InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny, Time Travelers, and a Little Baby ❯ Day Off Part Duex ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer : Here it is again. Why do I even bother? I've said it enough right? I don't own them. Now I'm leaving this little charade behind and going to fulfill my duties as a Rockette. *Can-canning around and singing* DA, dadadada DA DA, dadadada da da, dadadadada, dadadadadada, DA, dadadada DA DA, dadadada da da, dadadadada, de da de da (see "Men in Tights" for song).

 

 

Chapter 5: Day Off : Part Duex

 

Kagome, Inuyasha, and Mrs. H left the house around noon that day. Their mission.….to find Kaede some clothes. Since they didn't have a car seat or even a stroller they had to walk to the metro. Kagome and her mom walked behind Inuyasha who was carrying Kaede.

 

"What is this 'metro' that you speak of?" Inuyasha asked as he walked backward, completely unaware of the people milling around him and shooting dirty looks over their backs.

 

Kagome thought for a minute. Then inspiration struck. "You see those buses?" She pointed. He looked around and figured she meant the big, loud, smelly things on the 'street'. He nodded. "Well, it's kinda like those. Only lots of them and underground."

 

"It's a little crowded, but you'll get used to it." Mrs. H chimed in.

 

"So, let me get this straight." Inuyasha started a rant. "We couldn't take your 'car' because you gave away the 'car seat' long ago and it's against the law to have a baby in a car without one." They nod. "So, we're walking to take a 'metro' to get to the store across town, and the 'metro' just happens to be crowded, smelly, loud, and underground, so that you can carry her?" Again with the nodding. "Why?" He finished with a pointed look at Kagome.

 

"Well, I never said it was smelly and loud…..I guess it is though." Kagome said to herself.

 

"Then why don't we walk?" Now he was getting aggravated.

 

"Because it's all the way across town. It's too far." Now Kagome was getting indignant.

 

"So what?"

 

"We want to get there fast."

 

“We can run."

 

"No we can't!"

 

"Why not?!"

 

"Because the sidewalk is too crowded." 'HA! Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it.' She pulled him aside. "Besides, Mom couldn't keep up, even if the street wasn't crowded."

 

Inuyasha thought for a while. "How far away is it?"

 

"I don't know. Far."

 

"For me or for you?"

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Okay, so she was being a little difficult.

 

"You know what I mean.” He finished helplessly shaking his head to him self. “Female irrationality. That's all it is.”

 

"Are we back to that again?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"Female irrationality. Hmm?"

 

"You read my mind?" O.O;

 

"No you IDIOT! You said it under your breath." She was getting fed up with this fight and decided to end it. "We don't have time for this."

 

"Then answer my question wench." 'Hehe. I win.'

 

"For us it's far away. For you…..maybe not so much." She could see the gears turning in his head.

 

This whole time, Mrs. H was watching from the sidelines. It WAS fun to watch them fight. They could match each other perfectly in a verbal disagreement. It's a good thing Inuyasha liked her, because if she was anyone else, Mrs. H got the feeling that she wouldn't be in one piece right now. Kaede was still in Inuyasha's arms taking everything in. The couple above her had her undivided attention.

 

Just then, Kagome had a thought. "Hey, Mom, why don't we just take the bus? It's closer."

 

'Because I wanted you and Inuyasha shoved against each other on the subway.' "Because I don't like buses. They make me queasy. And the metro is faster." 'Ha. No one can see through that excuse.'

 

Inuyasha tilted his head to the side, as if in thought, nodded, and handed Kaede to Kagome. Then he turned his back to them, put his arms on his hips, and bent his knees. Mrs. H looked to Kagome for answers, but Kagome was staring at Inuyasha's back.

 

"Are you sure about this?" Now Mrs. H was thoroughly confused.

 

Inuyasha turned back around. "You don't think I can do it, do you?" He narrowed his eyes.

 

"I don't know. Two women and a baby? All the way across town? Stretching it, don't ya think?" Now she was getting a little offended. She was just concerned for him. Yeesh.

 

"I carried you and Sango half-way across Edo when we first met her and she was injured, remember? Not to mention, Shippo was with you the whole time. I 'think' I can do this."

 

"Oh yeah." Kagome had forgotten about that time. "Well, Mom isn't exactly Sango."

 

“What do you mean by that, dear?" Mrs. H asked with a slight bite in her voice.

 

"Nothing Momma. Eh-heh." Kagome said with her hand behind her head and a nervous laugh.

 

"Better not have meant anything by it. Hmph."

