InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Haunted Maze of Horrors ❯ Thriller Night ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

 

 

Chapter 3 – Thriller Night

 

 

 

It wasn't hard for Inuyasha to keep himself busy as he waited for the rest of the night to go by. Picking up the spectator sport of people watching, he observed from a quiet corner of the parking lot all of the other people who came and went. It wasn't really that bad of a festival, after all. Observing as the girl dressed up as the red-haired youkai continued her routine, sneaking up on some people and openly flirting with others, it didn't take Inuyasha long to notice that she had red eyes, as well. Sometimes they would catch in the parking lot lighting and shine almost just as brightly as a true youkai's eyes shined red at night.

 

I guess the humans can put makeup on their eyes, after all, he thought, thinking back on the miner with white eyes in the maze.

 

He was glad Kagome hadn't put any coloring over her eyes, or it might have taken him a moment longer to recognize her, although he supposed her saying his name would've been a dead give away...no pun intended.

 

Chuckling to himself as the 'werewolf' ran by a second time, still chasing after that same poor, defenseless schoolgirl who shrieked at the top of her lungs, the hanyou-turned-human did have to admit that Kagome had been right, after all. It was kind of fun. Watching as another male student dressed up as some kind of reptilian youkai lurked in the crowds, doing his best to sneak up on unsuspecting victims, Inuyasha thought that it didn't look so bad, being one of the actors at the festival whose job was to frighten other people.

 

Of course, he wasn't a fool. He was still on alert to make sure no bandits decided to show up and cause any real trouble using the fake screams as their cover, but so far everything seemed quiet in that regard. He was still a little on the fence about whether or not it was actually okay to allow himself to feel light and carefree for one night, but he had already told himself that he could feel guilty about it later if he wanted to. For right now, though, he was going to do his best to enjoy himself, whether he deserved it or not.

 

Besides, what would being miserable accomplish, truly? Yes, he still had responsibilities in his time, but they weren't going anywhere anyway while Kagome needed to be here to fulfill her responsibilities with her school, so when the choice became go along with her and at least try to have a good time versus sit by himself and brood in misery, was there really that much harm in allowing himself a moment of peace?

 

Besides, I did the brooding in misery thing last night. Time for something different.

 

He was well aware of the fact that it was most likely his human emotions that were aiding him with reaching such a conclusion, but for the time being, since he was still human, he honestly didn't care. What would happen once he turned hanyou again? He'd worry about that tomorrow.

 

Kagome found him easily enough once the haunted maze closed down for the night, approaching his position with all of her zombie makeup still intact.

 

“Don't worry, there's no way I'm walking home looking like this,” she told him behind a chuckle, pointing at her face. “Just came to let you know I was done. So if you want to come with me into the school for a minute, I'll wash up in one of the bathrooms real quick first and then we can go.”

 

Making a show of gagging at the decomposing appearance of her face, he answered, “Good, 'cause there ain't no way I'm walkin' home with you lookin' like that, either!”

 

Laughing good-naturedly, Kagome led Inuyasha through the back door of her school that had been left open for students to retrieve their belongings and change out of their costumes once the night was over. Leaving the hanyou-turned-human in the hall for only a moment, Kagome utilized the ability to change clothes quickly that she had picked up from her months of travel in the Feudal era, never knowing what...or sometimes simply who...might be spying in the bushes as she changed.

 

When her friends asked her who the raven-haired boy was waiting for her out in the hall, quickly remembering that they had already met her 'boyfriend' and knew that he had white hair, Kagome said that he was a friend of Inuyasha's she'd met a few times that she'd just happened to bump into in the maze, and that she'd decided to walk with him to be nice since his home was on her way.

 

Fortunately, they accepted her explanation without issue and let the matter drop. The miko had feared for a moment that they were going to ask her about Inuyasha in some capacity or another, but luckily the subject didn't come up. Reemerging from the girls' locker room once she was dressed in her normal clothing, Kagome quickly grabbed Inuyasha's hand and led him down the hall to the nearest unoccupied bathroom.

 

“Technically this is the girls' room, but since it's just the two of us you can come in if you want to. No one'll notice.”

 

Shrugging, Inuyasha complied, following Kagome into the brightly lit room full of toilets and sinks. Heading for the sink nearest the door, Kagome looked at herself in the mirror and quickly yanked off all of the various patches of latex on her face, the lotion she'd applied before anything else making the procedure a lot less uncomfortable. Tossing the latex pieces into the nearby trashcan, she then turned on the water and, leaning forward, proceeded to scrub at her face and neck with a squirt of hand soap. She figured it would be better to actually wash her face rather than using the makeup remover solution she had in her bag, for his nose's sake come sunrise.

 

Drying her face, Kagome then took a minute to run her brush through her hair, smoothing it down while dispelling the powder at the same time. Glancing back in the mirror, she felt she looked marginally more presentable.

 

“I still look like the walking dead,” she joked, making note of her red, irritated face and still somewhat frizzy hair.

 

Not to mention blackened teeth. Oops. Grabbing another paper towel she quickly wiped off the lipstick on her teeth, then reaching into her bag she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste.

 

“Okay, all ready, I suppose,” Kagome said after rinsing her mouth, giving herself one last look over in the mirror to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything else while running her tube of chapstick over her dry lips.

 

“Keh, you look fine.”

 

Smiling up at him, Kagome giggled at the way he immediately blushed when she reached forward to grab his hand.

 

“Come on, let's get you somewhere safe.”

 

“Ah-hah!” he teased as they exited the bathroom. “So you admit that your school isn't safe!”

 

Rolling her eyes, Kagome decided not to argue as she and Inuyasha left her school and headed down the sidewalk towards her home, still hand in hand.

 

It must be because of his human night, the miko reasoned, telling herself not to get her hopes up.

 

“So...” she started after a moment, waiting until she saw him glance her way before continuing. “Did you have a good time?”

 

“Keh. You mean, did you and your friends scare the crap outta me?”

 

She giggled.

 

“Yeah, I had a good time.”

 

“I'm glad,” she replied sincerely. “Life in your world right now, it's so intense, and while I'm not complaining, because I know I have just as much of a duty and responsibility to fulfill as you do, it's nice to be able to take a break, and at least pretend that everything is okay.”

 

She almost lost her footing when Inuyasha surprised her by suddenly squeezing her hand.

 

“Maybe...maybe everything really is okay.”

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

“Keh.” Stupid human emotions...

 

“I’m glad...” Kagome continued after a moment. “...that you decided to come 'spy' on me.”

 

“Oh yeah?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he cocked his head to the side, glancing her way. “You sure you're not just sayin' that 'cause you can't osuwari me for it yet?”

 

With a touch of amusement in her own voice, Kagome replied, “Yes, I'm sure.” Then wondering if she could get him to blush again, she added, “It really touched me, to know how deeply you care.”

 

“Feh!” he grumbled in embarrassment, yanking his hand free from her grasp as crimson stained his cheeks.

 

Giggling behind her hand and figuring she better change the subject before he clammed up completely, she asked, “So what are your plans for tomorrow night? Are you going to go back to your side of the well to wait for me? Or did you want to come down to my school again now that you know what it really is?”

 

“I...” he started, only to pause and truly give the matter some thought. “I could go back to that festival with you again, couldn't I?” he stated as though only just then realizing it, himself, at her words.

 

“MmmHmm...” Kagome answered in the affirmative, adding, “and since tomorrow is Halloween night, I was thinking that maybe afterwards, we could even wander around for a little while instead of heading straight back to the shrine, if you wanted to, since just about everyone roaming the streets will be in costume and you wouldn't have to worry about standing out with your hanyou features.”

 

Reaching a hand up into his hair, Inuyasha combed his fingers through his raven locks, which he'd pulled free from the hair tie he'd worn earlier, rubbing the spot of his head where his hanyou ears were usually located. As they continued to walk down the sidewalk, Kagome went on to explain that instead of just hanging out as a guest, he could even officially work at the haunted house, if he wanted to, because they were allowed to bring friends. It was all just volunteer work, after all; giving extra credit was just an incentive to give most students a reason to volunteer when they otherwise wouldn't want to 'waste' their holiday.

 

Most of the volunteers actually came in the form of the students who had helped to build the haunted maze in the first place. It was surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) hard to find kids willing to work it come Halloween night.

 

“I'll think about it,” he told her then, as they reached the bottom of the shrine steps, glancing away shyly at the way she beamed up at him at his words.

 

Kagome knew that 'I'll think about it' meant yes, because if the answer was no he would have most certainly said so.

 

Wishing he had his hanyou strength in that moment, so that he could launch both he and Kagome to the top of the stairs in a single bound, he didn't say anything negative about his human limitations aloud as he instead walked quietly with the girl up the stone steps, making their way to her family's home one step at a time.

 

Tiptoeing their way inside the genkan, Kagome wordlessly bent down to assist Inuyasha with removing his shoes before then slipping off her own. Padding into the dimly lit living room in twin sets of socks, a single lamp having been left on so that Kagome could see when she got back home, the hanyou-turned-human silently followed Kagome up the stairs and towards her bedroom, relieved that her mother apparently hadn't decided to stay up for her since he wasn't sure how he'd have explained his presence after having snuck out after Kagome in secret. He didn't see the elder Higurashi woman smiling in the doorway to the kitchen as she quietly sipped her tea in the dark.

