InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Out of Time ❯ Time Shift ( Chapter 2 )

~~Chapter 2~~

~Time Shift~

 

Kagome smiled at Sango as she watched her try to pull her skirt up and down simultaneously, hoping for a little more coverage that just wasn't there.

 

“Relax, Sango, you aren't showing anything,” she said to her friend. It was eerie to see Sango wearing a school outfit instead of her youkai exterminator armor, but with the jewel destroyed and no other way of getting back to feudal Japan they had all decided that they would just have to fit in, and fitting in meant school for Sango.

 

“Every girl in school will be dressed just like you, so stop worrying, okay?” Kagome said, grabbing her backpack and walking out of the room.

 

Sango grabbed her new backpack, still looking incredibly uncomfortable, but followed Kagome down the stairs. They stopped in the kitchen to have breakfast. InuYasha was already sitting there, looking just as unnatural as Sango though in a completely different way. Sporting baggy pants and a sweatshirt, Kagome had tried to tell him how awful he looked, but he had adamantly refused to put on clothes that actually fit him.

 

He was still pouting over the tetanus shot she had to give him for stepping on a rusty nail---the shot he had been trying to avoid in the chase that had ultimately landed all of them here, stuck in modern Tokyo---and wouldn't look at her. She tweaked his ear as she passed him. He snorted in reply and jerked his head away. Figuring there was no way she could ever explain him at school, Kagome had decided it would be easier to leave him at home.

 

“What's for breakfast?” Miroku asked cheerily, walking in the room. His eyes scanned Sango, but his face did not betray any of his thoughts. His smile only grew brighter as Sango blushed. He was dressed casually, taking to the style of the times with gusto. Kagome sighed. Miroku had been a whole other problem. He was too old to attend the Kagome's school, but no university would accept a man who hadn't finished high school. Kagome worried about leaving him at home with her mother, pervert that he was. She sighed. She'd just have to give InuYasha strict instructions to keep an eye on him.

 

Mrs. Higurashi smiled as the well-dressed young man walking into the room. “To celebrate Sango's first day of school I made pancakes.”

 

InuYasha inspected the foreign food skeptically before eating it.

 

“They're good,” Souta urged him.

 

InuYasha didn't look as though he believed the boy. He leaned in closer and sniffed. Miroku, unable to pass up the opportunity to goad the hanyou, casually reached over and smacked InuYasha in the head. InuYasha wiped the syrup off the end of his nose with a napkin as he pinned the monk with an icy glower. “You're asking for it, monk.”

 

Miroku laughed.

 

“Kagome . . . if InuYasha and Miroku don't have to go to school, why do I?” Shippou asked plaintively.

 

“They're too old for school,” she explained. “And you're not. It would look weird if you didn't go.”

 

“Stop your complaining, runt!” InuYasha added, still making odd faces as he tried to get the smell of the syrup out of his nose. “Quit whining and act like a youkai, would you?”

 

Shippou stuck his tongue out at InuYasha. InuYasha lifted his fist in an obvious threat. “Kagome!” Shippou squealed.

 

“InuYasha . . .” she warned.

 

“You can't!” InuYasha blurted quickly. “Your mom said you can't say `it' in the house, remember?”

 

Kagome pinned him with a baleful glare. InuYasha didn't smile but he looked like he wanted to. She ate quickly, jammed her books in her bag, grabbed Sango's arm, and left with a quick, “Bye mom!”

 

Miroku wistfully watched them leave. “There is something about this school that seems to have merit,” he said. InuYasha rolled his eyes.

 

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

 

“Mr. Yoshi, this is my cousin, Sango,” Kagome said to her teacher. “She just moved in with us and will be starting school today.” Her teacher nodded, and Kagome gave Sango the seat next to hers. They had arrived early in order to get Sango's schedule straightened out, but now they had some extra time before class started. Kagome's friends came in, giggling, and when they saw Kagome, they rushed over to her.

 

“Why didn't you tell us you would be here today?”

 

“Have you seen Houjou?”

“Who is your friend?”

 

To the last question Kagome responded, “This is my cousin, Sango, who moved in with us this weekend. Sango, this is Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi.”

 

They besieged her with questions.

 

“Where are you from?”

“Why did you move?”

“Do you like the shrine?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Have you met Kagome's boyfriend?”

“Is he as possessive and jealous as Kagome says he is?”

 

Sango shot Kagome a hopeless look, but Kagome just grinned at her. Before Sango could even begin to answer the questions, the bell rang, and the girls rushed to their desks.

 

Sango spent the entire day in rapt attention, completely enthralled by the subjects. At lunch she turned to Kagome, a look of awed respect on her face.

 

“I didn't know that you had to learn so much, Kagome,” she said. During the break she managed to answer some of the questions that the girls had for her. The bell saved her from revealing too much about herself, and she made her way through a few more classes. After school they were ambushed again, this time invited to go to the mall on Saturday.

 

“What happens at this mall?” Sango asked curiously.

 

“We go shopping for clothes,” Kagome said as they walked home.

 

Sango stared down at the outfit that matched Kagome's, obviously thinking of the closet full of clothes that Kagome had at the shrine. “How many clothes do you need?”

 

Kagome giggled. “A girl can never have too many clothes.”

 

The chiming of a bicycle bell announced the approaching boy. He stopped next to Kagome and offered her a bashful smile as he held out a pink wrapped parcel. Kagome glanced from the package to the boy and shifted nervously. “Higurashi!” he said, “I heard you were in school and I got you a therapeutic warming bag for your chronic tendonitis,” he said, thrusting the bag into Kagome's hands

 

Kagome turned a vague shade of red and hesitantly accepted it. “Thanks, Houjou.”

