InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Light in Dark Places ❯ Chapter 9: Koikokoro ( Chapter 10 )

(A/N): Just one word: Fluff. You have been warned.

 

Light in Dark Places

By: Eilan-san

 

ooo

 

Chapter 9: Koikokoro

 

And how can I stand here with you

And not be moved by you?

Would you tell me how could it be

Any better than this?

 

--Lifehouse, “Everything”

 

ooo

 

Kagome awoke to sunlight streaming through her window and an incredibly adorable Harry next to her with his arm slung casually around her waist and his hair spread out wildly over the pillow.

 

She giggled softly. It was a rare sight to see him in such a state of peace and appreciated the moment, however brief it would end up being.

 

She just felt so… happy. Happier than she'd been in a very, very long time. She was finally relaxed, and it felt better than she ever thought it could. She hadn't realized how much the stress of keeping her past life a secret was bottled up in side her; ready to explode at a moment's notice.

 

The night before had been, well… amazing. She was giddy and happy and all sorts of other feelings were bubbling up inside her from parts of her that she'd assumed died years ago. She didn't really know what was going to happen next, but she knew that although they'd come from different worlds, with different experiences, that he was someone very special.

 

She smiled and stretched and lazily rolled over to see what time it was, but the clock on her bedside table read “9:30 AM” loud and clear. She screeched and jumped out of the bed, nearly falling on the floor, scrambling to find the bag she'd half-packed the night before.

 

“Wha… Kagome, what's going on?” Harry asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

 

“It's 9:30, Harry, we overslept!” she said, looking around the room frantically for the extra t-shirts she'd set aside before she'd gone to bed.

 

Harry glanced at the clock to confirm before also jumping out of bed. “We'll make it, don't worry,” he said as he strode into the living room to gather his things together.

 

“However, I guess that means no showers for us, then?” He called from the other room a few minutes later.

 

“Probably not. You might want to brush your hair, though.” She called back to him, smiling as she located the stack of shirts she was looking for and tossed them into her duffel bag and zipping it shut.

 

Harry walked back in the room, with a small messenger-style bag slung over his shoulder and leaning on the doorframe. “You should try combing it, I've never had any luck with it, not even with magic. It's determined to be as untidy as possible.”

 

“Well, I guess you'll just have to meet my mother with unkempt hair. Nothing to be done,” she shrugged and smiled. “How did you manage to fit all of your stuff into that tiny bag?” she asked.

 

“Magic,” Harry replied after a beat, head cocked and looking at her quizzically. Kagome just burst out laughing.

 

“That is still going to take some getting used to,” she said chuckling, quickly checking the time and noting thankfully that they had another five minutes or so.

 

“Let me grab my toothbrush and we'll be on our way,” she said as she walked into the bathroom to grab a few other toiletries and shoved them into the side pocket of her bag.

 

At 10:00 am on the nose, she and Harry were holding onto the trainer portkey, bags and all, and were transported to the Japanese Ministry of Magic.

 

They touched down softly in a landing area set aside from the main lobby. The room was a large white atrium with a fountain in the middle, shooting water in different directions in rhythm with the ambient music that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. The wall across from them was made up completely of windows, but no one seemed to be able to see them; or at least, no one was looking in the windows. Outside, she saw the busy streets of Tokyo.

 

A young woman dressed in a traditional furisode came over to greet them.

 

“Ohayo gozaimasu!” Kagome said cheerfully, quickly assuming the role of translator. “Higurashi Kagome to Poteru Hari desu.”

 

“Yoroshiku onegai shimasu,” the young woman said and bowed slightly, smiling as she did so. Switching into English, she continued, “I am Aiko Minamoto. Welcome to Tokyo, Potter-san, Higurashi-san, we've been expecting you. I trust your trip went smoothly?”

 

“Yes, it was just fine, thank you,” Harry supplied. “My friend Hermione Granger-Weasley speaks very highly of the Minister here.”

 

“Ah, yes, Weasley-san is a wonderful lady. She alerted us to the nature of your visit to Japan, and we would like you to know that we are at your service, Potter-san.” Minamoto-san continued. “Shall we begin with a translation spell, sir?”

 

“Translation spell?” Kagome asked, perplexed. “Oh! I forgot to teach you any Japanese, I just assumed I'd play translator for you.”

 

Harry threw her a lopsided grin. “Thankfully, no,” he teased and Kagome pouted.

 

“It's pretty standard fare for wizard travel these days.” A smirk blossomed on his face, “Don't tell anyone, but Ron had to have one cast on him when he and Hermione went to Paris for their honeymoon. He tried to speak French for about five minutes before Hermione gave up and forced him to have the spell cast on him.”

