InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I'm Sorry ❯ Chapter 13

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

 

Chapter 13

 

 

The next morning, Mrs. Higurashi, not hearing Kagome's alarm clock go off, opened the door to her room, but before she could say a word, she stopped.

 

`What in the world?! Why is Inuyasha in Kagome's bed?! I can't believe…' stunned at what she saw, or thought she saw, she started to get angry, and then she realized that Kagome wasn't in her bed with Inuyasha, that she was on the floor, wrapped up in the blanket she used during the winter. `Why is SHE on the floor, and HE is in her bed?!' Shaking her head to clear the confusing thoughts away, she quietly stepped in and shook Kagome awake.

 

“Wha…? What time is it” Kagome asked sleepily. Looking up at her mother bending over her, she asked, “Is something wrong, mama?”

 

“No, dear. It's just time to get up for school, and you didn't set your alarm.” Pressing a finger to her lips, she added, “Try to be quiet. Inuyasha is still asleep.” With that, she turned and left the room, leaving the door open behind her.

 

Kagome watched her mother leave, trying to completely wake up. `Inuyasha's asleep? What's she talking about?” Gasping, she remembered the night before. `Eeek! Mama just found Inuyasha in my bed! She's gonna kill me!'

 

Scrambling to her feet, Kagome looked around her room wildly, before she got a grip on herself, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said softly, “I can do this. Clothes first, everything else later.” Grabbing a clean school uniform and fresh underclothes, she went into the bathroom to change and get ready for her day. When she returned, Inuyasha had rolled onto his back, but was still asleep. She shook her head and smiled down at him, before putting away her pajamas and hair things and heading down for breakfast.

 

Walking into the kitchen, Kagome saw that she was the first one down, besides her mother, so she started making some orange juice for their breakfast.

 

Kagome jumped, just a little, when her mother spoke up. “Would you like to talk about it, dear?” she asked gently.

 

Kagome blushed, but said “Inuyasha kept me company after Sota went to bed, and…well, when I finished, at about one in the morning, he had fallen asleep on my bed.” She stopped; remembering how he had looked last night, then went on. “He looked so relaxed and at peace, that I couldn't bear to wake him up. So…I just grabbed a pillow and my blanket, and went to sleep on the floor.”

 

“Wasn't that a bit uncomfortable, dear?” her mother asked, as she sliced muffins to be toasted.

 

“Uncomfortable? The floor, you mean? Not really; it's carpeted and warm, besides,” Kagome grinned at her mother, “at least there weren't any bugs.”

 

Her mother smiled at her daughter quizzically, trying to understand why her daughter thought sleeping on the floor, so her friend could sleep undisturbed in her bed, when he had a perfectly fine bed in the next room, was a reasonable, even rational decision. “Does he normally have problems sleeping at night?”

 

“Not really, it's more like, he doesn't really relax when he's sleeping. He always seems to be at least half way awake. Unless he's badly injured or exhausted, he's normally the last to fall asleep and the first to wake up. And even then, he usually wakes up as soon as someone makes a noise or starts moving around.” She explained, pouring her mother and herself glasses of juice.

 

“Interesting. And last night, he fell asleep while you were still awake?”

 

“Uh huh. That's why I didn't want to wake him. I've never seen him like that before, and I wanted him to enjoy it. I'll wake him before I go to school, if he doesn't wake himself before than.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi nodded her understanding, and said, “I see. Well, I'm going to wake up Sota, so could you finish the eggs and muffins?”

 

Kagome nodded, “Sure, mama. I'll start serving as soon as the eggs are done, okay?”

 

“Yes, dear. That would be fine,” she said as she took off her apron and headed up stairs to wake her son.

 

As Kagome was serving up the scrambled eggs, bacon and muffins, Inuyasha walked in, and sat down at the table.

 

“Good morning, Inuyasha. How are you this morning?” She asked as she put a plate of food in front of him.

 

“Huh. Fine.” Looking down at the food in front of him, he sniffed at it carefully, then said, “This looks good, what is it?” Picking up his fork, he carefully took a small bite. Nodding happily, he took a larger bite, and tried the orange juice she handed him.

