InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Side Effects ❯ A Future Tail ( Chapter 4 )

DISCLIAMER: Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).

 

A FUTURE TAIL

 

It had been a week since the… incident with Koga, which Inuyasha tried very hard not to think about because whenever he did he felt his skin start to crawl. The fact that his new tail made him more attractive to Ookami Youkai wasn't a problem. In fact there was a time when he would have been close to ecstatic with such an outcome. Most full Youkai were put off by his Hanyou looks, just another way in which he had never fit in, and there were actually quite a few good looking Ookami females out there. Granted these days there was only one female Inuyasha was truly interested in, and she sure as hell wasn't an Ookami, but still… Anyway, like he said the fact that he was now more attractive to Ookami Youkai wasn't a problem. But finding out he was now considered down right sexy to Koga was enough to give Inuyasha nightmares. That was just plain creepy. So it was little wonder that as soon as the shock wore off Inuyasha started driving the gang in the opposite direction from where Koga had disappeared as fast as possible, nor that he was extremely relived that they seemed more than happy to do so.

 

Once Inuyasha felt the gang was far enough away from Koga the shard hunt began again in earnest, although with no luck. These days most if not all of the shards had been found. Naraku had most, Koga had two, and Kohaku had one in his back. Kagome also had a couple, though nowhere near as many as that bastard Naraku. With so many shards claimed, it was becoming exceedingly rare to find them these days, and the gang's latest journey was no exception.

 

Still, lack of luck in shard hunting aside, once the gang got away from Koga they had had some fairly good days Inuyasha had to privately admit, even if out loud he just complained about their lack of success. The weather was nice, they had plenty of food including some tasty ramen (Kagome had thought they'd finished it all until she found some stashed at the bottom of her bag under her text books one night, much to Inuyasha's delight), they had a few Youkai attacks to keep things interesting and stop Inuyasha from getting bored, but none of the attacking Youkai were strong enough to be considered an actual threat and so happily no one was injured. They gang was all getting along well and their were no serious fights between them. Hell, even Miroku was behaving himself surprisingly well and Sango only needed to slap him twice in the whole five days they were travelling! It was the kind of journey you couldn't help but be happy to be along on. Not that there was a snowball's chance in Hell that Inuyasha would admit it out loud, of course, but well; good food, good weather, good friends, good fights? What wasn't there to love about that trip? And best of all, Kagome was staying closer to him that usual, and would often be seen cuddling up to him whenever they stopped to camp for a while. Despite what Miroku insinuated - and this was what earned him one of those slaps - it wasn't because Kagome wasn't interested in Inuyasha that way. Kind of a pity really, Inuyasha thought before banishing that thought from his mind. No, it was a combination of lingering feelings that had Kagome seek Inuyasha's company. A combination of her last persistent guilt for unknowingly making him fell worse about his tail when it first grew in and the desire to comfort him still; and the fact that what Koga had said had really freaked her out and as usual she looked to Inuyasha to be her rock and make her fears go away. Whatever the reason, Inuyasha very much enjoyed having Kagome so near to him, even if he tried to keep up the act that he didn't care. He had a reputation to maintain after all.

 

At one point however, Inuyasha felt that Kagome was getting too close and had to quickly retreat. He was sure Kagome had been hurt when Inuyasha had jumped up from his spot next to her by the fire and remained in a tree for the rest of the night. The fact that she felt rejected was plainly obvious on her face after all, and Inuyasha felt bad about that, but he didn't have a choice! Not after she did that! Of course she didn't know what she had done was so wrong. She couldn't know. And Inuyasha sure as Hell wasn't about to tell her! He couldn't tell her that! Imagine how she would look at him if he did. Inuyasha's couldn't bear the thought of the look of disgust he would get if she knew what she had just done to him. Usually she was pretty tolerating of his… uniqueness. The fact that she so quickly accepted his new tail was the prefect example of her near limitless patience with him. But accepting this, he was sure, would be beyond even her abilities.

 

What had caused such a huge reaction, you might ask? The answer was both extremely simple and extremely complicated. Kagome had gently petted Inuyasha's tail. It probably didn't seem that big a deal to her, the way they'd been sitting at the time had meant that said tail was brushing up against Kagome's hand anyway, and it took very little effort for Kagome to stroke the appendage. Inuyasha doubted that Kagome was even thinking all that much when she started doing it, it had probably seemed pretty natural to her. But that sure as hell wasn't how it had felt to Inuyasha, hence why he had to get away from her as fast as possible, before he did something that could very well destroy their friendship forever. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to control himself if she kept that up, which was why he was so quick to get away from her once he realised what her actions were doing to him. Poor Kagome was so confused, she didn't understand what she had done, but to had to stay that way. There was no way Inuyasha could tell Kagome how damn… arousing her petting his tail was! It would be so damn embarrassing!

