InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Oh My Gods! ❯ A Concentrated Conversation ( Chapter 3 )

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

After a few minutes, a bored looking Kagome, a stumped but curious Inuyasha, and a still dazed looking Mrs. Higurashi finally arrived at the kitchen, which wasn't small, but wasn't big, either.

The atmosphere was homey with just the right feminine touch, accented by bright lighting, a western style mahogany table neatly set up in the middle of the kitchen, and a creamy beige colored two door side by side fridge. All the other household appliances in the kitchen were all neatly aligned against the walls in an orderly fashion.

Kagome was glad her mother remodeled the kitchen after a certain incident. Hmph, an incident that involved her, Gramps, Souta, and an innocent pack of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

The result hadn't been pretty, but she detested the way her old kitchen looked like anyway...

Inuyasha looked around the kitchen in complete awe. All of these strange metal gadgets confused him, but he was currently staring at the modern stove in wonder. Why was it so weird with knobs on it along with large and small circles on its pristine black surface top?

Like he had surmised before, humans had strange technology...

"Come sit here, dear, and I'll explain everything."

It took the hanyou a second to realize that Kagome's mother was talking to him, seemingly out of her former reverie, and he turned around to see that she was gesturing to a seat next to Kagome across from her on the table.

Inuyasha shrugged and complied, taking a seat on the wooden chair with the strange yellow and red apple pattern cushion. It felt weird sitting on it since it was a little hard, but amazingly more comfortable than sitting on hard wood.

Sure, he'd sat on cushions before, but not apple ones...hm, so much for new experiences.

Mrs. Higurashi cleared her throat and peered at her eagerly-awaiting-a-good-explanation raven haired daughter and an equally better-be-good anxious hanyou, who were both unblinkingly staring at her. They remained staring at each other for a few moments before again the older woman cleared her throat and stood up from her seat.

"You know what…I think we should drink some tea..." A smile tugged on her lips as though her statement would win her the lottery.

Kagome groaned, smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand–an obvious gesture of exasperation–and glowered at her mother as she went about preparing some of her favorite cinnamon apple tea. Only my mother is capable of making tea when something really important needs to be discussed.

"Gosh mom, you're hopeless! This is serious! Besides, I want to finish my homework done before it gets too late! And what am I supposed to do about Inuyasha?!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, hm?" Inuyasha interjected, glaring at the teenager next to him.

The raven-haired miko met his glare head on, not one trace of fear or weakness cowering in her chocolate eyes. It momentarily baffled Inuyasha how this annoying woman met his glares dead-on without quivering.

He had to admit he never met anyone with those qualities other than his older half brother, Sesshoumaru. But the demon stepped down to no one–people just ran away from him with their tails between their legs.

Keh! Great, now I'm stuck with stubborn bitch. Impressive for Kagome to be categorized with the bastard who he swore suffered from frostbite.

Kagome stuck her tongue at the offended hanyou once he growled in protest. "Just what I said, got a problem with it?" She received her answer when his lightly tanned skin flushed from restrained fury.

"Now, now, you two, no fighting at the table or I won't explain anything. And secondly, I always say you can't start an important, concentrated conversation without some hot tea on hand. I'm sure you two could wait just a little while until the tea is ready," Mrs. Higurashi said in a heart warming tone.

She wasn't really reprimanding, though, since she smiled gingerly at the two fuming teenagers and turned back to preparing some tea for everyone. The other two occupants of the kitchen quirked an eyebrow, baffled.

"I swear, mom, you and tea should date and get married..." Kagome shook her head in pity for her mother, but smiled despite her incredulity.

"Didn't you know, dear? Tea proposed to me years ago–we're already married!" Mrs. Higurashi chuckled. Inuyasha could only blink and cock his head, not really understanding the exchange between mother and daughter, but he reasoned he didn't want to know anyway...

"Oh, how could I forget?" Mrs. Higurashi suddenly paused filling a small red tea kettle with water and turned towards the silver-haired hanyou. "Inuyasha, how would you like your tea? Regular sugar, extra sugar, a little bit of honey in it?"

