InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadow ❯ The Arrangement ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Wow… Thank you for those who reviewed!!!

I have something to tell you! Hehe… I've this story posted in my Fanfiction . net account and it already has 8 chapters out there. Okay… if you want to wait, you can just wait till I post the chappies here. If not, well… there's the other site… And if anyone wants to join my list to get a notification when I update, feel free to sign up! Here's the link:

http://miara-lily.notifylist.com/the_shadow.html

 

Disclaimer: .Inuyasha own don't II don't own Inuyasha. No suing now…

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

The Arrangement

 

 

 

 

 

`I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!' Kagome thought, pulling the string harder, while her hand shook in fury. She closed her eyes and the words that made her more than annoyed that very moment rushed in her head like a speeding arrow.

He smirked at her and said, “Hello, wench.”

The picture of Inuyasha's smirk only fueled her intensifying anger for the hanyou. `I haven't seen anyone wear a smirk more irritating than Inuyasha!' She thought, seeing the hanyou's wide smirk once again in her mind. `Argh! Get out of my head!!!' She finally steadied her bow, took one last look at her target and released the arrow, wishing dearly that Inuyasha Tsuzuki was her target that very moment.

The arrow hit its target perfectly—which was not Inuyasha but a wooden circular board. It always hit the bull's eye. After all, Kagome was not an amateur when it came to archery. Since she was a little girl, she had always liked archery that she joined the archery club in her school when she reached high school. Of course, she had trained very hard to be able to aim perfectly and that took her some time. But every hard work she did wasn't wasted, now that she was the president of the said club…

She found archery to be both enjoying and relaxing. Whenever she needed to chill out, she went to the archery fields to shoot some arrows. It was peaceful there and she was able to think more clearly when she had released her emotions through the arrows.

“How dare he call me that!” Kagome uttered in complete exasperation, getting another arrow from her quiver. “Who does he think he is?!” She muttered, glaring ferociously at her target. She took her aim and began pulling the string to prepare the release of her arrow. “Just because he's got that cool long silver hair.” She pulled the arrow back, stretching the string even more. “Just because he's got that extraordinary amber eyes. Just because he's got those cut—no, they're not cute! Just because he's got those… um… furry dog ears!” She finally freed the arrow, imagining Inuyasha's face as her target. `Hah! Bull's eye! Serves you right!' She smiled victoriously when he hit her Inuyasha target squarely on the face. “Who cares if he's a hanyou!? He's still an ass and I don't like him—not even a bit! I abhor him with my whole heart and soul! I'm not talking to that bastard ever again!” She got another arrow and smirked. `Seems like I have a new picture to visualize when I aim my arrows…' She thought, feeling a lot better. `Now, I'm going to aim for that smirk!'

 

“Inuyasha, why the hell did you tell her that?!?” Miroku hollered at Inuyasha's ear, glowering at him.

“Damn it, Miroku! I just said `hello', okay?!” Inuyasha answered defensively, covering his sensitive ears from Miroku's shouting and glaring back at his fellow agent.

“Correction,” said Miroku with sharp eyes still piercing Inuyasha. “You said, `Hello, wench.'” He told him.

Oops. Did he really say that…? Inuyasha quickly scanned his memory and got the answer. Of course he did say that. `Keh! Who cares! She's a wench, anyway.' Inuyasha thought. “So what if I did?!” He protested, looking uninterested and unaffected.

“You hurt her, Inuyasha!” Miroku griped. “You should have just called her by her name instead of insulting her!”

“Hey! What can I do?! I forgot her fucking name, okay?!” Inuyasha returned, unable to understand why Miroku was making such a big deal out of those two words. “Why the hell do you have to make a big deal out of it?!”

Miroku clenched his fist for a while then loosened it with a soft sigh. He ran his hand smoothly through his black hair and said, “First, you can't possibly forget her name.” He looked at Sango cautiously then added, “Remember?” `She's your charge, you fool! You've been reading her profile just a few hours ago!' Miroku wanted to tell Inuyasha. “Second, this is big deal. If you're not taking this seriously, I'm going to tell Ki—”

“Okay! Okay! I got your point!” He hurriedly said to cut Miroku. “No need to blackmail me.” He added, folding his arms over his chest.

