InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty and the Beast, Inuyasha Style!! ❯ Tempers, Tears and Pickled Vegetables. ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

(Actions)

Speech:.....

thoughts:.....

*Sounds*

*~*~*~*~*

(The morning's sun shines down on the pale gray, vine covered castle. Birds dash about around it chirping and singing. Inside, bright shafts of sunlight cut through the gloom. The castle is dusty and cob webbed, with patched and ratty furniture and moth eaten drapes. You can still, however, see signs that it was, at one time, a very fine castle.)

(In a well lit summer kitchen, Kagome sits at a table with Shippo beside her, each looking hungry. Off to the side, Tanuki is cooking something.)

Shippo (Whiney): Come one Tanuki! I'm starving!"

Kagome (smiling): Now Shippo, be patient. Tanuki's doing his best, isn't he?

Tanuki (hurrying): Yes Lady Kagome! It'll be done in a minute!

Kagome: There, you see?

(She turns and looks down at Shippo, smiling and he happily smiles back.)

Shippo (Happily): I wish Kagome would stay with us forever!

(His face droops as he realizes something.)

Shippo (Frown): But...when Inuyasha gets here, what's he going to say? That jerk, he can be such a kid...

Tanuki (Proudly): It's ready!!

Kagome: Great! I can't wait to see what it is.

Tanuki: Tadaa!

(Her face drops as Tanuki presents them with rice and, surprise surprise, pickled vegetables.)

Kagome (shocked disappointment): eh?

Shippo: Same old thing again huh? Oh well, can't be helped...

Kagome (astonished): You mean you eat this every day?

Shippo (nods): Rice and vegetables is the best, because it keeps a really long time without going rotten. We used to have chickens too, but one day some demons broke in and ate them, so now we don't have them anymore. Sometimes Inuyasha goes hunting, but he usually just lazes around depressed all day. Sheesh

(Shippo shakes his head like a reproachful parent as Kagome looks on, a slightly pensive and troubled look on her face.)

Kagome: Inuyasha huh...he seemed so terrible when I saw him...and yet Shippo and the others don't seem afraid at all. I wonder what will happen next time I...

Inuyasha: Tanuki!!

Tanuki (scared): Uh-oh!!

(Everyone looks up as Inuyasha comes into the room, looking as pissed as ever. He stops and appears slightly surprised at the sight of Kagome and the others. Kagome looks back with an equally surprised and somewhat scared gaze as Shippo and the others just freeze. There's a long pause.)

Inuyasha:....Keh!

(He turns up his nose at Kagome, walks to the other side of the table and plops himself down in a large decked out chair. He rests his head on his hand with his eyes closed a disapproving and miffed look is on his face. Tanuki swiftly puts a plate full of food down in front of him. As he turns to leave however...)

Inuyasha: Tanuki!

Tanuki (hands wringing apron): ....Y...yes Master?

Inuyasha (eyes still closed): Why are these idiots eating before me?

Tanuki (scared): Ah...S...Sorry master, i-it's just that our guest was hungry so...

(Inuyasha suddenly turns around in his chair with violent speed to glare at Tanuki. Tanuki inches backwards, truly petrified.)

Inuyasha (roaring): She's NOT our guest.

(He slams his fist on the table making the dishes rattle and everyone jump. Kagome lets out a little whimper and Inuyasha forgets about Tanuki and turns his attention to her. He gives her a menacing stare and sniffs the air.)

Inuyasha: Hey, bitch, why can't I smell you?

Kagome (scared): Eh?

Inuyasha (yelling): Don't play with me! My nose can smell anything and anyone. You've got something that's hiding your scent...

(He narrows his eyes at her and Kagome squirms in her seat. After a moment she reaches down and plucks the ring off her finger, holding it up cautiously.)

Kagome (trying not to look scared): You...You mean this? My grandmother gave it to me...for good luck...

(Quick as lightening Inuyasha has leaned over across the table and snatched the ring out of her hand. Kagome stares in shock as he holds it up to the light.)

Inuyasha: So that's why I couldn't smell you in the forest eh? Hm...

(Inuyasha takes it and sticks it in his pocket. Kagome gets angry.)

