InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Beginnings ❯ Ch 24: Winding Down ( Chapter 24 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Ch 24: Winding Down

 

 

Kagome laughed when Inuyasha told her that he had been the youkai who slashed Peter's woods. He blinked at her uncertainly. He had been sure she'd be upset with him.

 

“Oh, come on,” she told him between giggles. “You have to admit it's funny.”

 

Inuyasha didn't think so. He tried to explain to Kagome that he'd done it to help Peter, but she just laughed harder. She could imagine him joyfully cutting a swath of destruction through the woods in order to widen the path.

 

“We'll have to tell Peter what happened eventually so he doesn't worry.” Kagome reached over and picked up a bottle of shampoo. “So what did you do today if you didn't go take care of the big bad youkai in Peter's woods?” she asked, as she lathered Inuyasha's hair, being careful of the ears.

 

The ears twitched, whether in response to the trickling of liquid she couldn't avoid getting in them, or in response to her question, Kagome couldn't tell. She scooted Inuyasha towards the front and knelt behind him to get a better angle. Inuyasha leaned back against her. “Stop that,” she admonished. “I can't scrub your hair if you do that.”

“So stop scrubbing,” he replied. He made no effort to lean forward. Kagome dug her fingernails into his scalp a few more times and then gave up trying to get him any cleaner. She sank back down into the water herself and let his head fall back into her lap.

 

“Rinse.” She gently scooped the water over his hair, which floated all around her. “Close your eyes.”

 

Inuyasha obediently shut his eyes, and Kagome poured a stream of warm water over his face, using her free hand to gently rub around his scalp and get rid of most of the soapy residue. They would have to drain the tub and refill it to get all the soap off. She added a little conditioner first. “Ok, you're done,” she said, pushing him off her and reaching around him to pull out the plug. He twisted around in the water and grabbed her around the waist for a playful hug.

 

“I'm not,” he protested, grinning.

 

It was some time before they had the tub re-filled and were again soaking side by side in the warmth. Inuyasha moved slightly to one side so that Kagome fit into the curve of his arm and was covered by the warm water up to her neck. She looked as if she were half asleep.

 

“So?” she murmured, eyes still closed. “Where were you today?”

 

She never gives up, thought Inuyasha. “I saw Mr. Rinks, and he brought me to meet some other youkai,” he admitted.

 

“Without me?” Kagome attempted to sit up, but Inuyasha gently tightened his embrace.

 

“Stay still, it's cold,” he said. “I didn't know about it. He was waiting for me when I got back from my lesson.”

 

“Oh.” Kagome relaxed. It couldn't have been anything bad, since Inuyasha seemed fine, better than fine, really. She waited for him to continue.

 

“Kagome, how do you think some of the pure youkai take on their spirit forms? I mean, is it something that miko know about?”

 

“I don't know, but then again I'm not a real miko,” murmured Kagome. “Why don't you ask Sesshomaru?”

 

Inuyasha keh'd. “Like that's gonna happen.”

 

Kagome stood up and water streamed off her. She reached for a towel and wrapped it around herself, then took another one and motioned for Inuyasha to stand up too. She wrapped the second towel around him and gently patted him dry.

 

“You know, I'm going to miss this when we go back home,” Kagome said.

 

“Mmm,” Inuyasha agreed. It felt wonderful to have his hair rubbed, even though he could do without the combing which he knew was coming later. “You are, you know,” he said.

 

“Are what?”

 

“A real miko.”

 

Kagome smiled. “Ok, I meant a trained miko. If I had training, I might know more about spirit forms and things like that.”

 

Inuyasha opened the door to the bathroom, letting the steam escape into the hallway. He intended to jump right into bed the way he was, but Kagome intercepted him. “Wait—I need to comb your hair.” Sighing, he wrapped the towel around his waist and sat down in the kitchen. Kagome approached with her comb, which looked to him like a fearsome weapon designed to cause nothing but pain. But Kagome was careful. She held a section of his hair in one hand so that there was less tension, and she combed that section out first, before moving to another section. It wasn't quite as bad as he had feared.