 

Kagome giggled as she tried to imagine Ron reading from a guidebook and speaking in incredibly broken French. “I'm assuming that's why you didn't ask me to teach you any Japanese before we left.”

 

“Yes, ma'am. I have heard stories about many an Englishman who came to Japan and thoroughly insulted someone without knowing it, so I decided to play it safe.” Harry explained. “All I picked up was that you address someone by the surname and not their given name unless you know them really well.”

 

“Japanese is not an easy language,” Kagome agreed.

 

“Although this should be interesting,” he added, gesturing to Minamoto-san, “I've never heard anyone perform a spell in another language before.”

 

Minamoto-san smiled politely, “It's quite simple really. The actual verbiage of the incantations don't matter; it's the intent behind the spells. The words are used as a mental focal point for the intention of the spellcaster. When the a spell is cast in England, according to the English tradition the spell is performed in Latin.” She took a beautiful long cherry wand out from the sleeve of her furisode, “When a spell is cast in Japan, the incantation is in Japanese.”

 

Pointing the wand at Harry, she waved it in a quick star shape before bowing and uttering, “Wakari Nihongo onegai shimasu.” A quick shower of silver sparks flew out of her wand and formed a halo around Harry before dissipating.

 

“Please say something in Japanese, Higurashi-san,” Minamoto-san instructed.

 

Kagome wracked her brain, “Sashimi wo tabemasu ka?” She supposed it was a decent question, considering she had no idea if he even liked sushi.

 

“What is sashimi? If I know what it is, I might be inclined to eat it,” Harry replied, smiling, while Kagome gawked. Harry now seemed to speak flawless Japanese, completely unaccented. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was a native speaker.

 

“Harry, that's incredible!” Kagome exclaimed excitedly, grateful to finally be able to converse with Harry in the language she was most comfortable in. “Your Japanese is perfect!”

 

“There is a caveat to the spell,” Minamoto-san interjected, also switching back to Japanese. “If there is no corresponding word in the language of the person whom the spell is cast upon, such as sashimi, then it will remain untranslated to the person's ear. You will likely still hear local food specialties and other concepts native to Japan in Japanese.”

 

“I suppose that makes sense,” Harry said, rubbing his chin. “What is sashimi, then?”

 

“Raw fish.” Kagome said and Harry made a face, which caused Minamoto-san and Kagome to chuckle. “It's really quite good.”

 

“I'll have to take your word on that,” Harry said, sticking his nose in the air.

 

“There is only one more thing,” Minamoto-san said as she dug into her other sleeve and extracted a small booklet and an envelope. “Here is your passport, Potter-san. It functions much like a normal passport with the exception of this particular button.” She opened it up to demonstrate and pointed out a bright red circle on the inside cover. “If you have any difficulties, just press this button and a member of the consulate will be able to assist you. In the envelope is a map of the city and some other tourist attractions you may be interested in seeing while you're here.” She handed the passport and the envelope to Harry.

 

“Thank you, Minamoto-san,” he said, pocketing the passport.

 

“Please have a lovely stay in Japan, sir,” she said, bowing again. “And welcome home, Higurashi-san.”

 

“Thank you very much, Minamoto-san,” Kagome said as she politely returned the bow before moving out of the landing area to a bench near the fountain, Harry in tow. “I have to say that it is quite nice to be able to speak to you in my native language and have you understand me,” she said, plopping down on the bench. “Can you continue to use the spell after we go back to London?”

 

“I don't know; I don't see why not,” Harry said, sitting down next to her.

 

“That's good to know,” Kagome replied. “Now, the next question is, where are we?”

 

Harry drew out the map from his pocket and opened it. She wasn't too surprised to discover that the map was magical. Each street was marked very clearly and she figured out that when she said a particular thing she was interested in, such as food or temples, the map immediately lit up with all the ones in the surrounding area. There were even two small figures labeled Higurashi-san and Potter-san corresponding to where they were.

 

“This is amazing Harry! I really may get used to this whole magic thing,” Kagome said. “Can you read this? It's in kanji.”

 

Harry peered closer at the map, “It looks like it's in plain English to me, Roman letters and all.”

 

Kagome was impressed. If only she'd had that spell when she'd first moved to England, maybe she wouldn't have had so much trouble those first few months.

 

After looking the map over thoroughly, she was able to identify the street they were on and then devised their route to the Shrine. The Ministry was clear on the other side of town from the Shrine and they would have to take the subway to nearby her old high school and then they would have to walk the rest of the way.

 

“It's odd though, I wonder how I missed this place?” she murmured.

 

“It's likely that it has a charm on it, perhaps a cloaking charm,” Harry explained. “That way, people who shouldn't be here can't just walk in. You have to know where you're going.”

 

Kagome nodded, “That makes sense.” She stood and stowed the map in one of the compartments of her bag. “You know, it occurred to me that I haven't called my mother. She doesn't even know I'm here.”

