InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Playgrounds of the Mind ❯ Strange Dreams ( Chapter 6 )

Playgrounds of the Mind

Chapter Six: Strange Dreams

[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]

Author's Notes: As usual, a big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! Your praise and comments mean so much to me! If there's anything you'd like to see happen, plot-wise, let me know-I just might write it in.

CHALLENGE: Since some individuals have expressed interest in this, I will try to come up with a fun (hopefully) challenge every chapter. For answers to the first one, see my endnotes.

Faint sunlight streamed through Kagome's partially drawn shades as dawn made her rosy creep into her throne in the sky. The young transfer student grumbled and tried to block out the light with her arm, but after fitfully tossing and turning, finally got out of bed and arranged the covers. Standing back to survey her work, she tossed a ruffled pillow over the uneven spread and decided the bed looked fine. Pulling on her fuzzy pink robe and matching bunny slippers, she made her way over to Sango's room to see if she were awake. Listening intensely, Kagome heard someone's footsteps. She knocked lightly.

The door flew open and Kagome was startled to see a young looking boy standing in the doorframe. She gasped involuntarily. Sango made her way over and smiled when she caught sight of Kagome.

"Hey there, how'd you sleep?"

"Oh, sorry Sango, I didn't know you had company," Kagome's mind whirled in confusion. Who was this boy?

"Good! This is Kohaku, by the way," she presented the boy who grinned and gave a smile wave.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Now the events of the past day came flooding back. Her brother Kohaku, Kagome smiled at him.

"We're not supposed to have overnight guests without requesting permission first, but you won't tell, eh, Kagome?" Sango teased, ruffling Kohaku's hair. "Speaking of which, I should probably sneak you out of here," she commented, poking her head out into the deserted hall. "I'll be right back," she told Kagome. Kohaku waved a good bye as he followed his sister out. Kagome walked into the room and sat down on the part of Sango's bed that was made. A few moments later, the inhabitant of the room appeared.

"We were catching up all night and forgot the time," she explained, picking up a few loose items off of the floor. Kagome nodded, stifling a yawn that threatened to crack her face.

"So, what did you and Inuyasha do yesterday afternoon?" Sango inquired, also slipping on her robe and combing her wild hair.

"He showed me parts of his house, and a bit of the island. We watched a polo match; I'd never seen one before." Kagome thought back to the events of yesterday.

"Uh, huh," Sango implored her to go on.

"He showed me some of his cartoons. He has amazing talent."

Sango seemed a bit shocked at this. "Wow, he showed you his sketch book? It took Miroku and me half a year to get him to show us that! He must really like you and trust you already." Kagome felt the heat rise in her face.

"Well, enough of reminiscing, Sango, you need to show me where the bathroom is again!" Kagome laughed. "This place is so confusing, I'm beginning to think I need to buy a GPS locator." Sango smiled and grabbed her shower caddy. She followed Kagome to her room, where she grabbed the things she would need.

The two girls walked down the hall a bit. A chestnut door with fancy carvings had a plaque stating: 101-105.

"Each bathroom is shared by five people, so it's never crowded," Sango pointed out.

"Glad to see we're both in this one," Kagome smiled. They walked in a placed their things on a lacquered bench. Looking up, they caught sight of two people in the main room of the bathroom, in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror. Kagome saw one was the pale freshman from her group orientation, the other was taller and dark haired; she was standing over the other, curling her hair.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kagura? This isn't your assigned bathroom," Sango narrowed her eyes.

"Can't I help my little sister do her hair, Sango?" Kagura scoffed, throwing back her head and squaring her shoulders, returning the other's cold stare.

"Whatever," Sango sneered slightly, pushing past Kagura. Kagome was slightly shocked. She had never seen Sango act so offensively. She stood there, wavering, not knowing what to do.

"Hi, my name's Kagome Higurashi," she offered, extending her hand. Kanna looked up momentarily, as if to respond. Kagura stepped back and a cruel smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, so you're the transfer," she said, stressing the word transfer as if it was an unpleasant adjective. Kagome knitted her brows together.

