InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Here Comes Santa Claws ❯ Problems in Toyland ( Chapter 2 )

I am so glad that people are enjoying the story so far. Your reviews make me happy.

 

I want to thank EmeraldDragon, my beta reader. She helps me keep the plot holes small.

 

Enjoy the chapter!

 

HERE COMES SANTA CLAWS

 

Chapter 2: Problems in Toyland

 

“Do something,” Shippou squeaked. “If she sees us, we'll be in so much trouble!”

 

“You think I don't know that,” Inuyasha snapped. He reached inside his old-fashioned red jacket and pulled out a small pouch. Carefully, he took a pinch of silver glittery dust and blew it in the girl's direction, muttering strange words.

 

The dust settled in a cloud over the girl, before seeming to disappear into her skin. She sighed one last time and slipped into a deeper slumber.

 

“Whew!” Shippou drew his hand across his forehead in an exaggerated fashion. “That was close.”

 

“Feh.” Inuyasha snorted and slipped the bag back inside his jacket. “Told ya I knew what I was doing. Come on. We've got work to do.”

 

The cat, which had been unaffected by the dust, snuggled a bit more into the blankets and went back to sleep.

 

Inuyasha opened the door and led the way along the hall and down the stairs, trusting to natural abilities to help him avoid detection. At least this place didn't have dogs. Just the unimpressive overweight feline. He shuddered. Nasty things. Dogs. They either wanted to guard everything, or thought he was there to play.

 

They made it downstairs and into the room where the tree lurked, silent and waiting. Inuyasha sneezed.

 

“Stupid Christmas incense,” he grumbled. “Stupid fake snow. Why people insist on bringing the outdoors indoors I'll never understand.”

 

Shippou scampered onto the back of a nearby chair. “Ooooh. Pretty. Look at all the sparkly balls, Inuyasha.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. Very Christmasy. We don't have time to be admiring the decorations, runt. We have a schedule to keep. Do you have the list?”

 

“This is the last house,” Shippou protested. He fumbled around in his pockets until finally extracting the much-folded piece of paper.

 

“All the more reason to get this over with so we can get home.” Inuyasha unfolded the paper and peered at the unchecked names. “The old man and the woman are nice. Souta Higurashi. Not above boyish pranks, mostly harmless. He's nice. Kagome Higurashi. Must be that girl who's bedroom we were in. Hmmm. Looks like even she made the nice list.” Inuyasha peered closer at the last name. “Looks like there's a star next to her name. Wonder what that means?”

 

He looked at the stockings again. “I don't believe this! They even put up a fucking stocking for the fucking cat! All he wishes for are food, uninterrupted naps, and more food!”

 

Shippou scrambled around under the tree, checking out the presents. He emerged, holding a small box. “Look at this one, Inuyasha. I wonder what it is.” He gave it a shake. Something tinkled inside.

 

Shippou's eyes grew wide. “I didn't do it!” Quickly, he shoved the box under a pile of other presents.

 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Come here before you cause anymore damage.” Shippou scampered up to sit on Inuyasha's shoulder.

 

“All right.” Inuyasha shook back his sleeves and removed the small bag from its hiding place. “Let's make some magic!”

 

He sprinkled a small portion of silver dust on each stocking, muttering slightly different words than he had used before. The stockings glowed briefly and obligingly filled themselves with a selection of toys and treats.

 

A frown of concentration furrowing his brow, he turned immediately to the tree. With another generous sprinkling of dust, new presents added themselves to the other ones under the tree.

 

Thanks to the magic of the dust, adults and other nonbelievers would “remember” purchasing the surprise presents themselves. The children, of course, would know the truth. Children always knew more than their elders gave them credit for.

 

Inuyasha sighed, the look of strain sliding away to be replaced with one of weariness. “All done, fox. Let's go home.”

 

Shippou nodded agreement as his companion headed for the stairs. He quickly became alarmed at the direction they were heading.

 

“What are you doing, Inuyasha?” he squeaked. “Shouldn't we just phase out the door?”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “I'm completely wiped. Don't have enough concentration left to light a candle, much less phase through solid wood. This way will be quicker and easier, trust me.”

 

Shippou stayed silent, his tail fluffed with unease. Inuyasha automatically entered the girl's bedroom. It would just waste time, trying to find an unoccupied room with access to the outside. Luckily, the girl still slept.

