InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Will Wait ❯ Chapter One: the secret lives of cats ( Chapter 1 )

I Will Wait

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter One: The Secret Lives of Cats

Kagome swallowed hard as Sesshomaru stared down at her. He was almost twice her size, in his smaller, non-dogish form, and she was feeling quite a bit smaller than usual in front of him. "Er…"

Sesshomaru was getting annoyed. Why couldn't the woman just say what was on her mind.

"I, uh, better take you, ba…" Kagome's fingers ghosted up to her neck and her eyes widened. "Oh my god! Where are they!" In a panic, she forgot Sesshomaru and started shaking her shirt, digging around, feeling around in her bra for the shards. She went to jump back down into the well to see if she dropped them in her haste to get off Sesshomaru but was caught by the youkai's strong arm…his one strong arm, to be precise. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks, pressed so tightly against a very obviously masculine figure. "I…I…" she sputtered.

"If you want to kill yourself, miko, do so after you explain what is going on," he stated coolly.

"Shikon…the shards…the well…" she wasn't making any sense and she knew it. She took a deep breath. "Can you let go first?" she tried.

He did so, and she breathed again. "I have to check to see if the shikon shards are in the well," she exhaled.

He quirked an eyebrow only slightly before leaping gracefully over her. He glanced about the well, finding nothing, and leapt easily out again. The girl looked at him hopefully with big brown puppy eyes. He shook his head negatively, causing a chain reaction involving Kagome falling to her knees and wailing. "Oh nooo!!! How am I going to get you back to your own time now?!" she wailed. His own time? He would be convinced that she was out of her mind, if the situation wasn't this bizarre to begin with. Sesshomaru decided it would be more efficient to wait for the girl to stop throwing her fit before demanding answers again.

Finally, Kagome sighed. "Well, Inuyasha will show up when I'm late getting back, as usual. I guess you're stuck here until then." It was a lot to handle, but Kagome was good at coming to terms with things that she couldn't change. She gave Sesshomaru a sideways glace, as if she was testing his mood. "Well, come inside. I'll make some tea and explain," she sighed, her shoulders drooping dramatically as she exited the well house.

He followed, using years of training in the `art of the stoic façade' when he stepped outside. There were so many smells and noises. He unconsciously brought his hand to his ear. At least in this, the humans were lucky that their senses were dulled. It was so very loud. He was surprised by the relative silence when Kagome closed the door of her home on the outside world, and relieved, though he was careful to show neither on his stoic features.

"Uhm, this way," Kagome said uncomfortably. She was having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she was showing the demon lord of the Western Lands into her home, and that he'd probably be staying out the week. `How am I going to explain this to my mother?' she wondered. It was in awkward silence that she turned on the stove to boil water for tea, with her back to him, and she paying little mind to his presence, or, more likely, hoping that when she turned around it was all a bad dream and he wasn't actually there, Sesshomaru's eyes were free to explore. He recognized almost nothing here. The girl had turned a knob that made a small flame sprout out of the countertop, which he assumed to be some strange miko magic. He paid little mind to the habits of priestesses, after all. And there was an odd silver snake that spit water into a basin when she turned a different knob. The table was unusually tall, with chairs around it, and there seemed to be many more cabinets and shelves than one could have any possible use for. There was a tall box in the corner that was humming. He eyed it carefully, but the woman didn't seem to view it as a threat, so he didn't attack…for now.

After only a few short moments she put a teacup in front of one of the chairs at the table and gestured him to sit. The chairs were of a strange design, but familiar to him and he saw no harm. Drinking tea standing would be impolite, or so he'd been taught, and like it or not, he was within the human's lair. With a curt nod, he sat at the table, watching carefully as she did the same across from him. "It's, very hot yet," she stated, biting her lip.

"You promised me an explanation, miko," he reminded her, letting his hand rest in his lap while the tea cooled.

"Uh…ah…you see…" she hesitated. `He's gonna think I'm looney,' she thought. Not that she cared what Sesshomaru thought of her, but she had to keep him placated long enough to get him back through the well. Her mind was screaming, `Inuyasha. Help!' Of course, the hanyou was too far away to hear her. She took a heavy breath. "This isn't your time, Sesshomaru. It's where I come from…er…that is…the future."

