InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I'm Sorry ❯ Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own, didn't create, but I sure do love it.

Author's Note: I had some problems with my settings, so I wasn't receiving any reviews. Hopefully, any and all, signed and unsigned reviews will come through now.

Sirei: Yes, I have taken some of the ideas in “Present Time” as inspiration. Since nothing hurts more than to get `almost' to the end of a story, and then be left hanging, I decided to write my own. It's NOT the same world…at all: but I did like some of her ideas, very much.

 

Chapter 6

 

The next morning, Kagome was awakened by the ringing of the alarm clock on the table next to her bed. Rolling out of her bed, she shook her head as she studied the remains of her alarm clock, which she had apparently just thrown at the wall.

 

“Gah. I can't believe I did that. Oh, well, I guess I'll have to pick up another one this afternoon,” she muttered as she got dressed in her school uniform for the first time in almost two weeks. Running a brush through her hair, she tied it back away from her face and headed out the door towards the kitchen.

 

Pausing outside Inuyasha's door, she started to knock when she realized that he was already downstairs in the kitchen. Shrugging, she continued on down to breakfast. As she walked into the kitchen she saw her mother making breakfast and Inuyasha and Sota sitting at the table talking together, or rather, Sota was talking, and Inuyasha was listening, with a glazed look in his eyes, to Sota's description of the intricacies of Pokemon and YuGiOh. Carefully resisting the urge to laugh, she sat down next to Inuyasha and interrupted Sota's excited chatter by asking Inuyasha if he had slept well. At his look of relief for the interruption, she smiled and started asking Sota what he had been doing while she was gone.

 

After about ten minutes of listening to Sota skillfully mimicking some of the latest visitors to the Sunset Shrine, both Kagome and Inuyasha were smiling and chuckling as they began eating their breakfast. Just as they finished eating, Jii-chan came in and sat down, eyeing the half-demon suspiciously and abruptly asked, “Just how long do you plan on staying this time, demon?”

 

Watching Inuyasha's ears flatten down, then spring back up, Kagome held back a sigh, but spoke up, “Grandpa, I invited Inuyasha to stay. Mama said it was okay, and he's staying until I'm ready to go back to the Sengoku Jidai, all right? Could you please at least try to be polite to him? Please?” She looked straight at her grandfather until he finally nodded his agreement, at which she point she relaxed and rewarded him with her brightest smile.

 

Watching her, Inuyasha kept his face expressionless only with the greatest of effort, the shock of watching Kagome actually standing up to her grandfather! for him…a hanyou…was staggering. Even after all the time they had spent together, he could hardly believe what he had just seen. It wasn't the first time she had defended him to other humans; it seemed like she did it every time they entered a new village or town; someone would make some stupid comment about filthy demons corrupting pure humans—and then Kagome would cut them to pieces with just a look, or even a few words about stupidity being no excuse for bad manners, and they would stammer and fidget until either they left or apologized for offending her. But still…this was her family!

 

After breakfast was finished, Sota and Kagome grabbed their school bags and left for school. Mrs. Higurashi cleared away the breakfast dishes and Jii-chan left to attend to his shrine duties. After a few minutes, Inuyasha spoke up.

 

“Kagome's mother, I'm going back through the well this morning; I want to get something before we go to the `mall' after lunch. If I'm late, don't let Kagome leave before I get back, okay?”

 

Startled, she looked over at the hanyou sitting at the table. “Of course, I'll let her know as soon as she comes home from school. Do you think you will be very long, if you do, I can drive the two of you to the mall after dinner tonight,” she offered.

 

Shaking his head, Inuyasha said, “No, I should be back in plenty of time, before she comes back from school. It's just in case I'm delayed, that's all.”

 

“Alright, then. You can try on your modern clothes when you return,” she said, pointing a stack of neatly folded clothes on top of the dryer.

 

“Keh,” was his only response as he left the kitchen, closing the door behind him as he left.

 

Loping over to the Well, he slid the doors open, entered, closed them again and leaped into the well and let the violet light carry him 500 years into the past.

