InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Beginnings ❯ Ch 13: Dogs and Demons ( Chapter 13 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Ch 13: Dogs and Demons

 

 

Peter's father came to pick them up in his SUV the next Saturday. They invited Noriko to go with them, so it ended up Peter and his father in the front, Kagome and Noriko in the middle seats, and Inuyasha by himself in the back. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the seat in front of him.

 

“Inuyasha,” Kagome warned, glancing meaningfully at his claws, which were leaving little puncture marks in the leather. Noriko swung her head around to look at him too, and Inuyasha hastily curled his fingers so that the nails didn't show. He'd caught Noriko looking at his hands a few times during their lessons, although she never said anything to him about it. In a way, he wished she would notice, so he could get everything out in the open. He really didn't like hiding. Kagome would be upset, though. He settled back in his seat and stared out the window.

 

Peter's family lived out in the country, though more to the south and east than Inuyasha's forest. His house was set back from the main road and sat on a much larger green square than the houses near Kagome's school. At the far end of the green square were woods that looked more interesting to Inuyasha than Peter's house did. He wondered if he would get a chance to go exploring.

 

As the car pulled to a halt at the end of the long driveway, two black bullet shapes came barrelling around the side of the house towards them. Inuyasha immediately started a low warning growl, which Kagome promptly shushed.

 

Peter didn't seem concerned. He opened his door and the two dogs jumped up, trying to get into the car. “Jake! Otis! How are ya, fellas?” He reached down and scratched each behind an ear as the dogs panted and slobbered all over him, all the while trying to wiggle the bulk of their bodies onto his lap.

 

Inuyasha gripped the seat in front again, this time leaving unmistakable puncture marks. His ears lay back flat underneath his cap and he had a hard time trying not to curl his upper lip. They're just dogs, he told himself, trying to relax.

 

Just then the two dogs, who had climbed into the front seat with Peter, noticed Inuyasha and went very still, then started growling menacingly. “Stop that!” ordered Peter, pushing the two of them back out the door. He turned towards the two girls who were a little hesitant about getting out of the car after hearing the dogs' growls. “Sorry about that. They're usually pretty friendly. Don't worry, they won't hurt you.”

 

In the meantime, the two dogs raced around to the back of the SUV where Peter's father had the hatch open and was taking out their suitcases. The dogs tried to jump up, growling and barking loudly at Inuyasha.

 

“Jake! Cut it out!” yelled Peter's father, pulling one of the animals away. He held it by the collar while Peter came around and grabbed the other one.

 

They held on to the two dogs while Inuyasha and the girls got out of the car. Kagome caught Inuyasha's eye, and he shrugged. Ordinary animals tended to get spooked around Inuyasha, probably because they could sense his demon aura, but these two . . . was it because they were dogs? Kagome shrugged too.

 

Peter locked the two dogs in their kennel on the side of the house, which shocked Inuyasha. Even though the dogs were annoying, they didn't deserve to be imprisoned. His eyes followed them as his feet followed the humans into Peter's house.

 

They had a barbecue that night, not quite the party Peter had promised, but it was nice. Peter's parents and his younger sister were fascinated with Peter's new friends from Japan. His little sister was especially fascinated by Inuyasha. “You're sure you're Japanese?” she asked him.

 

“Yeah,” Inuyasha replied shortly, having heard this particular question before.

 

They had hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled steak. Inuyasha looked longingly ath the scraps of raw steak and bone that the dogs were enjoying. They had been let out of their cage after Peter took them one by one and introduced them to his three friends. They had sniffed suspiciously at Inuyasha who surreptitiously tried to sniff them back, but at least they stopped barking at him. Now they were settled at the edge of the patio enjoying, in Inuyasha's estimation, the better portion of the meal.

 

“What's back there?” Inuyasha nodded his head at the trees barely visible at the edge of the backyard.

 

“Just woods. Peter used to play there when he was little. Luckily it's government land so nobody will be able to build on it. It keeps our house very private.”

 

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, who whispered a quick translation of what Peter's father had said. Government land? That might solve his own problem….if the government owned the land in his new forest, then nobody else could build on it either. Of course, neither could he….he'd have to think it through a little bit more.

 

“Ooh! Let's go for a walk in the woods!” suggested Peter's little sister. “It'll be spooky so close to Halloween. Maybe we'll see some ghosts or goblins! Ooooh!” She raised her hands in the air and made scary sounds. The dogs looked up, interested.

 

This time Kagome didn't quite catch the meaning. “What is a goblin?”

 

Noriko answered in Japanese. “Monsters—like youkai.”