 

But damn if that didn't get him hot, and fast! He guessed that was why Koga had gone on about stroking tails during that very disturbing conversation which he was trying very hard not to think about. It was one of the most erotic things he had ever felt, and if Kagome had kept that up for much longer, Inuyasha was sure he would end up jumping her, even with the others there. Bloody hell, it was almost as bad as when she used to rub his ears. Man, if that didn't give him a major hard on! He couldn't kept track of how many cold baths he'd had to take at the start of their journey because of Kagome's early fascination with his ears. And that was before he got to know her better, when he was still comparing her to Kikyo, when he still hated Kikyo (or at least wanted to hate her) and wanted to hate Kagome for reminding him of her. It had been easier to control himself back then. Now that he knew Kagome better and realised just how much he loved her…

 

Well, he fortunately Kagome never messed with his ears any more. From all his complaining and pulling away in the past, Kagome seemed to honestly believe now that he hated to have his ears touched and so kept her hands away now. While far from true, it was a misconception Inuyasha was happy to let Kagome keep, in order to help maintain his self control. With any luck, after his reaction to Kagome's petting his tail the other night she may come to believe the same thing about his tail too and leave it alone. Kagome had no idea what her actions did to Inuyasha, and he wanted to keep it that way. Kagome was his friend, his best friend. He loved her, but she didn't, couldn't love him back, and he would just have to accept that. He couldn't take advantage of her and her ignorance about what she did to him. He couldn't let her touch his tail like that again.

 

Still, there was a small part of him that liked to dream of Kagome doing that again. In his dream she knew exactly what her actions were doing to him, and wanted that very reaction. Dreams in which Kagome loved him as he did her, and wanted him. Dreams which he wanted so very much to be his reality. But they weren't, and he had to accept that. No matter how much his heart may wish otherwise.

 

*!*!*

 

Inuyasha was bored. Really bored, and he had been for some time now. The last few days as a matter of fact. Inuyasha had held such high hopes that today would be the end of said boredom and that things would get back to what qualified as normal for him and his group. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, as after a slightly eventful morning things had settled into the most boring day yet, something that Inuyasha was extremely unhappy about.

 

After a solid week of hunting for Jewel Shards and coming up empty handed, Kagome had insisted on going home for another of her `tests' and to catch up with her family. Inuyasha would have objected, but they had no new leads to follow and were basically just walking around in circles anyway. Besides, they were out of ramen. So after a minimum of fuss, Inuyasha had given in, and the gang started heading back towards Kaede's village. Kagome had immediately returned to her time, promising to be back in three days. The rest of the group meanwhile, settled in for a few days of rest and relaxation around the village, and to try and explain Inuyasha's new tail to the villagers.

 

It had been some of the most boring days of Inuyasha's life. Usually whenever the gang waited in Kaede's village for Kagome's return, they would be bugging Inuyasha about when was she coming back, or trying to force him into doing various chores around the village that he really couldn't care less about. He'd also have to put up with Miroku and Sango's really weird style of flirting, and Shippo's attempts and playing jokes on him and getting yelled at by the women in his life when he tried to retaliate. Inuyasha didn't know what it was, but there was something about Shippo that made basically every single human female that had ever met him want to defend the little runt from the `Big Meanie' Hanyou. Very annoying. But this time he didn't have any of that. Because Kagome had left on such good term the others were content to let her come back on her own, fully confidant that she would do so. Things in the village were going well, and there weren't any chores that anyone thought Inuyasha would be much help at anyway, so he was spared that headache. Since Myoga had yet to run away, and the old flea had made the mistake of mentioning that he knew something of Kitsune magic, Shippo had been busy trying to learn everything the old flea could teach him before he disappeared again. Shippo's current goal was to learn how to transform without a tail. As a result the young Kitsune had no time to spare playing pranks on Inuyasha. And as for Miroku and Sango, it seemed they were actually tired from the trip despite how little it seemed to have achieved. They were mostly lounging around the village, too lazy to even group and slap at each other. As a result, Inuyasha time in Kaede's village was surprisingly annoyance free, and amazingly enough he actually found he missed it. The peace and quiet got old very fast for someone like Inuyasha, who was never happy unless he was doing something. Sad as it may seem, he actually missed Shippo's stupid pranks and hearing Miroku getting slapped. He guessed you really don't know what you got till it's gone.

