InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Oh, No! Not Another AU?! ❯ Guided Tour ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Edited 7/28/04

~*A/N: Wow... this fic is pretty much writing itself. I meant to have the last chappy be about their little excursion, but I had to throw Kouga in instead. *shrugs* Just means another chapter for you lovely people. Enjoy!*~

DISCLAIMER: How many times do I have to tell you?! My name is Kibo, Ki-bo, not Rumiko!

Chapter Eight: Guided Tour

The six teens walked to the bus stop in front of the hotel. Outside of the air conditioned hotel, the summer sun shone bright. While they waited, Kagome pulled a small mp3 player out of her pocket, inserting earbuds into her ears and clipping the player on the waistband of her pants. A bus pulled up, and they filed on. Rin and Shippo sat together, energetically discussing favorite songs and bands. Miroku had trapped Sango in a seat, and Kagome had taken the one behind them. Inu-Yasha sighed, sitting next to the distracted girl.

Kagome sat staring out the window, her foot tapping to the beat of the music only she could hear. Inu-Yasha was entranced as he watched the callused fingertips of her left hand form familiar chords against her palm, her right hand strumming the fabric over her right knee. 'F, G...' he identified the chords in his mind as her hand flicked between them. Her motions stopped, and he forced his gaze up from her hands to her eyes. She was staring at him, but when he looked up, she returned her gaze to the passing scenery, her hands now folded in her lap.

Inu-Yasha's head snapped up when he heard the distinct sound of skin slapping skin, accompanied by Sango's cry of "Hentai!" He chuckled, standing to lean forward against the back of the seat in front of him. Looking down, he saw Sango pressed as close to the window as she could, arms crossed over her chest. The reflection of her face in the window showed a scowl on her face. Miroku's cheek sported a red handprint, apologies flowing out of his mouth. Inu-Yasha shook his head, smirking, and sat back down.

He slid his eyes to Kagome, who was still looking out the window. With his sunglasses on, she couldn't see his eyes, so even if she did turn to him, he'd appear to be looking straight ahead. He took this chance to study her. Her toe still tapped slightly to a rapid beat, showing a flash of bright blue polish everytime she raised her toes. Her brown eyes sparkled from the filtered sunlight through the bus window, black eyeliner blending in with smoky grey shadow. Purple lipstick stained her lips, parted slightly, her tongue moving silently mouthing unknown lyrics. Her hands had resumed their previous routine, polish matching that on her toes. He returned his gaze to her face, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. 'She looks really pretty like that, kinda innocent, blushing like that,' he thought. He noticed her fidget slightly in her seat, eyes shifting between a side-glance at him and then back out the window.

Just then he realized the warm presence of her thigh alongside his. He smirked to himself, realizing the source of her discomfort. 'Let's see how uncomfortable I can make her,' he thought, stretching and letting his arm fall on the back of the seat, indirectly around her shoulder. Her fidgeting turned up a notch, her lips clenched tightly, her hands now gripping her knees. She still hadn't discovered him watching her, for she still looked at him out of the corner of her eye. The bus came to a stop, and Rin and Shippo stood, happily bouncing and chattering away. Miroku and Sango followed, Inu-Yasha waiting for them to walk down the aisle to the door. Behind him, he heard Kagome let out a sigh, and smirked again. He had found a new hobby - antagonizing the poor punk teen.

"Welcome to the boardwalk!" Rin giggled when they all stood again on unmoving ground, spreading her arms wide to display the row of shops and restaurants backdropped by the sea.

"So, what's first?" Kagome asked, having regained her composure, now that she had put some distance between herself and Inu-Yasha.

"Arcade," Inu-Yasha stated, more than suggested.

"Right this way!" Rin said, turning and marching like a tin soldier, Shippo skipping alongside of her. The four others followed, Sango falling behind to walk with Kagome, far from Miroku's wandering hands.

After several tries at getting her friend's attention, Sango finally reached up and pulled an earbud from Kagome's ear, shouting, "Kagome!"

Kagome jumped, pulling out the other earbud and glaring at her friend, scowling. "Nani?!"

"You weren't paying attention to me, so I thought I'd take it!" Sango replied smugly.

"Well, now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?" Kagome asked, putting her mp3 player back into her pocket.

"I was trying to tell you how that hentai up there," Sango pointed to Miroku, walking in front of her, "groped me on the way here."

"He did?" Kagome jaw-dropped. "Hope you taught him a lesson," she said, her expression turning to a smirk.

"Hai," Sango nodded. "He had a nice bright red handprint on his face. He stuttered when he tried to apologize," Sango giggled, recalling how he had even kneeled on the sticky bus floor.

