InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis ❯ Like Old Times, Part 1 ( Chapter 47 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.21.2010 | Updated On: 02.14.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 2.9K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.21.2010 | Updated On: 02.14.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 2.9K | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any of the publicly known characters, plot, etc. I’m just renting them from Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, etc. I do own the plot of this story and any original characters I’ve created. I will make no money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.
Like Old Times, Part 1
Kagome woke just after sunrise, feeling incredibly refreshed after her peaceful night’s sleep. And she knew exactly why she had slept so well. Apparently, her presence had the same effect on Inuyasha, who was snoring softly behind her, clearly still in slumber. She wouldn’t wake him. Her body was a little stiff from sitting in a tree all night, and she could use a good stretch, but she was far too comfortable to go anywhere for the moment. Sighing contentedly, she gazed out across the landscape, spotting several small woodland critters just coming out of hiding. A songbird landed farther out on their branch, preening its feathers while not even noticing them. It truly was an idyllic scene, and she intended to enjoy it for a long as Inuyasha was asleep. And if that meant being late for school, then so be it.
Inuyasha’s warm body and steady heartbeat put her in a lazy mood, and she was just dozing off again when he stirred behind her, coming awake with a yawn. Blinking a few times as he gathered his bearings, he looked down to find Kagome gazing up at him, her face only inches from his.
“Good morning,” she said cheerfully.
“Keh.”
She giggled, then hesitated, probably considering a kiss, before apparently thinking better of it and resting her head on his chest once more.
“S-sleep well?” Inuyasha asked, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Mmm.” A long silence ensued, each hanyou lost in thought.
“You have school today?” Inuyasha spoke up after awhile.
“Yeah, but then it’s the weekend.” Pausing, she heaved a regretful sigh. “I guess I should probably get going. Do you mind?”
Inuyasha shook his head, and together they vaulted down from the tree and headed for the well. Upon catching a glimpse of a clock in the modern era, Kagome realized that she was indeed running late. Wolfing down a muffin, she changed into her uniform and after a quick goodbye to her family charged out the door. She would have to stick to the rooftops, but she could make it in time thanks to her hanyou powers. Or at least that was the plan, until she found herself unceremoniously tossed onto a familiar red-clad back.
“Inuyasha, what are you doing?”
“Like hell I’m letting you run around in that skirt!” he grouched, clearly expecting an argument. But Kagome simply shook her head, smiling ruefully as she held on for the ride. There were certain things that just weren’t worth fighting over, especially when Inuyasha was going out of his way to do something nice for her. They stopped in an alleyway near the school just as the first bell was chiming, and her fellow students outside began moving toward their classrooms.
“Bye!” she called, beginning to jog toward the entrance before a clawed hand on her wrist stopped her. “Inuya—” She was silenced by his lips, pressing against hers in a parting kiss that was over before she had a chance to realize what was happening. Pulling away, he flashed her a smirk that was a mix of confidence and unease.
“See ya,” he said before leaping up onto the nearest rooftop and vanishing from view. She stared after him for a few seconds, and then the final bell rang and shattered her daze. She sprinted for the school, grinning happily. If she wasn’t sure things had really changed since yesterday, she was now. That sentiment was confirmed by her friends, who at lunch time told her there was something different about her, a certain brightness which had been absent for weeks. She took the compliments while trying not to get too excited about them. Things had taken a turn for the better, but a couple kisses didn’t mean they were alright again. She still didn’t feel comfortable doing anything more with him, and now she knew that Inuyasha felt the same. Time alone hadn’t worked before, but now that they had come to a new understanding, she felt confident that the rest would eventually fall into place.
Back at the shrine, Inuyasha’s thoughts turned in a very similar direction during a few moments of down time after lunch. He had been a little worried about facing Kagome’s mother, since the whole family had heard their argument two nights ago, but the older woman had merely smiled at him and asked if they had worked things out. He responded in the affirmative, and that was the end of the discussion. Not for the first time, he was grateful Mrs. Higurashi had decided to take a hands-off approach to her daughter’s love life. So it was with relatively high spirits that Inuyasha made his customary journey to Kagome’s school to meet her when she got out. His mood fell when he laid eyes on his melancholy mate, trudging toward him with slumped shoulders.
“What’s wrong, Kagome?”
“Ugh, I got a sixty-two on my test yesterday. And I can’t take a make-up because I haven’t missed any school recently.”
“Oh…sorry,” Inuyasha mumbled, knowing that a sleepless night resulting from their fight had been to blame.
“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, forcibly perking up at the realization that she was making him feel guilty. That had not been her intention at all. “It was my fault too. And sixty-two is passing. My other grades in that class will be better.” Besides, she added to herself, I don’t really care that much. She felt a small amount of shame at that thought, but it was true. The only real reason she felt glum about the grade at all was because she hated to fail—or come so close to failing—at anything she did. As for achieving the ‘A’ or ‘B’ average she used to maintain, or graduating at the top of the class…none of that mattered anymore, and hadn’t for a long time. Inuyasha didn’t say anything else, so she moved in close and wrapped her arm around his waist to show that she truly wasn’t upset with him. He hesitantly returned the gesture, and they slowly made their way back to the shrine, the picture of youthful contentment.
“Hi, Mama,” Kagome said as she passed by the kitchen on the way to her room. Receiving no return greeting, she backtracked and stuck her head in the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table studying a piece of paper, confusion written on her features.
“Mama? Is something wrong?”
“Huh?” the older woman replied with a start, glancing around until she saw them in the doorway. “Oh, Kagome, Inuyasha, I was just…well, come take a look at this.” The two hanyou made their way over to the table, and Mrs. Higurashi handed her daughter the paper. It was a handwritten note, the graceful, refined letters crafted in black ink, probably from a fountain pen. “I went to the bank today, and when I got there the teller told me someone had deposited 182,000 yen in my account. (1) The mysterious stranger also left this note.”
“Higurashi family,” Kagome read aloud. “This money has been given to you for a specific purpose. I request that you only use it when that purpose makes itself known.”
Kagome frowned, turning the note over to find nothing on the back. “That’s really odd. There’s no name on it, so I guess this person wanted to remain anonymous. Do you have any idea who it is?”
Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. “I was hoping maybe you would know.”
“You think it has something to do with us?”
“No offense, Kagome, but whenever something weird happens around here, you and Inuyasha are usually involved.”
Kagome grinned wryly. She’s got a point there. “I wish I knew what to tell you.”
“That’s okay, dear. I’m sure the reason for the gift will become clear eventually.”
“Is it a lot of money?” Inuyasha interjected quietly, reminding both women of his presence. Kagome tried to think of a way to explain it that he would understand, knowing he wasn’t familiar with modern currency.
“It’s not that much money, but Mama could probably buy four or five months worth of groceries on it.”
“More like two if Inuyasha keeps coming with me,” Mrs. Higurashi joked, earning a chuckle from the two hanyou. With nothing else to say, the trio went their separate ways, Inuyasha and Kagome up to her room to change. Inuyasha grabbed his fire-rat garb and was heading for the bathroom when Kagome’s voice stopped him.
“You know, you don’t have to change in the other room.”
Inuyasha froze, briefly questioning his hearing before turning to make sure she meant what he thought she did. But she already had her back to him, and as he watched she pulled her blouse over her head, her hair lifting for a fleeting moment and revealing the entire milky expanse of her back, covered only by the thin straps of her bra. A choked sound escaped him as he quickly spun and shut the door, in case any of her family members happened to walk by. He took a few shaky breaths to regain his composure. He was not surprised at his nervousness; they hadn’t changed together in so long, after all. What did surprise him was the rapid beat of his heart and the surge of heat through his body. He wanted to look. He wanted to sit on the bed and watch her undress before him. He wanted to see all of her again. It was quite the revelation for a hanyou who had lost all sense of sexual attraction. The spark of the previous evening had grown into a small, but powerful flame. He grinned; excited to feel physical attraction for his mate again. It almost seemed too easy, like turning on one of Kagome’s futuristic light switches. But apparently an honest conversation had done more for them than they initially realized. Who knew good communication was the key to a good relationship?
He heard the zipper of Kagome’s skirt and the rustle as she let it fall to the floor. Hastily he pulled his t-shirt over his head, trying to distract himself from what he knew was going on behind him. But it was no use; his brain supplied unbidden images of his mate in her underwear, adjusting the hem of her panties, bending over to pick up her skirt…
He shook his head, but the images remained. It was becoming difficult to concentrate, and for the life of him he couldn’t undo the button to his pants. But what would be the harm in looking? He didn’t think she’d mind, and he wouldn’t get caught anyway. For once, it didn’t feel like seeing each other in a state of undress would be incredibly awkward. And besides, changing together had been her idea.
Mind made up, Inuyasha stealthily turned just enough to gaze at her over his shoulder. He started at her feet, panning his eyes up over her long, beautiful legs, the elegant swell of her ass covered by plain white cotton, admiring the graceful way her hips flowed to her waist and then up to her chest. It failed to register that Kagome was standing stock still through all of this, and that her upper body was somewhat turned to the side. He didn’t realize what was happening until his gaze reached her face, a half second before her eyes completed an identical perusal of his form and locked with his amber orbs. They stared at each other for a moment, then all at once the spell was broken and they spun sharply away, both flushing hotly. And yet, though he was embarrassed about getting caught, Inuyasha could not wipe the goofy grin off his face. It appeared he wasn’t the only one experiencing long-forgotten urges this afternoon. They finished dressing in silence, each wearing sheepish smiles when they finally turned to face each other.