 

Kagome smiled, and turned back to serving up the rest of breakfast as Jii-chan, Sota, and her mother all sat down to eat. Seeing how fast Inuyasha was eating, and well aware of his appetite, Kagome prepared an extra plate, and, just as he was finishing the last bite of muffin, she removed his empty plate, and put a full one down in its place. At last, she brought her own plate over to the table and sat down to eat her own breakfast.

 

Kagome ignored the odd looks she got from her grandfather and brother, and concentrated on eating her breakfast as quickly as good manners would allow.

 

Finally, her brother asked, “Hey, Kagome, what's the rush? You don't have to leave for school for half an hour.”

 

Pausing, her fork in mid-air, Kagome replied, “I know, I just want to go over some Biology stuff before I go to school. I have a test on it, first thing this morning, sooo…” with that, Kagome went back to the serious business of finishing her breakfast.

 

After breakfast was over, Kagome started to help her mother with the dishes, but she was waved away, and Sota was drafted to help instead.

 

Collecting her book bag, Kagome dashed off while Inuyasha was changing into modern clothes.

 

“Damn it! What's her hurry? It's not like the school's gonna walk away or anything.” He grumbled when he realized that she had already left the house. Heading out at a fast lope, he skidded to a stop when he saw that she had only gone as far as the top of the shrine steps, and was sitting down, her book open in her lap, studying again. Shaking his head at her intensity, he sat down next to her and waited for her to finish.

 

After about twenty minutes of her reading and mumbling to herself, Inuyasha scented her friend, Eri? approaching, and spoke up, “Oi. Kagome, your friend's here. Let's go.”

 

“Hmm? Eri's here already?” She stuffed her book into her book bag, put it over her shoulders, and stood up. Together, she and Inuyasha walked down the steps, and waited for Eri to meet them.

 

“Hi Kagome. Did you sleep good last night?” She asked cheerfully.

 

Blushing lightly, Kagome replied, “Yes, I slept fine. How about you?”

 

“Fine.” `I wonder why she blushed when I asked how she slept? Could she and Inuyasha…NO WAY!! Down girl!! I don't think she's even kissed him yet.' Looking at her friend and the boy walking next to her carefully, she thought `No, I don't think it's anything like that, but…maybe someday?' Changing the subject, she thanked Kagome for saving them yesterday during PE, which only made Kagome blush even more. When they were joined by Yuka and Ayumi, the conversation shifted to schoolwork in general, and insects in particular, as they all quizzed each other to prepare for the Biology test. At last they reached the school, and the girls turned to head in.

 

Kagome paused for a moment with Inuyasha, and asked, “Will you be here, when school lets out this afternoon?” As she spoke, just a hint of unease crept into her voice, enough for Inuyasha to notice, though not enough for the girls to be aware of.

 

“Oi, you know I will, wench. Stop worrying about it, okay?” As he spoke, he stepped closer and gave her a quick hug. “Worry about those stupid tests, if you want to, but leave the rest of it to me, `kay?”

 

Smiling up at him, she said, “'kay,” and walked in to the school with her friends.

 

As they headed up to their first period class, Biology, Eri held Kagome back for a moment, and asked, “Is everything alright, Kagome? You seem worried about something? Is there anything I can do?”

 

Surprised, Kagome shook her head and said, “No, really everything's fine, really.”

 

“Are you sure, Kagome? You looked, well, spooked, just when we got to school. I can…”

 

Kagome interrupted her and said, “Don't worry about me, okay. It's, well I think someone has been following me, and, and, well, it did kind of spook me, but Inuyasha's here and it'll be okay.”

 

Eri looked at her, really worried now, “Inuyasha? I know you like him, Kagome, but if you're being followed and someone's watching you, well, he's just a kid, like us. Shouldn't you talk to the police or something?”

 

Kagome smiled at her friend and gave her a quick hug, “Don't worry. Inuyasha is a good friend, and if, if, I'm in danger, he'll protect me.” As she turned away, she said softly, almost too soft for Eri to hear, “He always protects me.”

