InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Manifestation of the Inuyasha Doll ❯ An Enigmatic Stranger ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Queen Mongoose 
Kagome meets a stranger at work, then when she comes home, Inuyasha does the unthinkable.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.19.2003 | Updated On: 10.05.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 898 | Status: Completed
Kagome meets a stranger at work, then when she comes home, Inuyasha does the unthinkable.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.19.2003 | Updated On: 10.05.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 898 | Status: Completed
A/N: I have completely given up on disclaimers. Everyone knows I don't own Inuyasha anyways. Nor does anybody else who writes fiction here. Unless of course you're Rumiko Takahashi disguising as a devoted Inuyasha fan writing fan fiction just for the hell of it. Well, after a long trip, and long time away from the computer, here is my third chapter.
M anifestation of the Inuyasha Doll
Chapter two
An Enigmatic Stranger
There was a flicker of light...then darkness. A ringing could be heard in the vicinity...sounds of rhythmic thumping...a distant voice...it was all so soothing, so placid...yet it calmed her with a sense of pacifism...
"Dammit!! What does it take to wake you up!!" Inuyasha blared acrimoniously. He threw his hands up in the air in frustration and began pacing around the room.
He had tried everything to get her awaken. Her alarm clock had awoken him at 6:30am, yet it did not faze this girl. The people two stories down and five apartments across's neighbor's pet cricket could hear it and she couldn't. He tried banging on walls, increasing the volume of her radio, yelling at her...but it did not wake her.
"Kagome? Please wake up, you'll be late for school," came a gentle voice just outside the door. Inuyasha quickly jumped into her closet.
He heard a stirring of sheets and an "Okay Mama," then soft footsteps.
Great. She wakes up to that.
Inuyasha walked out of her closet and glared at the back of her head as she retrieved her slippers. Kagome unconsciously turned towards him. She gave him a sleepy look with a languorous yawn.
"What?" she asked.
****
All Kagome could think of was the "legend" her grandfather had told her. If that occurred 50 years ago, wouldn't Grandpa have been alive then? Then...why is it a legend?
Plus there was all the mumbo jumbo Kaede obaa-san was talking about...what did the Higurashis have to do with any of this? Why did she seem so calm about all this? Did she not just witness black magic right then and there?
"Higurashi-san!"
Kagome's head snapped up. Oh yeah...she was in class.
"I'm sorry," Kagome said, timorously.
"Sorry for what? That you didn't want to earn an education?" Mrs. Okamura snapped.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"You'll be sorry when you don't go to a university. Or end up as some poor, short, fat man's mistress, living in a motel next to the Sendai Station for Kami-sama knows how long, until you finally land a job at the local day care center and are forced to teach those damned miniature goblins known solely by humans as 'children' some real manners. Oh yeah, they got what they deserved, those little monsters--" Mrs. Okamura paused, realizing that all her students were staring at her as if she were a giant lizard. She smiled nervously and cleared her throat. "As I was saying: The legend of…"
Wow, and it's only the second day...
****
For the past week, Kagome struggled to keep Inuyasha out of sight from her mother and Souta. If they knew she was harboring a boy in her room, her mother would scream bloody murder. Besides, it would be embarrassing enough for her if that happened.
Usually, when two people spend time with each other, they get used to each other's presence and eventually become friends. Kagome and Inuyasha? They were different.
That night, Kagome got on the bus for the Shizuma Kottouhinten. She exited and quickly ran into the building.
Of course…Inuyasha trailed behind her; sulking and muttering.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome called.
No answer came.
Kagome became curious when she heard muffled voices in one of the back rooms. She pressed her ear to the door.
"There's a guy in there with her," Inuyasha said indifferently, leaning against the wall. Kagome stared at him.
"Okay…?"
"They're arguing and that Sango girl's throwing things at him."
"What!? Inuyasha, how do you kno-" Kagome began, before the door quickly burst open. Inuyasha and Kagome hurried out of their way.
"Sango darling, just give me another chance!" The young man begged as Sango silently tugged at his ear, bringing him to the front door. She shook her head, keeping her mouth tightly shut in a frown.
Once she had thrown him out, she shut the door, locked it, then pulled the blinds down. She looked back at Inuyasha and Kagome and smiled.
"Kagome-chan, Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Sango asked.
"First of all," Kagome said roguishly. "Who was that?"
"Just some idiot who won't leave me alone. No worries. So what did you come here for?" Sango asked, leaving no room for Kagome to ask anymore questions.
Kagome seemed startled but didn't persist on the situation. "I wanted to see Kaede obaa-san. I have to ask her about the 'Shikon no Tama'. It's so weird because my grandfather told me it was a legend…even though he was alive when it all happened."