“Ready to go?” Kagome asked brightly.
“Yep.”
It had been three days since their last run, so the exercise was just a little sweeter than normal for both hanyou. Kagome had never appreciated the simple joy of physical exertion before her metamorphosis, but she certainly did now. The last leg of today’s route took them by chance to the edge of the river where they regularly bathed afterwards, and her cheery mood caused mischievous thoughts to pop up in Kagome’s mind. She took a sideways glance at her partner; he was gazing straight ahead, completely unaware of her dastardly plotting. Suddenly she planted her foot and launched herself sideways, knocking Inuyasha off balance. He reeled, teetering on the edge of the steep bank, glaring at Kagome in surprise. But the impish smirk on her face told him exactly what was going on, and as she reached out to give him a final—but unnecessary—push, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down after him as he fell. He heard her shriek before the water enveloped them both, and he gently came to rest on the bottom of the four foot deep river, Kagome lying on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist, letting her do the work of bringing them both to the surface. She came up sputtering, apparently more surprised to find herself in the water than he was.
“You weren’t supposed to pull me in!” she declared playfully, rounding on him and moving her hair out of her eyes.
“Oh, yeah?” he responded in kind. “Well, too bad! Why’d you push me in the first place?”
“That was payback for peeking at me before.”
“I…you…keh!” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest as his brow twitched in mock annoyance.
“Aw, come on, Inuyasha, don’t pout. Here, I’ll even say it for you. Wench!” she finished, imitating his voice, quite badly in his opinion. He didn’t bother to deny that was what he was going to say; old habits were hard to break, after all. Truthfully, Kagome didn’t mind the ‘insult’ in this kind of friendly context; it was like a pet name. It was only when Inuyasha had used it as an actual insult that she had been hurt by it.
“I do not sound like that,” he grumped, the slight upturn of his lips belying his cranky exterior.
“Crazy wench. Feh!” she impersonated again, mimicking his folded arms and exaggerating his pout for good measure. In doing so she accidently splashed water on his face. “Oh, sorry, Inuyasha.”
His eyes opened again, and there was vengeance blazing in their golden depths, as well as an evil, toothy smirk on his face. Kagome backed away in alarm, not particularly relishing the thought of having a gallon of river water shoved up her nose. When Inuyasha reared back to send a miniature tidal wave at her, she turned and bolted, wading downstream as fast as she could while giggling madly, Inuyasha in hot pursuit.
Five minutes of frolicking ended when Inuyasha tackled Kagome in the shallows, settling on top of her and capturing her lips with his own. The sensual undertones of their game had become too powerful for him to ignore; her saturated white kosode was just transparent enough to give a tantalizing glimpse of what lay underneath. Soft moans escaped both of them as lips parted, tongues emerging to dance shyly in the warm confines of their mouths. Inuyasha pulled away to breathe, and debated going back in for another kiss. But the moment wasn’t right; they had taken things far enough today. Sighing in contentment, he flopped down onto his back next to Kagome, floating in the gentle current alongside her. The cool water felt nice on their sweaty bodies, but now they needed to cool off for an entirely different reason. He felt her hand groping blindly for his, and he took it easily, the simple gesture saying all that needed to be said. They floated like that for awhile, the only sounds to escape them the occasional residual chuckle.
“I remember back when I first became a hanyou, when I was afraid to go in the water,” Kagome said out of the blue.
“It didn’t last. Now you’re like a fish again.”
“Hm. Oh, Kami, remember the time you saw me hanging from that branch?” (2)
Inuyasha paused a moment before responding, temporarily lost in the memory. “How could I forget?” he replied, just a hint of something lecherous in his tone.
“Hmph. It wasn’t the first time you saw me naked.”
“No, but it was my best look at the time. If you hadn’t dropped into the spring, I’d probably still be staring at you.”
“Hentai.”
“At least I don’t smell like soaked cat,” he teased.
“Better than wet dog.”
“Oh, I stink, do I? I know how to fix that,” he replied, releasing her hand and climbing up onto the bank, where he proceeded to squat down on all fours. Kagome realized what he was going to do and covered her face as he shook like a dog, spraying droplets of water in every direction. She couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all.
“What are you snickering at?” he asked in amusement. “I’m dry, you’re still wet, and we don’t have any towels. I should be laughing at you.”
“I’ll live.”
“Suit yourself. You know,” he began with a wicked smirk, “if you wanted to get dry, you could always—”
“I do not shake, Inuyasha,” she replied sternly.
“Okay, but it’s kind of chilly out here. You won’t like it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she retorted, suppressing a shiver as she climbed out of the water. It really was quite cool this evening, the setting sun providing little warmth. Nothing dinner in front of a nice fire wouldn’t cure, but there was a certain feline curiosity that she couldn’t help but entertain. Did shaking dry really work as well as Inuyasha said it did? Somehow the idea didn’t seem quite as ridiculous as it had back when she was fully human. It was at the very least worth a try.
“Anything special I should know?” she asked, squatting down into position.
Inuyasha gaped at her in shock. “Uh, no. Just, you know, shake.”
“Gee, thanks.” But ultimately it was one of those things that didn’t need to be taught; she started moving her shoulders, and those mysterious youkai instincts seemed to take over. In no time she had shaken most of the water off her body. She was still a little damp, but much more comfortable than she’d been before.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, was far from comfortable. He’d been expecting to get a kick out of watching Kagome shake herself dry, but it caught him completely by surprise when time slowed to a crawl. He watched her every movement in slow motion, swearing he could see each individual droplet fly through the air. The subtle rhythm of her body made even the simple act of shaking enchanting, and the expression on her face nearly made him lose his balance. Her eyes were closed, mouth hanging open provocatively, appearing almost exactly like he imagined she would if he were— He swiftly spun away from her, breaking the spell. He needed to get those thoughts out of his head; that probably wouldn’t be happening any time soon. The last thing he wanted to do was rush it. Head number one had made quite a few bad decisions lately, but he still trusted it to guide him more than head number two further south.
“C-come on, let’s go,” he said when his ears told him Kagome was finished. “I’m starving.”
If she smelled his excitement, she made no mention of it, amiably falling in step beside him. They walked at a brisk pace, their rumbling stomachs demanding nothing less. If Sango and Miroku were not back from their latest youkai slaying expedition, it was straight to Kaede’s hut or back through the well to find some food to fill their empty bellies. They were happy to hear the newlyweds’ voices as they approached the house, and not just because it had been a few days since they’d seen each other. For a warrior, Sango was a surprisingly good cook, and when Miroku occasionally took over and made something, there wasn’t much of a drop off. Their children certainly wouldn’t lack for tasty meals.
“I still say we charged too much,” they heard Sango say from inside the house.
“It was a tough job, Sango. Five bales of rice is a fair price for our services. We’ll need that rice come winter time.”
“Still…”
“Believe me, Sango, those villagers won’t notice the loss. We won’t ever take anything from people who can’t afford to pay, agreed?”
“Agreed,” the slayer replied, and that seemed to end the discussion. Still, Inuyasha couldn’t resist making a jibe at the monk’s expense as he lifted the door flap and crossed the threshold.
“Up to your old tricks, eh bouzu? Swindling people out of their hard-earned possessions?” He shook his head, pretending that he really felt bad for the ‘victims.’
“Ah, good to see you, Inuyasha, Kagome-sama,” Miroku replied cordially. “I prefer to think of my old ways as liberating individuals of unnecessary wealth from their unneeded items.”
Sango scoffed. “You mean stealing.”
“Sango, you too?” Miroku wondered, ostensibly taken aback. “I’ll have you both know that I provided a valuable service. Besides, it’s their fault for not negotiating a price beforehand.”
The three other occupants rolled their eyes, but made no further comment. They all knew what kind of man Miroku was, and even back then they seriously doubted he ever took anything the owner couldn’t afford to lose. He seemed to have settled nicely into the role of an honest professional, something which would undoubtedly serve him well as he and his wife raised a family. Dinner was served in short order, with Shippou, Kohaku, and Kirara joining the gathering as well. Everyone was hungry, so the meal went by quickly and quietly, only some light conversation breaking the comfortable silence.
“Do you have school tomorrow, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked when everyone was nearly finished.
“Nope. Why do you ask?” Kagome inquired, sensing that it was not an innocent question. Sure enough, Sango exchanged a look with her husband, who grinned at them.
“Because we heard something that might interest you,” he said. “On our way back today, we crossed paths with a man from a neighboring village, which just happens to be having youkai problems. The interesting part is that they’ve shared the forest with this youkai peacefully for years, and the youkai only started acting up several weeks ago. He said it grew into a monster and it’s destroying their crops and has even carried some people into the forest. Now, what does that sound like to you?”
Inuyasha thought about it, his eyes widening at the realization. The timing was just too perfect. “It sounds like that youkai got a hold of a jewel shard!”