Miroku ignored his last sentence and beamed contentedly. “Good!” He said.

Sango was absolutely lost during the whole conversation between Inuyasha and Miroku. She just stood there, watching them like a little innocent kid. Sensing that the fight was closing, she decided that it was the right time to make her exit and look for her missing best friend.

“Um, I think I got to go and look for Kagome…” She said, ready to head for the door.

“No!” Miroku quickly grabbed Sango's arm before she could leave. There was no way Miroku was going to let a hot babe walk out from him just because Inuyasha was being a jerk. “You still have to give me that school tour!” He reminded her.

“That was Kagome.” Sango pointed out, looking at the hand holding her arm with a raised eyebrow.

“She's missing so you should replace her.” Miroku answered intelligently.

“Why me?”

“Because there's no one else left to do the job.” He replied with that same smile he always used to charm girls.

Unfortunately, Sango wasn't charmed—even a bit. She took Miroku's hand off her arm, dropped it to his side and said, “I'll just go get Kagome and she'll be willing to do the job.”

“That will be taking too much time… I think Inuyasha will be more than willing to do that for you. So why not be my guide around the campus?”

“Because I don't want to.” She simply said.

“Wait a minute! Why do I have to go looking for the girl?!” Inuyasha quickly complained to Miroku.

“Because you're the one who made her run away.” Miroku stated calmly. “Or maybe you would prefer something else… like perhaps you would like me to tell K—”

“Fine! I'm going, you blackmailer!” Inuyasha threw one last glare at Miroku before stomping away towards the door.

Miroku returned his eyes to Sango and smiled. “So, shall we eat lunch together?”

BANG! Inuyasha closed the door with so much force. Surprisingly, the door didn't collapse.

“He's mad at you, isn't he?” Sango observed.

“No, he's just a bit grouchy.” Miroku said. “So where's the canteen?”

“I'm still not going to give you the tour.”

“I still have forty-five minutes to change your mind.” He told her after checking his watch for the time.

“You won't be able to.” She returned, walking towards the door.

Miroku smiled cunningly, his violet eyes sparkling with excitement at the new challenge. “Let's see…”

 

“I hate him.” Kagome muttered under her breath before letting go of the arrow. This time, the arrow hit the imaginary Inuyasha target at the forehead. She motioned to get another arrow from the quiver when she realized that she had none already. “Ugh, why do I have to run out of arrows now?!?” She cried out, placing her empty quiver on the floor.

“Wow… nice target board.”

Kagome spun around immediately and groaned upon seeing Inuyasha, leaning against the wall and watching her. “Speaking of the devil…” She muttered then sighed. She walked to Inuyasha, standing in front of him. “Why are you here?” She demanded, her chocolate brown eyes looking at his amber eyes boldly. `Maybe he came here to apologize?' She thought hopefully.

“Miroku insists that I look for you.” Inuyasha answered.

“Because?” Her eyes shimmered with hope.

Inuyasha didn't get the message her eyes were telling him. He knew she was expecting something but he didn't know what it was. `Well, why do I have to bother myself?!' He thought, throwing aside the thought he previously had in his mind. “I don't know.” He shrugged. “I guess he wants that school tour badly.”

`School tour?!' Her heart dropped painfully to her stomach. She closed her eyes and sighed mentally. `Why am I expecting an apology from someone like him? It's impossible.' She opened her eyes once more, the fierceness in her eyes had returned. “Go away.”

“I just came here.” Inuyasha objected.

“Well apparently I don't like you here so you should go.” She spat venomously.

Inuyasha leaned forward to look closer into Kagome's eyes, making the space between their faces just a few inches—too small for Kagome's comfort. “You hate me, don't you?” He asked, studying her eyes carefully.

Kagome took a step back to increase the distance between them. Now, she could breathe safely again. “Do you really have to ask?” She asked, pointing to the target board she had been practicing at a while ago. About fifty arrows had struck the target board—in all places. “Guess who's the lucky person I pictured as my target.”