 

Reaching Kagome's bedroom, Inuyasha let the miko head in first so that the girl could change into her pajamas, while he bugged Souta, who honestly didn't mind getting up to help his hero change back into his own wardrobe. Entering Kagome's bedroom himself once he was dressed in his traditional fire-rat clothing, there was some mild arguing when Inuyasha attempted to take up his customary position on the floor leaning against the wall, Kagome insisting that, since he was currently human, it would be much better for him to lie down in a real bed for the night.

 

Of course, that softly spoken argument led to Inuyasha's insistence that he had no intention of getting any sleep, anyway, so it didn't matter, which Kagome immediately combated with her insistence that he should get whatever rest he could get while he could get it, knowing all too well how hard it usually was for him to allow himself any measurable amounts of slumber while out on the road.

 

The hanyou-turned-human relented, eventually, since he knew she wouldn't 'shut up about it' until he complied, he claimed, crawling into Kagome's bed with a deep crimson staining his cheeks. Blushing lightly herself at the notion of sharing her bed with a boy, Kagome remained firm in her belief that Inuyasha needed the rest. Not wishing to make him feel any more uncomfortable than she could tell he already did, she resisted her desire to snuggle against him, knowing she had no business getting so familiar with him while so many aspects of their relationship remained unspoken. Scooting towards the wall, then, she allowed Inuyasha as much space on the narrow bed as she could muster.

 

Kagome awoke the following morning shortly after dawn, not truly surprised to find that Inuyasha's side of the bed was already empty, though it did bring a smile to her lips when she also discovered that his side of the bed was still warm. He hadn't crawled back down to the floor last night after she'd fallen asleep. Heading downstairs. she found the inu-hanyou, restored to all his demonic glory, sitting quietly at the kitchen table while her mother worked on that morning's breakfast preparations.

 

Inuyasha glanced her way for a moment as she entered the kitchen, and then promptly looked away again as a light crimson dusted his cheeks. He had woken up at the crack of dawn, his transformation back into a hanyou pulling him from the deepest slumber he could ever remember experiencing. Then, upon realizing he had just slept in Kagome's bed, all night long, lying next to the miko herself, no less, he had bolted from her room before he could think, too afraid of what he might want to do were she to awaken and greet him while they'd remained lying next to one another.

 

He wasn't the pervert, but he'd had a vision of leaning over her and giving her a good morning kiss, and he knew he couldn't afford to think of such nonsense while there were still so many uncertainties regarding their mission on his side of the well.

 

As distracted as he'd been in his desire to get away from Kagome before she woke, he'd completely forgotten that the rest of her family, save for Souta, was not aware of his current presence in their house. Or at least, that had been what he'd believed until Mrs. Higurashi had bid him a pleasant good morning, offering him a cup of tea while she went about fixing breakfast. She'd grinned at him knowingly, but had fortunately left the subject alone, so accepting the tea with a light blush he'd taken a seat at the table to await the morning meal, secretly rejoicing in how Kagome's mother always managed to make him feel welcome.

 

It was true that there were many uncertainties both he and Kagome still faced in the past, so now wasn't the time for daydreaming of a peaceful future in the company of people who loved and accepted him, but at least knowing that such people existed gave him a reason to keep fighting, to keep striving for the day when such a future would no longer be a fantasy.

 

Still, as irresponsible as it might have seemed, for at least one more night, for that night, he would continue to allow himself to feel happy and have fun. Yes, it had originally been his human emotions that had made him susceptible to the allure of being playfully frightened just for the fun of it, or maybe even being the one doing the frightening, but now that he was a hanyou again, he had decided that he still didn't honestly think it was that much of a waste of time.

 

Well, admittedly, he would have insisted that it was a pointless waste of time if it weren't for the fact that Kagome actually needed to do it for her grades, regardless of how fun it actually was, but so since she really did need to be there as a part of her schooling, anyway, what was so wrong with allowing oneself to enjoy an extracurricular assignment? And so yeah, he wasn't a student at her school, but nobody else needed to know that, and even if they figured it out, she had said they were allowed to bring friends.

 

Keh, minor details, he thought with a mental shrug as he continued to sip his tea in silence, watching with a lazy half-smile as Kagome assisted her mother with breakfast.

 

Now that he knew just how much fun her school festival could really be, he was actually looking forward to going back with his hanyou powers intact, and actually working there instead of just going as a visitor again. Kagome had explained the night before that it would be okay for him to officially get on the team, as it were. Now, as he observed the happy way in which the miko bounced around the kitchen, already starting to talk with her mother about how much fun tonight was going to be, he couldn't decide which one of them was looking forward to it more.

 

Breakfast was a peaceful affair. Inuyasha ended up coming clean to her mother, playfully, about the 'prank' he'd intended to pull on Kagome the night before, editing it so that it seemed more like he'd just wanted to surprise her rather than spy on her in his overprotective jealousy with intent on dragging her out of there if he hadn't liked what he saw. Of course, he left out the part about attacking her in his moment of blind panic, though he did razz Souta that he'd gotten him good with his own prank, since Kagome had most certainly gotten the drop on him.

 

Openly discussing their plans for him to actually work at the school fair with Kagome for its final night, the miko's grandfather even cracked a smile when he said how if there was one thing Inuyasha was good at, besides lifting heavy boxes, it was looking like the youkai monster that he was. Mrs. Higurashi attempted to reprimand her father-in-law for his cruel words, but surprisingly enough Inuyasha took no offense. Jii-chan had said that he looked like a youkai; the hanyou had actually taken it as a compliment.

 

Since there wasn't really all that much that needed to be done in the way of preparation for the upcoming third and final night of the maze, Kagome and Inuyasha headed out during the day to get some much needed shopping out of the way, after she took a quick shower, of course. The lingering scents of latex and other chemicals on her skin still bothered his nose, not to mention all of the mingled scents of the various 'victims' she'd latched on to throughout the night, though Inuyasha had actually been pretty good about it, much to the miko's relief. Discreetly crinkling his nose when he thought she wasn't looking, Inuyasha actually hadn't mentioned anything about it at all, and so Kagome had pleasantly surprised him by revealing that she hadn't forgotten, showering first having been her idea.

 

It had truthfully only bothered him as strongly as it had that first night because he hadn't been expecting it and he had been confused. Now that he at least knew what all of the scents were, it didn't really bother him all that much that some of them still clung to her, although it was greatly appreciated when she opted to hop in the shower before heading out, anyway. Heading down to the grocery store, then, they stocked up on some run of the mill supplies they would need for their mission in his time, including more ramen and other food items, first aid items, matches, and batteries for her flashlight.

 

Inuyasha was delighted that Kagome didn't force him to wear the hat, saying how even though the holiday was traditionally only celebrated at night, the fact that it was Halloween day excused his appearance well enough. Nobody would suspect that he was a real youkai, at least. In fact, Inuyasha received several mixed reactions while they were out, including everything from people whispering behind his back that he was too old for playing dress-up, to teasing him to his face that he was a fanatic for dressing up so early in the day, to even down right complementing him on how 'realistic' his costume looked, but suspicious or uneasy glances were not among any of the looks shot his way while he and Kagome were shopping.

 

Speaking of the miko, she was totally psyched by the time they headed down to her school. Finding one of the teachers as soon as they arrived, she quickly introduced Inuyasha, explaining that he was a home-schooled friend of hers that wanted to help out just for the fun of it. They could certainly use an extra set of clawed hands out in the parking lot, the teacher agreed, so thanks to the quality of his 'costume' he was officially put on line duty, which was what he had requested. The maze would bother his nose too much, and besides, there was really nowhere convenient within the maze to stick him, anyway, since all of the intended positions had already been filled.

 

Being another person wandering the parking lot and getting people in 'the mood' was perfect for him. This way, he was officially now on the list of non-student volunteers, so that nobody else from the school would think he was just some random weirdo who had taken it upon himself to show up and start harassing the other guests.

 

Some of the guests were in costumes too, after all, though not very many. But that was why both Kagome and her mother had originally invited Inuyasha down as a guest on Friday night, knowing that he would have been accepted as a guest who had merely decided to dress up. Now that he would actively be working on freaking out the other guests waiting in line, however, he needed to be on the list as a volunteer so that he didn't get in any trouble with the school.

 

There were also a few rules he needed to follow.

 

Mainly, he was allowed to touch people, gently, but he was not allowed to be too rough with anyone, even if someone was too rough with him. Even if somebody up and decked him one, he wasn't allowed to swing back. Remembering how he had momentarily freaked out and attacked Kagome, his ears lowered in shame, though thankfully the teacher didn't notice as he then went on to explain how snacks were not free to the volunteers, so he better not be caught helping himself to a soda or candy bar without paying for it. That wasn't going to be a problem, the hanyou thought as he patted the small pouch in his robes.

 

Inuyasha always forgot how complicated everything was in Kagome's time, so he was really glad he had decided to openly acknowledged his desire to go back with the miko, now, rather than telling her no out of some twisted sense of pride only to sneak back down there himself to have some fun once she was already tucked within the maze and wouldn't be aware of his presence. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally get Kagome in any kind of trouble with her sensei, if he got in any trouble with one of the teachers and it later came out that he knew Kagome and was only really there because of her.