 

Considering she had three tests to face, as well as all the new material being covered, Kagome thought that the day had gone surprisingly well. After the Biology test, her teacher gave her another extra credit assignment, as well as a large stack of printed out articles for her next topic: Compare and Contrast Canine and Human Social Structures, and Status Ranking in Both.

 

As the school day came to an end, Kagome and her friends walked down the stairs and headed for the entrance. Like the day before, Inuyasha was lounging against the gate, watching Kagome cross the schoolyard. The only difference this time, was that a large group of girls had gathered in a circle around Inuyasha, and they were trying to talk to him.

 

“Grrrr.” Surprised, Kagome's friends looked over at her and saw that her face was red and rigid with anger. Looking back and forth between Kagome and the waiting boy, surrounded by a bunch of girls, her friends started to giggle, as they realized that, although Kagome had called him jealous and possessive, she seemed to be just as guilty as him.

 

Slipping through the girls, she walked up to Inuyasha, ready to `sit' him to oblivion as soon as she got him alone, but the look on his face, and the relief in his voice, when he said, “Oi, Kagome, it's about time!” caused her anger to fade, and she just grabbed his hand, twined her fingers with his, and said, “I'm here, let's go now, okay?”

 

Together, they slid through the crowd of obviously disappointed girls and rejoined Kagome's friends and headed away from the school. As they walked down the street, Yuka asked, “So, Inuyasha, what did those girls want to talk about?”

 

“Feh.”

 

“I bet they wanted to know if he was available,” Ayumi suggested.

 

“Or, what his phone number is,” Yuka offered.

 

“Grrrr,” was his response to the girl's teasing. Worried that he might tell them off, Kagome shook her head at her friends, and squeezed his hand even tighter.

 

Hoping to change the subject to something more relaxed, she asked, “Inuyasha, would you mind if we went back to the sporting good store? You know, from Sunday? I wanted to pick up a couple of things today.”

 

He looked down at her in surprise, but nodded and said, “Keh.”

 

“Thank you.” With his agreement, she relaxed and moved closer to him, enjoying the touch of his hand, and the mingling of their auras.

 

“Sporting goods store? What do you need from there, Kagome?” Ayumi asked curiously.

 

“Oh, just a little something to make things easier. At least, I hope they have something like that, other wise I'll have to ask Sango for her help, later.” She added the last for Inuyasha's benefit.

 

When they reached the cross street that the store was located on, Kagome told her friends that she and Inuyasha had to turn here. To her surprise, all of her friends said that they wanted to come along, if that was all right with her. Surprised, but not upset, Kagome agreed.

 

“Sure, I doubt it'll take more than a few minutes,” she said as she turned down the street.

 

When they entered the store, she said, “I need to talk to one of the clerks in private, so…shoo!” she said, waving her hands at Inuyasha and her friends, “Go browse or something.”

 

Walking up to the same clerk who had helped them on Sunday, Kagome asked, “Sir, I need some help, if you don't mind.”

 

Bowing, he said “Of course, how can I help you, today.”

 

“My friend gave me one of the knives as a gift, and I need a way of carrying it discreetly, yet still available when I need it. Perhaps a harness of some sort?”

 

He nodded, “Yes, we have several different options. Let's go over to the display case and I will be happy to help you.”

 

After she pointed out which knife she had, he opened the cabinet underneath the display case and removed three boxes, and carried them back to the check out counter. He explained the different ways of carrying the knife, both concealed and openly, and what the different advantages were. Kagome quickly choose the one that allowed her to carry the knife behind her back or at her waist equally well, and said, “I'll take this one please.”

 

“Certainly.” As he rang up her purchase, she placed the box in her book bag, and paid him with money from the ATM. Putting her change away, she put her book bag back on and went back to find Inuyasha and her friends. Stepping up behind Inuyasha, where he was looking at a display of miniature tents with a very confused look on his face, she slipped her arm around his waist and said, “Thank you for bringing me here, Inuyasha.”

 

As she put her arm around him, he started and then slowly, tentatively put his arm around her shoulders.

 

“So, what are you finding so fascinating about this display?”