Far from Kagome's expectation, Inuyasha didn't look bothered, sorry or anything near those two words. In fact, he was smirking at her. “No problem.” He told her. “It's a good thing that the feeling's mutual.”

Kagome wanted so much to slap him across the face but she managed to stop herself. Instead, she just walked away from him and went over her bag to get her lunch. “I'm not giving the school tour anymore, I don't care if you tell Miss Homura.” She said, not looking at Inuyasha.

“No problem. I don't need it.” Inuyasha replied nonchalantly. `I have a vicinity map of this school anyway.'

“I hope Miroku doesn't mind.” She continued.

“He probably asked your friend to do the job instead of bothering you.” He said, staring at the arrows Kagome had fired on the target board. `Besides, he also doesn't need the tour.'

Silence followed. The school racket could be heard but not a sound came from the two people in the archery fields.

“If you don't have anything else to say, you can leave now.” She told him coldly, deciding to end the deafening silence between them.

Another silence occurred.

Kagome didn't turn her head to look at Inuyasha. She just looked down at her lunch box and held it firmly, listening.

Then soft footsteps were heard. Inuyasha had left.

Kagome gave out a sigh and opened her lunch box. “Thank you for the food…” She said.

  

After having his lunch, Inuyasha had entered the room quietly and went to his chair. Miroku still hadn't returned. `Probably flirting…' He thought. He was about to sit down but he found many pairs of eyes watching him. Instead, he went to the window and looked at the view without any interest.

“Inuyasha, where's Kagome?”

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder and found Miroku standing behind him. Sango was also back; she was fixing something in her backpack and muttering words that associated Miroku's name to a pig, a jerk and an annoying pervert.

“So you got your school tour?” Inuyasha questioned even though he already knew the answer.

Miroku grinned at his friend. “Yeah. She's pretty tough to convince though.” He looked at Sango and gave her a smile. Sango, on the other hand, glared at him and mouthed, `Pig, stop pestering me!'

“Isn't she a darling?” He turned to Inuyasha with a smirk. 

Inuyasha glanced at Sango then back at Miroku. “Don't tell me you groped her?!” He whispered so only Miroku could hear, looking horrified.

“Of course not!” He quickly answered—too quickly for Inuyasha to believe him.

“Sure…” Inuyasha looked at him warily. “Now, tell me.”

Miroku sighed. Inuyasha knew him too well. “I didn't actually grope her.” He started.

“But you planned to.” Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly.

“Well… I can't help it! Her skirt is too tempting.”

“You always can't help yourself.” 

“Anyway, I'm afraid my mission failed.” Miroku said, looking dejected.

“She caught you?” Inuyasha couldn't help the amusement in his voice. “Wow…”

“My hand still hadn't reached her but she stepped on my foot and whacked me in the head with her bag.” He continued, wincing when he held the swollen part of his head.

“Did you go to the clinic?” Inuyasha asked.

“I already placed some ice over the bump.” He told Inuyasha. “You should have seen the librarian, Inuyasha! She's pretty sexy…”

“And I bet that earned you another smack from Sango.” Inuyasha stated it more like a fact rather than a question.

“Yeah, she smacked me at the back really hard that I thought my rib cage was going to break.” Miroku said then beamed at him. “The doctor in the clinic said nothing's broken though. The nurse was cute too—” 

“And—”

“Sango strangled me because of that one.”

“I'm surprised you're not yet dead.” The hanyou said with amazement. “And she was able to endure you for the rest of the tour? Is she crazy?”

“No, I think not,” replied Miroku. “She said she needed to guard me or I'd be groping all of the women in this school before the time for lunch ended.” He glanced at Sango and sighed. “So, back to the original topic, where's Kagome?” He asked, repeating the unanswered question he gave to Inuyasha before.

“At the archery fields.” He returned his eyes at the sky, watching it listlessly.

“Did you talk to her?”

“Sure.”

“Did you apologize?” Miroku asked, looking expectantly at the hanyou.

“No.” Inuyasha answered.

“You didn't apologize?!” He repeated.

