InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ From Geisha to Pack Priestess ❯ Trying to Earn Accepteance ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Memoirs of a Geisha ^-^ (*grumble* wish I did though…*pout*)

 

Chapter 5: Trying to Earn Acceptance

 

 

Kagome woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, Inuyasha allowed her to sleep in a little and when she got up she found he had placed a crimson colored kimono on the fur she was using as a blanket. The kimono was stunning with Chinese characters woven into it and made of fine silk. The obi was black like the Chinese characters and he even included brand new zori sandals and black socks. Kagome stared at it in awe for a little until she noticed the note laying near it.

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-Kagome

 

Here's a kimono to wear. No need to thank me…just give back my haori. Here is a list of things I need you to get at the market, just go down the cliff and tell the shop keepers you are doing my shopping. I'll be training some warriors on the opposite side of the plateau if you need me.

 

-Inuyasha

 

 

PS- for staying in my cave you better wash my haori and have dinner ready by sunset.

 

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Kagome's eye twitched a little at his audacity but after careful consideration she came to the conclusion that she DID owe Inuyasha for everything he'd done for her. Kagome put on the kimono and stuffed the letter and list into her obi. Kagome left the cave and began to walk around the road built into the side of the plateau, she came to a sturdy ladder and climbed down with as much modesty as she could while wearing a kimono. Kagome finally got down and didn't realize how much trouble she would have on her first day in the village.

 

Kagome walked through the market street that had shops all on the right, because she was walking clockwise around the plateau. She noticed that those she passed and sometimes even shop owners would stare and whisper about her as she walked by innocently. Kagome at first wondered if it was really her they were talking about but when she heard the words “geisha” and “priestess” she was sure they were talking about her. One dog hanyou that looked to be about Inuyasha's age was conversing with a cat hanyou who owned a jewelry stand, Kagome watched as she pointed at her and said something to the cat hanyou the word “whore” was definitely distinguishable. Kagome blushed, she couldn't bring herself to deny their claims, she DID sleep in the same bed with Inuyasha…and they weren't mates…she wasn't even sure if they were FRIENDS!

 

Kagome screwed her eyes shut when the whispers seemed to overwhelm her. She remembered the list and brought it out quickly to distract her. She glanced at it and spotted the first place she needed to go. The stand with kimonos and other cloths, she walked up to the owner who was a lizard hanyou by the looks of it. It was a middle aged woman who already seemed to have heard the rumors about Kagome. She glared at Kagome accusingly.

 

“Um…Inuyasha sent me to—.”

 

“I don't care if BUDDHA sent you! You better have money or something to trade with if you want a kimono.” The lady glared at Kagome harder. Kagome glanced around and saw that this wasn't exactly a normal market, at least not like the ones in her old village. There were shop keepers just giving away their products because in a close knit village like this there wasn't much of a reason to believe the other would not pay them back in some shape or form.

 

“Actually…I need a wardrobe and Inuyasha sent me, I'm sure he will compensate—.”

 

“No! If the kimonos are for YOU then YOU are going to pay for them!” the stubborn woman asserted. Kagome blinked at her with a frown on her face. “And a wardrobe! Ha! You will need to pay me back a great deal if you want around-abouts-7 or 8 full sets of kimonos.”

 

Kagome thought this over for a minute. `She obviously doesn't think I'll go to the trouble of paying her and thinks I'll run to Inuyasha like a baby…or his whore.' She thought incredulously. “Okay…I don't have any thing to trade with soo…what do you want?” asked Kagome.

 

The woman was surprised for a minute and then got a wicked smirk. “How about you work off your debt in this shop…I will say it will take you a day for each kimono you buy so you work for me for a week and I'll give you 7 kimono.” The woman propositioned. Kagome thought about it.

 

“Alright! It's a deal but I must leave by evening so how about only the mornings?” Kagome bartered. The woman was again surprised then smirked.

 

“It's a deal!” they shook hands and Kagome was suddenly dragged into the shop. She was pushed roughly into table stacked with beautiful silk kimonos. “Grab that broom and sweep up a little! My rugs look as filthy as you! Then organize the kimonos by shades of color.”

 

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Sango ran through the market place. She was told by Miroku that Kagome was somewhere in the village and she wanted desperately to be reunited with her best friend.

 

“Kagome?!” Sango shouted as she passed by the shops. Some looked on curiously and some looked irritated because of the shouting. “Kagome?!” she called again.

