Chapter 37
Shooting a glare up at the awning above, Inuyasha double checked it was giving him as good coverage as it got given the limited available options around. He hunched back against the mud plaster wall, arms crossed tight over his chest, while one foot tapped irritably as he waited.
The problem wasn't the waiting part.
Being in proximity of this many humans and the concentrated level of stimuli was enough to overwhelm his delicate senses, which in turn frayed his nerves.
He hated being in rowdy villages for an extended period of time.
But...
His gaze returned to the petite woman lingering at the vendor's stall. A delicate smile played on her lips as her fingers gently grazed the carved hair stick in her hands. After the merchant returned with the change, she turned to Inuyasha, shaking the procured item a little in emphasis with a silly victorious grin.
Seeing how pleased Kagome was with picking out something for Kaede, he'd been so tempted to casually suggest that she pick out something for herself as well. Luckily, he bit his tongue in time. Although people tend to think him stupid and uncultured—no better than a common mutt—he did actually know some things.
Like a man buying a woman any sort of hair accessory belies an underlying romantic intent. Though he wasn't sure if Kagome, being from a different world than his, would pick up on it, Inuyasha wanted to avoid anything that might make her uncomfortable with him.
Besides, they were just friends. Right? Right.
"Inuyasha! Look," There was a slight pull of his robe as Kagome materialized beside him, grabbing his sleeve. "Isn't it pretty? Do you think Kaede will like it?"
"Keh." He shuffled a couple of steps away from her. "She'll probably like anything you get her."
Kagome was still distracted, attention drawn by the various vendors hawking their wares. Fortunate for him, because she hadn't notice his awkward movements to distance himself from her.
She might be rather clueless, but he wasn't. The judging stares from more than a few humans in the marketplace was almost physically palpable, so much so that they might as well just throw stone at him and get it over with.
He didn't know if they were just that dumb to not realize he can hear everything or if they wanted him to, while being too chicken shit to say it to his face. The life he'd lead thus far had ensured he was well desensitized to the whispered jeers of him being a dirty hanyou bewitching a human. But it was the nasty comments about Kagome that really got his blood boiling.
He really didn't want Kagome to get caught up in this bullshit—he knew firsthand how ugly it could go. Fuck knows, the events of the last couple of days was more than enough.
"Ooooo, I wanna get some meat buns for later! Hang on, I'll be right back!"
Before he could get a word out, the pesky girl darted off amongst the stalls again. Inuyasha growled under his breath and rubbed his face in annoyance.
The marketplace was noisy as fuck, so it was rather peculiar that the faint sounds of a scuffle drifted to his over stimulated ears. Twitching, said appendages quickly located the source of the noise to be just down a side alley not too far from where he was standing.
"No! I don't want to-"
"Damn brat!"
His sharp eyes made out the rough outline of a beefy man and the huddled form of a kid, whose arm was wrenched upwards in an uncomfortable grip.
There were too many smells, including some god-awful noxious perfume of sorts in the vicinity completely overwhelming his nose, so he couldn't really discern what the hell was happening.
Still, something made his feet move before his brain could come up with a rational argument against looking for more trouble.
"Oi." He growled. "Let go of the kid."
Up close, the boy was no more than five years old or he was just a runt for his age. Clothed in tattered rags, it was obvious he was from a poor family, if not straight up living on the streets.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the kid jerked his arm back out of the man's grasp and scrambled away.
The man was weirdly silent for a second before looking up. From behind stringy bangs that partially obscured his face, beady eyes reflected a crazed glint in the dim alley.
"Who the fuck are you to interfere?"
Ballsy.
He'd give the man that. There was rarely any human that would brazenly stand up to him after seeing his youkai features. Must think that with all his muscles he'd stand a fighting chance against a hanyou.
Then, apparently changing his mind in an instant, the man spat against the wall, then glared at the trembling kid.
"Guess it's your lucky day."
The man chuckled, coming out as one short, low sound. Then he turned and walked further into the darkness of the alley, away from the main streets.
Inuyasha glared at the retreating form for a while longer before turning away and heading back to the market. The human child scampered behind him, sticking close near his legs.
Once back out into the main square but still to the side near the bordering buildings, Inuyasha dropped down to crouch at the kids' level.
His nose was still scrambled by whatever frickin' perfume someone was selling but at least, visually the kid seemed to be largely unharmed. Just dirty, and snivelling.
God this is awkward.
Like what the hell do you do with crying brats?
Usually they ran away from him crying so he didn't have to worry about it. This one was just standing there, rubbing his eyes with tiny, grubby fists.
Inuyasha coughed, scratching the side of his head.
"Umm, ya ok, kid?" He finally croaked out after several attempts.
"Uh huh." Brown eyes peered at him hesitantly.
"Well," He asked. "Ya got a house to get back to or somethin'?"
"Uh huh."
"Then hurry up and go." He directed roughly, making a shooing motion that he hoped didn't come off as aggressive. "Stay out of the back streets."
The child blinked at him curiously for another few seconds, eyes wandered up to the top of his head and back.
"Thank you, Mister." Came a last shy whisper before the kid turned and ran away.
Inuyasha breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Damn that was harder than fighting a whole youkai hoard.
On cue, a familiar tinkle of a giggle drifted from behind him.
Amidst all the kerfuffle, Inuyasha had no idea exactly when Kagome had returned and started observing the interaction.
There she was, standing a few paces back, fingers fiddling with the greasy package of food she'd just procured for them.