“Are you deaf?!” Inuyasha asked angrily, looking dangerously at Miroku.

Miroku sighed in defeat. Why did he have to ask that one? Inuyasha Tsuzuki never apologized to anyone—even if it was entirely his fault. “So why did you leave her?” He tried another question.

“She doesn't want me sticking around her and I don't want to stick around her so I left.” Inuyasha replied nonchalantly.

Miroku shook his head. Was Inuyasha always this stubborn when he didn't like his charge? “Inuyasha, she's your charge. You can't leave her just like that.” He told him, reminding him about the basic rules of their mission.

“I want to quit this mission.” Inuyasha said with determination. He turned his head to look at Miroku and rephrased his words, “Miroku, I'm quitting this mission.”

“I'm sorry Inuyasha, you can't,” said Miroku. “I talked to Kikyou a while ago.”

“When?” Inuyasha asked, looking attentively at Miroku. `Why didn't Kikyou talk to me directly?' He wondered.

“She called me again before we left the base,” explained Miroku. “She's worried that you're going to abandon the mission. She doesn't want you to quit, Inuyasha. She's counting on you.”

Inuyasha looked back at the heavens and said, “I'll think about it.”

“Think carefully, Inuyasha. I know you don't want to let Kikyou down…” 

Inuyasha nodded. `Kikyou…'      

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!

Inuyasha and Miroku, together with the rest of the class, went to sit on their respective chairs and waited for the coming of their teacher.

Inuyasha remembered that Kagome still hadn't returned when he found the chair in front of him empty. `Where the hell is she?! She's going to be late!' He thought, suddenly getting impatient and peeved.

The door opened and revealed—not their teacher—but Kagome. She treaded silently towards her chair, not looking at any of her classmates. When she reached her seat, she accidentally met Inuyasha's eyes. For a moment, both of them held the connection without any emotion in their eyes. Both were trying to read through their eyes but neither of them got any answers. It seemed like there was nothing to be said to each other. Finally, Kagome broke the eye contact and sat down. `Jerk.' She said in her mind.

Inuyasha looked back at the window. “Bitch...” He muttered under his breath. Inuyasha's day was definitely not going to be any better…

 

“Bye, Sango!” Kagome waved at her friend before she turned left. Now she was all alone. She slumped her shoulders and sighed. It had been a tiring day for her. `I can't understand him…' She thought, thinking about Inuyasha. `Why does he have to be so cruel to me?' A voice suddenly answered inside her head. `Maybe because you don't give him a chance to show you his good side?' Kagome stopped and thought for a moment. `Good side?! Does he have one?!' She wondered, walking once more. `I doubt—wait a minute.' She halted again and listened.

She was certain now. Someone was following her.

Kagome didn't dare look at her stalker. She continued to walk—faster this time. Her stalker walked a little faster to keep up with her. The person following her was getting closer. Her stalker's footsteps were clearly from a man; he didn't seem to be interested in hiding his presence from her. `He probably wants to scare me to death.'  Kagome thought, increasing her pace once again. Only a few more steps and he would have caught her but he didn't. He just maintained enough speed so he wouldn't lose her. `He really does plan to scare me to death!' She thought and bolted as fast as her legs would take her.

Kagome continued to run for her life. There was no way she would let that man catch her. After a few minutes of running, she looked over her shoulder and stopped. The road was empty. `Where did he go?' She thought, looking confused. She took a careful look all over the place and found no one. Her stalker was gone.

“I guess he got tired of running after me.” She sighed in relief, turned her back and continued her way back home.

 

“I'm home!!!” She called out, opening the door of their house and closing it behind her. “Hi, Mama!” She greeted when she spotted her mother standing in front of the doorway.

“Welcome home, Kagome!” She said warmly then her eyes went past Kagome. “You brought a friend?” She inquired.

“Huh?” Kagome said in confusion. She turned around to look at the friend her mother was talking about and spotted Inuyasha standing at the doorway. “How did you get here?!” She exclaimed, looking at the hanyou with terrified eyes.

“I followed you home!” He stated, looking at her with narrowed eyes. “What do you think did I do?!”

