InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All But One ❯ Everybody Loves... ( Chapter 4 )

All But One (by S'revan - inspired by *Shichan)

Kagome's willing to do almost anything to get Inuyasha's attention. Problem is, he's not interested… but others are.

~~~-~~~-~~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~-~~~-~~~- ~~~-~~~

Chapter Four: Everybody Loves…

Fuji swiveled her chair to look Kagome dead on. "You know what it is? You're too Japanese."

"Excuse me?"

"You're too Japanese. `It's not a woman's place to protect herself,' `I can't just be impolite to him - he's older than I am and a man!' And so on. Thinking that way may be what you were taught, but Inuyasha spent four years - four extremely formative years - where that's nothing like the way it works. In his mind, like in mine, a woman's got every right to protect herself from all those bastards out there, men and women are pretty much equal, and courtesy is something you use so people will like and respect you. In English, you know, men and women use exactly the same words."

"So you want me to start talking in a more masculine style?" Kagome was incredulous.

"No! Do I? But you see, here's the reason why he likes Kikyo: she's Japanese enough to fit in here and help him feel at home, but she's independent too. She doesn't need him, she just likes him. They're equals. You and Inuyasha aren't, because you won't let him think of you as just another person."

"But I don't want him to think of me as just another person!"

"I, his best friend, am just another person to him. Sesshoumaru, his despised big-brother figure, is just another person. Kikyo, his girlfriend, is just another person. He doesn't have to think, `but she's a girl' or `but he's my superior, and therefore…' He's comfortable just talking to us - or in Sesshoumaru's case, trying to hit him."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Fuji shrugged. "As long as you look up to him as someone better than you, he's going to be uncomfortable around you. Keep in mind: he's not just Japanese anymore. He's half and half, like Shanks."

"I never thought of him like that before. He was always just… Inuyasha, to me."

"Right, so be just Kagome to him. You shouldn't have to try to be anyone other than yourself for the person who makes you happy."

"Don't you mean `the person you love'?"

"No, I mean the person who loves you enough to put you first."

Kagome thought about that for a while. She didn't really know why she was hanging out in Fuji's room. It just… seemed to happen. After that Kaoru guy came by, they'd been closer friends, and Fuji did have great fashion taste, and she was nice, even if she had almost no idea of the finer points of etiquette and occasionally spoke very roughly and could be touchy about things like the fact it had taken Kagome until yesterday to figure out that yes, Fuji was really a lesbian and it wasn't just an assumption that people made. Kagome felt really dense about it, but not at least she wasn't as bad as that idiot Kaoru.

---~[flashback, whee!]~---

"YOU!"

Kagome looked up just in time to see a young man carrying a long cardboard tube over his head go running by her door. She stood and moved to the doorway.

"Me?" Shippo said.

"Yes, you! The lovely lady Fuji has refused my gifts!"

"What's that got to do with me?"

"How dare you keep her from me? Vile sorcerer!"

"Look, I'm completely uninterested in Fuji. She's my sponsee. If you want to talk to her, her door's right there."

"Oh. My thanks."

"Hey, what's your name?" Kagome asked.

"I, fair lady, am called Kaoru. Might I ask why? Surely such a--"

"I want to know who to blame next time Fuji gets mad at the world," Kagome interrupted. It wasn't her nature, but hey, maybe Fuji was wearing off on her. Politeness definitely wouldn't get this loon away.

"Mad? Aye, mad indeed that she must hold herself away from me! Such purity, such chastity! Surely she is but too shy to admit her love for me!"

"She's a lesbian, you idiot."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Fuji said from the top of the steps. "Why don't you chase Kiri? She's got red hair."

"But not thy flair, oh goddess of my heart."

"Kuronue has that."

"He is a man."

"Exactly. And if I wanted a guy, I'd go for him."

"Kuronue holds your heart? Vile, treacherous--"

By this time, Fuji was almost to her door, and she hit Kaoru to get his attention. "No, he doesn't. She does." And she jerked her head at Kagome.

Kagome's eyes widened. So did Kaoru's. Before he could say anything, though, she continued:

"But I'm not doing anything about it, am I? Because I know she's not interested in me. So I leave it alone."

"But-- but-- but surely a woman of your grace, your looks your… health could not prefer your own sex? Come, fight with me and I shall prove that my masculinity is to be preferred!"

"I don't think so."

"En garde!" He gripped the cardboard tube as if it were a sword.

Fuji threw up her hands. "Alright then, fine! I'm sorry! I lied! I'm a guy!"

"… WHAT?"

"I'm really a man, okay? I dress up as a girl because it makes me feel pretty, but I've got a dick and no breasts! You got that?"

Shippo clamped his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"A man?"

"YES! Now go away!"

"Are you certain?"

"Look!" She pointed at his crotch. "I got one of those, and the sight of you would make it go soft in the middle of a harem! Now beat it!"

"… Very well."

And he left.

Shippo started to take his hands away from his mouth, but Fuji held up a finger until she heard the door close, then nodded. Then he let himself laugh. "That goes on the quote board!"

"All or nothing. I don't want real people thinking I'm a guy."

"So you're not?" He was grinning.

"NO!" Fuji exploded. She reached out and made him grab a breast. "Feel that? That is genuine fat and mammary glands!"

"If you say so. Hey, can I put that on the quote board?"

She waved her hand at him, turning away. "Whatever."

"Woohoo!" And he bounded off down the hall.

---~[!eehw ,kcabhsalf]~---

"Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be mad at me for it, but… Do you think you really love Inuyasha?"

"Of course I do!"

"How do you know?"

