InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beast ❯ A Different Tune ( Chapter 27 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and am making no money off this. Go (getarealjob), me.

A/N: Random fact for the day: Spell Check thinks Inuyasha's name should be Natasha. Computers are silly. Why I don't hit Add and stop reminding myself of this, I really dunno. Either way, I feel better now, so let's get to it, shall we?

Oh, and pre-emptive disclaimer: not only do I not own any copyrighted material I could possibly be about to mention, but I also owe animelyrics dot com quite a bit...not in money, though, `cause I'm not making any. It's just a cool site in general. And stuff. I'm starting the chapter now.

Beast

Chapter 27

Inuyasha was not in his room; nor was Miroku. Kagome wouldn't have minded this quite as much had Inuyasha been anywhere else in the castle or on the immediate grounds, or if she had been able to find anything out once she finally collared the monk coming back from an inspection of the forest, but...

"Is something wrong, Kagome-sama?" Miroku paused in the middle of wiping his face with a small towel Sango had thought to bring down to the small entrance area. It was drizzling out, just hard enough to annoy rather than soak.

"Ah...yeah, kind of. Nothing really dangerous. I just wanted to warn him about...something." Kagome scowled and tapped her foot irritably, not bothering to conceal her worry. If he's just sitting up on the pavilion and sulking, so help me-

"What're you just standing there for? Move, dammit." Inuyasha shoved past Miroku, stepping up onto the floor without bothering to dry his feet or shake off the water dripping from his haori, mane and hakama. Sango scowled at him, then made a great show of offering Kagome the last towel so she could dry the dampness Inuyasha had brushed against her arms.

The hanyou glowered at all three before turning his focus on Kagome. "What was that about warning me?"

"Oh. I, uh..." Kagome gulped, relief at his obvious lack of dismemberment vanishing under their expectant - and sullen - expressions. What, am I supposed to say, "Yeah, Kikyou's after you `cause you kissed me back" in front of these guys? "Um..." They leaned in closer as she flushed faintly and looked down, playing with her hands in sudden timidity. "Someone found out about...something...and is mad at...uh...someone, for...stuff."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha snapped, removing his haori to shake it out and spattering everything in range, oblivious to three sets of glares from his annoyed companions.

"It means I'll tell you later," Kagome said pointedly, wiping her face and moving to take his arm. "It's kind of-"

"Oh, now you wanna talk alone?" Inuyasha sidestepped and replaced the haori in one fluid motion, brushing one near-dry sleeve and eyeing her resentfully. "Forget it. If it's so damn important, you can tell me at dinner, when you have to-" He stopped dead, eyes going wide. Then he coughed, scowling more impressively than ever, and started for the stairs. "I'll come by later, when I feel like it."

"Ass," Kagome half mumbled, half snarled. What's wrong with him now? And why do I even bother?

"Inuyasha's temper rarely improves when it rains," Miroku remarked, wiping his cheek with one damp glove. "Of course, one wishes he would be more careful to spare us from a similar fate..."

Whether he meant getting wet, more rain, bad mood, or some mixture thereof, Kagome rather felt it was too late. "This sucks," she muttered, more to herself than either of her friends.

"Would you like to play cards, or perhaps more of the electrics, Kagome-chan?" Sango offered.

Kagome shook her head. "No, no electronics today, and I don't feel like cards, either." She shrugged. "Actually, I'd kind of like to be alone. Would you mind if I just hung out by myself for a few hours?"

"Not at all, Kagome-chan," Sango assured her, nudging Miroku sharply in response to his fleeting but openly suggestive look. "Perhaps we should go see what Kohaku and Shippou are up to, houshi-sama."

Sighing at the rebukes, both overt and subtle, Miroku nodded and half-bowed to Kagome. "Enjoy yourself, Kagome-sama. We'll likely be in your room should you feel the need for company again." With another long-suffering sigh, the monk nodded politely and followed Sango away.

Hmmm... Kagome wandered towards her room, mind ranging over her options. Kikyou never harasses me more than once a day, so I'm safe there...should I go bug Inuyasha? Nuh-uh. He's in Jerk mode, and I do wanna be alone...I'll just have to hope she doesn't ambush him. Go read and listen to music? Tempting, but I wanna do something. DDR? Too much work, even if the endorphins would be helpful. Can't do anything outside `cept maybe have a mudfight, but the kids are all busy...

Hmmm... There was always the bag of wolf-bought things she hadn't completely dug out yet. She'd asked the men to move it to one of the kitchen storerooms...

Ooooh. Cooking. That was a distinct possibility. Contemplating a few different options, Kagome acknowledged greetings from bowing kitchen servants and went into the cool little area where supplies were kept, pawing through the garbage bag and squinting in the dim light. It was a slightly inane thought, and might not work in these conditions, but.... She reached the bottom, finally located several smaller containers in their own sack, and smirked. "Ah ha!"

Inuyasha was mystified when the usual servant brought lunch up to his rooms almost two hours earlier than usual. "What's this?" he grunted at the woman as she set up the small table and began arranging dishes in front of him.

"Kagome-sama has requested use of the kitchens until it's time to start preparing dinner," she explained, pouring his tea carefully. "She was kind enough to permit us to finish your lunch first."

"Permit, my ass." What was she up to? Inuyasha scowled and dismissed the server impatiently, glaring at the food as though the miso, fish and rice were responsible. He picked up his chopsticks, poised them over the rice, and let his hand fall. Is she so bored that she wants to make her own meals or something? His scowl deepened. Bad enough she still cleans up after herself like one of the servants...now she has to start cooking, too?

That did it. Inuyasha cleared his mind with some difficulty and checked the entrances to the kitchens: no one there. Inside, alone, Kagome was bending over one of the few clear spaces left, arranging strange bottles and various implements; as he watched, she straightened, removed a small red band from her wrist and deftly twisted her hair up into a wispy coil, securing most of it so that only a few strands dangled at the back of her neck and fell forward against her cheeks. He caught himself admiring the effect and growled, snapping himself back to his room with irate celerity. We'll see about this...