 

“Keh. Why are they so small, not even Shippo could fit inside one of these things,” he asked quietly.

 

Kagome hid her smile and said, “These are models, very small representations of much larger tents. It's a way for customers to see what the tent will look like, a much better way than with just pictures, and yet it doesn't take up very much room.”

 

He nodded his understanding, and then asked, “If I understand what it's saying, we could use one of these and be pretty much out of the weather, right?” She nodded. “So, why didn't you bring one before, and, and would you like to have one now?” As he asked her this, his voice dropped, and he blushed very faintly.

 

Uncertain about why he was asking her this now, she decided to answer as fully as she could. “Well, in the beginning, the weather was always pretty nice, so my sleeping bag was enough, and tents can be pretty heavy. Besides, I really never thought about it. Later, when I did think of it, I decided that it would be a bad idea, for a lot of reasons.”

 

Looking back down at the display, he said, “So, if you were to get one now, which one would you want?”

 

She bit her lip, and then said, “It would sort of depend on how many of us were going to use it.” She pointed at one of the smallest models. “This one is intended for two adults, with maybe one small child. This one on the other hand, is intended for a large family. It is divided up inside into three rooms, and could hold all of us quite easily,” she grinned up at him and went on, “and Miroku could be kept well away from Sango and me.”

 

Inuyasha snorted his agreement with that, and then went on. “So, what are your other reasons?”

 

She looked back at him and said, “Cost is a big one. They're not cheap, and, well, I felt that a tent would just be a luxury that I couldn't afford.” She stopped, not sure if she should go on, then said. “Another reason, is that, as time went on, I became much more aware of how dangerous things were, what with Naraku and everything. It just didn't seem like a good idea to keep ourselves confined within a tent, where danger might sneak up on us unobserved,” she shrugged again, “It just didn't seem like it was worth it.”

 

Inuyasha looked at her and nodded as she listed her reasons. “Makes sense, but I think there's something else, too. Why didn't you get one of the small ones when we first started out? It was just the two of us, and you know I always sleep outside, or in a tree.” He pointed at the price listed for the smallest one, “That's about as much as one of the sleeping bags or less than the trip for medical supplies. So…why not?” As she tried desperately to think of a reason that he would accept, he spoke again, quietly, “The truth, Kagome, I want to know the truth.”

 

She bit her lip, and looked down at the floor. In a soft voice she said, “Because, I wanted…I didn't want you to…” Her voice trailed off, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

 

“Kagome, why?” He asked again, still quietly, but firmly.

 

Taking a deep breath, her eyes still shut, trying to hold back her tears, she said in a shaky whisper, “I, I just, oh god, I feel so stupid…I just didn't want you to, to think I was any weaker, and…and helpless, than you already did…” as she spoke, her voice got softer and the tears she had been fighting back, trickled down her cheeks.

 

Shocked at her words, Inuyasha bit back his first impulse, to say `don't be stupid, wench!' even he could tell that that would be the wrong thing to tell her right now. Instead, he pulled her right up to his chest, wrapped both his arms around her and said, “I'm sorry, Kagome, I'm such an idiot.” Sighing, he said to her, “Back then, when we first met, I would have said something like that, wouldn't I?” As he held her, he realized that her friends were standing in a group, about ten feet away, looking at him as if Kagome's crying was all his fault, which it was of course, and that he'd better fix it, right now!! Or there were going to be bloody hanyou parts all over the store! He snorted to himself, `That's all I need, Kagome's friends trying to kill me, because I made her cry.'

 

Looking around, he saw a bench nearby, so he carried Kagome over to it, sat down with her in his lap, and said, “Please don't cry, Kagome, you know I hate it when you cry.” As he spoke to her, he rocked her in his arms and stroked her hair. “I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you, I swear I'm trying to do better.” As he held her, she wiped her cheeks and tried to get her tears under control. “You're not weak, Kagome, and you're not helpless. You haven't been either for a long time, you know. Heh, even when you couldn't shoot to save your life, you still tried. I swear, sometimes you're too brave for your own good, and you never give up. I'm sorry that I made you feel that way.” He heard her friends coming closer, so he opened his eyes and glared at them until they stopped.

