InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Project Hope ❯ Stress Reliever ( Chapter 9 )

I'm really upset about some of the mail I've been getting telling me to update faster. I already told you that I have a lot of after school activates and my computer crashed. Not only that but we got it fixed and brought it home. But when we turned on the computer it was still messed up so we had to take it back. I'm really sorry about not updating for so long but I wish that some of you ppl would try to understand that I'm not Superwoman.

And the story Silver Bells by fuyumiko is not a copy of my story Hold Me Close and I didn't copy it from her either. As I clearly state in my summary my story is partially based on the show/manga Chobits.

Ok…back to my story.

Chapter 9

Stress Reliever.

It'd been four days since Inuyasha and Kagome's trip to the past and nobody had a clue what had happened. Kagome was cheerful and bright as ever and Inuyasha was …well Inuyasha.

Inuyasha scratched his head and yawned. Pushing the swinging door, he walked into the kitchen, heading straight for the refrigerator. Sango, Kagome and Miroku were already there talking about something.

"We should go! We haven't had fun with all the crap that's been going on!" Sango waved her hands around as she spoke.

Miroku nodded eagerly and exclaimed, "Ah, come on Kagome. You know you want to."

Inuyasha poured himself some juice and sat down. "What're you all arguing about?" He tilted back his head and gulped half of the cold juice down. Resulting in a brain freeze…
The door swung open and Rin ran in, knocking Inuyasha off his feet in her hast to get to the others.

"Ehhh! Did you guys see this?" Squealing at the top of her very well exercised lungs Rin jumped up and down.

Rubbing his head Inuyasha got of the floor and yelled, "What the hell is wrong with all of you today? God damn Ron, my head!"

Rin stopped looked around. "Who's Ron?"

Miroku put his hand on Rin's shoulder and consoled, "It's ok, I promise we're going to get you some help."

Of course that just confused her some more. Anyways, Rin waved a piece of paper in front of Kagome's face and screamed, "Look at this, just look!"

Kagome sighed and took the paper but didn't look at it. She didn't look very excited. "Rin, we already saw it. And I personally think that we have too much to do to go to some party that's being thrown by a somebody we don't even know."

Sango threw her hands in the air. "I told you already that the party is being thrown by a demon that's new to the Hope. She's inviting everyone, and I mean everyone! I heard that she's really friendly in the ching-ching department. A party like this isn't going to be cheap."

A party? Inuyasha sat on the floor and snapped, "I don't see why'd you'd go to a party."

Kagome exclaimed, "Thank you! Finally someone that agrees with me!"

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow and smirked. "I'm not agreeing with you. I just don't the point of going to a party just to embarrass yourself with your non-existent dancing skills."

A vein in Kagome's neck popped anime-style as she fumed. "Well excuse me! It's not like you could dance any better!"

Rin grinned and snatched the opportunity. "Well Kagome, you haven't been on the dance floor in a while. You might have lost your touch."

Huffing Kagome jumped off the counter and snapped teasingly, "Oh really?" Then she grinned.. "Nice try, Rin but I'm not dumb."

Nearly wailing from disappointment Rin cried, "Oh come on Kagome pretty, pretty please?"

Inuyasha stood up and surprised everyone by saying, "Hey Kagono."

Kagome glared her eyes and sourly said, "You're not doing too well with names today, are you?"

Inuyasha glared right back and snapped, "I was just going to say that I'm going to the party."

Everyone shut their mouths in surprise. Inuyasha took another gulp of his juice and then tossed his cup over his shoulder into the sink. Kagome blinked and asked, "You're going?"

Inuyasha smirked and coolly said, "You didn't expect to stick around this place forever did you?"

Kagome looked at Rin, Sango and Miroku and than back at Inuyasha. Pulling at her hair she cried, "Ok I give up!"