 

Landing at the bottom of the well, he jumped easily up onto the forest floor. Pausing a moment to test the air for any dangerous or unknown scents, he leapt into the tree tops and headed into the hills on the far side of his forest as fast as he could travel.

 

After about an hour at his top speed, he was in a section of very rugged hills and ravines that was far from any human or youkai habitation. Choosing his path with great care, Inuyasha bounded from boulder top to boulder top, making sure to leave no visible traces of his passage. At last he stopped in front of a large, disk shaped boulder.

 

Looking around and testing the air carefully before he did anything else, Inuyasha finally grabbed the edge of the rock and pulled it away from a small opening in the side of the hill. With one last look around, he bent down and entered the hole.

 

Scurrying down the low tunnel for about 10 feet, he at last stood up inside a small cave. The cave was illuminated by 4 small glowing blue stones set into the walls of the cave. The cave was only about 8 or 9 feet across and maybe twice that in length. It was furnished with a dusty futon, a couple of sitting cushions and a small table. Next to the table was a large wooden chest.

 

Opening the chest, Inuyasha stared down at the few things that he had ever owned. Ignoring the scrolls and toys that had been given to him when he was just a pup, he picked up a small, lacquered box and took it back to one of the cushions where he sat down and opened the box.

 

Looking at the contents for a few moments, he finally pulled out a gold necklace, set with different colored stones, a pair of matching earrings and 3 rings. As he was closing the box, he changed his mind and grabbed a long strand of white pearls as well. Putting the box back in the wooden chest, he stripped the silk cover from one of the scrolls, and put the jewelry he had chosen into the now empty bag, tied it closed and stuffed it inside his haori for safe keeping.

 

Taking a small pouch from the table, Inuyasha left the cave, exited the tunnel, and covered it over with the large rock. Once he was finished, he opened the pouch, pulled out a pinch of powder and scattered it over the boulder. As the powder settled, the boulder and the surrounding dirt shimmered and then settled down, leaving no sign that they had ever been disturbed.

 

Carefully backtracking away from his cave, he scattered the powder whenever he needed to eliminate any evidence of his passage. Finally, at the edge of the rough hills, he put the pouch away inside his haori and headed back to the Bone-Eater's Well, and the girl he had left waiting 500 years in the future.

 

Arriving at the Well, Inuyasha saw, to his irritation, that Shippo was sitting on edge. Waiting.

 

Inuyasha landed right next to him without any warning and the little kitsune jumped up into the air and squeaked, “Eeep!” Landing on the ground, he shouted, “Where were you!? Where's Kagome!?”

 

“Oww! Stop shouting, you little…” grabbing Shippo by his tail, Inuyasha started to bop him on the head, but stopped himself and dropped Shippo to the ground instead. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly and answered almost calmly, “I had to go and get some things to use in Kagome's time, and Kagome is at her school right now.”

 

“Well, when is she coming back, you big jerk? You better not make her mad!” Shippo said, still upset from his unexpected arrival.

 

Grinding his teeth, Inuyasha remembered the things Kagome and he had been talking about and held on to his temper, “I'm not going to make her mad. I'm going back to help her. Remember? She asked me to help her with some things?”

 

“Oh. Yeah, I forgot.” Looking up at the older hanyou, he frowned at him, “Are you okay? Why did you come back, then?”

 

His pulse starting to pound, Inuyasha said, “I just told you why I came back! Don't you even listen to the answers to your own questions!?” Placing a hand on the side of the Well, he prepared to leap down when Shippo hesitantly said, “I'm sorry. I just miss her.”

 

Turning his head to look at the little kitsune, Inuyasha sighed at the sad look on his face, and said, “I know. I'll tell her that I saw you and that you're missing her, but she's got things she has to take care of back in her time, too. She can't be here all the time, no matter what we want, okay? Don't worry, I'll bring her back soon.” With that he leapt down into the Well.

 

Walking from the Well to the house, Inuyasha noticed a small group of people entering the main shrine. After watching them for a moment, he shrugged and went on in to the house. In the kitchen, Mrs. Higurashi was getting ready to leave, her coat on and keys in her hand. Looking surprised at his return, she simply asked, “Back so soon? I hope you were able to find what you needed alright?”

