InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Lifetime Loving You Part 1; Seasons in Owari ❯ Obtaining the Look ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5; Obtaining The Look

(Inu-yasha POV)

I still wonder why I got so excited over something I had not a single idea about. When Kagome asked me - a feudal era half-demon - to be her date to her Spring Fling Dance, I wanted her to sit me just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The plan was flawless! I would be human on the night of the dance, and I would finally get my chance to walk freely in her world without having to worry about a hat or my dress. I could just be me, and make sure every boy that vied for her at that school of hers knew that she had asked me to accompany her on this occasion.

I was in heaven, if this was what heaven felt like. If it wasn't I hoped it was all a lie. Yet even with that single thought, I had to handle a few things of my own. My only hope for understanding anything was to consult the only boy in her house that understood the twenty first century customs.

Sota had become my dance teacher to assist me in learning every dance step, and in some ways I had wished I was going to be half demon for this occasion, and I'll talk about that later.

Three weeks past since Kagome's beating and since the five nights I spent at her side trying to comfort her, and I was looking forward to being close to her again, this time in the public's eye. I scrambled my way out of the well an hour before sundown, and rushed into the house. "Mrs. Higurashi?" I called out as I slid the door open to the kitchen. Kagome's mother looked at me and smiled sweetly as she came to my side and scratched my dog- ear. I twitched and winched at her touch like a kid getting his cheek pinched. I hate it when she does that! My ears were so sensitive and I didn't like being itched like a puppy, though I would have done anything to have Kagome stroke them. Her touch was far more welcoming than a scritch behind the ears.

"There you are, Inu-yasha!" she said in her motherly voice. I rubbed my ear to try and rid myself of the willies and then sat down like a dog at the table and watched Sota finishing his dinner while looking over a scrap of paper.

"What's that?" I asked Sota as he munched on a piece of shrimp.

"Page from a video game magazine!" he replied with the piece of seafood rolling around in his cheeks. When it came to manners, I of course was incredibility poor at them. Sota and his mother had managed to tame me in the simple skills of etiquette at a dance.

Finally, Sota took my arm and dragged me into his room and closed the door. I flopped on the floor and looked around the young boy's room. "What are we doing in here?"

Sota ran into his bedroom's bathroom and began to let some water run into the tub. "I don't want you to see my sister until you're ready. You need a bath! You smell like a wet dog."

Course I didn't know whether or not to tell him it was true, or respond to it as an insult that jus happened to be true. He waste no time in showing me what to use for my hair and body, and then told me I had ten minutes to clean up.

I sat there as the warm water ran over me. Sota handed me a bar of 'soap' and 'shampoo' that smelled thick and spiced. I rubbed the blue block over my body and waited until it began to produce suds before I could finally clean myself over with just my hands.

Now, I had thought I was pretty clean, but when I saw the water near the drain, I realized that I was far filthier than I had thought. The water was clean coming out of the spray thing, and the water that was draining was a murky brown color mixed with dirty soapsuds. My body never felt so clean and my skin seemed to feel a lot better just because it could breath again.

The sun went down as I stood in the warm water to wash off the remaining soap, and I looked at my hands as the moisture dripped from my finger tips and down my wrists. I finally didn't feel ashamed of this half of me. It actually, for once, felt good to be in a human body.

I washed my black hair next, which took time since I had to wash it in three separate sections. I felt bad that I had used up half of the bottle trying to clean it. Boys in Kagome's time have much shorter hair, and this must be a breeze for them. I wondered how Kagome had managed to do it, and some how oddly enough I began to visualize about Kagome taking a bath. All that water running over her smooth skin, and making her glisten in the light. I could be jealous of those drops being able to touch her body's every curve, but then again they would be envious of the fact that I would be able to handle those curves longer than they could.

I finally snapped back into reality when I heard Sota's voice. "Inu-yasha, are you done? I need to finish getting you ready."

I narrowed my brow, upset that the brat had interrupted my fantasy. I snorted as I turned my head in the direction of the voice through the light blue shower curtain. "How do you turn this damn thing off?" I hollered and watched a small hand reached between the curtain and the wall to twist a knob. A moment later a hand popped out on my side with a large yellow towel. "Dry off with this and wrap it around your waist when you're done. Then, get out and wait here until I get back."

I took the thick cloth from Sota's hand and began to rub it over my body briskly as the bathroom door opened and closed. I bent over to gather my hair together and rub the excess water from my black locks. With the water's weight gone, my hair felt different somewhat. It felt lighter and smoother; it was easier to run my hands through it.

