InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Cinnamon and Mistletoe ❯ Chapter 6

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The living room had been cleared of furniture and an old record player had been dug out from the attic and set up on the table in the corner. Mrs. Higurashi was rolling up the carpet to take it out and her husband was watching in horror as his lovely home was being stripped and turned into an improvised dance class. Kagome, barely six and eager to help, was arranging and rearranging the cookies on a plate, taking one when she thought no one was looking. Shiori and her son were over as usual on such occasions, little Shuichi pouting in a corner. They we trying to teach the kids to dance for a school pageant.

“Why can’t you use the tape player?” Mr. Higurashi complained.

“I promise nothing will happen to your records” his wife promised. “It’s no fun to waltz to tapes”   

“Besides, it’s more fun this way. This kind of music should be live or on vinyl, tapes and CDs are too modern for it” added Shiori. “And we promise we won’t let the kids play with them”

He was still a little suspicious of this but he didn’t have the time to argue with them. He needed to get to work. “Kagome, precious, you pay attention to what these crazy ladies teach you, ok?” he told his daughter, earning a death glare from the two women. “And than you’ll dance with me properly tonight” he promised her.

Kagome abandoned the cookies and ran into her dad’s arms for a goodbye hug. “You promise you won’t get jealous if Shuichi dances with mom?” she asked.

He laughed. “I’m jealous enough knowing he’s dancing with you”

“OK, honey, get a move on. You’ll be late for work” his wife said. “You’ll have enough time tonight to dance with both of us” she promised with a smile. “Now go on and give us time to practice”

He sighed, gave Kagome a kiss on the cheek and finally left for work.

An album of Famous Waltzes was selected from the small pile of records that had been brought down from the attic and set carefully in the player. The two women were more excited about today’s lesson than the children. It made them feel like teenagers again, though waltzes weren’t exactly what they used to listen to on a regular basis. The Blue Danube started playing and Kagome was whisked away by her mother and was clumsily following her lead, mostly stumbling and laughing all the way.

Shiori found it was harder to convince her son to join in. He preferred being alone and hardly ever allowed his mother to get too close to him. He kept to himself. Dancing was a bit too intrusive for him and that was one of the reasons she had insisted he take part in the pageant. She was determined to get him out of his shell.

“I don’t need to practice” he insisted, “I can dance”

His mother raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you show me, then?”

“You’ll see at school” he insisted.

Arms akimbo, she shook her head and smiled. “Not good enough, I’m afraid.” She picked him up and, hugging him tight, began whirling around the room. His glower only making her hold him longer. “You’ll have to lighten up eventually” she told him.

Kagome and her mother were having fun in their side of the room. They had given up on waltzing, mostly because the height difference made it uncomfortable, and were now just fooling around, twirling and spinning and even trying to tango. The girl loved it.

“I don’t think we’re getting anywhere like this” Shiori complained.

“Wanna switch partners?” Kagome’s mother asked. “We can lead by example”

Shuichi was finally released and Kagome was a bit disappointed to be abandoned.

“OK, now watch us”

The two women started to dance. They kept count so the children could follow. “One, two, three, one two three…”

Kagome watched closely, itching to dance properly. Shuichi looked bored. He was startled by the girl seizing his hand and pulling him away from the wall. “You’re supposed to hold me like this” the girl explained, putting his hand on her back. She placed her hand on his back as well, unsure of how this was actually supposed to go. “One, two- sorry” she started to count, stepping on her partner. “One, two, oops” she tried again with the same result. “You could at least move your feet out of the way” she suggested. “Here we go: one, two, three, one…”

With a quick look at their mothers every now and then, Kagome managed to lead Shuichi through the dance, his greatest contribution being to get his feet out of the way in time. By the third song, they were actually dancing and by the fourth, even Shuichi was smiling.

“Shouldn’t we tell him he’s supposed to lead?”

Shiori looked at her son. “Neah. It’ll spoil his fun.” It was surprising how Kagome could always take him by surprise and pull him out of his world.


~+~


The two teenagers moved gracefully on the dance floor, caught in their own little world, without even noticing the song switching to a waltz. Without noticing, Kagome took the lead, slipping with ease into her new role.

Kurama didn’t notice the change either. He was pleased to see her relax for the first time that night. He had enjoyed her displays of emotion, but this was how she looked best. Electrifying, that was one way he could describe her. His skin prickled here he touched her. The feeling was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was the wine.

He closed his eyes and gave her full control. She guided his steps and filled his senses. A small part of him told him he should watch out. There was something dangerous in this abandon. He could feel a pull in her aura.

For a moment, he wished reality wasn’t meant to be and he hoped she did was well.

Then the music stopped and the lights went out.

He tightened his grip on her and realized her fingers were already digging deeper into his shoulder. “It’s alright” he whispered.

She shook her head, hoping he couldn’t see her in the dark.

“Not again!” an irritated voice came from across the room. “Just sit tight everyone! I’m going to get some candles so you can go back to your rooms” the voice said loudly to reassure everyone and added under her breath, just loud enough for Kurama to hear “Fucking generator!”

He focused on their surroundings. He could sense no threat. It was a plain old blackout. He couldn’t understand way Kagome was so tense all of a sudden. He tried hugging her to him. “It’s really alright” he tried to comfort her. But when he looked into her eyes, he knew it wasn’t so. He couldn’t blame the prickling on his skin on the wine this time and she seemed to be looking straight into him. “Kagome?”

“You’re…” she hesitated.

A candle was lit somewhere near them. Kagome’s lips were frozen on the word she had been about to say. The light flickered a couple of times and Shiori’s voice broke the spell “Time to go.” She handed Kagome a candle. “You’ll still have time to catch up tomorrow”