 

Having also let Kagome's family know of their plans, Mrs. Higurashi had surprised him by slipping him some money, so paying for a snack, should he happen to want one, definitely wouldn't be a problem. He hadn't spent all of Souta's money the night before, but what he hadn't used he'd already given back to the boy last night, figuring he hadn't needed it anymore. But Kagome's mother had insisted, for which he was grateful, saying it was for whatever he wanted, just in case. It was Halloween, after all, a night for treating oneself to exceedingly high levels of sugar.

 

Snorting to himself in amusement as he'd easily detected the not-so-subtle sarcasm in her voice as she'd glanced in Souta's direction while making her statement, Inuyasha had accepted Mrs. Higurashi's generosity with a nod of thanks.

 

Smirking as Kagome emerged from the girl's locker room in all her zombie glory, Inuyasha walked with her for a moment as she got into position in the maze. It was a different experience all over again to see the interior of the maze with all of the lights on and his youkai vision intact. With his vision remaining in color, he had a much more vivid experience in the polka dot room, the fluorescent colors almost literally jumping out at him, though thanks to his enhanced sight he could also easily make out the shadowed figure lurking in the corner, noting the distortions in the black background that gave away the student's shape as he stood with his back up against the wall.

 

Inuyasha barked out a laugh at the way all of Kagome's latex scabs glowed like his claws under the blacklight, making her look more like somebody who had been splashed in the face with radioactive acid, though of course he didn't think of that analogy. He just thought she looked funny.

 

The faintest hint of blood was still detectable in the air, though nowhere near as much as would be present were the giant crimson splashes all over the 'murder' scene real blood. Upon his concerned inquiry, Kagome explained that while she didn't know of anyone who'd gotten hurt, a few cuts and scrapes were bound to happen here and there while constructing the whole thing. He shrugged it off then, figuring that she was probably right and knowing that whatever it was, the traces were much too faint to indicate anyone had been seriously injured. Since it wasn't Kagome's blood, he wasn't going to worry about it.

 

Heading out of the maze via one of the discreet 'employees only' doors after parting ways with Kagome, Inuyasha met up with his fellow monsters in the back of the parking lot. The werewolf and schoolgirl were all set to do their occasional run-bys, and then there was also Yuka the Oni, and that other male student dressed up as some kind of reptilian youkai. Nobody gave Inuyasha any trouble for joining the team on the last day. In fact, Yuka was happy to see that 'Kagome's boyfriend' had been able to get out for the night, since the miko had previously explained to her three school friends that Inuyasha lived at a rural shrine that was very far away.

 

The story was that they had met when Kagome had been sent to his shrine for the first time, for their knowledge in ancient medicines, because of all of her chronic illnesses. Fortunately, Inuyasha was more or less familiar with the story her friends had been told regarding how he and Kagome knew each other, though being referred to as the miko's boyfriend had his cheeks darkening a bit. Luckily for him, the humans couldn't see very well in the low lighting of twilight, and so nobody noticed.

 

“All right, show time,” the faux lizard-youkai said with a smirk as the crowds started lining up.

 

It didn't take Inuyasha long to get into the swing of things. Sneaking up on the backside of one of the concession stands, he winked at the student working the booth, taking money in exchange for sodas or candy. Creeping around the side of the small, portable building, he was ready and waiting when the first group of people left the booth with their purchases. Suddenly, there he was, fangs bared and hand raised in a deadly gesture as he growled at them while flexing his claws. A couple of the girls squeaked while everyone in the group jumped back a pace in surprise, and then laughing, they gathered themselves and headed over towards the line to buy tickets, occasionally glancing back over their shoulders at Inuyasha, who glared at them murderously...at least until they finally stopped looking his way.

 

Then a slow grin found its way up his lips, as he darted off in search of his next victims.

 

Several more times he snuck up on unsuspecting people in much the same fashion, lurking in the shadows while planning his timing just right so that when his chosen prey turned around he would be standing right behind them, snarling in their faces. Nobody could understand how he could move so quietly, so quickly, but his fellow monsters observed in amusement as his subtle stalking technique worked every time.

 

Several times Inuyasha even made the other guests laugh as he'd pick one unsuspecting victim and trail them for a minute or two, staying so closely behind them that they couldn't help but feel like they were being followed, yet every time they turned around they saw nothing as Inuyasha was able to match their movements flawlessly. They only saw him when he wanted them to see him, when they would spin around only to come face to face with his snarling visage.

 

Finding himself a smart ass who held himself with an air of being unflappable, Inuyasha growled in the man's face, baring his fangs, only to receive criticism that his makeup wasn't very creative. Growling even louder then, in a decibel quickly nearing what was beyond human capability, Inuyasha knew he couldn't risk doing anything to tip the guy off to the fact that his 'uncreative' makeup wasn't really makeup at all, but he had no problem cutting it close.

 

Folding his ears back, an action that could theoretically be excused with electronics, the hanyou made a show of inhaling deeply before pulling his lips back in a wicked smile, showing off his gum line and just how realistic his 'uncreative' fangs really looked. Then he grumbled in a deep, smoker's voice no fifteen-year-old should be able to replicate, “Good...don't be afraid yet. It will make your scent of terror much more potent when it finally comes.”

 

He then lifted his right hand, his claws shining in the outdoor lighting as he slowly curled his fingers inward, loudly popping every knuckle. With the man's scent spiking with both uncertainty and nervousness, he pretended to blow off Inuyasha's display before turning and heading towards the nearest concession stand at a much faster pace than what was necessary.

 

Inuyasha watched him go, his predatory eyes narrowed calculatingly when the man dared gaze over his shoulder in the inu-hanyou's direction. Inuyasha didn't know it, but his eyes caught the parking lot lighting just right in that moment, reflecting back at the man with a demonic red sheen. The man quickly turned back around and didn't glance in Inuyasha's direction a second time.

 

Another youkai with red eyes currently prowling the parking lot came up on the hanyou in that moment, though Inuyasha easily heard Yuka's approach.

 

“That was pure genius,” she complemented, not surprised in the least when Inuyasha didn't start at the sound of her voice coming from right behind him. He always seemed to know when one of them was approaching.

 

Turning around casually, Inuyasha flashed Kagome's friend a cocky smirk before replying with his trademark, “Keh.”

 

“Guys, we've got company,” the lizard-youkai said in that moment, coming up to them from the side and pointing towards a group of older students heading their way.

 

“High schoolers...” Yuka groaned.

 

Inuyasha's ears flicked at her tone. He knew what high school was, it was the next level of schooling after their own – he had better remember that much with as often as Kagome yammered on about her entrance exams – so these boys were a couple of years older than most everyone else, Inuyasha realized in that moment, a growing feeling of protectiveness bubbling in his gut at the way the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds sneered in their direction.

 

He didn't think of Kagome's classmates as children in need of protection, in that regard. Back in his time so-called 'kids' were deemed adults at ages even younger than Kagome and her friends. He thought of Kagome as an adult, albeit a young one, and Sango and Miroku, who were only a little bit older, were in the same age group as the approaching high school students, though the slayer and monk were most definitely adults in his world.

 

No, he didn't think of Kagome's classmates as children in need of protecting, but if the approaching 'high schoolers' saw them as children, and as such, prey for bullying, then he would protect them all the same. He remembered well what it was like to be a child and to be tormented by children older than him.

 

“Lookie here, guys. A kiddie fair,” one of said high school students proclaimed as they entered the lot, his buddies snickering behind him.

 

People must be considered 'children' in Kagome's time longer 'cause it takes 'em longer to mature without all the hardships of my century... the hanyou hypothesized, thinking of all the spoils of Kagome's world that meant that nobody had to work anywhere near as hard as they did in his. Kagome had certainly matured a great deal since first entering his world and beginning their journey together; there was just something about facing a life of battle and bloodshed that forced young people to grow up in a hurry, he supposed.

 

Deciding to give the high schoolers a wide berth and observe them from afar, Inuyasha knew that, technically, the older students were also considered children in Kagome's century, and if there was one thing he had learned back when he'd been a child it was that kids could be even crueler than adults.

 

Heading up to a snack booth and buying themselves each a soda, the five high school boys continued to talk amongst themselves, loudly, over how boring and pointless the haunted house was.

 

“It's even lamer than I remembered,” one of them said, gesturing to the building behind them.

 

“Well if you don't like it then you don't have to be here,” one of the junior high students waiting in line for a soda replied in disgust.

 

“What did you say?” another one of the high school boys asked in return, an edge to his voice as he began walking towards the junior high kid.

 

“You leave him alone!” Yuka snapped right away, momentarily breaking character to come to her classmate's defense as she stomped towards the bullies.

 

Relaxing his posture, the high school boy eyed Yuka up and down, whistling appreciatively, which had the fifteen-year-old wrapping her arms around herself in a subconscious gesture of self-preservation.

 

“Well, lookie what we have here,” he said with a smirk, glancing back at his buddies who all laughed in agreement. “And what are you supposed to be, little girl?” he teased.