 

He didn't even have explaining his new tail to the villages to keep him occupied, funnily enough. He would have at the very least expected some nasty comments from some of them about Half-Breed Freaks, but that wasn't what he ended up getting. Kaede was curious at first, but like his friends had accepted it fairly quickly, though she did wonder out loud whether Inuyasha would have any more side effects later on. The rest of the villagers didn't seem to care either way. Sure, a couple of villagers had done a double take when they noticed Inuyasha's tail, but they'd usually just shrug and go about their business without comment. The few that had asked about it didn't try to put Inuyasha down either, and quickly accepted the fact that it was the side effect of a spell to make him stronger without asking any more questions. Inuyasha had actually over heard one old village mutter about `didn't he always have a tail? Hum, must have been the fox.' It was only then that Inuyasha realised that the villagers didn't really care anymore about that fact that he was a Hanyou, other than the extra strength it gave him. They didn't really care or even seem to notice his difference any more, and accepted him for who he was. Inuyasha didn't know whether to be touched and happy that he had finally found a place where people no longer judged him for his heritage, or insulted that some of them paid so little attention to him they got him mixed up with Shippo. Either way, that revelation had only kept Inuyasha entertained for a few hours, then he was back to basking in boredom.

 

Today being the day Kagome was supposed to come back, Inuyasha decided he had had enough of waiting around the village and decided to go and get her this morning. He'd arrived in Kagome's time just as she and her family were having breakfast. It was the most excitement Inuyasha had in quite a while. First there was the family's usual reaction to his visits, which were exciting enough by themselves. Kagome demanded to know why he was there and didn't he trust her to come back on her own. Souta jumped all over him, wanting to know how long he was staying. The old man had shrieked about how demons were invading his home, and launched into that old speech about the trials of having a granddaughter who travelled through time. Kagome's mother had just smiled and asked if he was staying for breakfast. Through all of this, Inuyasha had just stood there and had his usual thought about how weird Kagome's family was. Then Souta, who had been jumping around Inuyasha excitedly, had noticed his tail and a new round of excitement had started. Souta had started remarking on how cool the tail looked, and asking how he had gotten it, why didn't Kagome tell him, and if he could somehow get one? Inuyasha had just looked weirdly at Souta after the last question. Sure he knew the boy saw him as something of his hero, but wanting a tail was taking things a bit too far in his book. The old man's reaction had been more expected, going into somewhat of a fit about evil demons and their spells and trying to purify Inuyasha once again. Of course the so called sutras had no more effect this time that they had the last hundred times the old man had tried, but it was still annoying to get so many blasted pieces of paper stuck all over his face. The old man's spiritual powers may be about even with that of a common squirrel's, but he sure was fast at pasting those useless bits of paper.

 

Once Kagome and her mother managed to get the old man to calm down and return to his seat, Kagome and Inuyasha had quickly told the family about how the tail was a side effect of the spell Inuyasha had used to make him stronger. Inuyasha was actually kind of surprised Kagome hadn't told them, but was also touched that she respected him enough to keep his secrets for him, even from her own family. Anyway, once the family understood why he had the tail, they calmed down somewhat. Souta had expressed disappointment that he couldn't get a tail of his own before returning most of his attention to his breakfast. The old man had also returned to his meal, though he was muttering the whole time about `evil demon spells' and about how he better have Kagome take a couple of his `scared sutra's for dispelling evil demon spells' with her when she returned to Inuyasha's time. Mrs Higurashi had gushed about how `traumatic' suddenly growing a tail must have been for Inuyasha, while pilling a plate high with all of his favourite breakfast foods from his time to `make him feel better'. Normally Inuyasha would have objected strongly to the fact that he could ever be `traumatised', but that woman's cooking so damn good that he figured he could keep quiet… just this once.

 

Once breakfast was over, Inuyasha was disappointed to learn that Kagome wouldn't return with him then and there, claiming she had another test today and that she really needed to go to school. Mrs Higurashi had invited Inuyasha to hang out around the house while Kagome was gone, which Inuyasha agreed to figuring why not? It couldn't be any more boring hanging around the Higurashi house all day than it could on the outskirts of the village could it? Might as well stay.

 

Souta had been ecstatic. He had school too, but he was staying home today because he claimed he was sick. Judging by the suspicious look on Kagome's face, she wasn't so sure about that claim. Inuyasha also had doubts about it, seeing how Souta had been jumping about when he first arrived, and how the boy didn't smell sick. Then again, he had also said he wanted a tail, so who knows?