"Well…" Kagome blushed a little. "He's handsome, he's strong, he makes me feel safe… I really like to be around him and I want him to look at me and no one else."

"Are you sure that's love? Seems kinda selfish to me."

"Selfish?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, if he were to tell you that he could never like you like that, would you want him to be happy with someone else?"

"Not really…"

"So, you see? In a choice between Inuyasha and Kagome, your first choice is yourself."

"So you're saying that I don't love him."

"Not enough to put him first."

"How would you know? Have you ever been in love?"

Fuji looked at the floor. "There's someone I like. But she likes someone else, who's a guy, so I know there's no chance she'd be interested in me."

"You should tell her anyway. She might like you back."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's not a possibility. Besides, have you told Inuyasha?"

"No…"

"I'll tell her when you tell him."

"Alright. Come on." Kagome grabbed Fuji's arm and dragged her across the hall to where Inuyasha sat alone in his room the door open. "Inuyasha? Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Inuyasha, I really, really like you."

Inuyasha looked stunned. Fuji chuckled and spun Kagome around. "Kagome, I really, really like you."

Kagome felt stunned, even more so when Inuyasha suddenly looked amused and turned to Fuji. "Fuji, I really, really like you."

Fuji hit him in the chest. "No you don't."

"Sure I do. I had a crush on you for the longest time in high school."

"Wait… What about Kikyo?" Kagome asked.

"Kikyo and I both wanted to date but couldn't get the object of our affections, so we both thought, `Hey, this person is pretty attractive, and they're like me, so why not?' I don't love her, but I'd probably be content spending the rest of my life with her."

"But that doesn't fit with the whole Naraku thing," Fuji said suspiciously.

"Eh…" Inuyasha scratched at the back of his head. "What I told you was partially true, but I was also kind of hoping that you'd tell him that you didn't like him because you liked me instead, or would come crying on me if he did something nasty or something like that."

Fuji punched him in the shoulder.

"Hey! You almost dislocated my shoulder!"

"You deserve it."

"So… You like Fuji, Inuyasha?"

"Sure, but there was no way I was going to do anything about it, not after seeing her temper with the guys who asked her out."

Fuji chuckled.

"And Fuji, you like me?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't? Aside from idiots like Inuyasha, I mean. But again, there's no way I was going to do anything about it, not after seeing how gung-ho you got about chasing Inuyasha."

"And, well… I wasn't going to actually go after you, Inuyasha, just try to get your attention. Fuji dared me. I mean, Kikyo is really nice and you always seem so happy with her."

"Kikyo? Nice?" Inuyasha snorted. "Feh. Kikyo's a bitch."

"And you're dead," Kikyo said, just as she came into view.

"I know." Inuyasha smirked. "How much did you catch?"

"Just the last bits. So Kagome, you've finally told him?"

"You knew?"

"Yes, but it was your business, not mine." She shrugged.

"Wow. If it had been me in your place, I would have been so mad."

"What will be will be. Just for the records, I've had a crush on Shanks ever since he threw Naraku into the pond."

There was a resounding crash as someone fell outside Inuyasha's open window.

Kikyo raised an eyebrow. "But he's gay, so I let it go."

The person who had fallen down started laughing and got up, leaning in the window. "You want me to throw him in again? I wouldn't mind."

"You're Shanks?" Kagome asked.

"Sure am, little lady. What's your name?" He reached through the window to shake hands.

"Kagome. Pleased to meet you."

"Same here. Oh, hey Fuji."

"Hey."

"Alors, cette fille, elle est ta cherie?"

She laughed. "J'espère, mais non."

"Oh, la pauvre." He looked around at the others, who were mostly staring. "What? Us red-headed, French-speaking foreigners have to stick together."

"Sooo…" Inuyasha drawled, looking at Fuji. "Why is Sesshoumaru your sponsor, and not this guy?"

"Hm?"

"He doesn't know French, he doesn't have red hair…"

"Oh, he knows French."

"He does?"

"He's from London, isn't he? Everyone learns French in England."

"What about France and England?" Sesshoumaru asked, coming up behind Shanks. "Hey, Shanks. What's going on?"

"Aside from the fact that throwing Naraku into the pond got me an admirer, I have no idea."

Fuji slapped her head with her hand. "It started when I dared Kagome to tell Inuyasha how she felt about him."

"Oh?" Shanks looked at Inuyasha, picking him out as the only guy indoors. "You lucky man, you. Fuji only likes special people."

"Yes, anyway," Fuji said. "So I told her that I liked her. And then he told me that he liked me. And then he called Kikyo a bitch, so she joined the conversation. After that was you."

"I see."

"But what about France and England?" Sesshoumaru repeated.

"Sesshoumaru, do you know French?"

"Yes." He blinked. "Why?"

"Me too."

"And so does Shanks, I see. You were talking in French together, then?"

"Yep!" Fuji made a v-sign at him.

"One thing I'm not clear on," Kikyo said. "How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, he was always hanging out in our hall freshman year," Shanks said. "You were going out with Morgan, weren't you? But then you stopped coming around so much."

Sesshoumaru sniffed. "Because you kept making passes at me."

"I don't remember that."

"You had just discovered the joy of drinking without parental supervision."

"I was drunk off my ass, you mean."

"To put it crudely, yes."

"Oh, look!" Kikyo said, interrupting them. "It's Naraku! Get him!"

Naraku looked at them, alarmed, and then saw Shanks and tried to run. Shanks, however, caught him quickly and threw him over his shoulder. Kikyo jumped through the window, followed quickly by Fuji.

"Come on," Inuyasha said, tugging at Kagome. "It's a low window. I climb in it all the time."

"What about your door?"

"Hiten should be back soon. Come on!"

They climbed down and chased after the others, who were running after Shanks as he carried Naraku off to dump him in the pond.