 

“And I heard about your cousin, so I got her a some oranges,” he said, digging into his bag again, “They will boost your immune system because if you are anything like Higurashi, you will be getting sick all the time.”

 

He pushed the bag of oranges into Sango's hands, and then rode off, waving over his shoulder.

 

“Who was that?” Sango asked, staring at the oranges in her hands.

 

“Oh, that was just Houjou,” Kagome said quickly, “Anyway, we should be getting home.”

 

When they got to the top of the shrine steps, InuYasha, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara were all waiting for them.

 

“Where did you get that stuff?” InuYasha asked, taking an orange from Sango. Both girls turned red, mumbled, and walked past their welcoming crew. Sango headed upstairs immediately to change into her long kimono. She could still feel Miroku's eyes on her, and she knew---just knew---that the perverted monk was unable to shake the image of her in Kagome's clothes out of his head.

 

She headed downstairs and went outside to see what everyone else was doing.

 

“I liked that outfit,” said a voice in her ear as she felt a familiar warm pressure on her rear. Out of habit she turned around and slapped Miroku. He grinned ruefully, and rubbed his stinging cheek. Sango walked over to where Kagome was sitting with InuYasha, her books spread all over the ground. Oddly, Sango noticed that InuYasha was leaning slightly to the side, his head cocked, and a thoughtful frown on his face as he stared down at a page in the opened math textbook. Kagome didn't seem to notice InuYasha's uncharacteristic behavior.

 

“Ready to do your homework, Sango?” Kagome asked.

 

“Homework?” Sango asked her.

 

Kagome grimaced and pointed at the math book that currently held InuYasha's complete attention. When her hand obstructed his view, he swatted her away gently enough. She finally noticed what he was doing and frowned. “Do you want to go to school, InuYasha?”

 

“Feh!” he snorted, straightening up immediately and affecting his bored demeanor again. “I don't need school.”

Miroku hunkered down beside Sango, using her school books as a reason to lean over her shoulder. Sango shot him a look and shrugged her shoulder. He either didn't get the hint or chose to ignore it.

 

“Oh!” Kagome suddenly exclaimed, digging into her bag. “I talked to the guidance counselor at school, and he gave me these for you two.” She handed each of the males a rather thick booklet. InuYasha scowled as he flipped through his. Miroku fanned the edge of the pages but didn't open it. “If you study that, you can take the equivalency test. If you pass that, then you'll be given an equivalency certificate.”

 

“Why would I want to do that?” InuYasha scoffed, tossing the book down on the ground.

 

“Because,” Kagome said evenly, measuring her words and tone carefully, “you can't get back through the well. You're stuck here. If you're going to live here, you have to have that certificate to get a job.”

 

“Look, Kagome!” Shippou lit in her lap brandishing a stack of papers proudly. “See what I did at school today?”

 

Kagome exclaimed over Shippou's accomplishments and hugged the kitsune before he bounded off her lap to show Sango and Miroku the result of his efforts. Kagome caught the strange expression on InuYasha's face before he noticed her staring and blanked his features. She was about to remark on it when Sango gasped loudly. Kagome glanced up at her friend and groaned at the familiar look on Sango's face.

 

Moments later a resounding crack echoed through the courtyard. Miroku sat on the grass where he'd fallen, rubbing his cheek in a strangely delighted manner. Kagome shook her head. InuYasha muttered, “Keh!” Sango still looked fit to kill. Shippou sighed heavily. Kirara ignored them completely.

 

“So what did you guys do all day?” Kagome asked, glancing up from her homework.

 

InuYasha shifted his gaze from the booklet he was inspecting and snorted. “Keh!”

 

Intrigued by InuYasha's strange response, Kagome turned to look at Miroku. The monk straightened up quickly, his hand jerking away from Sango's rear, and he shrugged. “I simply tried to explain to InuYasha that in this time, we need funds.”

 

Kagome made a face. “Neither one of you is making any sense,” she remarked. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Miroku saw the home shopping channel,” InuYasha finally explained. “The Jewelry Showcase.”

 

“Diamonds are a viable commodity,” Miroku insisted. “We owe it to ourselves to investigate this before you nay-say it, InuYasha.”

 

“What are you two talking about?” Sango spoke up, obviously as confused as Kagome on this.

 

InuYasha relented though he continued to glower at the monk. “Miroku thinks it'd be a good idea to go tossing around the Diamond Spear Blast.”

 

“Just enough to give us some spending money!” Miroku hurried to explain.

 

Kagome and Sango shot each other knowing looks. “That would likely cause more trouble than it's worth,” Sango said slowly. “And I don't think we need anything, anyway.”

 

Kagome giggled suddenly.

 

“What's so funny?” Shippou asked.

 

“It just struck me,” she replied between bouts of laughter, “I've never known InuYasha to be the voice of reason.”

 

“Keh!” InuYasha retorted. He shot off the ground to light in the tree above.

 

Kagome stood up, bracing her hands against the tree trunk and tottering on tiptoe. She could see InuYasha's toes dangling from the upper branches. “I didn't mean it in a bad way,” she remarked.

 

“Bitch.”

 

“Are you going to be mad all night?”

 

Sango shook her head and shot Miroku a warning look as his hand crept closer to her rear. He jerked it back again with the most winning smile he could muster. She narrowed her eyes on him before turning back to watch Kagome try to talk InuYasha out of the tree.

 

Peace never lasted long between those two.

 

 

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N:

 

This chapter was written by the incredibly talented RadiosNmyHead. We'd started this story as a joint project but because of conflicts in scheduling, I ended up finishing it from Chapter 3 onward. This chapter, however, was written by her and edited by me.

 

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Out of Time): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~