Another moment, and he was standing outside the largest kitchen passage, ducking in and glancing around to ascertain his safety before proceeding to the area Kagome had commandeered.

Inuyasha peeked around the corner and promptly ducked back as she rose, turning towards him with a small bowl in hand. He sniffed discreetly, but general kitchen odors, banked coals and Kagome's nicely normal smell were all he could discern. Rather absently, he wondered why his father hadn't had the kitchens built separately from the main castle as was usual to reduce the risk of fire, the greatest hazard to any wooden structure regardless of size. Saves me a trip through the rain, anyway.

Gratitude aside, though, he was still irritated as hell that she'd cleared the whole place just so she could do what she was supposed to be leaving to the people who handled it every day. They probably thought this was his fault, that he was starving her or something.... He put on his most daunting scowl and stepped into view, drawing a long breath.

...Dammit! She had her back to him. Inuyasha was caught in a momentary quandary: say something now and get her attention, or wait for her to look around, and possibly scare her either way?

Both were rather appealing, but he nodded to himself as she began unsealing containers. "O-"

"Blanc ou noir comme toi je parts au loin, avec l'espoir de changer le destin..."

Inuyasha's ears pricked up even as he floundered, blinking rather stupidly at her back. Kagome hadn't heard him-she was too busy singing. And not the light croon he'd heard twice before, either: this was full-lunged, uninhibited, and almost uncomfortably loud till he adjusted to the break in silence. "Bien que dans le corps l'âme embrase, dans l'obscurité la distance devient infinie..."

Indecision reigned again briefly, but was resolved in about three seconds as she began to turn again and he leapt out of sight. Then, once his ears confirmed that the sound had turned away once more, he peeked around the corner at her and stifled a snort: she was swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet, entire body rocking gently in rhythm to the strange mishmash of foreign syllables as she picked up a long metal tool and began to stir the bowl's contents. "Avec des jeunes vêtus en peau de bête, on danse emsemble au milieu des tempêtes..."

Inuyasha didn't know quite what to think. She made everyone leave so she could singGranted, she'd said something about not doing it around other people, but this was taking it a little far. Not like she sounds that bad...He even recognized the tune...she'd sung a snatch of it back when she was braiding his hair and still recovering from her cold.

As the song continued and she alternated the words with humming, he grew more and more exasperated. Did she really think her voice was that crappy? He knew nothing about music, of course, or other languages, but he didn't have to be an expert or understand the words to appreciate the sound's lush clarity, the way her voice thrummed a little on the longer notes, resonating pleasantly deep in his attentive ears, and her sheer enjoyment of the simple activity. I swear I'll never understand women...if she likes it and she doesn't sound like a cat coughing something up, why do it where no one's listening?

Soon her humming died down, and Kagome sighed. Inuyasha risked another glance around the corner as she mumbled to herself, "That one never gets old. Thank God for Yusaku's friends..."

That made no sense to Inuyasha, who was forced back when she came towards him for another tool, but the glimpse he caught of her profile as she turned diverted his curiosity. A cautious sniff in her direction confirmed it. Weirdo...I've never seen her so happy. She's just doing something with those powders and playing nightingale...

On the heels of that thought, he felt his right ear snap to attention as Kagome began whistling, pausing every so often, usually in correspondence to the increase of scraping noises against the bottom of a bowl she was stirring. This melody wasn't as easy or relaxed as the first, with a sharper, more melancholy sound that he attributed at least partly to her breath control; some of the higher notes rang throughout his entire skull and made his chest tighten-whether from tension or emotion, he wasn't sure, as the sound vibrated almost as poignantly as her voice had. Either way, he was both disappointed and glad when she stopped. Too touchy. Liked the first one better.

Silence broken only by scraping descended, and Inuyasha let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. Her grin returned to poke at his mind's eye and throw things into further disarray. Never seen anyone get that excited about mixing crap together. What's she doing, anyway? Some kind of spell? Cooking in his time did not emphasize combining ingredients into a product significantly different from the collection of its parts, and Kagome had yet to explain the subtleties of frying, roasting, baking, or other modern culinary techniques. Watching her break an egg into the bowl, he could only surmise that that would explain her mood change from her anger just a little earlier...maybe she was cursing him, or preparing some kind of poison, and looking forward to getting him back.

Fun as that was, he was forced to discard his darkly half-serious theories when she started another song, which he correctly guessed was in English. The tune was plainer than the first two, not as appealing in itself, but, for reasons he didn't care to pinpoint, her clear accuracy in the higher range and near-purr on the lower tones made Inuyasha feel funny. And there was no missing how much pleasure Kagome was deriving from letting it ring out, either...

Given his line of thought, Inuyasha was almost mad at himself for being surprised when his mind drifted back to the treehouse and, unbidden, began to remind him of certain tastes and smells, subtly pointing out that, in addition to prettily framing what was already quite a nice face, her hair's confinement left her neck and shoulders largely exposed. His foot began a slight tic as his feeble attempts to dispel the image were met with reminders of her reaction to his previous advances, and it was only when he caught himself thinking of things much more serious than bathing her neck that he slammed a fist into his thigh, perilously close to the source of his troubles, and got up, ready to put as much distance between himself and the oblivious girl as possible.

But his ears wouldn't let him. With one foot balanced over the threshold, he was forced to stop at sharp movement from the top of his head, straining to catch as much as possible of a song he actually understood. I'll be damned, she does know how to sing something that's not in gibberish. Irrational bemusement drew him back, settling down with his back to the corner wall as she checked a small oven's temperature, got up and began mixing yet more things into her bowl, never faltering in a twisting melody that alternated long, repeating words and phrases with rapid passages that spiked high and low notes and gave him a headache trying to imagine how to mimic the sound.

The words themselves were almost aggressively sentimental, he thought, considering the strength of the tune. He was vaguely annoyed at a few foreign words thrown in, but most of the lyrics were discernable, especially the sections she sang with the most gusto: "You realize those most important to you after you lose them" - that made him cringe a little, before he shook it off and forced his attention back onto her voice - "Because it's impossible for anyone to replace you" - he had to wonder why she was emphasizing these lines...did she know he was here or something? - and, "It's okay, even if I sacrificed everything for that smiling face, once more..."

