InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Lost the Real Dream ❯ Ramen Shop ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro, Shueisha, Viz Media, and Shounen. No profit or money of any kind is made from this fan-created crossover.

"So... Remind me why we're here again?" Yusuke asked yet again as he walked behind Kagome. They had been in the mall for only a few minutes and already Yusuke was complaining. They hadn't even gone into a single store yet. Kagome and Keiko sighed and shared an annoyed glance. Men: they always had to complain if they were dragged out to shop for more than a few minutes.

"For the millionth time, because I need new clothes. If you're going to complain, why did you want to come along?" Kagome stopped and turned around to snap at him, causing him to almost walk right into her. Yusuke blushed slightly as he caught himself from having a near-collision with Kagome, something he was sure Kurama would've most likely killed him for. Especially given how he had thrown out his hands in front of him -- had he fallen, they would have padded his fall with her breasts. If Kurama didn't kill him for being clumsy, then he was sure to kill him for feeling up his sister.

"No one told me shopping was gonna be involved in this!" he covered up his embarrassment with anger. Really, all he had been told was he was going to meet Kurama's sister, nothing was said about this! But then again... Shopping, especially clothes shopping, might benefit him in some way.

"Well, you know now! If you don't want to, you can just leave, you know!"

And she looked so hot then, her face flushed from anger, her slate-blue eyes sparkling with passion.. The next words out of his mouth were ones he couldn't, and didn't really, want to stop.

"Why leave when you have to try on the clothes, right?"

Her reaction was well worth whatever he was going to get from Kurama, too. She looked so much cuter when she was flushed from embarrassment instead of anger. Yusuke's satisfaction over getting her to blush was short-lived as he felt Kurama grip his shoulder a little too tightly and say his name in a way that could only mean very bad things for him.

"Urameshi Yusuke!"

"Urameshi!! Have you no honor!?"

"Hey, hey! It got her to stop being angry, didn't it!?" Yusuke threw up his hands as a sign he meant no harm as he backed away from his three so-called friends. They weren't buying his little act either, but were caught off-guard when Kagome started to laugh.

"That was the biggest load of bull I have ever heard," she got out in-between laughs. His only response was to give her a cocky grin, which then lead to him being shoved by her.

Keiko could only chuckle, "Come on Kagome-chan. Let's go get you some clothes before Yusuke does something stupid again." She locked arms with the older woman, and they walked away, but not before Kagome glanced back with eyes sparkling with mischief, "Do you think that's possible?" Even Yusuke had to laugh at that comment.

"One more comment like that Yusuke, and I won't be letting it slide," Kurama said before following after his sister. He was having second doubts again as to whether this was a good idea or not. But perhaps it was, especially if it got Kagome's eyes to show something other than their lost look.

Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders when even Kuwabara gave him a withering look, "Hey, ya can't blame me for trying to get a rise outta her!"

Kurama only sighed and shook his head. Then again, this probably wasn't his best idea. He could only hope the rest of the day would be uneventful.

She had no idea as to why she would even want to go into a ramen shop. Last she could remember, she didn't even really like ramen. But something...

Something she couldn't remember pulled her towards the shop and towards the ramen she both hated and liked. The reason for her fascination with ramen seemed perched on the edge of her tongue, something she knew she remembered. Yet it was far too elusive at this point, so she slipped away from her half-brother and his friends and into the little ramen shop.

A rugged-looking man was the first person to catch her attention. The cut of his black hair and the icy edge in his violet eyes seemed rather familiar to her, yet so out of place in a place such as this. Kagome could tell there was something she was missing if the immediate pull she felt towards this stranger was anything to go by. "Oi, hag! Ya gots a customer!" At first, she was ready to throw some angry retort back at him, thinking he was addressing her as a hag, but soon realized he was speaking to someone else. Just as she was about to give him a piece of her mind for referring to anyone like that, a wizened voice beat her to it, along with a bowl.

