InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beautiful Stranger ❯ I Can't Just Call You Man! ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: momoiam

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all related characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am not profiting in any manner from this story, unless you count self-satisfaction ^^
 
Many thanks to those who read and took the time to review chapter one. I truly appreciate it!
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“So you don’t remember your name?”

The man she had found in the forest earlier that day sat in front of her, freshly bathed with proper dressings on his wounds, ravenously eating a bowl of stew. He shook his head. “If I remembered my name, I would have given it to you.” He finished his last few bites of stew and handed the bowl to her. “Thank you very much. You have been extremely kind to me.”
“Well, I can’t just call you ‘man’,” she said, rolling her eyes. "We've got to call you something."  She accepted his empty bowl and stood up. “Would you like some more?”
He nodded. “Yes, please. It is very good.”

“I’m glad you liked it!” she replied, beaming. If she was known for anything, it wasn’t her cooking skills. It was something Inuyasha had picked on her for over the years.
“I…” he started, “I suppose you could call me… Yuki. You did find me in the snow after all.”
Kagome finished refilling his bowl and handed it back to him. She studied him closely and shook her head. “No, you don’t strike me as a Yuki.”

“Do you have any better suggestions, oh wise one?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
She studied him a bit more, his freshly cropped and washed black hair, violet eyes, skin tanned from living in the rags she had found him in. He definitely fit the phrase ‘tall, dark and handsome’. “How about Kuro?”
He snorted. “Dark?”
“You know, the phrase ‘tall, dark, and handsome?’” When he simply stared at her in reply she shrugged. “I guess not…” She thought a bit more. “Unless you have any better ideas. You’re making me feel like we’re naming a pet or something.”

They were both silent, deeply in thought. Kagome hadn't even given thought to naming her future children, no less some random man she found in the woods in need of assistance. Yuki definitely didn't fit, even though she did find him in the snow. Kuro seemed much more accurate as far as his looks went, though it didn't seem so much for his personality. Given his size, Dai would be fully appropriate, but she didn't think he'd be fond of being called 'big' or 'large'. "How about Hajime? This is a new beginning for you, after all."
He shook his head. "Sounds too feminine."
She thought some more, putting together what she knew of him. He was thrown from his previous village because they thought he was a demon. He was hurt. He was found in the snow. He was tall, dark, and handsome. He was lucky that she found him in good condition. "How about Kei? It means blessed."
"While I do feel blessed that you found me, it just doesn't seem fitting."
"Ok, let's try something else."
Kagome sighed and started to think of appropriate names.
"Masaaki."
"No."
"Ryo."

"No."
"Satsoshi."
"No."
"Yoshiro."
"No."
"Aoi."
"No."
Kagome threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Would you settle on something?" she cried. "If  you can't figure something out I'm going to start calling you Man, and you aren't going to have any choice in the matter."

“Haru,” he said, with a note of finality. “I will be Haru.”
“Why Haru?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I think I like spring. It is a lovely time of year.”
“Seems like a fitting reason. It's a good thing my mom didn't let me choose my own name.”
"Why do you say that?" he asked, between bites.
"I would have named myself something like Momoiro."

"Pink?"
"I liked pink when I was little, so shoot me!"
"Shoot?"
"It's an expression, don't worry about it." Kagome bit her tongue. She already knew he knew that something was strange about her, but she didn't want him scaring and running off into the snow after she had spent the time helping him. He seemed to be recovering well so far, but colds were sneaky creatures. 
“Haru it is.” He nodded and tucked back into his soup. “This is really good stew!”
Kagome smiled as she watched him eat. Once she had him cleaned up she noticed how malnourished he looked. His ribs didn’t quite show yet, but a few more days without meals and it was a distinct possibility. She hoped that he hadn't overdone it on the food. She had heard stories of people who were nearly starved to death actually perishing from having even the smallest bits of food.
Bathing him was something else entirely. Taking a bath in the winter was near impossible without the discovery of a hot spring. While Kagome had a large enough tub, it was a chore to fill it with warm water.  Her house guest did what he could do injured, which wasn't much more than get in her way. Eventually she had enough for him to have a nice soak. Tending his wounds was a bit of a fight; he didn't want her to see him naked any more than she wanted to see him naked, badly wounded or not. Kagome's inner nag ('Thank you, Mama!') finally won and he gave in. His hair was so matted that Kagome had no choice but to cut it off to the tops of his ears. It wasn't a popular style in that time, but it couldn't be helped. While the bleeding was profuse, his wounds weren't as bad as she initially expected. The worst threat in her eyes was the near malnutrition.