“You were my stalker?!” Kagome gasped, pointing an accusing finger at Inuyasha.

“Keh! So what?” He said, folding his arms arrogantly.

“For your information, you nearly killed me!” Kagome yelled at him.

“It's your fault! Why the hell were you running away from me?!” He argued. “It's not like I was going to kill you or something!”

“It's my fault?!” She repeated, eyes burning with anger. “Why didn't you just approach me instead of following me like some creepy stalker!?”

“How would I approach you?! You ran away from me!” He said defensively.

“Why wouldn't I ran away?! You scared me!” She retorted.

Mrs. Higurashi looked at the two for a while and then said, “I think I'll just go and let you two discuss—”

“Wait.” Inuyasha said, looking at Mrs. Higurashi.

Mrs. Higurashi looked at Inuyasha and waited. “Anything wrong?” She asked.

“I need to talk to you.” He said, looking seriously at Kagome's mother. “The whole family, actually.”

Mrs. Higurashi smiled thoughtfully. “Follow me then. We'll discuss matters in the living room.” She said and went to the living room.

Inuyasha was about to follow when Kagome pulled the sleeve of his uniform. “What?!” He demanded, glaring at her.

“Could you tell me exactly what are you doing here?” She asked, looking at Inuyasha in the eye.

He took Kagome's hand off his sleeve and brushed off the non-existing dirt on it. “If you really want to know, then you shouldn't be stopping me. Just follow me, okay?” He said and walked away.

Kagome quickly followed Inuyasha and told him, “You talk like you live in this house.”

Inuyasha smirked at her. “And you'd be surprised because I would be.” He told her, waiting for her reaction. He loved to see her reactions, especially when he caught her off guard.

“WHAT?!” She stopped walking and gaped at Inuyasha. “You've got to be kidding me!”

Inuyasha didn't stop walking but he turned his head to annoy Kagome with his smirk. “Starting tonight.” He smirked even wider at the horror on Kagome's face.

 

Everyone was seated in the living room. Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome's grandfather and Souta, her little brother, were all seated on the long sofa. Kagome sat on one of the couch intended for a single person while Inuyasha sat on the other one, which was situated beside hers. Everyone was looking at Inuyasha, waiting for him to start whatever he was going to say.

“Well…” Inuyasha started, looking at all of his listeners. “Let's start the business. I am here because of your daughter.”

“Kagome?” Mrs. Higurashi said hesitantly.

“Yes, her.” Inuyasha said firmly. “She's in danger because He—”

“In danger?!” Kagome interrupted. “I'm not in—”

“Shut up and let me explain!” He snapped at her, making Kagome glare viciously at him. He ignored her glares and continued with the task at hand. “She's in danger because Hell's Gate is going to be after her. Hell's Gate is kidnapping mikos all around the world to use their powers for their own advantage. You see… your daughter is a miko.”

“A miko?!” Kagome's grandfather said in surprise. “But that's impossible. There's no one in our family that is pre—”

Inuyasha shook his head in disapproval. “Miko powers aren't hereditary. There's no doubt that your daughter is a miko. Our tracers have detected her aura.” Inuyasha explained further. “I'm a hanyou and I can sense her miko aura. I'm sure Hell's Gate has already sensed her aura too.”

Kagome's grandfather still looked doubtful. “But you may be—”

“Mistaken?” He continued for him. He opened his bag and took out a flask that contained something that looked very much like black smoke. “You know what's this?”

“Er… smoke?” Souta guessed.

Inuyasha groaned inwardly. `Why does the family always answer that when I ask them?' He thought. “No, kid.” He said, pointing to the black mist inside the bottle. “This is an evil aura of a trapped youkai. Watch this.” He grabbed Kagome's hand from the armrest and made it touch the bottle. A bright pink light engulfed the bottle and the black smoke dissolved. The flask was crystal clear and empty.

Kagome snatched her hand from Inuyasha's grasp and held it. She studied her hand for a while but didn't find anything unusual—but she knew that the light had come from her hand. `What was that?' She asked herself.

