when she recalled everything Kagome had been through. Sango herself had been through the same thing, she had lost all of her family too, but she had at least been able to go to their funeral. Plus, she had many friends to pull her through, and wasn't beaten nearly as harshly or as many times as Kagome had when she had gotten here. These thoughts brought Sango back to her past as she absent-mindedly walked out the door and to the bus stop. She missed her brother probably the most; he had always been so nice to her, unlike so many other younger brothers. He had looked up to her, and she wasn't even there to protect him when he needed her the most. Sango put shame on herself for not saving her brother, but what had happened in the past cannot be changed, it was written in stone now. Still, she wished she had a second chance with her family.
Sango forced her thoughts to a dark corner in her mind; she really didn't want to relive those horrors and tragedies in her past. She tapped her foot as to try and pass time by entertaining herself with pointless little games. At long last the bus finally approached the stop, and Sango boarded. There were very few other people on the bus, and she was glad, she didn't feel like dodging countless people and such.
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Kagome put the final touches on the metal cage, and admired her work. The cage looked almost like the same thing on the box, she congratulated herself for actually making the right shape. Like it was said previously, she wasn't one who normally figured things out right away.
Kagome stood, and stretched her limbs; they were all bunched up from sitting on the floor for nearly an hour. The small cat trotted along, and rubbed its soft, furry head on Kagome's leg. It tickled enough to cause Kagome to reflexively kick, startling the poor creature. It darted to the other side of the room, and looked at Kagome with accusing, bright red eyes. Kagome laughed, and walked over to the cat and picked it up, petting it's silky smooth fur.
The girl rummaged around for the bow and bells that she had obtained, and tied them around the cat's neck. The creature tried to shake it off, and ended up making the silver bells jingle. The cat looked at Kagome in horror as if it had just completely shaved her fur right off.
"I'll take it off when Sango gets here, okay? In the mean time, you just pretend that you like it." Kagome laughed, and went outside to go do some laundry.