InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Gods ❯ Living Among Them ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha alas that lovely, lovely privilege still belongs to a lady living in Japan, I think her name is Rumiko Takahashi…

Summary: No youkai roam the modern city of Tokyo, at least to Kagome's knowledge. What if she was wrong? Not that Kagome has time to dwell on it, there are Shikon shards to find and a jealous hanyou to deal with.

Lost Gods

Chapter One- Living Among Them

Hot and stifling, the girl tossed and turned on the bed. Feeling as if she was struggling for every breath, Kagome restlessly threw the covers off of her body. Her eyes snapping open in the dark, she sighed.

A heat wave had been assaulting the city of Tokyo for the past three days and Kagome was finding it harder and harder to sleep at night. The combination of restless nights and looming tests had made Kagome irritable, prone to snapping at everyone she came across. This last day was made even more difficult with the presence of a surly hanyou who had travelled five hundred years through a mystical well to drag her away from her home.

Kagome had come home in a bad mood after her latest test and instead of being greeted by her mother's welcoming smile; she ran face first into a red-clad chest. Temper already fraying in record time, the last thing she needed was to be told, no commanded to return to the Sengoku Jidai.

She had yelled. He yelled back. She stamped her foot. He shook his fist. He ended up on the ground and Kagome had stomped up to her room.

The night went downhill from there.

Inuyasha had refused to leave, insisting that Kagome was returning with him right now. His insistence was rewarded with several more subjugations. It had made for a very awkward dinner, with Kagome's family, unwilling spectators to what was becoming one of their longer drawn out fights.

Refusing to dwell further on her argument with the short-tempered Inuyasha, Kagome got out of bed and headed down to the kitchen. All she needed was a cooling drink and the opportunity to stop thinking about a certain red-clad hanyou.

Unfortunately for her, the hanyou was not going to give her a opportunity to ignore his presence.

“Oi…”

She couldn't help the small shriek that erupted from her at the unexpected sound in the dark and the feel of a hand on her shoulder. Quickly the hand darted out to clamp firmly on her mouth, while another snaked around her waist, pulling her against a muscular chest.

“Oi, bitch! It's just me!”

Squirming, Kagome managed to wriggle out of Inuyasha's grasp. “Inuyasha what are you doing?”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, “Trying to keep you from waking everyone up for one thing.” His eyes narrowed, “What are you doing out of bed anyway?”

“What? I can't get a glass of water without you tagging after me?” Impatiently pushing past him, Kagome stomped towards the fridge.

“Tagging? After you? You must be kidding!” Inuyasha glared at her, leaning against the frame of the doorway watching her as she gulped down her drink.

“Whatever, Inuyasha.” Eyeing the moisture beading on the glass, she tilted the glass to rest against a heated cheek, “It's too late for this.”

Refusing to turn to look at him, she heard his soft “Keh” and his retreating footsteps. Leaning her back against the door of the fridge, Kagome shook her head.

A movement by the window caught her eye. Feeling as if her heart had leapt into her chest, Kagome leaned away from the fridge, setting her glass down on the counter. Her eyes darted in the direction Inuyasha had taken and briefly she contemplated calling out for him. As soon as she opened her mouth to do so, she clamped it shut again, images of the irritated and cocky hanyou harping on her if her fears turned out to be groundless running through her mind.

Inching towards the kitchen window, Kagome hesitantly peered out.

The yard was empty, devoid of all movement as her eyes attempted to see past the darkness. A rustle of leaves from the Goshinboku caught her gaze and Kagome shook her head again.

“I need sleep.”

Turning from away from the window, she failed to notice the momentary flash of light in the yard.

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Taking in a deep breath, Inuyasha sat in the corner of Kagome's room, taking in the unique scent that was Kagome's home. A familiar aroma tickled his sensitive nose; it was that yellow stuff, the fluffy kind that Kagome kept trying to force down his throat. His ear twitched at the sound of Kagome's voice, raised in frustration.

