InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ Scroll Seven: Dates Part I ( Chapter 7 )

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

...that women that told Inuyasha his future...that was really bad! But it can't be as bad if Kagome's future was really good could it? -Aozora Sky -


*giggles wickedly* Yeah, I could be. There's a reason I'm already working on a sequel for this - because it's gonna deal with Inuyasha's prediction. This one's kinda dealing with Kagome's, for the most part though part of hers will also happen in the sequel. You'll just have to wait and see. *cackles* If I ever finish this one...*sweatdrop*


I really luv this story so much! I like it when Inuyasha finally got over 'Kikyo'.and whats with Kagome's father coming back all of a sudden. o I just have so much quetions. -Fire Maiden-


*bows* Thank you, thank you. Well, I needed Kikyou out of the way and I think that if she weren't showing up so gosh darn much, he would get over her. As for Kagome's father...well, I don't recall him ever being mentioned in the manga as for what happened to him. I saw a few fics where he left them or something and I decided to roll with that idea in my own way. But I am going to eventually make it so that father and daughter have a...somewhat agreeable relationship later.


PS - I don't know if anyone actually realized it, but I kinda lifted the name Ikoku from Sailor Moon. I meant to put something about that in my disclaimer and forgot. That was the name of Usagi's mom. *blushes* I couldn't come up with one. And - just in case there's any 10th Kingdom fans out there - the Predictions chapter with the gypsies was inspired by Virginia and Wolf's interaction with the gypsy camp.
Kagome waved goodbye to her friends, While she was feeling rejuvenated, she still had a torrent of thoughts going through her head. She was still on edge over her father's sudden appearance and her family seemed to be avoiding the subject as much as possible in order to avoid the conflict that they knew was soon to erupt.


With a sigh, she walked slowly, trying to get her thoughts in order. Now, not only did she have to deal with her father and not being able to go back through the well, but she also had to think about that coming Saturday - the day of the dance. If things were still going as they had, which she had no doubt that they would, she would be unable to disappear through the well before then and therefore had no excuse not to attend. Not that she didn't want to go, because she did very badly. Up until that point she had not been able to because of her trips to the Sengoku Jidai.


And then there was Houjou, still persistent after all these years. The gifts had stopped, but not the attempted dates. She turned him down every single time, but he hadn't stopped trying. Inuyasha may have been part inu youkai, but it was Houjou-kun who followed her around like a lost puppy.


"Higarashi!" Kagome stopped as she heard someone calling her name from behind. Speak of the devil. "Higarashi, wait a moment, please." When she turned she saw Houjou hurrying towards her with a charming smile, practiced to perfection no doubt, beaming straight at her. She could hear the Yuka giggling behind her now, whispering, "Poor Houjou."


"Yes, Houjou-kun?" She smiled politely, giving the girl a hidden look, warning her to stay quiet. "What is it?"


He flashed her another charming smile, reminding her shortly of a certain ookami she knew. "Higarashi, you know there is going to be a school dance this weekend? I've heard it's supposed to be a lot of fun and I was wondering if you would care to go with me?"


Her face fell. It had been what she feared he'd do. She had known he would ask her, but she had been trying to avoid it, knowing she would be turning him down and she hated, just hated, to see that rejected and hurt look that he got every time she said no. "Houjou-kun, it's really sweet of you to ask..."


"Kagome," Yuka interrupted, for once coming to the rescue, "you can't go to the dance with Houjou-kun, remember?" When the young miko looked at her, the girl poked her in the shoulder. "Did you forget that you already told Inu-kun you'd go with him?"


Kagome looked at Yuka for a moment before nodding in understanding and agreement. "That's right. How could I have forgotten that?" She looked back at Houjou, an apologetic smile on her face. "I’m sorry, Houjou-kun, but Inuyasha already asked me and I can't back out on him."


He nodded and shrugged, a trace of that hurt she hated lingering in his eyes. "I understand, Higarashi. I was too late is all. Bye girls." He waved and walked back towards his bike.


Kagome groaned. She was thankful to Yuka for trying to get her out of the situation, she really was, but she just didn't like the way that Yuka had chosen to do it. Now Houjou and anyone he talked to would expect her to show up at the dance with Inuyasha as her date. And just how was she supposed to talk him into going to a school dance with her? He would never go for it - never in a million years.