Sango smiled. "You misunderstood Kagome-chan…it was fifty years in the koyomi no youkai-the calendar of the youkai.* Every ten years equals one year for youkai," Sango explained.
Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "Is this right?"
"Don't know, don't care," Inuyasha said curtly before turning to walk around the store.
"He's still acting that way?" Sango whispered to Kagome. Kagome sighed.
"Yeah. I'll learn to get used to it if I'm supposed to be stuck with him for a while. Anyways…if that's true. It means that Inuyasha's…500 years old?" Kagome asked. For the first time in her life, she was truly shocked. Walking around with her was a 500-year-old hanyou who seemed to think the whole situation was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Yes--well...about 500 years old."
"Then Kaede obaa-san is…?"
"An apparition. Somehow, because of her sister's death, her soul has been floating from body to body, hoping to finally seal Inuyasha so that she could rest. When she told me this after you guys left that one night, I was surprised that I wasn't scared of her," Sango said as they walked up the flight of stairs in the back of the store.
"You live here?" Kagome asked.
"Yup. Me and Kaede obaa-chan. I was wondering why she told me never to call her Kaede obaa-chan in public. Always Shizuma-san. You want a cup of tea?"
Kagome nodded and watched as Sango headed to the kitchen to heat some water. Everything was finally coming together. It was a good thing Sango was here or she would have been lost to the world forever.
Kagome glanced at her watch. 17:05. Sango noticed Kagome looking at her watch and gave her a worried look. "Do you have to be home soon?" she asked, putting the tea down in front of them.
"No…just hoping my little brother's home safe. He was supposed to go home right after school, but he probably went to that new friend's house. Sometimes he could be so irritating-" Kagome stopped when she saw the look on Sango's face.
"Sango-chan? Are you all right?"
Sango gave a sullen smile, though she was attempting a jovial one. She shook her head. "It's nothing really…"
"Tell me."
There was a long silence before Sango spoke up. "I…had a brother too. His name was Kohaku…but it's all in the past. We shouldn't talk about it-"
"Sango-chan, I'm sorry-"
"Let's just not talk about it please?" Sango begged.
"Okay…"
****
After an hour or so, Inuyasha and Kagome left. It was a silent ride home, though it was usually filled with vehemence and verbal brawls and lots of staring from passengers. There was something distant about Inuyasha at the moment as if he had no intention of ever speaking to her again.
Nevertheless, Kagome tested him. "Inuyasha? I know you hate me but…I just wanna ask you a question."
"Go ahead. I'm not in the mood to yell at your noisy ass anyways."
Kagome closed her eyes. Breathe deeply…inhale…exhale…do not strangle…but if it comes to that, you did it unintentionally…
"I wanted to know if you ever lost someone you cared about," Kagome asked softly. She felt Inuyasha tense at this question. She glimpsed at him by her side.
"No," was his impassive answer.
Liar.
"Oh…well, I lost someone," Kagome decided to tell him anyways. "Sango-chan reminded me of him again, after all these years. You know Sango-chan had a little brother? She lost him a while ago, though I don't know when. Well…the person I lost was my dad. He died a year after Souta was born…"
Inuyasha had a quick look of pity in his eyes as he glanced at Kagome. Why was she talking to him about all these personal things? Such as people that were lost from their lives forever? He didn't know her, let alone like her. Or did he just like to aggravate people the way everyone had aggravated him? This girl never even judged him just by looking at him the way the other youkai or humans had done. His mind drifted back…that night, according to humans, 500 years ago…
****
Kagome grabbed her keys and shuffled through them. She was surprised when she looked up and noticed that it was open. She gazed over at Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha...?"
"I told you I had powers. Don't need to look at me like that you battered cow."
"Can you do anything else?" Kagome asked, reticently, hoping that Inuyasha wouldn't snap at her. She just wasn't up for yelling at him.
Inuyasha simpered then scoffed haughtily. "Of course I can. I can even kill you if I wanted." Before Inuyasha could say anything else, he felt his face slam onto the floor. "Ow!! What the fuck-"
Kagome had retrieved the doll from her bag and slammed it on the kitchen table. "If you're going to threaten my life, do it somewhere where I can't hear it!" Kagome yelled, heading down the hall to her room, angrily.
Inuyasha muttered a horde of swear words before he followed Kagome to her room. He never expected to crash into someone on the way there…
"Hi," came a voice below him. Inuyasha's eyes gradually moved down to where the boy stood in front of him.
"Ah!" Inuyasha cried out in surprise before waving his hand at the small boy.