~~*~~*~~~*`~~*`~~*~~~

Rin giggled and jumped up and down on the bed. The day of the party was finally here and the girls had jammed themselves into Kagome's room to get ready. It was supposed to be like a club. The invitation had stated that the party was to honor the Hope and that you should dress formally. Giggling in her excitement, Rin hopped off the bed and looked into the six-foot mirror.

Rin had decided to be adventurous and wear a Western style dress. It was strawberry colored and it accented her eyes. Sticking to her playful and childish manner the dress ended about an inch under her knee. The neckline was a U shape and the sleeves were only two inches thick, showing her arms. A darker red ribbon was tied around her waist and from there the dress flared slightly. Rin twirled and giggled again as the dress flared out from her antics.

The bathroom door swung open and Sango danced out. "Ta-da!"

Sango had taken one of her kimonos and added a twist. She had taken a scissor and made a slit on each sleeve from the shoulder all the way down to where the sleeve ended, so that the sleeve flared a little. The kimono that originally reached her ankles had been cut to reach about the same length of Rin's -give or take an inch. And-the deep-red color complimented her emerald green eyes.

Rin whistled and said, "Sango, you looked gorgeous! Nice job with the kimono!"

Sango grinned and bowed. Then she looked at Rin's hair, which had been untouched and frowned. "Rin come here."

Rin cautiously crept toward her and when she was close enough, Sango pounced. Twisting her hair to the top of her head, Sango put Rin's hair into a comfortable ponytail with a few wisps here and there to frame her face.

"There, now that's better." Sango said to the handiwork

Rin was admiring Sango's hair that had been pulled into a tight bun when the closet door slowly opened and Kagome walked out. Rin let out a cat-whistle making Kagome blush and bow while Sango whooped. Kagome was wearing a silver-blue dress that looked so pleasant and flowing to the eye. It was one shouldered and it reached her feet. There was a darker blue cloth that reached to her left waist and right knee. All in all, it was gorgeous. Kagome gave a little twirl and laughed. "If I have to go to this dance then I'm going to go looking good." She gave a little wink and complimented her friends. "Wow Sango. That's amazing what you did with that kimono. And Rin. Where'd you get that cute dress? Western cloths are hard to get."

That was true. Here in the Hope everything seemed calm and happy but all you had to do was step outside of the barrier to see a whole different world. Getting cloths from different countries wasn't easy.

Rin grinned and said, "Actually I went to the buy some cloths for Sessy and I saw this seamstress ripping apart a old kimono. The color was so pretty I asked her to make a dress for me. And voila!" Then she frowned a little. "Speaking of which, where'd you get your dress?"

Kagome waved her hand and said causally, "This old thing? I got it from Kaede."

Sango and Rin glanced at each other. Kaede? They could just see her in a dress. But they smiled and pulled Kagome toward the door. Linked arm in arm they skipped down the stairs giggling and chatting like idiots. At the bottom of the stairs as maid named Kotori smiled shyly at them and said, "You look beautiful mistresses."

Beaming they said in unison, "Thank you."

Kotori's smile drooped as a loud voice yelled, "Are you broods in comas or what?! What the hell is taking you so long?"

Kagome shook her head and sighed in annoyance. "We're come! Hold on!"

The three went to the living room where Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Miroku and the hyper Shippo were waiting. Inuyasha and Sess didn't look like they'd spent much time on their cloths. Inuyasha was wearing a plain red haoru and Sesshomaru was in a white and pale blue kimono. Inuyasha was sitting on the floor with his arms crossed when he saw Kagome. His eyes widened a little as he eyed her and her outfit, Sesshomaru just looked coolly at the three with no emotion at all. Miroku on the other hand…

Running up to the three he grabbed all their hands and gasped, "Why my ladies! You are looking more ravishing than usual! My heart pounds just to see you!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Three, two, one…"

"HENTAI!! YOU PERVERT!!!" Miroku's cursed hand earned him three very hard slaps on the face.. Red in the face Kagome, Sango and Rin crept around the fallen Miroku and scurried over to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru..