She wasn't sure what to make of the way he just stared at her for a long time. Finally, he dead-panned, "the future."

"H-hai."

He cocked his head to the side very slightly as he watched her for a long moment. She looked down at her tea, slightly flushed, and fidgeted under his intense and unreadable gaze. "So," he said finally, "You expect me to believe then, that you come to the time that I know by falling through that well, hunt the shikon shards with my idiot brother, and then return to the future to do whatever it is that you do here."

"Hai," the girl said quietly.

"You realize that is quite possibly the most ridiculous story I have ever heard."

"…hai," she said hesitantly.

"And yet, I suppose you'll insist that you aren't crazy."

Kagome got defensive now. "You have that toad…"

"Imp," he corrected.

"Whatever, you have that lunatic Jaken following you around and I'm crazy?" she demanded.

He fought down the slight tweak his lips tried to reach for. The human was mildly amusing. He would give her that much at least.

"Relax, miko. Your story is too strange to be fiction," he stated blandly. "However, explain to me why we cannot simply jump back through to return."

"We need the shikon shards," she muttered.

Well, this wasn't good. He didn't have any, and she'd lost hers. `Am I…stuck here?' he wondered, trying not to worry. Then he remembered that she had mentioned Inuyasha.

She continued. "But Inuyasha can come through the well. When I'm late coming back he'll come to get me, so then we can get you back to where you belong."

She was a peculiar woman, even for a human. He took a moment to consider what he had learned. No wonder the smells and sounds were so strange here. In terms of human dwellings it seemed much cleaner. In truth, it was much cleaner than most demon homes he'd been in as well.

The girl took another deep breath and sipped at her tea, cringing a bit. Still too hot. It was then that something rubbed against Sesshomaru's leg, and realizing almost instantly that it was a cat, he instinctively growled at the little monster.

Kagome yelped and pulled Buyo into her arms. She frowned at Sesshomaru. "Okay, if you're going to stay here for now we're going to have to set some ground rules. "First rule, don't you dare kill my cat!" she insisted, pouting.

Sesshomaru quirked one eyebrow at the woman elegantly. A human was telling him what to do? Now this was rich. "And if I do?" he asked, testing her.

"Then I'll…I'll…" she sputtered. What would she do. "I'll yank on your tail again," she said, feeling petty, but knowing that it was really the only power she held over the demon.

He fought the little tweaking of his lips again. He was a guest here. There were certain rules of etiquette that applied. He couldn't kill the cat. The human was being hospitable enough to allow him to stay in her home for the time being, whether it was forced hospitality or otherwise. "I shall not kill your feline," he conceded. "Even if he deserves it."

"Or my family," she added on second thought. "Even if Sota is a pain, no killing my little brother. That's my job." Unlike Sesshomaru, Kagome was only joking about killing her younger brother, but he could still respect that. After all, he wouldn't allow anyone to kill Inuyasha but him either.

He gave a slight nod, holding back his amusement at the human's paranoia.

"And for god's sake don't leave the house," she pleaded. "Things are very different now. You'll stick out way too much."

He quirked an eyebrow at this. "Explain," he told her.

She shifted. "Well, in my time…" she hesitated. "There aren't any demons anymore, Sesshomaru."

He was unable to hold the shock out of his eyes. "Impossible," he stated.

"It's true," she said. "Either they're not here, or they're all hiding."

"Demons do not hide," he demanded.

Kagome hesitated, a little pout on her lips as she daringly locked his eyes. "I know," she stated, and the words were heavy with meaning.

`My kind…gone…impossible. I refuse to believe it,' he thought.

"Please just stay inside," she begged. "I'll have you home in a few days, I hope."

Sesshomaru nodded vaguely, not really even aware of what he was nodding at. He would investigate this. There must be demons in this future world, there just must. "How many years?" he asked.

"Huh?" Kagome blinked, putting the cat down and shooing him into the other room.

"Between my time and this one, how much time has passed?" he asked again.

"Oh. Uhm…about five hundred years, I guess." She noticed the slight strain beside his eyes, just the vaguest change in his expression. "You should drink your tea," she said gently. "Before it gets cold."

