InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Here Comes Santa Claws ❯ A Grown-up Christmas Wish ( Chapter 1 )

Hi all! Here is a neat little story that popped into my head. Wish I'd thought of it earlier, though. I don't think I will get it finished before Christmas. If you want a traditional Christmas story with a jolly fat man in a red suit, then this is not the story for you. Let me know what you think! And, as always... Enjoy!

 

HERE COMES SANTA CLAWS

 

Chapter 1: A Grown-up Christmas Wish

 

A dark-haired teenage girl leaned out of her bedroom window, watching the sky as it slowly darkened. It was cold and snow lay in dirty piles here and there. As the sky deepened from blue to black, the girl's watchfulness was finally rewarded.

 

“There it is, Buyo!” She pointed at the night sky. “The first star.” Buyo, a large, somewhat chubby cat, meowed at her from his cozy spot in the middle of her comforter.

 

The girl ignored her lazy cat. She clasped her hands at her chest. “Star light. Star bright. First star I see to night. I wish I may. I wish I might. Have the wish I wish tonight.”

 

With a heavy sigh, she turned away from the window and walked over to her bed. She sat on the edge. Buyo blinked at her and maneuvered his bulk until he could nudge her hand with his nose. Absently, she obliged by scratching the obese cat behind the ears.

 

“What's the use, Buyo?” she said to the contentedly purring cat. “Wishes don't come true. Even when wished upon a star.” She smiled at the cat. “But you don't care about that, do you? Not as long as there is somebody to scratch your ears and fill your food bowl.

 

The loud thumping of feet out in the hall gave her just a moment's warning before the door burst inwards.

 

“Hey, Kagome!” a cheerful, dark-haired little boy shouted. “It's time to hang the stockings. Santa's coming tonight. You won't get any neat stuff in your stocking if you don't hang it up.”

 

“Souta!” Kagome pushed Buyo away and stood up. “How many times have I told you to knock? You don't just come barging in!”

 

Souta grinned, unrepentant. “Sorry, sis. But you better hurry or Grandpa will try to put one of his special medicines in your hot chocolate again. If you drink it you'll either get a boyfriend or grow a mustache.” Laughing, Souta ran out the door just as Kagome grabbed the nearest pillow to throw at him.

 

With a sigh, Kagome dropped the pillow and followed her brother down the stairs. Mama was standing next to the six-foot tall Christmas tree, adjusting the bows and silver bells. Grandpa was standing uncomfortably close to the tray of steaming hot chocolate, and looking entirely too innocent for Kagome's peace of mind.

 

Mama looked up at the sound of her daughter entering the room. “Kagome,” she said. “You're just in time. We were just about to hang the stockings.”

 

“Do we have to do this every year, Mama?” Kagome asked. “I'm fifteen now. I'm too old for this.”

 

“It's tradition, Kagome,” Grandpa said reprovingly. “Tradition is always important.”

 

“We have to, sis,” Souta said. “This way, Santa will know that we've been good and that we appreciate him. And he'll leave us lots of presents!”

 

“All right.”

 

Kagome only listened with half an ear to her brother's chatter as he removed his bright red stocking with the furry white trim from its special box. Souta smoothed the fabric, touching the reindeer and snowmen that had been sewn onto it. He traced the bright green letters of his name.

 

Kagome sighed, wishing she could just go back to her room. Christmas just reminded her of how alone she was. Eri and Yuka each had boyfriends that they had been seeing since the beginning of the school year. Yuka was even going to be allowed to spend part of Christmas day at his house, seeing that their families knew each other well and had been friends for years. Even shy, gentle Ayumi had started accepting dates from a cute boy last week.

 

Kagome sighed again. She was doomed. Boys would start to show an interest, and then would inexplicably back off. Her friends assured her that it wasn't her. It was the weird stories surrounding the shrine where she lived with her family. As if anything strange had ever happened to her or anyone else! Except for Papa...

 

“Hey, Kagome!” Souta's voice broke into her gloomy thoughts.

 

Startled, she snapped, “What?”

 

Souta pouted. “It's your turn, Kagome. Hang up your stocking and make your Christmas wish.”

 

“That is the silliest—“

 

Mama shook her head and Kagome stopped. Her little brother still believed in Christmas wishes and reindeer that could fly. He even believed in Santa Claus. Mama had made it plain to her that she was not to say anything that would damage Souta's belief.

 

Yeah, Kagome thought furiously. If there were such things as a Santa Claus and Christmas wishes, then Papa would still be here.

 

She grabbed her stocking from the box, trying not to look at the only one left. “Papa” was stitched across it. Mama refused to get rid of it. She said that it belonged to Christmas memories and should remain with the other memories of Christmases past and present.

 

“Did you make your wish?” Souta demanded.

 

Kagome gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. She meant to only pretend, but found herself thinking about her wish earlier in the evening. I wish I could find someone special.

 

Mama stepped forward and gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. “That's my girl. I'm proud of you for keeping your promise.” Kagome opened her eyes and gave Mama a weak smile.

 

“Who wants hot chocolate?” Grandpa asked, picking up one of the mugs.

 

“Hot chocolate!” Souta squealed.

 

When it was her turn, Kagome took her mug with a suspicious sniff. “You didn't add anything `special' to this, did you, Grandpa?”

 

Grandpa looked shocked. “What? My own granddaughter doesn't trust me! What is the world coming to? To think that I would stoop to something that sneaky.”

 

“Yes, you would,” Kagome said dryly.

 

Grandpa harrumphed and took a sip of his drink. He glanced over to see Kagome still watching him, her hot chocolate untouched. “I didn't do anything.”

 

Kagome took a cautious sip, pleased with the chocolaty taste. There was no hint of the unusual ingredients her grandfather was prone to adding.

