InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Southern Fried Hanyou ❯ Five ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Five
 
 
She crossed the lawn and stood before him.
 
“Give me your hand.” He held out his hand to her. She held out hers. He took it and turned it palm side up then leaned over it and gave her a quick sharp nip.
 
“Ouch! You could have warned me!”
 
“You're right, I should have.” It was half an apology and probably the best he would give.
 
He placed her bloody palm on his forehead.
 
“I think if you truly wish for me to be human and the jewel is inside you, it might work.”
 
I don't know what I wish for you Inuyasha but it isn't your death.
 
“If you get your way… are you going to kill yourself?”
 
He made a funny face. “You really thought… No! I will just be mortal. No more magic.”
 
“Oh. Okay then.” She closed her eyes and put her other hand against his warm face. All these years I've dreamed of touching you like this… Stupid man, I've always loved you just the way you are.
 
 
The wind rushed past them and his silver hair rose up around them in a cloud. Kagome's shoulder length hair moved around her face. Her hands moved over his face, exploring his features as a blind woman would do. She touched his closed eyelids and smoothed his brow. She ran her fingers through his hair and over his ears. They were soft and wonderful, just as she remembered them. Please, Shikon grant me this one thing and make him…Human.
 
Inuyasha went to his knees and she fell with him holding him, protecting him in the fragile embrace of her skinny arms. Tears burned in her eyes and she pressed his face into her chest. They held each other for long while. Then he stood and helped her to her feet. He was unchanged and his expression was unreadable. He lifted her bloodied palm to his lips and kissed it. Then he turned and went inside the dark house.
 
Kagome stood and watched the moon before following Inuyasha. She retrieved the abandoned Tetsusaiga and brought it back inside with her. She found the guestroom door shut and the light out. She shrugged and went to her own bed. Shit! I have our last class tomorrow and still have half the exams to grade.
 
_-_-_-_
Kagome woke in her bed beside a pile of graded papers. She glanced at the bedside clock and was relived to see she wasn't running late. Today I will pass back the tests and issue the final grade. I will make it fast and be back here before noon. Thank God I don't have a summer class to teach…last month I was so pissed when they overlooked me but now it's a relief.
 
She climbed into the shower and reveled in the hot spray on her back. She held her palm to her face and studied the shallow bite. It was healing quickly. Good. Inuyasha will be glad to see that.
 
She wrapped her hair in a towel and threw on a nice brown skirt and a blouse suitable for class. She slipped on her gold hoop earrings as she walked down the hall and paused in front of the guest bedroom. The door was open and the room was empty. The bed was mussed. He must have had some sleep at least.
 
In the kitchen, she found a warm teapot full of green tea but there was no Inuyasha. She checked the backyard and it was empty. She didn't bother with the roof; somehow she knew it he wasn't there either.
 
Oh well, the only thing to do is leave a note and hope he comes back from where ever he's gotten to.
 
_-_-_-_
Class was boring and uneventful. Her students accepted their grades and left. They should be grateful. In my exhaustion I was over generous with the grades.
 
She was in her office when a soft knock came at the door.
 
“Come in.”
 
Kim, her assistant poked her red head around the open door.
 
“Happy summer vacation girlfriend!” She did a quick dance. “We are so going to party! You must come to my beach house.”
 
Kagome smiled at her enthusiasm. “Sure, sounds great!”
 
Kim paused in mid dance step. “Wait! Do my ears deceive me? Did the great and powerful Dr. Higurashi just agree to party with me?” She sat on Kagome's desk.
 
“Maybe.”
 
“Wow. Okay it is serious then. Tell me all about him.” She leaned forward as she spoke.
Kagome laughed and sat down her pen. “Tell you about who?”
 
“You damn well know who. The mysterious Japanese babe Big Mouth Cagle spotted you with at Piggly Wiggly.”
 
“Cagle talks too much for his own good. I should've let him at him….” She muttered.
 
Kim squealed and pounded her fists on the desk. “So it is all true then. Kagome is banging a silver haired Guns N Roses freak!”
 
“Kim how is it you are so eloquently spoken in class, if our students could hear you now…”
 
“Girl it's all about perception. Now tell me about Inuyasha!”
 
Kagome sighed. “He is a childhood friend who doesn't speak English…yet. But I fear for us all once he picks up on the language.”
 
“Ouch! So he is all attitude then?” Kim snickered. “Cagle was spot on.”
 
“He is a houseguest for right now and nothing more.”
 