Kagome came rushing out of her room when she heard the noise. Her eyes froze on Inuyasha. Her body went numb and her blood felt as if it stopped flowing when she saw the small object on the ground.
Inuyasha had to cover her mouth in order to keep her quiet enough for the neighbors not to hear.
****
"You idiot!! You turned my brother into a potato!? A potato!?" Kagome screamed lividly.
"The damn boy scar--surprised me okay? It wasn't my fault you aged cow!"
"You inconsiderate--sardonic--cynical--vulgar--jerk!!" Kagome said, hitting him in the chest at each insult that was hurled. She grabbed the miniature Inuyasha doll and squeezed it. Inuyasha staggered onto the floor in pain.
"You bitch--stop that!! I said stop!!" Inuyasha shouted, almost pleading for her to cease her malicious torture. Kagome was too blinded by rage to give room for clemency.
"If you want me to stop, apologize and turn my brother back to normal!!"
"Okay dammit! Will you just cut it out?" Inuyasha shouted irately. Kagome stopped and glared at him as she put the doll down onto her desk.
"Well?"
Inuyasha turned to the potato on her bed, his back facing Kagome. Kagome tapped her fingers on the table, anticipating the return of her brother.
Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke. Kagome quickly ran over to where her bed was supposedly at and grabbed Inuyasha's shoulders. The smoke quickly died down.
But in front of her was not a healthy, living, human boy…but a camel.
"Inuyasha!"
"It's been a long time since I've used my powers. Just sit still will you?" Inuyasha snapped, shrugging Kagome's hands off of his shoulders. That girl had some grip on her…
"You know? I should be the one angry here! Not you!"
"If your brother hadn't been there, I wouldn't be acting this shitty."
"You always act like that!"
"Do you want your brother back or not?"
Kagome became silent and waited until Inuyasha began concentrating once more. Kagome stared at the camel. It was staring back at her with a certain dazed look. Could it be that Souta was conscious of his surroundings just as Inuyasha had been as a doll?
Kagome thought, shutting her eyes tightly. How would she be able to explain Souta's physical changes?
After many irritating hours, turning the poor boy into a female parrot, a CD player, binder paper, and a Victoria's Secret model, he was returned to his original body, asleep. Of course he would be asleep after all of his unusual sex changes. Things like that tend to tire people out.
Inuyasha and Kagome sagged onto the floor against the wall, exhausted.
"Five hundred years…" Kagome whispered before she drifted off to sleep. Inuyasha looked over at the sleeping form. If her mother found her like this…
****
Breakfast was served at exactly 6:45 that morning. Luckily, there had been no birds outside Kagome's window before she woke up or else nobody's day would have started out pleasantly.
Kagome looked down at her food and silently picked at it. She remembered finding herself in her bed that morning. Plus Souta was sitting up on his own bed, his hair disheveled, looking disconcerted. Did Inuyasha put them in their rightful beds to be nice so that she wouldn't get into trouble? Or did he do it so he wouldn't get caught?
Well, whatever he did it for, Kagome was glad for it.
"Hey Onee-chan?" Souta asked, his mouth filled with food.
"Yes?"
"I had this really weird dream last night. You were in it," Souta began.
"What was it about?" Kagome asked casually as she gathered some food into her mouth.
"Well…I was in the hallway when this tall dude with silver hair came out and turned me into a potato," Souta recollected. At this Kagome choked on the piece of food. She softly began coughing. Souta, seeming unaware of this, continued. "You and he brought me to your room and started arguing about something, and then he turned me into all sorts of weird stuff. Then I remember waking up in my own bed wearing a bra and feeling all weird like I was drugged," Souta explained, scratching his head, feeling oddly confused at his own explanation.
Kagome decided to speak, but since she hadn't collected her sanity at the moment, her voice came out as a squeak. Luckily, Mrs. Higurashi spoke up.
"Souta? You're not sleepwalking again are you?" Mama asked, anxiously. "The last time that happened, you ended up on one of the Goshinboku's branches, in one of Grandpa's underwear! Oh dear, we have to go call a doctor again…"
"Mama! I'm not sleepwalking! It was a dream! Onee-chan probably did that to play a trick on me! Honest!" Souta cried indignantly.
Kagome remained silent. She got up, mumbled a quick goodbye and walked out the door.
"No! We are going to call Dr. Kobayashi-" was the last thing Kagome heard before she shut the door. She sighed with relief and got on the local bus to school.
****
That late afternoon, she was forced to go home, sent by Sango, for looking haggard. She was incredibly tired and didn't have a clue as to why. She lingered at her front door for a second pondering on what happened that day.