 

Inuyasha spared Kagome a brief glance, mostly to make sure she was truly sleeping. Snores reached his ears, which he flattened to block out some of the noise. Shippou was still quiet, which was good as far as Inuyasha was concerned. Normally, the little chatterbox never shut up.

 

Inuyasha had taken two strides into the room when the girl made a horrendous noise. She rolled over and her eyes opened. Inuyasha froze while she blinked sleepily.

 

He was trying to decide if he could reach the window before she noticed him when he saw her eyes abruptly focus. There was no doubt that she saw him. Her eyes went wide and she jerked upright in the bed.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“You don't see us,” Inuyasha told her sternly, trying to sound like he was in command of the situation. “We don't exist. We're just figments of your imagination.”

 

“I am not imagining things,” Kagome said, her voice rising. “You'd better explain yourselves before I scream.”

 

Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't have to explain nothing, bitch.”

 

“Not smart, Inuyasha,” whispered Shippou. He peered at the girl from his perch on Inuyasha's shoulder, and smiled in a friendly way. “We won't hurt you. We're just passing through.”

 

Kagome did not look reassured. “That thing on your shoulder talks?” Shippou was insulted.

 

“The runt's right,” Inuyasha said. “We won't hurt you. Just don't scream.”

 

“Don't tell me what to do!” Kagome flared. “I can scream if I want to.” And she drew breath as if determined to prove it.

 

Inuyasha reacted instantly. He sprang before Kagome could do more than open her mouth. A light tap in the right place and she was out like a light.

 

He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, face down. Using his powerful legs, he leaped to the windowsill. From there he scrambled up to the roof where Kirara was patiently waiting.

 

Shippou picked himself up from where he had tumbled when Inuyasha moved. With one last glance at the bedroom and the surprised feline still curled up on the bed, he climbed out the window himself.

 

“What do you think you are doing?” Shippou demanded once he reached the roof. “Couldn't you have just put her back to sleep? She probably would have convinced herself that it was all a dream by morning.”

 

Inuyasha looked up from studying the girl, who was now lying on the melted snow at the firecat's feet. “I told you,” he said furiously. “I'm completely wiped. At least magically.” He sighed. “We'll have to take her home. The old hag can modify her memories and we'll bring her back before anybody knows she's missing.”

 

Shippou frowned thoughtfully. “There seems to be something wrong with that logic somehow.”

 

“Then you try to think of a better idea,” Inuyasha snapped. “Help me get her onto Kirara.”

 

Being asleep, it soon became obvious that Kagome was not going to be able to keep herself on the firecat. After a bit of thought, Inuyasha ended up sitting the girl in front of him with an arm around her waist.

 

Shippou climbed onto Kirara's head, turning to check that the girl was still asleep. Worry shone in his eyes, and his tail was puffed out to twice its normal size.

 

“Let's go home, Kirara,” Inuyasha said to the firecat. Kirara rumbled a reply and leaped into the air. Automatically, Inuyasha tightened his arm around Kagome. He sneezed as her hair blew back, tickling his nose.

 

Moments later, the sky was clear. Nothing showed that anything unusual had occurred except a curiously clear spot on the roof where the snow had melted.

 

^**^

 

Inuyasha relaxed as they passed the magical barrier. It was good to be home. He shifted the girl's weight in his arms. She sighed and drooled a little. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose.

 

Snow-furred trees passed beneath the firecat's paws. They were clustered so thickly together that the ground couldn't be seen. Inuyasha kept his eyes trained on the trees, searching for the place he thought of as home.

 

“There!” Shippou bounced excitedly on Kirara's head. She grumbled in a resigned sort of way and kept going.

 

Inuyasha didn't need Shippou's excited shout to know that they had reached their destination. He had already seen the break in the trees and signaled to Kirara that it was time to land.

 

In the middle of the large clearing, huddled a handful of what could only be described as `huts.' They weren't fancy gingerbread mansions or candy cottages—just simple dwellings made of wood with roofs of simple wooden shingles. Most were small, looking barely big enough for two or three people. The largest hut sat in the middle of all the others like a fat hen surrounded by all of her chicks.

 

Inuyasha knew that the size of the huts was deceptive. Anybody stumbling upon them by accident wouldn't think that they were anything special. The inside was much, much larger than the outside would give anyone reason to believe. He didn't understand how it had been done yet, but, before his training was complete, he would be able to duplicate the effect with ease.