"Yes, Kagura," Sango cut in harshly, "she's the transfer student who was smart and talented enough to get in from high school, not just middle school." Kagura glared at Sango, as if willing her to melt into a puddle and drain away.

A slight burning smell reached the girls' nostrils. Sango smirked.

"I think you're burning your sister's hair. Gee, Kanna, maybe you should try a salon next time," Sango grabbed Kagome's wrist and pulled her past the now cursing Kagura and shrieking Kanna.

"Is she going to be alright?" Kagome asked.

"With a sister like Kagura, probably not, but that really can't be helped."

Kagome had a slight new respect mixing with fear build up for Sango. She wasn't someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of, clearly.

In the inner room, there were sparkling clean showers built up on a nicely carved cedar floor. Each shower had a temperature gauge next to it, as well as several speeds of water flow. It was like being in a sauna, Kagome reflected. The girls chose their showers and went about their morning routines.

"What are we exactly doing here, again?" Inuyasha questioned his friend, whom he was following up a fire escape on a building in down town Manhattan. Not that if would make more sense hearing it again; he rolled his eyes to himself.

"Inuyasha, don't you have any cultural appreciation at all? The ballet is one of the most beautiful art forms in the western world! We are here," Miroku said, letting the corners of his mouth turn up, "to appreciate it!"

"It's eight in the morning, this is the training side of the building, and there's no ballet production even planned for tonight," Inuyasha reminded him, with a slight edge to his voice.

Miroku stopped near a long window, leaning outside the stair's railing as far as he could to catch a glimpse of the ballerinas stretching. The old rusty railing creaked, protesting

"Oh man," Inuyasha whined, "you're going to get us killed or worse! Why did I ever accompany you here? I must have been out of my mind this morning for agreeing to drive you out here."

"You were sleeping so soundly," Miroku threw over his shoulder, "you must have been having a very pleasant dream." Although Miroku's intonations were not lost on Inuyasha, he fell silent, reflecting on the strange dream he did have.

He remembered walking through an old shrine, and coming to a covered well. The well seemed endless, yet sparkled and shimmered in a navy hazy at the bottom, as if there were no real bottom but an infinite black hole. Staring so deeply into the well, Inuyasha felt himself being pulled into its murky depths. Strangely unresisting, he was brought down. He felt like he was slowly falling in a vacuum, no air, or noise of any kind disturbed him. Finally his feet touched earth. Looking down he saw he was standing on top of earth and old bones. Looking up, he realized to get anywhere, he'd need to climb out. After a few moments, he pulled himself up over the edge. He blinked, taking in the brightness of the forest clearing around him. Verdant and lush trees greeted his glance. This was no longer the shrine, he mused. He felt pulled in a certain direction and walked that way. Deeper in the woods, he saw a massive tree growing out of gnarled roots and moss. He let his eyes travel upwards, and there he saw a figure. Walking nearer, he saw it was a girl, with dark hair. She seemed to be peacefully asleep, despite handing to the bark of the tree by an arrow. Was she . . no. But, yes, it was Kagome. But her hair seemed longer, and she appeared to have a more serious expression on her face. There seemed to be a pulse in the air, as if something momentous was stirring, finally awakening.

But the only thing Inuyasha awoke to was Miroku's insistent pleas to be driven into the city. The strange dream's lull dissipated and Inuyasha grudgingly got up to sock Miroku.

Meanwhile, Miroku had managed to inadvertently attract the attention of the ballet instructor. She angrily walked over and flung the window open, and tried to hit Miroku in the face with a mop. Miroku jumped back and stepped heavily on Inuyasha's foot. Lost in thought, Inuyasha was not as quick to react, and howling, jumped back a few steps, ending up almost tumbling down the stairs. The old iron creaked and a bolt snapped off the building's side, making the fire escape shake and sway. Losing his balance completely, Miroku fell into Inuyasha, who then smacked against the other side of the railing. Another bolt snapped off, and the entire second story of the fire escape tilted 80 degrees and dumped its passengers onto the streets below.