Work had been inscrutable that day. A young man had been in the store that day and kept glancing at Kagome when she wasn't looking. No, it wasn't the kind of stare a girl gets when a boy is attracted to her, it was more of a narrow-eyed observing stare. He seemed to be examining her as if to make sure she was really…her.
"Irasshaimase*," Kagome greeted wearily as he handed his item to her.
The young man smiled. "Is that a way to greet a customer?" he asked a bit coquettishly.
"Sorry, I'm a little tired," she said. "Your total is 800 yen."
The young man began handing her the money, but as she reached out for it, he stared into her eyes, their hands connected by the money. His eyes were so penetrating; Kagome couldn't help but stare back.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You have 30 days to refund your item-" Kagome said on impulse.
"No, not that…do you happen to have a surname of Higurashi?"
"Yes…why do you ask?" Kagome said cautiously, gently interrogating him as he was interrogating her. Seriously, who was this guy?
"So…I finally found it after all. Now, just to find dog-boy…" the boy muttered, unconsciously as he stared into her necklace. Nervously, Kagome took the necklace and put it into her shirt. The boy, startled, looked up at her and shook his head. "Sorry. Have a good evening," he said before he left.
When he had said "dog-boy", what did he mean? She shook it off, seeming too clueless and naïve to perceive the strange situation that occurred that day. She simply headed to her bedroom, getting ready and hyped to collapse on her bed.
But a certain figure happened to be on it. Kagome frowned.
She looked up and noticed that Inuyasha was swirling his forefinger into the air. Right above him were papers equally swirling in the same motion. Kagome, unaccustomed to this use of magical powers, momentarily gazed in amazement. She quickly snapped out of it and glanced at him. He looked so bored and insentient. He hadn't even noticed her entering. Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You know, you don't have to stay here all day. I'm not babysitting you," Kagome said, setting her backpack down.
It took a moment for Inuyasha to answer. "You're right. I'd rather stay in a pile of tortoise feces than stay in your room, but unfortunately, that demented old hag did something unthinkable."
"And what was it that she did?" she asked curiously, assuming that this "demented old hag" he spoke of was Kaede obaa-san.
"She bound you and me together with some spell," he spat distastefully. He paused. "Remember that night you went upstairs with that girl?"
"Sango," Kagome irritably corrected Inuyasha's implication of Sango.
"Yeah, whatever. Well, the fat bag came to me and suddenly started chanting this weird spell. Then she told me it was for the best," Inuyasha said. He paused to allow her to say something, and then proceeded when she didn't. "She said that if she were to seal me back, she'd have to know where to find me…unfortunately-for you and me, that is-she bound me to you…the witch…she ought to be shaved…like those naked cats," he muttered, sulkily.
No… Kagome thought ominously. What would become of her with this crude boy in her life? She thought Kaede obaa-san was her friend! She even had this idea in her head that it would only last a few days, then they'd get rid of him like they got rid of locusts with insecticides. Now it had been weeks and Kaede hadn't found a spell to get rid of him…instead she found a spell that bound him to her.
How inconvenient.
"So technically, little ningen," Inuyasha began. "You are babysitting me."
To those above, Kagome prayed and begged in silent benediction. She asked with her eyes tightly shut: What, in my meaningless life, have I done to deserve this equally meaningless torture? Was it because I didn't feed Buyo that one time? Or because I ate Grandpa's pie and blamed it on Souta? For those and many others, I'm truly sorry. Just please! Make him go away!
For a moment, she hoped that her prayers had reached its intended destination, so she looked around and was doubly hopeful when she found that there was no one in her room.
Even the papers that had been swirling involuntarily while they had talked where not there anymore.
Maybe he was gone.
"Kagome!" came a pleasant call from down the hall.
"Yes Mama?" Kagome called back.
"There's a boy out here who says he's a friend of yours."
Kagome hesitated. Strange…she didn't hear the doorbell. Anyways, it was probably Hojo-kun. He had been the first nice person to her at school. He struck her as the old-fashioned type of guy, so it was strange that he would be taken with a girl like her. But…why would he come this late in the day?
I'll just tell him some believable white lie and send him off…I'm too exhausted…Kagome thought with a yawn as she walked out towards the direction of the small kitchen.
When she got there, she froze, just as she did when her brother had been turned into a potato. Again, blood seemed to cease flowing in her veins. Well…just as Kaede obaa-san, that sly dog demon did the unthinkable. Her eyes widened at a languorous speed with flecks of mortification stashed into the look. This was the ominous feeling she had.
Those gold eyes seemed to laugh at her with bitter satisfaction. He reveled in torturing her, didn't he? Even his hair seemed to laugh at her.
Blinded by ardent fury, she dubbed him Mr. Jerk.