 

“Hey, I think your friends are about ready to slit my throat here, so how about I wipe your tears,” he did so, very gently, “you smile at me, even if you don't mean it,” she started to smile, just a little, “and I help you stand up, so we can leave here, and go home?” She nodded, her eyes still closed, so he stood up with her, slowly let her down, until she was standing on her own, with his hands holding her waist. When she opened her eyes, he was looking at her very solemnly, and he said, “I'm here, Kagome. You're not alone and I don't think you're weak or helpless.”

 

For a moment, they stood there, gazes locked, then they both began to smile at each other, then Kagome wrapped her arms around him again, and squeezed him tightly. “I'm okay, now. Thank you, for being here for me.” Unwillingly, she loosened her grip and turned to face her friends, still watching the two of them intently. She smiled at them, and when they questioned her with their eyes, she just shrugged and shook her head.

 

Still holding onto her waist, Inuyasha asked, “Are you ready to go now, or do you still need something from here?”

 

“I think that I've got everything I need from here, at least for now,” she said.

 

“What about that blue sleeping bag you looked at before, the one of Shippo. Do you want to buy it now, or later?”

 

Thinking seriously, she decided, “Later. We need to get back to the shrine, and then do some grocery shopping. I already paid for what I really wanted to get.”

 

He just nodded and released his grasp on her as she started to walk towards her friends.

 

Smiling sheepishly, Kagome said, “Sorry about,” as she reached her friends.

 

Eri was the first to speak, “Are you alright, Kagome?” Looking at her friend closely, she was relieved to see that, whatever had caused her upset, it was clearly under control.

 

“Yeah, I am. But, it's getting later than I thought and we'd better head home, okay?”

 

Nodding in agreement, the girls headed for the door, with Inuyasha following close behind.

 

Retracing their steps, they soon reached the point where Yuka and Ayumi turned off, and Eri, Kagome and Inuyasha continued towards the shrine. Once the two girls had left, Inuyasha moved up next to Kagome, and she smiled up at him as she clasped his hand.

 

When they reached the shrine steps, Eri waved and said “Bye, see you tomorrow.”

 

Kagome waved back at her, but bit her lip as Eri walked away. She started as Inuyasha hugged her from behind, and asked, “You okay, Kagome?”

 

“Yeah. Just a little sad, because I'm leaving, and I can't tell them. I'll be okay.” Taking a deep breath, she went on, “Let's drop this stuff in my room, and then go get some groceries, okay?”

 

Inuyasha nodded, and steered her up the shrine steps, and into her house.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Kagome had changed her clothes, grabbed her purse, and was waiting at the door for Inuyasha to join her. When he had, the two headed back out to buy some groceries before using the well.

 

As they walked to the store, Inuyasha remembered to tell her about his trip to pick up Ramen and energy bars on Sunday.

 

She looked at him in amazement, “You went to the store, and bought food! By yourself?! I had no idea that you knew how to use modern money?”

 

“Feh. What, you think I wasn't paying attention when you were spending all of our money at that mall place?” He asked indignantly.

 

“No, to be honest, I didn't think about it. I just assumed that you wouldn't be interested or would find it boring. So, what did you buy…oh, wait, let me guess: Ramen?” She said, starting to grin at him.

 

“Feh. I didn't just buy Ramen, wench. I got those granola bars, and some of the other stuff you bring with you.” He shrugged uncomfortably, as Kagome continued to grin at him.

 

“Well, I guess you can show me what you picked out when we get there, and I'll buy accordingly.” She paused to open the door to the grocery store, and went in with Inuyasha, taking a shopping cart as she went by.

 

“So, how much Ramen did you buy, anyways?” Kagome asked as she stopped in front of the large selection of packaged noodles.

 

Inuyasha shrugged, and said, “A couple of dozen boxes, I don't remember. I also picked up some of those, “he said, pointing to the granola bars.