 

He nodded and said, “Yeah, I got what I needed, but I, um…” pausing, not knowing how to ask for her help, he tried again. “Um, Kagome told me once that the money we use in the Sengoku Jidai doesn't work here, so I brought some things that I thought, maybe she could use them instead, or maybe she could sell them or something. Here.” Blushing as he spoke, he ducked his head and handed her the bag that he had fetched from his cave.

 

Puzzled, she turned the bag over in her hands a few times, before she opened it and emptied it out onto the kitchen table. Gasping, she said, “Oh my! These are beautiful. Wherever did you get them?” Sorting them out on the table, she looked up to see that Inuyasha's face was still covered by his bangs.

 

“They belonged to my mother. They were a part of her dowry. After she died, they came to me.”

 

“I see. What is it you want me to do with them?” she asked.

 

He shrugged uncomfortably, then said, “I hoped that, maybe, you could use these instead of Kagome taking her money out of her,” he frowned, trying to remember, “…bank account? Is that right? Bank account?”

 

“Yes, it's called a bank account. But why do you want to sell your mothers jewelry? It must mean a lot to you,” she said, trying to understand what he was getting at.

 

“Not really, she didn't like to wear jewelry very much. Besides, it's my responsibility to provide, not Kagome's, even in this time.” He shook his head as she opened her mouth to respond, “Please, just use them, okay.” With that, he whirled and headed up the stairs in a blur of red and silver.

 

Confused by the whole conversation, she sighed, separated the necklace and matching earrings, returned the rest of the jewelry to the silk bag, and dropped it into a drawer next to the sink. Taking a zip lock bag from a box in the same drawer, she placed the jewelry set inside, and put it in her purse.

 

Leaving the house, she went around to the back of the shrine, got into her car and drove off to take care of her morning errands.

 

Reaching his room, Inuyasha closed the door and dropped down onto the futon and closed his eyes, trying to relax from the stress of being out of his own time and then asking Kagome's mother for help.

 

A few minutes later, he sighed and opened his eyes and sat up. Across the room on the table was the pile of folded cloths that Kagome had picked out for him to wear today. Making a face, he walked over to the table and looked at the strange clothing. Sighing, he gave in to the inevitable, and started undressing.

 

After about 30 minutes of trial and error, which thankfully, no one else was there to witness, he was finally dressed in modern clothing. Putting on the sandals was probably the worst part, since he hadn't worn anything on his feet since before his mother had died. Grabbing the black hat from the table, he put it on the way he had seen Sota wear one, making sure that it covered his ears, and went downstairs to wait for Kagome to get back from school.

 

After about 15 minutes of fidgeting in the living room, he finally gave up and went outside to wait for Kagome.

 

Walking over to the Go-Shim-Boku, he prepared to leap into the branches when he noticed the same people he had seen entering the shrine earlier, standing outside the shrine door, watching him. He stared back at them until the old man came out of the shrine doors, noticed what they were doing, and said something that had them all nodding happily as they headed for the steps leading down to the street.

 

After they had left, he jumped up to his favorite perch and settled down to wait for Kagome's return.

 

************

 

That morning, for Kagome, going back to school was especially difficult. In addition to turning in all of her completed assignments, arranging to take 2 makeup tests, and trying to follow along with her class covering new material; she was having second (or third) thoughts about taking Inuyasha shopping at the mall—the potential for disaster was mind boggling.

 

In the end, she managed to get through her school day without any major headaches, other than the one she knew she was going get when she tried to convince Inuyasha to let her stay until Tuesday, so that she could take both of the retests AND a new biology test, which was on material she hadn't even seen yet!

 

As she left school, her friends, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi joined her. As they caught up, Eri asked, “Would you like to stop for some lunch? We could have Wacdonalds or MosBurger.”

 

Kagome looked over and shook her head sadly, “I'm sorry, I need to go straight home for lunch. I have to go out this afternoon to pick up some things for my mom, so I can't today.”