 

“But if you had to guess, how do you think a youkai would transform to spirit form?”

 

Kagome tapped the comb against the back of the chair as she thought about it. “Well, what do you do when you transform into a full youkai?”

 

“Nothing,” Inuyasha replied. “I just—well, now that I can control it a little bit—I just think about it and it happens.”

 

“Wouldn't it be the same? Wait—are you asking me if you can change into spirit form?”

 

“Why not? What's so strange about that?” asked Inuyasha. “The new world youkai seemed to think I could do it already.”

 

“But you're hanyou!”

 

“I know. They didn't think that was an issue. Kagome, I'm starting to wonder if full youkai are so bitter towards hanyou because we really have just as much power as they do. Maybe hanyou aren't freaks of nature after all. Those youkai talked as if my parents wanted me to be born the way I am.”

 

Kagome put down the comb and slid into Inuyasha's lap. She kissed him gently on the tip of his nose. “Of course your parents wanted you. Inuyasha, I've always believed you could do anything you set your mind to.” She kissed his nose again, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “But I'm not sure I want you to transform into spirit form. I like you just the way you are—solid in just the right places.” She poked him in the ribs.

 

Inuyasha laughed and stood up, still holding Kagome to him. “That's enough hair grooming,” he said as he walked towards the bedroom.

 

 

Finals were coming up soon, and both Noriko and Jen were in the big show which would run at the same time as finals. Jen had a solo, and Noriko was part of the ensemble, so Kagome got tickets to see the show on Friday night. She felt guilty taking time out from her studies to see a musical, but she would have felt even more guilty not going to see her friends in the play. She had no idea how Jen and Noriko were able to go through such gruelling rehearsals each night, then do back to back performances for four night shows and two day shows, as well as studying and taking final exams for their other classes. They must really love theatre, she thought.

 

Inuyasha's ESL class had several different activities planned for the holiday season. They had a final of sorts—Inuyasha was not pleased to find out that he had to take a `test'—but it was nothing compared to what Kagome, Peter and especially the two music theatre majors had.

 

One of Inuyasha's class trips took them to the local mall for Christmas shopping. The theory was that the ESL students would have to use their English skills to communicate with the store clerks and get some experience in using American money. However, these days every one of them had credit or debit cards which they just handed over to the salesperson without having to say a single word. So the group were more or less on their own for a few hours of unsupervised shopping. Inuyasha wandered aimlessly up and down the corridors. He had a credit card, too, but he didn't really want anything except maybe a cell phone. Kagome was supposed to bring him out to get one of his own, but she was too busy with exams. He could do this himself. He stopped at a shop that had cell phones in the window and picked one up. He turned it over and experimented with pushing the tiny buttons with the very tips of his claws.

 

“May I help you?”

 

Wait. He knew this one. “Yes,” he answered. “I want to buy a cell phone.”

 

The salesman showed him several phones, and explained in great detail the different features of each one. “Do you plan on using it just for phone calls, or do you text more? You can download music on this one. And this one has a built-in navigation system…” The salesman went on and on. Finally, Inuyasha held up his hand.

 

“Can I make a phone call?” he asked. When the man nodded, Inuyasha dialed Sesshomaru.

 

“Hey, I need a cell phone,” he began in Japanese. “…I'm in the shop now. I don't know what kind I need….yeah, I need it…” Inuyasha's voice started to get louder. “…to call the youkai. I'll explain it to you later—after I get my own cell phone….Ok.” Inuyasha turned to the salesman and handed him back the phone. “Here,” he said in English.

 

The salesman spoke for a long time with Sesshomaru, while Inuyasha browsed the rest of the store. At the end, he handed Inuyasha a cell phone and showed him briefly how to use it. They signed a few papers and Inuyasha walked out of the store with his new cell phone clutched in one hand, and the box it came in and all the paperwork in a little plastic bag with handles in his other hand.