 

Harry grimaced, “Will she be upset?”

 

Kagome smiled. “Likely not. My mother is used to surprises from me by now,” she said wryly, as Harry stood and they began heading towards the door. “If we're lucky, my brother may be over for dinner as well.”

 

“Ah, yes, I remember you telling me about your brother that day on the underground. He's the soccer nut, right?” Harry said, following her through the glass doors and out into the busy Tokyo streets.

 

“That's Souta, alright,” Kagome said, directing him to turn left at the intersection ahead of them. “He's in his first year of college now at Tokyo University, and from what Mama tells me, he's never home.”

 

“From what I understand, that's fairly typical for a college student,” Harry responded and then paused. “Can I ask a silly question?”

 

“Sure,” Kagome frowned, trying to work her way through the crowds.

 

Harry grabbed her hand and moved closer as she immediately blushed from head to toe.

 

“What's with all the vending machines?”

 

Kagome just about lost it.

 

“No, really,” Harry said, trying very hard to keep a straight face. “There's one every one hundred feet.”

 

Regaining her composure enough to speak, she gasped out, “I don't know. Maybe we just don't like being thirsty.”

 

She wondered how many other quirks about Japan she'd forgotten about. She was suddenly overcome with the sheer joy of back. It had really been too long.

 

As they walked, Kagome pointed out the park she'd played at when she was a child and the bookstores she'd frequented as a teenager with her friends. They stopped at Wacdonald's for lunch and discussed the finer points of Japanese culture and the few cultural faux pas Harry would need to watch out for.

 

“So basically as long as I bow when I meet someone, address everyone by their surnames, don't stick my chopsticks straight up into my rice or attempt to pass food with my chopsticks, I should be fine?” Harry asked incredulously as he bit into his hamburger.

 

Kagome giggled and took as sip of her soda, “Yes, that's pretty much it. We may be known for politeness, but honestly, how hard is it to remember to be polite?”

 

Harry shrugged, “You haven't really been around the Weasley family. I don't really see them fitting in here very well.”

 

She thought about Ron's eating habits and figured that if he was anything like the rest of his family, Harry was undoubtedly correct about that.

 

After they finished eating, they gathered their belongings and emptied their food trays and continued their journey. When they finally reached the Shrine it was already well into the afternoon and the sun was setting over the hills behind the Shrine.

 

As they climbed the long set of stairs leading to the top, she laughed aloud at Harry cursing the steps she'd spent her whole life climbing, and it really sunk in that she was home.

 

When they finally reached the top she stopped and just drank in the site of it: the Ancient Tree, the Well House, the Shrine area, the house, it was all still there, just as if she'd never left.

 

Goshinboku never seems to age, regardless of the century.

 

A breeze blew through her hair and a leaf fluttered by, briefly touching on her shoulder before floating away on the breath of wind. There'd always been something about the shrine; that pure quiet of the mind that it brought out in her, even in the midst of the racket of the city, always soothed her spirit. It was here that her soul was renewed.

 

Harry also seemed to be affected by this place; his shoulders were less tense, his brow un-furrowed, even after the long climb. She reached out and touched her aura with his, something she hadn't consciously done in a long time, but she felt him react to the spiritual touch and then begin to settle into a deep calm.

 

She smiled. “Harry, are you ready?”

 

“Ready as I'll ever be,” he took in a deep breath and let it all out in a puff.

 

They walked up to the door to her house and rang the chime.

 

The door swung open and a very surprised Mama Higurashi appeared, “Kagome! Oh, Kagome! What are you doing here?” she cried excitedly, joyfully hugging her daughter. “I've missed you so much!”

 

Kagome hugged her mother back fiercely, “I've missed you too, Mama. It's very good to be home.”

 

Her mother stood back a bit to look at her, “Are you home for the summer? I thought finals weren't for a few weeks yet?” She glanced over Kagome's shoulder at Harry standing sheepishly behind her. “And who is this nice young man you have you brought home this time?” she asked, smiling gently.

 

Kagome's face burned. It was really only the once…

 

“I'm Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you,” Harry said, bending at the waist in the traditional bow. Kagome smiled gratefully at him for remembering.

 

“It's lovely to meet you as well, Potter-san. Won't you come in?” Higurashi-san said, opening the door wider for both of them to come in and letting them take their shoes off.

 

“I'm sorry the house is such a mess, I'm in the middle of making dinner,” she said as they walked into the kitchen.

 

“Oh, Mama, you have no idea how much I've missed your cooking,” Kagome said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “What's for dinner?”

 

“Tonkatsu,” Higurashi-san replied, returning the put bubbling on the stove. “And miso and rice, of course.”

 

“That sounds wonderful, Mama.” Kagome's stomach growled loudly.