"Inuyaska! Ye should learn better manners!" Kagome's attention was caught by an older woman, bent with age and less an eye, who gave her a warm smile, "Pay no heed to him, child. Now, ye do not seem to be the kind to be here for ramen.. Hmm, no.. Ye seem to be here for other reasons ye cannot fully grasp.. Perhaps for the position, hm?" The old woman circled around Kagome, looking her completely over, while Kagome could only follow her with her eyes, wondering why this woman seemed so familiar. And also how she knew she didn't like ramen.

"What position, obaa-san?" That was the only part it seemed she could ask about. She was still trying to piece together her more cryptic words, even though she had a feeling this woman held the answers to all her questions.

Both were interrupted by a scoff coming from Inuyaska, who was still rubbing the back of his head where the bowl collided with it. "You can't be serious, you senile hag! She looks like she doesn't even know her way around a kitchen, let alone ramen!"

"Why you--!"

Kagome's retort was cut short by the woman placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Maa, maa, Inuyaska. Before ye be so quick to judge, why do ye not let her give us a sample of her cooking?"

The two stared each other down, and Kagome had a feeling this was not the first time, and definitely not the last, those two have butted heads. Inuyaska broke away first, "Feh! Whatever. Don't come cryin' to me when she burns water."

It became clear to Kagome that the position the woman was referring to was for a cook. While not her intention, his words struck something deep inside her, she knew she could cook and that she could definitely cook ramen even though she had never been the best cook. And she was determined to prove him wrong. Setting her bags down, and giving Inuyaska an angry glare, she stomped off to the kitchen to do just that, missing the amused look Inuyaska and the woman shared.

"Ye did not need to antagonize her so."

A boyish grin took over his face as he shrugged, "It's been too long, I couldn't resist."

The sound of the doorbell chiming the entrance of someone else caught their attention. They shared a knowing look at the mis-matched group that walked in; they could already tell they were there for Kagome. She had the effect wherever she went, it seemed. Along with the knack for finding companions who had the capacity to do great things. "How may we be of service to ye?"

The red-headed fox, and definite intellectual of the group, spoke before one of his companions could open their mouths and blurt something rude out, "We are looking for a young woman, my friend here, Yusuke, believes he saw her go in here?"

"Yeah, the bitch is in the back whipping up some ramen, that is if she doesn't burn down the place first," Inuyaska said, only to be hit in the head with the forgotten bowl yet again. "What the fuck was that for, ya hag!?"

"I told ye to mind ye manners!" She turned to the men with a much warmer smile and speaking in nicer tones, "Forgive Inuyaska, he has a bad habit of speaking before his mind thinks. The young woman ye seek is indeed here, giving us a sample of her cooking for a position. Ye are all welcome to have a free bowl as well."

Yusuke and Kuwabara high-fived at the mention of free ramen, especially ramen cooked by the kind Kagome. Kurama and Keiko could only chuckle and shake their heads at the antics of their friends. "Thank you very much..."

"Kaede, ye may call me Kaede."

"Then, Kaede-san, on the behalf of my friends and sister, thank you very much."

Their attention was caught by Kagome re-entering with a steaming bowl of ramen, and at seeing them, she gave them a bright smile. "I'm sorry for just leaving without saying anything," Kagome said as she placed the bowl in front of Inuyaska, only to watch him inhale it. "Uhm... I don't think that's healthy.."

"Do not worry child, 'tis his way... Perhaps 'twould be best to view it as a compliment. And I am sure ye friends will not object if ye repay them with a free bowl of ramen," Kaede gave a motherly smile to the young woman, grateful to know she would be around. Kagome worried her bottom lip as she looked at her new friends and brother, only to smile brightly and clap her hands together at seeing them agree. It would be a way for her to repay them for also helping her out with her new wardrobe and for letting her be a part of their small group. For some reason, the latter made her more happy than anything.