A longer silence followed the end of the Japanese song. Inuyasha clenched his fists almost absently, shutting his eyes and shaking his head firmly. No, she wouldn't be caterwauling if she knew I was here. It doesn't mean a damn thing. A swift sideways peek revealed that she had spent the duration dabbing some kind of pale brown paste onto a short pan usually employed to bake fish, dotting it liberally in neat rows and opening the oven to slide the pan inside. He suppressed a snort at her muttered curse and the sounds of the pan being jammed more forcefully into the small space, sighing as she cheered softly and closed the little door with her own sigh. "Hope they don't taste like seafood..."

Inuyasha gulped hard as Kagome sauntered back to where the bowl was sitting, picked up the tool she'd used to stir the brown paste, and deftly plucked a dark spot off its end with a flick of her tongue; if his mind hadn't veered so suddenly and so sharply in one direction, Inuyasha might have scoffed at the gesture, as she then flipped the tool's rounded head around and stuck nearly the whole thing in her mouth, swiping it clean with one long pull through her lips anyway. Funny, though, how he couldn't seem to...think...tongue, and...

Oh, shit. He closed his eyes again, but for an entirely different reason. Why oh why had he ever kissed her and given himself fuel to add to what was already a substantial and only somewhat metaphoric fire?

Nah, then I'd just imagine what it'd be like instead of figuring out which taste was ramen and what was her, a tiny, still-rational part of his brain volunteered.

Nothing else to be done for it. Hope it's not raining still...even if the whole point is to get wet anyway. Inuyasha scowled and got up again, trying to reclaim enough mental control to picture the river.

This time, his nose was in on it, too, directing him to sniff more curiously at the oven just as his ears noted happily that Kagome was starting another song, this one suited perfectly to her high range; heart still pounding, but intrigued, Inuyasha cautiously sank back down on his haunches.

The nonsensical words didn't bother him now. On the whole, he mused, sometimes it was better not to know what kind of crap she was singing about...and in this case, even the plainly repeated syllables bridging verses were carried on lovely, arching streams of sound that alternately raised the shorter hairs on the back of his neck and calmed him like a sip of sake, spreading quiet peace through his uneasy mind as effectively as Kagome had aroused it.

The smell of whatever-it-was in the oven grew stronger as she slipped into yet another melody that seemed made for her; if anything, this one was even more soothing, rippling lightly back and forth on strangely accented words, lilting sweetly and leaving a near-painful shock of quiet echoing in his ears when Kagome stopped abruptly, making disgusted noises and muttering something about knowing made-up languages but not "Russian," whatever that was. It was small consolation to hear her drink some water and whistle the rest. Stupid wench, no one gives a damn whether you've got the words right or not!

Even the whistling faltered as she smelled what he'd long since detected and opened the door to check the pan, closing it and fanning herself. "Few more minutes," she muttered.

Inuyasha wouldn't have thought he could surprise himself again, but when she began another song, pitching her voice lower than she had before and almost chanting smoothly rapid English words rather than singing half the time, he felt a twinge of guilt. She'd made all this effort to be alone, without the brat or the bouzu or even Sango to keep her company, and here he was hanging around like some kind of annoying puppy...

He winced as her voice rose in dejected grace on the refrain, repeating the same words a few times before tapping her foot in time and letting it fade. At least her scent didn't...he sniffed again, and his ears folded. Some of that sadness had indeed trickled into her demeanor, and Kagome seemed to wilt slightly as she pulled the pan out of the oven and set it down to cool, wrinkling her nose at the fragrant, oddly shaped lumps. "Dammit, I should've known it wouldn't work..."

What the...? All he could see were blotches of pale brown on the pan. They didn't even smell that bad, and yet Kagome was staring at them, lips pressed into a thin line, arms crossed impatiently. What's her problem?

It occurred to him, from a bitter, snide part of the back of his mind that he usually kept back there for a reason, that while he had plenty of experience watching women from afar, Kikyou had never given him this kind of dilemma: she almost always knew when he was near, and certainly never let him catch her with her guard down. His careful observation of the priestess's activities had at least been fair, not to mention necessary, while this was just spying. And now that she was upset, what was he supposed to do? Something? Nothing? Blow his cover? Slink away? What?

Kagome's snort broke into his rumination, and to his overwhelming relief, she shrugged to herself, took another sip of water from a tall modern container, and began lifting the now-solid lumps off the pan with a broad, flat-edged tool, digging a little to separate wood and whatever-the-hell-it-was, then transferring the stuff to a tray, forming a pile and flipping a clean cloth over it with a triumphant snap of the wrist. "That's one," she said to no one in particular, arranging the cloth to her satisfaction and turning to inspect the pan, missing a blur of white as Inuyasha ducked away just in time.

Too close. Least she smells okay now... Inuyasha willed his heart to slow as she drank some more, whistled absently, and then launched into another Japanese song, this one quick and upbeat, almost rowdy in comparison to the others. She even paused just before the refrain and simultaneously rapped her foot on the floor and the tool in her hand on the bowl's edge thrice, confusing him till he realized it was part of the song; but the words, like the other lyrics he'd understood, spoke of devotion and loyalty in a context that struck a little too close to home for him, belying the jovial melody till she reached the main line and drew the notes out, vocal cords humming expressively. "...And together we'll keep on walking, because we can't go back...even now, the inerasable sin deep in my chest hurts, but-" And it ended abruptly in an English word he naturally did not know, but which he guessed, accurately, was some kind of endearment.

Now he was completely torn; guilt and acute discomfort brought on by some of those strange words urged him to leave her to her weird cooking and go hurt something, maybe spar with the monk or pick a fight with the wolf...but a glance around the corner - Kagome was smiling broadly, trying to get a smear of brown off her cheek, with only moderate success - and curiosity kept his feet planted in a relaxed crouch against the wall. Besides, what else was there to do around here with it raining outside?