 

“Youkai?” Inuyasha's ears pricked up. “There are youkai there?” He pointed to the woods.

 

“It has something to do with Halloween,” explained Noriko. “Peter?” She turned to face Peter. “Can you tell Kagome and Inuyasha about Halloween?”

 

Peter's mom explained. “Halloween is the night when the barrier between our world and the world of spirits is lifted,” she said in a spooky voice, getting into the spirit of the conversation.

 

“Ooh!” said her daughter again, a little scared in spite of herself.

 

Noriko translated, although this time Kagome picked up most of what Peter's mom had said.

 

“Barrier? There's a barrier?” Inuyasha put his hand where the hilt of Tetsusaiga should have been, but Kagome had insisted he leave it in her dorm room for the weekend.

 

Peter glanced from one to another of his friends and took in their widened eyes and Inuyasha's obviously alarmed stance. “They're just joking with you. Halloween is for fun. Kids get dressed up in costumes and pretend to be monsters or goblins—“

 

“Or princesses or super-heroes!” interrupted his sister.

 

“—and people go on hayrides and scary walks through the woods—for fun. It's not real!” Peter continued.

 

Inuyasha leaned towards Kagome who was filling him in on the parts he didn't get. “I think we should check it out,” he told her. He asked Peter in English. “Can we take a walk through the woods?”

 

“Now? Yeah, ok!” He pointed to his little sister. “You coming to find the ghosts and monsters too?”

 

“No way! It's too dark out there!”

 

“Good. We didn't want a little kid tagging along anyway. Ok, everybody. I'll go find us all some flashlights. The rest of you get a sweatshirt or jacket and we'll meet back here in ten minutes.”

 

He rushed off into the house as his mother and sister began gathering up the dishes, waving off Kagome and Noriko when they tried to help. “You girls go get your jackets. It's getting cold outside.”

 

Inuyasha didn't need a jacket and told them so, arms folded stubbornly across his chest. After everyone had gone inside, he moved to the edge of the patio and looked down at Jake and Otis, who had both stood up and now faced him. They weren't about to let him get past. He keh'd, and took one leap which cleared the dogs and landed him in the middle of the yard. With a roar the dogs started after him.

 

The lights from the patio didn't illuminate much farther than the immediate vicinity, so Inuyasha felt confident that no one could see him in the middle of the yard. Time to show these dogs who was boss. He turned to face them, crouched down and waited for them to pounce. Then he turned the tables on them. With one hand he snatched Otis from the air and slammed him back against the ground. He planted his foot on Jake's neck and flipped him down easily next to his brother. Then he grabbed both dogs by the throat so that they were on their backs looking up at him. He let his claws dig in just a little to show them he meant business as he stared at them intently.

 

It didn't take much. Inuyasha let them up after a few minutes and suddenly he was their new best friend. All the antics they had displayed earlier with Peter they now tried with him, jumping and licking his hands and running around him in circles. “Come on,” he said and he took off running across the darkened yard. They were right behind him. It was kind of fun. Inuyasha led them in a big circle back to the patio and only slowed down when he saw the sliding door open. He stood, a few feet away from the patio in the semi-darkness, the dogs on either side of him.

 

Peter, Kagome and Noriko came outside with flashlights in hand and an extra one for Inuyasha too. He took it, knowing what it was since Kagome had often brought one to use in his time. He didn't need it, though. He could see perfectly well in the dark.

 

“Let's go.” Peter led the way, but Inuyasha quickly took to the front, flashlight shut off, until he heard Kagome's warning, “ Inuyasha….” He froze. Would she say the dreaded word in front of these humans?

 

“Wait!”

 

So he waited, and took Kagome's hand and followed Peter and Noriko through a break in the bushes into Peter's woods. The dogs followed too.

 

“Do you sense anything, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked her.

 

“No, nothing.”

 

Noriko turned back and looked curiously at Inuyasha and Kagome. “Sense? Why would Kagome sense something out here? Oh, you mean because she comes from a shrine family! Kagome, can you really sense such things as youkai or spirits?”

 

Kagome squeezed Inuyasha's hand and smiled in the dark. “It certainly seems like that sometimes.” Inuyasha grinned back. He was having fun.

 

Peter led them down a path that wound around fallen trees, between boulders and over a half-frozen brook. He was trying to get them lost, maybe scare them a little, all in the spirit of Halloween. There was a giant boulder a little ways in that they affectionately called the Three Bears Rock when he was a kid. He figured he could tell them it was a secret hiding place for monsters; hell, he half-believed it himself—a carryover from his childhood days.