 

Inuyasha looked at them both funny for a second. Then he went over to Mrs. H and, without warning, picked her up with no trouble. Kagome was shocked for a moment that he would actually do that in public. But only for a moment, mind you. After all, this was Inuyasha. The boy wasn't normal.

 

People were starting to stare at their silly little group. Wouldn't you stare at a boy wearing a dog-eared hat, holding up a middle-aged woman, in front of a girl with a baby?

 

"See, no problem. Now," He turned back around and squatted again, "Get on.”

 

Mrs. H finally got it. She looked at Kagome. "Why not? It could be fun, right?"

 

Kagome sighed and shook her head. "Fine. You asked for it." She mumbled under her breath.

 

After all the passengers had gotten aboard and situated, Inuyasha took off. Mrs. H wasn't ready for that and would've fallen off had it not been for Kagome's Kung-Fu grip. Granted, she only used one arm seeing as how the other was occupied, but it was a strong grip nonetheless. Mrs. H's first time riding the Inuyasha Express didn't sit well with her and she started to get nauseous.

 

Inuyasha had decided that the roof-tops would be faster and had taken to them. Kagome trusted him and had no problem holding both herself and the baby on his back. Mrs. H on the other hand, was afraid of heights, and didn't trust him as much as her daughter did in this matter. She had shutdown all thought processes to hold on for dear life.

\\\

Fortunately, Kagome had been giving Inuyasha directions on where exactly to go. He landed in the alleyway and let them down easily behind their first stop…..`It's All Fetal'.

 

"Woo-Hoo! What a rush! IthinkI'mgonnablowchunksnow." Mrs. H looked a little green as she ran behind a dumpster.

 

“We're he~re." Kagome sang out. "How about you Kaede, what do you want to do?"

 

Kaede gurgled at her in her baby way. I suppose, in her infant mind, it meant something like this: `You silly mommy.'

 

Kagome shouted with bravado, “Me too. Clothes it is!", and Kaede giggled at her silliness.

 

“How did you understand that?" Inuyasha asked in wonder.

 

"I didn't. I just guessed. Talking to kids like they're adults is a positive way to go about things. Not to mention it's been scientifically proven to make them smarter." She smiled at him. His heart was doing flip-flops again.

 

Mrs. H staggered back to them, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, "Well, let's go!" She pointed at the store like Babe calling a shot. The thought of shopping had perked the nausea right out of her.

 

They walked around the building and waited as the doors swished open. This action frightened Inuyasha a bit, but, seeing as how Mrs. H and Kagome thought nothing of it, he settled down. Once the store was opened to their view, they stood…..

 

And gaped at the enormity of the place!

 

Diapers, bottles, clothes, play-pens, strollers, binkies, and other odds and ends lined the walls for what seemed like an eternity. `It's All Fetal' really did have it all!

 

Inuyasha's ears flicked over to the two clerks at the service desk. One leaned over to the other and said, "Newbies always do that." His friend just nodded and stopped staring at them.

 

Inuyasha noticed the girls still gawking at the view of wall to wall baby paraphernalia and nudged them through the door. "Come on. Let's do this." He started steering them to the clothes section.

 

As soon they saw the clothes, they squealed :

 

"Look at them!"

 

"They're sooo small!"

 

"Isn't this adorable?"

 

"She would be so cute in this!"

 

Etc., etc., so on and so forth, until it all ran together causing Inuyasha and Kaede to hold their sensitive ears.

 

Kagome handed Kaede to Inuyasha. He held the kid while his miko went at the clothes with a vengeance. The two women picked out one kimono to get the size right.

 

"Hmmm." Mrs. H was concentrating. "This is odd."

 

"What?" Kagome and Inuyasha asked.

 

"The month old kimonos are too small for her." Mrs. H was puzzled. Kaede was only a week old after all.

 

"So, she's big for her age. Try the next month." Kagome reasoned. They tried this process until they found that she was fitting into the four month old kimonos, and even those were getting a little tight.

 

Using both hands to dig through the pile of clothes, they picked out five cotton, old-fashioned kimonos of various sizes. One was red with yellow flowers going across the side at a diagonal, a baby blue that matched her hair with clouds along the bottom, a navy blue that contrasted her hair nicely and had small golden stars sporadically placed all over it, a purple one with black and blue flower outlines, and finally a light pink one with wisps of white all around it.

 

Inuyasha was amazed that they found all these. She would look like a Lord's daughter in his time. Kagome and Mrs. H were pleased with their ability to once again find the perfect clothes. It brought them back to times before Kagome went through the well. They would go on browsing trips to the local mall, just for fun. Those were the days.