Inuyasha stared at the woman with short raven hair for a few moments before pondering her question. In the immortal realm, he drank tea almost every day, but the servants who prepared it always successfully assumed what he desired.

How was he supposed to know how much sugar he preferred?!

"Psst," Kagome whispered to him as if whatever she was about to say was a secret war plan, and there was a child-like twinkle in her chocolate eyes that scared him, too, "ask for the extra sugar with the drop of honey in it. Trust me, it tastes super good!"

Inuyasha mused if he should trust this teen suffering from random fits of rage, yet he had no preference of his own, so he'd use hers.

Just this once. There was no way he was asking for her opinion again! Keh! Damn right! Soon enough, she'd just poison my food to get rid of me!

"Uhh, I guess the extra sugar with the drop of honey in it is okay for me...um, Mrs. Higurashi." How was he supposed to address Kagome's mother again?

Mrs. Higurashi, Higurashi-sama, madam–the last one he never used before and probably never would–but he hoped Mrs. Higurashi would do. So far, she was giving off a kind impression; a woman possessing no blackness in her heart. Her scent, a graceful combination of jasmine and lavender, was calming to his jittery nerves in a foreign place.

Sooo...obviously she was far from a potential enemy!

Now that he thought about it, Kagome inherited her mother's fragrant scent–hers was only jasmine, though. Ah, his three favorite scents: jasmine, lavender, and vanilla. They reminded him of his deceased mother...a beautiful, eloquent woman who was actually a lot like Mrs. Higurashi.

It reawakened the child in him that forever longed the comfort of a mother ever since the fateful day she was supposedly murdered. No, he barely remembered it–one of his servants just informed him of her murder.

Then again...he couldn't remember anything prior to waking up that morning...

The older woman chuckled once more and nodded in response. "Alright dear, I'll serve you what Kagome will be having. And please, call me Mom! Mrs. Higurashi makes me sound so...old!" Again she grinned and turned back to her previous actions, now gathering five mugs and her required supplies.

To call someone Mom again...it struck a cord in Inuyasha. To have someone to lean on, rely on...would that really happen with Mrs. Higurashi? Or was this just another dream? Why this woman was so kind to him, so naturally maternal that it roused the good memories of him and his own mother, truly baffled him.

He must be one lucky hanyou.

Especially a hanyou, an abomination rejected by almost everyone. Heh, it was ironic.

Kagome giggled at the completely confused expression on Inuyasha's face, and her lips then curved into a warm smile. She was happy for him; even though she ranted about how annoying he was, she could still decipher his longing for a mother ever since his was taken from him.

The fact that he was here today on the deceased woman's whim revealed his loyalty to her–he was a good son and loved her dearly. Thinking about it just made her sigh in contentment. Yeah, Inuyasha was a mama's boy.

Err...why was Kagome thinking about him in the first place?

She blinked and furrowed her eyebrows, mulling over this new development. It would be an outright lie if she said she felt like they were strangers; it was quite the opposite, actually. Reading into almost his every single thought was easy, trusting him was natural, she laughed with him before she could stop herself–what was wrong with her?!

They only met about an hour ago!

But...the strangest part was that...

...she hardly minded at all.

Kagome failed to realize that she was openly staring at Inuyasha while his golden amber eyes fixed on her quizzically, yet she only snapped out of her reverie once the hanyou spoke in a gruff, indifferent voice.

It was his mischievous smirk, though, that alerted her to danger... "Hmph, you might want to move your hand off the table unless you like hairy black spiders crawling on you..."

The teen's eyes widened a huge fraction and a blood curling, or ear curling in Inuyasha's case, scream escaped her lips. Damn! Her screams were most likely heard all the way in the immortal realm as well as the whole universe! She apparently had no consideration for other people with sensitive ear drums AKA him!

Kagome immediately stood up from the table, accidentally knocking her chair on the floor, and tightly shut her eyes while screaming, "KILL IT KILL IT KIIILL IIIT!!!"