 

Inuyasha kept his word and called Sesshomaru when he got back to the apartment. He briefed Sesshomaru on his meeting with the new world youkai, but he didn't mention what they had told him about his own powers. Sesshomaru was somewhat shocked to find out that these youkai weren't nearly as apathetic as they had pretended to be. He was uneasy at the thought of an unfamiliar youkai power base in the area. Sesshomaru was ready to come down to meet with these new youkai Inuyasha had found, but Inuyasha put him off by saying that he wanted to handle it himself, as the youkai Lord of these lands. Sesshomaru reluctantly agreed, although he cautioned Inuyasha that he would step in if Inuyasha failed to return in January.

 

“Why? Do you know something I don't know?” asked Inuyasha. “You didn't kill me or something on the other side, did you?”

 

There was a long pause. “No. You disappeared,” replied Sesshomaru.

 

He disappeared from the Sengoku jidai? There could be lots of explanations—maybe he and Kagome did eventually stay in this time, or maybe they just moved away from Sesshomaru's territory. He was pretty sure he wouldn't have let himself be killed by anyone else besides Sesshomaru. “What about Kagome?” he asked suddenly.

 

“I don't know. I didn't really pay attention,” was the answer.

 

“What about--?” Inuyasha stopped. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the ultimate fate of their other friends.

 

They ended their phone conversation with Inuyasha promising to keep Sesshomaru in the loop regarding the new world youkai.

 

 

Kagome threw her books on the kitchen table in disgust. “I spent all afternoon at the library and didn't get a thing done!” she complained.
”My cell phone kept vibrating, but I didn't recognize any of the numbers. I had to keep packing up my things and going outside to try to find out who was calling. And guess what?” Inuyasha looked at her curiously. “They were calling for you! “

 

“I told you I needed a cell phone,” Inuyasha mumbled.

 

Kagome sat down. “It doesn't really matter. The classes here are pretty easy, so I guess I really don't need to study that much.” She smiled. “I'll go shopping with you, if you want.”

 

“No need. I already got one.” Inuyasha showed her his new cell phone, and explained about his class trip and Sesshomaru's help.

 

“So those were youkai leaving you messages on my phone?”

 

“Yeah. “

 

Just then the doorbell rang and Inuyasha tensed. He could tell what was on the other side. So could Kagome. She took her cue from Inuyasha, who, although wary, did not seem alarmed. “Is that one of your youkai friends?”

 

“Yeah. Wonder what he wants.” Inuyasha said as he opened the door to face the youkai who had thought he was amazing for living with humans.

 

“You didn't answer my phone call,” the youkai said in greeting. “So I decided to stop by.”

 

“How did you know where we lived?” asked Kagome.

 

Both youkai looked at her in disbelief.

 

“Never mind, “ she said. “Please come in.” She brought them both a cup of tea. The youkai, whose name was Fenn, smiled widely at Kagome. Inuyasha made it a point to sit next to Kagome on the sofa, which only amused Fenn more.

 

“I can't get over that you know about us,” he said at last. “How did you find out?”

 

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged glances. They needed to be careful of what they said.

 

“She's a miko,” Inuyasha stated. So much for being careful. Mr. Rinks already knew about Kagome, so it didn't hurt to give that little bit of information away. “She can sense us.”

 

“Is that so?” Fenn tilted his head to one side, evaluating the couple. They could tell from his lack of reaction that he had already known about Kagome. “There are not many humans who have spiritual powers these days.”

 

“No, there aren't,” agreed Kagome. “Most of the youkai I've encountered have not been very friendly to me because of my so-called powers. I hope you won't hold it against me.” She smiled softly, so very like Kikyo that Inuyasha was startled for a moment.

 

“Why are you here?” asked Inuyasha, getting right to the point.

 

“Like I said, you didn't answer my phone call. And I wanted to meet your lovely human lady.” What remained unsaid was that he had wanted to see for himself just how powerful she was. Kagome was just as determined not to reveal her miko powers unless it was absolutely necessary. They smiled politely at each other.

 

Kagome was a little confused. Fenn had a definite aura and she could tell that he was something like a youkai, but it was disconcerting to see him sitting at ease in her living room, sipping tea and talking about missed phone calls. It had been easier to accept a modern Sesshomaru. At least with Sesshomaru, she knew she had to remain on her guard despite what her eyes showed her. With this one, she didn't know whether or not to be worried.