“Exactly. So, since you and Kagome-sama are the official shard hunters now,” he stated, passing Sango a meaningful look, “would you like to join us?” Neither hanyou knew it, but the newlyweds had engaged in several rather heated discussions over whether they should accompany Inuyasha and Kagome on their renewed quest to complete the Shikon no Tama. Miroku finally managed to convince his wife that it would be better if they stayed behind. Inuyasha and Kagome could move much faster without them, and with Naraku dead, odds were that there wasn’t another insanely powerful youkai that would require their combined strength to defeat. Besides, he had pointed out, Sango could already be carrying their first child for all they knew. A pregnant human was not the type of person to bring on an adventure, no matter how physically fit she was. Once the more unpleasant ‘symptoms’ of pregnancy started showing up, that physical prowess would count for very little. But ultimately, Sango had only relented because she already knew it was what both Inuyasha and Kagome wanted; they had told her so the day after Naraku’s demise. Still, this particular mission belonged to her and Miroku, though their friends were certainly welcome to come along.
“Oooh! Can I come too?” Shippou asked excitedly.
“Of course, Shippou,” Miroku answered. “Kohaku, you’re welcome as well.”
The boy politely declined, saying that he didn’t want to interrupt his studies. Sango was disappointed; she thought a short excursion would do him some good, but she respected his decision.
“Yay! It’ll be like old times!” Shippou exclaimed, bringing nostalgic grins to the faces of the Inu-gang members. He was right, except for a few noticeable differences. It was as a result of one of those changes that Inuyasha was still surprised Miroku so easily invited them to come along. This was still the hentai monk they were talking about, and more companions meant less time alone time with Sango. The monk was probably getting enough sex for three men, but still. One thing was for sure, if the two of them disappeared suddenly, he would not go looking for them!
He glanced at Kagome to see if she was thinking the same thing, but instead he found her staring unblinkingly into the fire pit with a gloomy look on her face, fingering the bottle of jewel shards around her neck. After a second she realized she was being watched, and plastered on a fake smile. Oh, she tried to hide it, but something was clearly bothering her, and Inuyasha fully intended to find out what it was. But not here in front of everyone.
“So we’ll leave first thing in the morning?” he asked, receiving nods from the humans. “Don’t make me wake your asses up.”
“Yes, yes,” Miroku waved him off. “We’ll be ready.”
“Alright, well we’d better go. Kagome has to stuff that monstrous yellow bag of hers full of ramen, right Kagome?”
“Huh? Oh…yeah,” she replied, clearly not paying attention. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in concern; something was really bothering her, and apparently he wasn’t the only one who noticed. As they stood to leave, he saw Sango frown and open her mouth, probably to ask Kagome if something was wrong. But Inuyasha beat her to the punch.
“We’ll see you guys tomorrow! Don’t oversleep!” he ordered, ushering Kagome out the door before Sango could pose her question. The slayer glared after them but made no move to follow.
“Something was troubling Kagome-chan,” she observed to no one in particular.
“Whatever it was, I’m sure Inuyasha can handle it,” Miroku responded. Sango grumbled about that, but recognized that she needed to leave them alone, for now at least. The hands-off approach seemed to be working; both she and Miroku had noticed how much closer their friends had gotten since the last time they saw them. She could only hope that Inuyasha would in fact help Kagome deal with whatever was upsetting her.
“Inuyasha?”
“What’s wrong, Kagome?”
“It’s noth—”
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing, dammit! I know something’s bugging you, Kagome!” He pulled back slightly, realizing that he was yelling at her. “Please, tell me. Trust me,” he pleaded.
She sighed, but it was one of resignation, so he let her go when she started to push past him. He fell into step beside her, waiting patiently for her to gather her thoughts. When they came to the well she turned around and sat on the lip of the structure, but Inuyasha remained standing before her. Finally, she spoke.
“When you and Miroku started talking about that youkai, and the jewel shards, I guess I just realized…Kami, we’re supposed to be collecting the pieces of the Shikon no Tama! How many people have died because of the jewel while we’ve been…been…fooling around in the present?”
Inuyasha’s eyes widened. Truthfully, that thought had never crossed his mind. But now that Kagome brought it up, he felt a small pang of guilt. A small pang. The degree of remorse that Kagome apparently felt for nameless victims who might have died anyway was unreasonable, and he would endeavor to explain just that. Calmly.
“Kagome, you can’t blame yourself for anything. For all you know, no one has died this time in connection with the jewel shards.” That argument sounded weak even to his ears, and Kagome gave him an incredulous look. “Alright, fine, so that’s probably not true. But even so, there’s no guarantee that we would have been able to save anybody.” Again, Kagome was not convinced.
“At least if we’d been out there, we could say we were trying.”
“And what would have happened then, huh? If we had gone gallivanting off in search of jewel shards the moment after you found me in that village?”
Understanding dawned in Kagome’s brown eyes. “It wouldn’t have worked,” she mumbled softly.
“You’re damn right. For weeks we could barely even speak to each other, let alone travel and spend every moment of every day together. We wouldn’t have accomplished shit.” Inuyasha paused, again realizing that this wasn’t the tone he wanted to use. Kagome stared at the ground in consternation, debating with herself.
“Look, Kagome,” he said, much more calmly this time. “Sometimes you just have to put yourself first…and that’s okay. Staying with your family helped us. We weren’t ready to go hunting for the shards before, and I’m still not sure we are. You can’t beat yourself up for doing what was best for us, not when it very well might have saved us.”
It was awhile before Kagome responded, but when she heaved a long sigh and slumped her shoulders, Inuyasha knew he had gotten through to her. He gently pulled her to her feet and enfolded her in a warm embrace, gratified to feel her arms wrap around his back.
“Thanks,” she stated sincerely.
“Anytime,” he replied, kissing the top of her head. In the very next moment he decided that was enough ‘mushy stuff’ for one evening, and his thoughts turned to more agreeable topics.
“Come on, let’s go see how much ramen we can fit in that bag.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the well.
The odd group of two humans, two hanyou, and two youkai set off. Miroku and Sango led the way, navigating down the different roads using the directions the distraught man had given them. It was a beautiful morning, the temperature balmy and puffy white clouds occasionally shielding them from the sun’s rays. They stopped around mid-afternoon and, after some protesting from Inuyasha, Kagome made each of them a cup of ramen for lunch. There was more than enough in the bag for everyone, so Inuyasha didn’t make too much of a fuss. Mostly it was just on principle; it was his ramen, or so he liked to think. They arrived at their destination a short while before nightfall and were greeted with a familiar scene: villagers stopping their business to look at them and whisper, wondering what this strange group wanted with them. It was nothing new, but because someone in this village actually knew they were coming, the welcome they received was quite different.
“Ah, Miroku-sama! Sango-sama! I’m didn’t expect you so soon,” the man from the day before greeted them warmly as they approached.
“You told us you have a serious problem, Shouta-san,” Miroku replied. “We came as quickly as we could.”
“And I truly appreciate it. Please, come inside. You must be hungry after your long jour…” he trailed off, noticing for the first time the other members of the group.
“These are our companions Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, and you already know Kirara,” Miroku said, motioning to each of them in turn. “I trust there is no problem?”
“N-no, of course not. As I told you, this village lives peacefully beside youkai, as long as they are willing to live in peace. Forgive me, I was merely surprised.”
“Understandable. We are a rather strange collection of individuals,” the monk joked, breaking what little tension there was in the air. Shouta led them to his home, a medium-sized hut located in a quiet part of the village. He introduced his wife, who immediately put more food over the fire to feed the guests.
“So, Shouta-san, tell us more about this youkai,” Sango said after everyone had been seated in a rough circle. The older man sighed forlornly.
“Oh, it’s an unfortunate tale for all involved. For years a young kitsune girl named Kiku has lived in the nearby forest.”
“K-kitsune?” Shippou interrupted, suddenly paying very close attention. Miroku could already see the wheels turning in his head. A kitsune child, and a girl at that? I smell a crush coming on.
“Yes, Shippou was it? Oh, I see you’re a kitsune too. Kiku is only a little bigger than you are. She told us she lives with her father, but doesn’t have any siblings, so she often plays with the village children. She’s a bright, pleasant child. Then a few weeks ago, she didn’t show up for a couple days. We didn’t think anything of it until the monster appeared. It looked like a giant fox, nearly twice as tall as a man at the shoulder. That first day it dug up some crops and then left, but later it started sneaking in at night and taking children from their beds. Several parents have been injured trying to fight the beast off, but no matter how many sentries we post, it always seems to show up where we least expect it. It also steals bales of rice from the storehouses. We have made several search efforts, but to no avail. The families of the missing children still pray that their little ones are alive since we have not found any remains, but hope wanes with each passing day.”
“You think Kiku was eaten by the monster?” Shippou asked, turning deathly pale. But Shouta shook his head.
“No, we know that is not the case. You see, this monster has very distinctive markings on its tail, markings we are familiar with. Add in the fact that we have not seen Kiku since the monster appeared, and we can only conclude that Kiku has somehow become the monster that terrorizes us.”
“The Shikon no Tama,” Inuyasha whispered quietly. “Damn that jewel! The shard must have become corrupted somehow, and then it possessed her, just like it did with Rouyakan!”
“So what is our course of action, Inuyasha?” Miroku posed. “If the monster truly is an innocent child possessed by a jewel shard, we must do everything in our power to avoid hurting her.”
“Yeah,” Inuyasha agreed, grimacing. “This is gonna to be a pain in the ass.”