You could nearly see the smoke coming out of Sango's ears as she stomped over to Inuyasha. Inuyasha nervously scooted over. Kagome took a deep breath and jumped two feet in the air when Shippo popped up in front of her. "Hiya!"

Kagome put her hand over her chest and breathed. She smiled when she saw Shippo was in a mini tuxedo. "Oh, Shippo! You look adorable!"

Shippo puffed out his chest and grinned. Mumbling to himself, Inuyasha poked Shippo in the stomach making him deflate like a balloon. Sesshomaru eyed Rin as she grinned at him. "Sessy, you're wearing the kimono I bought you!"

Inuyasha snorted loudly and demanded, "Sessy? That's one I've never heard!"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes threateningly and hissed, "Shut your mouth."

"What's the matter Sessy?" Inuyasha growled back.

Kagome bonked Inuyasha lightly on the head and said, "Oh shut up Inuyasha. Let's go."

Right on cue, Kirara bumped her head on the window from outside impatiently. The gang quickly went outside and got on. Kirara flicked her tail and bound into the sky. Kagome closed her eyes as the warm breeze whipped around her face and through her hair. Sighing in satisfaction, Kagome forgot about the height and enjoyed the ride.

Inuyasha's nose twitched when Kagome hair brushed his face. The faint smell of the rare flower White Plum drifted to his nose. Inuyasha had to admit that the dress looked nice on the little wench. Wait! Had he just thought that? No. This girl was a human. No matter how long or how nice she acted, nothing would change that. His mind wandered to their trip to the past. When they returned, she had acted like nothing had happened, but he doubted that he was fine.

Rin suddenly exclaimed, "Hey look at that! There's no moon tonight."

Inuyasha's eyes snapped toward the sky. It was true. There was no moon. "Shit." He breathed.

Kagome looked over her shoulder at him in concern. "Is something wrong?"

Sharply, Inuyasha snapped, "Nothing that concerns you."

"Well, fine! I was just worried." Kagome whipped her head around slapping Inuyasha in the face with her hair.

Inuyasha closed his golden eyes and tersely hissed, "Just great."

After flying for a few minutes in silence, Miroku pointed downward and exclaimed, "Look, there it is!"

Just up ahead was a huge mansion with a immense garden. From where they were it looked like every single demon and human had come. Kirara descended to the ground and the group slipped off. Kirara transformed into her smaller form and trotted off with Shippo.

Kagome whistled in awe. "My god...look at this place."

There were tables with food and drinks everywhere. Ice sculptors, flower and bush figures, dancing, music it was a full blown party. Whoever had thrown this party must be richer than rich.

Sango wandered off toward the drinks with Miroku and Rin dragged Sesshomaru toward the gardens. Kagome noticed that Inuyasha had a look on his face sour enough to make a lemon seem sweet. "Hey Inuyasha. Cheer up. You're the one that said you wanted to come."

Inuyasha glared at Kagome and shuffled away toward the trees. Shrugging off his bad mood, Kagome cheerfully greeted some familiar faces and even danced with a boy named Hojo. Inuyasha sat down in the shade of a tree, even though it was cool, being night and all. He anxiously toyed with his claws and ran his tongue over his fangs, making sure they were still there. Satisfied that they hadn't disappeared, he took a deep breath. And nearly choked. He smelled wolf. Kouga.

Breathless from dancing, Kagome jogged off toward Inuyasha to try and cheer him up. Picking up her heavy dress she leaned against a tree and squatted next to him. "It must be real fun over here…"

Inuyasha just grunted. Kagome opened her mouth to scold him but she was suddenly swept up and into someone's arms. Surprised she found herself staring at Kouga's grinning face. He was in one of his ordinary wolf outfits.