"Uhh, actually Kagome.. Me 'n' Kuwabara are gonna have to pass on this today," Yusuke's voice stopped her as she headed back to the kitchen. She glanced back at him with sad eyes, wondering if she did something wrong. "We're being called into work," he gestured towards his ringing pocket, "and we kinda gotta go.. Raincheck, though! See ya later Kagome!"

She smiled a bit sadly, but nodded her head in understanding, "Be safe you two." They waved back as they left, never noticing her crest-fallen look. But Kurama and Keiko did. They shared a look of understanding before Kagome looked back towards them with a bright smile. "I'll have ramen done for you two very soon, okay?"

How he was dragged into this, he didn't know. No, that was a lie -- he knew exactly how this had happened. If only he hadn't tracked down that insufferable fox, he never would've interfered in his plan of world domination giving that damn spirit detective enough time to have a stroke of luck. But then again, it was his own fault for underestimating the detective enough to have lost. And now, here he was, underling to the joke of a junior ruler of Reikai, trying to track down the others on his "team."

Balanced precariously on a tree branch, Hiei sneered at that thought. "Team." How utterly foolish to a demon such as he. Never again would he be able to show his head in makai with any shred of dignity after being forced to work alongside humans as the toddler prince's lapdogs.

"Hiei! If you don't hurry up, I'll find Kurama before you!" he glared up at the blue-haired reaper. With a snort of disgust, he began heading towards Tokyo again in search of a fox. Hopefully the insufferable woman would get lost, or even better, go so fast she would fall off her oar. Now that would be something to laugh at.

Following the aura that was unmistakably Kurama's, Hiei arrived at the small ramen shop. He glanced up at the sign before entering, something was very, very off about this shop. It felt out of place in an area surrounded by humans. The auras and stench of humans was too overpowering for him to pick up just what was different about this place. The humans received yet another mark against them on his mental list.

"Hiei? What are you doing here?" He looked over to the counter to see Kurama, a bowl of ramen in front of him, being served by quite possibly the only human woman he would ever glance twice at. Not because he found her beautiful or anything, her humanity was enough of a disgust to him, but because there was something missing from her.

"Hn. We are required to help out," was all Hiei would say surrounded by all those lesser beings. Kurama nodded and turned to the woman, offering an apologetic smile to her.

"I am sorry onee-san, but I must go," at hearing the word "oneesan," Hiei looked over at the two of them, wondering how they could be related. As he met her eyes, he saw something akin to recognition flash through them even though he knew he had never seen her before.

Kagome, on the other hand, had seen those eyes somewhere before. Swallowing past the thick lump of fear in her throat at the image that flashed through her mind, she gave a shaky smile to Kurama, "It's alright. Must be important, ne? I'll tell Shiori-san you had something to take care of for you Shuuichi-kun."

Kurama got up and walked over to Hiei after nodding his head in acknowledgment to his sister. Before they left the store, her voice stopped them, "Just, please... Be careful." Both Kurama and Hiei looked back at her, seeing the knowledge and concern in her eyes, something they really weren't expecting. Kurama nodded his head to her once again, "Of course onee-san."

The two of them walked in relative silence, neither knew how to start a conversation with each other anymore. Hiei finally couldn't help it, "How is she your sister?"

Kurama glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, "She is my half-sister. My human father married more than once. Three times, in fact."

"Hn."

"Anything else you need to know to satisfy your new-found curiosity?" Kurama smiled showing off the slick fox he used to be.

Hiei was silent for a few moments, trying to piece together just what was missing from the woman the fox claimed as family, "Why does she have no aura?"

That question was not one Kurama had been expecting to hear, causing him to stop in the middle of the sidewalk. He hadn't even noticed there wasn't one around her; had he not fully recovered his power as Kurama? Or was he just not able to pick up on it? "We will discuss this later," Kurama said, tilting his head towards all the humans around them.

Hiei continued walking towards their entrance point to the makai, briefly wondering if the ferry gathered enough brain cells to meet them there.