Another bowl of stew finished, Haru  handed the empty bowl back to her. "I appreciate it, Kagome."
She took his bowl and nodded. "You're welcome. Now get some rest. Tomorrow we can talk more, figure out what happened to you."
Once her newly named guest was tucked away in his pallet, Kagome went about cleaning up their dinner. Another thing she would miss about the modern world: running water and sinks. Inuyasha had built her a small kitchen area with counters and cabinets but the missing sink ate at her, as did the missing microwave, stove, blender... No, she couldn't get down on herself; she chose to stay in the Feudal Era and now she would have to live with that decision. 
Kagome took her time cleaning their dishes. There was so much to think about. It was amazing how trusting Haru was. He went from something akin to a scared animal to trusting her in no time flat. Was it because she was a priestess? She was wearing her heavy winter parka and not her priestess garb, so there wasn't any way for him to tell that she was a priestess at first. Was it because of her pleasant demeanor? Was it because she helped him instead of harming him? 
There were so many questions that would have to be left unanswered until they were able to talk in depth. She doubted that he would be able to remember much of anything, but any little thing would help. One question stood in the forefront of her mind: who was this mysterious man and where did he come from? He did say that the people in the last village accused him of being a demon. The only thing that could even be considered demonic about him was his height. For a human male to stand a full head over Inuyasha, someone considered tall by all standards, was highly unusual. In her time it wouldn't be unheard of, but in the Feudal Era? 
Haru was truly a mystery, in more ways than one. 
She put the last dish away and moved to the hearth, where she threw another log onto the fire. There wasn't anything like waking up to an ice cold hut in the morning. She checked on her guest one last time before she moved back to the separate bedroom and changed into her warm flannels. Inuyasha was going to hit the roof when he found out what she did. She could already hear his angry voice. 'Kagome, what the fuck were you thinking, bringing a strange guy into your home? He could have killed you in your sleep!'

What Inuyasha didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Haru would be her little secret. She would ask Shippou to stay with Sango and Miroku a few days while she helped nurse her new guest back to health. She'd go to the village seamstress to procure some clothes for him. She didn't have much money, but being the Shikon Miko paid off in many ways. Haru was a special case; she would gladly use her influence for her new guest. The spare bedroom could be set up for him, and she could speak to some of the local villagers to find work for him when he was able. Haru would have a brand new start by the time she finished working her magic. 
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Meat.
Someone was cooking meat.
Kagome sat straight up in bed. 
If someone was cooking meat, that meant someone came into her home and possibly found Haru asleep in the main room. 
She moved as quickly as she could out of the bedroom and into the main room of the hut.
Instead of one of her friends in her small kitchen area, she found Haru, fully dressed. While he still looked weak, his smile definitely didn't show it. "Good morning."
"Morning," she replied, confused. "What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting. And where did you get those clothes?"

Haru grinned. "A monk came by this morning, looking for you. He saw my state of dress and I explained my predicament. He brought back these robes for me."
It was odd, seeing her guest wearing the old and worn monk's robes. They did look nice on him, she had to admit. "What did you tell him?" she asked, suspiciously. 
"That I was a traveler that you so graciously took in when I came upon you in the forest. I told him I had been robbed of all of my possessions by some traveling bandits and you took me in out of the kindness of your heart." He turned back to the pan he had over the hearth. "I made breakfast!" he said, proudly. "My rice didn't turn out, unfortunately."
Kagome walked over to him in a daze. "And the monk believed you?" she asked.
He nodded. "Apparently." He pulled the pan off of the fire. "Sit while I finish preparing this."
She could only nod and watch Haru work his way around her kitchen like he had lived there all of his life, like he hadn't been injured and limping the day before. She had one more thing to add to the things that possibly made him demonic: unnatural healing abilities. "Did you remember anything overnight?"
Haru shook his head. "No, but I did have the strangest dream."
"What happened?"
"I was a demon!" he replied, his eyes wide. "I was an enormous demon, and I was trampling a village!"