 

“Wouldn't you like to know?” she replied defiantly, baring her fangs.

 

Inuyasha had to give it to the girl, she had spunk, though his ears were trained fully in their direction to make sure the situation didn't escalate out of control. Despite the boy's initial and somewhat suggestive commentary, the inu-hanyou could detect no sexual arousal from any of the males. It was more as if they considered Yuka synonymous with their own annoying little sisters.

 

“Don't make me laugh,” the seventeen-year-old said then, announcing, “Your thousand-yen wig is almost as bad as your five-hundred-yen fangs. And those flea market contacts? Please.”

 

Bristling, Yuka demanded, “If you're going to act like this then you can just leave.”

 

“Now now...” he soothed patronizingly. “We are paying customers, after all, so you had better be nice to us.”

 

True to their word, and much to Yuka's – and everyone else's – dismay, the group of high school boys proceeded to buy tickets for entry into the maze.

 

Oh well, there's one every year, the schoolgirl thought in regard to there always being at least one group of people who acted like total jerks in the maze, talking as if it, and indeed the entire school fair, was nothing but one big joke.

 

In fact, she was actually a little surprised that they hadn't had any such groups the previous two nights, though of course Halloween night was always by far the busiest. So long as they were paying customers, and so long as they didn't cause any real trouble, Yuka knew there was nothing any of the supervising teachers would do to force the boys to leave. It was better to just humor them until they got bored and left on their own.

 

Waiting in line to get into the maze, the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds continued to talk amongst themselves, reminiscing, in a derogatory way, about their previous experiences with the maze from last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. Apparently, even when they had been in junior high, themselves, the maze had still been totally lame, according to them, and only the 'biggest losers' of the whole school had actually signed up to work at the thing.

 

Waiting in line behind the high school kids was a small group of three boys all around Souta's age. Rolling their eyes and casting each other annoyed glances, they were not too thrilled about following behind the high schoolers in the maze. They were already envisioning being unable to escape their unwanted commentary during the entire experience. Because there were so many more people present for the third and final night of the haunted house, they were sending separate groups of people in much closer together than they had been the previous two nights, everyone working within the maze having to work double-time to make sure that their pranks still reached every visitor as they were meant to. There was simply no time for dillydallying with their line as large as it was, expanding across nearly the entire parking lot.

 

As the high school boys came up to the front of the line and handed their tickets to the girl working the door, one of them teased her, “Don't work too hard now,” as the others all laughed. Biting her tongue, she didn't let them affect her as she collected the last of their tickets, sending them on their way with a feeling of sympathy for her classmates working the maze.

 

“Uwan!” the eldest boy shouted as they entered the long corridor, earning high-fives from his buddies.

 

Coming into the room that was done up to look like a private study, another boy shouted, “Oh no! It was all a trick to get us to read!”

 

As the younger boys entered the maze behind them, they groaned to themselves and vowed not to let the jerks in front of them ruin their night.

 

Entering the hallway of paintings, the high schoolers talked loudly amongst themselves about how one of those paintings was surely rigged to fall.

 

“Which one is it? Come on, show yourself!” one of them said.

 

The fifteen-year-old boy working the trick painting wanted to drop it and show them the bird, but he stayed professional and did his duty, letting the screen slide away to reveal him in his mask, roaring at the older teens who Ooo'd and Aww'd sarcastically. Rolling his eyes behind his mask, he pulled the lever and put his painting pack into position.

 

Coming into the room with Ayumi lying as a lifeless murder victim on a table, Kagome's school friend had to literally bite the inside of her cheek to keep from scrunching her face up into any kind of expression as the high school boys all crowded around her, her serial killer doing an admirable job staying in-character since it was actually his job in the maze to yell at people to leave him and his 'girlfriend' alone.

 

“I like my women more lively, anyway,” the eldest high school boy said with a shrug as his group moved on into the room of dots.

 

“Trip out!” one of them said behind a laugh, waving his hands in front of his face as though he were high.

 

“Ooo, look at all the pretty colors!” another one snickered.

 

“Just what was in that can of soda?” a third one asked, feigning a worried edge to his voice as his friends chuckled.

 

Spotting the camouflaged student as he approached their group, two of the high school boys pointed and faked a terrified scream, running towards the exit while holding their stomachs in laughter, their friends coming up behind them also laughing and talking about how much of a loser that kid had to be if he were even too ugly to play a youkai or a ghost. Instead, the school had to cover his entire face with fabric. How sad was that?

 

Entering the spinning tunnel hallway, the boys continued to laugh, waving their hands around in the air as they had fun playing with the effects of the strobe light, again pretending that they were on drugs.

 

Coming into the coal mine next, when the miner paused in his swinging to turn and glance back at the people who had just entered his realm, like an intelligent ghost, one of the boys shouted, “Get back to work! I don't pay you to stand around gawking!”

 

When the projection of the other ghost miner kicked on, shining against the sidewall, he added, “Like that guy. Now there's a hard worker.”

 

Snickering, they moved on into the chamber of vampires, flirting with the female vampire and accusing the two male vampires of cock-blocking. They were completely oblivious to the three younger boys trailing behind them who kept on trying to let the high school boys get farther ahead, though it was nearly impossible with the way the older teens continually slowed down to poke fun at every single thing as they passed.

 

Entering the tunnel of darkness, one of the boys said “Hold on,” as he made a grab for his cell phone, all five high schoolers laughing as they used the light from their phones to see where they were going. They each ignored it when a fine stream of air blew across their necks, though a couple of the seventeen-year-olds got caught off guard by the shifting floorboards, causing their other friends to snicker.

 

“Surf's up!” one of the two who'd nearly lost his balance said after a second, easily ignoring how it'd gotten him as he commented on how stupid he thought the shifting floorboard really was.

 

When the recorded whisper of “I can see you...” played in their ears, the eldest boy grabbed his crotch and said, “Can you see this?” causing his other friends to high-five each other again.

 

Exiting past the curtain, all five boys cringed at the bright flash that went off in their faces, though they were quick to play it off as they cried out “My eyes!” and “I'm blind!” while chuckling loudly. When the leader of the group walked into the thread he paused for a moment, instinctively wiping at his face.

 

“Dude, what's the matter?” one of his friends asked in an amused tone.

 

“Nothing man,” he brushed off quickly, smirking as he grabbed at the thread and added, “For a second there I just had this confused with the spiderwebs between your mom's legs.”

 

“Oh snap!” another of the boys commented.

 

“Oh no you didn't,” said the boy whose mother had just been insulted, although he was also laughing as he tried to come up with a comeback.

 

Laughing amongst themselves for a moment as they slowly made their way down the 'lame' corridor towards the 'lame' graveyard, they were not expecting anybody to jump out at them right at that moment.

 

It was all Kagome could do not to laugh as she launched herself at the older teens, latching on to the closest one while snarling loudly in his face. Undeniably caught off guard and genuinely surprised, the seventeen-year-old yelled before he could stop himself, an instinctive reaction that proved contagious when his four friends also cried out in that split second it took them to realize what was happening.

 

Then, before they could even decide whether to laugh at themselves in acceptance of having been momentarily 'surprised', or come up with something witty to say to quickly get the loser fake zombie back at her own game, it was the sound of boisterous laughter coming from behind them that drew everyone's attention, as the three elementary school boys who had been trailing behind them the whole time laughed their asses off at having witnessed the high schoolers getting punked by the junior high zombie.

 

Eyes narrowing, the boy whose arm was still in Kagome's grip yanked himself out of her grasp in that moment to glare back at the three younger boys.

 

“Just what the hell do you brats think is so damn funny?!” he demanded.

 

“You!” the bravest of the three boys Souta's age replied, still laughing.

 

Embarrassed, and pissed off because of it, the seventeen-year-old started to take a step back in the grade schoolers' direction, his four friends on his side as they all shot murderous glances at the gulping younger boys, but Kagome's voice in that moment warning them, “One more step and I'll call a teacher,” stilled their feet.

 

Turning back to glare at the ug-mo covered in latex, one of the high schoolers grinned mischievously before asking sarcastically, “Aren't you guys all supposed to be in costume? How'd they let you in here without any makeup on?”

 

Rolling her eyes at the weak insult, the miko replied, “Kindly move along or I will move you along.”

 

Crossing his arms, he replied, “And if I refuse?”

 

Ignoring the brief shriek coming from the tunnel of darkness, indicating the pending arrival of even more visitors to her section, Kagome raised an eyebrow at the high schoolers before stepping back towards her pocket in the wall. The older teens all started snickering to themselves, thinking she was tucking herself away in defeat as she'd run out of ideas, until she reemerged with a small walkie-talkie in hand.

 

“Come on, let's get out of here,” one of them said in a bored tone of voice, shooting one last glare in Kagome's direction before heading out of her corridor and into the graveyard beyond.

 

The three boys around Souta's age all high-fived the miko as they passed, and then fortunately, enough of a gap still remained between them and the next group that by the time the next guests made it around to her position, although she could not jump out and surprise them, she was at least able to throw on a snarl that successfully creep out the young girl accompanied by her parents. Giving Kagome a wide berth with playfully nervous expressions as they made their way past her and into the graveyard beyond, Kagome smirked to herself that she hadn't lost her touch before quickly tucking herself back into her pocket again, ready to put those high school jerks out of her mind and get back into the swing of things.