A/N: If any of you are wondering (and I highly doubt that you are) koyomi no youkai (*) does not exist in any Japanese myth, folktale, legend, or fairytale. It was simply a figment of my imagination. But, if anything resembles this sort of calendar in any other culture, please inform me because that would be a really cool coincidence! ^_^
*Irasshaimase means something like "Welcome (to our store)"
M anifestation of the Inuyasha Doll
Chapter two
An Enigmatic Stranger
There was a flicker of light...then darkness. A ringing could be heard in the vicinity...sounds of rhythmic thumping...a distant voice...it was all so soothing, so placid...yet it calmed her with a sense of pacifism...
"Dammit!! What does it take to wake you up!!" Inuyasha blared acrimoniously. He threw his hands up in the air in frustration and began pacing around the room.
He had tried everything to get her awaken. Her alarm clock had awoken him at 6:30am, yet it did not faze this girl. The people two stories down and five apartments across's neighbor's pet cricket could hear it and she couldn't. He tried banging on walls, increasing the volume of her radio, yelling at her...but it did not wake her.
"Kagome? Please wake up, you'll be late for school," came a gentle voice just outside the door. Inuyasha quickly jumped into her closet.
He heard a stirring of sheets and an "Okay Mama," then soft footsteps.
Great. She wakes up to that.
Inuyasha walked out of her closet and glared at the back of her head as she retrieved her slippers. Kagome unconsciously turned towards him. She gave him a sleepy look with a languorous yawn.
"What?" she asked.
****
All Kagome could think of was the "legend" her grandfather had told her. If that occurred 50 years ago, wouldn't Grandpa have been alive then? Then...why is it a legend?
Plus there was all the mumbo jumbo Kaede obaa-san was talking about...what did the Higurashis have to do with any of this? Why did she seem so calm about all this? Did she not just witness black magic right then and there?
"Higurashi-san!"
Kagome's head snapped up. Oh yeah...she was in class.
"I'm sorry," Kagome said, timorously.
"Sorry for what? That you didn't want to earn an education?" Mrs. Okamura snapped.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"You'll be sorry when you don't go to a university. Or end up as some poor, short, fat man's mistress, living in a motel next to the Sendai Station for Kami-sama knows how long, until you finally land a job at the local day care center and are forced to teach those damned miniature goblins known solely by humans as 'children' some real manners. Oh yeah, they got what they deserved, those little monsters--" Mrs. Okamura paused, realizing that all her students were staring at her as if she were a giant lizard. She smiled nervously and cleared her throat. "As I was saying: The legend of…"
Wow, and it's only the second day...
****
For the past week, Kagome struggled to keep Inuyasha out of sight from her mother and Souta. If they knew she was harboring a boy in her room, her mother would scream bloody murder. Besides, it would be embarrassing enough for her if that happened.
Usually, when two people spend time with each other, they get used to each other's presence and eventually become friends. Kagome and Inuyasha? They were different.
That night, Kagome got on the bus for the Shizuma Kottouhinten. She exited and quickly ran into the building.
Of course…Inuyasha trailed behind her; sulking and muttering.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome called.
No answer came.
Kagome became curious when she heard muffled voices in one of the back rooms. She pressed her ear to the door.
"There's a guy in there with her," Inuyasha said indifferently, leaning against the wall. Kagome stared at him.
"Okay…?"
"They're arguing and that Sango girl's throwing things at him."
"What!? Inuyasha, how do you kno-" Kagome began, before the door quickly burst open. Inuyasha and Kagome hurried out of their way.
"Sango darling, just give me another chance!" The young man begged as Sango silently tugged at his ear, bringing him to the front door. She shook her head, keeping her mouth tightly shut in a frown.
Once she had thrown him out, she shut the door, locked it, then pulled the blinds down. She looked back at Inuyasha and Kagome and smiled.
"Kagome-chan, Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Sango asked.
"First of all," Kagome said roguishly. "Who was that?"
"Just some idiot who won't leave me alone. No worries. So what did you come here for?" Sango asked, leaving no room for Kagome to ask anymore questions.
Kagome seemed startled but didn't persist on the situation. "I wanted to see Kaede obaa-san. I have to ask her about the 'Shikon no Tama'. It's so weird because my grandfather told me it was a legend…even though he was alive when it all happened."
Sango smiled. "You misunderstood Kagome-chan…it was fifty years in the koyomi no youkai-the calendar of the youkai.* Every ten years equals one year for youkai," Sango explained.
Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "Is this right?"
"Don't know, don't care," Inuyasha said curtly before turning to walk around the store.