At her daughter's abrupt screams, a shocked Mrs. Higurashi dropped the tea kettle in her hands filled with water, slices of fresh red apples, pieces of rolled cinnamon sticks, and other spices on the floor. She sighed, shaking her head at the two immature teenagers prior to cleaning the mess up. Kids will be kids, I suppose.

After a while, to make sure that the coast was clear, Kagome cracked an eye open and glanced at the mahogany table in front of her, furiously hoping that the spider was dead. Yet, there wasn't a spider, or dead spider, in sight...not one single remnant of it. "W-What...?"

And not to mention a certain silver-haired hanyou god was practically guffawing at her incredulous expression. Her chocolate eyes soon lost their cheerful sparkle and resembled the fires of hell...

"Inuyasha must die...Inuyasha must die..." She was petrifying with her trembling fists, dark eyes hidden beneath her raven bangs, and monotonous chant–not even the hanyou could find humor in it. "INUYASHA MUST DIE!!!"

"CRAP!"

Inuyasha finally understood that his life was being threatened and wasted no time to jump from his seat. Hey, he might be immortal, but he wasn't made of steel and he rather avoid pain at all costs! Shit, shit, shit, shit! She's going to chop my balls off! He needed those, dammit!

And so...the chase began.

It first condensed around the kitchen, but there was barely enough room, so the cat and dog, more like dog and cat, ran into the family room. Souta and Grandpa Higurashi stopped playing monopoly since they had been on their way to investigate what Kagome's screaming, yet they understood perfectly.

Heh, no one could mistake what occurred with a 'running-to-save-his-balls' freaked out hanyou and a 'castrate-then-torture-him-slowly' miko hunting him. The three sutras in Gramps hands–he surmised Inuyasha decided to finally attack–dropped to the carpeted floor once a blur of silver and red, then green and blue whirled by him.

Grandfather and grandson shared a confused look, but shrugged and decided to play another game since monopoly was becoming boring. They had already used up all the money left behind, shared Mrs. Higurashi's property on the board, and honestly owned every single space on the board.

It was a tie as to who actually won...ahem.

"How 'bout we play The Game of Life, Gramps?" Souta asked as though he transformed into a robot, retrieving the aforementioned game from the television stand cabinet after replacing the previous one.

The elder man only shrugged–he was going insane anyway. "Why not? It's certainly more normal than our life already."

"You finally said something right! Whoohoo!"

Gramps crossed his arms, but hid a smile, nonetheless. "You better watch your mouth, m'boy, or I'll cast a spell on you to make you lose the game..."

Souta rolled his dark brown eyes and smiled fondly at his grandfather, whose air of arrogance nearly suffocated him. "Sure. Why don't you try your strongest spell, Gramps? I'm sure I'll turn out to have the highest pay day."

There, he could breathe again! Ha! No more arrogance!

"Aww, don't worry! I still love you–just don't ask for money." Gramps chuckled heartily in reply and sat down near the coffee table as Souta set up the game board.

"We'll see about that, m'boy."

After a about ten minutes running around the house, Kagome and Inuyasha at long last settled down in the kitchen once again. However...they were merely hosting a glaring contest...that was, until Kagome blinked at the same moment Inuyasha sneezed.

Just as it was for their former dog and cat chase, it was unknown who was the real winner. Oh well!

Inuyasha, now with nothing to do while the miko across from him stared blankly at the table, occupied himself by watching Mrs. Higurashi prepare a second batch of tea.

The process mesmerized him–it was nearly a blow to his pride that he was at loss on how to prepare something as simple as tea. She cut pieces of red apples as she hummed, and then dumped the slices in an orange teapot filled with water and strange, rolled cinnamon-scented sticks already sitting on the stove.

He was very confused as to how that giant metal thingy worked. His nostrils picked up on the humid, evaporating water around it, and he could hear the low simmering of the water inside the pot; therefore, the machine was heating the pot.

But there were no flames involved.