 

It has been several hours and as it passed about 2 pm Kagome felt it was time to ask the woman if she could leave. The woman nodded and let her choose a kimono. Kagome picked a black kimono with a white obi, it was really lovely with silver crescent moons in the design. Kagome trudged tiredly out of the shop just as Sango was running by.

 

Sango screeched to a halt and hugged Kagome happily. “Kaogme!! I missed you so much! How did training go?” asked Sango.

 

Kagome glanced at the sky to view the sun's placement then lightly pushed Sango away. “I'll tell you as we walk. I have to get some food for dinner and get back to the cave to start making it.” Kagome said as she walked along the market street. Sango caught up to her and Kagome observed her well adjusted friend. “So you like it here Sango?” asked Kagome unsurely.

 

Sango beamed. “Yes! Once they warm up to you they can be really nice!” Sango asserted. Kagome's sore arms begged to differ but she supplied an empathetic smile none the less. “So how are you? Tell me everything about the training!” Sango insisted. As the reunited friends walked and laughed some hanyous glanced at them nervously and some of the few humans and full demons watched on curiously. The sight of the two former geisha intrigued and intimidated them a lot. Some thought them to be whores and some thought they believed they were better than the hanyous but both were wrong in their assumptions.

 

“So you are staying in Inuyasha's cave?” Sango asked with a frown. Kagome nodded in affirmation. “No wonder those rumors are going around. You need to move out Kagome before this ruins you! Everyone is calling you a slut. You need to move out. I know! You can stay with me in my cave!” She suggested with a grin. Kagome looked unsure.

 

“I'll ask Inuyasha about it…so you have your own cave now? That's cool!” Kagome said with a grin.

 

“Kagome…don't let Inuyasha run your life. He may have saved you from the okiya but if you ruin things in the beginning here then things will get far worse than when we lived under Kikyou. When I was living with Miroku everyone in the village treated me like crap because he was a priest and pretty high up in the pack! I wasn't even sleeping in the same room in his cave as him but I was still called a whore!” Sango said in outrage. Kagome laughed nervously. With Sango with her she didn't have trouble getting food, probably because Sango would most definitely tell Miroku if the pack was abusing her so they wouldn't dare do so around her best friend. Kagome was thankful because she could tell the ladies at the food stands wanted to hurt her for just existing.

 

Kagome departed from Sango and went back to Inuyasha's cave. When she got there the sun was setting so she quickly prepared dinner. But just as she found a pot to cook soup in the other room she hadn't went into last night Inuyasha got home. He came in and removed his inner kimono lazily. He stretched tiredly and looked at Kagome with a frown.

 

“No dinner yet? What? Did you sleep in till noon?” Inuyasha said sarcastically. He kicked some furs to lie beside the fire pit and plopped down on them. Kagome winced but after shooting the hanyou a glare she went back to cooking dinner. As she prepared the soup and fish Inuyasha watched her with a thoughtful look.

 

“Thank you for the kimono.” Kagome said softly as she prepared dinner. Inuyasha stared at her intensely.

 

“Feh! I couldn't have you going down to the market dressed in only my haori there would be talk of nothing else for months.” Inuyasha paused. “Speaking of gossip…” Kagome stiffened noticeably. “You didn't happen to hear of any rumors in the village did you?” asked Inuyasha, even thought he could already tell the truth from her reaction to the word “gossip.” Yes, he had heard the rumors as he came home from the training, and he WAS NOT pleased. Inuyasha sighed deeply. `Was I wrong to bring her here? Is this going to make her miserable?...I don't want her to leave…but I cant FORCE her to stay with me…' “Kagome…they don't know what they are talking about, just ignore them—.”

 

Kagome laughed light heartedly. “Don't worry Inuyasha! They don't bother me! All I have to do is earn their respect by being a good priestess right? Then there wont be problems like this!” Kagome said with confidence. Inuyasha blinked at her stunned. He got a small smirk on his face, he looked content with her answer and closed his eyes as he waited for dinner. “Oh…Inuyasha? Can I move into Sango's cave for now?” asked Kagome hopefully. Inuyasha's eyes snapped open and his face was pulled into a glare.

 

“What?! No way! You are staying here so I can keep an eye on you!” Inuyasha growled authoritatively. Kagome glared at him defiantly.

 

“I'm NOT a child Inuyasha! I can take care of myself!” Kagome shouted as she stood from her sitting position to stand over the hanyou.

