InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reliving the Past ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Reliving the Past

by kmf

Rating: R Warnings: Language Standard Disclaimer applies

Chapter Three

Kagome had very much wanted to find Professor Kaminari's lectures a bore, especially after his confident statement in the bookshop. However, she had to admit that his first lecture, like his book, was refreshingly exciting. When most lecturers would stand in one position behind the podium and drone out facts and figures to their audience, Kaminari's lecture was almost interactive.

Watching him tell an ancient myth was like watching a play. He took on the parts of the major characters in the Kushinada myth*; acting old and feeble as the aged parents, fierce and demonic as the eight headed dragon who consumed one of the daughters every year for seven years. He was noble as the exiled God who came to aid the last Kushinada daughter, payment for which was the girl's hand in marriage.

Kaminari paused whenever a student had a question and answered before continuing on in his lecture, but never seemed to loose the flow of the story. By the end, Kagome felt that she had almost lived the Kushinada Hime tale and quick glances at her fellow students showed that she was not alone.

It was rather frustrating; she had really hoped to skip these lectures, but now she was filled with a yearning to hear more of what Kaminari had to say. Sighing deeply as she filed out with the other students at the end of the lecture, Kagome looked absently down at the timetable in her hand. There was no way that Inuyasha would understand her wanting to return to listen to tales about his time.

A hand on her shoulder pulled her up short just as she was about to leave the lecture theatre.

"Kagome," Kaminari stood beaming at her, before pulling her out of the doorway to allow the other students to leave.

Kagome blushed as she was on the receiving end of curious stares, and bowed her head waiting for the room to empty. When the last shuffling footsteps faded, she looked up to see Kaminari smirking, his back resting against the wall, his arms crossed. It was the same cocky pose that he used in the library and Kagome felt strangely irritated by it.

"Professor," she acknowledged, "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to know what you thought of the lecture?" he asked, his head tilting to one side as he watched her closely, "Was it good enough for you to keep coming?"

Kagome couldn't help but glance down at the timetable she held in her hand. As much as she wanted to tell him that his lecture was only so-so, she couldn't do it. But how could she continue to attend with Inuyasha dogging her heels? Kaminari's hand on her shoulder brought her attention back to him. He was looking at her with a faintly surprised look on his face.

"Didn't you enjoy it?" he asked, "Personally, I am extremely fond of the Kushinada legend. That's why I usually start the year with it."

Kagome held up a hand. "I'm sorry," she apologised, "I found your lecture very interesting, much more so than I expected. I had never heard of that legend before reading your book, but-"

"You have been reading my book?" Kaminari beamed in pleasure, "Most students don't start doing that until they have been to a lecture. So you are genuinely interested in ancient Japanese myths?"

Kagome nodded, "Oh yes. And you have so many in your collection that I have never heard of before."

"I like the more obscure ones," Kaminari admitted, before looking at her closely again. "I'm free for the rest of the morning; do you want to have some tea?" he paused at her surprised expression, "For the purposes of further discussing Japanese mythology, of course."

Kagome hesitated. There was a surprising magnetism about this man, and she found herself wanting to know more about him. He was her professor, and she wasn't so sure it was a good idea to be socialising with him outside of lecture time. However, she was sorely tempted. It had been such a long time since she had sat down with someone new (in her own time) and chatted about things that interested her. And she really couldn't see any harm in one cup of tea, especially as her stomach was growling in anticipation of cake and biscuits.

She nodded.

"Thank you, yes I would like that," she said, expecting Kaminari to lead her from the classroom.

Instead, he beamed at her, and walked back to the podium on the stage. He bent down, and pulled out a bag that had been hidden behind the podium, grinning as he opened it and produced a flask. She raised an eyebrow. So much for the idea of tea in china cups and cake, she thought.

Kaminari sat on the edge of the stage, patting the wooden floor beside him encouraging her to come and sit next to him. Twisting open the top of the thermal flask, he poured some of the dark fluid into the plastic cup that acted as a lid, and handed it to Kagome.

"Careful, its hot," he warned as she took it from him.

She held onto it carefully, blowing the steam from the tea, before sipping carefully. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was a blend that she had become familiar with in her travels to the past; she had never encountered it before in her own time.

Kaminari laughed at her reaction. "Unusual, isn't it?" he said, pulling a spare cup from his bag and pouring his own cup, "Its an ancient blend, much better than the modern teas."

"Where on earth did you get it?" Kagome asked, savouring the taste, trying not to think of Inuyasha and the others.

Kaminari smiled, and beckoned her to move her ear closer to him. Then he whispered softly, "I time travel."

Kagome found her mouth open in surprise, and nearly spilt the tea as she sat upright, her fingers holding the cup so tightly that the plastic bent. Kaminari roared in laughter at her reaction.

"I ordered it over the Internet," he said, when he could breathe again, his voice still warm from his amusement, "A company called Ancient Blends. I can give you their web address if you like it."