Heat came from fire, right?

Well, today was his day of severe confusion.

"It's called a stove. This one's powered by electric energy to heat up the tea kettle. It's the latest version of home appliances–it's easier to use than a regular stove." Inuyasha glanced at Kagome as she explained and fleetingly wondered if she was still mad at him.

Well, her expression was serene, though appearances were usually deceiving.

Keh, this woman is full of surprises. And pent up rage, that was for sure.

Hm, she definitely wasn't angry because she continued. "Anyway, that tall machine over there is a refrigerator. It stores easily spoiled foods like meat and vegetables. One side, the right side, keeps food in a cool temperature while the left side freezes them."

Kagome pointed to a large, cream-colored object across the stove as she explained it, and Inuyasha only nodded in awe. When there wasn't a way, mortals made one, he supposed.

"What's that thing on top of the 'stove'?"

Kagome looked to where Inuyasha was gesturing to and smiled once she recognized it as a microwave. It was creamy beige, bought to match all the appliances in the kitchen. "That's a microwave, which uses artificial energy to heat portions of smaller foods quicker than the stove does."

"Interesting… It must make life easier, but I wouldn't put it past mortals to think of new, weird things."

Kagome giggled at his awed tone of voice. "Yup, sure does!"

The rest of the minutes passed in silence, well not in complete silence since Mrs. Higurashi was still humming, but it was quiet for Inuyasha and Kagome. Soon, the aroma of cinnamon and apples reached the sensitive nose of the hanyou and he found himself delighting in the scent.

He'd never smelled anything so good before! The teas formerly made for him smelled of chamomile and other herbs while this one...this one smelled splendidly sweet with a tinge of spice. Not a hot, burning spice–he hated spices because his taste buds were very sensitive–but it was a...good smelling spice.

"What's...what's that smell?" Inuyasha asked, inhaling the sweet aroma that now surrounded the kitchen. It was intoxicating, and he felt drugged on the scent. Yet he wasn't complaining.

Very far from it, actually.

Kagome laughed, since he looked like a dog that just caught the scent of fresh, cooked meat, and replied in a sort of proud tone, "That's Mom's fresh, homemade cinnamon apple tea! Smells good, doesn't it?"

"You got that right..." Gods, if it smelled good, then it must taste good, too...

Moments later, Mrs. Higurashi poured the contents of the tea kettle into five differently colored mugs with a small strainer on top of each of them. She then reached into a cabinet in front of her and retrieved a green container with the tip of a spoon pointing out of it. It was glittering white sugar, and she poured a few spoonfuls of it into each mug, mixing it little before placing a drop of golden honey in all of them.

The two awaiting teenagers were almost drooling...

Mrs. Higurashi smiled in triumph. The operation was successful! "There, all done! Souta, Father! The tea's ready!"

After she handed each Kagome and Inuyasha a mug–Kagome's was light blue with a purple smiley face on it and Inuyasha's was crimson with an evergreen tree on it–Souta and Grandpa Higurashi came into the kitchen. The two received their mugs, hurriedly nodded in thanks, and returned to the family room.

Seemed like their game was at its prime...

Inuyasha sniffed the contents of his mug with a look of complete heavenly pleasure and sipped his tea. Kagome and Mrs. Higurashi took one look at him and burst into giggles. The expression on his face was priceless; it was of a puppy who found his long lost paradise!

Kagome also sipped hers and had to agree that this was her mother's supreme creation. Nothing could beat this tea–it was the best of the best! "So, now that we have tea, may we start our 'important, concentrated conversation', please?"

Mrs. Higurashi's expression became grim, causing Inuyasha and Kagome to stare questioningly at her, even forgetting about their delicious teas. But the older woman then brightened after sighing.

"Well, I guess I've put it off for long enough. But first, can you tell me how you two met?"

Kagome and Inuyasha shared a look, and the miko finally took the hint to explain their encounter. "Ok...I fell asleep in my dorm, and I was having a dream about being in some kind of paradise. I was walking through a forest when I saw a reddish, golden glow. I followed it, and I saw him."