Inuyasha landed on the roof of a passing bus, and using his lightning quick reflexes, rolled himself up and flipped over the edge, landing gracefully on the ground, right in the path of an oncoming taxi. Again he used some martial arts moves to get himself out of the way, jumping to the sidewalk and almost into a hotdog vendor. Straightening his favorite red shirt and black cargo pants, he looked around for Miroku, evident displeasure written all over his fair face. With growing apprehension he ran up and down the block directly beneath the fire escape, looking for his delinquent friend. Did he manage to get hit by something, Inuyasha wondered.

Hearing a slight groan, he whipped around. Inuyasha stared in shock as a hand wrapped in bracelets appeared over the rim of a dumpster. Inuyasha jumped to the rim in one bound. He looked down at Miroku, covered in Chinese take-out. He laughed uncontrollably.

"It's not funny," Miroku yelled, trying to get rid of some of the coagulated noodles plastered to his head. He held out his hand to Inuyasha, who simply snorted at it and refused to help him up.

Inuyasha jumped to the sidewalk, watching Miroku struggle out of the garbage.

"Don't even think you're getting into my car like that," he stated. Miroku tried giving him the puppy dog look, but then remembered that that only worked on girls, and that Inuyasha would never sympathize with his plight, regardless.

"How am I supposed to get home, then?" Miroku complained.

"Ever hear of the subway?"

"I'm not taking it alone, looking like this! Rich kids get harassed on public transportation!" Miroku pointed to his designer slacks and shirt.

"If anyone bothers you, just give them a bracelet," he rolled his eyes, "you have enough to spare, after all."

"Don't you have any compassion!? I just fell into a dumpster!"

"I fell in front of a taxi!"

"Well, I'd rather fall into a taxi then a dumpster!"

"Fine, next time send a memo!"

After twenty minutes of arguing, in which the two students attracted many stares, and the hotdog vendor kept staring up at the sky, waiting for something nice, like a million dollars, to fall out of the sky, instead of two pesky kids, Inuyasha convinced Miroku to take the subway, under the condition he would not tell Sango what had transpired. The two friends separated at the subway entrance, with Inuyasha heading back towards his car.

Arriving at school Inuyasha parked the car and walked over to the dorm to see if Miroku had made it back yet. Crossing the lawn, he saw his least favorite person standing at the other end, next to whom was his second-least favorite person.

"What do you bastards want," he growled.

Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow and frowned deeply at his younger brother.

"The Kendo club is having an early meeting today," he stated, giving off an air of contempt.

"Maybe this year you should drop out, half-demon," Kouga Wolfgang-Puck sneered, enjoying himself. "I think we can do just fine without you, and it would leave you more time to spend with that girl."

"I think I'll stay just where I am, were-wolf wimp," Inuyasha met the venom in his voice, ounce for ounce.

Sesshoumaru gave a look of disgust to both lower classmen and turned on his heel. Kouga and Inuyasha sized each other up, promising pain and death in the Kendo spars to come. Inuyasha observed the idiotic designer metal-and-fur contraption Kouga was wearing. He snorted at his foe.

"Usual room, eleven-o-clock," Kouga jeered, tightening his ponytail. He stalked off, considering the way Inuyasha's expression changed slightly when he mentioned `that girl'. What was it about her that had his rival all riled up? He had to find out. He looked at his watch, and noting the time, made a beeline for the girl's dorm.

He had something in mind for Inuyasha's precious girl.

Author's endnotes: Uh, oh, what does Kouga have planned for the unsuspecting Kagome? Next chapter will probably deal with some school issues as well.

Last challenge answer: Aureate means both golden and pompous, and Winters refers to snow and white. So part of the academy's name applies to Inuyasha, the other to Sesshoumaru, our favorite demon brothers. I didn't want to make the academy called Shikon or Sengoku or anything over done like that.

NEW CHALLENGE: There's a perfect song to accompany the scene where Inuyasha and Miroku take a dive off the fire escape. Any ideas? There's probably more than one right answer, so fire away! ^_^

Reviews appreciated, especially in answer to the challenge, although not necessarily.