"The warmth in his voice and the change in his attitude must have called to something within her, and Shippo heard the woman quickly scuttle over to him and sit so that her shoulder rested against him. He felt his fingers shamelessly reach out and weave through hers, resting their hands on his leg. Normally he'd be too shy to make such a move, but he didn't even think about it. He needed her contact. The contact of a person who he could protect, yet could also protect him. He felt her sigh and squeeze her fingers between his.
"Shippo?"
He turned his head to look at her. She still smelled like she was muffled, as if she were in a cell next to him, rather than right beside him. It was then that Shippo realized that there was probably a binding on the cell or building that hindered youkai powers.
He winced at the thought. "Awesome."
She shook his shoulder. "Shippo?"
He looked at her again. "Sumi?"
Her eyes were large and her brows pulled together. She looked alarmed, but he knew she couldn't communicate at thing to him. "Shippo!" She spoke with a sharpness she hadn't held before.
Shippo flicked his eyes around the room, still annoyed by his lack of vision. He sniffed and smelled something slightly—off.
"Shippo." Quietly, she pulled on his haori sleeve.
"I hear you…" He mumbled softly and stood in place and fixed his gaze to the opposite wall, where he assumed another cell stood. "If there is someone here with us, please answer me."
He waited for a moment before repeating his request. "Answer, now."
There was a rustle from beyond the wall and a slight grunt, which Shippo could tell was feminine in nature. A voice from beyond the stone cleared and roughly squawked. "Wh-who is it?"
He felt he should know this voice, but could not make it out beyond the jagged edges. He began to open his mouth to answer, but then heard a heavy door unlatch at the end of the hall. A small amount of light entered the tiny holding area, and Shippo felt it was in his best interest to hush up and sit back down next to Sumi. A heavy set of footsteps drew closer, yet stopped at the cell with the female whose voice sounded as if it hadn't been used in months.
Heavy boots with metal chains on them shifted from side to side as if the wearer weren't confident. "Come out." A loud chunk sound as a key unlocked the neighbor cell. Shippo could vaguely make out that the guard was a youkai. Panther youkai from the scent. He was a bit taken aback by this knowledge. Panthers were almost always self-confident.
He heard the female shuffle to the door and the panther cuff her—from what it sounded like—and lead her into the small hall. Shippo bit his tongue and held back his desire to call out to the youkai. Instead, he simply held Sumi's hand and looked in her eyes. She was wide-eyed and clearly confused as she stared back.
Shippo blinked.
Not confused. He tilted his head as he looked at her. Frightened.
Miroku liked the new clothes, and he couldn't stop touching them as he walked out of the department store with his friends. He didn't know what Inuyasha had gotten, but he saw Kagome by some new jewelry. She said it was costume, meaning pretty but inexpensive. Really very practical, the monk thought.
The three were in a "mall" and Kagome wanted to take them for ice cream, a dessert she said was wonderful. Miroku was sure it would be.
"Kagome, I wonder if—" Miroku looked up from his clothes in the bag and looked around and saw no Kagome or Inuyasha. He'd done this several times already on this visit. There was too much to look at, and he found he wandered off from the two while not paying attention. He was standing just outside of the store they shopped in, and was facing what looked like an indoor town square to him with metal seats. He was about to turn back and look for the two but saw a newly familiar face. He stopped and stared across the square to a far bench where a young woman sat, wearing what Kagome had told him was a business suit. Her long red hair was pinned up into a twist, but there was no mistaking the black tips that fanned out of the top of the clip.
"Dear Buddha." Miroku dropped the bag from his arms and let it hang from his fingers. He felt his feet go on without his consent as he rushed across the way to the woman. He stopped in the center of the floor when he saw her stand and turn in his direction to reveal pale skin and Japanese features. It was not Sumi.
Miroku let out a breath. That would have been very odd indeed. He turned to head back to the store, when he bumped his head against something equally as hard. The monk stumbled backwards and rubbed his new pain. "Owe." Opening his eyes, he saw that he had bumped into a young woman who was now rubbing between her eyes.