"How many times do I have to tell you it wasn't a dream?" Kagome shrugged and Inuyasha shook his head. "She had somehow transported herself into my private training grounds in the immortal realm. Before that, I was handed my mother's journal, and I read that her dying wishes were for me to find my fiancée, a girl named Higurashi Kagome. It also stated that you would help us if we needed answers."

"While I was on my way here, I met up with him again. And to make a long story short, we ended up here...together."

Mrs. Higurashi digested the information while sipping her mug of tea quietly until she noticed that the two teens had finished their 'chance meeting'. "So, Izayoi died. It's such a pity that a wonderful woman like her had her life ended so abruptly."

"How do you know my mother?" Inuyasha repeated the same question he had asked before, now with the intention of having it answered. Kagome wondered the same, so she paid close attention to her mother as she spoke.

"I don't know if your mother ever told you or not, but she was actually mortal. Her family was immortal of course, rulers of the Eastern Kingdom, but she was born in the mortal realm instead of the immortal one like you were, making her susceptible to death. Inuyasha, you're only half-immortal–you can live for eternity but able to be killed."

What?! This came as a complete shock to Inuyasha. His mother was mortal?! He was only half-immortal?! Why hadn't he known this?! It was surely something worth knowing, dammit! Great, now not only am I a hanyou, but I'm also merely half-immortal. Hmph, another outlet for ridicule.

He wondered if everyone else in the immortal realm knew except for him...

Mrs. Higurashi soon acknowledged his silence as a plea to continue. "Izayoi and I went to school together–her parents left her in this realm for her safety–and we grew to be best friends. However, many people didn't realize that she was special...and by that, I mean she also had the ability to see into the future. Anyway, when we were in our senior year of high school, Izayoi met the love of her life, InuTaishou, in a dream like you had, Kagome."

Inuyasha sat rock still. His father had also been murdered when he was very young. He barely remembered him other than the fact that he was a good father. Dammit, there was a huge gap in his mind for some reason! Supposedly, it was because of some kind of head trauma he suffered during a battle, but he wasn't so sure about it.

Wait...do demons even suffer from amnesia? Who knew?

"Yes! I'm not the only one with the weird dreams! Whew!" Kagome sighed in relief and her mother spared her a small smile before continuing her story.

"InuTaishou was a powerful demon god, ruler of the Western Kingdom in the immortal realm. He and Izayoi later on had many encounters with each other; he would come and visit her, and once she discovered how to travel to the immortal realm, she'd visit him. It wasn't long until they mated. The Eastern Kingdom and the Western Kingdom were united, and shortly after, you were born, Inuyasha."

"Aww, you must've been a cute baby, Inu-kun!" Kagome cooed at the blushing hanyou, who growled at her pet name. Hell, why was she giving him a pet name in the first place?!

"Keh! Don't call me 'Inu-kun'!" It demeaned his masculinity!

"Whatever...Inu-kun..."

"Kagome must die...Kagome must die...Kagome must die..."

"Moving on..." Mrs. Higurashi wanted to avoid another chase around the house–she just remodeled after all! "Around the same time Izayoi mated InuTaishou, I married Kagome's father, and surprise! Kagome came!" Both teens stared at the giggling woman with blank expressions.

"Anyway, you two actually knew each other since you were infants. You'd play together, sleep together; heck, you even bathed together." She paused to look at the faces of two shocked and disgusted teenagers sitting across from each other and laughed.

Hmm...now there was a reason why the couple felt like they knew each other since forever... But why couldn't they remember their so called past together? They were stumped!

"And so, there arose the idea to have the both of you married once you were both eighteen. We assumed that you'd both eventually fall in love with all the time spent together, and it made Izayoi very happy. Obviously, things didn't go according to plan. But, we all agreed at the time, and it was settled. You two are to be married when you are eighteen, and I'm not breaking my promise to Izayoi."

