InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My weakness, my strength ❯ To Each His Own... ( Chapter 2 )

MY WEAKNESS, MY STRENGTH

Summary:

What happens when the well closes, leaving Kagome with a dark haired boy instead of a white-haired hanyou? Read and review, please. I/K, M/S.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Inu Yasha (same goes for chapter 1).

Author's Note: Some of these characters may become OOC if they aren't already. And also, since Inu Yasha's group has been together for over a year, they've become comfortable enough with each other to assume certain thoughts, feelings, etc.

Chapter 2: To Each his own

Sengoku Jidai, 5:15 am (New Moon)

"KAGOME-CHAN!"

Sango leapt through the bush concealing her and her cohorts and ran across the open field to peer into the well. Shippou followed, close at her heels, making him bump into her legs when she came to a standstill. Mou! They've crossed over!

Bending over to lean into the well, Sango bit her lip in consternation. Just great, Sango-chan, so much for interfering. Sango turned and saw that unlike her and the little fox-demon, Miroku didn't bother to peer inside the opening. He was sitting with his back leaning on the well, his face deep in thought. Sango sighed her frustration and moved to sit on the grass beside him, resting her head against the stone wall. Shippou also sank to the ground, not wanting to return to the village by himself; none of them suspecting that something had gone terribly wrong to their two companions on the other side.

Sango let her thoughts run riot in her mind. Inu Yasha would surely cause trouble on the other side. They would bicker and argue and Inu Yasha's pride would force him to come back here in the Sengoku Jidai to lick his wounds. An angry Kagome could certainly do that to him, along with those sits of hers. This would mean all her plans would go to waste and if Inu Yasha was mad enough, he would not go after Kagome. Instead, he would pretend to not care about the soon-to-come date with Hojo. Or if past experience proved accurate, he would follow her around, get caught and be misunderstood, as usual. This would make them all miserable - there was nothing worse than a temperamental hanyou with jealousy eating him inside. Sango felt miserable, this was her plan, after all. But she wasn't expecting Inu Yasha to fall into the well along with Kagome. She knew of Kagome's plan to speak with Hojo to tell him off but she wanted the thought of their impending date to stew with Inu Yasha for a while. She wanted to be the one to direct him to a course of action that she knew would work to win favor with Kagome, but he was going to anger her now instead. Oh, well. At least she was certain that he'd be back in a few hours. Kagome didn't have enough patience for pestering, after all, and those "osuwaris" were definitely not going to put her on Inu Yasha's good side. She'd talk to him then.

Dawn was just breaking and with all three leaning on the well, they gave the appearance of distressed and weary travelers to anyone who happened to pass by. Well, in a way, they were. They all wanted the same thing - for Inu Yasha to get over himself and fess up his feelings to the young miko.

Shippou was slowly working himself up thinking that his surrogate mother would bear the brunt of Inu Yasha's wrath and would not come back for a while. That got him worried about being alone once again and he snuggled into Sango's warmth for reassurance. The taijiya accommodated him by wrapping her arm around him. This comforted Shippou enough that his thoughts turned to different matters - mainly wondering what he could do to make Kagome and Inu Yasha get along better. That baka hanyou wasn't so bad; he just needed some sense knocked into him.

Miroku was also lost in his own thoughts. He was worried that Inu Yasha would take out his anger on the others again. So much for peace and quiet. I guess this means I have to divert the hanyou again when he comes back. Truth be told, the priest didn't mind it that much. He was improving on his fighting abilities with each sparring session he and the hanyou engaged in. He was also getting better at his insults, or maybe Inu Yasha was developing a shorter fuse with each taunt. Of course it probably grated on Inu Yasha's nerves that the priest kept saying that the hanyou's charms weren't working on Kagome. Hah! His mouth quirking with amusement, Miroku thought what charms? If only Inu Yasha sought his advice, he would have readily given him tips on things any sane man should already know about. Grinning, Miroku changed that to 'any sane man who knew and liked women.' And speaking of women, Miroku turned his head to the side and watched the face of the only woman who had ever confused him to the point of insanity. He felt safe looking at her now that her guard was down.

Sango was really beautiful. She had an inner glow that bespoke of kindness and warmth. Of course it was only him she didn't take under her wing. Even Inu Yasha received her consideration once in a while. And even now, she was comforting Shippou. But then again, she thought Miroku was capable of handling himself. He was the levelheaded one, unless of course, it concerned a pretty face.

Miroku's gaze went lower, once again admiring the body he risked getting his head bashed in for. He would have been content to continue staring at her but unfortunately, her eyes began to focus on him and found him leering at her breasts. Looking at her warily, Miroku started to get up.