 

Anyway, that was this morning and it was now early afternoon, and Inuyasha was bored again. After this morning, the excitement level in the Higurashi household had dropped to only slightly higher than that around the village. The old man had disappeared somewhere a couple of hours ago and hadn't been seen by Inuyasha since. Mrs Higurashi had been busy doing chores all day, stopping to poke her head in and check on Souta a few times and making him and Inuyasha lunch around midday. Each of his mother's visits had resulted in a coughing fit, which the boy would mysteriously recover from as soon as the woman was gone again. Since Inuyasha had been spending the bulk of his day with the boy, he was now sure without a doubt that his `sickness' was indeed faked. Inuyasha wasn't about to give the kid away though. If he was smart enough to make up a story that got him out of that horrible place that gave Kagome nightmares about `failing', then Inuyasha wasn't about to mess up the kid's plan. He just wished Kagome was smart enough to think up something like that.

 

Still, by now Inuyasha was really quite bored. Souta was a good kid, but there were only so many times the Hanyou could stand being beaten at those weird `video games'… and not to make excuses, but Souta was clearly at an advantage with them, seeing as Inuyasha had trouble with the `controller' because of his claws. If it wasn't for that, Inuyasha would so be winning. Really.

 

“When's your sister getting out of school?” Inuyasha asked, interrupting Souta's latest `I Win! I Win! I Win!' sing along.

 

“What? Oh, um, about half and hour or so.” Souta said, glancing at the time keeping device on the table.

 

Inuyasha nodded and stood up. “I'll go get her. She always takes too long to get home if I don't hurry her along.” He said, starting towards the door, grabbing a hat to cover his ears as he went. He was just reaching for the door handle when Souta's voice stopped him.

 

“What about your tail?”

 

The innocently asked question made Inuyasha freeze as the situation finally dawned on him. What about his tail? He couldn't hide that under a hat, and considering how Kagome insisted that he keep his ears hidden when in her world, he didn't think a tail would go over any better. But if he couldn't hide it, then he'd never be able to go out in public in Kagome's world. Sure he didn't like her loud, smelling world filled with tests all that much anyway, but the idea that he could never go out with Kagome here again made Inuyasha want to whimper, and his ears and tail unconsciously dropped. Now what was he supposed to do?

 

Mrs Higurashi, who had been coming to check on Souta again, paused as she laid eyes on the despondent looking Hanyou standing in the doorway. She had arrived just in time to hear Souta ask his question, and her heart broke as she came to the same realisation Souta did. Poor Inuyasha. She knew it would be horrible for him to be trapped at the shrine while Kagome ran around their world without him. And Mrs Higurashi knew, as much as Kagome worried about Inuyasha when he went out in public in their world, that she would miss the Hanyou too. During her time in hospital in particular Kagome had loved having Inuyasha at her side, especially (and she knew her daughter would deny this if ever confronted with it), when the nurses would compliment her on her cute boyfriend. It wasn't fair that such a sweet, loyal and brave boy had to hide himself because of how he looked. She wished she could do something to help him, and quickly ranked her brain for some way to do so. Oh, if only her dear husband were still alive, maybe he would know what to do. He always was so smart, and such a good problem solver, even if he did have such bad fashion tastes… Wait! That's it!

 

“Inuyasha.” Mrs Higurashi said, and the Hanyou turned around to face her looking surprised. Apparently he had been so deep in his misery that he hadn't noticed she was there. “If you want to go pick up Kagome, can you come with me for a minute. I think I may know of a way to hide your tail.”

 

*!*!*

 

Kagome sighed with relief as she started exited the classroom and started towards her locker. It had been a long day, including a long and very difficult test she was sure she'd failed. She was so glad it was finally over. The corridors were pretty quiet, most of the students having already left while she was getting her assignments for the next few weeks from one of her teachers. Seeing as she was `sick' so often many of her teacher had become agreeable to the idea of giving her assignments in advance in case she wasn't there when it was time to do them, and allowed her to hand them in on her own. This worked fairly well for Kagome, who was able to do a lot of her work on her own, usually on trips in the feudal era, and so was a little less panicked when she came back to school and saw how far ahead everyone else was.

 

Today though, Kagome hadn't paid that much attention to what her teachers were saying. Inuyasha's arrival this morning and once again brought him back to the forefront of her mind and she spent most of the day wondering how he was doing. Not that this was all that unusual for her. When she was with Inuyasha she worried about school, but when she was in school she day dreamed about Inuyasha. It was a vicious cycle she really had to break if she wanted to pass.