"WHAT?!" Two very shocked, confused, and angry teenagers shouted in unison. Mrs. Higurashi laughed nervously and took a long sip of her tea, finally finishing it. Uh oh, now she lacked a distraction...

"Mom, how could you?! I don't want to be married by force–I want it out of love! I want to choose the man I love!" Kagome yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. "I thought arranged marriages were abolished in Japan!"

Inuyasha, despite his own shock and anger, reeled at her. Gods, how annoying can a woman be?! "There's nothing you can do about it, woman, so just shut up! Promises are promises, and since it's written in my mother's journal, I guess I made one, too."

He refrained from calling Kagome the usual 'wench' since her mother was present, and for some reason, he highly valued her opinion. She didn't seem like the type of person to voluntarily give her daughter away to a stranger just for the hell of it; Mrs. Higurashi must know what she was doing.

"You can't be serious!" He could say he made a promise, yet Kagome never did!

"Well too bad, I am serious! Don't think I'll marry you because I have no life–I'm doing this for my mother's memory! If marrying a crazy girl like you would make her happy, then so what? It's the least I can do for her dying wish! I suggest you do this for your own mother because she has her reasons!"

"When did you start caring about reason and what not?! What if I say I don't want to marry you? If what Mom says is true, I still don't like you, I still don't love you, I still don't remember you! What makes you think I'd marry you just so that you can fulfill your mother's dying wish?!"

"Kagome, that's enough."

The surprised raven-haired teenager stared at her mother, who was actually glaring at her daughter, before she calmed down and quieted. She crossed her arms, copying Inuyasha's exact pose at the moment, and said nothing more as Mrs. Higurashi steered the conversation.

"Now, listen to me, the both of you. Kagome, you can't believe that I would deliberately sell you off to marriage if I didn't think it would benefit you. Maybe you won't be marrying for love as I thought, dear, but believe me when I say that I have your interest in mind. Inuyasha, thank you for accepting it and I trust you to take care of my daughter. And that's why I'm arranging for you to be enrolled into her school."

Kagome gaped. "WHAT?! No way, Mom, he won't survive for one second!"

"Why the hell do you always assume that I don't know shit, wench?!" His dam broke–he hardly cared what he called this annoying, whiny, bratty bitch in front of her mother now.

It was true, though! He was tired of Kagome implying that he didn't belong in her realm or he would have a hard time assimilating! He could do whatever the hell he wanted, and he was going to prove that he could survive in this realm!

Wait a second...he was going to school? Huh?

The miko rolled her chocolate eyes. "I don't 'assume'–I know it! You can't deny that the modern world confuses you! How can you expect to learn everything about the mortal realm, modern technology, and school subjects in such little time?! Besides, you need a scholarship or a whole lot of money to get into my school, and I don't see any of that happening!"

"Don't you dare fucking–"

Mrs. Higurashi interrupted Inuyasha's retort with a steady and calm tone of voice, "Inuyasha, dear, please watch your language." The hanyou kehed and mumbled an apology while Kagome blew a victorious raspberry at him.

"Kagome, dearest, I always have plan no matter what. I was actually anticipating Inuyasha's return and I kept all of the documents Izayoi handed me once he arrived. All that's left is to call Imei Academy, tell them they have a new student, and Inuyasha will be returning with you tonight. No big deal!"

Mrs. Higurashi seemed happy and excited about it–gah, impossible! This couldn't be happening to the both of them!

Oh dear...it was happening...

Kagome stared at her mother with the bottom of her mouth hanging wide open, while Inuyasha was in a similar state. "Mom, you're amazing. You and Izayoi are amazing."

"No kidding..." Inuyasha mumbled absently, wondering just how much Kagome's mother and his own mother had fantasized about their children getting married.

Geez, to have everything prepared for his arrival, Mrs. Higurashi–well, Mom–had known he was coming ages ago!

Ugh, his head was throbbing...

"Hmm, look at the time! Well, Kagome, Inuyasha, I think you should get going; it's pretty late and dark outside. Just let me hand you the papers before you leave!" Mrs. Higurashi then left to retrieve Inuyasha's registration papers.

