InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Beginnings ❯ Ch 10: Friends ( Chapter 10 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

Ch 10:

 

The night of the new moon came all too soon. Kagome watched in fascination as Inuyasha transformed in jeans and a t-shirt. She clapped her hands. “Inuyasha, you look good this way too!”

 

Inuyasha smiled. Only Kagome could take this hated part of his existence and make it seem good. He slicked back his long hair and tied it in a ponytail behind his now human ears as Kagome watched. “I like it,” she said, tilting her head to one side in appraisal.

 

“It's my Miroku look,” he told her.

 

That answered a lot of questions. “So it was you!” she said. “Noriko told me she saw somebody named Miroku at a party - about a month ago!”

 

Inuyasha blushed. “It was all I could think of at the time.”

 

He had actually gone out a few days earlier to fetch the clothes he had used when he played Miroku last month, but they were wet and mildewed and he couldn't get near them because of their stench. He probably shouldn't have left them in that tree. Luckily, he had new modern clothes from Kagome. These fit him better, too.

 

“Shall we go to the cafeteria?” Kagome asked him.

 

“I'll bring you to the small food place - cafeteria - where I went as Miroku. Maybe you can meet my friends.” He grinned.

 

“You have friends from just one night? Do you think they'll remember you?”

 

“Of course they'll remember me!” Inuyasha swelled out his chest. “Don't you think I'm memorable?”

 

“You're unforgettable, Inuyasha. I hope we do meet your friends.”

 

He squatted down so Kagome could get on his back. She blinked at him in confusion. “Wouldn't it be faster this time if we took the shuttle bus?”

 

At least she didn't say he wasn't strong enough to carry her. He pouted, but took her hand instead and went down with her to catch the bus.

 

He led her past the main campus and across from the big performing arts building to the little cafeteria. She was surprised to see that it actually was a snack bar. She hadn't even realized it was there.

 

The place was busy. Inuyasha held out his hand for her square card and proudly showed it to the girl along with his tray of goodies. The girl looked at him, then looked at Kagome, who nodded, and scanned the card. He then led her through the room to the same table he'd sat at the last time. By some miracle, it was empty.

 

“Hey, Miroku!” Peter leaned over from the table where he was sitting. “Haven't seen you around for a while, man. How you doing?” He looked at Kagome and smiled. “And who's your friend?”

 

Inuyasha bristled when Peter paid attention to Kagome. She noticed, and squeezed his hand. She smiled brilliantly at Peter. “I'm Kagome. You're Peter, right? It's so nice to finally meet you. Miroku—“ she slid her eyes over to Inuyasha, “—told me all about the beer party you took him to. I wish I could have seen that.”

 

Inuyasha looked at her suspiciously. “I don't know exactly what you said to him, but you seem to be enjoying this way too much,” he muttered in Japanese.

 

“I am,” she replied in the same language before switching back to English and addressing Peter. “Wasn't there someone else with you? Your girlfriend maybe?”

 

“Oh, you mean Sue? Susan,” he explained to Inuyasha. “No, she's not my girlfriend—just a friend. Anyway, she left school.” He turned to Inuyasha again. “Susan,” he repeated. “Gone, quit, went back home, you know? She got a job offer and decided to take that instead of going to college.”

 

Inuyasha liked the fact that Peter talked to him like a normal person, not poking at him or speaking loudly, like that Soo-san girl. Unfortunately, his English wasn't good enough to catch what he said.

 

“Soo-san?” he asked again.

 

“She quit school,” translated Kagome.

 

“Smart girl,” he commented with a grin.

 

Kagome smacked him on the back of his head.

 

They left the snack bar with a promise to call Peter and get together soon. Kagome didn't know how to put him off, and Inuyasha had no problem with it. “He'll figure it out,” he told her.

 

On the way home, they ran into Noriko who was returning from a theatre rehearsal. “I didn't know you knew Miroku too,” she said to Kagome a little resentfully.

 

“Well…” Kagome started to explain, thinking wildly but coming up with nothing.

 

Inuyasha pulled her closer. “Yeah, she knows me.”

 

It was the first time Noriko had actually heard Miroku speak. His voice sounded a little familiar. She looked more closely at him. He looked somewhat familiar too, but she couldn't quite place where she might have seen him before, except at that party last month.

 

“We should all go out some time,” she said, glancing from Kagome to Inuyasha and back to gauge their reaction. “You, me, Miroku and Inuyasha.”

 

“That would be something to see,” muttered Inuyasha.

 

“What?”

 

“Never mind,” said Kagome quickly.

 

Noriko misunderstood and assumed Kagome hadn't told Miroku about Inuyasha, It didn't seem fair to her that Kagome should get both of them. However, she didn't want to get Kagome in trouble, either. “Anyway, nice to see you both,” she said at last. “Hope I see you around some time, Miroku.”

 

“Good-night,” said Kagome, relieved that the conversation seemed to be over.

 

“Good-night,” repeated Inuyasha, adding, “See you tomorrow,” as they walked away.

 

Noriko stopped and turned, but they had already moved farther down the path. See you tomorrow? She thought.

 

 

Kagome held Inuyasha all night despite his protests and felt the change overtake him the next morning as they lay in her bed. It was eerie, to be sure, but she had wanted to experience as much as she was able what he went throught each time he changed. She felt the tension flow out of him as he resumed his hanyou form. He regarded her with golden eyes.

 

“Good morning,” she said. “I had fun last night meeting your friends. Peter seems nice. It's a shame you won't be able to meet him again for a whole month.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, because “Miroku” won't appear until the next new moon.”

 

“Yeah, but I'm still here. I'll just tell him—“

 

“NO! I don't think that's such a good idea.”

 

Inuyasha keh'd. “You worry too much. So what if he finds out “Miroku” is really Inuyasha? Same me.”

 

“NOT the same! What if he—“

 

Inuyasha pulled her to him. “Don't worry about it. I won't do anything stupid.”

 

“That's not what I'm worried about—well, maybe a little—Inuyasha, promise me you'll be careful.”

 

“Sure, I promise,” he told her, figuring that “careful” was a very broad term and left lots of room for interpretation.

 

 

Later, Inuyasha left for his English lesson with Noriko and Kagome had an hour before her first class. She used it to call her mother.