 

Outside in the parking lot, Inuyasha had been loitering near the exit to the maze, having fun spooking everybody as they exited while secretly waiting for the five high school boys to reemerge. Catching their scents and grinning as he recognized the lingering stench of fear and humiliation mixed in with their sweat, it wasn't hard for the inu-hanyou to figure out that somebody – most likely his Kagome, he thought with a wider grin – had gotten the drop on them.

 

Waiting until they were literally seconds away from exiting, Inuyasha made sure he was off to the side enough that they could not see him as they approached, as he began growling deeply in the pit of his chest at a level far beyond the capacity of human vocal cords. So far he'd been very careful not to overdo it on the whole 'youkai' shtick, but he would make an exception for these guys. Especially since nobody else was close enough at the moment to hear him.

 

“Dude, what the hell is that?!” one of the boys asked his friends as they exited the maze. It almost sounded like there was a tiger growling at them.

 

Whatever it was, the rumbling was so deep that they could almost feel it more than they could hear it. They were not expecting to see the kid in the red kimono suddenly appear in their faces. They remembered seeing Inuyasha before going into the maze, though he'd been keeping to himself before, when that redheaded oni chick had decided to get up in their faces for no reason.

 

Of course, she'd been more figuratively in their faces, not the mere two inches away that Inuyasha was in that moment.

 

Instinctively, each of the five high school boys stepped back in surprise when they turned at the exit to see him standing right there in front of them. The deep rumbling stopped in that same instant, and three of the five boys began glancing around for where the hidden speaker was located. It was obvious to them that the junior high punk wanted them to think he had actually been growling at them himself, but they weren't that stupid.

“Just what the hell is your problem?” one of them snapped after a moment.

 

Inuyasha merely raised an eyebrow.

 

Heh, bit jumpy are we? Kagome must've gotten 'em good...

 

“Who said I had a problem?” he asked casually, in his normal timbre, before switching his voice to that deep demonic rumble he was capable of producing. “You'll know if I have a problem,” he added in that low grumbling voice that sounded wholly not his own.

 

Two of the seventeen-year-olds exchanged uncertain glances back and forth, but the other three high schoolers were unimpressed.

 

Just in that moment, the three younger boys around Souta's age exited the maze behind them, snickering one more time in the older teens' direction before heading off on their own. Inuyasha raised his eyebrow a second time at the younger boys' attitude towards the high schoolers, wondering just what, exactly, had taken place within the maze. His amusement was not lost on the five boys who immediately forgot all about that inhuman growl and the way he'd changed his voice.

 

“Hmph, losers,” one of them proclaimed, in regard to everybody else in general, before waving his arm at his companions. “Come on, let's get out of here. This place bites.”

 

Familiar with the slang expression thanks to his experiences with Souta, Inuyasha still chose to comment, “You got that right,” as he snapped his jaws at them, his teeth clanking together loudly.

 

Doing their best to ignore whom they believed to be just another fifteen-year-old punk, the high school boys attempted to regain as much of their pride as they could muster in that moment, as they shrugged past Inuyasha and exited the school grounds, much to the relief of Kagome's classmates who had been observing from afar.

 

Catching Inuyasha's attention from across the parking lot, Yuka flashed the hanyou a victory sign before getting back to her own duties. While he didn't specifically understand the gesture, he knew it meant that Kagome's friend was pleased that the high school boys were leaving without any additional hassle. Promptly putting the group of punks out of his mind, Inuyasha too got back to his own duties in that moment, which presently consisted of scaring the next group of guests exiting the maze.

 

For the rest of the night, Inuyasha couldn't have stopped having fun for anything less than Naraku suddenly showing up in Kagome's time. Going back to his original game plan after a while, of sneaking up on new arrivals as they bought snacks or tickets for the maze, he continued to have no difficulty with creeping up behind people undetected, much to the amusement of the other guests who could observe his actions from their places in line.

 

He even managed to have fun messing with the younger children without getting reprimanded by anyone's parents for being too mean. One girl, perhaps a tad bit younger than Souta, showed up dressed like a cat. He barked at her, earning himself a moment of laughter from the girl before she quickly played along, hissing and growling in return in a pretty convincing feline fashion, for a human.

 

Learning with Yuka's help – who thought he was wearing special contacts – how to tilt his head just right to capture the light of the parking lot lamps, Inuyasha began deliberately allowing his eyes to glow red as he gazed across the lot at his retreating victims, adding to his demonic appearance even more. There was no short supply of new victims to sneak up on from behind, and a few of the girls closer to Kagome's age who'd acted especially frightened of him he even caught a second time around on their way out of the maze, going back to his temporary post of standing guard by the exit.

 

He never had any trouble recognizing the scent of a specific person he was looking for as they approached the exit to the maze. It was hot in the makeshift pressboard building, and most of the humans exited smelling of sweat, which amplified everyone's unique scent all the more. Because the visitors were not covered in the chemical smell of latex and makeup, their sweat was all he needed to identify them as they approached his position. Not to mention the leftover splash of fear in their scents courtesy of Kagome.

 

Kagome..

 

Who knew his sweet, innocent, naive Kagome had such a wicked inner demon lying in wait all this time? He would've thought this was the sort of event that would have appalled her, the miko even going so far as to lecture everyone else on how it wasn't nice to trick people.

 

Not that he could rightfully say he was disappointed in her to learn otherwise.

 

He couldn't speak for everyone when it came to having an inner demon, but considering that he actually was half demon, there was definitely a wickedness within Inuyasha that was immensely enjoying her school's festivities. Only because it wasn't real, of course. There was no danger of him suddenly getting the itch to scare innocent people back in his own time. Not where they knew he really was a monster, and they really would be afraid of him.

 

The one thing Inuyasha wanted above all else was to belong, to be accepted and treated no differently from anyone else. But he had that here in Kagome's time, while pretending to be the monster that he secretly really was. Nobody thought he was a real hanyou, or youkai, or oni, or any other type of being other than a normal human kid no different from themselves who was merely dressed up in a costume to participate in their holiday celebration. He was one of them, and it was all thanks to Kagome.

 

With the evening finally coming to a close, Inuyasha disappeared with his fellow cast members back inside the school, not immediately finding Kagome but knowing precisely where she'd be. Sure enough, he saw her approaching the girl's locker room not two minutes later, and giving her a brief nod in greeting, he leaned back against the wall to await her reappearance sans latex.

 

Kagome took her time getting clean this time around, since they had plans to walk the town for an hour or two and she didn't want to torture his sensitive nose. She didn't go so far as to hop in the shower in the locker room, but she had brought a washrag from home that she used in that moment to rinse her face with more thoroughly than the cheap bathroom paper towels from the dispenser. She had also packed a change of clothes other than her school uniform, changing into a simple yukata that matched Inuyasha's traditional dress. It was yellow with red and green floral accents, something her mother kept around for shrine festivities.

 

Reemerging from the locker room once she deemed herself presentable, bag slung over her shoulder, Inuyasha gave her his silent approval by visibly sniffing in her direction before jerking his head downward in a satisfactory nod. She would still need a shower in the morning before returning with him to his time, but it was good enough for now.

 

Kagome already had the perfect excuse for tomorrow's absence all planned out, too. What Inuyasha didn't know while he'd been working the parking lot was that Kagome had started acting sickly in the maze. Not so much that it ruined the effect for any of the guests, but as she chased them through the graveyard she would occasionally pause and hold her stomach. None of her victims had ever looked back so nobody saw the gesture except for Eri and the other students dressed up as ghosts in the graveyard and valley beyond.

 

She had also acted a little worn ragged in the locker room both earlier that evening as she'd changed into her costume, and especially right then as she'd changed back out of it, breathing deeply a few times and holding her stomach as though she were trying to avoid throwing up. When her friends asked her if she was okay, she made a show of winching behind a fake smile as she assured them she was fine; their worried expressions had clearly indicated their reluctance to believe her, though they didn't push the issue.

 

The excuse come tomorrow morning would be tummy troubles caused by over excitement, made all the worse by her refusal to take it easy on the third and final night, wanting to give 110% on Halloween night despite having already started to feel a little under the weather. With her supposed medical history, nobody would doubt it.

 

Exiting the school, Kagome wasn't surprised to see how deserted the lot had become. There was no reason for any of the crowds to hang around once the snack booths were closed, and Kagome had already known she'd been the last one out of the locker room because she'd taken so long getting cleaned up. It was worth it, though, for Inuyasha's sake.

 

True, it was nearing one in the morning, but that just meant that the Trick-or-Treaters had gone to bed. The main streets of Tokyo were still bustling with activity, and they didn't have any specific plans. Kagome just wanted to enjoy some time alone with Inuyasha while he could openly walk the streets of her world without worrying about covering up his hanyou features. He deserved at least that much.

 

Kagome was so glad he had decided to come see her school's haunted maze the day before, which had then led to him deciding to take her up on her offer of actually working the maze with her tonight. If anyone deserved a chance to just be himself and have fun without fear of persecution, it was hands down the silver-haired man currently walking beside her.