Inuyasha sighed as she finished the song with a series of humming and nonsensical words, clicking her tongue in time to the snap of the oven door closing on a second batch of...stuff. He sniffed avidly at the oddly sweet, almost burnt odor drifting from the tray, and wondered again what it was supposed to be.

...Gods, hasn't her throat gotten tired yet?! He scowled at the onset of yet another song. And she was still using Japanese, as if to mock his initial distaste for the other languages. Any more sappy words and I'm outta here.

Of course, now that he was on the defensive, this turned out to be a slow, gracefully poetic tune, haunting, but simpler than anything else she'd tried; the lyrics merely dealt with flower petals swaying, serenity, something about white sand and moon stories-

The tension that'd leached out of his muscles by the time she finished the verse snapped right back into place as she drew a deep, shaky breath and, instead of letting it out, continued. The hanyou froze, hands rigid on the tatami as her voice sank from studied melancholy to genuine distress. "Will the time come? When will you know the pain in my heart?"

That last note was almost strangled, ending on a gulp. Inuyasha methodically sank his claws into the tatami between his feet and began ripping long rows up, urge to flee rising against a violent impulse to make her stop somehow as she persisted, voice hoarse but words all too clear. "Such a warm feeling...tell me, what's the name that people give it?"

Before he could help it, he had poked his entire head around the corner in mindless worry, just in time to meet her teary gaze head-on.

Time stopped for a moment, Inuyasha freezing in panic as Kagome's mouth fell open. His muscles refused to obey his brain's hearty suggestions of moving away now, while his ears alone welcomed the idea and retreated to lay flat against his hair. Gods, she's gonna cry, and kill me, and then she's gonna cry some more-why the hell didn't I run?!

Kagome also wasn't moving. "Inuyasha? What are you doing there?"

"Ah..." Nothing else came to mind. Then, as the silence stretched painfully into awkwardness, it came to him: he still had no clue what to say. "Uh..."

He was not prepared for her to laugh, or grin, or shake her head, but these she did. "Honestly, Inuyasha, if you were curious, you should've just come in." She crossed the short space to stand over him and bend down, hand extended and face alight. "I should've known you'd smell them anyway. Come on, I want you to try the first batch of cookies."

"Cookies?" Inuyasha eyed her hand suspiciously, still waiting for her to blow up at him for eavesdropping, then blinked intelligently when it became evident no retaliation was forthcoming. "But...I thought you-"

"I'm not mad anymore." Kagome came around closer and tugged at his elbow. "C'mon, I'd like the company."

Inuyasha suppressed a growl of pure bewilderment. First she speaks in code and pretends it's my fault for not getting it, then screws everything up and gets off on singing and acts like me interrupting is even better?! The sadness had faded entirely from her scent and body language, too... "Make up your mind, wench."

Kagome merely shrugged, pulling gently at his arm till he arose with a great show of reluctance and followed her to the oven, crossing his arms as she uncovered the first pile and removed two lumps. "I'm sorry for throwing your lunch off, but I wanted this to be a surprise. It's a rainy-day tradition to make these for family, and I kinda miss baking."

Some of the shock of not being murdered began to ebb away, and Inuyasha scowled at the warm lump she placed in his left hand to cover his confusion. "What the hell is this?"

"I told you, it's a cookie. Try it." Kagome smiled, unfazed.

He glared at it, then at her, sniffing at the thing cautiously and nibbling a tiny piece off, pointedly looking elsewhere to avoid her expectant, self-conscious gaze. The odd taste, burnt, sweet and somewhat fishy, lingered in his mouth after he swallowed, and he couldn't help smacking his lips as best he could with his fangs in the way. "The hell?"

"Is it that bad?" Kagome's smile became rueful. "I was afraid the tray would make it taste funny, but we don't have any tin foil, and I had to use tofu instead of butter."

"Tin foil? ...Butter?" Inuyasha scowled, broke off a larger piece of `cookie' and chewed, taking great care as always to keep his teeth from disagreeing with his tongue too sharply. "This is weird."

Kagome assumed a properly indifferent expression, though the way he finished the cookie and eyed the rest belied his wrinkled nose. "Like I said, I had to improvise. The next batch might be a little better, since I put the cookies in the same place as these. Plus, the others have peanut butter, and I think you'd like those more than the chocolate in these."

"Keh." He crossed his arms, reminding himself very sternly not to read anything into the fact that she had been glad to see him/made these with him in mind, and scowled again even though Kagome had just turned back to the oven and couldn't see.

"This'll probably sound stupid, but I always liked making these," she said conversationally, bending to check the tray in the oven. "Mom taught me how. She and I used to spend hours in the kitchen, just sitting around and talking."

Or singing? He had a strong suspicion that was part of it, too, but offered only a slight snort, hard pressed not to wince when she shrugged and shook her head. "Yeah, I know you don't care, but it's your kitchen, so it wouldn't be right if I didn't harass you a little with pointless stories."

Inuyasha's ears flicked violently several times as sadness pricked his nostrils, and he growled irritably at her back. "It's no skin off my nose if you wanna spout foreign crap or yak about your family. So don't act like it's such a big deal, okay? It's annoying."

Kagome was framing an indignant reply when something stopped her cold. "...Wait...foreign crap? When exactly did you come in here, Inuyasha?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She wasn't turning to look at him, and he gulped slightly.

"It means I've been singing only in Japanese for the past couple of songs." His ears started up again, and she laughed, shaking her head and bending to check the tray again. "Honestly, if you wanted to torture yourself, you could've just gone try to make friends with Kouga instead of listening to me sing."

Inuyasha's left leg twitched, and he clamped it still lest she notice; he couldn't have kept comical dismay off his face to save his life, though, and she confirmed her suspicions with a light glance over her shoulder as he sputtered, "I...well...it's...shut up!"

Again, instead of raising her voice, Kagome paused for the briefest of seconds, then began giggling quietly. "You are so transparent sometimes."

"Shut up," Inuyasha muttered, wincing inwardly at his own whininess. He crossed his arms. "I was just curious about the weird smell."