They came to a stop behind their friends, giggling as they saw Inu-Yasha's expression. The arcade was huge, filled with large games, sporting titles from "Frogger" and "Space Invaders" to "Tekken 3" and "Tomb Raider". Inu-Yasha's jaw reached practically to the ground. Shippo turned around at the girls' giggles, chuckling himself, "Trying to catch flies, Yash?"

Miroku turned to his friend beside him, a grin pulling up the corners of his mouth, "You might want to pull your jaw off the ground before you drool a puddle."

Inu-Yasha snapped his mouth shut, turning to scowl at Miroku. Rin covered her mouth with one hand to stifle her giggles, taking Shippo's arm in her other hand and dragging him to the dance competition platform. Miroku followed Inu-Yasha as he walked over to the quarter machine, hands shoved in his pockets. Kagome and Sango wandered, sauntering up to watch Rin challenge Shippo.

Forty-five minutes and thirty challenges later, Rin was declared the winner. She and Shippo leaned against a photo booth panting as Inu-Yasha and Miroku approached. "Done?" Sango asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hai," Inu-Yasha replied, grinning.

"Twenty dollars in quarters later," Miroku added, rolling his eyes.

"Where to next?" Rin asked, having now caught her breath.

The rumbling of Shippo's stomach answered for him, causing the rest to laugh as he blushed. "I think we better feed Shippo before his stomach rebels," Miroku grinned, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder.

"Hey, dancing is hungry work!" Shippo defended, looking truly put-out.

"There's an awesome ice cream place here!" Kagome piped up, her sullen mood forgotten.

"Ice cream it is, then," Sango replied, leading the group back into the warm sunshine. Minutes later found them all seated in the air conditioned cafe. Shippo and Rin had decided on splitting a banana split, Sango had chosen a cone of mint-chocolate-chip, Miroku a hot fudge sundae, while Kagome sipped on iced tea.

"Not hungry, Inu-Yasha?" Sango asked, noticing that he hadn't ordered anything.

Miroku and Shippo looked at him, their eyes wide with shock, mouths agape exposing mouthfuls of ice cream. "Yash, not hungry? Did hell freeze over and someone forgot to tell me?" Miroku dead-panned. The girls giggled, while Inu-Yasha growled. A drop of melted ice cream dripped from Shippo's still-wide jaw. That sent even Inu-Yasha into fits of laughter.

After paying, the group just wandered down the row of shops, watching people go by. "Cow in my pocket!" Rin suddenly yelled, jumping into the air and spinning around to face Sango and Kagome in a fighting stance.

"Turkey in my shoe!" Sango called in reply, taking a fighting stance as well. The three boys sweatdropped, turning to Kagome.

"Pigeon in my toga!" Kagome finished, also taking a fighting stance. The three boys watched in utter confusion as the girls collapsed onto one another in a fit of laughter.

"Women, I'll never understand them," Miroku said, shaking his head.

"Feh, no one understands them," Inu-Yasha replied.

"Warthog in my armpit?" Shippo squeaked.

Silence followed, his two bandmates staring at him, bewildered. The girls paused in their laughter before tackling the boy in a hug, cheers of "Yeah!" and "Way to go, Shippo!" erupting from their mouths. The other two boys walked away from the clump of giggling people near them, a crowd having gathered to stare.

"Higurashi? Is that you?" a male voice made Miroku and Inu-Yasha stop and turn, and the girls and Shippo quieted, Kagome untangling herself from her friends' limbs.

"Hojo-kun? It's been forever!" she yelled, launching herself to hug the boy. He had reddish-brown hair, and wore jeans and a polo shirt, white deck shoes on his feet. Kagome turned to her friends, a wide smile in place, one arm remaining around his shoulders as she introduced him. "Guys! This is my aunt's old neighbor, Hojo! Hojo, these are my friends, Sango, Rin, Shippo, and over there pretending that they don't know us are Miroku and Inu-Yasha."

The boy nodded at each person as their name was spoken, a goofy grin on his face, his arm hooked around the bouncing teen's waist. Inu-Yasha suppressed the jealous growl that formed in his throat. 'Why am I jealous? It's not like we're dating or anything!' He shook that thought from his head before it could go any further, stepping forward with Miroku.

"Hojo?" came a female voice from behind him. No one had noticed the group of four approaching them. Inu-Yasha recognized Kikyo, that Kouga guy from earlier, and two other girls who had been wiggling on stage the night before.

"Yura, Kagura, Kikyo, Kouga, I'd like you all to meet my friend Kagome!" Hojo grinned boyishly, squeezing Kagome closer to his side as he said her name.

"Konnichi wa, Kagome-chan," Kouga said, taking her free hand in his and kissing it. This time Inu-Yasha let the growl slip, which was luckily drowned out by the others' introductions. He nodded when his name was announced, catching Kikyo studying him.

"Konnichi wa, Inu-chan," the word rolled off Kikyo's tongue seductively.

"Konnichi wa," he mumbled.