Her gaze drifted back from watching the retreating form of the little kid to meet his. Her grey eyes twinkled with a hint of teasing but the smile playing on her lips was soft and fond.
"You're so kind, Inuyasha." Kagome said simply.
The default setting of his brain was to snap right back and retort, so it was quite fortunate that he managed to bite his tongue before anything knee-jerk offensive tumbled out. It took a good five seconds for him to compute that there was no sarcasm in her tone whatsoever.
"K-keh." He managed to sputter out, dropping eye contact as something utterly appalling-bashfulness?- blindsided him. "C'mon, if you're done, let's get out of this shitty place already."
He strode past in what he hoped was a semblance of his usual purposefulness. As he brushed by Kagome's arm, the girl dared to let one more annoying giggle escape.
She grinned cheekily and grabbed his sleeve, keeping pace with his steps as they made their way out of the village.
As they moved further away, his senses finally started to clear and he could detect a hint of the savory buns Kagome was so enthused about. When they crested the hill overlooking the village, Kagome paused, turning back to take one more sweeping look. A contemplative expression settled over her face, and the tiniest crease crinkled the space between her eyebrows.
In turn, Inuyasha frowned at the collection of buildings in the distance. Was she already missing the familiarity and comfort of a human settlement? He had a hard time guessing her thoughts exactly. And like the sucker he was, always walking into some self-inflicted anguish, he had to open his mouth and confirm.
"Oi, if you're having second thoughts, there's still time to go back." He offered gruffly. Kagome whirled around to blink at him in mild confusion. 'Ya know, why'd you refuse earlier to stay another night?"
Understanding dawning on her features, Kagome hurried to reply. "Inuyasha, that's not it. "
She pursed her lips, chewing on words she never ended up spitting out. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
"Jinenji and his mom is so sweet, but... I dunno," She murmured at last. "I just didn't like how everyone else... did things. Annyyway, let's get going! Didn't you say you wanted to leave already?"
She ran ahead down the path, obviously intent on steering him away from the topic of conversation. They continued on walking alongside each other, passing by the rice fields in the outskirts of town. To play it safe, he probably wasn't going to pick her up and run with her until they reached better coverage in the trees.
"Ne, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah?"
"D-did that happen to you too, like at villages you were at before you came to ours?" Kagome continued hesitantly. "Bullied and stuff... I mean."
"You think I'd take that lying down?" He growled.
"Ha... right." The smile on her face was awkward and forced. She didn't look like she believed that was all to it.
Inuyasha had no idea what possessed him to tell her something he'd never said aloud, let alone to another person, but the words spilled out with a mind of their own.
"I... couldn't be with either. 'Cause I wasn't either. Not a human... not a youkai."
Kagome stopped walking and he could feel the weight of her gaze scorching the back of his head.
"If I wanted a home, I'd have to take it by force. But then, what's the meaning of that." He paused, hating how his voice got all coarse. "I just lived like that... alone. It was the only way I knew."
It was dangerous how easily she got inside his walls.
"Inuyasha." Her words were soft. "I'm... so happy."
Da' fuck? What? Did she just listen to a word he just said? Is she secretly evil?
He spun around on his heel and fixed her with an angry glower.
"Wow. Woman, seriously? That's your response?"
She was unfazed. Instead Kagome gave him a little smile. "It's just... this is the first time you've shared your feelings with me like this."
His eyes widened.
"That kind of shit makes you happy?"
"Yeah. Friends share like this." She bobbed her head as she explained. "I want to know what hurts you and what your thoughts are about things. Happy or sad."
He was stunned speechless for some time, not having any experience with these awkward-ass conversations .
Finally, he whirled back around, crossing his arms and huffed. "Bah! You make me sound like a wuss!"
He stomped forward, not wanting her to catch sight of his face, which felt like it was gonna go up in flames.
Thankfully, Kagome spared him any further uncomfortable talk, instead resuming her usual chatter about random things as they travelled on.
They made a fair distance the rest of the afternoon into early evening with him carrying her before at last calling it day. Setting up camp was by now a smooth affair, having gotten their routine down.
Inuyasha leaned back, poking idly at the low fire, watching as dark embers exploded into a flare of fiery dust. He glanced at the soft lump of blankets nestled by a nearby tree trunk, glowing eyes observing the peaceful rise and fall as Kagome breathed.
The trill of the cicadas was periodically punctuated by the light breeze rustling the canopy above; it made for a serene soundtrack for the night.
Reflecting back on the eventful last couple of days, Inuyasha was honestly surprised at how peaceful everything had resolved. As Kagome asked him earlier, he was indeed too familiar with these sorts of situations and they hardly ever turned out so nicely.
Nevertheless, he was secretly glad.
He hadn't come across many hanyou. And to see another one like him... living with his mother, and successfully etching out some sort of marginal coexistence in a human village. It was almost as rare as striking gold.
Beside him, Kagome murmured something incomprehensible.
His eyes glittered as her watched her sleeping form.
"It's alright, isn't it? Because you're not alone now."
That's what Kagome had said to him earlier.
It was true, wasn't it? Somehow, without him noticing, slowly but surely, this had become his new norm. Him, a hanyou, having this sort of casual, peaceful companionship with a human girl.
When did it happen... that it seems so natural to have Kagome beside him.
His home.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: *ahhhhhh* one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. It's a guilty pleasure to basically paraphrase it here. Sorry, not sorry:P
I say this every time but all your kind comments give me life 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.