"He's still acting that way?" Sango whispered to Kagome. Kagome sighed.
"Yeah. I'll learn to get used to it if I'm supposed to be stuck with him for a while. Anyways…if that's true. It means that Inuyasha's…500 years old?" Kagome asked. For the first time in her life, she was truly shocked. Walking around with her was a 500-year-old hanyou who seemed to think the whole situation was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Yes--well...about 500 years old."
"Then Kaede obaa-san is…?"
"An apparition. Somehow, because of her sister's death, her soul has been floating from body to body, hoping to finally seal Inuyasha so that she could rest. When she told me this after you guys left that one night, I was surprised that I wasn't scared of her," Sango said as they walked up the flight of stairs in the back of the store.
"You live here?" Kagome asked.
"Yup. Me and Kaede obaa-chan. I was wondering why she told me never to call her Kaede obaa-chan in public. Always Shizuma-san. You want a cup of tea?"
Kagome nodded and watched as Sango headed to the kitchen to heat some water. Everything was finally coming together. It was a good thing Sango was here or she would have been lost to the world forever.
Kagome glanced at her watch. 17:05. Sango noticed Kagome looking at her watch and gave her a worried look. "Do you have to be home soon?" she asked, putting the tea down in front of them.
"No…just hoping my little brother's home safe. He was supposed to go home right after school, but he probably went to that new friend's house. Sometimes he could be so irritating-" Kagome stopped when she saw the look on Sango's face.
"Sango-chan? Are you all right?"
Sango gave a sullen smile, though she was attempting a jovial one. She shook her head. "It's nothing really…"
"Tell me."
There was a long silence before Sango spoke up. "I…had a brother too. His name was Kohaku…but it's all in the past. We shouldn't talk about it-"
"Sango-chan, I'm sorry-"
"Let's just not talk about it please?" Sango begged.
"Okay…"
****
After an hour or so, Inuyasha and Kagome left. It was a silent ride home, though it was usually filled with vehemence and verbal brawls and lots of staring from passengers. There was something distant about Inuyasha at the moment as if he had no intention of ever speaking to her again.
Nevertheless, Kagome tested him. "Inuyasha? I know you hate me but…I just wanna ask you a question."
"Go ahead. I'm not in the mood to yell at your noisy ass anyways."
Kagome closed her eyes. Breathe deeply…inhale…exhale…do not strangle…but if it comes to that, you did it unintentionally…
"I wanted to know if you ever lost someone you cared about," Kagome asked softly. She felt Inuyasha tense at this question. She glimpsed at him by her side.
"No," was his impassive answer.
Liar.
"Oh…well, I lost someone," Kagome decided to tell him anyways. "Sango-chan reminded me of him again, after all these years. You know Sango-chan had a little brother? She lost him a while ago, though I don't know when. Well…the person I lost was my dad. He died a year after Souta was born…"
Inuyasha had a quick look of pity in his eyes as he glanced at Kagome. Why was she talking to him about all these personal things? Such as people that were lost from their lives forever? He didn't know her, let alone like her. Or did he just like to aggravate people the way everyone had aggravated him? This girl never even judged him just by looking at him the way the other youkai or humans had done. His mind drifted back…that night, according to humans, 500 years ago…
****
Kagome grabbed her keys and shuffled through them. She was surprised when she looked up and noticed that it was open. She gazed over at Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha...?"
"I told you I had powers. Don't need to look at me like that you battered cow."
"Can you do anything else?" Kagome asked, reticently, hoping that Inuyasha wouldn't snap at her. She just wasn't up for yelling at him.
Inuyasha simpered then scoffed haughtily. "Of course I can. I can even kill you if I wanted." Before Inuyasha could say anything else, he felt his face slam onto the floor. "Ow!! What the fuck-"
Kagome had retrieved the doll from her bag and slammed it on the kitchen table. "If you're going to threaten my life, do it somewhere where I can't hear it!" Kagome yelled, heading down the hall to her room, angrily.
Inuyasha muttered a horde of swear words before he followed Kagome to her room. He never expected to crash into someone on the way there…
"Hi," came a voice below him. Inuyasha's eyes gradually moved down to where the boy stood in front of him.
"Ah!" Inuyasha cried out in surprise before waving his hand at the small boy.
Kagome came rushing out of her room when she heard the noise. Her eyes froze on Inuyasha. Her body went numb and her blood felt as if it stopped flowing when she saw the small object on the ground.
Inuyasha had to cover her mouth in order to keep her quiet enough for the neighbors not to hear.
****
"You idiot!! You turned my brother into a potato!? A potato!?" Kagome screamed lividly.
"The damn boy scar--surprised me okay? It wasn't my fault you aged cow!"