"And morbidly curious about the noise I was making?" Biting her lip to keep from laughing at his utterly adorable sulk, Kagome forced herself to focus on the stove. "You could've said something and come in. I would've stopped."

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled, not catching himself till she was already staring at him. "What?"

"So you just sat there and listened instead?" Kagome swept her loose hair behind her ears nervously, trying to chalk up her facial heat to the stove. "You have better hearing than most humans, right? I didn't know you were a masochist."

"Shut up, wench! I didn't want to distract you and make you burn the place down." He huffed and refolded his hands into his sleeves. "And like I said, you can do whatever you want here as long as you don't hurt anything or piss me off. I don't care. So just...do whatever you feel like, and no whining, got that?"

"As ye wish," she replied in a fair imitation of the younger servants, smile threatening to emerge when he nodded shortly and stared at his feet. Who does he think he's fooling?

Inuyasha had an extremely uncomfortable feeling that she hadn't bought it. And she really thinks she can't sing? Who the hell is she comparing herself to?! It occurred to him that maybe his enhanced hearing had something to do with their disparity in opinion, but that couldn't completely explain it...

And he wasn't even going to let himself wonder if anyone had ever been that openly glad to see him; his mother was always so busy, and Kikyou had never quite let go of her instinctive wariness around him, which he had accepted as natural so long as he was half demon-who in their right mind would completely trust a hanyou?

"Softly, let me hear of the distant future..."

His head snapped up so fast that his neck twinged. Kagome was easing the tray out of the oven using a strange kind of modern glove, but not so focused on the task that she couldn't also finish the song, with him standing less than four feet away and unmistakably listening. His throat constricted as she laid the tray down carefully, almost whispering the last line. "...so bright it can't be seen, like a white-sand moon."

"That was one of Mom's favorites," she said briskly, turning to reach for the long-handled scraper. "Just remember, you said I could sing, so I'm gonna hold you to th-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Inuyasha had backed her against the nearest wall and was snarling down at her in the space of a rapid double heartbeat. "What do you think you're doing, huh? Are you trying to fuck with my head, or are you just stupid?!"

"What're you talking about?" Kagome's good mood was drowned in a rush of surprised anger, and she refused to look away as his glare intensified, eyes almost glowing red. "I think I've been pretty patient with you today, Inuyasha, and the least you could d-"

"You don't get it. You really don't get it." He couldn't take the hurt and confusion in her defiant expression, and told himself that was why he chose to pull her against his chest, giving her the lightest shake he could. "Just..."

"Inuyasha, what...what're you doing?" Kagome was at a complete loss. Yelling, cussing, hugging...is he bipolar or something? So much for not touching her, either.... Much as she wanted to melt into him, though, he clearly wasn't in a romantic frame of mind. Like he ever would be. "Inuyasha, what's the matter?" She patted his back hesitantly.

"You're the matter," he mumbled, vaguely aware that he really shouldn't be in this position and enjoying it on some semiconscious level. He reluctantly let her go enough to lean back, regretting it the moment her hand came up to pull his forelock worriedly. "Stop that."

Kagome hesitated, then gritted her teeth and tugged harder. "You're the one who grabbed me this time. Make up your mind, why don't...huh?" A vague, persistent feeling had suddenly crept up on her.

Inuyasha's right ear rotated back towards the outer courtyard at a thin, sharp whistle. "Who or what the hell was that?" Profoundly - almost pathetically - grateful for the distraction, he released her and stood still to listen.

The near-itch in the back of Kagome's mind increased. "Inuyasha? I think...I think it's Shimoko."

"What? How do you know?" She ignored his scowl and moved out of the kitchen as the feeling grew even stronger. "Oi!"

On an impulse, Kagome went to her room, which was strangely empty, and looked in vain for the mirror till she saw Buyo curled up on the floor, snoring, one black velvet corner sticking out from underneath the furry calico-patterned fat, and yelped. "Buyo! Fat butt off demon mirror, now!" Ignoring the grumbling protests, Kagome heaved all 20 pounds off the wrap, breathing a sigh of relief that ended in aggravation when she saw all the cat hair on the velvet. No time to go over it with a piece of tape...stupid cat!

A servant boy hurried up to her as soon as she came out. "Kagome-sama, you have-"

"She knows, kid. Go away." Inuyasha, who had been waiting for her behind him, jerked his head outside. "Wipe your face and get your ass out there. The sooner we know what she wants, the sooner she goes away."

The boy scuttled away. Kagome stuck her tongue out and handed Inuyasha the mirror so she could pull her hair free, running her fingers through it to fluff it a bit and swiping at her cheek. "Is it off?"

"Hold still." Inuyasha pulled his sleeve over his hand and used the slightly rough surface to gently scrape the last of the dried batter off. "There. Let's go."

"You should've just used your head...or your tongue, more specifically."

Inuyasha nearly dropped the mirror, shoving it at Kagome so he could whirl around and shout at his smirking niece unhindered. "Dammit, we were going outside! Did you have to come in without asking?!"

"I got impatient." Shimoko half-bowed to Kagome. "Are you well, Auntie?"

"I'm fine, Shimoko-sama." Kagome bowed lower.

"Ah, you were prepared, I see." The demon indicated the velvet-wrapped mirror. "It hasn't shrunk again, either...and oji-chan didn't think to use the mirror to let you clean your own face. It does work normally, you know."

"Shut up. What do you want, anyway?" Inuyasha snapped.

She shrugged elegantly and turned on her heel. "Come, the monk and exterminators are outside already."

Shimoko ignored Inuyasha's questions till they were out in the sunshine, air already growing muggy and dirt squelching wherever they stepped off the path. Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kohaku were kneeling with Kaede a safe distance from the shrine in a miniature garden tucked against the side of the castle, and three more cushions had been arranged, a cloth spread in the middle. It was evident from their lack of surprise that Shimoko had been introduced to everyone, Kagome noted with relief; she wondered how long the demon had already been there.