 

After they picked out the clothes, there was a small 'discussion' over diapers :

 

"Get the cloth ones!"

 

“NO WAY! That means I'd have to wash them out in the river. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wash out fecal matter in a river?"

 

"Would you rather have an archeologist digging in the feudal layer of Earth's crust to unearth a plastic diaper with Barneys all over them?"

 

"Point taken." She groused. "Fine. I'll get the cloth ones."

 

"Good. Now I'm thinking the safety pins with duckies."

 

"But, I liked the ones with stars."

 

After another 'discussion' over safety pins, they decided on cloth diapers with heart safety pins. They got a dozen diapers and a package of pins. By this time Inuyasha was getting a little scared of the mother-daughter duo and their insane baby-equipping frenzy.

 

The next stop was the play-pens. They decided against getting a stroller, because it would be easier to have Inuyasha carry her or set her in Kagome's bike basket with Shippo. He might be small, but he had a good heart and loved Kaede as much as Kagome and Inuyasha. He'd keep her safe.

 

Out of the dozens of models, they chose a sturdy play-pen that folded in on itself. It was barely heavier than Kagome's bike and could easily be tied onto the back or Inuyasha could carry it. It had cloth-covered, stuffed-rail covers, a small, flexible pad on the bottom and was done entirely in a grass scene. It would match well with the scenery in Feudal Japan and be good for keeping Kaede in camp at night or whenever they stopped for a break.

 

After they had gotten the clothes, play-pen, diapers, and safety-pins, they walked to the check-out lane. An old-grandmother type was working the register. She was pimping the stereotypical grandma garb: blue-gray hair, glasses with attachable necklace thingy, frumpy clothes, robust complexion, and a watch with tissue in the wristband for easy snot removal. As soon as they walked up she went all goo-goo over Kaede.

 

"Oh, she is sooo cute! What's her name? How old is she? Is she yours?" All spat out at an incredibly fast rate.

 

"Well, thank you. Her name's Kaede-" Kagome started, but got cut off.

 

"Such a beautiful name. I had a cousin named that. But she died. So how old is she, the little cutie."

 

"Um, she's four months." Kagome said looking at Inuyasha and her mom.

 

"I thought she looked about that big. And she looks pretty healthy too. Does she eat solids yet?" She started playing with Kaede's clawed hands.

 

Luckily, her glasses were slipping off her nose. Inuyasha grabbed Kaede's hand back before she could notice.

 

"Um, we don't know yet. Haven't quite gotten the nerve to try." Mrs. H answered for her daughter. Kagome was watching Inuyasha's protective posture and his glare at the old woman.

 

"Oh, that's nice dear. You should try soon. My Bobby, when he was little, was eating potatoes and tiny pieces of ham at her age. I take it that's your daughter?" She asked Mrs. H with a glance at Kagome. She seemed to either not notice or to ignore Inuyasha's glare.

 

"Why yes! How did you know?" Mrs. H always got asked if they were sisters. This was different.

 

"She looks like you. I'm thinking she's seventeen or so, right?" She started sizing up the couple in front of her.

 

"How.….did you know?" Kagome was astonished. She never thought she looked her age.

 

"Lucky guess. Is it safe to assume that's the father?"

 

"NANI?!" The two shouted loud enough for the whole store to quiet down. And that's saying something.

 

"No need to be ashamed, dears. She's the perfect combination of you two. I remember when I was a young thing-." She blushed. "But that's another story. Well, let's get you checked out." And she started ringing them up with only the occasional comment on this or that item.

 

While she was prattling on about the value of this product to Mrs. H, Inuyasha and Kagome were having a moment of introspection. Neither were very appreciative of their fantasies being broadcast to the known world. Both thought the other's outburst was done in disgust. All in all, it was a big misunderstanding that had both of them getting in a funk.

 

They walked out of the store and Mrs. H finally noticed something was wrong. For once, she had to think about what it was. When she got it, she had another brilliant idea.

 

"Okay! Who's up for lunch?" She asked excitedly.

 

Inuyasha perked up a little at that. "Will there be Ramen?"

 

Mrs. H giggled. "I'm sure we can find some. How about we go to the mall? I'll bet we can find some good stuff there." Kagome nodded with vigor and Inuyasha just looked confused. "It's settled then. To the mall-ho! But this time…..let's walk."

 

They walked to the mall, which, luckily, was only a couple blocks away. When they got there, Inuyasha was hit with the sounds and smells of a hundred different things. 'Now I wish I would've let the hat come over my ears. GAH!' His ears were flat against his head and Kaede was holding hers too. Neither Higurashi minded. They were used to it. After about ten minutes of walking and window-shopping, they got to the food court, and Inuyasha and Kaede had finally gotten used to the noise level.