Kim looked into Kagome's eyes. “But of course you want so much more, and why shouldn't you? Sometime in history our Kagome has to get her Inuyasha. That is who he is named after right?” Kim put her fingers above her head and wiggled them to indicate ears.
 
“Yes but lets keep that to ourselves.”
 
“Awww…this is so Romeo and Juliet with chop sticks, cept Romeo first tried to kill Julie and then dumped her for some dead chick.”
 
Kagome winced at the base retelling of her story. Well Kikyo was the dead Juliet and I was the village idiot…
 
“That about sums it up.”
 
“So, is he an old flame?”
 
“Sort of, I used to have this huge crush on him but then we haven't seen each other in thirteen years.”
 
“So he had a girlfriend?”
 
“Something like that.”
 
“How bout now?”
 
“No she's deceased.”
 
Kim frowned then gave a quiet smile. “So you do have some pain in common then. This could be good for you.”
 
“I don't know. I thought so at first but now I am not sure what he wants.”
 
Kim lifted her head to meet Kagome's gaze. “It will work out. Just wait and see. It's fate! You'll have a passionate affair with him, make mad monkey love, have a passel of kids and still make it to my beach house this summer. And when you come don't forget to bring him with you!”
 
Kagome had the crazy thought: I wonder how Inuyasha feels about sunscreen?
 
_-_-_-_
 
She pulled up in front of the house and knew he wasn't there. The empty old house loomed in front of her. She got out of the Jeep and unlocked the door. She looked up to the guest bedroom window and saw it was indeed as she left it. His red kimono was folded up in the sill. She left it there as a hint to Inuyasha that even though the doors were locked that window was open.
 
She found her note undisturbed on the table next to an unopened package of ramen. Her chest became heavy and she trudged into the living room and sat on the arm of her overstuffed couch.
 
Was he really gone? Would he leave behind his Tetsusaiga and kimono? She pictured him wandering around the streets of Charleston penniless and still wearing the worn black Guns N Roses shirt. He doesn't even speak English! What could he be doing? I hope he isn't in jail. The thought of calling the courthouse to see if a man with white dog ears had been picked up didn't appeal to her.
 
Kagome went to the guest room in search of something, some clue as to where he went or at least what he was feeling or thinking. The first thing to catch her eye was the pair of abandoned flip flops by the bedroom door. Where ever he was Inuyasha was barefoot.
 
He'd slept on top of the bedcovers instead of under them and she could see the impression of his body on the comforter. A white strand of his hair lay on the pillow and Kagome carefully picked it up. The kimono remained neatly folded on the window sill and there was a comb on the dresser. She found a few more strands of his hair in the comb. There was nothing else. But then what had she expected to find? A journal or even a note? Don't be ridiculous! Ugh. Well he is a definitely a man, there is the towel he used yesterday in a pile on the floor.
 
Kagome hovered in the doorway then decided. To hell with this and to hell with you! She took the towel and tossed it into the laundry hamper then headed back downstairs into the kitchen.
 
She poured a glass of wine and started on her second vice. Chocolate. How long has it been since I baked anything? Not since Hojo…
 
She pulled out her cookbook and began gathering the ingredients for killer double chocolate cake. Sometime in the process Kagome turned on the stereo and blasted Josh Groban throughout the house. She wrapped her soul in his beautiful music and lost herself in mixing the cake batter.
 
_-_-_-_
 
Two hours and three of Josh's CDs later she was engrossed in icing her two layer masterpiece. This was oddly satisfying. Maybe I should give up academia and start a catering business.
 
In the middle of “Remember When It Rained, she heard the front door shut. She pushed down the urge to meet him and concentrated on the cake. Let him come to you and whatever you do, don't cry this time!
 
Kagome's back was facing the kitchen door but she heard the sound of his bare feet behind her in the dining room.
 
“Kagome?” he asked softly.
 
“Yes Inuyasha.” She smoothed another helping of icing across the bare top of the cake.
 
“I went to be alone for a while.”
 
“Went for an early morning walk?” She licked icing from the tip of her thumb while trying to keep the bandage on her hand clean.
 
“I needed to pray, for guidance.”
 
Pray? Who knew he even knew what the word meant. It's another difference between the child and the man.
 
“Prayer is good.”
 
“Miroku taught me prayer and meditation before he left.” He had the patience for mediation?
 
“Ahh” she nodded.
 
“Smells good in here” she heard him sniff the air.
 
“Chocolate cake, I made it.”
 