"Now..." Shimoko indicated that Kagome should sit in the middle and lay the mirror down on the cloth, seating herself as the girl complied and Inuyasha sank onto the remaining cushion. "It's very simple, using the mirror. You need only have everyone who will view the memory touch the rim; the person with the memory to be broadcast allows something of his or hers, say an article of clothing or an object with deep personal meaning, to touch the surface. I must emphasize once again that letting your skin come into contact with the glass is not permissible, and if one person withdraws, or if the article is removed, the memory will cease and the process must be started again. As you are all here, this will be much quicker and easier than showing my mother's memory, though this does carry personal risk lest the mirror pull you in. It was originally used to capture and consume souls, and its appetites still lurk somewhere, I believe..." Shimoko smiled brightly. "Who wants to try it first?"

Silence.

"Why do we even need this thing?" Shippou piped up.

"Because it's fun," Shimoko said flippantly, cracking a smile when her audience gaped at her. "Because, little one, this place has a unique history, and recalling it may give your future lady a better idea of what has happened here and what she may need to do should the curse be broken."

"Don't call her that," Inuyasha muttered.

"Shut up, please, oji-chan. Now, who wants to try it?"

"I suppose I will," Miroku said with a valiant attempt at calm, and Sango clutched at his arm so hard that he winced. "It's all right," he assured her, uncurling her fingers with some effort and looking to Shimoko for support. The demon nodded shortly.

"Ye are quite certain this cursed thing is safe?" Kaede's single eye narrowed slightly.

"Nope. But if we're careful, no one should get eaten." Shimoko shrugged and beckoned to Miroku. "Move closer, houshi, and hold out your hand. Those beads should be adequate, so long as you don't rest them too firmly on the glass."

Once the back of the monk's hand was hovering over the mirror, only shaking very slightly, and each person had a hand on the rim, Shimoko became deadly serious. "Transmitting a memory to the mirror and back is not difficult, nor is it very dangerous so long as you're careful. My mother has shown me the battle with Naraku hundreds of time since I was a child, and never showed ill effects.

"Now, houshi, think back to a very vivid time in your life, say, a childhood memory, something not terribly serious but important to you-nothing too personal, please," she added dryly, and Kagome couldn't hold back a snort. Shippou and Kohaku looked askance at her, but Shimoko plowed on. "Whenever you're ready, houshi, hold it very strongly in your mind and allow your beads to rest on the mirror. Once you're done, or if you feel the glass attempt to pull you in, lift your hand. Till then, don't be alarmed by anything unusual. I'll be watching your back, so to speak."

"All right..."

Kagome was prepared for the blackness this time as Miroku lowered his hand to touch the beads to the glass, and she made soothing noises at Shippou's squeal of alarm. But instead of having to wait for the mirror to fill up, the glass flared briefly, subsiding to show a small, clear pond at midday, sun glistening in folds off its rippling surface. Two small hands shot into the water, narrowly missing a large carp, and the image pitched forward as the point-of-view slipped and fell in, unnervingly real as the silent picture blacked in and out to mimic someone blinking water from his eyes. "Incredible," she heard Kaede whisper reverently.

"I certainly didn't think so at the time," Miroku's voice remarked, drawing nervous laughter.

The image unsteadily rose out of the water and back onto the bank, turning to shake water from unseen hair and create countless smaller ripples, which cleared just long enough to reveal a very young boy with a wet cowlick of black hair and dark blue-gray eyes screwed up in frustration. Kagome nearly squealed. I wonder what Inuyasha looked like as a kid...? She nearly squealed again, then forced herself to stop it lest she interrupt.

Young Miroku's face cleared; the perspective whipped around over his shoulder, and the image got up and ran shakily towards a woman in a simple, neat green kimono kneeling under a nearby tree, tugging at her sleeve as she tried to settle him down to eat a few rice balls set next to a tiny cup of tea. After much silent pleading and hand gestures, the woman managed to get him to kneel, and they got a good look at her as he said something that made her smile: she had the monk-to-be's lustrous hair, but otherwise, Kagome surmised, Miroku must have gotten his features from his father, not from this sharp-looking, brown-eyed person, though the kindly set of her mouth did seem familiar.

Nothing happened for several moments as the image showed several rice balls being devoured, till the second-to-last one came out almost as soon as the first bite went in; his mother leaned over in concern, lips moving, and watched him hold out the rice ball. Her eyes suddenly widened, mouth pursing to hold in what Kagome thought looked rather like laughter. Then she frowned, speaking sternly, and the image looked down at his lap in contrition-and disappeared, fading back to blank glass.

Miroku carefully lifted his hand from the mirror, breathing a sigh of relief as they easily came free. "I couldn't have been more than three or four years old," the monk said as the little group blinked, adjusting to the surge of daylight against their eyelids. "My mother died only a few years later, but she told a few friends of hers the story, and they told my guardian, who brought me here and told me what it was I said..." He chuckled. "I don't recall saying it so much as I do falling into the water and then eating, but apparently she had included too little filling on one, and I showed it to her and repeated a phrase she often used with peddlers: `This is unacceptable.'"

Kagome caught Sango's eyes, and each knew the other had the same mental image of a near-baby Miroku very seriously informing his mother that her cooking was unacceptable, and they began giggling together in perfect unison.

"Quite," Shimoko agreed, lips curved slightly.

"Feh." Inuyasha drummed his claws on the rim impatiently. "That was nothing."

"You're just jealous `cause Miroku's cuter than you are," Shippou said wisely.

"Shut up, brat!" Inuyasha seized the nearest rock at hand and deliberately missed the kit, nearly braining Kohaku instead.

"Watch yourself, Inuyasha," Sango snapped, all business as Shippou pulled his eyelid down at the hanyou and immediately had to leap aside when Inuyasha decided to just throw himself forward, forcing Kohaku back instead. The boy twisted around, turning to avoid Inuyasha as the castle's lord decided to go through him to get to the kitsune and Sango raised her voice. "Inuyasha!"

Shimoko watched tolerantly as Sango pulled her younger brother to safety and Kagome scolded Inuyasha to little avail, but the demoness's eyes grew wide as they fell on the younger slayer's back. "All of you, stop!"

