InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon a Time ❯ Practice Makes Perfect? ( Chapter 38 )

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38. Practice Makes Perfect?  

The hanyou looked up guiltily as his mate descended the stairs, fatigue evident in every movement, every line of her body. And I thought I had a hard night, he mused, noting the dark circles under her reddened eyes.

“Good morn--” she began, then clapped a hand over her mouth and sprinted back up the stairs.

With a meaningful glare that pinned Inuyasha to his seat, Kagome’s mother went up the stairs to see what the problem was. She stood outside the closed door for a few seconds listening to the characteristic sounds of violent retching. When the sound of running water told her that the bout was essentially ended, she tapped on the door. “Are you all right, Kagome?”

Though still a little pale, the younger woman’s cheerful nature had reasserted itself. “Never better, actually. It was kind of a rocky night, and I guess I’m a little nervous about all this.”

The older woman shook her head. “You can still change your mind, you know.”

“I know,” Kagome said, “But I won’t. I love him.” That simple declaration left no room for argument.

She nodded slowly. “Feel up to a little breakfast?”

The answering smile was a little strained, but it was there all the same. “Sure, Mama. Go ahead--I’ll be right down.”

As she turned to head back to the kitchen, she didn’t see her daughter take a drink from a small bottle that she quickly replaced in the pocket of her robe. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found herself the object of intense scrutiny from the four males waiting there. “She’ll be down in a few minutes. She says she’s feeling a little nervous.”

The hanyou stared at the girl coming down the stairs with a kind of naked hunger in his eyes that made Kagome’s mother blush faintly. When she joined them at the table he took her hand, rubbing the soft skin of her palm with his thumb. His voice was low and sensuous, almost a purr. “Did you sleep at all?”

She shrugged. There was no point in trying to lie to him about the utter futility of trying to sleep with her mate trapped down the hall in Souta’s room. “A little, I guess.”

Nori exchanged a look and an almost imperceptible nod with his sister-in-law. Even though he had trusted her interpretation of the situation, he had wanted to see it for himself. That small gesture and those few words convinced him that the attachment between the two was probably both sincere enough and strong enough to see them through the difficult times ahead of them. He thought it likely that these two had the best chance at happiness of any young couple he had seen in recent years.

The girl looked at her mother. “So. What’s planned for today? Obviously, we’ll be having the ceremony after sunset tonight, but what do we do in the meantime?”

The other woman shook her head. “We’ll be holding the rehearsal as soon as the others arrive. After that, it’s just a matter of getting ready for tonight.”

“Others?”

The woman’s smile broadened. “Of course, dear. Even though we didn’t mean for this to be a huge affair, there were certain roles that simply had to be filled. I realize that you would normally have chosen the female members of the group, but it was supposed to be a surprise, so we--”

She was interrupted by a knock at the door. She rose quickly to answer. Though the humans in the other room could hear nothing but indistinct voices, Inuyasha distinctly heard the deep voice of Sesshoumaru promising dire consequences if…something or other. He never had the chance to finish the threat, as his mate’s formidable parent shooed the youkai away, reminding him to return at sunset.

When she returned to the kitchen, she was followed by a group of humans and a youkai--the very same youkai Kagome had spotted in the woods more than a week earlier. Now that she could see him clearly, she had no trouble recognizing the bright eyes that watched her from the much more mature face.

“Shippou?!” she squeaked, not entirely sure she could believe her eyes.

He nodded. “It was all Miroku and Sango’s idea. Your mother told them we needed another guy to be one of the witnesses, but she said I was too young, so--”

She looked at him closely. “You’ve been practicing!” It was true. Throughout all of his transformations, he had never before been able to conceal his bushy fox tail. “Is this really what you’ll look like when you’re older?”

The little kitsune nodded happily. “Pretty much,” he admitted, “Except for the tail.”

“Doesn’t it make you tired to stay in that form?” At the youkai’s answering nod, Kagome continued, “Then why don’t you stay in your regular form until we have to get ready? It looks like it’s going to be a pretty long night, and I’m sure you don’t want to miss the party.”

With a tiny popping sound and a small puff of smoke the handsome young youkai was gone, replaced by the adorable fox child Kagome had come to love. Realizing that she had been unintentionally rude in her surprise, Kagome quickly introduced the newcomers to her uncle. Apparently, they had all met the rest of the family on previous excursions to this strange future world.

Shippou, always eager to exploit his natural cuteness, hopped up onto the man’s lap. “Kagome says that you’ve been helping them. Thanks. Dog-boy here is so dense they need all the help they can get.”

Nori looked at the kitsune in surprise. “You really are a youkai?”

Shippou, expecting the usual human reaction to youkai, bristled, baring his tiny fangs. “What if I am? I don’t hurt humans. Especially,” he said, glancing at the woman who had helped him through the worst time of his young life, “Kagome.”

Nori suddenly had the unmistakable impression that the little creature before him would be willing to take on an enemy many times his own size and strength in order to help his niece. It was a strangely comforting thought. “That’s good to know, Shippou. When somebody you love leaves, it helps to know that they’re with people who love and protect them. Besides,” he added, “My family is part youkai. Didn’t you know that?”

The youkai thought for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yeah. Kagome told us a story her Jiichan told her about some part-youkai ancestors.”

Kagome’s mother tried to put the little girl who was standing silently on the edge of the group at ease. “Rin, dear! I’m so glad you could come and join us today. Sesshoumaru will be coming along later on, right?”

The child looked around in wonder, having only been there once before for a brief time to be fitted for the soft pink kimono she would be wearing for the ceremony that night. She nodded shyly. “Yes, Higurashi-san. Sesshoumaru-sama will be coming back a little before dark.”

That was the final shock for Kagome. “Rin?! What are you doing here? And--Sesshoumaru’s coming here?”

The older woman shook her head at her daughter. “Of course, dear. He is family, after all--he should be included in something like this.”

A quick glance at the hanyou confirmed what she had suspected: this particular part of the plans had not been his idea. She grinned at the thought of her mother going into “mom overdrive” and badgering the youkai lord until she shamed him into agreeing. Still, she could relax a bit--she didn’t for a second believe that her mother would permit the youkai to visit her home without first extracting a promise that he would behave himself for the duration of his stay. And--although Sesshoumaru had at times been their enemy--she had always known him to hold to his word: even though he might occasionally stoop to trickery and subterfuge as a last resort, she understood that he would no more break his given word than she would leave Inuyasha for…Houjou.

The older woman nodded in satisfaction. “It looks like everybody’s here, so we can hold the rehearsal as soon as you’re done eating.”

Still just a bit queasy, Kagome settled for a slice of toast and a handful of strawberries. She ate slowly, understanding that she would be kept apart from her mate from the end of the rehearsal until she saw him again at the ceremony itself. She was interrupted by a tiny hand tugging on the leg of her jeans. “Are you okay, Kagome? You smell a little…different.”

Her eyes snapped toward the hanyou as she nearly choked on a strawberry. It had genuinely never occurred to her that other youkai would be able to detect the changes in her body chemistry as well. This, she decided, could be bad. Smiling softly, she picked up the kitsune. “I’m better than okay, Shippou. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I am right now.” Ruffling his hair, she gave him the last of the strawberries, then stood up. “I guess we should go ahead and do this.”

All things considered, the rehearsal went well. All were quick to learn their places and what was expected of them during the ceremony. The only hitch in the proceedings came when Miroku decided to lighten up the mood of the day a bit by “modifying” the text of the ceremony. No one noticed anything out of the ordinary until he turned to the hanyou in the later part of the ceremony and asked if he would take this “beautiful but naïve and incredibly gullible” woman as his wife. Even then, those from the world of the past were unaware of anything unusual until he turned to Kagome and asked if she would take this “rude, obnoxious hanyou” as her husband.

It was at this point that everybody involved realized that the monk had been playing with them just a little. Still, none of them could find it in themselves to think too badly of Miroku--it was obvious to all that it had simply been a way to combat the deadly serious mood in which they had all become trapped.

Unfortunately, the rehearsal was over all too soon to suit the principals in the ceremony. They had understood from the beginning that they would be kept separated until they arrived at the ceremony itself, but had not realized exactly how difficult that would be. Since there were still a number of hours before the ceremony was scheduled, Souta, Shippou, and Rin were allowed to play outside while Sango and Kagome found themselves sequestered in Kagome’s bedroom. The hanyou, left largely to his own devices, spent much of the day with Miroku and Kagome’s male relations.

About an hour before sunset, Kagome’s mother brought Rin up to the room so that the three female members of the party could start preparing for the ceremony. Contrary to stereotype, all three were dressed quickly, Kagome in the ivory satin dress she had seen in the magazine and Sango and Rin in matching kimonos of the same soft coral pink.

Kagome’s mother returned a short time later with two large boxes. Explaining that it was traditional for the bride and her family to present the ladies taking part in the ceremony with gifts, she handed the boxes to Sango and Rin. Sango’s box contained a white silk kimono embroidered with sakura blossoms, while Rin’s contained a similar garment cut to fit the size she would most likely wear at maturity.

As the two looked up in surprise, the older woman shook her head. “I think that you’ll probably be marrying very soon yourself, Sango-chan, and we would like you to have this for that event. Rin-chan, I know that you won’t be in a position to consider marriage any time in the near future, but we would like you to have this anyway. Also,” she added, “We’d like you to have a little something for now.” With this, she handed the little girl a silver chain bracelet with a small gold disc engraved with the names of the couple being married and the date.

The child squealed in delight, jumping around the room so that it was difficult for the others to place the small wreath of sakura blossoms on her head.

Looking out the window at the fading daylight, the older woman said only, “It’s time.”