She was trying to cook again.

The monk kept telling him that he should appreciate Kagome's efforts in the kitchen more; he tried to explain that he appreciated her efforts just fine, he just didn't understand why she bothered on him at all. Unfortunately, Inuyasha had a feeling he didn't quite manage to articulate his feelings on the matter with his well-timed “Feh”.

Stealthily creeping down the stairs, the hanyou composed his features into an appropriate scowl before stepping into the kitchen.

Kagome stood at the stove, sunlight streaming in through the windows and bathing her in a soft golden glow. Blinking, Inuyasha silently reminded himself that she wasn't cooking for him.

“Wench, I told you we were leaving didn't I?”

He heard her soft sigh, warm breath rushing past rosy lips. Kagome skilfully guided the rolled omelette from the pan into the waiting plate and without turning to face him, answered. “We are leaving today Inuyasha, but you do remember what I said right?”

“Eh…” What was there to remember? She had yelled at him in that shrill tone that he hated, he yelled back. He got sat.

His thoughts halted as his eyes tracked the movement of her hands; swiftly chopping vegetables with a knife that he felt was far too sharp for her.

“…it won't take long Inuyasha, I promise. You don't even have to come with me.”

He had missed something hadn't he? Growling, Inuyasha decided to deal with what he heard, “What? I'm not letting you go out anywhere without me, useless human.”

The last was muttered low, his eyes shifting to side. She heard him anyway.

But before Kagome could react a cheery voice sang out behind him, “Don't forget this Inuyasha!”

Suddenly his world was muffled, grumbling, his fingers cautiously touched the brim of the hat that Mrs. Higurashi had plopped on his head.

“Though I do hate to hide those cute ears…” Mrs. Higurashi sighed, longingly eying his cap. The gaze spooked him a bit and Inuyasha found himself tugging the cap lower over his ears.

Kagome sighed again finally turning and shoving a plate filled with food into his hands. “Well you better eat that then if we want to get moving any time this century.”

He noticed that she hadn't prepared a plate for herself. “Oi bi..wench, aren't you eating?” A sidelong glance at Kagome's mother had the foul-mouthed hanyou biting his tongue.

“Ate already, I'm gonna go change.”

He wasn't staring after her, nope, just staring off into the distance…

The soft chuckle behind him made Inuyasha cringe. Mrs. Higurashi had a twinkle in her eye and when she winked at him, he was sure that his face had erupted into flames.

“Don't worry Inuyasha, she never takes too long when you're waiting.”

“Keh.”

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There was one advantage to having a hanyou along with you when grocery shopping. He could carry an awful lot. The downside was that when you had a ramen-loving hanyou with you, he tended to use that strength for hauling around boxes upon boxes of...yep you guessed it! Ramen.

He had managed to sneak another box into his arms when she wasn't looking and was currently balancing five boxes of ramen along with a couple of bags that held the rest of their shopping.

They had made it back to the shrine steps without incident, but the steep steps proved to be a challenge even for the normally nimble Inuyasha and the boxes came tumbling down.

“I'll get them!” Kagome managed to sing out over Inuyasha's colourful cursing. “You go on ahead and dump the rest of that stuff in the house.”

Skipping down the steps, Kagome chased the errant items that Inuyasha had dropped. Her hand reached out, when it was swept out of her grasp.

“Oh!” Looking up, Kagome looked into dark eyes.

“You dropped this young miss?”

The old man with a kindly face peered at her, holding out the box of crayons she had bought for Shippou.

“Yes, thank you.” Her fingers accidentally brushed across his hand as she reached for the crayons and a sudden heat jolted through her, so intense it made her shiver. Unconsciously rubbing her fingers together, she studied his face. “I'm sorry, but do I know you sir?”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips, “Not in this lifetime my dear.”

He tipped his hat to her and Kagome was left to stare after him. There was something about that man, something vaguely familiar yet foreign. What was it?