What was she going to do? She couldn't just not go to the dance now that Yuka told Houjou that she was going to go with Inuyasha, but she couldn't exactly ask Inuyasha to go with her, mostly because he'd never even consider doing something like that with her. He hated crowds and he probably didn't know how to dance, so that would embarrass him and now that she was thinking about it, the music would probably be too loud for his ears... it was just a big mess that she had allowed herself to get into once more. Maybe she aught to have considered going with Houjou, but then, she wouldn't have felt right since Inuyasha was staying in her era just for her. She couldn't exactly leave him home alone, it would be rude and...well, she didn't want to go with Houjou. If she was going to go she would want to go with Inuyasha.


But he'd never go for it.


Never.


She trudged up the stairs to the temple, looking significantly defeated. Inuyasha, who had been sitting up in the branches of the Goshinboku tree looked down as she approached and landed gracefully at the base of the tree to greet her.


"What's with you? Fail one of those tests again?" He queried, giving her a wary look. Usually when Kagome was in one of these moods, it was safest to stay far away from her.


The dark haired miko looked up from her study of the cobblestone courtyard and narrowed her eyes at him. "No I did not fail another test. I haven't failed a test since I've started attending class everyday, thank you. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind is all.”


This seemed to gain his interest and he tilted his head, flicking an ear in her direction in a way that made him look almost like an adorable curious puppy. "Like what? That stuff with your Chichi-ue again?"


She sighed. "Well, yeah, that too, but there's nothing I can do about that right now. I was just thinking about what the girls were saying at school. There's a dance coming up on Saturday and they were wanting me to go, but I wasn't planning on it. I mean, I don't have anything to wear and I don't have a date...well, I do sorta have a date...Or I would have if I hadn't turned him down..." His frown was deepening and Kagome decided it was time to shut her mouth. "Never mind."


"Oi, what do you mean you would have had a date?" He asked roughly. She'd explained the concept of dating to him too, when she had mentioned something about a Hobo or Hodou guy from her school. He didn't like the idea of his Kagome going on a date. It was much to similar to being claimed and she was already claimed...for the most part.


She shrugged. "Houjou asked me to the dance when I was leaving school today, but I told him no. Really, Inuyasha, with all that's going on with my dad and all, I really don't have the energy to think about a dance. But then Yuka had to go and open her big mouth and tell him that I couldn't go with him because I already had another date. I could kill her for that, you know."


This situation was getting worse by the second and Inuyasha was beginning to fidget and become agitated. This was not a good sign. "Another date with who?"


Sensing his unease, she sighed knowing that she couldn‘t bring up the subject of him taking her even though she knew he wouldn‘t want anyone else to either. With a deep sigh, she shook her head. "No one, Inuyasha, don't worry about it. It's just a lie to keep Houjou from persisting." She started to walk towards the house, but he grabbed her arm and held her in place.


"With who?" His demand came out through clenched teeth.


"Like I said, it doesn't matter because it was just a lie. But if you really have to know, it was you, okay? Yuka said you were taking me." She brought her other hand up to pry his fingers off of her arm, blushing deeply as she tried to keep her face hidden. "Not that it matters because I'm not going. It would be fun, but I can't bother with it right now. Besides, like I said, I don't have a date although I'm sure that Houjou-kun would still take me if I told him I changed my mind." She hadn't meant to do it, but it had seemed the perfect spur of the moment plan. She could threaten to go to the dance with another guy, in a manner that seemed as if she were trying to do Inuyasha a favor by not making him go and maybe he would demand that she take him.


He glared at her and tightened his grip on her arm, making sure that he didn’t hold her tight enough to actually bruise her. He really didn’t want to go to this dance thing, but he didn’t want Kagome going without him…with some other guy. If she really wanted to go, she would go whether he took her or not, that much he knew. “You wanna go to this thing, don’t you?” He asked gruffly. She lowered her gaze to the ground and finally nodded, slowly. He puffed out his cheeks, blowing out the air in a long, drawn out sigh. “Fine, we’ll go, but we ain’t staying all night.”


Her head shot up and she looked at him in surprise, her eyes wide and a slight smile pulling at her lips. “Really?” She questioned, not daring to believe it. When he nodded she smiled broadly and threw her arms around his waist. “Thank you, Inuyasha. This is the first dance I’ve gone to. I’m glad you’re going with me.”


He blushed, but brought his arms up around her lightly, his heart skipping a beat knowing that he’d made her that happy.