Everyone but Inuyasha froze in place at the harsh command, and Shimoko made a slashing gesture: instantly the hanyou became a very angry statue, air locking him into place with his hand closed around Shippou's tail. "Lemme go!" they snarled as one, Inuyasha trying to glare sideways at his niece and Shippou batting at his hands.

"Be quiet, oji-chan." She released him, and Shippou scrambled for the safety of Kagome's lap, where he stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. Shimoko ignored Inuyasha's muttered threats and knelt closer to the mirror. "You, boy, Kohaku. Give me your weapon."

Kohaku gulped and removed his chain sickle. "This, Shimoko-sama?"

"Yes." She extended a hand, frowning at his hesitation. "Come now, I will give it back. I merely want to examine it more closely."

"Demons can't touch our weapons, Shimoko-sama," Sango interjected. "They're sealed in order to contain any youki that might linger in the materials, and to prevent demons cut by our weapons from instantly healing as well. You may try if you like, but you'll end up with blisters or worse."

"Contain? Then there is still..." Shimoko's nose wrinkled. "Did you ever attack Naraku with that blade, boy?"

"Only once, Shimoko-sama," he answered after a glance at his sister. "It was only a small cut on the shoulder."

"From what I understand, he was a slippery little bastard. Well done in striking at all." She frowned at the sickle again. "I wonder...touch the mirror with it."

Kohaku gulped. "Shimoko-sama, I-"

"I thought I felt something strange from your weapon, boy, and I will investigate." Shimoko gestured imperiously. "Do it. Think of your skirmish with him."

Violent dread seized Kagome as the boy looked askance at Sango again, then lowered the weapon towards the mirror and the group replaced their fingers on the rim. "Wait!" she almost squeaked, and Kohaku jumped, the tip a hair's breadth from the glass.

"What is it, Auntie?" Shimoko asked impatiently.

"Um..." Kagome shook her head, pushing her hair back with a trembling hand. "I...don't know, but I've got a really bad feeling about this. Maybe he shouldn't do it?"

The demoness glared at her for so long that Inuyasha began rumbling faintly. "Stay out of this, oji-chan." Her expression cleared slowly. "You may be right, though how you would be aware of the possible consequences when I myself forgot momentarily, I don't know." She tossed her head, letting her gray hair shift across her shoulders. "Not the best idea, to let the remnants of Naraku's demon energy touch a mirror he himself created. Silly me."

"Naraku's..." Kagome blanched.

"Calm down, Auntie. I merely meant that sometimes youki clings to certain things, and some of it might still be within the boy's weapon."

"If that was the case, Shimoko-sama, Kaede or myself would have felt it," Miroku disagreed politely.

"Not with the way they're designed to suppress the energy they encounter," Sango pointed out, taking the sickle from her brother and hefting it lightly.

"Let me see that."

Only Shimoko did not react with considerable surprise to the voice behind the little group; her eyes widened at what her nose and eyes told her as she glanced at the source. "You...you must be Kikyou." She sniffed delicately. "You're a spirit?"

"Correct." Kikyou did not look at any of them, `brushing' past Kagome and around the mirror to regard Kohaku and his weapon coolly. "I am no demon, boy, and I know that that creature is dead. That does not, however, exclude any remnants he might have left behind. Hold still."

Kohaku very bravely did not move, permitting the priestess to examine the sickle in his shaking grasp closely. She held out one solid-looking hand, giving no notice of the boy's squeak when her fingers passed through the sickle entirely to lightly `grasp' the handle.

Kagome winced as pain wormed into her brain, threading through her skull as if a needle was being pulled between her ears, and abruptly disappeared, leaving dizziness in its wake. She glanced around, caught Inuyasha's puzzled eye briefly, and gave him a small smile to indicate she was all right.

"Inuyasha."

He was on his feet and facing the dead priestess before Kagome could blink. Kikyou smiled thinly, half-bowing. "You owe the girl much in defending you, though how she knew is beyond me...for now." Kagome held firm as the priestess spared her an unreadable look. "Do not, however, think yourself absolved quite yet. We will discuss this more tonight."

"Tonight..." Raw panic consumed Inuyasha for just a moment. "NO! No, no, that's not..." He saw their reactions and swallowed, getting himself under control with palpable effort. "Could you wait till tomorrow night? Or this afternoon? Or now?"

"Did you have something planned that my presence would make rather awkward, Inuyasha?" Even Shippou flinched at the single dose of venom in her otherwise calm words. "Or would you rather I take you to task for your indiscretion right now?"

"Does that mean you know he didn't k...do it, Kikyou?" Kagome said loudly, barely catching herself and earning either a shocked stare or a glare from everyone concerned. Shimoko raised an eyebrow at her, and Kagome gathered her courage, looking back at the priestess with a semblance of calmness. "Either way, I hardly think it's right to talk about anything right now, don't you agree?"

Kikyou's eyes burned into hers, and for just a moment Kagome wanted to look away, disappear, maybe get up and run away, possibly screaming...then she remembered that, as much as she had suffered herself, this woman had also caused Inuyasha untold agony, and her chin came up, calm no longer forced. "You guys do need to talk, Kikyou, but not now. Goodbye."

Kikyou did not move or speak for the count of fifty. Kagome's eyes began to water slightly, but childhood staring contests had built up her endurance; Kikyou finally uttered a soft "Fool" and winked out, leaving Kagome to sag over, gingerly peeling her eyelids back down.

"I think I missed something," Shimoko said dryly.

"Idiot!" Inuyasha exhaled so loudly that Shippou jumped, and the rest of the circle also began to breathe freely again. "What made you butt in like that?!"

"Excuse me for saving your ass," Kagome snapped, too unsettled to care about her language in front of Shimoko and Kaede, or how they hid their amusement and disapproval, respectively. "What, would you rather have let her rip you a new one now?"

"Shut up! I would've thought of something!"

"Like what? Like `She attacked me and put a spell on me to make me like it, so please don't kill me'? Like-" Kagome clamped her jaws shut, nearly severing her tongue.