Kagome (standing up): Now wait a minute, that's mine! What are you...

(She stops as Inuyasha glares at her again. Shippo looks like he wants to say something, but decides not too. Inuyasha flops back down, resting one elbow on the table and his head in his hand. Eyes closed, he grabs some food in his hand, tosses it in his mouth and chews with his mouth open. Kagome looks on in horror. He sniffs the air.)

Inuyasha (Mutters with mouth full): ...disgusting, I should have let you keep it on...

(He swallows and suddenly opens his demonic yellow eyes and looks up, annoyed at Kagome. Feeling uncomfortable, she sits back down again.)

Inuyasha: So, are you going to tell me? What were you doing in my forest?

(He grabs another handful of food and tosses it in his mouth, chewing eyes closed, waiting for her answer. Kagome looks at the floor for a long time.)

Kagome (quietly): Wh... ... what will you do...if I tell you?

(She looks up at him cautiously as he suddenly stops chewing. With one swift move of his arm he bangs the table so hard it breaks in two. The dishes fall to the floor with a smash, taking Shippo with them. Inuyasha stands up brandishing his claws at her threateningly as Kagome shrieks and holds her arm up in defence. There's a long pause. After a moment, Kagome gets up the nerve to take a glance at Inuyasha again.)

Inuyasha (menacing): I'll find those bastards and give them what they deserve of course. Sneaking into my forest like that. Ha, they certainly have a lot of nerve. Let's see how brave they are when I'm raking my claws through them.

(Kagome's mouth drops open as she looks at him. Slowly, she lowers her arms, followed by her head, and sits there staring at her hands in her lap. Inuyasha watches her, unmoving.)

Kagome (quietly): Then...I can't tell you.

Inuyasha: !

(Kagome clenches her hands into firsts and starts shaking. Inuyasha looks at her, surprised. Suddenly she gets up and faces him, fists ready at her side. Her face is angry and resolved, and there are tears brimming in her eyes.)

Kagome (yelling): I absolutely, no matter what, won't tell you ANYTHING at all! No matter what you do to me!

(There is another long pause as the two of them look at each other. Inuyasha seems utterly shocked at Kagome's courage, while Kagome continues with the same fierce stare as a tear trickles down her cheek. She flexes her jaw muscles, trying hard not to cry. After a moment, Inuyasha moves.)

Inuyasha (Crossing his arms): Keh, fine! You'll be my prisoner here until you rot.

(Kagome takes in a breath, surprised as he turns to leave. He gets to the door before stopping to have his final word.)

Inuyasha: And bitch, don't even think of trying to escape...

(He holds the ring up between his thumb and forefinger.)

Inuyasha: ...There are lots of demons out there with good noses just like mine. Without this ring, you wouldn't even make it five minutes out of the castle before one of them came and bit you in half. Got that?!

(He turns to go, but as he does, he takes one look back over his shoulder at her. For an instant he looks as if he thinks he may have overdone it a bit, and then quietly leaves the room. Kagome watches him go with the same shocked, terrified look stuck on her face. After a minute to make sure that he's gone, she collapses to her knees and starts to cry.)

*~*~*~*~*

(A little while later Myouga finds Inuyasha sitting by the same window, deep in thought. He bounces up to him.)

Myouga (cheerily): Hello, Lord Inuyasha...

Inuyasha (Snapping): WHAT?!

(Myouga is taken aback as Inuyasha realises he didn't mean to be so fierce. He doesn't apologise though. Instead, he just turns back to the window.)

Inyasha (calmly): What do you want, Myouga?

(Myouga looks at him, curiously, before asking his question.)

Myouga: I thought I'd ask what you found in the forest last night? You did go didn't you?

(Inuyasha nods.)

Inuyasha (blandly): I found the bodies of several of them, but I could smell a lot more than I could find.

Myouga: Hmmm, probably the work of that monk with the air void in his hand that Kirara told us about. If that's the case, there's no telling how many he could have taken in...

(He stops and looks curiously at Inuyasha again. He's oddly quiet and doesn't seem the least bit interested in what Myouga has to say. In fact, he seems really depressed.)