“I've never seen a cake quite like that before.”
 
She felt the hair on the back of her neck bristle and knew he was right behind her.
 
“Kagome, I've hurt you and I'm…sorry.” He whispered.
 
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes but it couldn't be helped. If that's how you really feel than you were right to tell me.”
 
His hand snaked over her shoulder and plunged a finger into the sweet chocolate icing. She swatted it away.
 
“Inuyasha! If you eat the icing then there won't be any for the cake.” He'll be scrubbing icing out from under those claws for sure…
 
She blinked. His fingers were long, thin with blunt nails. The claws were gone. Her eyes flew to the kitchen clock that bore the date, time and cycles of the moon. The moon was still full. That means...
 
“It worked! You really are human!” She spun around and found a man with long dark hair that hung to his ass and slightly oversized ears standing behind her. His eyes were big, black and human. Kagome squealed and threw her arms around him smearing icing on the old t-shirt.
 
“Kagome, you did this, for me. I can finally rest.” He spoke as he wrapped his arms around her. “There are no words of thanks that are big enough.” He pressed his cheek to hers and scratched her skin with the beginning stubble of a beard. She pushed him away so she could study him and noticed his pale face was red from the sun.
 
She broke her promise to herself and cried. “I am so happy for you.” She rubbed her hands on her sides. “Guess the old Shikon no Tama still has the mojo!”
 
“Today is the first day I walked amongst people and there were no insults or fear. A couple of girls followed me around until they realized I do not speak their language.”
 
Kagome frowned then stopped herself. “Now you have the chance for a real life. A family even.”
 
Inuyasha stood there studying her with his new dark eyes.
“I will find a way to buy you an identity and teach you English. You can even go home to Japan.”
 
He dropped his arms from her shoulders and stepped back.
“That is what I mediated on. Kagome can I stay… here with you?”
 
Why? So I can watch you live, love and be happy. I can be on the outside looking in. Again.
 
She washed her hands at the sink and dried them on a kitchen towel. She stood looking at him unconsciously wringing the towel in her hands. I am a fool but I cannot live without knowing this man. Even if I am not to be the woman he loves I must still see him. Her mind flashed back to a time he'd chosen the dead Kikyo over her but she'd asked if she could still stay with him. The thought of not being by his side destroyed her. Miroku and Sango did not understand how she could forgive him such a betrayal but it didn't matter. Inuyasha you are my opiate, my drug, my wine flowing in my very blood and soul... How can it ever be any different? She heard her heart beat then thought.
 
I am worse than those women I've seen on daytime talk shows.
 
“Yes Inuyasha. You may stay.” She turned away from him and placed the towel on the counter. Stupid, stupid woman.
Inuyasha put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. He then fell to his knees in front of her. He held her hands and pressed his face into them.
 
“Lady Kagome I beg your forgiveness for all these years. I give my life to you. Will you have me… as your husband?”
 
Kagome stood frozen, unable to speak. Then tears burst free and flowed down her face. She threw her arms around him and fell to the floor with him. She heard Kikyo trot over and felt her cold nose press into her arm. She pushed the dog away and hugged Inuyasha.
 
“So that's a yes then?” She could hear his smile in his voice.
 
Kagome's nose began to run and she wiped at it with her arm. “Of course.”
 
“Good.” He leaned against the cabinets and grinned.
 
“Because I am ready to try that strange cake you made me.”
 
She punched him lightly in the arm.
“I made the cake for me. But… I could be convinced to share.”
 
“Oh really?” Inuyasha's human face took on a mischievous youki slant.
 
You know the old saying…you can take the demon out of the man but…
 
He bent his head down and kissed her. It was a different kiss than the one they shared in the castle. This was not a kiss of buttons. It was a man claiming his wife.
 
Kagome cried for the joy of it as he moved his lips across hers and she opened her mouth letting him in. He responded by pulling her into his lap and running his hands down her sides and lightly skimming his fingers over her breasts. She cupped his face in her hands and pushed his lips down on hers. His hands skimmed the hem of her shirt and found her bare skin. After that the cake was temporarily forgotten.
 
 
Epilogue
 
Hours later they ate the cake in the nude and laughed as a very confused Kiki danced around them. Kagome felt no guilt when she thought of Hojo because she knew he'd wanted her to be happy. Hadn't the note the Tetsusaiga came with even said so?
 
That summer they spent a week with Kim at her Hilton Head beach house. Inuyasha refused to cut his hair and experienced his first sunburn.
 