Kagome bit her lip, annoyed at her reaction to his words. Of course he didn't time travel, she was the one with exclusive rights on that. Unfortunately. Kaminari didn't seem to notice her discomfort, instead he continued to sip his tea, his eyes closing in appreciation of the flavour.

"I wish I could travel back in time," he said wistfully, "It would be rather refreshing to live in an era where technology is unknown, where tales are told around the fire at night rather than sitting vegetating in front of a television. Where the air is clean from pollution and the people are more aware of the nature surrounding them; aware to the point that they make up tales of demons to explain occurrences that they don't understand," he looked at Kagome, "Don't you think so?"

Kagome smiled at his dreamy expression, "I think that there would be aspects that you wouldn't enjoy. The lack of plumbing springs to mind."

Kaminari put his cup down, and took hold of Kagome's hand.

"Ah, I talk of the poetry of nature, and the lady talks of the convenience of bathrooms," he said, gently squeezing her hand, whilst rubbing his thumb across her palm. It tickled, making Kagome laugh out loud and he grinned back at her.

"So, Kagome," he continued, still holding on to her hand, "I know we both share an interest in old tales. But I wonder what else we have in common," he looked at her, his dark eyes intense, "Tell me about yourself."

* * * * * *

Kagome wandered back to the Shrine in the early hours of the evening. Tea in the lecture theatre had become lunch at the student cafeteria. That had progressed to walking around the botanical park, followed by afternoon tea and yet more walking. That had led to seeing each other the following day, and then the day after that, and the day after that.

She had learned a lot about the young Professor Kaminari. He was an only child, his only brother having died many years earlier and his parents were also both deceased. He was an amateur archaeologist, recently returned from a successful dig. He had always had a fascination for history, but had only recently specialised in Japanese Mythology. He was the youngest Professor in the history of the University and as such earned the censure of his fellow teachers, all of whom considered him too young and too experienced for the position. He was unashamedly immodest, bragging about his achievements. Yet, at the same time he was interested in her; asking her questions that she hadn't been asked for years.

And she felt herself drawn to him in a way that she had not experienced since she felt the first flickering of attraction for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha....

As soon as she thought about him, she felt guilty. Then, quickly overtaking the guilt was resentment. She didn't have anything to be guilty about. She and he were not a couple, Inuyasha had made it clear early on in their friendship that his heart was taken by Kikyou. She had accepted that, and had been happy to remain friends with him even when her heart had yearned for more.

As time progressed, her feelings had changed. They had mellowed from the heart piercing need that she had initially felt, to a gentler, deeper warmth. They fought, they argued, they disagreed about many things. But they had shared so many experiences that they could not help but be friends. And Kagome felt comfortable around him, at ease and peaceful even when on the receiving end of his formidable tongue.

However, they were not in a relationship. And that was that. There was no reason that she should feel guilty about talking to another man, even if that talk did span an entire day. And the touch of his hand made her heart speed up a little. And the day had made her feel happier than she had for a long time. With him she was an ordinary woman, not a flawed copy of another person and it felt good to be seen as just herself.

She couldn't stop the grin that suddenly spread across her face, and she twirled around in the moon light giggling at the warm feeling of happiness that spread through her.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Kagome froze mid twirl and peered into the twilight gloom. Sitting cross- legged outside the well house, his back against the wall of the building, sat Inuyasha. He frowned at her, his eyes narrowed and puzzled. He stood up gracefully and walked towards her.

She remained frozen, her arms outspread and the smile fading from her lips. Slowly, she lowered her arms and glared back at Inuyasha.

"Dancing," she said crossly, "What are you doing here?"

Inuyasha stopped a couple of feet in front of her.

"What the hell do you mean?" he grated, "Your week is up. Its time to come back."

Kagome's eyes widened. Was it a week already? Doing quick calculations she was dismayed to find that indeed it was. She had been so caught up in her new relationship with Kaminari that she had completely forgotten that she had promised to return to the past in one week. And she was completely unprepared to leave; she had no coursework to go on with, and what was worse she had agreed to meet Kaminari again the next day. She couldn't just not turn up. Taking a step backwards, she waved her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I can't!" she said, in a panicky voice, "I have classes tomorrow-"

She disliked lying to Inuyasha, but she really didn't think he would understand if she told him she had agreed to meet with a man. It had been bad enough when he had become territorial over her with Houjo, and she hadn't really had any feelings for that boy. Goodness only knew what he would be like if he found out she was seeing one of her professors outside of class and was enjoying his company.

Inuyasha frowned, and Kagome cursed herself for being such a lousy liar. Then, before she could even blink, he was next to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. For a moment she thought he was going to forcibly carry her off through the well. But then, he did something much, much worse. He sniffed the air around her.

"And just who the fuck have you been with?" he growled.

TBC

*Shamelessly borrowed from 'Blue Seed', an excellent anime that I would recommend watching ^_^