 

“Oh, that's too bad, it's been a long time since we've seen you except at school,” Yuka said. Ayumi, who had been looking back over her shoulder, turned around and said excitedly, “Kagome, there's Hojo, why don't you see if he could go with you to do your mom's errands. He'd love to help you carry stuff!”

 

“What!? Ayumi, don't you dare call him over here!” The thought of her bringing Hojo home, and telling Inuyasha that `Gee, I changed my mind, Hojo is going to the mall with me,' was enough to make her blood run cold. “Hojo is NOT my boyfriend, I don't want him to be my boyfriend, and I really wish you would stop trying to push us together! He's a nice boy, but he's not my type, okay,” she said, hoping that THIS time, they would actually listen to what she was saying, and stop setting her up.

 

“Oh, that's okay, Kagome, I'm sure he wouldn't mind going with you this afternoon,” Yuka added as she looked over to where Hojo was walking.

 

At this, Kagome came to a complete stop, staring at her friends in disbelief. After a few steps, they realized that she was no longer with them, and turned around to see Kagome red-faced with anger, her fists clenched at her sides. Shocked at the sudden change, they watched as she closed her eyes and began breathing slowly and carefully, obviously trying to get herself under control. Finally, she spoke, “Did I just start speaking in some weird, alien language? Didn't I just tell you that I was not interested in him? Have I finally gone mute?”

 

Eri and Yuka exchanged knowing looks and walked back to where Kagome was standing, hooked an arm into each of hers and started back down the sidewalk. Eri spoke first, “Okay, since you obviously don't want to go out with Hojo, who are you interested in? Is it the same one you were seeing before, you know the `jerk', come on, you can tell us?”

 

Yuka followed up with, “Is the he the one who was `two-timing' you? I thought you were going to dump him?”

 

Kagome just sighed at her friends, she really didn't know what to tell them. There was no easy way to explain Inuyasha to them; besides, as long as Kikyo was around, she couldn't really say that he was `her' boyfriend. Finally, she just shook her head and said, “Look, it's complicated and some of it's not mine to tell, so all I can say is that he has good reasons for doing what he does, and that I'm okay with it; I made my choice, and I'll stand by it, no matter what.”

 

At this, her friends didn't know what to say, so after a moment they changed the subject from boys to the latest movies they had seen. Kagome relaxed and enjoyed listening to them, although she didn't have much to add, since she hadn't actually gone to a movie in almost six months. A couple of blocks from the shrine, Ayumi and Yuka turned off to head towards their homes, and Kagome and Eri continued on towards the shrine in silence. As they approached the shrine steps, Eri cleared her throat and asked tentatively, “Um, Kagome, could you at least tell me his name?”

 

Kagome looked at her, not sure what she was talking about, then as she realized that she wanted to know the name of her `boyfriend', she blushed.

 

“I, um, I don't know what you're talking about,” she said, unconvincingly.

 

“Sure, you don't. Come on, what's his name,” she demanded mercilessly. “Why won't tell me his name?” She gasped, and asked, “He's—He's not m-married is he? Oh, sweet Kami! Kagome!”

 

“What!? Of course he's not married! He would never…!” She looked at Eri's expression of horrified concern, and started to giggle. “Okay, okay. I give; his name is Inuyasha, all right. Sheesh, you are something else, girl. Married!” As she started up the steps, two at time, she looked back and called out, “I'll see you on Monday morning, Eri, have a good weekend!”

 

Still laughing at Eri's assumption, she ran towards the house, until she noticed Inuyasha wasn't in the house, but rather over by the Go-Shim-Boku. Turning that way, she looked for him on his favorite branch, but at first didn't notice him, because she was looking for his usual bright red outfit, and the clothes he was wearing tended to blend in to the tree.