I drew the curtain back and stepped out with the cloth around my middle and tucked in at the side. I walked over to the mirror and leaned over the sink to look at myself in the foggy mirror. I wiped the dew that collected over the image with my hand and looked at my face as water dipped from the tips of my bangs. My violet eyes wandered over the image of my body, and I had to admit that even I was impressed with myself. I had matured somewhat since the time I met Kagome, and I discovered I had started to grow again. The man inside of me was starting to make his way outward, and I wasn't much of a pup-boy anymore. It was turning into a dog-man, and even through I had never really remembered my father's face, I could see the hints of him in me, even in my human form.

Sota finally returned with the blow-drier in one hand that he had used on my once before, and a comb in the other. "You're lucky my sister let me play with her hair. This is going to take some time."

Sota had me hunch over on a small bench as he began to wave the drier over my hair. "This is weird! Usually girls use these things to dry their hair, but with you're hair I'm not going to waste time waiting for it to dry. You're lucky Kagome takes longer to get ready."

I pouted and propped up my head with my arms and knees. Sota tugged at the snarls and knots in my hair, and by the time she was done he had to clean the comb of hair three times before he finally tied it back with a black band just past my shoulders.

When we finally went back into his bedroom, there were three bags on his bed and I closed the door behind me as I took a seat. Sota reached into one of the bags and pulled out a shiny clear wrapped package and tore it open. He pulled out a plaid article of clothing and tossed it over to me. I looked it over for a moment before turning to Sota with a question lingering over my head. Sota took the piece of clothing and shook his head with a smile. "There boxers! You were them under your pants." He demonstrated by holding the 'boxers' to his body.

He pointed to the bathroom and tossed them back at me. "Wait! Put this on too!"

Sota chucked a white piece of cloth at me next and I looked at the ball of white cloth. "It's an undershirt, just put it on."

I nodded and went back into the slightly steamy bathroom to remove the towel around my waist (have your children shield your eyes for a moment) and pulled the 'boxers' over my middle. I then pulled the white tank shirt over my head and over my body. I looked back in the mirror as the white shirt settled snuggly over my form, leaving little to the imagination of what was beneath it. I had to admit I looked pretty good in these garments, but I felt weird without my kimono and hakama.

I came back out and Sota handed me a pair of lightweight, tan pants. "Put this on!"

I unfolded the article of clothing and began to pull my legs through them. I looked over the waist and had no idea how the mechanisms before me worked. "Um, Sota?" I whimpered.

The boy was rustling through a bag and then looked at me and discovered I was lost once more. The boy shamelessly walked over and put the round thing through a hole and then pulled a locking seam up to secure the pants over my hips, showing the band of the blue/green boxers. A moment later he had me pull white moccasins over my feet and put my feet into hard leather soles with laces.

I looked over my lower body and watched as I was turning into a boy from Kagome's time. A second later I found myself on my feet, and Sota climbed up on the stool to pull a black tank over my head and opened up a red shirt for me to pull my arms through.

"More of these round things!" I whined.

Sota, however, moved the stool to my side and had me hold out my arm straight. "Don't worry about the buttons, those are going to stay open."

Sota rolled up both the red shirt's sleeves to my elbows. He finally finished and looked me over as I took a glimpse. I raise my arms up limply, like a scarecrow, and took a deep breath. "Does the shirt have to sick to my chest like that? I'm not use to have something so fitted."

Sota smiled and pulled out on last article from his back before tucking in the tank and weaving the black strap of leather in his hands around the waist of the tan pants and buckling it. He took a step back again and held his thumbs up at me. I had no idea what it meant, but I had an idea this was a good thing by the look on his face.

"Kagome won't even recognize you!" he said as he took a seat on his bed.

I fixed the shirt and smoothed my palms down my chest, feeling every muscular bump in my chest. "I feel like a dork!"

Sota snorted, "You look great!"

I took a step forward in the hard soles and my feet felt strange. It only took me a moment to feel uncomfortable with the shoes. "I just remembered why I like to go barefoot. Not to mention I feel like I can't breath."

"That's just nerves, you'll get over that when you see my sister."