 

Noriko stumbled over a tree root and would have fallen but somehow Inuyasha was there next to her. He grabbed her arm and steadied her. “Watch where you're going,” he told her as he let go and went back to join Kagome. She had been watching, her flashlight trained on the path directly in front of her. Noriko couldn't figure out how Inuyasha had seen the tree root when her own flashlight didn't even pick it up. Inuyasha's flashlight wasn't on and Kagome's was too far back. She turned her flashlight to point at the two of them. The beam reflected off Inuyasha's amber eyes, making them seem to glow in the darkness.

 

“Turn around and watch where you're going,” Inuyasha repeated.

 

“Here it is,” intoned Peter, stopping at the big rock.

 

Inuyasha walked around it but it just looked like a rock to him. “Feel anything, Kagome?” he asked.

 

“Nothing.”

 

Without thinking, Inuyasha jumped to the top of the rock which was easily the height of a one story house. “Nothing up here either,” he said.

 

The others just gaped at him, Kagome in horror that he'd just done that in front of Noriko and Peter.

 

“How did you do that?” whispered Noriko.

 

“Man, that was cool!” said Peter. “Is that one of your martial arts moves?”

 

“Yes, yes—martial arts,” agreed Kagome, anxious to smooth things over. Then Inuyasha dropped back to the ground, not making a sound as he touched down on the leaf-strewn path. Noriko's eyes got wider and she took a step back.

 

“There's nothing here,” Inuyasha said to Peter, who laughed and admitted it was all a joke. “No monsters,” he said. Both girls giggled. Inuyasha was disappointed. He went ahead with the two dogs and soon was lost to their sight.

 

Kagome sighed. She knew Inuyasha was probably keeping an eye on them somewhere close by, but he was out there enjoying the freedom of the forest while she was down here. She heard the dogs barking in confusion. He must have gone up into the trees. “Inuyasha can find his own way back,” she told the others.

 

“Are you sure? It's pretty dark out here.”

 

“He'll be ok. He's quite at home in the woods.”

 

“I guess so. The dogs are probably with him. Let's go, girls.” Peter hooked an arm with each girl, causing them to giggle again as he led them back along the path to his house. He didn't hear the low growl from somewhere above him.

 

At some point in their walk the dogs raced by them. Peter hoped Inuyasha would be ok. If he didn't show up soon, Peter would have to go back after him.

 

However, when they broke through the bushes into Peter's backyard, Inuyasha was there already, the two dogs by his side.

 

“How did you get here ahead of us?” asked Noriko. Kagome just smiled into her hand. She had sensed Inuyasha as he raced by with the dogs.

 

 

Inuyasha shared Peter's room and the girls had the guest room. He was a little uncomfortable with the arrangement. Even though he and Kagome had often split off into different rooms while traveling in his time, this would be the first time they had spent the night apart since they had become intimate. He couldn't sleep.

 

As soon as dawn broke Inuyasha folded his blankets on top of the spare bed and quietly made his way outside. He passed by the dogs' kennel and sliced his claws through the chain around the gate. Jake and Otis lifted their heads up, ears forward, then quietly trotted after Inuyasha.

 

The grass was covered in a thin mist that came up to Inuyasha's knees. He paused for a moment to take in the beauty of the early morning. If only Kagome would come out so he could share it with her. She liked stuff like this.

 

Like a shot he took off for the woods. The two dogs had a hard time keeping up. He led the dogs a merry chase over the brook and through the woods, widening the path with swipes of his claws as he went. He figured Peter might like that next time he came down here. He raced the dogs back to Peter's house.

 

Kagome hadn't slept well either. She missed Inuyasha. They really needed to see about getting an apartment sooner than next semester.

 

Rubbing her eyes, she wandered out to the patio. Inuyasha was out there, she realized with a start. He was running low to the ground with the two dogs close beside him. His hair streamed behind him like a fur coat and he looked for all the world like a big white dog. So that's what he would look like if he could transform fully, she thought. Beautiful.

 

Noriko stepped out onto the patio just as Inuyasha noticed Kagome and skidded to a halt. He had lost his cap somewhere in the woods. Kagome's hands flew to her mouth. Oh no, this was it, the moment she had been dreading.

 

Inuyasha saw Noriko at about the same moment he remembered he didn't have a hat on. Quickly he tore off his t-shirt and tied it over his head as he had seen soccer players do when they got too hot. “What are you two doing up so early? Can't you see I'm doing my morning exercise?” He stomped past them and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Maybe Noriko hadn't noticed his ears.

 

Peter was the last of the four to get up, and all he noticed were Jake and Otis. “Who let the dogs out?” he wanted to know.