 

"Alrighty, here's some money for you kids. I'm just gonna go over here and talk to some friends of mine. Meet back at the fountain in the center of the mall at, oh say, 5:30?" They nodded agreement. "Okay, I want to show Kaede off to them. See you then." And she walked off. `Maybe that'll fix their moods. Two teenagers, alone, in a mall. Kagome will look so good in white. A long flowing kimono in the olden style with cherry blossoms falling all around. Yes. Maybe they'll have a boy first..…' And on her thoughts went.

 

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, "So, smell anything you like?"

 

`Besides you?' He sniffed the air. "What's over there?" He pointed to a pizza stand and sniffed again. "And there?" he next pointed to the corn-dog and hamburger vendor.

 

"Well, the first one is pizza. It's like, a piece of bread, only kinda crispy and tough, and on it is tomato sauce, cheese, and sometimes meat or vegetables. The next one was corn-dogs and hamburgers." She had to think about this explanation carefully. "Hamburgers are, um, ground beef that's grilled, put on a bread bun and then you can put cheese or ketchup or mustard or lettuce…..whatever you want on it really. Corn-dogs are the ground up parts of animals that no one wants, wrapped in a casing, dipped in cornmeal and deep-fried." Inuyasha pulled a face. "It's a lot better tasting than it sounds."

 

"What's `grr-ill-duh'?" He questioned with the cutest face when he tried to pronounce that word.

 

Kagome suppressed a smile, "Well…..it's…..you see. Hmm. You place the meat, or whatever you want cooked, over a fire on some metal bars. It's a lot like cooking over a spit."

 

"Oh. Well, it sounds good to me. That `pizza' thing does too." His lipped curled a little. "But that corndog thing sounds icky." (AN: I know Inu would never in a million years say `icky' but it's just so cute! Imagine it with me….. Okay, maybe not.)

 

“Okay. We'll get both for you. Personally I want some Oden." She smiled a big smile that had his heart flipping for the third time that day. "And corndogs are actually pretty good. Maybe you could try one?"

 

He shrugged and they walked over to the vendors. Kagome bought him a couple slices of pizza, a hamburger, and a corn dog. After that, she got herself a big, steaming helping of Oden.

 

They found an empty table and sat down. Inuyasha tried each of his meals, and, finding that they were all as good as Ramen, began inhaling the food. He was completely done with all three of them by the time Kagome was halfway done with hers. The people at the neighboring tables moved slowly away from the strange boy that had just finished off a three-course meal in one minute flat. Kagome, of course, thought nothing of it.

 

Just as they were finishing up, her three friends came over. They had determined looks on their faces and Kagome got the feeling they weren't here to talk about the weather.

 

Inuyasha noticed Kagome's horror-stricken face and the three human girls coming towards them about the same time the girls stopped and looked across the mall at Mrs. H and Kaede. Then they all looked at each other and shook their heads as if to clear them before continuing on to their original destination.

 

When they finally got to Kagome and Inuyasha, they didn't even acknowledge the hanyou. They went straight in for the kill. Kagome. No mention about her most recent (fake) illness or anything. Of all da nerve!

 

"You have some explaining to do, Kagome." Yuka said and put her bobbed hair behind her ear. The other two flanked her and fixed Kagome with the same stare as her.

 

"What?" Kagome asked innocently. She only had an inkling of what they were talking about, so her innocence wasn't totally feigned.

 

"You stood Hojo up again. One of these days he's going to give up and then where will you be?" Eri said from Yuka's right side. She adjusted her perpetually-there, yellow headband.

 

"He's so hot Kagome, and you're the only one he wants." Ayumi decided to put in her two cents with a shake of her head that made her wavy hair float around her shoulders.

 

A low growl could be heard coming from, well, the only person it could come from. All four girls turned to look at Inuyasha. The three that came upon them turned slightly pink and pulled Kagome away from the table.

 

"Who was that?" Ayumi was the first to speak. "He's sooooo cute."

 

Kagome looked over and saw Inuyasha with his head bowed and a tint to his cheeks he was trying to hide. `Damn that youkai hearing!' "Inuyasha." She told them without preamble. No sense wasting her breath, since they'd ask her a million questions about him anyway.

 

"So, is that the aggressive, arrogant, two-timer?" Yuka asked and saw Kagome's head bow a little. "Mm-hmm. Maybe we should have a little talk with him about how to treat a woman." Again the low growl sounded.

