InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All But One ❯ Marvelous Adventure ( Chapter 11 )

All But One

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Chapter 11: Marvelous Adventure

"Heh heh heh…" Kouga was, surprisingly, very good at sculpting miniatures. He had a whole bunch of polymer clay, and, although they were all one color, Kagome could make out the shapes of various wolves, two guy - although one seemed to be baggier than the other - and a girl, and something that looked suspiciously like a bicycle. She wouldn't ask, though, since Kouga had no idea she was watching him play with clay like a little kid on an open staircase.

"One day," Kouga muttered to himself, "the beautiful girl and her servant were walking along…" He acted it out as he spoke, making the girl figure walk, `wheeling' the bike beside her, with the baggier man walking behind her. "But the servant was really an evil villain! And he decided to attack her." He made the guy pick up the bike over his head, but had to put down the girl in the process. "Aaah!" he said, in a high-pitched voice, then "Die!" in a deeper one. "But then," he continued, "the prince of wolves came along and he fell in love with the beautiful girl at once and saved her. Go, wolves, shove that villain over the cliff!" He gathered up a bunch of wolves in one hand and threw them at the baggier-man-and-bike combination, making them all fall over the edge of the staircase. "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh… And the villain died. As for the others--" He made the other man pick up the girl and fly off. "Oh, my hero!" he said in the girl's voice. "No problem at all for the woman I love - oh, do you really? - of course - oh, oh…" At which point, he gave up on trying to think of something suitably romantic and just made them kiss.

Unfortunately, their necks were too thin, and as he held them by the heads for the kiss, their bodies fell off and joined the pile of squished clay on the floor below.

"Oops. Um… Unfortunately, they died in the process, but would have lived happily ever after if they hadn't!"

Kagome giggled.

Kouga jumped, dropping the heads, and looked at her.

She waved sheepishly. "Hi."

"Kagome! Umm…"

"That was very cute."

"Thanks. I'm kind of embarrassed, actually. Ayame says it's childish."

"Ayame? You mean Hojo's girlfriend?" [1]

Kouga choked. "Where did you hear that?"

"You mean she's not?"

"Well, she is, but we only broke up yesterday."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Um. I'll be honest, but try not to hate me, okay?"

Kagome smiled. Kouga was kind of sweet. "Okay."

"I kind of had a crush on you, see… And apparently, so did Hojo… And Ayame didn't like that I was interested in another girl than her… So - I think? - she and Hojo started trying to plan a way for her to keep me and him to get you, but they fell in love with each other first, or something like that." He blushed, looking up at her uncertainly, a small pile of play next to him and some of it on his hands. "So…"

"That's really cute!" Kagome exclaimed. "I knew about you and Hojo liking me before, but--"

"You did?" He was blushing harder.

"Yeah, Sesshoumaru spilled it a while ago. But the whole thing with Hojo and Ayame is just too cute! Even if," and she let her tone become more menacing, "they were trying to sneak around behind our backs."

"Wow, you can be really scary, Kagome."

"Thanks. I've been taking lessons from Fuji."

He shuddered. "She's even scarier."

"She'd be very happy to hear you say that. Oh, I want to tease Hojo for what he did!"

"I'd be willing to help you. But… Speaking of Sesshoumaru…"

"Yes?"

"You like him, don't you? I saw how you guys were acting when I tried to rescue you that time in the dojo and then he threatened to tickle me and…" [2]

"Like him?" Kagome was surprised. "I don't know. I've just recently gotten over a crush on Inuyasha."

"Oh." He gave the pile of clay on the floor a guilty look.

"Was he the villain?"

"… yeah. And I was the prince and you were the beautiful girl."

"Awww… Kouga, that's so sweet of you!"

"I guess. So you don't like Sesshoumaru?"

It was Kagome's turn to blush. "Well, he's a really good kisser, and he was sort of my first, but…"

"Sort of your first?" He looked halfway between confused and skeptical.

"It's a long story."

"Go ahead and tell me."

So she did.

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[1] Don't kill me! Don't kill me!

[2] see chapter 3

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"Wow…" Kouga brushed back his bangs, looking overwhelmed. As they'd talked, they'd gotten the clay and made random figures - in Kouga's case, mostly wolves, while Kagome made more abstract shapes with the occasional attempt at a person that usually somehow turned into either Sesshoumaru or Fuji. At least in her mind. "You are aware that the part of male confidant is stereotypically gay?"

"So?"

"So… I'm not."

"Yeah, but you've been a really great friend to me. That feels so awkward! I barely know you, but at the same time, I'm really comfortable just telling you stuff."

"Well, that's nice, I guess."

"Yeah. Oh! You're Japanese, aren't you?"

"Huh? Yeah, I am."

"Good." Seeing his look, she explained, "My family runs a shrine, so they're pretty picky about who I introduce to them."

"Oh, I see."

"It's kind of annoying. Actually, it's worse than Grampa's tendency to mistake people for demons."

"Heh. I could be the wolf prince."

"Umhmm."

"And then I could kill off whoever bothered you and we'd be happy ever after… Kagome, you're so cute, I still really like you." He hugged her impulsively.

"And I like you too, Kouga, but - I'm sorry - I think you'll never be more than a friend to me."

"That's alright. It's better than nothing. And just because I know, doesn't mean that they don't."

"Kouga!" She hit him lightly on the chest.

