InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fatefully Entwined ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kagome still remembered the first time she had encountered a yokai as a small child. She had been at the market with her mother when she noticed an elderly man sitting on a bench nearby. 

 

 At first she hadn’t noticed anything abnormal about him. He sat there, puffing on a blackened pipe with his hat shading his face from the late morning sun. He seemed to be watching the  people as they bustled passed him in a hurry. 

 

Kagome hadn’t given him much thought until she dropped the ball she had brought with her. The yellow sphere had rolled unnoticed through the crowd of shoppers as she chased it, stopping under the old man’s seat.

 

He smiled at her from behind his pipe, a long slender furry orange tail snaking out from under his coat. It slunk its way under the bench to wrap itself around her ball before passing it to his wrinkled hand. 

 

Kagome stared wide eyed at him for a moment. She hadn’t seen anyone with a tail before. He smiled kindly and handed her the ball as if nothing unusual had happened. “Better mind your toys a bit more closely little princess.” He had said with a wink, and Kagome noticed the lovely bright green color of his eyes, and the odd slit of his pupils. It reminded her very much of the kitten they had recently adopted. 

 

“That was very kind of you sir.” Mama said from behind her. “Thank the nice man, Kagome.” 

 

“Thank you Oji-san!” She said, bowing her head respectfully before running after her mother as she continued on their way home. 

 

“Mama, that man had a tail.” Kagome had informed her mother.

“The world is full of interesting people, my love. We’re all just doing our best to get along.” Mama had answered with a smile and a wink.

---

Just as Takamaru-san had predicted, the miserable winter chill had given way to warm spring air, sweet with the smell of cherry blossoms. It was a tradition for the Higurashi family to get together and clean the house from top to bottom at the changing of the season. Kagome found herself recruited again this year even though it had been a few years since she had moved out. She had been assigned the important job of reorganizing the storage shed along with her younger brother Sota.



“Why is it so hot in here?” Sota whined, dropping an old box on one of the shelves haphazardly.



“Hey, be careful with that! Grandpa would kill us if anything in here got broken.” Kagome scolded, wiping her sweat soaked forehead with her sleeve. “It’s probably hot in here because there isn’t any proper ventilation.” She added, stepping up on the small ladder to pull down another box to be dusted.

“Most of this stuff is junk anyway. None of it genuinely old.” Sota grumbled, scuffing his shoe on the ground.

Kagome huffed and rolled her eyes. Her younger brother could be such a pain sometimes. He was seven years younger than her, and at thirteen we had developed a serious case of teenage attitude.

“You shouldn’t be so disrespectful. This so-called ‘junk’ helps pay the bills.” She scolded. She took a deep breath and busied herself with yet another box. Most of the boxes she had come across had been empty, or filled with handmade paper strips visitors could use to write prayers to hang at the God tree. Occasionally she had stumbled upon a box of knick-knacks that Grandpa sold at the gift shop. Kagome pried open the fraying cardboard flaps and peered inside.



“Hey Sota, remember these?” She mused, dangling one of the old key chains from her finger. At the bottom of the short metal chain hung a pink marble and a medallion engraved with the phrase “Shikon no tama”.



“Oh, yeah.” Sota shrugged.



Kagome smiled fondly at the memory it sparked. When she had turned fifteen her grandfather had given her one of these exact key chains as a gift. Of course, Gramps had also given her a genuine kappa hand as well. At the time she hadn’t cared for either gift. She had fed the kappa hand to the cat, but she was pretty sure she still had the key chain somewhere. Grandpa had said that the jewel would give her good luck. She had fed the kappa hand to the cat, but she was pretty sure she still had the keychain.



“I think I still have one.” She admitted, dropping the keychain back into the box and closing it up. “I’m going to ask mom what she wants me to do with these.” She picked up the box and headed for the door. It wasn’t heavy, but the box was big and awkward in her hands.



“Mama, I found a box of key chains for the gift shop! Where would you like me to put them?” She called. Stepping through the door she felt her foot catch on the door jam. The box went flying as she tumbled to the ground. Kagome closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall, but instead she felt herself land against something warm and solid.



She opened her eyes and blinked. Someone had caught her mid fall. A tall and handsome someone. Kagome felt her heart jump in her chest as she awkwardly stared up at him.

“Are you alright?” He asked, setting her up on her own feet.