 

Kirara touched down lightly in front of the largest structure. She rumbled contentedly in her throat and turned her head in the direction of the figures hurrying in their direction.

 

“Hey, guys!” Shippou waved wildly. “We're back! And you're not going to believe what happened to us!”

 

“How did it go, Inuyasha?” the first to reach them, a young man slightly older than Inuyasha, asked. He was dressed in the ancient robes of some kind of priestly order. His dark hair was tied back into a small ponytail, and he carried a large staff in one hand. “What kept you? We expected you home hours ago.”

 

“We ran into a small problem.” Inuyasha grunted and swung his leg over the firecat's back. It was hard to slide to the ground while holding an unconscious girl in his arms. “But everything's taken care of for another year.”

 

The priest spotted the unconscious girl and shook his head, a mock scowl on his face. “You're supposed to leave gifts for others, Inuyasha, not bring home souvenirs.”

 

The second person, a young woman, scratched the happy firecat behind the ears and peered at Inuyasha. She gasped. “What happened? Why did you bring a girl here?”

 

The young priest's smirk turned lecherous. “I knew Inuyasha was spending too much time in the homes of pretty girls. Sooner or later he'd bring one home.” He peered more closely at the sleeping girl. “She's cute. You have great taste.”

 

Inuyasha blushed. “It's not like that, Miroku! She woke up and saw me when we were leaving. I didn't have enough energy to modify her memory, so I brought her here. The old hag can fix it.”

 

“Was that wise?” the young woman asked. “Kaede's not going to like this.” She wore an old-style kimono, and her dark hair was tied back loosely with a ribbon. Kirara shook her head and instantly shrank until she was a quarter of her former size. With a mew, she leapt into the young woman's arms.

 

“I didn't have a choice, Sango,” Inuyasha protested. “Let's put her someplace warm, and we can deal with this later.”

 

“Deal with what?” An old woman appeared from out of the gloom. “'Tis good to see you have returned safely, Inuyasha.” She caught sight of the girl and sighed. “What have you done now?”

 

“Inuyasha crawled through her bedroom window,” Shippou piped up. “She almost woke up, but he put her back to sleep. When we were done, she did wake up and she almost screamed. He decided to bring her here and have you modify her memories, Kaede.” The small fox finished his hurried summary of the night's events. He glared disapprovingly at his companion. “I told him it wasn't a good idea.”

 

Kaede sighed. “Bring her inside.”

 

They trooped into the big house after Kaede. Curious eyes followed them as they entered, but nobody stopped or questioned them. She led them into a small room with a bed and a nightstand and nothing else. It was only used when somebody wasn't feeling well or just wanted a nap.

 

Inuyasha laid Kagome carefully on the bed, ignoring Miroku's suggestive comments. A thump and an “ow” told him that Sango had most likely hit the perverted priest. Shippou hopped onto the bed next to Kagome.

 

“Still asleep,” he announced. “Are you going to modify her memory now, Kaede?”

 

Kaede looked unusually grim. “We need to talk,” she said. “There's a problem. Kagome has already had a spell cast on her once tonight. One that should have guaranteed that she would sleep until morning. It is obvious, if you had studied the list like you were supposed to, that Kagome is one of those people resistant to magical suggestion. That she was able to wake so soon after the first spell was cast speaks well for her potential.”

 

Miroku looked thoughtful and Sango nodded in sudden understanding. Inuyasha just looked confused and irritable.

 

“What is that supposed to mean, old hag?” he demanded.

 

“It means, Inuyasha, that I won't be able to completely modify her memory. She might have convinced herself that it was all a dream, but now we'll never know. And the magic is thinning now that the night is nearly over.”

 

“What can we do?” Shippou wailed, twitching his tail in agitation. “She seems like such a nice girl, too. Nothing bad's going to happen to her, right?”

 

Kaede patted Shippou on the head. “Nothing bad will happen, Shippou. Don't worry. But until the magic is strong again, we can't afford to let her leave.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Inuyasha said.

 

“She's staying, Inuyasha. Until the next Christmas. And since you brought her here, she's your responsibility.”

 

 

Food for Thought: Remember when “enter” was a sign on a door and not a button on a computer?