 

The doorbell rang again and this time Kagome didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. She looked questioningly at Inuyasha, who replied, “Peter.”

 

It was not only Peter, but Noriko and Jen too who had stopped by with study materials and take-out. They were surprised that Inuyasha and Kagome already had a guest. Peter looked closely at the young man sitting by the window, and his eyes widened slightly. He turned his head toward Inuyasha and mouthed, `Youkai?'

 

Inuyasha grinned and nodded, but Fenn, who had caught the silent exchange, was clearly shocked. It was one thing that the girl with spiritual powers could sense him, but how did this human boy without any powers at all know what he was? He had agreed with the others that Inuyasha was good for their kind and it was beyond time that they became more involved in the world, but things were moving much too quickly. Humans couldn't be trusted.

 

Jen stared at the youkai for a few moments, then she said, “Hey, I know you! You used to hang out at the summer camp sometimes. Fenn, right? Wow, you're a youkai too? I wonder who else—I'll bet that girl Skye is one too—she sort of looks like you and Mr. Rinks—I'm right, aren't I?” Jen was pleased with herself. Fenn wasn't too thrilled to find that he and Mr. Rinks—and Skye—had a `look.'

 

Inuyasha was grinning from ear to ear. “Get used to it,” he told Fenn. “They know about you. And they are my friends.” The last part was partially a threat.

 

“How many of them know about us?”

 

“Just these few. And Kagome's family.” Inuyasha looked sternly at Fenn, in case he was getting ideas. “And anybody else I feel like telling.” It was going to be interesting, being Lord in these times. It wasn't only the humans he had to protect now. “I wouldn't tell anyone I didn't trust,” he added.

 

They all shared the take-out. Peter predictably grilled Fenn on his abilities, which disturbed the youkai even more. He was not used to dealing with humans who knew what he really was.

 

Jen and Noriko had to leave for rehearsal and Peter offered to drive them back. He offered Fenn a ride, too, but the youkai declined. “I have to be getting back,” he said vaguely. “Inuyasha, give me your new number so that I can call you next time. I'll make sure the others get the new number, too.”

 

Everybody had to see Inuyasha's new cell phone and make sure their numbers were programmed into it also. Then they took a picture using the cell phone, and showed Inuyasha how he could use it for his screensaver. The picture was grainy and small, but Fenn and Inuyasha definitely had an otherworldly look compared to the humans.

 

Later that night, as Inuyasha and Kagome lay in bed, Kagome suddenly sat upright, startling Inuyasha into wakefulness. “I just thought of something,” she told him. She reached over and began tugging his neckace off.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked her, as he put his hands on the neckace too to hold it in place.

 

“I had an idea,” she said, still holding on to the necklace. “This necklace restrains your spirit, right?”

 

“I guess.”

 

“Well, if we remove it, maybe then you can transform into spirit form.”

 

“I don't know. I wasn't able to do it before I had the necklace.”

 

“How do you know? Did you ever try?”

 

Inuyasha hadn't tried because he believed hanyou were unable to attain pure spirit form like a real youkai. And he had gained a lot of power since he acquired Tetsusaiga, since he had known Kagome, really. Maybe there was something to it. Slowly he took his hands off the necklace and let Kagome remove it from around his neck. It felt funny not having it there.

 

“Ok, now try,” she said.

 

Inuyasha felt silly. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

 

“Just think about transforming.”

 

“All right.” Inuyasha closed his eyes. Transform, transform. He opened his eyes. “It isn't working.”

 

“Maybe you have to be in the right frame of mind,” sighed Kagome. “Oh well.” She snuggled closer to Inuyasha. As he drifted off to sleep, Inuyasha wondered what it would feel like to be a form of pure energy. Would he still have all his senses? A little disappointed, he thought sleepily that he needed to get his necklace back from Kagome in the morning.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome propped herself up on her elbows and stared down at Inuyasha's sparkling form. She felt tingly herself from her proximity to him. “It worked!”