 

Today however was not the day when that was going to happen. Today she was too busy thinking back over everything that had happened in the last few weeks. And although there was a hell of a lot to think about, it was what might very well be on of the little things that for some reason stood out the most in her mind today. Namely, that day a while back when she gently petted Inuyasha's tail and he'd jumped away from her like she'd tried to set it on fire. What was that all about? She had felt so hurt, but then she'd noticed the absolutely horrified look on Inuyasha's face and felt even worse. What had she done that had upset him so much? Did he really hate having his tail touched all that much? The way Koga had gone on, you would think he would have loved to have his tail petted. Then again, there was no guarantee that Inuyasha's tail was anything like an Ookami's tail, so maybe Inuyasha completely different reaction to her touch that Koga would have. Not that Kagome had any intention of doing anything with Koga except running away from him if she saw him again any time soon. That creepy conversation still gave her chills just thinking about it. Or maybe it was like his ears? He'd always hated having his ears petted after all, which had always seemed strange to Kagome as they were just like a dog's ears and she'd yet to hear of a dog that didn't like having his or her ears scratched. Maybe that was the problem; maybe he thought she was thinking of him like a dog? She knew for a fact that he really hated that. Not that she could blame him, thinking back over all the times she had treated him like a dog with shame. How would she feel if her closest friend treated her like a mere animal? Well, if that was the case she promised she wouldn't do it again. If he didn't like having his tail petted, she wouldn't pet his tail. No matter how cute it was.

 

As Kagome was making sure she had everything she needed out of her locker, she happened to overhear a couple of girls in the year above hers gossiping and they headed for the exit.

 

“Have you seen him?” One girl asked, looking very excited.

 

“Oh yeah, I saw him.” The other girl who Kagome vaguely remembered was named Chiko, said with a sigh of longing. “Your lucky I'm such a good friend to come and get you, when what I should be doing is hanging off his arm trying to get him number. He is so damn hot!”

 

“I heard he looks really dangerous though.” Her friend said, sounding worried and interested all at the same time. “Are you sure he's safe?”

 

“Not in the least.” Chiko said with a laugh. “But isn't that half the attraction? That hair, those clothes, those really wild tattoos. You just know he's got to be dangerous. And you just know he's got to be good in the sack. Damn how I'd love to fuck that piece of beef cake.”

 

“Yeah, but isn't he here to meet some other girl?” The other girl asked. “That's what I heard he said.”

 

“Yeah, well, her mistake for leaving him out there all alone.” Chiko said with a laugh. Her friend started laughing with as the two disappeared around the corner.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. Really, some of the girls in this school, drooling over some guy they've only just meet. She hoped the guy's girlfriend was able to get to him before some girl like Chiko got her claws into him.

 

When Kagome got outside, there was a huge crowd of girls gathered around the gate, from all year levels. Kagome had more or less expected that after Chiko and her friend's conversation, but she had expected it to be this large, and curious she made her way over to see what, or to be more accurate who, was the centre of so much attention. She didn't really know what she expected, but what she saw so was not it, and she had to pause, close her eyes and look again to be sure she wasn't seeing things. But nope, she wasn't, he was really there.

 

Standing in the middle of what seemed to Kagome to be every girl in her school was Inuyasha. Her Inuyasha.

 

And yet, not so much her Inuyasha. She'd never seen him looking like this before, and she almost found herself drooling at the sight. Damn, but she'd never seen him looking so fine! Over the last two years she and her family had managed to get Inuyasha somewhat used to modern day clothing. When she was in hospital after Naraku's latest attack, before Inuyasha went off to find Meikyuu, he'd worn modern clothes fairly regularly, so as to see her more often with the nurses staring at him too much. That was only things like sweat pants and baggy sweaters though, nothing like this. Right now, Inuyasha was decked out from head to toe in solid black. Black work boots, black jeans, a tight black wife-beater that showed his muscular torso off to perfection. On top of his head was a black bandana that covered his ears and added nicely to the overall look. But what really caught Kagome's attention was the long black leather tench coat Inuyasha wore over the whole assemble. After a few seconds of staring in a lust filled haze it occurred to Kagome that she knew that coat; it used to belong to her father. On an old, balding and somewhat pudgy man like him it had looked really silly, but on Inuyasha it had a whole `nother effect. Kagome though she was going to have an organism just looking at him. In the back of her mind, Kagome ran through a whole list of TV and movie stars who wore simular things; that guy who had super powers and had to save people from this weird virtual reality world which everyone inside thought was real but really wasn't; that sexy vampire who was evil, then sort-of-good-but-not-really, then insane, then good, probably with a few more changes in-between that Kagome couldn't remember; and a whole slew of others whose names she couldn't even remember but it didn't really matter. None of them could hold a candle to Inuyasha right now. Chiko was right, between the clothes, his long silver hair and those marking, Inuyasha looked the epitome of a hot, sexy and dangerous bad boy.