"Why Kagome. You looked lovelier than every in that dress." He set her down and grasped her hands, much to the disgust of Inuyasha. "Tell me. When will you come to join my pack and be my mate?"

Inuyasha leapt up and pushed Kagome behind him. "Excuse me? I know you didn't just say mate."

Kouga grinned and said, "That's exactly what I said dog-turd. Kagome is my woman after all."

Inuyasha snarled and yelled, "Say that one more time you shit-head and I'll beat the words right back into your bloody mouth!!"

Inuyasha took his fighting position, then he heard Kagome gasp from behind him. "Inu…yasha. What the…"

Inuyasha noticed that the hair falling in his face wasn't silver, but black. Moaning he looked at his clawless hands and ran his tongue over his flat teeth. Wonderful. He was human. Now annoyed he flopped back under his tree and crossed his arms. Kagome knelt down and pulled at his human ears. "Hey! Let go you little wench!"

Kagome sat back and said, "You…look-"

"Human." Inuyasha tersely finished.

Kouga snickered. "Well looky here. The dog-turd is human." Kouga kissed Kagome's hand again and said, "I'll see you again Kagome."

As he ran off, Sango, Rin and co jogged over to Inuyasha and Kagome. Miroku tilted his head and commented, "Inuyasha, there's something different about you but I can't quite seem to put my finger on it."

Something? Let's put it this way. Inuyasha now had no claws or fangs, he had human ears, black hair and violet eyes. Inuyasha stood up and shouted, "Just say it already! I'm human and you're disgusted by it!" He turned and jumped into the branches of the tree where they couldn't reach him.

Kagome looked up, concerned. "Sesshomaru? Can you explain this to us because I'm sure we're all clueless."

Sesshomaru blandly said, "Being a hanyou, Inuyasha loses his demon blood for one night every month." Simple as that.

The group nodded and all sat down under the tree. Kagome kept glancing up into the branches, although the leaves concealed Inuyasha. Why would he think that they would be disgusted because he turned human? All of a sudden, the warm breeze froze and the air turned cold and still. Everything was silent, as if the earth was holding its breath. Then the ground began to rumble and shake. Inuyasha jumped -or fell- out of the tree and wobbled as the ground shook harder. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the shaking stopped. Murmurs and panicked talking began to seep among the party goers.

Rin patted her hand over her heart and quickly asked, "Do you think that was an earthquake?"

Sango and Miroku looked troubled. Sango whispered, "I'm not sure…"

Miroku furrowed his brows and nodded. "Sango seems to be thinking the same as I am. There was something in the air right before the tremor. Did any of you feel it?"

Kagome licked her dry lips and nodded. "That sudden chill. It felt almost…evil.'

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru sniff the air. Inuyasha cursed his human nose. He could smell didily-squat. Sesshomaru on the other hand frowned. "There's a smell of gunpowder in the air. But it's faint. Most likely far off."

Sango gasped. Kagome asked, "How far? Is it in the Hope?"

Sesshomaru frowned again and said, "It's far. I don't think there is anything to worry about. Yet."

Inuyasha sat down again and crossed his arms. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit.

The party seemed to slowly go back on track, even though everyone seemed to be bracing themselves for another shake. Kagome noticed that the house seemed undistributed by the earthquake. There was something strange about this. Gunpowder, an earthquake and all on the same day of a party everyone is invited to for no reason.

Kagome shook her head and scolded herself for being so suspicious. She plastered a smile on her face and said, "Well let's just have a good time." Weak words.

Rin and Sesshomaru walked off with Sango and Miroku to the party. Inuyasha eyed Kagome and asked in a voice dipped in venom, "Shouldn't you be going now?"

Kagome had just about had it. "Ok, that's it. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Inuyasha snarled at her. "Do you think I'm blind? I saw the way you looked at me when I turned human! Are you scared I'll give you nasty little humans a bad name?"