“Should we go out and look for her?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sango-chan,” Kagome replied. “It’s almost nightfall, and you guys won’t be able to see very well. Shouta-san, you said Kiku usually shows up at night, correct?”
“Yes, Kagome-sama.”
“And when was the last time you saw her?”
“I believe it was two nights ago.”
“So she’ll probably come tonight, right?”
“That is a strong possibility.”
“Alright. Then we’ll wait for her here until morning, and if she doesn’t show, we’ll go looking for her tomorrow.”
Everyone nodded, and thus the plan was agreed upon. A hearty dinner was served, during which Miroku negotiated the price for their services at two bales of rice, and afterwards the group took positions outside. Inuyasha and Kagome settled on a rooftop at one end of the village. There was little conversation, just vigilant watching and listening for any sign of a disturbance. Periodically one of them would stand and make a sweep around the village, as well as check with Sango and Miroku on the other side. The village sentries were stationed below, but half of them were asleep before the night was old. This clearly was not a community of soldiers.
Shippou tried to stay awake, but in the end he wound up in Kagome’s lap, snoring softly. On another rooftop, Miroku and Sango were having much the same difficulty. As the night wore on, the seemingly endless hours of monotony began to take effect. Miroku fell asleep first, resting comfortably against Kirara, who had transformed for that purpose. Several times Sango caught herself nodding off, but was determined to remain awake. Still, she knew it was a losing battle. Kirara nudged her with her snout, urging her to join her husband. The message was clear. Rest now. I will keep watch.
“Thank you, Kirara,” Sango said, curling into the feline’s soft fur and dozing off almost immediately.
“Hm?”
“You were falling asleep too, weren’t you?”
Kagome nodded, rubbing her eyes in an effort to stave off fatigue. Inuyasha couldn’t blame her, being quite tired himself. They had pulled all-nighters before, but always when a battle of some kind was involved. Now there was no adrenaline whatsoever to keep them going. When morning came, they could all take a nap before looking for Kiku. The first rays of sunshine were just poking over the eastern horizon when a strange scent reached his nose. Drowsy as he was, it took him a few moments to realize its significance. Before he could react, a bloodcurdling scream rent the air.
“Shit!” Inuyasha cursed, bounding down from the rooftop toward the sound. Kiku must have snuck in past those worthless human sentries! Suddenly there she was, as large and vicious-looking as Shouta had described. She held a crying child in her jaws, fortunately gripping the youngster only by the robes. The child’s father was pinned under a paw, struggling mightily while the mother desperately reached for her child. The monster’s scarlet eyes stared at the newcomer, sizing him up. She didn’t seem to be too impressed with the red-clad hanyou, nor the second one who appeared beside him.
“Kagome, where’s the jewel shard?” Inuyasha whispered.
“It’s…I think it’s in her stomach. She must have swallowed it.”
“Fuck,” he swore. This just gets better and better. How the hell do we get it out of her without killing her?
Kirara landed next to them, Miroku and Sango on her back, and Shippou climbed up onto the monk’s shoulder. That was fortunate for him, because in the next moment Kiku bolted, having apparently decided that six enemies was too many. The Inu-gang gave chase, and was actually gaining on her until they reached the tree line. Once inside the forest, they quickly lost sight of the fox despite their best efforts. Even possessed, Kiku knew these woods like the back of her paw, something which she used to her advantage. Gradually the Inu-gang’s progress slowed, until finally they were forced to stop altogether.
“Dammit!”
“What’s wrong, Inuyasha?” Miroku inquired. “Can you not track her?”
The hanyou got down on all fours, sniffing the ground intently. “No, I can. It’s just really faint. She was running too fast to lay down a good trail.” They inched along for a few minutes until finally Inuyasha just gave up. “Ah, forget it. We’re better off just walking in the direction she was headed. Fan out and holler if you see anything.”
They did so with everyone on foot now, all senses attuned to their surroundings. Sango undertook a brief recon mission above with Kirara, but the canopy was too thick to see through. Perhaps it was because another kitsune was involved, but Shippou didn’t feel like riding on somebody’s shoulder this time. He walked slightly in front of everyone else, sticking relatively close to Kagome. The fairly sparse undergrowth was easy to navigate through, but the foliage above combined with the cloudy sky cast a foreboding gloom upon the landscape. Every shadow seemed to be alive, and part of him expected to see glowing red eyes around every tree trunk. Suddenly a bush off to his left rustled, startling him so severely that he reacted in a blind panic.
“WAAAAA!!! It’s Kiku! She’s gonna EAT ME!!!”
His friends were on the scene in moments, and he practically glued himself to Kagome’s kosode. His whole body shook as he glanced over his shoulder to see…a little white bunny rabbit hop into view. It looked at each of them in turn before hopping back into the bush and out of sight. There was a moment of awkward silence, during which Shippou was afraid to look at anyone.
“Feh, let’s go,” Inuyasha said with no small measure of disgust in his voice.
“It’s okay, Shippou-chan,” Kagome tried to soothe him, “you’re just a kid.”
He didn’t reply, instead leaping down from her embrace and walking off on his own. He was tired of being excused because he was ‘just a kid.’ He was a full-blooded youkai, and full-blooded youkai were not afraid of rabbits! Inuyasha probably thinks I’m a coward. But I’m not! I was just startled! Right? Was he really a coward? Was he afraid to fight Kiku? No, I’m not. I can take care of myself. I’m not afraid of her! His conviction waned as he thought of those huge jaws lined with razor sharp teeth. He gulped. Okay, well maybe I am a little scared. But that was fine; it didn’t make him a coward if he stood up to his fear when the time came. He wouldn’t leap recklessly into battle—Inuyasha was far more practiced at doing that—but neither would he run away.
Lost in thought, he unknowingly wandered a fair distance from the group. Another bush rustled just in front of him, and this time he rolled his eyes. Oh, great, another rabbit. A burst of his fox fire illuminated the unfortunate shrub. It wouldn’t hurt the rabbit, but it would scare it out of hiding. But the light revealed something else entirely, a swaying furry mass, the tip of which contacted the bush and made the rustling noise. A tail. Shippou heard the sounds of deep, even breathing behind him, soft growling that sent shivers down his spine. His mouth went dry, and he forgot to breathe as he slowly turned to face his nightmare, staring at him from barely two feet away. He fell onto his backside, too petrified to move or make a sound. Her blood crimson eyes blazed in the shadows, and her teeth glinted dangerously in what little light there was. She was the very image of death, and Shippou watched in powerless terror as her jaws opened and came closer…closer…
“Miroku! Sango! Get over here quick!”
“What’s wrong, Inuyasha?” the humans asked as they arrived, panting slightly from their sprint.
“I swear I smelled Kiku over here, and now Shippou’s gone.”
“Oh, no! You think she took him?”
“I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight,” Kagome fretted. “What if he’s—”
“I don’t smell any of his blood,” Inuyasha said, cutting her off. He kept to himself the possibility that Kiku could have swallowed Shippou whole. He and Kagome both got down on all fours this time, spending several agonizing moments trying to separate out the confusing scents of the woodland, with little luck. Finally Inuyasha stood and pointed deeper into the forest. “I think she went this way. Let’s go!”
They had traveled only a short distance when Kirara’s roar stopped them in their tracks. They hurried back to find her sniffing at something small on the ground.
“Look! It’s one of Shippou’s mushrooms!”
“Thank goodness he’s alive,” Kagome breathed.
“There’s another one!”
Inuyasha grinned proudly. “Come on, the runt left us a trail. Let’s not keep him waiting.”
They set off as quickly as they dared, not wanting to miss a mushroom and lose the trail. Sango and Miroku again rode atop Kirara’s back as that was the only way they could keep up with two hanyou on a mission. Still, progress was not nearly as fast as they would have liked, and it seemed as if they would never reach the end of the trail. It was around noon before they at last detected the scent of their favorite fox kit, among several other interesting aromas, and they quickened their pace. But nothing could have prepared them for the scene that greeted them when they finally burst out of the forest and into the clear.
Name definitions (courtesy of behindthename.com):
Shouta – “soar, fly” combined with “thick, big” (this one was chosen randomly)
Kiku – “chrysanthemum”
(1) 182,000 yen = approx. $1,950
(2) In case you forgot (understandably), back in chapter 6, Kagome leaps out of a hot spring that Sango pulled her into and clings to an overhanging branch, where Inuyasha sees her naked. I was pretty proud of that scene back in the day. I call it the “Garfield Scene.” :)
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Like Old Times, Part 1
Kagome woke just after sunrise, feeling incredibly refreshed after her peaceful night’s sleep. And she knew exactly why she had slept so well. Apparently, her presence had the same effect on Inuyasha, who was snoring softly behind her, clearly still in slumber. She wouldn’t wake him. Her body was a little stiff from sitting in a tree all night, and she could use a good stretch, but she was far too comfortable to go anywhere for the moment. Sighing contentedly, she gazed out across the landscape, spotting several small woodland critters just coming out of hiding. A songbird landed farther out on their branch, preening its feathers while not even noticing them. It truly was an idyllic scene, and she intended to enjoy it for a long as Inuyasha was asleep. And if that meant being late for school, then so be it.