 

Kagome snickered as she started adding some different packages to the cart, “If you see anything else you bought, just point it out and tell me how much you bought.” The two of them roamed up and down the aisles adding things to the cart as they traded jokes about everyone's food likes and dislikes. Kagome made a point of picking up some lemonade mix and a variety of spices to use, since she had started actually cooking more lately.

 

After paying for the groceries, the teens carried the bags back to the shrine, with Inuyasha carrying the majority of the bags. Sota met them at the top of the shrine steps and stared at all the food they were carrying, and said “Wow! How long are you planning on staying this time?! You must have enough food to last for months, sis!”

 

Kagome laughed and said, “Not really, with at least 5 of us eating, it goes pretty quick. Besides, I plan on leaving a lot of this of this stuff at Kaede's, so we can restock on the run if we need to.”

 

Leaving Sota practicing with his soccer ball, they took the groceries up to Inuyasha's room, where he started repacking everything that they had bought along with his earlier purchases.

 

Kagome went to find her mother, hoping to talk to her some more before dinner. As her mother was already cooking dinner, Kagome started setting the table, searching for a way to tell her that she might be gone longer than usual this time. Finally, she just said, “Mama, there's something I need to talk to you about.”

 

“Yes, dear? What is it?” she asked calmly, as she started cooking the teriyaki steaks.

 

“Umm, I'm not sure, well, I have a feeling that this time, it might be a long time before I get back.” Kagome said uncertainly.

 

“Really?” Her mother turned and looked at her quizzically, “Why do you say that?”

 

“Umm, I'm not sure really, it's just a feeling. I can't say exactly why or any thing, it's just, well, I have a feeling that something's going to happen,” she shrugged uncomfortably.

 

Her mother looked at her in silence for a minute, and then asked, “Do you feel that something bad is going to happen? Are you or any of your friends going to be hurt?”

 

Kagome shook her head and said, “No, not really. It just feels like it's going to be a while before I come back. I don't have any idea why.”

 

Her mother nodded thoughtfully, and turned back to her cooking while saying, “Well dear, if you're going to be a while, you should be sure to pack accordingly. Perhaps you can keep some of your things with your miko friend, Kaede? If you don't mind, I'll give you a hand with packing right after dinner, alright dear?”

 

“Umm, sure mama, that would be great,” Kagome said, thinking `Mama takes everything in her stride; I wish I could be so calm when things start getting crazy. I hope it's something genetic, `cause maybe then I'll learn how to do it.' She sighed softly to herself as she finished setting the table.

 

“Mama, I'm going to get washed up for dinner, alright? I'll do my packing after dinner, okay?” As she spoke, she started up the stairs for her room.

 

Twenty minutes later, everyone sat down to eat a fairly subdued dinner; the knowledge that Kagome and Inuyasha would be leaving in a short while to go through the well. Even Sota was quieter than normal.

 

At last dinner was over, and Kagome excused herself to start packing, while Sota was drafted into helping with the dishes again, much to Kagome's amusement. In her room, she quickly packed her backpack with all the usual items, plus the books she had bought. Deciding to leave all the food separate, she had plenty of room for more clothes. Looking in her drawers, she dropped in a couple of extra sets of underclothes, most of her socks, and a few extra pairs of jeans and blouses. As she looked in her closet, she found a light blue kimono that she had been given as a gift, and not really sure why, she folded it up neatly, packed it into a pillow case with all the accessories, and buried it in her pack.

 

As she stood there, trying to think what else to pack, her mother cleared her throat and said, “It looks like your doing pretty good, so far. Have you packed your toiletries yet?”

 

“No, mama. They're still in the bathroom…” she said, when her mother cut her off with a smile.

 

“That's fine, dear. I'll get your things, and throw in a few extra's that might be useful,” she said as she turned and headed to the bathroom.

 

Opening Kagome's bath bag, she shook her head, smiling sadly all the while. 'I swear that girl lives for her hot baths and washing her hair. I think I'll have to use a bigger bag, and add some items that she seems to be forgetting about.' Under the sink, she found a larger, zippered bag. Pulling it out, she frowned at the memories her husbands travel bag brought back. `It's been more than three years, but I still miss him so…Enough! I need to concentrate on Kagome's needs right now.' Transferring all of Kagome's things only took a moment, and she added some extra unopened soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste from the closet, as well as a box of maxi-pads. Pausing a moment, she looked at the door, beyond which was her daughter preparing to travel back to the Sengoku Jidai. Finally, she nodded to herself, picked up the bag and walked into her bedroom. Five minutes later, she had finished packing the bag and was returning to Kagome's room.