 

And he was in the middle of a whole crowd of horny schoolgirls who thought they could take him away from her. That was so not happening! Angrily, Kagome stomped up to Inuyasha, ready to give him a piece of her mind about flirting with her schoolmates, but as she got closer Kagome realised something. Inuyasha wasn't flirting with any of those girls. In fact, he seemed to be scared of those girls and was trying to get away but they wouldn't let him. Kagome almost laughed as she realised this. Her big brave Hanyou; could fight the most powerful Youkai without the slightest bit of fear, but put him in the middle of a gang of schoolgirls and he's terrified out of his mind. Kagome snickered to herself. Oh well, she better go save him. He's saved her hundreds of times after all; it was only fair she repay the favour. Trying to laugh out loud, Kagome walked over now in better spirits.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome called out when she was almost upon him, trying to act and sound like she didn't even notice the flock of girls were there. “Did you come to pick me up?”

 

Inuyasha instantly looked over, relief evident in his eyes. “Kagome! About time, you take way too long. Come on we got to go! The others will be waiting for us by now.”

 

Smiling, Kagome reached for him and linking his arms with hers as she started leading him out of the crowd. “Let's just stop off at my place so I can grab my stuff, then we can get going.” Once Kagome had safely gotten Inuyasha out of the crowd, she turned to glare back at the mass of girls who were still standing there staring after them, not able to believe that such a sexy young man would leave with someone like Kagome. However, once the girls were treated to Kagome's `Evil Stare' as Shippo called it, the look that scared full Youkai into hiding, they decided it wasn't worth fighting over right then and scattered. Content, Kagome looked forward as she and Inuyasha continued on their way back to the shrine.

 

“Thanks for the rescue.” Inuyasha said once they were out of earshot of all those weird girls. “Those girls were crazy, I couldn't get away from them.”

 

“Don't mention it.” Kagome said. “Why are you dressed like that though?”

 

“Keh, had to hide my tail.” Inuyasha said with a shrug. “The cloak works well for that, though I don't know why your mother said I have to wear the rest of it with it. Something about how it `all goes into the look'?”

 

Kagome smiled. “A coat like that either makes you look really cool, or it makes you look plain stupid. You got to be careful about what else you wear with it, and what you yourself look like, if you don't want to end up firmly in the `stupid' category. When my dad used to wear that coat he always looked silly. He was really loveable man, but he could never pull it off no matter how hard he tried.”

 

“This was your dad's cloak?” Inuyasha asked, surprised. He didn't know much about Kagome's father but he knew the man had been loved by all of his family when he was alive. The fact that Mrs Higurashi trusted him with something that had belonged to her late husband was a great honour Inuyasha realised, and was deeply touched.

 

“Yeah it was.” Kagome said looking down for a moment as she remembered her father, before she quickly perked up again. “Of course he never looked as good in it as you. When I first saw you, I couldn't believe how hot you looked…” Suddenly realising what she just said, Kagome slapped her hand over her mouth as her face turned as red as Inuyasha Fire Rat. She couldn't believe she just said that. Praying that Inuyasha wouldn't realise what the modern term meant, Kagome freed her arm and started picking up her pace until she was almost running home, muttering something about how they better hurry.

 

A slightly confused yet grinning Inuyasha followed her. He was pretty sure he knew what Kagome meant by `hot' and it had nothing to do with the weather. He would have to make sure to ask Souta before he and Kagome left for his time, no doubt about that. But if he was right, one thing was for certain; he would need to see about borrowing the cloak again in the future if Mrs Higurashi would let him.

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

 

Chapters in this story just keep getting longer, with this one the longest yet at just under six thousand words. I'm really having fun writing this story, and I hope your having fun reading it. For those people who have been asking if there will be more side effects, I'm going to let you in on a spoiler right now and say yes, but I'm not going to tell you what they are yet. You'll just have to keep reading and find out.

 

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story so far. It's people like you that make me want to keep writing.