Inuyasha’s warm body and steady heartbeat put her in a lazy mood, and she was just dozing off again when he stirred behind her, coming awake with a yawn. Blinking a few times as he gathered his bearings, he looked down to find Kagome gazing up at him, her face only inches from his.
“Good morning,” she said cheerfully.
“Keh.”
She giggled, then hesitated, probably considering a kiss, before apparently thinking better of it and resting her head on his chest once more.
“S-sleep well?” Inuyasha asked, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Mmm.” A long silence ensued, each hanyou lost in thought.
“You have school today?” Inuyasha spoke up after awhile.
“Yeah, but then it’s the weekend.” Pausing, she heaved a regretful sigh. “I guess I should probably get going. Do you mind?”
Inuyasha shook his head, and together they vaulted down from the tree and headed for the well. Upon catching a glimpse of a clock in the modern era, Kagome realized that she was indeed running late. Wolfing down a muffin, she changed into her uniform and after a quick goodbye to her family charged out the door. She would have to stick to the rooftops, but she could make it in time thanks to her hanyou powers. Or at least that was the plan, until she found herself unceremoniously tossed onto a familiar red-clad back.
“Inuyasha, what are you doing?”
“Like hell I’m letting you run around in that skirt!” he grouched, clearly expecting an argument. But Kagome simply shook her head, smiling ruefully as she held on for the ride. There were certain things that just weren’t worth fighting over, especially when Inuyasha was going out of his way to do something nice for her. They stopped in an alleyway near the school just as the first bell was chiming, and her fellow students outside began moving toward their classrooms.
“Bye!” she called, beginning to jog toward the entrance before a clawed hand on her wrist stopped her. “Inuya—” She was silenced by his lips, pressing against hers in a parting kiss that was over before she had a chance to realize what was happening. Pulling away, he flashed her a smirk that was a mix of confidence and unease.
“See ya,” he said before leaping up onto the nearest rooftop and vanishing from view. She stared after him for a few seconds, and then the final bell rang and shattered her daze. She sprinted for the school, grinning happily. If she wasn’t sure things had really changed since yesterday, she was now. That sentiment was confirmed by her friends, who at lunch time told her there was something different about her, a certain brightness which had been absent for weeks. She took the compliments while trying not to get too excited about them. Things had taken a turn for the better, but a couple kisses didn’t mean they were alright again. She still didn’t feel comfortable doing anything more with him, and now she knew that Inuyasha felt the same. Time alone hadn’t worked before, but now that they had come to a new understanding, she felt confident that the rest would eventually fall into place.
Back at the shrine, Inuyasha’s thoughts turned in a very similar direction during a few moments of down time after lunch. He had been a little worried about facing Kagome’s mother, since the whole family had heard their argument two nights ago, but the older woman had merely smiled at him and asked if they had worked things out. He responded in the affirmative, and that was the end of the discussion. Not for the first time, he was grateful Mrs. Higurashi had decided to take a hands-off approach to her daughter’s love life. So it was with relatively high spirits that Inuyasha made his customary journey to Kagome’s school to meet her when she got out. His mood fell when he laid eyes on his melancholy mate, trudging toward him with slumped shoulders.
“What’s wrong, Kagome?”
“Ugh, I got a sixty-two on my test yesterday. And I can’t take a make-up because I haven’t missed any school recently.”
“Oh…sorry,” Inuyasha mumbled, knowing that a sleepless night resulting from their fight had been to blame.
“Don’t worry about it,” she replied, forcibly perking up at the realization that she was making him feel guilty. That had not been her intention at all. “It was my fault too. And sixty-two is passing. My other grades in that class will be better.” Besides, she added to herself, I don’t really care that much. She felt a small amount of shame at that thought, but it was true. The only real reason she felt glum about the grade at all was because she hated to fail—or come so close to failing—at anything she did. As for achieving the ‘A’ or ‘B’ average she used to maintain, or graduating at the top of the class…none of that mattered anymore, and hadn’t for a long time. Inuyasha didn’t say anything else, so she moved in close and wrapped her arm around his waist to show that she truly wasn’t upset with him. He hesitantly returned the gesture, and they slowly made their way back to the shrine, the picture of youthful contentment.
“Hi, Mama,” Kagome said as she passed by the kitchen on the way to her room. Receiving no return greeting, she backtracked and stuck her head in the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table studying a piece of paper, confusion written on her features.
“Mama? Is something wrong?”
“Huh?” the older woman replied with a start, glancing around until she saw them in the doorway. “Oh, Kagome, Inuyasha, I was just…well, come take a look at this.” The two hanyou made their way over to the table, and Mrs. Higurashi handed her daughter the paper. It was a handwritten note, the graceful, refined letters crafted in black ink, probably from a fountain pen. “I went to the bank today, and when I got there the teller told me someone had deposited 182,000 yen in my account. (1) The mysterious stranger also left this note.”
“Higurashi family,” Kagome read aloud. “This money has been given to you for a specific purpose. I request that you only use it when that purpose makes itself known.”
Kagome frowned, turning the note over to find nothing on the back. “That’s really odd. There’s no name on it, so I guess this person wanted to remain anonymous. Do you have any idea who it is?”
Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. “I was hoping maybe you would know.”
“You think it has something to do with us?”
“No offense, Kagome, but whenever something weird happens around here, you and Inuyasha are usually involved.”
Kagome grinned wryly. She’s got a point there. “I wish I knew what to tell you.”
“That’s okay, dear. I’m sure the reason for the gift will become clear eventually.”
“Is it a lot of money?” Inuyasha interjected quietly, reminding both women of his presence. Kagome tried to think of a way to explain it that he would understand, knowing he wasn’t familiar with modern currency.
“It’s not that much money, but Mama could probably buy four or five months worth of groceries on it.”
“More like two if Inuyasha keeps coming with me,” Mrs. Higurashi joked, earning a chuckle from the two hanyou. With nothing else to say, the trio went their separate ways, Inuyasha and Kagome up to her room to change. Inuyasha grabbed his fire-rat garb and was heading for the bathroom when Kagome’s voice stopped him.
“You know, you don’t have to change in the other room.”
Inuyasha froze, briefly questioning his hearing before turning to make sure she meant what he thought she did. But she already had her back to him, and as he watched she pulled her blouse over her head, her hair lifting for a fleeting moment and revealing the entire milky expanse of her back, covered only by the thin straps of her bra. A choked sound escaped him as he quickly spun and shut the door, in case any of her family members happened to walk by. He took a few shaky breaths to regain his composure. He was not surprised at his nervousness; they hadn’t changed together in so long, after all. What did surprise him was the rapid beat of his heart and the surge of heat through his body. He wanted to look. He wanted to sit on the bed and watch her undress before him. He wanted to see all of her again. It was quite the revelation for a hanyou who had lost all sense of sexual attraction. The spark of the previous evening had grown into a small, but powerful flame. He grinned; excited to feel physical attraction for his mate again. It almost seemed too easy, like turning on one of Kagome’s futuristic light switches. But apparently an honest conversation had done more for them than they initially realized. Who knew good communication was the key to a good relationship?
He heard the zipper of Kagome’s skirt and the rustle as she let it fall to the floor. Hastily he pulled his t-shirt over his head, trying to distract himself from what he knew was going on behind him. But it was no use; his brain supplied unbidden images of his mate in her underwear, adjusting the hem of her panties, bending over to pick up her skirt…
He shook his head, but the images remained. It was becoming difficult to concentrate, and for the life of him he couldn’t undo the button to his pants. But what would be the harm in looking? He didn’t think she’d mind, and he wouldn’t get caught anyway. For once, it didn’t feel like seeing each other in a state of undress would be incredibly awkward. And besides, changing together had been her idea.
Mind made up, Inuyasha stealthily turned just enough to gaze at her over his shoulder. He started at her feet, panning his eyes up over her long, beautiful legs, the elegant swell of her ass covered by plain white cotton, admiring the graceful way her hips flowed to her waist and then up to her chest. It failed to register that Kagome was standing stock still through all of this, and that her upper body was somewhat turned to the side. He didn’t realize what was happening until his gaze reached her face, a half second before her eyes completed an identical perusal of his form and locked with his amber orbs. They stared at each other for a moment, then all at once the spell was broken and they spun sharply away, both flushing hotly. And yet, though he was embarrassed about getting caught, Inuyasha could not wipe the goofy grin off his face. It appeared he wasn’t the only one experiencing long-forgotten urges this afternoon. They finished dressing in silence, each wearing sheepish smiles when they finally turned to face each other.
“Ready to go?” Kagome asked brightly.
“Yep.”
It had been three days since their last run, so the exercise was just a little sweeter than normal for both hanyou. Kagome had never appreciated the simple joy of physical exertion before her metamorphosis, but she certainly did now. The last leg of today’s route took them by chance to the edge of the river where they regularly bathed afterwards, and her cheery mood caused mischievous thoughts to pop up in Kagome’s mind. She took a sideways glance at her partner; he was gazing straight ahead, completely unaware of her dastardly plotting. Suddenly she planted her foot and launched herself sideways, knocking Inuyasha off balance. He reeled, teetering on the edge of the steep bank, glaring at Kagome in surprise. But the impish smirk on her face told him exactly what was going on, and as she reached out to give him a final—but unnecessary—push, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down after him as he fell. He heard her shriek before the water enveloped them both, and he gently came to rest on the bottom of the four foot deep river, Kagome lying on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist, letting her do the work of bringing them both to the surface. She came up sputtering, apparently more surprised to find herself in the water than he was.