"You inconsiderate--sardonic--cynical--vulgar--jerk!!" Kagome said, hitting him in the chest at each insult that was hurled. She grabbed the miniature Inuyasha doll and squeezed it. Inuyasha staggered onto the floor in pain.
"You bitch--stop that!! I said stop!!" Inuyasha shouted, almost pleading for her to cease her malicious torture. Kagome was too blinded by rage to give room for clemency.
"If you want me to stop, apologize and turn my brother back to normal!!"
"Okay dammit! Will you just cut it out?" Inuyasha shouted irately. Kagome stopped and glared at him as she put the doll down onto her desk.
"Well?"
Inuyasha turned to the potato on her bed, his back facing Kagome. Kagome tapped her fingers on the table, anticipating the return of her brother.
Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke. Kagome quickly ran over to where her bed was supposedly at and grabbed Inuyasha's shoulders. The smoke quickly died down.
But in front of her was not a healthy, living, human boy…but a camel.
"Inuyasha!"
"It's been a long time since I've used my powers. Just sit still will you?" Inuyasha snapped, shrugging Kagome's hands off of his shoulders. That girl had some grip on her…
"You know? I should be the one angry here! Not you!"
"If your brother hadn't been there, I wouldn't be acting this shitty."
"You always act like that!"
"Do you want your brother back or not?"
Kagome became silent and waited until Inuyasha began concentrating once more. Kagome stared at the camel. It was staring back at her with a certain dazed look. Could it be that Souta was conscious of his surroundings just as Inuyasha had been as a doll?
Kagome thought, shutting her eyes tightly. How would she be able to explain Souta's physical changes?
After many irritating hours, turning the poor boy into a female parrot, a CD player, binder paper, and a Victoria's Secret model, he was returned to his original body, asleep. Of course he would be asleep after all of his unusual sex changes. Things like that tend to tire people out.
Inuyasha and Kagome sagged onto the floor against the wall, exhausted.
"Five hundred years…" Kagome whispered before she drifted off to sleep. Inuyasha looked over at the sleeping form. If her mother found her like this…
****
Breakfast was served at exactly 6:45 that morning. Luckily, there had been no birds outside Kagome's window before she woke up or else nobody's day would have started out pleasantly.
Kagome looked down at her food and silently picked at it. She remembered finding herself in her bed that morning. Plus Souta was sitting up on his own bed, his hair disheveled, looking disconcerted. Did Inuyasha put them in their rightful beds to be nice so that she wouldn't get into trouble? Or did he do it so he wouldn't get caught?
Well, whatever he did it for, Kagome was glad for it.
"Hey Onee-chan?" Souta asked, his mouth filled with food.
"Yes?"
"I had this really weird dream last night. You were in it," Souta began.
"What was it about?" Kagome asked casually as she gathered some food into her mouth.
"Well…I was in the hallway when this tall dude with silver hair came out and turned me into a potato," Souta recollected. At this Kagome choked on the piece of food. She softly began coughing. Souta, seeming unaware of this, continued. "You and he brought me to your room and started arguing about something, and then he turned me into all sorts of weird stuff. Then I remember waking up in my own bed wearing a bra and feeling all weird like I was drugged," Souta explained, scratching his head, feeling oddly confused at his own explanation.
Kagome decided to speak, but since she hadn't collected her sanity at the moment, her voice came out as a squeak. Luckily, Mrs. Higurashi spoke up.
"Souta? You're not sleepwalking again are you?" Mama asked, anxiously. "The last time that happened, you ended up on one of the Goshinboku's branches, in one of Grandpa's underwear! Oh dear, we have to go call a doctor again…"
"Mama! I'm not sleepwalking! It was a dream! Onee-chan probably did that to play a trick on me! Honest!" Souta cried indignantly.
Kagome remained silent. She got up, mumbled a quick goodbye and walked out the door.
"No! We are going to call Dr. Kobayashi-" was the last thing Kagome heard before she shut the door. She sighed with relief and got on the local bus to school.
****
That late afternoon, she was forced to go home, sent by Sango, for looking haggard. She was incredibly tired and didn't have a clue as to why. She lingered at her front door for a second pondering on what happened that day.
Work had been inscrutable that day. A young man had been in the store that day and kept glancing at Kagome when she wasn't looking. No, it wasn't the kind of stare a girl gets when a boy is attracted to her, it was more of a narrow-eyed observing stare. He seemed to be examining her as if to make sure she was really…her.
"Irasshaimase*," Kagome greeted wearily as he handed his item to her.
The young man smiled. "Is that a way to greet a customer?" he asked a bit coquettishly.