 

“Ungrateful girl,” he muttered. “And after everything I do for you. If you'd just listen to me, you wouldn't have any of these silly relationship problems.”

 

“That's enough, Grandpa,” Mama chided gently. “Kagome is only fifteen. There's plenty of time for her to find a boyfriend. Besides, this way she has more time to devote to her studies.”

 

“My beautiful young granddaughter should be out with boys and girls her own age,” he stated. “Not hanging around the shrine all the time, or mewed up in her room with a stack of schoolbooks. She needs more friends!”

 

“Kagome has friends,” Souta piped up.

 

“Yes, she does, dear,” Mama said. “But Grandpa means other kinds of friends.”

 

“That's right,” Grandpa said. “A fine young man who's not afraid of hard work. Someone to pass on the history of the shrine. Who listens.” He looked hard in Souta's direction. “Unlike certain people.”

 

“Aw, Grandpa. History's boring. If I'm not in school, I don't see why I have to learn.”

 

Kagome raised her mug to her mouth again, only to discover it was empty. Maybe she'd go to bed. Nobody was paying attention to her, even if she was the topic of conversation.

 

“I'm going to bed,” she announced. Mama smiled vaguely in her direction. Souta and Grandpa continued arguing about the usefulness of learning outside of school. They didn't even look up. “Good night.”

 

Once in her room, Kagome carefully shut her door. The low buzz of voices faded completely. Buyo looked up, not having moved from his spot in the middle of her bed. He yawned, curling his pink tongue and stretching out his toes.

 

Kagome walked over to her window. Clouds had filled the sky while she was downstairs, closing off the stars completely. “Looks like snow. Souta will be happy.” She stretched before going to the bed and climbing under the covers. Buyo protested, but eventually resituated himself on the sheet next to her head.

 

Her eyes grew heavy. Kagome rolled over, burying her face in the pillow. Her gentle snores soon joined those of the cat.

 

^**^

 

A blanket of calm settled over the sleeping city. All but the most foolish of souls had found someplace warm to hole up. The brief snowstorm had passed and stars once more pricked the night sky.

 

Briefly, a darker shadow blotted out a portion of stars near the Higurashi house. It sailed through the air, touching down on the roof. Hissing and a cloud of steam rose up as the snow abruptly melted. Two figures climbed off of the first one.

 

“Nice landing, Kirara,” the larger of the shadowy figures whispered. “Wait here. We won't be long.”

 

The smallest figure leaped to the other one's shoulder. “There's no chimney, Inuyasha. You'll have to phase directly through the roof.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. Moonlight glinted off pure white hair and sharp fangs as the older boy grinned. “There's no need to waste magic phasing through the roof, Shippou. Not when there's a window nearby.”

 

“A window?!” Shippou squeaked. “Are you crazy, Inuyasha? What if somebody sees you?” His bushy tail bristled with anxiety.

 

“You worry too much.” The white-haired boy plucked the smaller one off of his shoulder and placed him in the snow next to the large cat with flames licking around her paws. “The old hag is always lecturing me about wasting magic. So I'll find another way in. Maybe then she'll leave me in peace for a few weeks.”

 

Inuyasha crept silently to the edge of the roof. Anybody looking at him might have seen the two fuzzy white ears twitching on top of his head. They swiveled constantly as he listened for danger.

 

“What luck,” Inuyasha said, remembering to keep his voice down. “There's a window right here.”

 

Carefully, he grabbed hold of the roof and swung his body over the edge, grunting as his muscles quivered with the strain. It would have been easier to just drop and grab for the windowsill, but then somebody might hear him.

 

The sill was just wide enough that he was able to balance. The window was closed. Some experimental fiddling revealed that it wasn't locked. He slid it open, wincing at the slight squeak.

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

He looked up to see Shippou peering at him anxiously from the roof. With a grin that showed his fangs, he gave the small fox a thumb's up signal.

 

He was unprepared for the sudden weight as Shippou landed on his shoulder. His claws sank into the wood on either side of the window as he struggled to keep his balance. Bracing himself, he pushed and rolled into the room.

 

Scowling, he picked up the fox by the tail. “What did you think you were doing?” he hissed. “We both could have fallen.”

 

Shippou glared at him as best he could while being held upside down. “I wanted to help. That's what I'm supposed to be doing.”

 

“All right.” Inuyasha dropped Shippou to the floor. “Just be quiet. We don't want to wake anybody.”

 

“What room are we in, anyway?” Shippou asked.

 

A soft meow answered him. Startled, Shippou looked around for the source of the sound. He saw two faintly curious eyes peering at him from next to a mound of blankets. Nose twitching, he ventured forward a couple of steps. The rules didn't say anything about not revealing oneself to animals. A darker shadow spilled across the pillow next to the obese feline.

 

Suddenly, the mound sighed and rolled over. Shippou sprang backwards about a foot, mouth open and ready to yell about monsters. Inuyasha clamped a hand over his mouth.

 

“Of all the fucking luck!” Inuyasha glared at the bed. “We came into a bedroom! A girl's bedroom!”

 

Now that his heart had calmed down, Shippou wiggled out of Inuyasha's hold. Wide-eyed, he gazed around at what he had ignored before. Dresser, desk, pink rug, bed. Definitely a bedroom.

 

“She's not so bad,” Shippou commented. “She looks kind of cute.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “That's because she's sleeping. Now be quiet. We don't want to wake her.”

 

At that moment, the girl began to move restlessly and mutter unintelligible phrases.

 

Shippou jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder. “What do we do? She's waking up! Inuyasha!”

 

“I'm thinking,” Inuyasha snapped, eyes never leaving the restless form.

 

^**^

 

What do you think?

 

Food for Thought: If everything seems to be coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane.