InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ On a Leash ❯ Life is Confusing ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten: Life is Confusing

Kagome straightened up the red fleece blanket. "Ok, Inuyasha, you can lie down now." Her dog limped his way over to the spot in the corner of her bedroom and sunk into the makeshift dog bed.

The girl winced slightly as Inuyasha made a whine. I'm really glad he's ok. I was hoping that nothing bad would happen to him… Kagome smiled softly as he stared up at her with those intelligent amber eyes. She gently rubbed his ears while he made a low 'friendly growl' and settled more comfortably into the fleece. Still, she thought, a faint frown tugging on her lips, how did something get into mini-shrine? Her mind wandered back to two nights ago.

There had been a dissipating nimbus over the ground, and Kagome had sensed the youki. Whatever attacked Inuyasha was gone by the time I arrived. She moved and sat beside her dog on the blanket, contemplating even deeper.

Gramps had talked with the police officers earlier that morning, with Mama at his side as 'translator'. The officers hadn't said much about how the break in happened, only that they would alert the policemen in their district to keep their eyes on the shrine.

Inuyasha's cold nose against her hand roused her from the ambling musings. Kagome noted she had ceased to stroke his head, and continued her ministrations. Satisfied, the canine lowered his heavy eyelids and sidled up against her thigh.

Poor Inuyasha…he really got battered. Ms. Kaede said he'd heal up just fine in a few days, but those injuries looked so serious… She eyed the lengths of gauze around his torso with keen, rueful eyes. The wrappings were stark white, blending in with his bleached fur.

Inuyasha's breathing evened out after a bit. He lay spooned against her leg, one paw resting on her knee. Kagome tenderly smiled, kissing him between his closed eyes. You really aren't a normal dog, are you, Inuyasha?

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School seemed as trite as ever the next day, and Kagome sat through her lessons, only half-bored out of her mind. Trigonometry never did sit well with her…

After the whole ordeal the day before, Kagome felt emotionally drained. Seeing Inuyasha lying in pooling blood had really scared her. So many unanswered questions buzzed in her brain, overtaking the lecture about the unit circle. My dowry…it's so dangerous. Should we really be keeping something like that at the shrine? I mean, come on! Gramps said that some war buddy of his made him promise to keep it because his wife had a premonition of early death, and that he was supposed to give it to his first born granddaughter….

She frowned slightly, ignoring the edge of folded paper Yuka was nudging against her elbow, sharply disrupting her cogitations. "Later," she murmured quietly, still not taking the note.

When the light jabbing stopped, Kagome sighed and rested her cheek in the center of her upturned palm, feigning attention. She really wanted to nod off right there; however, being sent out into the hall did not sound very cool…though it would give her some thinking time.

Between her three whisper-gossiping friends, the squawk of yellow chalk on blackboard, the nasally voice of her math teacher, and with the unease vibrating her mind the girl was about ready to snap.

She was inordinately pleased when the shrill ringing of a bell, signaling the beginning of her lunch break. Leaving her bookcase hanging off the peg on the side of her desk, the girl sauntered after her classmates lethargically. The din of hungry middle school and high school students was background noise to her weary brain as it tried to reason something.

"Hey, Kagome! Wait up!"

The girl turned at the sound of Sango's voice as she ran after her in the bustling corridor; Sango had to jostle people in order to not get swept back from whence she came. Kagome made a half-grin and waited for the older girl to catch up. "What's up, San--?"

"I heard that happened at the shrine a few nights of ago," she cut in. "Are you ok? Was anything stolen?" Worry reflected in her dark brown eyes.

Shaking her head bemusedly, Kagome replied, "Nothing was stolen, but Inuyasha got hurt. How did you hear about it?"

"Well, actually, one of Miroku's friends was passing by the shrine and saw the police coming down the steps, so we both thought something was up." Sango crossed her arms pensively as the pair moved out of the middle of the throng to a seldom-noticed staircase tucked away at the end of the hall. "I would have called, but I figured you were busy with an investigation or something."

Kagome sighed resignedly. "If only…"

They climbed the stairs for a bit. Feeling a tiny bit better when the sound of their footfalls became the dominate sound, Kagome pushed open the metal door. A flood of white sunlight washed into their eyes. The door banged shut behind the girls as they stood atop the roof of the school.

They crossed to their favorite nook and pushed the snow off the wooden crates. Ever since they were really little, Sango and Kagome had come up to the roof to talk, think, and enjoy the city that lay below them. And since Sango was a year ahead of Kagome, lunch hour was one of the few times during the day they had to talk.

And right then, Kagome told Sango all the things that had happened from the moment of hearing Inuyasha barking until that morning when she'd last checked on him.

The older girl listened attentively, nodding quietly from time to time. "So, all that…and no one really knows who or what got into the mini-shrine that night?" she asked when Kagome caught her breath after the tale.

"Yeah." She stared at the snowflakes on the ground. "I don't get it, Sango. We've always kept a careful watch on it, but I guess I don't understand why now all of a sudden."

"I wish I knew why, but I don't know much more than you do." They sat there in hush, allowing the dry wind to burn their cheeks with red-hued cold. For a time, only the sound of the winter breeze and the subdued rustling of their uniforms presented any signs of remote life.

Finally, Sango queried, hoping to change topic, "So…how did your date with Houjou go?"

"Huh? Houjou?" Kagome took a second to regain her memory and laughed softly at the fact she'd forgotten. "Uh, well, it was…ok…."

"Just 'ok'?"

"Well…actually…I met this guy named Taisho," she admitted, blush staining her cheeks a deeper crimson.

Sango raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really? That name sounds really familiar."

"I thought so, too." They both shrugged, and Kagome went on with her story of Taisho, and before she realized it, Kagome had even rambled off about Sesshoumaru stopping by.

Again, Sango didn't have much to add about the dog-demon, but she gave a joshing scolding or two for wandering off with unknown teenage boys. Kagome giggled in response, and teased her about Miroku, earning a playful shove.

By the time they returned inside, the girl was feeling much better if not a little hungry.

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Afternoon sunshine warmed the frosted windows all around the house. Humming vaguely in the background was the heater, keeping all the inhabitants nicely toasty.

Mama bustled about the house doing laundry, attending to Inuyasha every three hours or so since Kagome was still at school, and generally keeping Grampa out of trouble, all the while with a smile on her face.

It never ceased to amaze Inuyasha.

Besides Mama coming to nurse him to health, dog boy also had other visitors. Grampa performed a cleansing ritual for the room and slapped another ofuda on the doorjamb (which Kagome would probably peel off later anyway); Inuyasha couldn't help but chuckle at the irony that he, a hanyou-cursed as was--, was being lovingly taken care of by a shrine family, whose patriarch was placing wards to keep demons out of the household. Inuyasha could at least be assured the old geezer had a fondness for him.

Buyo also ducked in. He immediately claimed the half-demon's normal nighttime roost; Inuyasha managed to halfheartedly protest while the feline settled in. They had been conversing for a few hours, which waned whenever one of them nodded off. Even so, Inuyasha had a sort of kinship with the cat, and it gave him some comfort to know that there was one entity in the Higurashi home that understood him fully, one-hundred percent of the time.

"So you met another person who can understand you?" Buyo asked, curled up on top of Kagome's bed.

"Yeah. Old hag could understand me perfectly. Is she one of those 'Gifted'?"

"Is it really necessary to ask or are you really that obtuse?"

Inuyasha ignored the cat's comment and stared past the chubby calico to the window. Snow danced in orbs of breath outside the ice-covered glass. "There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense: my brother, those weird wasps in the mini-shrine, Kagome-everything."

Buyo shifted position. "Are you going to see your brother in a month?"

"…I don't really have a reason not to," he answered slowly. "I'm going to have to wait and go on the night of the new moon. I wouldn't be able to make it to the Nakushima district without getting hauled off."

"You got this far," pointed out the feline.

He gave a doglike shrug. "Either way, it would probably be easier to just go as a human…"

"Probably safer, too."

Inuyasha nodded once to show he'd heard yet didn't give a damn, when he suddenly swore and snapped at the air. "Aw, shit! I left the clothes in the snow drift!"

Buyo snorted. "I'll get you some more clothing before then, but once you're up to snuff, you're going to have to get the sweater and jeans out of the snow."

"Fair enough."

The quiet pattering of small feet on the carpeted stairs caused the dog's ears to perk up in interest at the familiar rhythm that continued to come closer. "Inuyasha," Kagome's voice came from the hallway. Soon the girl appeared in the doorway, garbed in her uniform. "Time to change your bandages, boy."

Inuyasha stared up at Kagome's smiling face and his tail gave a lax wag. Kagome carried the dark blue medical bag-the one just for him. She got to her knees, pulling out the gauze and some antibacterial spray while humming a little tune.

He remained motionless as she carefully clipped the bands and began spraying the antiseptic over the scratches on his side. Pink stripes of skin were visible from beneath his pale coat. A round scabby blotch marked the place where the demonic bee had pierced him with its stinger.

The mist gave his healing wounds a petite smart, yet it was not enough to make him yelp-only wince in discomfort. Overall, though, Inuyasha was feeling perfectly well, if not for a minor ache here or there.

His mistress helped him stand while she discarded the dirty wrapping and replaced them with fresh ones.

When she finished the task, she smiled as he settled himself back down.

"Oi. Buyo."

"Hmm?" the cat's yawning reply came, having curled up.

Inuyasha whispered, "Can Kagome understand anything I tell her?"

"Well…a bit. She's not fluent like the vet, but she might be able to get the gist of it, at most."

Rolling from his unscathed side onto his tummy, Inuyasha said to the girl, "Kagome, you gotta take this collar off." He watched as she suddenly looked to him as she zipped the top of the bag closed. "Do you get it? Take--the---collar--off." At the puzzled expression on her face, he wriggled his head from side to side, chewing at the scaly leather band.

Kagome reached forward. "It looks like that collar's bothering you. How about I take it off…?"

Inuyasha's mind began to pulse as his thoughts zoomed in every direction and the world seemed to go in slow motion. The girl's long, soft fingers grasped hold of the choker, glided up to the silver clasp-

"Sis!" Souta bellowed as he stomped up the hall. "Some wolf guy's here to see you."

Fingers paused, the loop of leather pushed of a tad.

"Oh, ok, Souta. Tell Kouga I'll be right down." She rubbed the dog between his ears. "Sorry, boy. Kouga and I have a project to work on." Giving him a kiss on the forehead, Kagome rose to her feet and toddled out of the room.

Inuyasha was a blank.

Buyo tipped his head for a moment, thick tail twitching from side to side.

Eventually, Inuyasha managed to recover from the disappointment of the blasted collar of Kikyou's still ringed around his neck, still in control.

He let out an angry howl.

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"Hey, Kagome," Kouga said, sprawled comfortably on the sofa.

She grinned. "Hi, Kouga. It's nice to see you."

The wolf-demon rose with a swagger. "Oh, but the pleasure is all mine." He gave a confident half-smile as he re-shouldered his backpack.

Giggling, Kagome led him to the kitchen as a strident yowl shook the house.

"What was that?" he asked, peering suspiciously at the ceiling.

"It's Inuyasha." The girl's cobalt eyes narrowed in wonder. "I hope he didn't hurt himself…."

Kouga made a snort, folding his arms over his chest. "Dogs aren't very strong or reliable creatures, Kagome. Wolves are everything that dogs lack."

Inuyasha limped into the kitchen, long nails clicking at an offbeat on the tile. The canine paused to glare rather resentfully at the wolf-demon. It seemed that he forced himself to make his stride even and natural as he padded to the water dish.

Kagome stared after the white-haired husky, marveling at the pride that swelled about him even now-as if he had something to prove to Kouga. "Hey, boy, what're you doing down here?" she inquired as he lapped up some water.

"Chaperoning."

The girl smiled and sat at the table. "It's sweet of you to come down, boy. But, you should rest."

Inuyasha peered up at her for second, walked over, and promptly flopped by her feet. His ocher eyes intently scrutinized Kouga's every move and did not leave even when he sat across from Kagome.

Kouga, however, glared back at the molten orbs that hovered just above the tabletop with piercing blue eyes.

Kagome only helplessly gazed from her pet to her partner, not understanding why Kouga was locking stares with her dog.

Growling quietly, Inuyasha stretched out, fully intent on not leaving until Kouga did.

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For about two hours, Kagome and Kouga had been working on their poster for "Hamlet". The time flew by quickly as the boy carefully glued the pictures he'd printed off while Kagome wrote the captions in what Kouga called, "Such graceful script that even the most refined lady would try to imitate, but would not be able to do it justice." The girl merely laughed softly at his over-the-top flattery.

"I think the glue is almost gone," he commented, shaking the bottle in a vain attempt to coax more to the nozzle.

Kagome pushed back her chair. "I think Souta has some more. I'll be right back. If you're thirsty, there's some cola in the fridge."

"Ok." Kouga's eyes didn't leave her as she sprinted away. A lazy grin, although no less confident, crossed his face as he took her up on the offer of drink. "Hmm…" he murmured, fishing through the refrigerator. Retrieving a can, he popped the top. "Only a little more and Kagome will be all mine. Heh." He took a slow sip.

Inuyasha, who had yet to budge for the duration of two hours, slunk over to the wolf-demon. "Over my dead body, shit for brains…" he snarled in an undertone. He skulked over, unnoticed by Kouga who was reveling in the sheer genius and beauty in which he'd win Kagome's heart.

Too bad Kouga didn't notice Inuyasha lifting his leg…

Beaming cheerfully, Kagome reentered, a long glue stick in hand. "Hey, Kouga, I got-"

"YOU STUPID DOG!"

Her eyes trailed to where her classmate stood. The glue stick dropped from her grasp.

Cola in his hand, a ticked off expression, a dark trail on his pant leg, and the unmistakable yellow liquid surrounding his shoe told Kagome all she needed to know what happened-and the fact her fuzzy-eared culprit was just now lowering his hind leg set her suspicions in stone.