Inuyasha still marveled at the foreign landscape but grew to love South Carolina as Kagome did. Eventually they answered the call of exotic lands and she returned to archaeology, her third love. Kiki was secure in the knowledge she was Kagome's fourth love.
 
There were still challenges. After all nothing worth having is ever easy. For example, Inuyasha's first visit to the dentist was a day that will not soon be forgotten by any who were present.
 
Kagome was never convinced Inuyasha possessed the patience required to be an archaeologist. But he was always an outstanding guest speaker in her classroom. He brought the feudal era of Japan to life for hundreds of undergrads and as a result the papers Kagome was forced to grade grew in quality and quantity as her class size continued to expand. They could have sold tickets the days he came wearing his red kimono and brandishing the forever broken and battered Tetsusaiga.
 
Class size wasn't the only thing expanding and soon Kagome gave Inuyasha a gift even greater than his humanity. A son. He was brought across the globe to be blessed in the Higurashi family shrine and dedicated to their family guardian the great hanyou Inuyasha who seeks the Shikon no Tama. All their friends were at a loss to explain the boy's silver white hair. The boy Inu, born over five hundred years after his father, grew up with a dual citizenship in the United States and Japan. The boy was his father's greatest joy and Kagome was his father's only love.
_-_-_
Notes
 
There are two follow up stories to this fiction. The Hanyou Hits the Frying Pan and Hanyou on a Hot Plate.
 
This is of course of fan fiction based on Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha. I have no claim to any of these characters, except for Kiki…she's all mine.
 
This is my first fan fic and offering to this site. The anime Inuyasha has captivated me and when I discovered the story has no ending I had to make my own. Doesn't everyone watch the show because all we really want to do is to grab those ears!
 
This story is based in Charleston South Carolina of the good ole USA and all the places mentioned are very real. I encourage you to go there and explore. I originally wanted to base this in Tokyo but I've never been to Tokyo and was unable to do the city justice.
Josh Groban is an amazing artist and I hope he isn't displeased should he ever see his name here. Poogan's Porch really does have a ghost. I included it because Poogan's is a local landmark. Also it's named after a dog and is haunted by a dead woman. What better place for Kagome to ponder her Inuyasha?
 
Piggly Wiggly is an actual grocery store. Yes really. Before you laugh just consider this. In Pennsylvania there is a convenience store with the name Wa-Wa.
 
I know I spelled Wallmart wrong but who wants to risk the wrath of the Waltons?
And yes Golden Retrievers are great pets and lousy guard dogs.
 
Where I got the idea for this fanfic:
 
`Peter and Wendy' is a play and an actual book. I can't be the only person who noticed the similarities between these two stories. Isn't Inuyasha really a half bred Japanese Peter Pan forced to choose between his Tinker Belle, Wendy and adulthood? Because when you come right down to it he can't have Kikyo or Kagome. The quest cannot end until he realizes he has to lose everything in order to win. Just like Pan took Captain Hook's hand, Inuyasha took Sesshoumaru's arm. Sesshoumaru never kills Inuyasha even though he has ample opportunity as Hook with Pan.
 
Peter takes Wendy because he misses his mother. Inuyasha is older but Kagome still mothers him. Tinker Bell was his “mother figure” until Wendy arrived and intends to make her pay for usurping her position. But Tinker cannot allow Peter to grow up and that is the betrayal. Peter cannot have Tinker and the reason is obvious. Kikyo is dead. She walks talks and gives kisses but she has no claim on our living hero. Kikyo is magic, she is death which is what happens when you cease to age. Kikyo only wishes to die and pull Inuyasha into death with her.
 
Kagome is the silly Wendy who stays when an adult woman would leave. Hojo and Miroku are symbols of adulthood and Sango is loss. She is what Inuyasha will be if he chooses to win and grows up. Shippo is as lost boy complete with a bag of tricks. Jaken is Smee or Smithee who is Hook's groveling right hand man. Naraku is time and the greatest enemy of all who avoid growing up. That is why he is evil, perverted and changes shape with will. Because Miroku is an adult time is not on his side and will swallow him whole if he isn't careful. To defeat Naraku is to banish the hole in his hand which is really only time.
 
I thought on this and realized it only stands to reason that if the adult Wendy spent her life looking around every corner for the boy who could fly that it's a safe assumption Kagome would do the same.
 
So this is what happens to people who stay up late watching anime cartoons. They think too much and write stuff like this. In short I hope you liked my story. I welcome any feed back ya'll have to give.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17