“You weren’t supposed to pull me in!” she declared playfully, rounding on him and moving her hair out of her eyes.
“Oh, yeah?” he responded in kind. “Well, too bad! Why’d you push me in the first place?”
“That was payback for peeking at me before.”
“I…you…keh!” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest as his brow twitched in mock annoyance.
“Aw, come on, Inuyasha, don’t pout. Here, I’ll even say it for you. Wench!” she finished, imitating his voice, quite badly in his opinion. He didn’t bother to deny that was what he was going to say; old habits were hard to break, after all. Truthfully, Kagome didn’t mind the ‘insult’ in this kind of friendly context; it was like a pet name. It was only when Inuyasha had used it as an actual insult that she had been hurt by it.
“I do not sound like that,” he grumped, the slight upturn of his lips belying his cranky exterior.
“Crazy wench. Feh!” she impersonated again, mimicking his folded arms and exaggerating his pout for good measure. In doing so she accidently splashed water on his face. “Oh, sorry, Inuyasha.”
His eyes opened again, and there was vengeance blazing in their golden depths, as well as an evil, toothy smirk on his face. Kagome backed away in alarm, not particularly relishing the thought of having a gallon of river water shoved up her nose. When Inuyasha reared back to send a miniature tidal wave at her, she turned and bolted, wading downstream as fast as she could while giggling madly, Inuyasha in hot pursuit.
Five minutes of frolicking ended when Inuyasha tackled Kagome in the shallows, settling on top of her and capturing her lips with his own. The sensual undertones of their game had become too powerful for him to ignore; her saturated white kosode was just transparent enough to give a tantalizing glimpse of what lay underneath. Soft moans escaped both of them as lips parted, tongues emerging to dance shyly in the warm confines of their mouths. Inuyasha pulled away to breathe, and debated going back in for another kiss. But the moment wasn’t right; they had taken things far enough today. Sighing in contentment, he flopped down onto his back next to Kagome, floating in the gentle current alongside her. The cool water felt nice on their sweaty bodies, but now they needed to cool off for an entirely different reason. He felt her hand groping blindly for his, and he took it easily, the simple gesture saying all that needed to be said. They floated like that for awhile, the only sounds to escape them the occasional residual chuckle.
“I remember back when I first became a hanyou, when I was afraid to go in the water,” Kagome said out of the blue.
“It didn’t last. Now you’re like a fish again.”
“Hm. Oh, Kami, remember the time you saw me hanging from that branch?” (2)
Inuyasha paused a moment before responding, temporarily lost in the memory. “How could I forget?” he replied, just a hint of something lecherous in his tone.
“Hmph. It wasn’t the first time you saw me naked.”
“No, but it was my best look at the time. If you hadn’t dropped into the spring, I’d probably still be staring at you.”
“Hentai.”
“At least I don’t smell like soaked cat,” he teased.
“Better than wet dog.”
“Oh, I stink, do I? I know how to fix that,” he replied, releasing her hand and climbing up onto the bank, where he proceeded to squat down on all fours. Kagome realized what he was going to do and covered her face as he shook like a dog, spraying droplets of water in every direction. She couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all.
“What are you snickering at?” he asked in amusement. “I’m dry, you’re still wet, and we don’t have any towels. I should be laughing at you.”
“I’ll live.”
“Suit yourself. You know,” he began with a wicked smirk, “if you wanted to get dry, you could always—”
“I do not shake, Inuyasha,” she replied sternly.
“Okay, but it’s kind of chilly out here. You won’t like it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she retorted, suppressing a shiver as she climbed out of the water. It really was quite cool this evening, the setting sun providing little warmth. Nothing dinner in front of a nice fire wouldn’t cure, but there was a certain feline curiosity that she couldn’t help but entertain. Did shaking dry really work as well as Inuyasha said it did? Somehow the idea didn’t seem quite as ridiculous as it had back when she was fully human. It was at the very least worth a try.
“Anything special I should know?” she asked, squatting down into position.
Inuyasha gaped at her in shock. “Uh, no. Just, you know, shake.”
“Gee, thanks.” But ultimately it was one of those things that didn’t need to be taught; she started moving her shoulders, and those mysterious youkai instincts seemed to take over. In no time she had shaken most of the water off her body. She was still a little damp, but much more comfortable than she’d been before.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, was far from comfortable. He’d been expecting to get a kick out of watching Kagome shake herself dry, but it caught him completely by surprise when time slowed to a crawl. He watched her every movement in slow motion, swearing he could see each individual droplet fly through the air. The subtle rhythm of her body made even the simple act of shaking enchanting, and the expression on her face nearly made him lose his balance. Her eyes were closed, mouth hanging open provocatively, appearing almost exactly like he imagined she would if he were— He swiftly spun away from her, breaking the spell. He needed to get those thoughts out of his head; that probably wouldn’t be happening any time soon. The last thing he wanted to do was rush it. Head number one had made quite a few bad decisions lately, but he still trusted it to guide him more than head number two further south.
“C-come on, let’s go,” he said when his ears told him Kagome was finished. “I’m starving.”
If she smelled his excitement, she made no mention of it, amiably falling in step beside him. They walked at a brisk pace, their rumbling stomachs demanding nothing less. If Sango and Miroku were not back from their latest youkai slaying expedition, it was straight to Kaede’s hut or back through the well to find some food to fill their empty bellies. They were happy to hear the newlyweds’ voices as they approached the house, and not just because it had been a few days since they’d seen each other. For a warrior, Sango was a surprisingly good cook, and when Miroku occasionally took over and made something, there wasn’t much of a drop off. Their children certainly wouldn’t lack for tasty meals.
“I still say we charged too much,” they heard Sango say from inside the house.
“It was a tough job, Sango. Five bales of rice is a fair price for our services. We’ll need that rice come winter time.”
“Still…”
“Believe me, Sango, those villagers won’t notice the loss. We won’t ever take anything from people who can’t afford to pay, agreed?”
“Agreed,” the slayer replied, and that seemed to end the discussion. Still, Inuyasha couldn’t resist making a jibe at the monk’s expense as he lifted the door flap and crossed the threshold.
“Up to your old tricks, eh bouzu? Swindling people out of their hard-earned possessions?” He shook his head, pretending that he really felt bad for the ‘victims.’
“Ah, good to see you, Inuyasha, Kagome-sama,” Miroku replied cordially. “I prefer to think of my old ways as liberating individuals of unnecessary wealth from their unneeded items.”
Sango scoffed. “You mean stealing.”
“Sango, you too?” Miroku wondered, ostensibly taken aback. “I’ll have you both know that I provided a valuable service. Besides, it’s their fault for not negotiating a price beforehand.”
The three other occupants rolled their eyes, but made no further comment. They all knew what kind of man Miroku was, and even back then they seriously doubted he ever took anything the owner couldn’t afford to lose. He seemed to have settled nicely into the role of an honest professional, something which would undoubtedly serve him well as he and his wife raised a family. Dinner was served in short order, with Shippou, Kohaku, and Kirara joining the gathering as well. Everyone was hungry, so the meal went by quickly and quietly, only some light conversation breaking the comfortable silence.
“Do you have school tomorrow, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked when everyone was nearly finished.
“Nope. Why do you ask?” Kagome inquired, sensing that it was not an innocent question. Sure enough, Sango exchanged a look with her husband, who grinned at them.
“Because we heard something that might interest you,” he said. “On our way back today, we crossed paths with a man from a neighboring village, which just happens to be having youkai problems. The interesting part is that they’ve shared the forest with this youkai peacefully for years, and the youkai only started acting up several weeks ago. He said it grew into a monster and it’s destroying their crops and has even carried some people into the forest. Now, what does that sound like to you?”
Inuyasha thought about it, his eyes widening at the realization. The timing was just too perfect. “It sounds like that youkai got a hold of a jewel shard!”
“Exactly. So, since you and Kagome-sama are the official shard hunters now,” he stated, passing Sango a meaningful look, “would you like to join us?” Neither hanyou knew it, but the newlyweds had engaged in several rather heated discussions over whether they should accompany Inuyasha and Kagome on their renewed quest to complete the Shikon no Tama. Miroku finally managed to convince his wife that it would be better if they stayed behind. Inuyasha and Kagome could move much faster without them, and with Naraku dead, odds were that there wasn’t another insanely powerful youkai that would require their combined strength to defeat. Besides, he had pointed out, Sango could already be carrying their first child for all they knew. A pregnant human was not the type of person to bring on an adventure, no matter how physically fit she was. Once the more unpleasant ‘symptoms’ of pregnancy started showing up, that physical prowess would count for very little. But ultimately, Sango had only relented because she already knew it was what both Inuyasha and Kagome wanted; they had told her so the day after Naraku’s demise. Still, this particular mission belonged to her and Miroku, though their friends were certainly welcome to come along.
“Oooh! Can I come too?” Shippou asked excitedly.
“Of course, Shippou,” Miroku answered. “Kohaku, you’re welcome as well.”
The boy politely declined, saying that he didn’t want to interrupt his studies. Sango was disappointed; she thought a short excursion would do him some good, but she respected his decision.