Myouga: Um...Lord Inuyasha...did something happen?? It's not like you to be...

(He stops as Inuyasha turns around just enough to glare at Myouga out of the corner of his eye. Then he instantly turns back to the window with a little "Humph." Myouga stares at him in surprise.)

Myouga: ...Lord...Inuyasha??

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kagome: There, that should be about it!

(Her and Tanuki set the new table down in the kitchen (they obviously borrowed it from another room) and she wipes the sweat off her brow.)

Kagome: Just like new again. What do you think Tanuki?

Tanuki (nervously): Th...Thank you lady Kagome.

Kagome: Shippo, you think it's good?

Shippo (quietly): Yeah, it's fine...

(Kagome looks at them, realising they both look quite depressed.)

Shippo: That damn jerk. There's no way in hell that we'll ever change back now...

Kagome: Hey...What's with the long faces? Shippo? Tanuki?

(Shippo just sighs as Tanuki looks blue. Kagome wonders what's going on.)

Myouga: Just as I feared...it seems Lord Inuyasha lost his temper, doesn't it.

(Kagome looks up, surprised at the unfamiliar voice. She turns around to see Myouga sitting cross legged on the table.)

Kagome (Surprised): Hmm? A talking bug?

Myouga (upset): I'm not a but I'm a flee! A Flee!

Kagome: ...Strange...

(She squishes him with her thumb.)

Myouga (floating): ....a flee....a flee...

Shippo (Quietly): That's Myouga, he's an advisor.

Kagome (Surprised): Wh...What?

Kagome (Fanning the unconscious Myouga): I'm sorry, are you alright?

(She stops as he bites her hand and starts to swell up. After a moment he stops.)

Myouga (Smacking lips): Delicious!

(Kagome promptly squishes him again as everyone looks on with little sweat drops.)

Shippo (Sweatdrop): He's fine...

(A few minutes later...)

Myouga: So things didn't go well with Inuyasha at breakfast today?

Shippo (on Kagome's shoulder): Are you kidding? It was a disaster! First he stole her ring, then he broke the table, and then he even made Kagome cry...It's terrible!!

(Shippo hangs his head in his hands as Kagome looks slightly indignant at the mention of her crying. Everyone turns their attention to Myouga on the table.)

Myouga: Hmmm...I see... ... You'll have to try to excuse him, Kagome. He's upset right now over the large numbers that were killed by your friends yesterday.

Kagome (confused): Huh??

Myouga: You see, Kagome, the demons of this forest are really humans who were transformed by a curse into their current form. Inuyasha was their prince, and although a lot of them have forgotten about themselves, he still tries to protect them as best he can.

(Kagome's eyes widen in surprise and she puts a hand up to her mouth.)

Kagome: H...How tragic! Isn't there any way to lift the curse?

Myouga: There is, however in the last hundred years, Inuyasha has abandoned any hope of ever returning to normal, and forbids anyone to speak of it. It makes him depressed, and quick to anger, which is why he seems so violent.

Kagome: Oh...

(She looks down at her lap for a while, her face sad as she wonders what it must be like to spend a hundred years cursed to be a demon, locked in this forest. Suddenly, she realizes something...)

Kagome: Then, Shippo, Mr. Tanuki, Mr. Myouga...you too?

(Myouga nods solemnly.)

Myouga: We are the only ones left of the hundreds that used to live here. The others have forgotten who they are over the years, or turned over to darkness. We try to help Inuyasha as best we can, but it's difficult now with so few of us. These last few years, he seems to have been slipping more and more into depression...

(Kagome stares at him with an incredibly piteous face.)

Kagome: So that's why this forest...they were all people...everyone...

(Suddenly Tanuki bursts into tears and starts sobbing on Kagome's shoulder. Kagome looks back at him with a shocked expression and small sweat drops form on Shippo's and Myouga's heads.)

Tanuki (sobbing): Oh... master Myouga,... that was so beautiful, and so...so...

Shippo (Whacks him on the head): Way to spoil the mood, idiot!

Tanuki (Still crying): ...So beautiful...so beautiful....

*~*~*~*~*