Steaming with annoyance and dwindled patience Kagome lifted her hand and swung it at Inuyasha's cheek, slapping him so hard her own palm stung. Inuyasha's hand flew to his red and stinging cheek in shock.

Kagome pushed Inuyasha against the tree and hissed in a low and dangerous voice, "You just don't learn do you? You just don't get it! I wouldn't give a flying shit if you were a cross between a demon, human and a cow! Give humans a bad name? I was worried about you! But no! You have to be an inconsiderate bastard and assume that I would look down on you because you're a hanyou!" Kagome took in a few shaky breaths. "I swear you're just a heap of swaggering dead brain cells with a hypocritical ego that doesn't think that there are people out there that would accept you for who you are."

Inuyasha glared at her and turned away. Sighing, Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha and said more gently, "Inuyasha I just want to be your friend. Miroku, Sango, Rin and me…we all accept you for being who you are."

Inuyasha was quite for a while. Then he said softly in a hoarse voice, "That just seems so hard to believe. All my life I've been told that I'm nothing but a hanyou. I don't belong in the demon world or the human world. That I have no purpose except to be lower than everyone else."

Kagome gently put her hand on Inuyasha shoulder. "But that's not true."

Smiling Kagome said, "We all know that's not true."

Inuyasha glanced at her and snorted. "Girl I don't see why you smile so much."

Kagome looked surprised than she grinned. "Yeah. I smile so much that I have to rub sun block on my teeth in the summer."

Snorting some more Inuyasha turned toward Kagome again. "I used to think that you humans were all stuck up and cold."

"Used to?"

Inuyasha gave a short nodded. "Used to."

Kagome gave Inuyasha a content smile. She shifted in her silky dress and moved closer to Inuyasha without really knowing what she was doing. Inuyasha's face was tinted with a light pink as he mumbled, "You don't look half bad in that dress. Now you don't look so much like twig."

Kagome lightly punched his arm and retorted, "You look decent in that haoru. You don't look so much like a silver dog."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and said, "Idiot, I am a silver dog."

~*~

Miroku and Sango peered from behind a bush to spy on Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango smile and whispered, "They look so cute together don't they?"

Miroku nodded and whispered back, "Yeah, they do." Glancing down at Sango's rear he slowly reached down. Sango took a step back walking right into Miroku's devilish hand. Yelping in surprise, Sango's foot tangled with Miroku's and they both tumbled to the floor.

Wide-eyed, Sango breath became quick as Miroku's body pressed against her own. And she reacted in the only way she could.

SLAP!

Jumping to her feet Sango tried to cool her burning face as she hissed, "You pervert! One of these days I'm going to cut your hands off!"

Miroku sat up and innocently exclaimed, "But Sango! How can I resist these cursed hands of mine when your beautiful body is right beside me?"

"Like I said, I'd gladly cut them off for you."

~*~

Sesshomaru sat beside the rose bush as Rin hopped about collecting flowers. This girl acted so much like a child it almost confused him. Arms full of bright flowers, Rin came over to Sesshomaru. Sitting next to him, she exclaimed, "Aren't they pretty?"

Sesshomaru didn't reply, but merely sat and watched her antics. Rin leaned back. The nights cool air nipped at her and she shivered from the cold. She should have brought a coat. Now she would get sick.

Sesshomaru saw the frail girl shiver. No doubt she was cold in that little outfit of hers. Weak little humans…never taking care of themselves. He wrapped his thick tail around her tiny shoulders and pulled her a little closer to him.

Rin started when she felt Sessy's tail wrap around her. Then she cuddled into the soft, warm fur.

"Thanks, Sessy."

Sesshomaru gave a tiny nod. Then a small movement from the house caught his eye. As he stared sharply at the house he saw one of the curtains rustle. Someone had been watching them. He pulled Rin a little closer. One word flashed through his head. Trouble.

A/N well I finally got to update! It's not as long as I wanted it to be…but I'll try to update soon. REVIEW PLEASE~!!