 

“Hi, Inuyasha, I'm back. Come on down and I'll make some lunch for us,” she called up to him, when she was under the tree. He looked down at her, then jumped down right next to her. Once he was next to her, Kagome got her first good look at him dressed in modern clothes. He was wearing a dark green polo shirt and dark blue jeans; on his head he was wearing a black baseball hat to cover his ears, and a pair of sandals on his feet. As she stared at him, her eyes traveled up and down his form, slowly taking in every detail. `Wow! Who would have guessed that he would look sooo nice in modern clothes? Oh, my! He looks really, really nice. It's too bad he normally covers it up in that loose outfit.' she thought to herself. After a minute, Inuyasha started to fidget nervously, until he asked, “Is something wrong, I thought I got it on the right way?”

 

`Eeek! I was staring at him! I can't believe I was staring at him!' “No, no! There's nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing. You did everything right. In fact, you did it great! You look just fine, really,” pausing, she looked him up and down again and said, under her breath, “really, really fine.” Turning to go back to the house, she missed the smile that appeared on his face as he heard her talking to herself.

 

When Kagome and Inuyasha came into the kitchen, Mrs. Higurashi was serving lunch to Sota and Jii-chan, with places set for Kagome and Inuyasha as well. Sitting down to soup and stir-fry, they listened to Sota talk about his plans to play on his school's soccer team in the spring, and how he wanted to go over to his friends' house for the afternoon.

 

After everyone had eaten, Sota took off for his friends' house, and Kagome helped her mother with the dishes. Inuyasha wandered off to the living room and started playing with Buyo, holding a piece of string he had found over the cat's head and teasing him. About ten minutes later, Kagome and her mother came in and sat down on the sofa.

 

“Kagome, I went to the bank and withdrew some of your money, as you asked. I also arranged for an ATM card for your account, so if you need more, you can get it for yourself,” her mother explained, as she handed her an envelope filled with yen, as well as an ATM card. “Your PIN is your birth date, month and day, without the year.”

 

“Thank you, mama. This will be great!” She began to get up to get her purse when her mother turned to Inuyasha and said, “Inuyasha, I took the necklace and earrings to a friend of Jii-chan's who owns a jewelry store. He didn't have enough cash on hand to pay for them, so I opened an account at our bank in the name of Higurashi Inuyasha, and he deposited the remainder in the form of a check. Here is your ATM card,” she handed him a card just like the one she had given to Kagome, “and your PIN is the same as Kagome's. This is the portion that he could pay in cash.” She gave Inuyasha another envelope like the one she had given to Kagome, only thicker.

 

He looked at the items that she had just given him with a puzzled look on his face. He looked up and said, “Uh, thank you. Um,” turning to Kagome, he now had a look of almost panic on his face as he said, “Kagome, could you…” he held the envelope and card out to her and silently mouthed, “Help?”

 

Kagome walked back into the room and sat down next to him, while her mother got up and left, saying that she had some other things to take care of.

 

Kagome waited until her mother was out of earshot, then asked, “What did you do while I was at school, Inuyasha? Where did you get any jewelry, and why did you want mama to sell it? You can't use yen back in the Sengoku Jidai, you know. And why did you want a bank account?” she asked, puzzled by all of his actions.

 

He was still looking uncomfortable with the ATM card and envelope of money, so Kagome took them from him and put them in her lap while she waited for him to answer. Finally he said, “I went back through the well after breakfast, and went to my cave and got some of my mother's jewelry. I gave it to your mother and asked if she thought it could be sold for some of your modern money.” He stopped and looked away for a moment, then back at Kagome, “It's not right that you should be using your money to buy all of the modern things that you bring back to us.” He reached out and touched her cheek with his fingers, “You give everything to help us, and you never complain, but enough is enough. I want, no I will help pay for the things we all use.” Kagome started to speak, but he shook his head and continued, “I should be providing for you, Kagome, not you for me,” he grimaced, “I always talk about how I can take care of myself, how I don't need anybody's help, but you know what? Lately, I've been letting you take care of me…you bring your pack, filled with your clothes and books and first aid supplies…and food. You have been feeding all of us for months now. Do you have any idea how much of an idiot I feel like?”