“Yay! It’ll be like old times!” Shippou exclaimed, bringing nostalgic grins to the faces of the Inu-gang members. He was right, except for a few noticeable differences. It was as a result of one of those changes that Inuyasha was still surprised Miroku so easily invited them to come along. This was still the hentai monk they were talking about, and more companions meant less time alone time with Sango. The monk was probably getting enough sex for three men, but still. One thing was for sure, if the two of them disappeared suddenly, he would not go looking for them!
He glanced at Kagome to see if she was thinking the same thing, but instead he found her staring unblinkingly into the fire pit with a gloomy look on her face, fingering the bottle of jewel shards around her neck. After a second she realized she was being watched, and plastered on a fake smile. Oh, she tried to hide it, but something was clearly bothering her, and Inuyasha fully intended to find out what it was. But not here in front of everyone.
“So we’ll leave first thing in the morning?” he asked, receiving nods from the humans. “Don’t make me wake your asses up.”
“Yes, yes,” Miroku waved him off. “We’ll be ready.”
“Alright, well we’d better go. Kagome has to stuff that monstrous yellow bag of hers full of ramen, right Kagome?”
“Huh? Oh…yeah,” she replied, clearly not paying attention. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in concern; something was really bothering her, and apparently he wasn’t the only one who noticed. As they stood to leave, he saw Sango frown and open her mouth, probably to ask Kagome if something was wrong. But Inuyasha beat her to the punch.
“We’ll see you guys tomorrow! Don’t oversleep!” he ordered, ushering Kagome out the door before Sango could pose her question. The slayer glared after them but made no move to follow.
“Something was troubling Kagome-chan,” she observed to no one in particular.
“Whatever it was, I’m sure Inuyasha can handle it,” Miroku responded. Sango grumbled about that, but recognized that she needed to leave them alone, for now at least. The hands-off approach seemed to be working; both she and Miroku had noticed how much closer their friends had gotten since the last time they saw them. She could only hope that Inuyasha would in fact help Kagome deal with whatever was upsetting her.
* * *
Inuyasha walked stiffly toward the well, unable to wipe the scowl from his features. Kagome lagged behind him, lost in some depressing thought. When they had put enough distance between them and the village, he decided enough was enough. He spun around to face her and put his hands on her shoulders, leaning down to peer closely into her eyes. She was startled; if not for his hands, she probably would have walked right into him without realizing it. “Inuyasha?”
“What’s wrong, Kagome?”
“It’s noth—”
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing, dammit! I know something’s bugging you, Kagome!” He pulled back slightly, realizing that he was yelling at her. “Please, tell me. Trust me,” he pleaded.
She sighed, but it was one of resignation, so he let her go when she started to push past him. He fell into step beside her, waiting patiently for her to gather her thoughts. When they came to the well she turned around and sat on the lip of the structure, but Inuyasha remained standing before her. Finally, she spoke.
“When you and Miroku started talking about that youkai, and the jewel shards, I guess I just realized…Kami, we’re supposed to be collecting the pieces of the Shikon no Tama! How many people have died because of the jewel while we’ve been…been…fooling around in the present?”
Inuyasha’s eyes widened. Truthfully, that thought had never crossed his mind. But now that Kagome brought it up, he felt a small pang of guilt. A small pang. The degree of remorse that Kagome apparently felt for nameless victims who might have died anyway was unreasonable, and he would endeavor to explain just that. Calmly.
“Kagome, you can’t blame yourself for anything. For all you know, no one has died this time in connection with the jewel shards.” That argument sounded weak even to his ears, and Kagome gave him an incredulous look. “Alright, fine, so that’s probably not true. But even so, there’s no guarantee that we would have been able to save anybody.” Again, Kagome was not convinced.
“At least if we’d been out there, we could say we were trying.”
“And what would have happened then, huh? If we had gone gallivanting off in search of jewel shards the moment after you found me in that village?”
Understanding dawned in Kagome’s brown eyes. “It wouldn’t have worked,” she mumbled softly.
“You’re damn right. For weeks we could barely even speak to each other, let alone travel and spend every moment of every day together. We wouldn’t have accomplished shit.” Inuyasha paused, again realizing that this wasn’t the tone he wanted to use. Kagome stared at the ground in consternation, debating with herself.
“Look, Kagome,” he said, much more calmly this time. “Sometimes you just have to put yourself first…and that’s okay. Staying with your family helped us. We weren’t ready to go hunting for the shards before, and I’m still not sure we are. You can’t beat yourself up for doing what was best for us, not when it very well might have saved us.”
It was awhile before Kagome responded, but when she heaved a long sigh and slumped her shoulders, Inuyasha knew he had gotten through to her. He gently pulled her to her feet and enfolded her in a warm embrace, gratified to feel her arms wrap around his back.
“Thanks,” she stated sincerely.
“Anytime,” he replied, kissing the top of her head. In the very next moment he decided that was enough ‘mushy stuff’ for one evening, and his thoughts turned to more agreeable topics.
“Come on, let’s go see how much ramen we can fit in that bag.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the well.
* * *
Miroku and Sango were just finishing breakfast when they arrived the following morning. Shippou was practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement. Sure, he had made friends with some of the village children and had plenty of playmates, but nothing could compare to the prospect of a grand adventure on the open road. Miroku and Sango were looking forward to spending time with their hanyou friends and really examining how they interacted with one another. Already they could tell that Kagome was genuinely in a good mood this morning; whatever had been bothering her the previous evening was apparently no longer on her mind. The odd group of two humans, two hanyou, and two youkai set off. Miroku and Sango led the way, navigating down the different roads using the directions the distraught man had given them. It was a beautiful morning, the temperature balmy and puffy white clouds occasionally shielding them from the sun’s rays. They stopped around mid-afternoon and, after some protesting from Inuyasha, Kagome made each of them a cup of ramen for lunch. There was more than enough in the bag for everyone, so Inuyasha didn’t make too much of a fuss. Mostly it was just on principle; it was his ramen, or so he liked to think. They arrived at their destination a short while before nightfall and were greeted with a familiar scene: villagers stopping their business to look at them and whisper, wondering what this strange group wanted with them. It was nothing new, but because someone in this village actually knew they were coming, the welcome they received was quite different.
“Ah, Miroku-sama! Sango-sama! I’m didn’t expect you so soon,” the man from the day before greeted them warmly as they approached.
“You told us you have a serious problem, Shouta-san,” Miroku replied. “We came as quickly as we could.”
“And I truly appreciate it. Please, come inside. You must be hungry after your long jour…” he trailed off, noticing for the first time the other members of the group.
“These are our companions Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, and you already know Kirara,” Miroku said, motioning to each of them in turn. “I trust there is no problem?”
“N-no, of course not. As I told you, this village lives peacefully beside youkai, as long as they are willing to live in peace. Forgive me, I was merely surprised.”
“Understandable. We are a rather strange collection of individuals,” the monk joked, breaking what little tension there was in the air. Shouta led them to his home, a medium-sized hut located in a quiet part of the village. He introduced his wife, who immediately put more food over the fire to feed the guests.
“So, Shouta-san, tell us more about this youkai,” Sango said after everyone had been seated in a rough circle. The older man sighed forlornly.
“Oh, it’s an unfortunate tale for all involved. For years a young kitsune girl named Kiku has lived in the nearby forest.”
“K-kitsune?” Shippou interrupted, suddenly paying very close attention. Miroku could already see the wheels turning in his head. A kitsune child, and a girl at that? I smell a crush coming on.
“Yes, Shippou was it? Oh, I see you’re a kitsune too. Kiku is only a little bigger than you are. She told us she lives with her father, but doesn’t have any siblings, so she often plays with the village children. She’s a bright, pleasant child. Then a few weeks ago, she didn’t show up for a couple days. We didn’t think anything of it until the monster appeared. It looked like a giant fox, nearly twice as tall as a man at the shoulder. That first day it dug up some crops and then left, but later it started sneaking in at night and taking children from their beds. Several parents have been injured trying to fight the beast off, but no matter how many sentries we post, it always seems to show up where we least expect it. It also steals bales of rice from the storehouses. We have made several search efforts, but to no avail. The families of the missing children still pray that their little ones are alive since we have not found any remains, but hope wanes with each passing day.”
“You think Kiku was eaten by the monster?” Shippou asked, turning deathly pale. But Shouta shook his head.
“No, we know that is not the case. You see, this monster has very distinctive markings on its tail, markings we are familiar with. Add in the fact that we have not seen Kiku since the monster appeared, and we can only conclude that Kiku has somehow become the monster that terrorizes us.”
“The Shikon no Tama,” Inuyasha whispered quietly. “Damn that jewel! The shard must have become corrupted somehow, and then it possessed her, just like it did with Rouyakan!”
“So what is our course of action, Inuyasha?” Miroku posed. “If the monster truly is an innocent child possessed by a jewel shard, we must do everything in our power to avoid hurting her.”
“Yeah,” Inuyasha agreed, grimacing. “This is gonna to be a pain in the ass.”
“Should we go out and look for her?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sango-chan,” Kagome replied. “It’s almost nightfall, and you guys won’t be able to see very well. Shouta-san, you said Kiku usually shows up at night, correct?”
“Yes, Kagome-sama.”
“And when was the last time you saw her?”
“I believe it was two nights ago.”
“So she’ll probably come tonight, right?”