"HIRAIKOTSU!"

"…"

"Hentai!!!"

With Miroku's form sprawled on the grass, Sango picked up her weapon and the little fox. With a final glare at the priest, she turned and proceeded to walk back to Kaede's hut, muttering the words "sukebe" and "baka" in one breath.

-0-

Present time Japan, noon

Inu Yasha sat on the corner of the Higurashi kitchen, glaring daggers at Kagome's grandfather who also did the same to him. Souta, the kid brother, looked back and forth between the two participants of the staring game, giving Kagome and their mother, also occupying seats on the dining table, a headache. Inu Yasha smiled to himself, knowing that this time around, the old geezer wouldn't openly oppose his presence by sticking ineffective sacred scrolls at him. There were definitely some benefits to being human.

"Mama, I hope you won't mind very much that Inu Yasha is moving in with us. We don't know how to get back to the other side yet and until we do, I thought he could occupy the guest bedroom."

"That isn't a problem Kagome-chan. And quite frankly, I'm happy that you won't be in that dangerous time for a while. Of course, Inu Yasha can stay as long as he likes, and I mean that even after the well goes back to normal."

This announcement made Ji-chan frown. He couldn't make demands since he himself was only an occupant. He might be the one guarding the shrine and it might have originally belonged to him but it was his daughter-in-law who owned it now.

"Inu Yasha, why don't you come sit beside Kagome and have some lunch. I'll just go on upstairs and fix the bedroom for you. Oh, and don't hesitate to ask about some of the things we use here in our time. We're all eager to make the adjustment process easier for you." Smiling to calm any of his fears, Mrs. Higurashi left the table.

Having been briefed quite rigorously by an overly anxious Kagome, Inu Yasha didn't protest or make any of his usual side comments. He was actually being very polite - for him. He didn't mind behaving himself in front of Kagome's okaa-san. She was very kind and gracious and he had no cause for complaints. She also reminded him a little of his own mother and found that some of the protocols on proper behavior that his mother had taught him were reasserting themselves. When Inu Yasha was seated, he started eating from the plate Mrs. Higurashi prepared for him. He was quite engrossed in it and was about to reach for a second helping when Ji-chan opened his mouth.

"Listen here, boy. I may not have much say in the decision to let you stay in this house, but mark my words; I'll be watching you like a hawk. That human side your showing us is just a ruse to your true character. I know your kind and I have precautions that I'm not afraid to use." With that, he huffed out of his seat and into the living room to watch some television.

Ignoring the slight tension in the air and her grandfather's display, Kagome addressed her younger brother. "Souta, would you mind joining Ji-chan. Inu Yasha and I have some things to discuss." She had more urgent worries than soothing her Ji-chan's frayed temper. But Kagome reminded herself to have a talk with him later.

After looking from his sister to Inu-oni-chan, then back again, Souta reluctantly stood up and crossed to the other room. What followed was a brief battle for the remote control, one in which Ji-chan had no trouble winning. He was first, after all, not to mention older.

Kagome knew that she and Inu Yasha didn't really have to hide anything to her family. They could speak candidly about the events in the Sengoku Jidai and her family would understand. But what made her desire privacy was that she didn't want her family witnessing her growing apprehension. Something was definitely wrong. What was worse was that the two of them had returned not on the day Kagome had originally thought of as her exam day but they had come back about two weeks before. When they entered the house, her mother asked if she had forgotten anything, making Kagome ask them what day it was. Sure enough, it was the exact same day that she recently left for Sengoku Jidai. It was two weeks earlier than the actual date and this meant that not only were they stuck here for a while, something had altered the Bone Eater's Well to effect such a change. Something told Kagome that whatever caused this was external. That meant that it probably had something to do with Naraku or another demon trying to gather the shards. And without Kagome or Inu Yasha to guide their group, someone would have ample opportunity to gather the shards for themselves, provided of course that Naraku didn't have all of it by now. The only consolation to their growing plight was that they still had the shards they themselves had gathered.

"Inu Yasha, I'm getting worried. This has never happened with both of us on one side of the well before. The shards usually link us to the past and so does the well. I don't want to worry my family but I don't know what we can do to get back."

"I know. It's not like we intended this to happen. Just remember to always keep the Shikon shards with you; it might have something to do with our situation. Kuso! If only I wasn't stuck in this body, I could easily find out and sense if there's another presence preventing us from going back."

"Maybe Miroku and the others might realize that something's wrong and try to do something."