 

Kagome finally broke in, “Inuyasha, it's okay! I don't mind, it's more important that we can keep looking for the jewel shards, and Naraku. It doesn't cost that much to buy ramen and the other stuff, please don't take it like that. I don't mind…”

 

“I mind, damn it! You're absolutely right about Shippo, but you know what? I'm right about this! Okay?” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Continuing in a softer voice, he said, “I do want you to explain how this money stuff works here, and show me how to use that card thingy, but maybe it should wait until later. I think that for now we should just go to this mall thing, okay?”

 

Kagome looked like she wanted to continue the discussion, but she sighed and said “Okay. Let me go up and get my purse and then we can go.” Standing up, she led the way upstairs. She went into her room and Inuyasha went into his. When she came out, he was waiting for her, with a different hat on and on his back was…

 

“Inuyasha! You can't take Tetsusaiga to the mall!” She said, her eyes wide.

 

“What are you talking about, wench? You know I take Tetsusaiga everywhere. Why would I leave it behind today? That's crazy!”

 

“Crazy!? If you take Tetsusaiga with you, the police will arrest you and confiscate the sword!” she said, almost panicked at the thought of Inuyasha fighting the police.

 

“So? Do you honestly think I should leave it here? What if we're attacked at this mall? What then?” he snarled back, his voice rising at the thought of not being able to defend her.

 

“But, you can't…” she started to shout back, when her mother interrupted.

 

“Children! What in the world are you fighting about?”

 

Whirling around, they saw Kagome's mother standing at the top of the stairs, with her hands on her hips, a stern look on her face.

 

Both of them dropped their eyes, and didn't say anything.

 

“Well? You certainly had something to say earlier. Would either of you like to explain it to me? Quietly, if you please,” she said, her stern look easing a bit.

 

Biting her lip, Kagome spoke up “Uh, Inuyasha wants to take Tetsusaiga to the mall with us, and I told him that the police would try to arrest him and take his sword away. And, well, he insists on bringing Tetsusaiga.”

 

Looking at Inuyasha, Mrs. Higurashi asked, “Is that correct, Inuyasha?”

 

Looking stubborn, he nodded, then added “I need to have Tetsusaiga in case we're attacked.”

 

Sighing, she looked back and forth between the stubborn youths. “How about a compromise? We can place Tetsusaiga in a tube and cover it with packing paper. Then you can carry it with you, but no one will realize what it is. And if you are attacked, which I highly doubt, it shouldn't take more than a second for you to take it out and use it. Do you think this work?”

 

Although Inuyasha looked as if he had bitten something sour, he nodded and said, “Feh,” Kagome smiled and replied, “Thanks, mama! That would be just fine, I'll get the paper and stuff right now.”

 

Running down the stairs, she gave her mother a quick hug as she passed, before going down into the kitchen. Inuyasha sighed, and followed her downstairs while Kagome's mother went on to her own room.

 

Ignoring his frown, Kagome stuffed Tetsusaiga into a large cardboard tube, covered it in plain brown paper, using plenty of clear packing tape to make sure it was secured. As a crowning touch, she used a black marker to write Inuyasha's name and address on the paper to make sure that it was obviously his.

 

Once she was finished she handed Inuyasha Tetsusaiga and said, “Here, now it's safely out of sight, and right in your hands, Okay?” Picking up her purse, she put the scissors, tape, and paper away in the cupboard and headed out the door, Inuyasha right behind her.

 

As they walked down the shrine steps and up the street to the subway station, Inuyasha fiddled with his package, trying to find the most comfortable way of carrying it. Eventually, he settled for just holding it in his left hand, the tube crumpled slightly to make a more comfortable grip.

 

As they approached the subway station, Kagome tried to explain what to expect once they entered. How it would be pretty crowded with people, and how they would be riding inside the subway cars, and that she wanted him to stay right next to her, so that they wouldn't get separated.

 

Even with her attempts to prepare him, Inuyasha was still shocked at the number of people inside the station. `I can't believe how many people are crammed in here! And the smell! Ugh! It's like something is really, really sweet…and rotting at the same time!!'