'Kagome!' I thought, 'Jeez, I wonder what she'll be wearing tonight. I wonder if she's got this knot in her stomach like me. I bet she looks great. Heck, she'd look great in anything at this point. I wonder what she's wearing?'

~~~~

(Kagome's POV)

I felt like the butterflies in my stomach would make it burst. Just knowing Inu-yasha was in my brother's room getting ready made my heart race. My hands were so shaky that it took forever for me to tame my hair into a twist before calling my mom as I sat in front of my mirror in my bathrobe.

She poked her head in and closed the door behind her. I turned to her. "Mom, I'm freaking out! Look at my hands! I've never been so tense in my life. Is Inu-yasha waiting? Is he getting angry? Is he--"

My mother hushed me trying to keep from laughing at the same time. "Kagome, calm down!" she chuckled as she sat me down and I looked into my mirror. "Lets see what we can do with your hair here first, okay?" She picked up my brushed and hugged myself and ran my shaky hands over my arms.

"How does Inu-yasha look?"

My mother smiled. "He hasn't left Sota's room yet, so I really can't tell you. I'm sure with the cloths Sota picked, though, he'll look just fine."

I let a mumbled panicked squeak, wondering if my little brother's fashion sense was any good.

After my hair was ready, I jumped into my bathroom and pulled up my short, red, halter top dress and secured it in the back and brushed it out. I smoothed out the red chiffon that covered the base layer of silk, and then secured my feet in my 'strapy' red heels. I ran into my bedroom as my mom fixed my bed.

"Okay," I said as I turned from my mirror to look at her, "how do I look?"

My mom smiled as she walked over to me and held my face in her hands. "You've grown so much and so fast. I'm so proud of you, Kagome!"

I smiled as my mom held up a finger and reached into her pocket. "This is something my mother gave me when I went to my semi formal."

She held up a tiny gold locket and placed it around my neck. I opened it and then looked up at my mother. "It's empty!"

Mom smiled and sat down on my bed. "It's no about what you see, it's about what you put into it that counts. You'll understand someday."

She gave me a soft, warm kiss on the forehead and left me in my room to admire the locket a moment longer before finally looking at the time and grabbing my purse.

My feet went so quickly down the stairs that I almost tripped on the heels. I caught myself though and took it more slowly the rest of the way. When I stumbled one last time into the kitchen, my mother smiled as she pointed to the living room. I looked at the doorway and took a deep breath as slowly regained my balance and breathed out as I made my way into the living room.

My eyes fell on Sota first, who was busy playing a video game, and then the corner of my eye caught a figure looking out the windows. I rotated my head towards the figure, and felt my heartbeat quicken when I saw him.

Inu-yasha stood there with his back to me for a moment, rocking his feet from his heels to his toes and back again nervously. He looked...great! No, maybe more! Still, if the feeling in my heart was telling me anything, he was dressed to kill, never mind the fact my heart was pounding so furiously that it might kill me if I had a heart attack that night.

My mouth was so dry I couldn't speak. He just looked...hot!

~~~~

(Inu-yasha's POV)

I couldn't control the bubble growing in my stomach filled with nerves. Gods, what would she think? Would I look okay? If I didn't all I had to do was point the blame on her brother. After all, it was true he picked out these clothes for me.

When I finally decided to see what Sota was playing on his image box. I glanced over at the door for a mere second, and doubled back.

Kagome? Yes, yes it was her, but just a little different. Her hair was up now showing the curves in her shoulders and neck. The short red dress she wore seemed only to enhance her body's curves, and her legs never looked so beautiful. Sure, I had seen them before, but when I saw her in that dress, it was looking at them for the first time.

She was...beautiful! Drop down and roll, Gods tell me I'm not dreaming, and someone pinch me, beautiful!

My heart was pounding against my chest, and I barely noticed my lips had parted slightly in surprise. The look on Kagome's face was no different, and the nervous bubble in my stomach began to subside just slightly.

Finally, she snapped out of her trance, and looked at her feet before looking at me again. "Do...do you like my dress?"

That did it! The bubble in my chest grew again, but this time it was with the urge to throw my arms around her and re-live my first kiss, maybe even make it the first ever.

I took a hard gulp after finally closing my jaw to try and control the bubble. "Um...it's, ah...yes?"

She smiled, and I knew my face was filling with more color that it ever had before. Kagome walked toward me and I could smell her scent just slightly, only this time it was mixed with a hint of sweet spice. I tried to relax a little and reduce the red hue in my cheeks. I felt embarrassed, nervous, and yet so happy at the same time. Gods, she looks so beautiful! If only this stupid feeling like I'm ready to bust would go down so I could act a little saner.

Kagome looked me over next as I continued to try and control myself. She lifted her fingers and picked at a piece of lint on my black shirt, and the touch made it all the more difficult to not give in. Damn, how I wished I had my demon blood right now, but at the same time, I was glad it wasn't there to keep me from succumbing to these feelings. I never felt more alive in my life, and the simple touch made the bubble burst, and I couldn't help but lift her chin to look into her eyes.

"You...you look so beautiful!" I whispered, as all of the feelings I had tried to subdue finally took me over. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world, and not a single jewel shard though hit my head. Nothing could break this moment, and I knew nothing was going to ruin this night.

Kagome smiled softly and blinked her eyes slowly as she gazed back into my eyes. "You look nice, too!"

I smiled just slightly and then took her arm to the kitchen as Sota paused his game and watched us leave. He ran to the window and peeked around the curtain as I helped Kagome into the car. As we sped off, I wasn't too sure what happened back at the house while Kagome and I were gone, but I was almost positive Sota was kneeling in front of the window with his fingers crossed praying.

However, even the biggest prayer couldn't have saved Kagome and I from that first sign. After that night, everything would change. Everything! Even Kagome and me!