"I believe much explanation is necessary," Shimoko said smoothly over Inuyasha's heated retort. "For now, I'd like to see if I can locate my mother to consult with her. In the meantime, you two play nice, and don't do it where others can hear, hm?"

"You stay out of this!" Inuyasha growled and made a rude gesture at this niece's now-empty cushion. "Dammit, doesn't anyone stay put anymore?!"

"I'm confused," Shippou complained.

"You're in good company, kid." Inuyasha stalked away towards the steps before anyone could ask any more questions. "I'll be in my room if anyone's dumb enough to need me."

His next unpleasant surprise of the day: Shimoko had not left the castle yet. In fact, she was standing at his window in his bedchamber. "What the...?!"

"You were in love with the priestess, weren't you?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but sound wouldn't come out for several seconds. "What?"

His niece gave him a cold stare that would've made her father proud. "I'm familiar with the reports Sesshoumaru gleaned from his spies within the castle, and opinion held that you and Kikyou were suspiciously close. With your obvious regard for Kagome, not to mention the smell of your saliva on her neck, I couldn't think of any other reason for the curse still being operational at this point unless something was holding you both back."

He bared his fangs. So that is what she meant by that crack about looking back that time...! "It's none of your damn business!"

"It is entirely my business when my family is involved, and from what little I've seen and heard, my only uncle is preparing to throw his life away to satisfy an outdated sense of honor to a woman centuries dead, and at the expense of Kagome's happiness. Do not tell me she means nothing to you, oji-chan. I don't appreciate being lied to, even if you seem to enjoy doing it to yourself." If anything, her eyes grew colder.

Inuyasha's nails were sunk into his palms, embedded nearly halfway into the tough flesh. "If you think I enjoy the fact that Kagome got dragged into this, you're fucking wrong."

"I have some inkling of the pain you feel knowing she's involved, and I know this because I know you care for her." Shimoko sighed quietly. "And you avoid the question as neatly as ever. Just admit that you like her, at the very least, and cease wasting your energy pretending that liking her is betraying Kikyou."

"I am betraying her," Inuyasha snarled, beyond caring about keeping his guard up now. "I never even got the chance to kiss Kikyou, and look what I did to Kagome! You think that's not betraying her, and just screwing with Kagome?!"

"I suspect you did nothing to a girl as healthy and honest as Kagome, oji-chan. Might I hazard a guess that she initiated the contact to which Kikyou was referring, and which I smelled on her?" Inuyasha flushed darkly, and Shimoko had the grace not to smile. "I won't ask you to change your entire life according to my opinions. But I do request you at least attempt to realize that you don't have to waste your remaining time making Kagome feel stupid for caring about you-because if you can't see that she does, you're even further from hope than I thought."

A snatch of quiet verse drifted up through his mind, a glimpse of a smile, words chiding him for not coming in sooner-

"You care for her, and there is nothing wrong with that. You will not feel guilty for spending time with her, and so long as you force nothing upon her, you will not blame yourself for anything you do with her. Is that clear?" Shimoko came across the room to look him in the eye at closer range. He bowed his head sullenly to avoid the piercing red-gold, mind in too much turmoil to reply. She went back to the window and sighed again. "I'll say no more for now. Until I see you again, oji-chan..." Gone.

Inuyasha raised listless eyes to the window, weight of her words crushing his usual self-defiance. Fuckin' stupid...I don't like Kagome. I don't. If she wants to give a rat's ass about me, that's her problem.

But she'd saved his life, kept him warm...

Guilt. I owe her more than I could ever repay, but that's all.

Made those damn fishy cookies for him...

For everyone else, too. I'm just part of the pack.

Sang in front of him, smiled at him, kissed him, defended him at every turn-

How was he supposed to ignore that?

More importantly, how was he supposed to acknowledge it without admitting that she'd worked so deeply under his skin that he felt slightly guilty, even unclean, as though just his feelings were enough to taint her?

Inuyasha didn't know the answer.

All he knew was that Shimoko was at least partly right. He......no, he forced himself to let the thought filter slowly through himself: I like her. I care what happens to her.

...There, that wasn't so bad. Was it?

He still didn't know.

Growling, Inuyasha shook himself. This was getting him nowhere, and he wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing how much his head was screwed up right now. It was time to go rejoin Kagome and pretend nothing was any more wrong than usual. Wonder if any of those `cookie' things are still good?

A/N: Whoo, that was a doozy. This'n took me 4 or 5 days, when I usually knock `em out in a single night-and several all-nighters went into here alone.

Notes: I have no clue as to the merits of tofu as a baking substitute; nor could I find much info on feudal Japanese kitchens, though I beat the crap out of several search engines. I claim right of clueless author against correction on those points (though if anyone gets curious enough to try the tofu thing, I'm not responsible-though you can feel free to tell me if it worked or not, `cause now I'm curious).

To avoid any entanglements, and in case anyone cares enough to want to know, besides "Valse de la Lune," Kagome's little concert consisted, respectively, of whistling the opera music from Final Fantasy 6 (I highly recommend getting the vocal track from the Italian opera performace-not even a decent normal soprano can sing those notes), then one in English I'll reuse and reveal next chapter `cause I want to; then "UNDO," the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist (highly excellent series); the nonsensical one, "Sora," is actually not in any real language, from the Escaflowne movie, while the next song, "Brothers," is also from Fullmetal Alchemist (yes, it's in Russian); the next English one is "Strangers" from Wolf's Rain, and then back to Japanese and Fullmetal Alchemist is its first closing, "Inerasable Sin," finally ending up with Outlaw Star's first closing, "Hiru no Tsuki." I do not speak Japanese, and I relied heavily upon animelyrics dot com for translations; go visit the site, pet it, make friends, take it out for drinks, but don't take advantage, because those guys are cool and I take no credit for the translation of the lyrics or anything else song-related. Yes, again, this takes place in 2004, and as for how she acquired the music when she's been dirt-poor for three years, I alluded to that and will cover it next time, along with muchas other plot stuff, I promise.

...Yeah, and remember my chapter estimate? Tack on at least 10 more at this rate. I just can't seem to shut up. :'D

That's all for now...(fans self)