 

They all looked over and saw him staring right at them. "Maybe we should move a little over here." Kagome declared. So, they moved farther away from Inuyasha.

 

"Is he growling at us?" Eri asked.

 

"Of course not. Boys can't growl, baka." This came from Yuka. "At least not realistically."

 

"So, are you two, you know, together." Ayumi queried with the finger quotes. "Is that why you're always standing up poor Hojo? You know, if you want me to take either one off your hands, I'd be- Oomph!" Eri elbowed her in the side and nodded her head at a glaring and fuming Kagome. `She looks like she's about to spontaneously combust.' Ayumi thought, glad that Eri had stopped her from finishing her sentence. No one wants to face Kagome's wrath.

 

"Are you guys on a date?" Eri asked.

 

"Does he have a friend?" Ayumi got straight to the point.

 

"Screw the friend, does he have a brother? Better yet, twin?" Yuka put bluntly.

 

Kagome gave a nervous laugh. "I don't think his brother's your type. And no, we're not on a date. We're with my mom, getting some…..stuff."

 

"Does it have to do with that baby she had?" Eri wanted to know.

 

"Yeah, it was so cute. Who's is it?" Ayumi questioned.

 

“Do you have a new brother or sister?" Yuka asked. "I didn't even know your mom was seeing anyone."

 

"Maybe it was a one night thing." Eri added quietly.

 

While they were all figuring this out, Kagome was getting steadily angrier. Her hands were clenching, jaw was twitching, and she was doing all she could not throttle them. Instead, she made a scene.

 

"It's not my mother's child, you dolts. My mom wouldn't do that and you guys know it." This got the entire food court's attention. As well as her friends.

 

They all drew in shocked breaths. Eyes wide, they spoke at once. "So it's yours Kagome?!"

 

Kagome gave a startled cry. "Whaaa?!" In the background, Inuyasha fell out of his chair.

 

"Oh my god! We didn't even know! What kind of friends are we?" Ayumi was distraught.

 

"It's not our fault if she didn't show enough for us to know." Yuka was trying to be reasonable.

 

"She's right, some women don't show until their last months. Were you like that Kagome? I hope I'll be like that. Who wants to be fat for all nine months?" Eri..…always the voice of reason. -_-;

 

"So. Kagome. Who was the father?" Yuka had gotten herself under control and was digging for information again.

 

"Yeah, was it him?" Ayumi pointed at Inuyasha who fell again and was twitching on the ground.

 

By now Kagome was beyond any emotion she had ever felt before. She fixed her friends with a blank stare and said flatly, "Yes guys. That is my baby." Shocked looks from her friends caused her to continue sarcastically, "While I was busy `battling my illnesses' I was in reality being a baby machine for Inuyasha." For once she was glad for her grandfather's lies. The sad thing was, they looked like they believed her. “Oh come on! You know me better than that! I'm not ready to do…..that. Not with him or anyone else. I'm saving myself for marriage. We had an entire slumber party discussion over this, remember?"

 

Understanding dawned on their faces at once and they said together, "Oh yeah! I remember!"

 

"You shouldn't kid around, Kagome. Not all people are at our slumber parties to get your sarcasm." Ayumi stated in a reprimanding tone.

 

`Well, if you didn't believe everything you hear, maybe I wouldn't have to be.' Kagome thought. `Geez O' Pete's! They're as dense as Kouga!'

 

“Anyway, what are you doing tonight?" Asked Eri. "Because, I know a certain upper-classman coming this way who would LOVE to take you to a movie or something."

 

"WHAT?!! Please tell me Hojo isn't coming this way." Kagome pleaded.

 

"Of course he is. Who did you think we were talking about?" Ayumi asked.

 

Kagome groaned inwardly as she turned and faced Hojo who was about five feet away. Kagome put on an obviously fake smile, but he didn't notice. If anything he hurried to her side. When he got there, he gave an award-winning smile back to Kagome's forced one.

 

"Higurashi! I'm so glad to see your gallstones passed okay." He put his hand on Kagome's shoulder in a reassuring gesture as her eye started to twitch. "I thought we were going to lose you when you contracted Stephalaryngitis Coli. But I see your hospital stay wasn't too long."

 

Kagome's bangs suddenly shadowed her eyes as her fist clenched at her chest with a HUGE intersecting vein in the middle. `Grandpa!!! GALLSTONES????!!!!!!!!!'