"No, I'm serious. Aside from the chance to make a certain stuck-up junior crazy with jealousy, there's your family to consider. If you need someone to meet their expectations but who can let you go…"

Her arms tightened around him before she let go and sat back. "Thank you. Thank you very much - I'd hate to do that to you, but thanks so much for the offer."

"It stands," he said quietly. "Back to the wolf prince! Who would you like me to kill for you? Inuyasha? Sesshoumaru?"

"You wouldn't be able to." She giggled.

"Oh?"

"According to Grampa (well, and Inuyasha too), Sesshoumaru is the demon lord of the western lands, and Inuyasha's his little brother. Half brother, since he swore long ago that he was half human."

"Who, Inuyasha?"

"Yep."

"Wait. Long ago? You only met him this year, right?"

"Oh, no. I've known him all my life, excepting four years when he went to boarding school in the States."

"Wow, you must be really close."

She smiled. "We are."

"I'm feeling awkward again," Kouga announced, standing up and returning the clay to a plastic baggie. "Let's go bother Hojo."

"Alright, but not too much. He's still got to be willing to help me with math."

"You're taking math?"

"Uh huh?"

"Why?"

She looked at him, startled. "Why not? I don't really like it, but math's a good subject to know."

"If you say so."

They walked together to Kouga's room, where he tossed the clay-filled bag on his bed, then moved on to Hojo's room, where the door stood open and where - to their bemusement - he and Ayame were kissing.

It was a better opportunity than they had been expecting. "Why Hojo, you've ruined my last illusion!" Kagome said, and Kouga grinned as they sprung apart, blushing. "We all thought--"

Kouga joined in "--you were so innocent!"

"Kouga!" Hojo scolded, his voice only a little louder than usual. "You--"

"What, what? Does Kagome have immunity or something?"

Hojo looked at Kagome and his face twisted into an odd expression for a moment, before Ayame squeezed his shoulder. "Higurashi is under Kirara's jurisdiction."

Kagome felt her eyes widen as an idea caught hold of her, and she had to suppress a wicked grin. "Oh, so? Come one, Kouga." She dragged him back to his room.

"What?"

Once there, she let herself giggle. "Oh, I just had an idea! I haven't told you about the time we soaked Naraku yet, have I?"

"Naraku? Isn't he a sponsor for the other upstairs hall? The one who sometimes goes `gugugu'?"

"That's him?"

"Are you talking about the time that Tomo went after him with a water gun and a whole bunch of people were pelting him with balloons from another window?"

She blinked. "Yes, I was. You were there?"

"Momentarily. Then I ran away."

"Smart, I guess. Why?"

"Tomo has a thing about squirting people."

Kagome collapsed against his bed, laughing.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that!" he said, flustered. "Not like that! With water, with a water gun, not with-- oh, yuck!"

"Not with sailors?" She grinned. "I still have some sperm cookies - I should give them to him."

"Sailors?"

"Yeah - you know, sea men."

"Kagome!" Kouga yelled. "You sick, twisted girl!"

"Hey! Blame Yuu from Yama - it was his idea in the first place!"

"He's not some sort of demon in your grandfather's book, is he?"

"No."

"Good. Then I will." He cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, don't beat him up! There were a lot of us involved."

"Alright, fine." He sat back down with a huff and crossed his arms. "Right. So, soaking Naraku?"

"Yes."

"What does this have to do with Hojo?"

"Well, if he's not going to do anything against me because he's not my sponsor…"

"You're going to splash him?"

"Yes. But… hm. He'll take it out on you guys if I use one of your rooms, and the weather isn't warm enough to have the windows open anyway. So! I'll just have to start carrying a couple balloons and a bottle of water with me everywhere."

"That's an invitation for others to attack you, you know."

"I'll live with it. Should make things a bit more interesting anyway - it's been kind of boring recently."

"Boring is good." He waved a finger at her. "Boring means you have lots of time to study for midterms."

"Oh yeah… Alright, I'll wait until after break, and then I'll start carrying them around with me."

"Okay, I'll let you do that."

"Let? Let? Who says you're letting me do anything, wolf-boy?"

"I say! The prince wolf-demon!"

"Hah! Well, I'm a priestess, so I can just make you go poof!"

She reached for him, but he dodged. "You'll have to catch me first!" And before she knew it, he was out of the room, with the door closed behind him. She wrenched it open and slammed it behind him, and took off in hot pursuit.

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Waaaa! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I hit a dead end and had to take a suggestion from someone else before I could continue! I'm sorry!

Groveling accomplished, I do apologize for taking ten entire days to come up with and write a new chapter. I'm trying to do better, and the next one is almost ready, but I wanted to have another humorous bit in first.

Besides, we hadn't seen Kouga or Hojo for a while anyway. I'm actually fairly proud of myself: now that I've gotten Hojo (who had no votes and is pretty much ignored in the original anyway) and Ayame (who doesn't exist in the manga, so I have no idea what she's like) together, I can ignore them. Unless you'd rather I didn't.

I NEED A BAD GUY!

Someone who is not a foreigner, someone other than Naraku. Someone who could possibly pull off a distinct disliking for foreigners. There's some serious stuff coming up next, which will lead to that moment of Nar/Kag-ness that I promised a while back. Then we can get back to laughing. But I need a villain, and I need YOU to TELL ME, because I personally haven't a clue who it's going to be.

Winning:
Sess/Kag - 22
Sess/Kag/Fuji - 17
Fuji/Kag - 10