"That's a possibility but I doubt if they can. The two of us are the only ones who can cross the well and I don't think they'll realize that anything's wrong until some time has passed and neither of us has come back. For now, all we can do is wait. I'll go to the well again after I finish this." And with that, Inu Yasha no longer restrained himself, eating enough to fill two grown men. Considering he was himself human, that was pretty much a lot. In his hanyou form, he could gulp down larger amounts of food.

Noticing Inu Yasha's nonchalance, Kagome was reassured. "Well, I guess that leaves me with time to go back to school. I'm sure Ji-chan hasn't made up any of his usual excuses yet. And I have time enough to study since today is Saturday."

Inu Yasha stopped eating enough to digest what Kagome just said but instead of protesting and insisting that she help him, he realized that she just might as well. She could always help him later in the day. With this thought, he continued eating, leaving a bemused Kagome staring at him.

That's strange. I'm sure he would normally be protesting right now. Maybe the fall in the well hurt his head a little.

"Nani, Kagome?"

Oh, I get it. Inu Yasha is more sensitive when he's human. He's more reasonable and more prone to human emotions than when he's in hanyou form. I keep forgetting that since he's always so irritating most of the time.

"Ah…nan de mo nai."

Looking on at Inu Yasha, Kagome realized that he wasn't yet used to handling emotions like most humans were. As a hanyou, he could be really dense and was most often rude, not only to herself but to everyone as well. But he was also more secretive and aloof. Deciding it best to leave him be until she had sorted out her own feelings, Kagome left to go to her room. Inside, she flopped down on the bed and turned to face the ceiling.

He may be more expressive now but that doesn't mean he can be more understanding. It might actually mean the opposite since his emotions might be confusing him so much. He's never been human for more than a few hours. This might actually be a good chance to teach Inu Yasha all about expressing his feelings. Kagome rested her head on the pillow and imagined her human Inu Yasha professing his love for her. Yeah, right! Like that would happen. Even now, I'm sure he's finding a way to blame all this on me. She turned to her side and gazed at the clock on her side table. It was almost 2 pm.

Just as Kagome's eyes were drifting closed she suddenly remembered something and suddenly sat up. Oh my God, today's a Saturday! She yanked open the drawer to the table and picked up her appointment book. If she was right, then today would be the 16th of the month and that was the day her friends had set up with Hojo-kun for their date. Leafing through the pages, she found the entry on her notebook and groaned in dismay. Yup, today was just one of those days that you hoped would never happen. Two weeks ago, she had felt such immense relief when Inu Yasha came to drag her back. That of course, would have been this morning. She had gone willingly, although she did feel guilty for breaking up her date with Hojo. She had told her mother to make her excuses, not trusting Ji-chan to give an even plausible lie.

Well, there was no helping it. She had no excuse now. And wasn't he the one that made her decide to go back this time. The exams were there, of course. But as she had told Sango the night before back at the Sengoku Jidai, she was feeling more and more guilty. She had missed two dates, this one being the latter of the two. She had also told her friend that she felt bad for not protesting enough and making the boy hope that something would happen. She didn't know when exactly she started feeling guilty… no…that was another of the lies she often told herself. She had begun to feel guilty when she realized how strong her feelings were for Inu Yasha. She constantly felt hurt whenever she knew he was thinking of Kikyou. He would get this sad look in his eyes and his mind would wander off. It hurt so much that she knew if Hojo even felt a small amount of what she did for the hanyou then she knew she had to do something. Hojo didn't really know her after all. He would understand.

Now the problem was how to tell Inu Yasha. A fresh wave of guilt washed over the young miko. She felt like she was betraying him. The only reason why she and Inu Yasha had called on a truce was because there were more pressing problems right now and that he thought the date wasn't for another two weeks. In any case, it was because of her guilt over Hojo that had gotten them in this problem. Knowing how possessive Inu Yasha could be, she was sure that he would get irrational over this date. She knew that outside being his tama detector, Inu Yasha felt something for her. He wouldn't be so jealous if that wasn't so. But she knew that part of his jealousy was the fact that she reminded him of Kikyou. She was probably right this morning when she said he was getting attached to her because she was his tama detector… and also…because she was Kikyou's substitute.

Kagome felt her eyes sting with tears. She was a perceptive girl but sometimes Inu Yasha drove her beyond the point of reason. She also took things to heart. Every time Inu Yasha told her off or said something mean she would always feel hurt inside. That probably couldn't be helped. She also knew that he didn't mean almost half of the things he said. But then she would remember that there was one part of him she couldn't reach, the part that yearned for Kikyou. Everything he felt for her paled in comparison to what he felt for the other woman. She knew this although he had never admitted his feelings to her. And now that they were stuck here together in her time, she might forget herself and yearn for something she would never have. Damn him, why do I let him have such power over my heart.