"INUYASHA!" she admonished, swiftly tramping to him and seizing his collar tightly. "Bad dog!" She peered hastily up at Kouga. "I am so sorry. I-I don't know what's wrong with him."

The sound of the wolf-demon's teeth grinding in annoyance reached even her ears.

He forcedly chuckled, "At least we're finished." Judging from the way he was glowering at Inuyasha, the girl was certain he wanted to throttle the dog-at the very least. "I'll leave the poster with you." He retrieved his bag from the table, making for the rear exit. "I'll go out the back door."

"Kouga…" she began softly. "I really am sorry. I wasn't expecting Inuyasha to do that."

The boy doubled back and drew her up and into his chest. "Kagome," he pushed her in front of him, cradling her hands in his, "I could never be mad at you for something your brain-dead mutt did." He locked a fervent gaze straight into her eyes and tilted his head…

Chomp!

Insert painful yell here.

"Uh…you really better go," Kagome sighed, prying Inuyasha's vice-like grip from Kouga's leg. She heaved another sigh as the wolf-demon left. Inuyasha…what heck are you doing?! She blinked her eyes once as something occurred to her.

Staring at the watery yellow footprints, "I better get the mop."

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"You peed on him," Buyo repeated, incredulous. "And here I thought you were only moderately stupid. Proved me wrong."

"Like you don't wish you could've whizzed on him, too." Inuyasha smirked contentedly as the cat curled his tail around his body. "That stupid wolf deserved it. Thinking he can win Kagome over…"

"Oh, yes, you're such a viscous puppy."

Inuyasha playfully snapped once before his expression went darkly pensive. "If he hadn't shown up, I wouldn't still be a damn dog."

The feline stretched a tad, kneading the pink bedding underneath him. "For a boy dog, you bitch a lot."

"Shut the fuck up."

He snorted as Buyo made a catlike chuckle. "I haven't seen Kagome in a while."

"She went out to the mini-shrine."

"What for?"

Buyo shrugged. "Probably to check the wards. I don't know."

Inuyasha wobbled to all fours. "I'm going to see."

Trotting charily to the first floor, the dog zipped by Gramps in his bedroom and to the dark hallway just a sprint away. He pawed open the sliding door and rushed out into the cold, ignoring the protesting twinge in his leg. Scrambling up the icy steps, he ducked behind a box of fertility charms.

The rice paper screens were spread all the way apart; from here, Inuyasha had a clear view of Kagome on her knees in front of the long black box.

Her waves of onyx hair fluttered in the slight wind, reflecting the early evening moon's light. She wore her white school sweater over her ducky pajamas and a pair of slip-on shoes. The girl said nothing; the sound of silence was a bit uncomfortable for Inuyasha.

As an especially vigorous gust whooshed through the mini-shrine, Kagome removed the paper-spell and the dog-hanyou sensed the presence of intense miko energy. She unfastened the lid and allowed it to rock rearwards, creaking with its obvious age.

Inuyasha wasn't sure what he saw, but he did know he saw a dull silver flash of light-like a reflection off an old mirror.

Creeping stealthily up to the rice paper screen, he hunkered down as his mistress removed something from the dark velvet-something long.

A muffled 'chink' echoed in the soundless chamber-only the ghostly, moaning song of winter wind remained the constant dead noise. Something fluttered from Kagome's grasp.

She sighed deeply, as if she were deeply troubled. Her voice came out myriad of emotions, but the most prominent was resentment and worry: "I don't understand this…. How come you had to come here? My family could be in danger because of what your owner made my crazy grandfather go along with.

"I don't get it. Why me? Why now? Nothing is making sense-now more than ever! I don't know why but…" her small form shook, "I have a nagging feeling…

"Oh, and another thing: where the heck is my 'fiancé' anyway?" Inuyasha's ears perked up higher, but she said no more.

Finally, Kagome sighed again, before letting out a tired, "I wish I knew what he was like…. Too bad you can't tell me, huh, Tetsusaiga?"

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A/N: Woot! (Yes, Nicole, I did steal your word. Nyah, nyah!) Anyway, I'm sorry, but I still have yet to take my AP US History exam in addition finals are in about a month, I've become a little forgetful-sigh--, and another ordeal. Not my week. I have a research paper to write for my evil speech teacher so…yeah… Please, R&R and I hope you liked it. Big hugs to all of you who prayed and wished that my mom would feel better, and she is back to normal, so a big thanks from both of us.

I dedicate this chapter to all of the kids who put on "Oklahoma!" last weekend. You all did a wonderful job, especially Matt, who lights up my days with his big grin.

Ja ne,

~Moonlight Shadow

e-mail: hanyou_miko_dreamer@hotmail.com