"Oh, you two know each other?" Hojo asked innocently.

"Hai," Kikyo responded perkily.

"Unfortunately," Inu-Yasha muttered under his breath, so only Miroku could hear.

"Why are we talking to the competition?" Yura asked, a hand on her hip, gum popping to accentuate her irritation. Her voice was small and girlish in complete contrast to her body, little of which was covered by her pink sundress.

"I was so surprised to see her, I completely forgot about that! You guys did great last night, Kag!" Hojo praised.

Inu-Yasha was beginning to wonder if the boy was right in the head. Recognition suddenly dawned, "I almost didn't recognize you without headphones and that stupid warm-up suit." Kagome glared at him, and he turned away, crossing his arms over his chest with a "Feh." He found himself staring into glaring red eyes. 'Kagura, didn't he introduce her as?' he thought. 'Odd, she must change her contacts to match her clothing,' he noticed, for she wore a red halter top over khaki capri pants. Matching feathers stuck out of her head from a messy bun.

"Well, we better be going," she spoke, rousing Inu-Yasha from his thoughts. She grabbed Hojo's arm, staring straight into his eyes, "Say 'sayonara' to your little friends, Hojo."

"Hai, Kagura, you're right. Ja ne, minna, it was nice meeting you all!" he said releasing Kagome as Kagura pulled him along. Yura followed, Kouga turning to wink at Kagome and Kikyo to do the same at Inu-Yasha before following their friends. Hojo was still waving to them over his shoulder as Kagura pulled him around the corner of a shop.

Kagome giggled, "Baka. He really is naive sometimes."

"Inu-Yasha, how do you know that Kikyo girl?" Rin asked innocently.

"Ano... we went to middle school together, and then she moved and transferred to another district," he replied, staring out to sea.

"Oh," Rin replied, turning to Shippo and starting a winding conversation about cows in pockets and warthogs in armpits. Kagome sighed, a grin still lingering on her face as she walked towards the sea, leaning against the railing separating the boardwalk from the beach. Inu-Yasha walked up beside her, hands thrust into his pockets.

"So, you've known that Hobo guy for a long time, ne?" he asked.

Kagome side-glanced him, brows knitted together in irritation. "His name's Hojo, not Hobo. And, hai, I met him when I was twelve. It was the first time I spent a summer at my aunt's house, and he lived next door with his family. We spent most of the summer together; his oya are good friends with my aunt."

"But you haven't seen him in some time?"

Kagome side-glanced him again, wondering why he was being so nice all of a sudden. "Hai, when I went back last summer, his family had moved," she shrugged. "His family came over for dinner one night, but he had to work and couldn't come. I mainly hung out with my cousin, and one day at the mall we met Kouga." Inu-Yasha sneered at his name, and he asked no more. A mischevious smile spread across Kagome's face, and she snatched the hat off his head, putting it on her own, backwards. "You really need to lighten up, you know that?" she giggled. His hands had slid through his hair as if to comb through it, but had remained on top of his head. She tilted her head to the side, confused by his blushing face and the soft growl that seemed to come from his throat. Finally, it dawned on her, 'His ears...' she thought, hastily replacing the cap on his head. "Gomen, Inu-Yasha, I forgot!"

Straightening his hat, he scowled down at her, muttering, "Don't let it happen again." He scanned the crowd, breathing out a sigh of relief when he noticed no people screaming or running away. 'No one noticed, arigatou, kami-sama,' he silently prayed.

"Hentai!" Sango called out, swatting away Miroku's hand from her behind with one hand, slapping him with the other. His eyes went all swirly for a moment, and he fell onto the boardwalk, clutching a hand to his face. This caught even Shippo and Rin's attention, who had formerly been very wrapped up in their nonsensical discussion. They all laughed, and Inu-Yasha stepped foreward to offer Miroku a hand up.

"Never gonna get anywhere with those habits," Inu-Yasha commented, smirking at his friend.

"Like you're doing any better," Miroku snapped, rubbing the red handprint on his cheek.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?!" Inu-Yasha seethed. Miroku never had a chance to answer.

"Well, we should get going, dinner's in a half hour," Rin spoke between giggles. Sango, fists clenched at her sides, face bearing a scowl, stormed towards the bus stop, the others following in her wake.

"I think she likes me," Miroku whispered, leaning towards Inu-Yasha.

"Kami-sama, why me?" Inu-Yasha held out his arms, pleading with the cloud-dotted sky for the second time that weekend. No answer came.

~*A/N: Tehe... I realized I didn't have much Miroku/Sango action prior to this, so there ya go, you houshi lovers! I'm already getting an idea for a sequel, but if I don't get enough votes for a sequel by the time I wrap this up, I won't bother. So let me know if you'd like to see one! Arigatou! One more chappie to post for you wonderful people! Ja ne, minna!*~