 

Inuyasha watched the scene from his seat across the mall. His brows knit in confusion at this new development. `What's Hoho doing here? Grrrr. He's getting too close to my mate. What's he doing?! Is he touching her?! And she's getting upset! You just signed your death warrant pal.' And he leapt from the table to land in front of a confused Hojo, who stumbled backwards, arms flailing, and landed in a conveniently placed trashcan.

 

All the girls except Kagome gaped open-mouthed in astonishment. There was a common thought running through every one of their heads. `He was on the other side of the food court. And he jumped. And he landed right in front of Hojo. Oh yeah, Hojo!' Simultaneously they ran to Hojo's side and helped him out of the conveniently placed trashcan. Lucky for him, he was in front of the Sample Napkin Hut so he wasn't all goopified for the rest of the day. And besides a few greasy napkins littering the floor, and one or two used for gum that stuck to him, he was clean.

 

"Inuyasha," Kagome fairly growled, "Can I talk to you over here for a second?" She dragged him away from the small group and ripped into his hide. "What are you doing?! You can't just jump halfway across a mall!!" She hissed.

 

"And why not?" He was just being difficult. He really missed their petty fights. How her face got flushed and her eyes sparkled. As long as she didn't get flaming-background mad he enjoyed their squabbles.

 

"Because, no one can do that but you! Did you want to stand out?" She was getting exasperated. At least she was until she saw one of his ears flick around as her friends approached. Instantly she was transported to this morning were she had had her hands moving around that very ear as she brushed and braided his hair. Then she started having her fantasies again.

 

Inuyasha didn't notice anything different about her scent this time. The mall had too many people and food smells to notice the slight change she went under. But her sudden silence and dazed appearance wasn't missed. Instinctively, he reached out to snap her out of it. Just as his hand reached her arm to pull her to him, Hojo and the three girls reached them.

 

As in most cases, when someone does something amazing, people stop to watch. The mall was no exception. Seeing a boy jump across a food court warranted attention. Mrs. H, being the ever-watchful person that she is, finally looked over and saw her daughter and future son-in-law being stared at. She also saw her daughter's friends and that nice boy that was always stopping by to give Kagome "remedies". What was his name again? Hobo? Holo? Hoko? Something like that. Anyway, they looked to be giving grief to the young couple. So she decided to help ease the situation.

 

She grasped Kaede firmly to her bosom and made her way over. Unfortunately for her, when Hojo took his spill, he spread napkins all over the floor. She ended up stepping on one of the long forgotten greasy napkins and did a slip-n-slide number around the food court. Inuyasha was too involved in staring Hojo down, so by the time he noticed, she was already taking a dive into the dried-up fountain at the edge of the room.

 

It was a beautiful white fountain that made an aesthetically pleasing clash with the multi-colored food court. It was a big one too, with three fish grouped together as the waterspout, and was about four feet deep. It would've been lovely..…if it wasn't being cleaned that week, and consequently was drained.

 

By the time Inuyasha caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, she was already halfway down it. She turned her body, taking full impact on her right leg which was twisted to accommodate the movement of her body going from back to front, and managed to fall backwards to avoid squashing Kaede with her weight. If it was just her falling, she wouldn't have had to twist around and would've probably walked away with a bump on her head and a possibly tweaked wrist, but that wasn't the case. As it was, all that was heard was a loud crack followed by an agonized wail.

 

It seems safe to say, Mrs. H broke her leg by tripping on one of Hojo's greasy napkins.

 

All of them just stood there for a little bit before Inuyasha snapped out of it. He went over to Mrs. H's side and confirmed that she wasn't dead. She was, however, unconscious.

 

"Mom!" Kagome ran to the fountains' side and looked down the drop to her mother, who was lying on the floor underneath the tri-fish fountainhead with the baby on her stomach.

 

The rest of the group snapped out of their stupor at her cry and Eri started calling for an ambulance on someone's cell phone. "They said they can have an ambulance here in thirty minutes." She called out.

 

"Too long," Inuyasha started in a whisper to Kagome as he picked up Kaede, “I can get her to your healers much faster and you know it."

 

"Inuyasha, that's not how things work here." Kagome was about to attempt explaining to him the concept of ambulance/hospital relations, while checking Kaede for injuries, when an emergency crew burst into the mall looking for her.

 

"Wow! They got here quicker for her broken leg than they did for my father's heart attack!" Some random bystander stated.

 

"They were in the neighborhood." Eri had just hung up with the hospital. "There was a three car pile-up on Cherry Lane. Clean-up was already done by the time they got there, so when they got the call, they were already here." She shrugged at the explanation and watched as they loaded Mrs. Higurashi onto the stretcher and put an IV in her arm. Then she followed Kagome and Inuyasha out to the van.