"Sorry, I'm a little tired," she said. "Your total is 800 yen."
The young man began handing her the money, but as she reached out for it, he stared into her eyes, their hands connected by the money. His eyes were so penetrating; Kagome couldn't help but stare back.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You have 30 days to refund your item-" Kagome said on impulse.
"No, not that…do you happen to have a surname of Higurashi?"
"Yes…why do you ask?" Kagome said cautiously, gently interrogating him as he was interrogating her. Seriously, who was this guy?
"So…I finally found it after all. Now, just to find dog-boy…" the boy muttered, unconsciously as he stared into her necklace. Nervously, Kagome took the necklace and put it into her shirt. The boy, startled, looked up at her and shook his head. "Sorry. Have a good evening," he said before he left.
When he had said "dog-boy", what did he mean? She shook it off, seeming too clueless and naïve to perceive the strange situation that occurred that day. She simply headed to her bedroom, getting ready and hyped to collapse on her bed.
But a certain figure happened to be on it. Kagome frowned.
She looked up and noticed that Inuyasha was swirling his forefinger into the air. Right above him were papers equally swirling in the same motion. Kagome, unaccustomed to this use of magical powers, momentarily gazed in amazement. She quickly snapped out of it and glanced at him. He looked so bored and insentient. He hadn't even noticed her entering. Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You know, you don't have to stay here all day. I'm not babysitting you," Kagome said, setting her backpack down.
It took a moment for Inuyasha to answer. "You're right. I'd rather stay in a pile of tortoise feces than stay in your room, but unfortunately, that demented old hag did something unthinkable."
"And what was it that she did?" she asked curiously, assuming that this "demented old hag" he spoke of was Kaede obaa-san.
"She bound you and me together with some spell," he spat distastefully. He paused. "Remember that night you went upstairs with that girl?"
"Sango," Kagome irritably corrected Inuyasha's implication of Sango.
"Yeah, whatever. Well, the fat bag came to me and suddenly started chanting this weird spell. Then she told me it was for the best," Inuyasha said. He paused to allow her to say something, and then proceeded when she didn't. "She said that if she were to seal me back, she'd have to know where to find me…unfortunately-for you and me, that is-she bound me to you…the witch…she ought to be shaved…like those naked cats," he muttered, sulkily.
No… Kagome thought ominously. What would become of her with this crude boy in her life? She thought Kaede obaa-san was her friend! She even had this idea in her head that it would only last a few days, then they'd get rid of him like they got rid of locusts with insecticides. Now it had been weeks and Kaede hadn't found a spell to get rid of him…instead she found a spell that bound him to her.
How inconvenient.
"So technically, little ningen," Inuyasha began. "You are babysitting me."
To those above, Kagome prayed and begged in silent benediction. She asked with her eyes tightly shut: What, in my meaningless life, have I done to deserve this equally meaningless torture? Was it because I didn't feed Buyo that one time? Or because I ate Grandpa's pie and blamed it on Souta? For those and many others, I'm truly sorry. Just please! Make him go away!
For a moment, she hoped that her prayers had reached its intended destination, so she looked around and was doubly hopeful when she found that there was no one in her room.
Even the papers that had been swirling involuntarily while they had talked where not there anymore.
Maybe he was gone.
"Kagome!" came a pleasant call from down the hall.
"Yes Mama?" Kagome called back.
"There's a boy out here who says he's a friend of yours."
Kagome hesitated. Strange…she didn't hear the doorbell. Anyways, it was probably Hojo-kun. He had been the first nice person to her at school. He struck her as the old-fashioned type of guy, so it was strange that he would be taken with a girl like her. But…why would he come this late in the day?
I'll just tell him some believable white lie and send him off…I'm too exhausted…Kagome thought with a yawn as she walked out towards the direction of the small kitchen.
When she got there, she froze, just as she did when her brother had been turned into a potato. Again, blood seemed to cease flowing in her veins. Well…just as Kaede obaa-san, that sly dog demon did the unthinkable. Her eyes widened at a languorous speed with flecks of mortification stashed into the look. This was the ominous feeling she had.
Those gold eyes seemed to laugh at her with bitter satisfaction. He reveled in torturing her, didn't he? Even his hair seemed to laugh at her.
Blinded by ardent fury, she dubbed him Mr. Jerk.
A/N: If any of you are wondering (and I highly doubt that you are) koyomi no youkai (*) does not exist in any Japanese myth, folktale, legend, or fairytale. It was simply a figment of my imagination. But, if anything resembles this sort of calendar in any other culture, please inform me because that would be a really cool coincidence! ^_^
*Irasshaimase means something like "Welcome (to our store)"