As if reading Kagome's mind, Inuyasha answered it for her. “That's your miko power. You just purified the evil aura.” He placed the container back into his bag and looked at his audience. “Now, do you believe me?”

Everyone nodded, still unable to speak.

“So let's continue. I came from Solferis, a secret organization which aims to protect mikos from Hell's Gate. I was sent here by the leader to protect your daughter twenty-four seven.” Inuyasha said, waiting for any questions. When he got none, he carried on. “I'm not promising you that your daughter will not be kidnapped but it will still be better than nothing.” Kikyou told him to always add that sentence in the end to convince the family of his charge.        

Kagome watched Inuyasha closely the whole time he spoke and took in every word he said with keen interest. “How do we know you're not working for Hell's Gate?” Kagome asked, looking suspiciously at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha didn't see that question coming but he immediately got an answer. “If I were working for them, I would have kidnapped you already. I've got many chances—in school, in the archery fields and when you were walking home.” He said, looking at Kagome's eyes without any pretenses.

But Kagome wasn't going to fall that easily. “What if this is part of a trap?” She asked, challenging him.

“Hell's Gate doesn't use a trap. They kidnap their target whenever they see a chance.” Inuyasha said, looking firmly at her. `At least I think they don't.' He thought. “If you don't want the arrangement, say it directly instead of using alibis. It's not like I'm dying to guard you!”

Kagome looked at Inuyasha fiercely and said, “Don't worry because I'm not accepting—”

“We're accepting the arrangement.” Mrs. Higurashi announced all of a sudden, cutting Kagome.

Kagome gawked at her mother, looking horror-stricken. `No way…' “Mama, don't tell me you believe him! He's just fooling us!” She wasn't going to just sit there and allow this. There was no way she was letting Inuyasha live together with them.

“Do you think I'll waste my precious time talking to all of you if I were just fooling around?!” Inuyasha bickered, looking incredulously at Kagome. “Why do you think did I enter your school all of a sudden?!”

Kagome ignored Inuyasha completely and continued with her mission—to convince her mother not to accept the arrangement Inuyasha was offering. “Mama, I don't need protection! Besides, I doubt that he can protect me!” She pointed at Inuyasha but didn't look at him. `How can someone who hates me, protect me?' She wanted to ask but decided against it.

Inuyasha could feel the familiar pain once again. He always felt it whenever someone rejected him. He sighed and disregarded the ache he felt. “You're the youngest miko we have seen so far. A lot of older and more trained mikos have said the same thing. They all fell into Hell's Gate's clutches. If you don't want to be next, I strongly suggest that you accept our offer.” He turned his head and made sure that his eyes were connected with Kagome's before he spoke again. “And about my ability, don't judge me because you don't know me. I can protect you if you'll let me.” He said, amber eyes reflecting pure honesty.

Kagome fell silent at Inuyasha's words. Maybe she had said too much… `Maybe I should give him a chance?' She thought, pondering her decision. But half of her was telling her otherwise. “You're right, I don't know you…” She said, looking at Inuyasha's eyes with some sadness. “And I'm sorry to say this but…” Something in Inuyasha's eyes made her hesitate. Did she really have to say this?

Inuyasha saw the hesitation in her eyes. “Say it.” He insisted.

The miko took a deep breath, still not taking her eyes off Inuyasha. “That's why I cannot trust you that easily.” She said just a bit louder than a whisper but Inuyasha caught the words perfectly—all of them.

And Inuyasha thought that trust wasn't important in his job. He was quiet for a while not knowing what to say anymore. Slowly he shifted his eyes away from Kagome and looked at his left. He never knew those words would hurt so much.

Kagome could sense that she had hurt Inuyasha and shockingly, she didn't feel very happy with it. Instead, she felt very bad that she wished she hadn't said those words. Even for someone as annoying as Inuyasha, surely he didn't deserve to be judged like that. “Inuyasha—” She stopped when Inuyasha suddenly stood up.

“I guess that ends our discussion.” He said, looking at Kagome for a while then to the other three. “I'll just tell our leader that you—”

“Wait,”

Both Inuyasha and Kagome were startled when Mrs. Higurashi spoke.          