"Oh Christ…Sorry, I totally wasn't looking."
Miroku couldn't understand a word she said. "Excuse me?" He finished rubbing his head and looked at the woman.
She seemed to struggle for a moment, then with a thin accent Miroku couldn't place, she switched to Japanese. "I apologize. Switched into English after the pain kicked in." She was still rubbing her nose.
He nodded. He didn't know English, but could figure it was her native language. She was clearly not Japanese with her light brown hair, and a green color to her eyes he'd only seen in youkai before. She was also his height, and he wasn't short. "I apologize also. I was barely aware of where I was."
She took a moment to absorb what he said, but when she did she laughed through her hand still folded over her nose. He began to grin at her because any other time it would have been an utterly endearing mannerism, but when blood shot out of her nose and through the bottom of her hand, the effect was ruined. Miroku immediately stripped off the "hoodie" Inuyasha had loaned him and pressed it to her face.
"Oh my, I am very sorry. Here take this."
She grabbed onto the cloth without so much as glancing at what the garment was, and pressed it to her nose, taking control. Through her muffled laughs—yes she was still laughing—he could make out her apologies again and admissions to her embarrassment.
"Uh, is there a place where we can get you cleaned up?"
She nodded and pointed toward two doors, one which said "men," the other "women." Miroku grabbed her free hand and lead her toward the one marked "women" and walked smoothly through the doors. He heard her squeak as she followed him into the women's bathroom and he quickly turn to wet a paper towel under the sink.
"You're not shy at all!" Her voice was muffled as she took the damp paper towel and covered her nose again. She looked up at him as he pushed his bag of clothes under his arm and grabbed her another paper towel, but didn't wet this one. She took it and mumbled a thanks.
"Feeling better?" The young man with the earring asked as he leaned against the counter.
The woman thought perhaps she had made a mistake coming into the bathroom with a strange guy with a pony tail and earrings. Alone. She dabbed her nostrils and nodded to answer the man.
He gave her a brilliant smile and she visibly relaxed. Stupid, anyone with a great smile could use me to experiment with nukes and I'd never complain. None-the-less, she leaned back against the counter and smiled through the paper towel.
Inuyasha couldn't believe they'd lost him. The damn monk didn't even have the proper nose to sniff his way back to Kagome's home. He smacked himself in the head again, just barely keeping from knocking off his hat and exposing his ears. Between the smells of the people, the grit, the cleaning fluid, and all the stupid perfumes, the dog himself couldn't seem to distinguish the monk's individual scent.
"Can't smell him?" Kagome was rubbing his back lightly with a bag in her other hand and her purse slung over her shoulder.
He shook his head. "No. Where would he go?" Kagome shrugged.
The boy with the silver hair shoved his hands into his pockets and let out a small sigh, which Kagome would never tell him she thought was so cute. "Look," she said, placing her bag between her feet and fishing out a small box. "I was going to give this to you tonight, but we could use it now."
He sniffed at her as she unwrapped the box and the plastic within. She pulled out a bracelet with a watch face, similar to what she wore on her arm constantly, but larger and stronger looking. She smiled as she held it up to him.
"Do you like it? It's industrial strength, so short of the wind scar, it should hold up against anything you could deal to it." She giggled.
He was grinning too much as he took it and slid it over his wrist. It was the kind that showed the numbers and had the watch face. Kagome had taught him how to read it. "It's great, Kagome."
She beamed and gathered back up her bag, tossing the empty box into it. "Okay, well how about we split up and look for him. Well, meet back here when your watch says eight."
Inuyasha nodded and quickly, before he even knew what he might be planning, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to her cheek. He pulled back and saw her face before he realized what he did. His face burned as he turned and quickly growled. "See you at eight."
She stood for a moment with her finger tips in the place where his lips had been not a few second before and smiled softly before she turned to look for her friend.