 

A couple of custodians were present, sweeping the parking lot and making sure the haunted house and other booths were locked up for the night. They nodded politely in Kagome and Inuyasha's direction as the pair headed across the lot and towards the street. Kagome looked up in surprise when Inuyasha suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

 

“What is it?” she asked, a slightly worried edge to her tone, though she was mostly just curious.

 

“We've got company,” he told her, nodding his head in the direction of the sidewalk ahead of them, where a group of five teenage boys could be seen approaching their position.

 

Groaning under her breath, Kagome honestly didn't want to deal with it and thought it would best for them to just turn back and head in the other direction, crossing the parking lot to head down the street on the other side, but it was too late to avoid being spotted by the high schoolers who instantly recognized Inuyasha's 'costume' as they advanced on the junior high school.

 

Their pride wounded, it had been the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds' intentions to head back to the haunted house after hours to exact some revenge. Carrying a pair of bolt cutters as well as a couple of hammers, they had planned on breaking into the maze and completely demolishing it, making the deconstruction job for tomorrow's clean-up crew a thousand times worse as they planned on strewing the inside guts of the maze across the entire parking lot.

 

It would've been awesome, books from the 'study' ripped and torn when those needed to be put back in the school's library, every decoration they planned on saving for next year's Halloween shattered into dozens of pieces. The coffins smashed, the black and strobe lights stolen... There was no way the school would've still turned a profit after all of the extra expenses they had planned to deliver. Plans that had just immediately been shot to hell upon spotting Kagome and Inuyasha down by the edge of the street.

 

What the hell is that punk still doing here? And why is he still dressed like a freak? one of the older boys thought as he spotted the inu-hanyou.

 

What are those guys doing back here? Inuyasha thought in turn, his instincts on high alert as they warned him about the malicious tinge to the high schoolers' auras.

 

Turning back and heading across the lot in the other direction despite knowing that they'd been spotted, Kagome hoped the high school boys were merely walking back the way they'd come on their way home, and that they would pass by her school and perhaps shout a comment or two but otherwise leave them alone. She didn't want her special night with Inuyasha interrupted by any more of their foolishness.

 

Unfortunately, the miko's wish wasn't granted when both she and Inuyasha clearly heard one of the boys call out, “Hey, freak! Isn't it past your bedtime?”

 

Inuyasha instantly stiffened beside her, but discreetly reaching for his hand and giving it a quick squeeze, Kagome whispered, “Remember, we're not in your world.”

 

Her words calmed him on more than one level. They were not in his world; they were in Kagome's world, on Halloween night, where everyone, including those bastards, thought that his demonic features were merely a costume. They had not meant the term 'freak' as strongly as the people of his world did whenever they called him that horrible name.

 

But even more than that, he needed the reminder that they were not in his world to still his hand from knocking some sense into them. After all, one of the teachers had added him to the list of volunteers, acknowledging himself as a worker at Kagome's school, who had been recommended by Kagome herself, and while the haunted house was closed now, he was sure it still probably wouldn't go over too well if it were revealed that he had later attacked some of their guests on the school grounds. He wouldn't do anything to get Kagome in trouble with her superiors.

 

Choosing not to acknowledge the high school boys at all, then, Inuyasha's ears lowered when another one of them suddenly called out, “Hey, loser! We're talking to you!”

 

Their voices were louder. They were getting closer.

 

Kagome glanced around them and cursed under her breath at the sudden absence of the two custodians that had greeted both she and Inuyasha upon exiting the school. The parking lot was clean. They had either headed around to the main lot and gotten in their cars and left, or perhaps one or both of them had headed back inside the school for something, but either way, that wouldn't really help her and Inuyasha in that moment.

 

Not that she honestly thought the two of them needed any help. They'd faced down hundreds of bloodthirsty youkai in the Sengoku jidai. Dealing with five egocentric high school boys would be a nuisance at best. Still, it was a nuisance she had been hoping to avoid.

 

“Hey!” one of the eighteen-year-olds said from almost directly behind them.

 

Mentally sighing, Kagome spun around in that moment with a huge fake smile on her face.

 

“Hi! Can we help you with something?”

 

With Inuyasha turning around as well, he crossed his arms as he glared at the high schoolers. Wiser men would have recognized the undisguised threat in his gaze.

 

“I'm sure you can help me with a lot of things, sweetheart,” the older teen continued, sending Kagome a seductive wink that had the miko's skin crawling in disgust.

 

Growling and stepping protectively in front of Kagome, Inuyasha barked out, “Just what do you guys want?”

 

Brandishing their weapons, the high schoolers with hammers chuckled darkly as they slowly swung the tools, softly hitting their open palms with obvious intent. Kagome gasped.

 

“We had been planning on having a little fun in your maze there. But since you and your tramp are still here, we'll just have a little fun with you, instead.”

 

“What the hell did you just-” Inuyasha started, only to get cut off as the girl beside him exploded with, “We're not afraid of you! If you don't get off of school property right now then I'm calling the police!”

 

The high school boys merely smirked to themselves in amusement of her empty threat, until one of them thought he recognized her voice, his eyes widening in disbelief.

 

“Oh no way!” he declared, earning curious glances from his friends as well as Inuyasha. “You're that zombie bitch!” he added, causing the other four high school boys to jerk their heads back in her direction, giving her appearance a reassessment.

 

“It is her!” another one declared.

 

Unafraid, Kagome stepped aside to no longer be partially hidden by her companion, squaring her shoulders in determination as she proudly declared, “That's right, I'm the zombie bitch that scared you boys in the maze…..and got you laughed at by ten-year-olds! What're ya gonna do about it?”

 

If the high schoolers had been birds, Inuyasha mused that in that moment, all five of them would have shaken their bodies in indignation, ruffling out their feathers in agitation. Bristling as they were, it came as no surprise to the hanyou when they responded with violence to what they deemed as a challenge issued by the miko.

 

“Stupid bitch!” one of them shouted, reaching for one of the rocks in the landscaping island beside him, as they stood next to one of the trees planted in a breaker in the parking lot.

 

Throwing the rock, which was about the same size as a baseball, in Kagome's direction, it took all five high schoolers by complete surprise when Inuyasha's hand shot out and caught the rock before it could strike Kagome's abdomen. The girl didn't even flinch, either, as if never having feared for a moment that the rock would hit her.

 

“Bastard...” Inuyasha growled low in his throat, squeezing the rock in his hand until it cracked under the pressure, breaking up into smaller pieces which he then let drop to the pavement.

 

“No way...” the boy who'd thrown the rock whispered in shock, knowing it had not been a Halloween prop.

 

“Dude...what the hell...” another of the boys questioned more to himself, taking an uncertain step back as Inuyasha deliberately tilted his head so that eyes caught the light, glowing red.

 

“Now,” he said slowly, his voice deep and gravely, “I have a problem.”

 

“Let's get out of here!” the youngest of the high school boys cried out before turning and running back to the street, uncaring that his other friends were not yet following after him.

 

“I suggest you take his advice,” Kagome said in that moment, nodding her head in the general direction of the escapee.

 

“What...what the hell is he?” one of the remaining boys asked Kagome, glancing his eyes briefly in the hanyou's direction.

 

“My friend and my guardian,” she answered simply, her words touching Inuyasha's heart.

 

“But what...” the high schooler started again only to pause, feeling uncertain at the way the youkai suddenly grinned at him, baring his fangs again.

 

Taking a cue from one of the few movies he had actually let Souta talk him into watching with him once upon a time, despite not having understood much of anything that'd been going on in the story, the hanyou smirked as he answered with, “I could tell you...” Tilting his head from side to side and snapping his neck loudly, he then shot the four remaining boys a menacing glare as he added, “But then I'd have to kill you.”

 

To really drive his point home, he lifted his hand in that moment, curling his claws inward as he charged his youki for a mild Iron Reaver attack, having no intention of letting his blades of youki free but merely wanting to create the glow of energy around his fingertips, knowing he had the ability to allow the energy to recede back inside himself afterwards without discharging it.

 

“Uh...th-that's okay. Never mind,” the high schooler who'd asked what he was replied then, lightly smacking one of his friends' arms as he said, “Come on!”

 

Inuyasha and Kagome both watched in amusement as the four remaining high school boys all practically fell over each other in their attempt to catch up to their fifth companion who was already halfway up the block by that point.

 

Chuckling quietly, Inuyasha allowed his youki to recede back within himself, the energy for his pending demonic attack dissipating harmlessly.

 

“That was beautiful,” Kagome said in that moment, a chuckle in her own voice.

 

“Not as much as you,” Inuyasha replied before thinking, his eyes widening and a light blush dusting his cheeks as Kagome arched a questioning brow at him. “Uh...I-I mean, w-with how you stood up to them, not being afraid, and whatever.”

 

Smirking, Kagome decided to go easy on her suddenly flustered companion, adding, “Yeah, but that show with your youki? Not to mention the way you caught that rock and crushed it. There's nothing I could've done to compare to that.”

 

Ears wiggling a bit, he asked for clarification, “You're not mad? That I did a 'youkai' thing?”