~~~-~~~

The pond was not very deep.

"Damn you, Shanks," Naraku spluttered. "What was that for?"

"If it will make a pretty lady fall in love with me, do I need another reason?"

Naraku looked dubiously at him. "But you're gay."

Shanks bent down and grinned right into Naraku's face. "Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Wak! NO!" Naraku flailed back. "I like Kagome!"

"So?" Sesshoumaru said. "Welcome to the club."

"What?"

Kagome looked startled.

"Lots of people like Kagome. Me, you, Fuji, Kouga, Hojo… Although I think Kouga only likes you for your breasts, Kagome, sorry."

"It's alright,'" she said, still a little dazed.

"Kagomeeee," Naraku whined, splashing his way over to her, since Shanks wouldn't let him get out of the pond. "Don't you feel sorry for me?"

She looked down at him. "I… don't know. I only just found out I was in the middle of a love triangle. Give me a while to get used to it."

Naraku fell over. The splash got Fuji wet, and she promptly cursed.

"Shit," she said feelingly. "Shit, shit fuckety fuck-fuck."

"That's not very original," Inuyasha said.

"Fuckety mother-fucking damned to all hells shit and a maiden aunt in bed with a dog and five dildos," she said. "Better?"

Inuyasha looked a little green. "Why not just curse Naraku out?"

"Oh, he's already going to hell," she said, suddenly cheerful. "He doesn't need my help in that."

"My thanks," Naraku said.

"Any time," she returned. "You owe me whatever it costs to wash this."

"Fuck," Naraku said. This was not his day.

"I'm sorry, Fuji," Kagome said. "It was partly my fault, so…"

"Oh, I forgive you. Don't worry about it."

~~~-~~~-~~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~~-~~-~~~-~~~- ~~~-~~~

Okay, for people who are a little confused (like me), here's the rundown:

Kagome likes Inuyasha.
Inuyasha likes Fuji (but is happy with Kikyo).
Fuji likes Kagome

Sesshoumaru likes Kagome (but used to go out with a girl named Morgan).
Kouga likes Kagome (but is still going out with Ayame).
Hojo likes Kagome.
Naraku likes Kagome.

Kikyo had a crush on Shanks (but is happy with Inuyasha).
Shanks is gay (extra: his boyfriend's name is Houjun).

I got one more vote for Sess/Kag and one for `let's see more of everyone trying for Kagome!'

lovin_sesshomaru_isnteasy: that translates in my book to Sesshoumaru/Kagome/Inuyasha. I'm sorry, but unless something drastic happens at this point, it looks like that's not going to happen.