It was the day before the dance and Kagome still hadn‘t been able to decide what she was going to wear. Everyone had already seen just about every outfit in her closet and the ones that hadn‘t been worn recently looked old and out of date because she hadn‘t worn them in so long. She’d been so preoccupied with school and family problems that she hadn’t had the chance to go back to the shopping district and find anything and so she was out of luck.


“Kagome, could you come in here for a moment, please?” Keiko called from the living room. Kagome came in from the kitchen, looking confused. What had she done this time? Keiko laughed and held out a box to her, which Kagome took looking even more confused before she sat down to open it. When her eyes widened in surprise, Keiko smiled gently. “Do you like it?”


Kagome held up the white long sleeved cardigan to get a better look at it, although she already knew it was the exact one she'd been eying for months now. Folded in the box beneath a dark red a-line skirt. "Mama, you know I love it, but why?"


"This will be the first dance you've actually gotten to go to," her mother explained. "I wanted to do something special for you so I had the store put it on hold so that I could make sure you were actually going to go. I just picked it up today."


"Thank you, Mama, I love it. I absolutely love it!" Kagome squealed in delight and turned the top to look at it from the back before folding it up and lying back on top of the skirt in the box. "Now...what am I going to do about shoes?" She tapped her chin.


Keiko grinned and shoved another box at her. "I knew you wouldn’t have much time to shop."


Kagome squealed again and dove into the box to find a pair of black strappy heels. "Kyaa! I love you, Mama!" She threw her arms around her mother and giggled, laughing harder when Inuyasha and Jii-chan walked in looking lost.


"I think we missed something," Inuyasha muttered.


"Indeed,” the old man agreed, nodding his head slowly.


Kagome winked at her mom - she wanted to surprise Inuyasha when they got ready to go the next night. "Inu-kun?" She stopped on her way towards the stairs. "You are going to take me tomorrow night, ne?" She bit her lip in anticipation. She had goaded him into it in the first place by hinting how she was sure Houjou-kun wouldn't mind taking her if he didn't - he had asked her after all. She'd been afraid he'd break his jaw the way he'd been grinding his teeth and she knew his palms had to have been bleeding from his nails being dug into the skin.


"Yeah, I'm going." Just remembering the prior day made his blood boil. How dare some boy try and take his Kagome!


"Great! I'm gonna have to teach you to dance, okay? It's really simple - just a lot of swaying, really." She smiled. "Come on. I also have a ton of algebra homework and a test on Monday. You know, you're gonna regret letting me find out just how good you are at numbers."


He rolled his eyes and followed her. "I already am,” he muttered as she led him up the stairs and to her room where she promptly shut the door and turned on her radio before turning to him with a thoughtful expression, trying to figure out the best way to teach her hanyou friend the way people in her time worked the dance floor.


"Put your hands on my waist," Kagome instructed finally. When Inuyasha just stood there, brow slightly cocked, she sighed. "You have to put your hands on my waist to dance - why are you blushing?" The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she tried to fight the urge to giggle. "You carry me on your back all the time. I've slept in a tree with you and you had your arms around me. What's so difficult about dancing?"


"That was different - I was keeping you from falling out of the tree and only because Miroku and Sango had gone back to her village to fix Hiraikotsu. And," he added stressing the word, "Shippou was there."


He had put his hands out in front of him in protest and she took the opportunity to grab his wrists and place his hands on her hips. "If you don't dance with me, I'll have to find another partner." She removed her hands and put them on his shoulders. A soft melody played in the background and she started to move, but Inuyasha stood stiff as a board. "Now what is it?"


"It's so...intimate..." He was turning red.


Kagome rolled her eyes. "We've kissed. We've slept together (a/n: not like that you hentais!). We've taken care of each other. You're my best friend, Inuyasha. Kami, you've even seen me naked more times than I can count! And this is too intimate?"


He almost chuckled. She did have a point and it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy holding her like that, so he put his hands on her hips once more as she had instructed and allowed her to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “Is this right?” His face was still slightly red.


Kagome shivered slightly from the contact. There were so many times that she wished he would hold her in such a close manner and really mean it. Her heart belonged to him. It always had and it always would and deep within her she knew that some part of him felt the same way about her, but he had obligations, prior commitments, feelings for someone else. She lowered her eyes, studying the carpet beneath their feet, trying to mask the sudden depression that washed over her.