“Kagome, don't you think you should give him a chance?” Mrs. Higurashi said, turning to her daughter. “I think he's telling the truth. His eyes tell me that.”

“But Mama…” Kagome protested. She didn't know what to do anymore. 

“He looks strong enough for me,” said jiichan. “I think this young man can protect our precious Kagome! He can even help clean the shrine!” Jiichan said with a bright smile.

`Clean the shrine? Was that included in the bargain?' Inuyasha wondered, looking at the old man. He was beginning to doubt if he really wanted this job…

“Jiichan, you can't make him clean the shrine!!! He's not a helper here.” Kagome said, trying to remind her grandfather about Inuyasha's role.

Souta also began to join the excitement shown by his mother and grandfather regarding their new guest. “Wow! Come on neechan! If you'll agree, I'll get a new playmate!” He said, looking pleadingly at his sister.

`Playmate?!' Inuyasha thought, looking at the little kid. `Do I have to be the babysitter too?!'

“So, Inuyasha-niichan—um—I can call you that, right?” Souta asked uncertainly.

“Sure… I guess.” Inuyasha answered, watching the whole Higurashi family with wonder. The last family he had informed was very tensed when they realized the danger that their daughter would be encountering. On the other hand, this family seemed to take the news differently. They were silent for a while but then they were all of a sudden so excited. `What a weird family…' He thought.

Souta continued his ranting. “You can even sleep in my room if you like!” He offered.

“He'll be living with us?!” Kagome asked, standing up to show her full objection to the idea.

Souta didn't seem to hear his sister because he went on with his talking. “I have lots of video games and I bet you'll love them all! I even have the latest version of Tekken and—mmph!”

Mrs. Higurashi covered Souta's mouth lightly to stop him from speaking. “He won't be sleeping in your room, Souta!” She opposed with her son strongly.

Kagome sighed. Finally, her mother had changed her mind. `Of course, Inuyasha wasn't going to stay in our house. Maybe he could protect me but not live with us here.' She thought, relief flooding in her heart.

“He will be sleeping in the room next to Kagome's room,” said her mother with a smile. “Don't you think that will be a great idea, jiichan?”

“Oh yes! That will be perfect! If the bad guys will come to get Kagome, he will be right on the next room to save her!” Jiichan also thought that the idea was the greatest idea of the year. “I'll also be helping! I've got this new scrolls from the shrine and—”

“Jiichan, they never really work…” Souta told his grandfather impassively.

“Of course they do!” Jiichan contended, looking determined.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled at Inuyasha then at Kagome. “It's settled then! We accept the arrangement! From now on, you are going to be Kagome's guardian!” She clapped her hands together and stood up. “I think I'll go prepare dinner now!” She said cheerfully and rushed to the kitchen.

“Oh! I better get those scrolls ready now…” Jiichan also stood up and left hastily to go to the shrine.

“Wait, jiichan! I'm going with you!” Before Souta left, he went to Inuyasha and said, “Can I shake your hand?”

“Huh?” Inuyasha wasn't sure he had heard the kid right.

Souta translated Inuyasha's answer as a yes so he took his clawed hand and shook it lightly. He grinned at him then scampered away.

“Wow, jiichan!!! I have an older brother now!!! Isn't that amazing?!” Inuyasha heard Souta shout as he followed the older man outside. “Do you think he'll teach me some moves?”    

Kagome couldn't believe it. “My family is conspiring against me.” She stated more to herself than to Inuyasha and dropped softly on the soft couch.

Inuyasha also sat down, looked at Kagome curiously and said, “Hey.”

Kagome looked at him and said in return, “What?”

Inuyasha pointed a finger at the way the three had gone and asked, “Are you sure that was your family?” Maybe they entered the wrong house.

“You know, I'm beginning to doubt that now…” Kagome told him, thinking about Inuyasha's words seriously. Maybe she did enter the wrong house…

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: I love long reviews. If I get plenty, maybe I'll update again next week! Inuyasha's job starts next chapter! YAY!!! That's going to be fun! I can't wait to write!!!