A sharp poke at her shoulder made her start. Golden eyes glared down at her.

“We don't have time for your daydreaming! Come on!”

Inuyasha's presence triggered something deep in Kagome and suddenly she realized what it was she felt from that old man…but it couldn't be…there weren't any here… were there? Mutely shaking her head in confusion, Kagome turned in the direction the old man had gone in but the street was deserted.

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“Kagome!”

Bracing herself for the impact, Kagome held out her hands to the kitsune child who was running full tilt towards her.

“I missed you so much Kagome! What took so long?” Shippou's voice was muffled against her stomach as he sought to burrow further into her body.

Inuyasha snorted behind her, earning himself a glare. “What's the big deal? She's here now isn't she? Let's get going, those shards aren't gonna just leap into our hands.”

“Why do you have to go away so often?” The quietly murmured question surprised Kagome.

Trying to peel Shippou away from her chest, she tried to speak in her calmest voice. “Shippou you know I have to go home every so often, to get you treats and crayons. You like those don't you?”

Sango and Miroku entered the clearing in time to hear Kagome. Inuyasha was ignoring them as he griped at the two for taking so long. Kagome barely heard Miroku's shrugged explanation that Shippou moved too fast for them to catch.

A quiet sniffle brought her attention back to Shippou who was looking up at her with watery eyes. “Yeah, but I like having you around more.”

Kagome tried to catch Sango's eye, hoping for an explanation for the kitsune's suddenly overly clingy behaviour. The taijiya sighed and shook her head, her lips mouthing the word “later”.

“I wish you never had to leave. Ever.”

Kagome bit her lip, her time in this world was drawing to a close as the shards decreased in number and the jewel that their enemy held grew larger. She didn't know what was going to happen and loathed making promises that she knew she might not be able to keep. The softly whispered words from the child she had thought of as her own was tugging at her heart and instinctively she brought him in closer. Wordlessly, she patted Shippou's back, giving him as much comfort as she could.

Inuyasha groused at them for standing around, urging them to get a move on. Shippou muttered that the hanyou was being cruel which earned him a bop on the head. The kitsune replied in kind, latching onto the hanyou's arm, biting as hard as he could.

Just like that, they were back to normal or at least normal for them.

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“Moshi, moshi…oh…yes, I'll go get him.” Souta set the phone down, racing through the house to find his grandfather. He didn't have long to look as he found his grandfather serenely sweeping their front yard. “Grandpa, there's an Ishimaru-san on the phone for you.”

Raising one eyebrow, Grandpa set the broom down and calmly made his way to the phone.

“Riku-san? Ah yes, how are you? … Oh? … Is that so? … Well then, its settled, you're staying with us! … Nonsense! I won't hear of anything else! … No, no, no such thing. It's settled then. I'll send my daughter Michiyo to pick you up.”

Souta hung around in the doorway, tossing his ball idly. Curiosity getting the better of him, he stepped forward when his grandfather put the phone down. “Grandpa, who was that?”

“An old friend, done a lot for us over the years, he'll be staying with us for a while. That reminds me! You'll be sharing your room for a little while Souta. Riku-san has a grandson who'll be staying with us too. He's about Kagome's age if I'm not mistaken, maybe a little older…You don't mind do you my boy?” Grandpa beamed down at Souta who shook his head nervously, not quite sure what to think of an older boy sharing his room for an indefinite period of time.

Grandpa patted his grandson's head before walking further into the house in search of his daughter.

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AN: I honestly hate starting a story when I still have another one unfinished, but this idea just grabbed hold of me and refused to let go! Since I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of inspiration on my Inuyasha/Ranma crossover and there seemed to be little interest in it and my beta up and ran off on me after doing the first chapter…well, I decided to start a new fic. By the way, if anyone is interested in beta-ing this story for me, please email (angeline(dot)lebron(at)gmail(dot)com).