“Yeah, you’ve got it,” she answered, her voice sounding thick. Clearing her throat she pressed on with the lesson. “Now, just follow my movements. Tomorrow night you’ll have to be the one leading me.” With that she started to move slowly, swaying slightly to and fro as they moved across the carpeted floor with the music. She sighed when he started to get the hang of it and let him take the lead while she lay her head against his shoulder, listening to the soothing sound of his heart beating.


What? He looked down at the top of her head when he felt her move and lean against him and then smiled to himself. Maybe this dance wouldn’t be so bad after all if it let him get this close to Kagome. Let that Hobo guy try and take her away from him, he’d show that wimpy little human just where he stood in comparison to an inu hanyou. His hands tightened around her slim waist and held her closer inhaling her intoxicating scent.


“Inuyasha?” Her voice sounded drowsy and she really did not wish to move from where she was at that moment.


“Hmm?” His chin rested on top of her head and he seemed just as out of it as she was.


“The music’s stopped,” she pointed out, making no move to disentangle herself from his arms and he did not try to push her away although they had stopped moving and the music was no longer playing, announcers were instead trying to sell some product or another. Her grip tightened on him as well and she slowly raised her head to look up at him, wondering why he was allowing her to hold him that way. His head was bent, inclined towards hers, his eyes half shut. She was only vaguely aware of what they were doing, her mind seemingly shut down with the close proximity of their bodies. Her eyes drifted shut and her lips parted slightly as she stood on her tip toes to better reach him.


Inuyasha…


“Kagome! Oi, Kagome!” Souta called from out in the landing and then, without bothering to knock, barged into her room leaving the two teens to push away from each other in a hurried action that almost had Kagome falling over the foot of her bed. “Mama says that she needs you to go to the grocery store.”


The dark haired miko closed her eyes, her back turned to her little brother to hide the ferocious blush that reddened her face. “Tell her I’ll be right down.” She sighed as the door closed behind him and she heard Inuyasha shifting around. “I guess I’d better get going. Do you want to go?”


The hanyou was already moving towards the window, preparing to leap into the branches of the Goshinboku for a few quiet moments during which to calm down. He’d been so close to kissing her the way that he had always wanted to and to make matters better she seemed to want to kiss him back! “Nah.”


She watched as he disappeared through the window into the leaves of the Goshinboku and mentally vowed to extract proper punishment from her brother. Inuyasha had almost kissed her and then he had come and messed it up. She could kill Souta for that. I love it when he kisses me and he does it so rarely.


She didn’t see Inuyasha again until the next day when she woke to him standing over her bed looking down at her. “You gonna sleep all day or what?” She groaned at his gruff question and attempted to pull the covers over her head and roll over only to find his hand on the covers to keep them from going up any farther.


“Inuyasha, it’s Saturday. I’m supposed to sleep late on Saturday,” she muttered. “I was hoping you would too.”


He rolled his eyes and tugged the covers again managing to get them out of her grip and throw them off of her. While pink satin pajama pants covered her legs from the sudden gust of cool air, the matching pink tank top did little to protect her arms and she curled into a ball, trying to soothe the chill bumps that had arisen. “Keh, as if. I’ve been up for a while now, waiting on you. I even went back down the well to check on the others.”


She opened her eyes, casting him a sour glare. “You didn’t tell me you were going,” she accused, pouting. “I might like to have gone for a short trip.”


He shrugged. “You weren’t up, were you?” She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. “Get dressed and we’ll go, if you want. I thought you couldn’t travel the well, though with your Chichi-ue being here and all.”


Kagome sat up and stretched, yawning. “I don’t think an hour or so would hurt anything. If he calls or comes by, Mama can always tell him I went out with the girls or something.” Standing up she started making her bed, smoothing the sheet and comforter out. “But I’m going to have to think of something else soon. I know you don’t like my era and it’s not fair of me to keep asking you to stay.”


She moved past him to grab some clothes and go to the bathroom to change, but he grabbed her arm, holding her so she couldn’t leave. “Baka, I’d have stayed even if you hadn’t asked me to. Now hurry up and get dressed, wench. We still gotta go to that dance thing you know.”


A/N : I had originally intended on making this chapter a little longer by going into their visit through the well then ending it with the dance, but their visit back to the Sengoku Jidai took an…interesting…turn that ended up making this chapter way to long so I had to break it up into two parts.