 

“What is tonkatsu, Kagome?” Harry asked.

 

“Breaded pork cutlet,” Higurashi-san responded as she stirred the soup. “Are you one of Kagome's colleagues at the University, Potter-san? Your Japanese is rather good.”

 

Kagome and Harry shared a knowing glance, “Yes,” Kagome answered. “Harry is a fellow teacher. He is interested in the legend of the shikon no tama and I thought that since I was planning a surprise trip home, he should come with me,” she lied quickly, but her mother didn't seem to notice.

 

Higurashi-san nodded absently as she walked over to the pantry and dug out the rice. “I'm so sorry, dear, I'd love to chat some more, but I really must get dinner ready. Perhaps you could show Potter-san the grounds? Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

 

Kagome nodded. “I can show you Goshinboku.”

 

“Goshinboku?” Harry asked as he put his shoes back on and walked out into the late afternoon sunshine, Kagome close behind him.

 

“The ancient tree, over there,” she clarified, pointing. “The story of my life is written on that tree,” she said a little sadly. “I always felt that although the enshrinement to the kami was in the honden over on the far side of the grounds, I somehow knew that the spirit that the Shrine was built for was the spirit in this tree. The paper streamers mark the tree as sacred.”

 

“I know what you mean,” Harry said as walked up to get a better look and she saw him notice the barren area on the trunk. “Is this...?”

 

“Where Inuyasha was held fast by an arrow five hundred years ago?” she replied sadly. “Yes, it is.”

 

Kagome closed her eyes and reached out with her aura to touch Harry's again and felt him touch the hole in the bark where the arrow point had pierced the tree and the rush of energy from the tree to Harry almost overwhelmed her.

 

A vision of Inuyasha's deep gold eyes, hot and intense, flashed across her mind's eye, and for the first time in a very long time she wished desperately to know where he was and how he was doing and if he was happy. Hot tears gathered in her eyes and she tried willing them away, but one managed to escape and roll down her cheek.

 

Harry drew his hand away and looked at Kagome with an understanding and gentle expression on his face. “There is a lot of magic in this place,” he noted. “It fills me up with it, almost.”

 

“There's a lot of history to this place,” she answered. “We should go back inside, help my mother with setting the table.”

 

Harry agreed and followed her slowly back into the house.

 

Dinner went fairly smoothly, for the most part. Souta was unable to join them, although Kagome did get to speak with him on the phone for a bit and he promised to come over soon for dinner to see her, and her grandfather was his normal wacky self.

 

She amusingly observed Harry patiently listening to her grandfather explain all about the history of the Shrine and Shintoism in general from the sink while she and her mother cleaned up the dishes.

 

Harry actually rather seemed to enjoy the family atmosphere, it took her a moment to remember that he was not used to having family at all and it made her humble and grateful for having such a wonderful and understanding mother.

 

By the time she dried the last dish, Harry and her grandfather joined her in the kitchen and her mother re-appeared from upstairs.

 

“Kagome, I put the guest futon on the floor in your old room,” Higurashi-san said with a knowing smile.

 

“Wh.. what?” Kagome sputtered, surprised. Is she assuming Harry and I are together?

 

Seeming to read her thoughts, her mother quietly responded with a barely detectable smirk, “Well, that was where the last boy you brought home for extended visits stayed, although I will assume Potter-san would rather sleep on a futon than sitting up.”

 

Harry threw an extremely bewildered glance at Kagome, but she just smiled and shook her head and went to grab their bags from the front hall and wandered up the stairs to her old room.

 

The room hadn't changed much either. “You sure like pink, don't you?” Harry asked upon entering.

 

“Shut up,” Kagome glared at him. “I was teenaged girl once, what do you expect?”

 

They changed into their pajamas and settled into their respective sleeping places, although Kagome's heart panged briefly as she realized that she was going to miss Harry's weight in the bed with her. `Mustn't get ahead of yourself,' she reprimanded the voice in her head.

 

Harry yawned. “Is the small house next to the tree the house with the well in it? The well to the other era, I mean.”

 

“Yes,” she stretched out and pulled the comforter up to her chest and snuggled into her pillow.

 

“Is it sealed, do you think?”

 

Kagome frowned. “I don't know, actually. I haven't tried it. There were only two people who could go through the well: Inuyasha and myself. So either he didn't want to come find me, or he couldn't.” She sighed and rolled over to face Harry, letting her hand drop to the floor. “I have to admit I didn't really want to find out if it was the former.”

 

Harry's eyes were closed, but he managed to reach out and caught her hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.

 

“It's okay, Kagome,” he mumbled sleepily. “It's all okay now isn't it?”

 

Kagome took her hand back and closed her eyes.

 

Yeah, she thought as she drifted off, maybe it is.