"…hai," he muttered, lifting the cooling beverage to his lips as she went to the sink to wash her cup and put it in the dish drain.

Kagome sighed to herself. How was she ever going to explain this to her mother? "Oh," she said as she remembered. "My grandfather, he…thinks he's a big bad priest, and might try to cast a charm on you or something. Please just ignore him. He's harmless."

He didn't reply. There was no need to.

"Miko."

Kagome sighed. Miko, again. It beat the hell out of `wench' which is the word Inuyasha had always preferred, but she still didn't like it. "Kagome," she corrected. "It's my name, so use it. I don't go around calling you "demon", do I?"

She had a point. She was being courteous enough to be polite even though she knew he was an enemy under normal circumstances. He ought to do the same. "Ka-go-me," he said slowly, unfamiliar with the combination of syllables.

"Hai," she answered.

He forgot what he was going to say a moment ago, having been distracted by the woman. "Thank you," he said instead, a slight hesitation then. "For the tea."

He got up and brought the cup over to her. Kagome's eyes widened in shock. `Sesshomaru just said…thank you?!' She couldn't believe it. In truth, neither could he. He just didn't want to look like a fool for having forgotten so easily what was on his mind.

"I guess, that I should show you around the house," she said finally. "There were a lot of things that were strange to Inuyasha. I'll explain what everything is, since you're going to need to amuse yourself while you're here."

Sesshomaru gave a curt nod as the girl almost turned dead into his chest before deciding to turn in the other direction. One close encounter was enough for the day, thank you very much. He pointed at the humming box in the corner. "Begin with that," he stated. He'd figured out what most everything else in this room did from watching the human.

Kagome blinked, followed the long line of his arm to the refrigerator, and laughed. She clapped her hand over her mouth, covering it too late. She waved her hand a bit. "Sorry, sorry," she said, but she didn't sound sorry at all, and he frowned slightly at her. He didn't like feeling like a fool. "That's called a refrigerator," she gestured for him to follow and opened the door, pulling out a plate of leftovers. "See, it keeps food cold so it doesn't spoil as quickly."

Closing that and opening the top. "And this part is the freezer, it keeps food frozen and makes ice." She pulled out an ice tray and pulled out a small chunk of ice, not sure what came over her as she pressed it to his lips. He pulled back. That was cold! "It's not poison, Sesshomaru, just frozen water," she teased slightly. She didn't know why, but when he was asking questions he wasn't half as intimidating.

He nodded and grabbed her wrist with the ice cube bringing it back to wear it was and tentatively licking at the cube. Kagome blushed, not sure why. Of course he wasn't going to use his own hand to hold it, it was cold. "A-ano, Sesshomaru…my fingers are getting numb," she stumbled over the words.

He let go and stepped back. `What was I just doing?' he wondered, giving the girl a curt nod that said he was done, his curiosity satisfied. She dropped the cube in the sink and ran her numb fingers under some warm water before drying them and throwing the paper towel away. "The garbage can is here," she said quietly.

Sesshomaru watched her thoughtfully as she led him into the living room. With her back turned, his hand ghosted up to chilled lips, touching them for a moment. `How strange,' he thought, trying to decide if strange, also, was good.

As he entered the living room, the cat was there again rubbing up against his leg. He glared at it, but held back the snarl that wanted to escape his throat. It was like the damn feline was doing this on purpose because it knew that he disliked it. He glanced to make sure Kagome wasn't watching and glad to find she wasn't, gave the cat a very slight `go away' kick. `Damn feline,' he thought irritably, eyes widening when Kagome pressed a button that brought all these little people onto this box. They weren't there, but he could see them, hear them. Not touch or smell but… "What in the world is that?" he demanded.

Kagome chuckled at the way his eyes widened a bit and his mouth fell slightly open. It was cute. `So you can be surprised, she thought, then chastised herself for thinking that anything about Sesshomaru was even remotely cute. "It's called a television." she answered. "Sit down. I'll explain."

~End Chapter One~

A/N: Well, I never thought I'd end up writing one of those `fall through the well into the future and get to know all the interesting gizmos of our time' fics, but heh, it does seem that Sesshomaru has a lot to learn right now. Well, we'll see where it all goes. Hope to write more soon! TTFN.

~Banshee Puppet~