Kagome blinked again as she caught her bearings. She couldn’t help but stare like an idiot. He had the unmistakable shimmer of a glamour charm. Outwardly he appeared as a handsome man in his  twenties with unusually long ebony hair. As he moved to steady her on her wobbly feet she could make out the natural silver coloring of his hair and the pair of triangular canine ears perched on top of his head. She had the strangest urge to touch their soft white fur, but thought better of it. She had already made a fool of herself once, did she really want to make it twice?

“Uh, yeah. Thank you for your help. I’m such a klutz.” She laughed nervously, kneeling down to collect the key chains that had scattered to the ground around their feet.


“I thought shrine maids were supposed to be graceful.” He joked lightly. He knelt down beside her and dropped a few keychains into the box, then helped her to her feet again.


“Usually.” Kagome admitted, adjusting the box in her hands. Her hero stood there with his hands in the pockets of his grey and black bomber jacket. “Is there something I can help you with?”


“I was looking for the Goshimboku tree, actually.” he answered.  Kagome smiled and shifted the box, tucking it under her arm.

“It’s just down those steps.” She answered, pointing with her free hand. “Would you like me to show you?” She asked.

He shook his head and turned. “I think I can handle it from here. Thanks for your help..” He muttered as he walked away.


Kagome shrugged and headed toward the gift shop where her mother was dusting shelves.



——



Inuyasha breathed deeply as he stood at the foot of the ancient tree. He could still remember all of the times his mother had brought him here as a child. She had always insisted he be taught and respected the ancient traditions of their culture, and that included visiting the local shrine to pray.

He didn’t usually frequent Shinto shrines these days. In fact, he hadn’t visited the shrine since his mother had died, but for some reason he felt the urge to stop by and pay his respects.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the enormous tree’s canopy, feeling the warm sun hit his face as it filtered through the thick green leaves. The image of the girl from earlier flashed through his mind. Her smile had made his heart skip a beat. Stop it, you idiot. He berated himself. He wasn’t here to pick up girls, no matter how pretty they might be. He was supposed to be honoring his mother’s memory.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his jacket and tried to refocus on the memory of his mother. The scent of wildflowers, spring grass and sunshine lingered on his shirt where the girl had leaned against him when she had fallen. It filled his nose and tugged at his thoughts in a way no other scent had before. It reminded him of warm spring days spent laying in mountain meadows, drinking in the warm glow of the sun, and he imagined his arm wrapped around that girl’s waist, pulling her so she straddled his lap, his lips grazing the sensitive skin just behind her ear. He could just imagine how her breath would hitch, rubbing herself tantalizingly against him. He felt his body react, tightening uncomfortably inside his pants.   

 

Inuyasha shook the vision from his head. Now was not the time for fantasizing like a horny teenager. He needed to get out of here before he lost his senses and tracked that girl down, and made his way down the steep steps back to the street below. The hubbub here was in stark contrast to the peaceful silence of the shrine. Something about the constant noise and bustle of the city had him on edge. He wanted to get home and shut the world out.

The warm scent of sunshine and wild flowers reached his nose, and he stopped in his tracks. Inuyasha couldn’t believe his luck. There she was, strolling down the street toward him, a bag of groceries in hand. She stopped abruptly when she noticed him and smiled brightly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Hello again.” She greeted warmly, shifting her purse on her shoulder.

“Hi.” He answered back, feeling suddenly self conscious, knowing that he had been mentally masturnating to her a short time ago. God he was glad she couldn’t read his mind right now. 

 

“I want to thank you again for helping me earlier. I would have really hurt myself it if you hadn’t been there.” She smiled sweetly, and she adjusted her purse on her shoulder again. 

 

Inuyasha shrugged off her praise, feeling his cheeks flush slightly. Her smile widened, her eyes shining brightly in the sunlight. “It was nothing really.”

“You have such pretty silver hair.” She suddenly blurted, and Inuyasha froze.


Shit.

—

Kagome watched as his expression went from calm to panicked. She bit her lip worriedly, feeling her heart begin to race. Why couldn't she have just kept her big mouth shut? He looked absolutely mortified now.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. I- I should go.” She fumbled with her bag of groceries, dropping her purse. She quickly scooped it up and skittered off without another word.

—

Inuyasha stood in shock as she disappeared around the corner. He was about to bolt for his car until he noticed something on the ground glint in the sunlight. It was a cell phone in a light blue case.

He picked it up and considered running after her, but stopped himself. He had to get home as fast as possible. He couldn’t risk being seen without his concealment charm working properly. He would just have to return it to her another time after he got this whole mess sorted out.