 

Growling, his eyes snapped back and forth as he followed Kagome over to a wall where she put some of her money into a slot and then watched as she pulled two little cards out of another slot. Handing him one of them, she pulled him off to one side and she began explaining what the card was, and how to use it.

 

“When you want to ride on the subway, you use one of these cards to go through the gate,” pointing to where people where filing though openings in the low wall, “see how they slide the card into that slot on top, then push through the turnstile?” Inuyasha watched as each person slid the card part way into the top of the wall, then pulled it out and pushed against the bar that was blocking the way. He noticed that as each person pushed the bar away, another one swung up behind them, stopping the next person until they used their card as well.

 

Looking at the card that Kagome had given him, he saw a big arrow at one end, some strange writing on it that looked both familiar and strange, and a shiny black stripe on the back. Turning it over in his hands, he finally asked, “Why do you need to use this card thingy? Why don't people just jump over the wall? It's not high enough to stop anyone, except maybe small children.”

 

Kagome smiled at him, happy to see him being openly curious. “Well, when I bought the cards, you know, back at the wall over there, I paid 1500 yen for each one. You use the card to get to the subway train, and again after reaching your destination, you use it to pass through another turnstile again. When you exit, the fare is automatically deducted from your card. Depending on how long you stay on the subway, more or less yen will be deducted. It's easier, and faster, than buying a ticket every time you want use the subway.”

 

Looking at the card again, he said, “So, this card has money inside it, right? And that gate, the `turnstile' thing, it takes money out of the card when you want to ride this `subway'. How do you now it won't cheat you?” He sniffed at the card and frowned at her, “I can tell if a human is trying to charge too much, because they get nervous, but this thing just smells like…nothing, really.” He looked over the wall to where people were waiting for the next train. “And how do you know where it's going?”

 

She smiled at the idea of a transit passcard cheating, but said, “The machines can't cheat you. They can only take the correct amount of money, based on where you enter the subway and where you leave it.”

 

Kagome grabbed his hand and pulled him over to another wall, in front of a large colorful diagram of the subway system. “This is a map showing where the subway trains go,” pointing at a large black dot, she said, “this dot shows where we are right now, see the arrow pointing to it? We want to ride on the blue line to the North Station.” Pointing to another, smaller black dot, she continued, “Each little dot is a subway station on this route. If you count each dot,” tapping each one as she spoke, “you'll see that we want the sixth stop after leaving here. When we come back, we will do the same thing, only in reverse, okay?”

 

Inuyasha traced the route she had pointed out with one of his claws and then nodded at her and said, “Okay. When do we get on the train, and how long will it take to get to the mall?”

 

“About five or ten minutes; the trains come by quite often during the day. Once we get onboard, it will take less than thirty minutes to get to the mall, alright?” she asked.

 

“Feh,” was his only response.

 

Kagome lead the way through the turnstile, watching nervously as Inuyasha used his card, and passed through to join her next to the tracks.

 

“Come on, I usually wait for the train up by the front.” Taking his hand in hers, she walked through the crowded platform, until they reached the edge right next to a large square pillar. As she stopped to wait for the next train, Inuyasha shifted around until her back was to the pillar, and he was between her and the crowd. While they waited, he kept his eyes open and moving across the crowd, looking for any possible threats. After a few minutes, he heard a low rushing sound coming towards them, but before he could figure out what it was, Kagome stepped up next to him and said, “Good, here comes our train,” looking at him, she added, “remember to stay right next to me, it'll be even more crowded once we get on, alright?”

 

“Don't worry, Kagome. I'm not letting anything get between us.” As he finished speaking, a large, white train came into the station and stopped right in front of them. Grabbing his hand again, she moved with the crowd into the open door in front of them, and grabbed a hold of a pole that ran from floor to ceiling, and said, “Hold on tight, we'll be moving in a few seconds.”

 

As the train began to move, Inuyasha snarled at one of the passengers, who was bumping into Kagome, moving closer, he wrapped his arms around her and shifted her away from the other passengers, while continuing to glare at everyone near.

 

Kagome gasped as he drew her into the safety of his arms, but relaxed almost immediately and just enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Inuyasha for the rest of the trip.