Kagome fought the urge to giggle at the expression on his face. He looked genuinely shocked and disgusted. "I'm sure it was nothing; even I've had crazy dreams where I was a demon."
"You have?" he asked, plating the food he prepared. He took the plates from the counter top over to the modest table and set one in front of her.
"Unshu-mikan!" she cried. "Where did you get these things?"
"From one of the village boys," he said, smiling. "He said that you like them."
Kagome's eyes widened. "You went out?"
"Should I not have?" Haru cocked his head to the side. "After the monk gave me clothes I decided to find something for breakfast, to show my gratitude."
"So much for keeping your presence a secret," Kagome groaned, holding her head in her hands. Miroku knowing she could handle; he wouldn't run off to tell Inuyasha first thing. He would accept it for face value; he was a traveler who had been robbed. The rest of the village? Kagome snorted. The village was so small any new face or occurence was big time news. If one person knew, within the hour the rest of the village knew. That meant Inuyasha would be striding in at any moment and ripping her a new one.
"Secret?" 
"Well, you see," she said, avoiding looking at him. "I've got this really protective -"

"Kagome!"
"- friend."
She jumped when Inuyasha stormed into her home, holding Tessaiga and ready to strike. Before she could blink, Haru was standing in front of her protectively. "What do you want, demon?" 
"Haru, no! That's -"
He turned enough to look down at her, panic apparent in his eyes. "That's a demon!"
"No, no, that's Inuyasha!" Kagome corrected, standing up behind him.
"Who the hell are you, and why the hell are you in Kagome's home?"
Both Haru and Kagome snapped to attention at Inuyasha's angry voice. Kagome stepped around Haru and approached her long time friend. "Inuyasha, this is Haru. I found him in the woods yesterday badly beaten so I took him in."

"Did you break your brain or something?" Inuyasha shot back. "He could have killed -"
"Killed me in my sleep, I know," Kagome finished for him. "But he didn't. He has no memory of who he is, or even why he was out in the woods."
Inuyasha glared at her. "Do you have any idea what he could have done?" he asked, calmer than he was when he came in.
"But he didn't. Even if he did try and harm me, you and Shippou would have been here before he could have seriously hurt me." Kagome returned to her seat at the table. Instead of returning to his side, Haru remained next to her, eyeing Inuyasha.
The half demon sniffed the air. "Pork!" He sheathed Tessaiga and sat down at the table, diving into Haru's plate like a man starved. "This is good stuff, Kagome," he said, his mouth full of food. "When did you learn to cook like this?"
Kagome swore she felt a tick forming. "I didn't."
"I did," Haru spoke up.
Inuyasha looked over and pointed his chopsticks at the stranger. "You be quiet."
"Inuyasha," Kagome warned. "How dare you burst into my home, waving your sword around, and then sit at my table and eat  Haru's breakfast! Why aren't you freaking out more and yelling at me?"

He shrugged. "He doesn't smell like he has any ill will."
"What?"
"Dogs know, Kagome." He tapped his nose with a finger. "Don't ask, just go with it."
Kagome sighed. The past twenty four hours had been the strangest twenty four hours she had lived since the jewel was repaired and Naraku defeated. First finding a strange man in the woods, then no one asking any questions about said strange man that she brought into her own home during a temporary lapse of her sanity. Miroku gave him clothes, a boy in the village shared mandarin oranges with him, and Inuyasha ate his breakfast after giving him nothing more than a satisfying sniff of approval. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Was it just a strange dream that she would wake up from in a few hours? Was she still out in the forest freezing to death in the heavy snow? 
Haru looked over at her. "Freaking out? Just go with it? The people of your village have a very strange way of speaking, Kagome. And if you've forgotten, there's a demon sitting at your table eating my breakfast!"
Kagome sighed deeply. "Haru, there are many things that I've got to tell you about how I arrived in this village, my current life in this village."
"Kagome," Inuyasha piped up, mouth full of rice, "I think we should find more about him before you tell him your life story. Like where he came from."
"He said he doesn't remember."

"He's got to remember something."
"If he remembered don't you think he would have said something already!" Kagome leaned over and planted her hands on the table.
"Did you bother askin' him?" Inuyasha mirrored her action, leaning over so they were nose to nose.
"No, I didn't, Inuyasha, I just let him come in without knowing anything about him!" she said, sarcastically.
"It wouldn't shock me!"
Haru cleared his throat. "I am sitting here, you know? I can answer your questions, demon."
Inuyasha and Kagome both returned to their seats on the floor. 
"Well, what do you wish to know?"
"Where you came from," Inuyasha said.

"I'm not sure."
"How did you get into the forest?"
"I'm not sure."
"Fuck! Don't you know anything?" The hanyou slammed his hands down on the table, rattling the dishes on the tabletop.
Haru sat up straighter. "Maybe it would help if I started from what I do remember."
Kagome relaxed and slid her plate to her guest. "Eat first. We can't have you falling ill." She smiled when he readily accepted the food. "And you," she said to Inuyasha, "you owe me breakfast."
Inuyasha's ears drooped and his cheeks reddened. "I'll go see if Sumire made extra."
"With you around, I bet she made enough food for an army!"

She watched Inuyasha stand and leave her home while Haru sat next to her and ate her breakfast. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day. </div>