 

After a small squabble, not even worth mentioning, over how they'd all get to the hospital, they loaded Mrs. H in and took off. Kagome rode in the back with her mom. She watched as her mother's face contorted in pain. It seemed like she was coming to and then a moment later she relaxed and slipped back into unconsciousness.

 

It seems as though the ambulance driver had taken a liking to Mrs. H because he asked where her husband was, only to contact of course. When Kagome said he was dead and turned away to end the conversation, he asked her about maybe calling her boyfriend for support. Kagome opted to just ignore him after that. She didn't want to think about her mom and the EMT right now, she was thinking about the way her mother's leg was turned and that they hadn't reached the hospital yet or even given her any pain killer.

 

Inuyasha chose to follow from the rooftops. He held Kaede protectively as he ran and got there only seconds after the ambulance did. He dropped off the rooftop and followed Kagome into the hospital. It reeked of sickness and death and some powdery-rubber smell (latex). There were many people here, he could tell. The scent of blood was ever present and he had to ignore the desire to cover his nose. It got stronger as he passed a certain pair of doors with the letters E.R. over them. He didn't even want to imagine what went on in there.

 

While he was looking around, checking out his new surroundings, Mrs. H was still passed out and being taken away. Kagome was generally hovering over her mother and being a nuisance to hospital staff. They finally asked her to wait in the lobby while they took her into the x-ray lab for, well, x-rays. Inuyasha finally realized that the strange white-coated men were taking away his almost-mother-in-mating.

 

He ran over to the doctors and interns and proceeded to glare at each and every one. They called for backup, i.e. the `burly nurses'. The huge men and women used to strong arm difficult patients and hold down people for shots or surgeries, were trying to intimidate the hanyou. He wouldn't have any of it. A low growl formed in his chest and his claws started flexing of their own accord.

 

Kagome noticed that his fragile patience with the future `healers' was wearing thin. So she, being the girl that she is, ran to his aid. She took his hand and led him over towards the chairs and benches in the lobby. Inuyasha was shocked into submission at her gentle touch and was easily maneuvered in the right direction. He collapsed in the chair that Kagome, well, pushed him into.

 

“What are you doing?!" Kagome hissed at Inuyasha.

 

“What am I doing? What are you doing?" Inuyasha shouted back at her. “Those ingrates are taking away your mother and you're just going to let them?!" Kagome noticed the stares they were getting from all the people waiting and the staff had started motioning with her hands for him to quiet down, but he just steamed forward. "What is this?" He set Kaede down in the chair next to him so he could have both hands free and started mocking her fanning motions with his, looking like a demented butterfly in doing so. "We have to get your mom back from tho-" Kagome had grasped his arm and was now tugging him, gently yet purposefully, through the mechanical doors to the hospital parking lot. "Hey!"

 

"SHUT UP YOU MORON!" Kagome shouted at him in exasperation when they got out.

 

"Who're you calling the moron? I'm not the one that left my mother in the hands of people that we don't-even-know!"

 

"They're going to heal her! CRIPES!" Kagome was getting more and more agitated by the second. She had half a mind to sit him into oblivion. And she would've if she didn't notice the absence of someone very special to all of them. Her voice took on an almost panicky quality, "Inuyasha?"

 

“What?" He was being cautious. After all, he still hadn't figured it out and thought Kagome was gonna sit him right then and there.

 

"Where's Kaede?"

 

"Back in her village, duh."

 

"Not that Kaede, you baka. Where's baby Kaede?"

 

"Oh shit."

 

"What? What do you mean `Oh shit.' What'd you do with her?!" She was in full panic now.

 

"Don't worry Kagome. Let me think about this for a second." He grabbed her arms and tugged her into a soothing embrace. "Okay, I got her from your mom at the mall. I carried her here. I sniffed around this place. You started a fight with me." He paused to give her a look. She scoffed. "It's true and you know it." She was about to open her mouth again to refute that, but he held up a hand for silence. "Then I…..set her in the chair beside me!"

 

"So, you left her in the chair in the lobby?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

 

"Well excuse me for setting her down before you dragged me outside! At least I didn't drop her!"

 

“And you better not. Ever!” She continued on without giving him a moment to defend himself. “I swear Inuyasha if I ever…..”

 

Inuyasha had learned to block out most of her sputtering babble when she's mad. Instead he calmed down and thought about the situation. Then he cut her off. "You do realize that the longer we fight, the longer she's in there without supervision, right?"