 

“Nah...” she waved off. “Those jerks deserved a good spooking, and even if they tell somebody, who's going to believe them? Besides, do you really think they're going to admit to anyone that they threw a rock at me? I'm not worried.”

 

“You didn't even flinch.”

 

“I knew you'd catch it.”

 

Her simple words meant more to him than Inuyasha figured she even realized, her unwavering faith in him more important than any other type of compliment that could have been delivered. Smiling down at the miko beside him and thinking about just how beautiful she really was, especially in her traditional dress, Inuyasha broke the silence that was slowly stretching between them by asking, “So...which way did you want to go?”

 

Now that the high schoolers were no longer around, they headed back to the north end of the lot like they had originally planned, turning right when they reached the street, heading in the opposite direction from where the high school boys had gone. Heading into a fairly busy part of Tokyo, Inuyasha marveled at the sights all around him, the streets suddenly crowded with people dressed in every manner of costume he could think of, and several that he never would have thought of in a million years.

 

There were monsters, just like at Kagome's school, though even more professionally done up. Then there were also several women not that much older than Kagome that were clad in next to nothing, a wide variety of revealing outfits that made the miko's school skirt look like hakama in comparison. Besides the monsters and temptresses, there was also a vast assembly of completely bizarre creations, things that made absolutely no sense to him though he didn't even bother trying to figure them out. Being out there and seeing all of the crazy sights was definitely a new experience for the hanyou, and one that he was honestly glad that Kagome had been willing to share with him.

 

Of course, truth be told, walking the streets of downtown Tokyo at one in the morning on Halloween night was a completely new experience for the miko, as well, but Kagome's mother had been made aware of her plans for showing Inuyasha around for a while after the maze, and since her daughter was going to be with the hanyou, Mrs. Higurashi hadn't been worried, knowing that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to her.

 

As dangerous as the streets of Tokyo could theoretically become at night, the elder Higurashi woman also knew that it was nothing compared to her daughter's journeys in the Sengoku jidai. How could she rightfully enforce any kind of a curfew for Kagome whenever the girl happened to be in their century when the fifteen-year-old regularly traveled the wild countryside of five hundred years in the past? Kagome was a big girl.

 

The two walked together in companionable silence for a little over half an hour, taking in the sights around them with wonder and amazement. Coming upon a street fair of sorts, Kagome revealed that Inuyasha wasn't the only one whom her mother had secretly given money to, as she proceeded to buy some treats for both Inuyasha and herself, not that the hanyou was complaining when his nose started twitching a mile a minute at all of the various smells of sugary foods.

 

Earlier, while he'd been working, he'd honestly been too caught up in his gig as a scary monster to worry about whether or not he should take a break to indulge in any of the available confections, so now that he was no longer working and was actually one of the guests, he definitely didn't mind it when Kagome handed him something sweet while assuring him that he'd like it.

 

A few people glanced there way on occasion, probably wondering what the junior high kids were doing out so late by themselves, but nobody gave them any trouble as Kagome continued to show Inuyasha around, explaining various things to him when he began asking her with childlike curiosity what some of the things around them were, or what some of the other people's costumes were supposed to be.

 

Staying out for another forty five minutes or so, listening to the music that was being pumped into the air by the nearby bar and nightclub while continuing to try all of the different, unique snack items that were available, and generally just having fun people watching, Inuyasha finally decided that it was probably time to start heading home when his companion let out a tongue curling yawn.

 

“Tired?” he asked behind a chuckle.

 

“Mmm...” Kagome replied sleepily before shaking her drowsiness free. “I'm fine,” she attempted to assure him, adding, “Halloween only comes once a year. I don't want you to miss out on anything.”

 

“I'm fine,” he told her then, repeating her own words back to her.

 

Only he really meant it. He could tell that Kagome was struggling not to fall asleep on her feet, and they had to get back to his world the next morning at a relatively early hour if they wanted any hope of getting to the next village before nightfall. He didn't need to stay out any longer. Everything she'd already shown him, everything she'd already done for him, was more than he had ever dared to dream.

 

Finally agreeing to call it a night, Kagome pulled Inuyasha aside for a moment when they came across an all-night convenience store, wanting to get herself something to drink after all of the sticky junk food they'd just inhaled over the last hour. Entering the small shop with a ding at the door, Kagome headed straight back for the soda coolers, Inuyasha loyally trailing behind her. There were far too many scents in the small shop, so he wanted to keep Kagome in his sights, otherwise he'd lose her scent if she headed even one aisle over away from him.

 

Making her selection, the pair headed back up to the front of the store, which was also decorated for Halloween with silly spider webs hanging above the cash register area, and little plastic or stuffed Halloween themed toys scattered around within 'impulse buy' grabbing distance. A small teddy bear dressed up as a vampire with a Dracula cape and fangs caught Kagome's attention in that moment, and she paused on her way to the register to gaze at the novelty plush.

 

They want that much for the stupid thing? she thought in disgust, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of overpriced holiday souvenirs. Like it was really all that expensive for the manufacturers to sew on little fake fangs and a cape, sheesh.

 

Setting her purchases down on the counter, Kagome reached for her money and was mildly embarrassed when she realized she didn't have enough to get the two extra large sodas, having not really kept track of her spending at the street fair concession stands.

 

“You need more?” Inuyasha asked her then, reaching into his robes in that moment to reveal the fact that he had some money of his own.

 

“Let me guess, Mama?” Kagome asked, smiling up at him as she took what she needed to complete her purchase while he merely shrugged, tucking the rest of her mother's money back inside his suikan.

 

Turning and heading for the door after completing her transaction, Kagome didn't notice it at first when Inuyasha slowed in his move to follow after her, his eyes lingering for a moment on the teddy bear that had previously captured her attention.

 

“Girls love teddy bears,” the clerk behind the counter oh-so-helpfully pointed out in that moment, knowing that the kid dressed in red had a pouch full of cash.

 

Inuyasha couldn't decide what to do. Did Kagome want it? She had been looking at it, after all, though he couldn't discern her reaction with all of the mixed scents in the small store, a lot of which were cooking spices that burned his nose a bit. Could he trust what the shop-keep said? The guy was probably just trying to make a sale.

 

But one thing Inuyasha knew without a doubt: after all that Kagome had done for him, she deserved a little something in return, and she did have other stuffed animals on display in her room. He felt a little guilty spending her mother's money on something so trivial, but on the other hand, he was spending it on Kagome, and with the way Mrs. Higurashi had insisted when originally handing him the cash, he somehow doubted that she would even accept it back if he tried to give it to her in the morning.

 

Agreeing to make the purchase, then, Inuyasha gave the store clerk the correct amount of money, remembering his brief math lesson with Souta from the day before. Of course, his inexperience with the average price of items in their world meant that Inuyasha had no idea he had grossly overpaid for a simple little teddy bear, but that was what made the store clerk's smile all the brighter as he handed Inuyasha his change while commenting, “Happy Halloween!”

 

“Keh.”

 

Exiting the store with a ding Inuyasha was immediately confronted by a frantic Kagome.

 

“There you are! I didn't realize you weren't behind me and then I couldn't find you.”

 

Ears drooping a bit, he muttered something that sounded like an apology for having worried her.

 

“I just...” he started before pausing, unsure of what to say.

 

“What were you doing in there?” she asked with curiosity lacing her voice, the look in her eyes turning more amused by the moment as Inuyasha's cheeks continued to darken. Had he spotted the adult magazines or something?

 

“Here,” he said then, shoving something at her that she reached out to grasp on impulse before realizing what it was.

 

He bought me the vampire teddy bear?

 

Gazing helplessly at the unwanted item in her hands, Kagome couldn't help feeling guilty for the way she'd paused to look at it in the store, clearly having given Inuyasha the wrong impression.

 

She wasn't giving him the wrong impression in that moment, however, as his ears lowered to his head at the way she held the item, clearly not adoring it as the store clerk had implied she would.

 

“You don’t like it,” he stated. It wasn't a question.

 

Eyes snapping up to meet his troubled gaze, Kagome instantly felt guilty for a whole new reason, then. Deciding to be completely honest for once and not tiptoe around her feelings, she admitted, “I would not have bought it for myself, but that you actually thought of me, that you wanted to buy me something as a gift, that means more to me than you know. Because you thought I wanted it and got it for me, I love it.”

 

Holding the teddy bear to her chest, Kagome smelled of nothing but honesty and gratitude. It was true, she had never been partial to novelty teddy bears, but she was completely thrown for a loop that Inuyasha had thought to buy her a present. She would cherish it forever.

 

“Do you...really mean that?” he asked her shyly, despite detecting no lie in her scent.

 

Nodding in the affirmative, Kagome replied, “I wish I had something for you in return.”

 

He stared at her then, his expression almost akin to horror.

 

“What are you talking about?! You've given me so much!” he blurted before thinking.

 

Quickly deciding that he could be honest for the time being as well, since it was just the two of them, he added, “This whole night, this whole day...hell, even letting me share your bed last night. You don't know what it means to me, that you treat me as an equal.”

 

Well, if he's going to open up like that, then I guess I should be completely honest, too, the miko thought in that moment, confessing, “You're not just an equal to me.”

 

With a light dusting of pink staining her cheeks for a change, she admitted shyly, “You...you're very special to me.”