Registration...he was being registered into school...it wasn't sinking in.

The two teenagers still failed to digest the information recently presented to them and were just sitting there, waiting for the raven-haired woman to return. This was a very strange situation for the two teenagers, and Kagome refrained from questioning how her mother and Inuyasha's mother pulled off creating an identity for him to live in the mortal realm with her.

She guessed all he needed to do now was learn about the modern era...and maybe about some academics as well... What am I, a personal tutor? I better get paid.

Five minutes later, Mrs. Higurashi arrived with a large, plump orange envelope in her hands and a huge grin on her face. She placed the envelope on the table for the teenagers to observe. Well, they were still gazing at her with wide, unblinking eyes. Not that it deterred her excitement, though.

"In here is everything you'll need to register Inuyasha into Imei Academy. All you have to do is give the forms to the guidance office, have Inuyasha sign some papers, and have him take an ID picture. Among other forms in this envelope is his social security card, passport, Izayoi's papers, information on his bank account, etc. If you have any more questions, feel free to call at anytime. Now have a good night you two!"

And they were shoved out the door. Literally.

Somehow, during the whole informative talk, Mrs. Higurashi had gotten them to stand and ushered them out the door without any protests. Their minds were blank, so they didn't register what happened until the door slammed in their faces. Hmph, to think she was allegedly kind and caring...

Kagome sighed heavily and peered into the orange envelope her mother had given her. There was an infinite amount of papers in it, and she couldn't help but pale.

This wasn't a dream.

Inuyasha was going to live in the mortal realm–not visit, but live.

Oh my gods... She was stuck with him now. Would anyone notice if she murdered him and dumped his body by an abandoned road? Nah, no one will care. It was a plan, then!

"Now what, wench?" His gruff voice interrupted her thoughts and Kagome stared up at him, noting his underlying curiosity. He was a very curious creature, wasn't he? She should buy a leash.

"Um...I guess you're going to be with me for more than a while. -sigh- Let's go back to my school, Inuyasha."

Kagome immediately sought out her bike while Inuyasha groaned. She only giggled as he threw a fit, whining how the stupid bike thingy slowed them down and its color was simply revolting. Pink wasn't her favorite color, either, but it had been her fourteenth birthday present, and the color didn't matter as long as it worked well.

But she suddenly recalled a 'little' problem and stopped, causing Inuyasha to stop in the middle of his ranting as well. "Something wrong, wench?"

"How the heck am I supposed to explain you to my friends?! We're supposed to hang out tomorrow, and I can't bail on them now! You don't even have any modern clothes!" She covered her face with her hands and furiously shook her head, as though that alone would solve her new predicament.

Inuyasha blinked at the raven-haired miko in front of him, who was still talking on and on about how she couldn't possibly explain him and her situation to her friends, without any clue as to what was going on. What was the problem with showing him to her friends? Surely there were demons in the mortal realm, so it couldn't be that they were ignorant of demons.

Finally, he resolved to ask. "Hey, wench, what are you–"

"That's it! Inuyasha, tomorrow morning we're going to the mall! Mission Make Inuyasha Presentable must be accomplished at whatever the cost!" Kagome seemed happy about this, and proceeded on taking her bike down the numerous shrine steps before Inuyasha inquired thoughtfully from behind her.

"There's only one problem with that, Kagome."

She stopped in the middle of taking another step, and turned around to face the confused-beyond-belief hanyou god. Two things stopped her. One, he said there was a problem after she supposedly solved it. Two, he alas called her by her real name.

It was a miracle! Geez, everything that had recently happened to her was a miracle! She really couldn't complain about her boring life anymore. Heh, she shouldn't have complained in the first place... An arranged marriage was the result of being a brat.

How lovely.

The miko shook her head and tilted her head up at the hanyou. "And what is this new problem, Inuyasha?"

"What the hell is a mall?"

Kagome only stared at him with a lost expression on her face. Tomorrow will be a long day...