 

Kagome humped in indignation. "You..…you..…MAN!" And she turned and stomped back into the waiting room/lobby of the hospital. Inuyasha gave her back a weird look, shrugged and followed the outraged girl to retrieve the baby.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Ten minutes earlier*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Inuyasha had foolishly set down Kaede in the chair next to him and proceeded to mock Kagome. Kaede looked on at the fight between, whom she considered, her parents. She was an attentive listener as always and found most of the repartee amusing. So, she let out a slight giggle to voice her pleasure.

 

She had learned quite a lot from her parents in the short time that she had been alive. Already, at the tender age of one week, she knew a wide variety of emotions and how to read them and recognize the signs of one coming on. She knew how to smile, how to grab and hold on, to laugh, and today she was learning the importance of walking.

 

She watched as her parents went off the deep end and her mother finally dragged her father away from the prying eyes of the other hospital quests.

 

`So that's all it is, huh?' She observed them walking away from her and studied how their legs moved. Then she watched hospital staff and patients' families doing the same thing. `It looks simple enough. Humph. I can do that!' And she set off to do it. Slowly she turned around in the seat she was in. Carefully she lowered herself to the ground and stood on somewhat wobbly legs.

 

`Hmmm…..little harder than I thought. Well, I'll just have to try harder.'

 

So, with a newfound determination, she held onto the seats that were lined up around the lobby and made her way around the room. It was slow going at first, but she soon got the hang of it.

 

`Okay, this foot first. Whoa there, easy girl. Alright, put it in front of that one. Yes! I got it. Okay, I can do this. Yeah! Wow. I didn't know walking could be so great.' She had finished teaching herself to walk and had advanced to walking without the chairs. Although still somewhat wobbly, she cut across the lobby, oblivious to the stares of the onlookers. Hey, if you'd seen a little baby suddenly grow enough to walk before your very eyes, wouldn't you stare too?

 

And so, baby Kaede began her adventure in the hospital. She walked out of the lobby and found a long corridor full of doors and people walking all around. Oddly enough, none of the workers took notice of the tiny person on the floor. She quickly learned how too dodge and weave the preoccupied adults and made her way around the huge hospital. Directly in front of her at the end of the hall was an open door. She walked up to it and looked in.

 

Inside was a woman sitting on a table scantily clad in an open backed nightgown. It appeared to be made of a thick paper. When the woman spotted her small observer, she made a cooing noise and beckoned Kaede to her side. Kaede wouldn't fall for that. She knew not all strangers could be trusted.

 

Soon the woman realized that the baby, now toddler, wouldn't come to her. So she got off her paper covered bed, in her strange paper gown and walked over to her. She picked Kaede up and proceeded to tell her that she was so adorable, and that hopefully her own child would be as cute as her. Once on that subject, she got a little out of control and went on spilling her guts to the baby. It was a sad story and Kaede would've cried…..had she not been looking over the woman's shoulder the whole time.

 

Outside of the room, another door had opened. Kaede, careful not to hurt the woman's ears, cried until she went to find a doctor. The minute she walked out of the room, Kaede was out the door. Obviously the woman wouldn't make a good mother if she had just left a child unsupervised in an unknown room full of doctor's instruments and decidedly not child proof. Let's just hope her test came back negative.

 

Kaede found the door and looked in. `Ooooh!'

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Sengoku Jidai*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Miroku came back from his bath feeling clean and not aroused. He walked to the hut and stepped in, but his nymph was gone. It wasn't much fun asking around town until he finally found her beneath a tree over-looking the very stream he had bathed in. Thankfully it was a few yards away from his swimming spot.

 

He cleared his throat as he neared, so as not to scare her, and sat down beside the girl he loved.

 

Sango fought to not blush after what she'd walked in on when she went to find a place to think.

 

`But it was soooo nice to look at.' She blushed. `Too bad he had to finish.' She'd just gotten her blush under control when her eye-candy o' the day-month-AND-year sat down beside her.

 

"So, Sango." He began.

 

"Yes?" She squeaked.

 

"Would you like to see the festival that's going on at the village to the east tonight?" He held his breath waiting for her consent or rejection.

 

Sango was flustered and fought to breathe. "Sounds fun." She finally gasped out.

 

He released his breath in a whoosh and stood up. She accepted his offered hand and their combined effort got her standing too soon. Her body bumped against his as she tried to regain her balance. `Damn head rush,' she thought as she fought to control her blushing yet again.

 

They walked back to the hut in a companionable silence each thinking of what the night would bring.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

R&R Oh Great Readers. A musical parody for you…..

 

Press the link. Watch yourself. Press the link. Show me what I'm working' wit'.

 

Gah! I'm a nerd!