 

Inuyasha hopped to his feet within a second. “Maybe if you WERE a child I wouldn't have to worry about those pervs touching you!!” Inuyasha shouted his face going a little red. Kagome suddenly looked really confused.

 

“Pervs? What pervs?! Everyone in the village is disgusted by me!” Kagome retorted.

 

“Feh! Maybe most of everyone in the market today but the unmated hormone driven bastards at training today wouldn't stop talking about you! They remember you from the day I took you from the okiya and they ALL want you!” Kagome stared stunned at him. “And you wanna know what else? IT PISSES ME OFF!” Inuyasha exploded. Kagome fell over at the mere volume of his voice. Inuyasha was now crimson in the face and panting slightly. Kagome stared up at him in shock; she didn't know what to say to this.

 

Inuyasha heaved a heavy sigh so as to get his emotions under some control. He crouched down in front of the stunned priestess. “Now you get it? You can't go to some other cave because one of those idiots might try to force himself on you or somethin'.”

 

“Inuyasha…” Kagome's face softened a little. “You wont have to worry about that! Sango will be there so if something were to attack us you could hear us and—.”

 

“Did you forget the sound spells on the doors? I wouldn't be able to hear you. Sides, it's different if Sango lives alone at least SHE can protect herself. You are useless in that department.” Inuyasha grumbled.

 

This rustled Kagome's feathers a lot. “Hey! Sango cant defend herself any better than me! In fact I'M the one with special powers I have a better chance of protecting myself!” Kagome insisted. Inuyasha snorted incredulously.

 

“Powers you cant control yet! Sango can too protect herself now, didn't she tell you? She became part of a special warrior group in the pack the first day she got here, she's been training since you left for your training and she is pretty good. Turns out she came from the village of demon exterminators so she learned combat basics before she was stolen and forced to work in the okiya.” Kagome took all this in slowly. She stared down at the fire over Inuyasha's shoulder with a pensive look. `Everyone fits in so well in the pack…I don't fit in…The only one that TRULY accepts me is Inuyasha…he wouldn't withhold information like what Sango did. I wonder why she didn't tell me she was so involved in the pack…I…hate this. Every things has turned out so wrong so far. The only good thing that's happened to me is…Inuyasha.' Kagome thought his name as she looked at the hanyou who was watching her with a guarded yet concerned look. Kagome smiled at him brightly.

 

Kagome suddenly jumped at Inuyasha and hugged him around the torso. Inuyasha's eyes bugged a little but he quickly adjusted to this new level of intimacy that seemed to keep occurring. He returned the hug with a slight smile, which quickly disappeared when he smelled her tears. “Inuyasha…I'm sorry for even suggesting it! I owe you so much and…I want to live here with you and work off all the debts I owe you.” Kagome said resolutely. Inuyasha was a little disappointed that that was the only reason she wanted to stay but took her acceptance of his wishes as a good sign.

 

“Feh! Finish dinner then you can tell me why you didn't get all your shopping done.” Inuyasha said gruffly. Kagome pulled away and after getting the soup into two bowls that Inuyasha got from the second room that came off the living room, the pantry. Kagome had some time to think of an excuse for her not getting everything on the list.

 

“I…um…you know how stupid I can be!” Kagome laughed nervously, she was a terrible liar. “I just plum forgot to get everything, Sango came while I was buying the kimono so I just walked off without buying more! Sorry!” Kagome waited for him to respond now. He scrutinized her closely. He knew she was lying but didn't know why she would need to.

 

“Alright then.” He decided to wait until she wanted to tell the truth. “Tomorrow you can go shopping for more clothes or just work on your own training. There is only one other priestess here but she is a little eccentric so I don't want you training under her unless it is really necessary. If you want a bath before bed I can show you where the hot springs are.” Inuyasha said offhand.

 

Kagome was more curious about this other priestess at the moment. “There is another priestess here?” she asked curiously.

 

“Yeah but she is a little off her rocker. She also goofs up some of her spells and magic crap so we don't have her do much around here. She's a dragon hanyou named Trinity. She lives in a cave around the other side of the plateau so don't worry about running into her.” Kagome wasn't worried in fact, she wanted to meet this woman.

 

“Can you take me to the hot springs now?” Kagome asked eagerly, setting down her empty bowl. Inuyasha smirked and gave a nod. He got up and showed her the secret passage from his cave to the hot springs.

 

 

 

 

A/N: Yo Yo Yo! What up hommie slice?....-_-; Ill stop now Im a little nuts at the moments so don't mind me! ^_^ so hope you like! Please review!