 

Instantly catching on to her not-so-hidden meaning, Inuyasha softened his eyes as he gazed at her lovingly. “You're very special to me, too.”

 

Smiling up at him, Kagome found herself speechless in her love for him in that moment, as she silently offered him her hand, which he accepted, as they turned and began the journey home. Walking back to the shrine hand in hand, the miko and hanyou both continued to cast adoring glances in each other's directions, their beverages forgotten in her bag as neither one wanted to release their hold on the other even for something like taking a drink of soda, while she proudly carried her teddy bear in her free hand.

 

Catching sight of the shrine steps in the distance, Kagome finally gathered the courage to speak, knowing that anything else she wanted to say needed to be said now before they lost their privacy.

 

“I understand...” she began then, “...if you don't want to really talk about this time here, with me, with the others when we go back. Miroku-sama does like to tease.”

 

“Keh, stupid bouzu,” Inuyasha agreed before lightly squeezing Kagome's hand, causing the miko to glance up his way again.

 

Shifting his eyes sideways to look her way as well, he offered the girl a brief smile before averting his eyes forward once more. It was now or never.

 

“I...” know how you feel about me, he wanted to say. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Kagome, I...” love you too... “Damn it,” he muttered quietly to himself.

 

Kagome could hear the raw emotion in his voice, and her heart fluttered lightly in her chest at the prospect of what he was trying to say to her. Could it be? She didn't want to get her hopes up, but if she was right, then it was something that she had been wanting to say to him for a long time now, herself.

 

Reaching the bottom of the shrine steps, Kagome slowly came to a stop, relieved when Inuyasha didn't seem to be in any hurry to ascend the concrete stairway, either. Nervously fiddling with the strap of her bag, Kagome knew her private night alone with Inuyasha was about to come to a close, so if she wanted to say anything to him while it was still just the two of them, it had to be now.

 

“Inuyasha...” she began after a moment, though that was also where her voice seemed to escape her.

 

The hanyou's eyes met hers in that instant, a quiet hopefulness shimmering in his amber depths.

 

Damn it all... the miko mentally cursed at being caught up in the same affliction that had stilled Inuyasha's tongue moments ago. She was sure they both knew what they each wanted to say, so why couldn't she just say it?

 

“I love you!” she blurted out of nowhere, gasping and releasing his hand to slap hers over her mouth.

 

Real smooth... she inwardly criticized. Way to capture the moment.

 

Thinking of just blurting it out was one thing, but actually doing it was something else entirely. Now what? she worried mildly.

 

While Kagome was pretty sure that Inuyasha was already aware of her feelings, and she was also pretty sure that he shared her feelings on at least some level, she also knew that Kikyou was still number one in his life, and because of that it really wasn't her place to go shoving her emotions in his face like she'd just done. Still, what was said was said, and she would neither regret it nor take it back. She could only wait and see how he would respond.

 

Even caught by surprise as he was by the forwardness of her confession, Inuyasha could not say that he was truly surprised by her words. Easily recognizing the uncertainty shining behind Kagome's chocolate orbs as she bit her bottom lip nervously, Inuyasha couldn't help but notice just how kissable her lips looked in that moment, all glossy and smelling of cherry. Chuckling to himself that Kagome was truly braver than he, since she had managed to say what he found he could not, the hanyou suddenly realized that he could at least show her how he felt, as he gently placed his hands on either side of her face.

 

“Wha...” was all she managed to get out at the sight of him closing the gap between them, and then his lips were on hers, her eyes drifting shut as her arms lifted of their own accord to wrap around his neck.

 

“Me too,” he answered softly after pulling away, her arms falling weightlessly to her sides, the small vampire teddy bear still held tightly in her grasp.

 

Kagome's head was a jumble of thoughts, the first one coming to mind being “What about-” but he silenced her with a finger against her lips.

 

“Those feelings are a memory. I can never forget about Kikyou, but she is my past. You are my future.”

 

Eyes tearing up, Kagome practically threw herself into Inuyasha's arms, and chuckling, the hanyou eagerly returned her embrace, wrapping his arms around her for all she was worth.

 

“You're right that I won't want to talk about this in front of the others,” Inuyasha said after a moment, giving her a little squeeze, “but just know that even if I say or do something kinda pricky at some point, it's just 'cause I'm an idiot. My feelings ain't gonna change.”

 

Laughing, Kagome wiped at her tears before nodding her understanding.

 

“Well, come on,” she said after a moment, grabbing for his hand again and attempting to tug him up the shrine steps.

 

“Hold on,” he said then, not letting her budge him.

 

Kagome lifted an eyebrow at him as he held his arms out in an obvious gesture. Getting herself into position, she squeaked in excitement as he scooped her up into his arms bridal style before launching them both up to the top of the shrine steps in a single bound. He had made sure no one was around to witness the act.

 

“I wanted to do that last night, too. Stupid human body,” he grumbled playfully while placing her back on her feet.

 

“I will never get tired of that,” she assured him behind a smile, Kagome always loving the feel of flying whenever he carried her, though he usually never carried her bridal style unless they were dodging an enemy's attack or she'd been severely injured in some way.

 

Showing off his powers just for the fun of it, just to get them to the top of the stairs faster, that was a side of Inuyasha she hoped to see more often in the future.

 

Sneaking into the house, Inuyasha's nose and ears assured him that this time, the rest of her family really was asleep, as they tiptoed their way up to Kagome's bedroom. Obediently turning with his eyes closed while she changed into her pajamas, Inuyasha was lost in his memories of sharing her bed the night before when her tiny whisper that it was okay for him to turn around reached his ears.

 

Pulling Tetsusaiga from his obi, then, Inuyasha made to sit down against the wall below her window before Kagome's hand on his arm stopped him, his eyes meeting hers with a look of surprise.

 

“Now don't start that again,” she insisted quietly.

 

“But…” he started, genuinely confused. “Last night I was human.”

 

She just raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“So?”

 

Was he really going to accuse her of thinking of him differently in his human body versus his hanyou one? Surely he knew her better than that!

 

In fact he did, although it was still a valid argument for a different reason.

 

“Like you said, I needed the rest last night. This time I don't need to sleep.”

 

“And what if I said I simply want to share my bed with you because I want to, whether you truly need the sleep or not?”

 

He just stared at her, shocked at her sudden brazenness, though also incredibly touched by her admittance.

 

“I'd say you're a crazy wench,” he answered affectionately with a half smile, relieved when he saw her smile as well at his words.

 

“And if I didn't deny it?”

 

“What if I told you...” he countered then, “...that the reason I'm hesitant to share your bed is because it makes me want more than sleep?”

 

It was Kagome's turn to be shocked by his admittance, then – not so much in that he had such desires, because she could certainly understand that – but simply that he had actually managed to confess to them.

 

“One thing at a time,” Kagome said after a moment. “First we have to find and take care of Naraku and purify the jewel, not to mention Kikyou needs her peace. I'm not so cruel as to deny you your right to whatever goodbyes await you two when it is finally her time to leave this world.”

 

Inuyasha nodded his greater understanding, everyone knowing that it was not the undead miko's intention to continue her false existence past the fall of Naraku. She wanted only to see to his destruction, and then she wanted peace, and Inuyasha would do whatever it took to give her that, within reason.

 

No longer did he wish to join her in Hell, but no longer did Kikyou wish to drag him with her into the afterlife, either. That had been when she had truly believed him to be her murderer and she had been seeking her revenge. Kikyou now knew that their enemy was Naraku, and she also knew that it was not yet Inuyasha's time to die.

 

But as the hanyou thought about Kagome's words, it dawned on him that while she was most definitely right in that any such relationship between the two of them had to wait until after their other responsibilities were taken care of, she had basically stated that once their other responsibilities were taken care of, she would be willing to...

 

“You...you're not telling me no?” he asked, completely shocked.

 

For some reason, even with having known of her feelings for him for some time now, he had never really put two and two together with emotional love and physical love, at least in the sense that Kagome would be willing to be with him in such a way. He knew that his emotional love and desires for physical love were linked together; he knew that intimately, in fact. But the fact that Kagome would actually be willing to be with him, as a hanyou? Even as he knew that she didn't think differently of him for his mixed blood, he had always figured that even somebody as pure as Kagome would eventually draw the line somewhere.

 

For once reading his thoughts perfectly through his eyes, Kagome merely offered Inuyasha a gentle smile before assuring him, “I'm not telling you no, I'm just telling you not now.”

 

He nodded, not having any problem with the idea of waiting until the moment was right. In the meantime, however, there no longer seemed to be a reason why they couldn't share the same bedding, since each of them knew that nothing beyond sleep would be taking place, despite certain lingering desires to the contrary, on both their parts. Following Kagome under the covers, then, the miko smiled when Inuyasha tugged her to him, allowing the girl to rest her head against his chest as he wrapped am arm around her shoulder, relishing in the sensation of holding her close.

 

“Goodnight,” Kagome murmured against him, already half asleep.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

 

 

~ Fin ~

 

 

A/N: An Uwan, as I have one of the high school boys shouting upon entering the maze, is an invisible monster from Japanese folklore named for the sound it shrieks whenever somebody enters a building possessed by one.