 

Opening the door, she saw that Kagome was already gone, and her bag was gone as well. When she looked in the open door to the guest room, she saw Kagome and Inuyasha busily packing bags of groceries into two large duffle bags. Laughing silently, she went down to the kitchen, where she found Kagome's bag waiting on the table. Opening it up, she placed the bag inside, imagining the look on Kagome's face when she found the `surprise' waiting inside.

 

By 7:00 they had succeeded in packing everything and placing it in the well house. Kagome went back to her room to change her clothes prior to going through the well. Closing the door to her room, she removed her clothes and tossed them on the bed. Opening her closet, she picked out a comfortable pullover top with short sleeves and a denim skirt that was a little bit longer than her school skirt, but considerably tougher.

 

Putting on the skirt first, she opened the box containing the knife harness she had bought earlier. After reading the instructions, she attached the knife sheath to the harness, and wriggled around until she had the harness and knife comfortably resting, hilt down and pointing to the right, across the middle of her back. After practicing drawing and re-sheathing the knife several times, she felt at least reasonably comfortable with wearing it, so she pulled her top on and posing in front of the mirror, she tried to see if it was noticeable or visible when she turned or bent over. `It's not perfect, but I think it'll do. At least now I can wear Inuyasha's gift without feeling like an idiot.' Nodding to her reflection, she put the box and instructions in the trash, and without even thinking about it, chose the bow she had been given two days ago, strung it quickly, and hung the large quiver full of arrows over her shoulder. Picking up the carrying case, she filled it with the rest of the arrows Inuyasha had bought, closed it, and walked out of her room and down to the kitchen, where Inuyasha was waiting.

 

“I'm ready,” she said as he stood waiting for her by the door.

 

“Keh, about time,” he said, his eyes opening as he took in the clothes she was wearing. His mouth opened, as if he was going to say something, but he closed it again with out saying a word. Opening the door, he led the way towards the Bone Eater's Well. As she stepped out of the house, Kagome was stopped by her mother, who gave her a big hug, stepped back and said, “Have fun, you two,” before she turned and walked back in to the house.

 

Kagome watched her mother enter the house before she turned back to follow Inuyasha, who was probably getting irritated at the delay. To her surprise, when she turned around, he was standing right behind her. As far as she could tell, he had been there the whole time, waiting patiently for her to say goodbye to her mother.

 

Smiling at him, she said, “Now I'm really ready.”

 

He just snorted a little laugh, and turned back to the well house. Once inside, he closed the door behind them and went over to where Kagome was already putting the large yellow pack on her shoulders, having removed the quiver and bow, so she could adjust them to handle all three things at once. As she settled everything to her satisfaction, he slung the bow case over his shoulder, picked up both duffle bags in one hand and held out his other to her.

 

Taking his hand in her smaller hand, Kagome stepped up to the edge of the well with his help, and jumped in with Inuyasha right beside her. As they fell, the violet, magic light flared up, carrying them 500 years into the past.

 

Author's Note: My thanks to palikani and wolf of raven for the kind words and here is the next chapter. Sirei: The Noh-Mask story is quite different depending on whether you read the manga or saw the anime. I read the manga a long time before I saw the anime and it works like this: The Noh-Mask was being brought to the shrine to be exorcised, but the woman bringing it was possessed before she ever entered the shrine (the mask was desperate to avoid the wards at this point). When she returned later that night she was standing in the road (outside the wards) and only a small part entered the shrine. That part was shielded by the aura of the Shikon shard and was able to pass through the wards. The creature was driven away when a passing car hit it. When the Noh-Mask returned the next night it had gained enough power by devouring the bodies and souls of the evil people to protect itself while trying to steal the other shards. After that, both the manga and anime are pretty much the same.