“That is a strong possibility.”
“Alright. Then we’ll wait for her here until morning, and if she doesn’t show, we’ll go looking for her tomorrow.”
Everyone nodded, and thus the plan was agreed upon. A hearty dinner was served, during which Miroku negotiated the price for their services at two bales of rice, and afterwards the group took positions outside. Inuyasha and Kagome settled on a rooftop at one end of the village. There was little conversation, just vigilant watching and listening for any sign of a disturbance. Periodically one of them would stand and make a sweep around the village, as well as check with Sango and Miroku on the other side. The village sentries were stationed below, but half of them were asleep before the night was old. This clearly was not a community of soldiers.
Shippou tried to stay awake, but in the end he wound up in Kagome’s lap, snoring softly. On another rooftop, Miroku and Sango were having much the same difficulty. As the night wore on, the seemingly endless hours of monotony began to take effect. Miroku fell asleep first, resting comfortably against Kirara, who had transformed for that purpose. Several times Sango caught herself nodding off, but was determined to remain awake. Still, she knew it was a losing battle. Kirara nudged her with her snout, urging her to join her husband. The message was clear. Rest now. I will keep watch.
“Thank you, Kirara,” Sango said, curling into the feline’s soft fur and dozing off almost immediately.
* * *
“Miroku and Sango are asleep,” Inuyasha said as he returned to Kagome’s side. “Hm?”
“You were falling asleep too, weren’t you?”
Kagome nodded, rubbing her eyes in an effort to stave off fatigue. Inuyasha couldn’t blame her, being quite tired himself. They had pulled all-nighters before, but always when a battle of some kind was involved. Now there was no adrenaline whatsoever to keep them going. When morning came, they could all take a nap before looking for Kiku. The first rays of sunshine were just poking over the eastern horizon when a strange scent reached his nose. Drowsy as he was, it took him a few moments to realize its significance. Before he could react, a bloodcurdling scream rent the air.
“Shit!” Inuyasha cursed, bounding down from the rooftop toward the sound. Kiku must have snuck in past those worthless human sentries! Suddenly there she was, as large and vicious-looking as Shouta had described. She held a crying child in her jaws, fortunately gripping the youngster only by the robes. The child’s father was pinned under a paw, struggling mightily while the mother desperately reached for her child. The monster’s scarlet eyes stared at the newcomer, sizing him up. She didn’t seem to be too impressed with the red-clad hanyou, nor the second one who appeared beside him.
“Kagome, where’s the jewel shard?” Inuyasha whispered.
“It’s…I think it’s in her stomach. She must have swallowed it.”
“Fuck,” he swore. This just gets better and better. How the hell do we get it out of her without killing her?
Kirara landed next to them, Miroku and Sango on her back, and Shippou climbed up onto the monk’s shoulder. That was fortunate for him, because in the next moment Kiku bolted, having apparently decided that six enemies was too many. The Inu-gang gave chase, and was actually gaining on her until they reached the tree line. Once inside the forest, they quickly lost sight of the fox despite their best efforts. Even possessed, Kiku knew these woods like the back of her paw, something which she used to her advantage. Gradually the Inu-gang’s progress slowed, until finally they were forced to stop altogether.
“Dammit!”
“What’s wrong, Inuyasha?” Miroku inquired. “Can you not track her?”
The hanyou got down on all fours, sniffing the ground intently. “No, I can. It’s just really faint. She was running too fast to lay down a good trail.” They inched along for a few minutes until finally Inuyasha just gave up. “Ah, forget it. We’re better off just walking in the direction she was headed. Fan out and holler if you see anything.”
They did so with everyone on foot now, all senses attuned to their surroundings. Sango undertook a brief recon mission above with Kirara, but the canopy was too thick to see through. Perhaps it was because another kitsune was involved, but Shippou didn’t feel like riding on somebody’s shoulder this time. He walked slightly in front of everyone else, sticking relatively close to Kagome. The fairly sparse undergrowth was easy to navigate through, but the foliage above combined with the cloudy sky cast a foreboding gloom upon the landscape. Every shadow seemed to be alive, and part of him expected to see glowing red eyes around every tree trunk. Suddenly a bush off to his left rustled, startling him so severely that he reacted in a blind panic.
“WAAAAA!!! It’s Kiku! She’s gonna EAT ME!!!”
His friends were on the scene in moments, and he practically glued himself to Kagome’s kosode. His whole body shook as he glanced over his shoulder to see…a little white bunny rabbit hop into view. It looked at each of them in turn before hopping back into the bush and out of sight. There was a moment of awkward silence, during which Shippou was afraid to look at anyone.
“Feh, let’s go,” Inuyasha said with no small measure of disgust in his voice.
“It’s okay, Shippou-chan,” Kagome tried to soothe him, “you’re just a kid.”
He didn’t reply, instead leaping down from her embrace and walking off on his own. He was tired of being excused because he was ‘just a kid.’ He was a full-blooded youkai, and full-blooded youkai were not afraid of rabbits! Inuyasha probably thinks I’m a coward. But I’m not! I was just startled! Right? Was he really a coward? Was he afraid to fight Kiku? No, I’m not. I can take care of myself. I’m not afraid of her! His conviction waned as he thought of those huge jaws lined with razor sharp teeth. He gulped. Okay, well maybe I am a little scared. But that was fine; it didn’t make him a coward if he stood up to his fear when the time came. He wouldn’t leap recklessly into battle—Inuyasha was far more practiced at doing that—but neither would he run away.
Lost in thought, he unknowingly wandered a fair distance from the group. Another bush rustled just in front of him, and this time he rolled his eyes. Oh, great, another rabbit. A burst of his fox fire illuminated the unfortunate shrub. It wouldn’t hurt the rabbit, but it would scare it out of hiding. But the light revealed something else entirely, a swaying furry mass, the tip of which contacted the bush and made the rustling noise. A tail. Shippou heard the sounds of deep, even breathing behind him, soft growling that sent shivers down his spine. His mouth went dry, and he forgot to breathe as he slowly turned to face his nightmare, staring at him from barely two feet away. He fell onto his backside, too petrified to move or make a sound. Her blood crimson eyes blazed in the shadows, and her teeth glinted dangerously in what little light there was. She was the very image of death, and Shippou watched in powerless terror as her jaws opened and came closer…closer…
* * *
His body was floating, being subjected to a rhythmic movement. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was flying through the forest. Gathering more of his bearings, he barely stifled his panicked cry as he realized he was in Kiku’s jaws. Or at least, his tail was. It didn’t hurt; she wasn’t biting down. His first thought was to use his kitsune-bi to escape, but something held him back. He was not a coward, and he would not run away. Kiku was carrying him somewhere for some unknown purpose, and he needed to find out why. He wasn’t even a mouthful to her, so he reasoned that if she was going to eat him, she could have done it already. Oh! Maybe she’s taking me to where the village children are. The others can track us all the way there! He reached into his robes and drew out his mushrooms, stealthily dropping them at regular intervals as Kiku continued to speed through the forest. Hopefully she doesn’t wise up like Kouga’s wolves did. The whole situation was more than a bit unnerving, and the feeling of her hot breath whooshing past made him light-headed. He imagined his face was quite pale. Be brave, Shippou. You are not a coward. You are a brave kitsune… * * *
“Shippou-chan! Shippou-chan!” Kagome called, dread rising within her with every unanswered shout. “Miroku! Sango! Get over here quick!”
“What’s wrong, Inuyasha?” the humans asked as they arrived, panting slightly from their sprint.
“I swear I smelled Kiku over here, and now Shippou’s gone.”
“Oh, no! You think she took him?”
“I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight,” Kagome fretted. “What if he’s—”
“I don’t smell any of his blood,” Inuyasha said, cutting her off. He kept to himself the possibility that Kiku could have swallowed Shippou whole. He and Kagome both got down on all fours this time, spending several agonizing moments trying to separate out the confusing scents of the woodland, with little luck. Finally Inuyasha stood and pointed deeper into the forest. “I think she went this way. Let’s go!”
They had traveled only a short distance when Kirara’s roar stopped them in their tracks. They hurried back to find her sniffing at something small on the ground.
“Look! It’s one of Shippou’s mushrooms!”
“Thank goodness he’s alive,” Kagome breathed.
“There’s another one!”
Inuyasha grinned proudly. “Come on, the runt left us a trail. Let’s not keep him waiting.”
They set off as quickly as they dared, not wanting to miss a mushroom and lose the trail. Sango and Miroku again rode atop Kirara’s back as that was the only way they could keep up with two hanyou on a mission. Still, progress was not nearly as fast as they would have liked, and it seemed as if they would never reach the end of the trail. It was around noon before they at last detected the scent of their favorite fox kit, among several other interesting aromas, and they quickened their pace. But nothing could have prepared them for the scene that greeted them when they finally burst out of the forest and into the clear.
Name definitions (courtesy of behindthename.com):
Shouta – “soar, fly” combined with “thick, big” (this one was chosen randomly)
Kiku – “chrysanthemum”
(1) 182,000 yen = approx. $1,950
(2) In case you forgot (understandably), back in chapter 6, Kagome leaps out of a hot spring that Sango pulled her into and clings to an overhanging branch, where Inuyasha sees her naked. I was pretty proud of that scene back in the day. I call it the “Garfield Scene.” :)
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