-0-

Inu Yasha was crouched on all fours, his nose twitching in an attempt to uncover any hidden scents the well might have…

He smelled nothing but dirt. He had smelled nothing but dirt for hours. He had looked at every nook and cranny and had found nothing.

Aaaargh! Curse this friggin' body. Fed up with his futile search, Inu Yasha sat down, Indian style. He had to get back to the other side. There were so many things he had started and that he had yet to finish. For one thing, there was Naraku and the Shikon shards to collect. And there was also the matter of putting Kikyou's soul to rest.

As he sat there, all alone in the dark with no possibilities and options on what to do about his and Kagome's current predicament, he suddenly felt the need to take a break. It felt strange but right now he had no wish to continue bashing his head on a wall that wouldn't give. He wasn't giving up, he just…well…felt tired. And no wonder, his human body only had enough stamina until he finally had to give it a rest. Thinking on this, Inu Yasha realized that in hanyou form, he never had to worry about these kinds of limitations. He was always full of boundless energy and persistence. He tired, but not this easily. He missed that feeling of power. He had always felt helpless as a hanyou, knowing that he reached only half of his potential. But now he was even worse off.

He also couldn't protect Kagome. She had her own miko powers but they hadn't completely surfaced yet. She needed a keeper. He had to think, it would be a while before the others realized that anything was wrong. That meant it was up to him to solve the problem. Inu Yasha had never despised his helplessness more. If anything happened to Kagome, he would never forgive himself.

"Inu Yasha!"

Hearing Kagome's call, Inu Yasha stood up and began to climb to the surface.

"Nani, Kagome?"

"I thought you might want something to eat so I fixed you some ramen."

"Arigato." Inu Yasha gave his thanks with a mouth full of the delicious hot food.

"Ano…Inu Yasha…" Kagome hesitated. She still didn't know whether to tell Inu Yasha about her date with Hojo. He was bound to find out, especially when she didn't come down for dinner. She would be eating with Hojo in a new fancy Italian restaurant. He had told her to dress up a little when he called to confirm their date almost after she realized they even had one. Talk about coincidence! He said that he bought two tickets to watch a play presented by a college drama group and that it required formal attire, the kind that could pass for those fancy dinner parties you saw in movies. Kagome felt even more guilty because he was always going all out to impress her. This has to stop. And that's just what I'll tell him, after the play when we're having dinner.

Inu Yasha had finished eating and was now staring at Kagome. She looked to be deep in thought. She was staring outside the shed with an almost dazed look on her face, like she couldn't believe this was happening. Probably thinking about the well being sealed. Not bothering to snap her out of her reverie, Inu Yasha realized he liked looking at her a lot. And this feeling was getting more and more out of hand. She was wearing another one of those sleeveless blouses of hers tucked into jeans. The clothes delineated the shape of her body even more than the school uniform did. He tried to sniff out her scent but found that he couldn't get past the soap she used. Getting ticked off again at this weakness, Inu Yasha crushed the cup of noodles, scattering some of the remaining soup into his clothes.

"Kuso!"

"Inu Yasha, daijoubu ka?"

"Ha…hai." If I don't reign my thoughts around her, I'm gonna go out of my mind.

Inu Yasha stepped out of the small hut that sheltered the well. He continued walking, looking behind him to see if she was following. He finally stopped at the Goshinboku, staring up at it and thinking that if he was still hanyou all he had to do was jump to get on his favorite branch. Instead, he sat down on the seats that, over the years, had been added as part of the shrine.

Kagome sat down beside him and looked at her hands. She seemed to find them really interesting for some reason. She was also avoiding looking at him.

Over the past year and a half, he had come to realize that it usually meant one of four things: she was going to ask him if she could go home, she needed him to do a favor that he wouldn't possibly like, she wanted to ask him something personal that he would feel uncomfortable answering, or she was going to confess something she had done. But generally, it involved something she knew would get him mad.

Holding on to his impatience, Inu Yasha gave the appearance of having all the time in the world.

"Umm… Inu Yasha…"

"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!"

"I-have-to-go-on-a-date-with-Hojo-tonight-coz-I-promised-him-before-tha t-I-would."

"…"

"Inu Yasha?"

"- - - - - "

"Did you…say…something?"

"Hai."

"Nani?"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Continued…