InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ Scroll Twelve: Transitions ( Chapter 12 )

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

Note: A chapter where you just have to go “awwww” By the by, it’s gonna start the two weeks after the end of the previous chapter, but by the next chapter, it'll be some months later. Got it?


Scroll Twelve: Transitions


Sango stretched her aching muscles, popping her back and shoulders as she did so. They had finally started working on the house she and Miroku would call home. The good thing about living in the village (as well as being one of the rescuers of the Shikon no Tama) was that everyone who could, was willing to pitch in and help them build. It would have taken ages to complete their home if they would have had to do it themselves.


She untied the ribbon that held her hair back and gently ran her fingers through the tangled locks. Kaede had already retired and they were now preparing for bed as well. Smiling lightly, she looked down at the pink and red plaid pajamas that Kagome had given her before they had returned through the well. They were a lot more comfortable than wearing her kimono to bed (a necessity since she shared the common room of Kaede’s hut with the monk, fiancé or not).


Miroku shook out his bed mat and laid it on the floor, glancing over at the taijiya who had been watching him. He grinned and gave her a playful wink, successfully earning a blush from her while she pointedly looked in the other direction. Chuckling, he tossed a feather pillow at her (another gift from Kagome) and dropped his own on the floor.


She jumped when the soft mound of down feathers hit her shoulder and made a face at the monk. With Shippou already asleep, nestled up to Kirara, and Kaede in her own room, she was more comfortable being playful with him. Much like Inuyasha, she preferred to not have an audience if she let her guard down.


“If you get cold, you are welcome to come share my blanket,” he offered, eyes glittering with mischievousness. Of course, the chances of her becoming cold were slim seeing as the weather was still considerably warm. So much so that they had extinguished the fire after dinner because the hut had become too hot.


“We aren’t married yet, Houshi.” She lay back and covered herself with a light blanket. “No dessert before the main course, as Kagome would say.”


“I wouldn’t dream of it, my dear.” He chuckled again and closed his eyes only to open them again a few minutes later when he heard someone moving around. He sat up and looked to find Sango kneeling beside him with her blanket over one arm and her pillow tucked under the other.


“Is everything okay?” He frowned curiously at the way she was looking at him.


Nodding her head once, quickly as if coming to a decision, she laid her pillow next to his and sat, spreading her blanket over her legs. “If your hands stray anywhere that they shouldn’t, this won’t happen again until after we’re married, got it?”


He held his hands up in surrender. “You have my word.” Leaning forward he kissed the tip of her nose and then gently took her mouth in a short, chaste kiss. “Goodnight, Sango.”


She felt a shiver run down her spine and smiled slightly as she lay next to him. She loved it when he did that...


When Kaede entered the common room the next morning, she found a kitsune cub and a neko sitting in shocked silence at the foot of the couple’s bed. Though they had started out under their own blankets, lying next to each other but not touching, sometime during the night, Sango had edged closer to Miroku and he had put his arm around her so that her head lay on his shoulder as she curled at his side.


The old miko put a finger to her lips and motioned for the two demons to go outside. Certainly the young couple would not want to be discovered like this and she had no desire to cause them embarrassment when they were actually getting along.


Seeing the child and his companion out the door, she returned to her room and prepared to come out again, this time making more noise than necessary.


The two young adults sat up quickly and the taijiya crawled away from the monk, a blistering blush painting her cheeks scarlet.


Kaede cackled and gave them both a knowing look. “Did you sleep well?”


“Amazingly so, Kaede-sama,” Miroku answered, his lecherous expression focused on Sango who glared at him and stood. Moments later he was nursing a nasty bump on his head and Sango was gone to bathe before breakfast.


“I can’t believe it.” Eri shook her head as she and Kagome walked towards the shrine from the high school. They had a biology test the next day and the two of them planned to pull a late night study session, cramming for it. “You actually forgave him? After all he did?”


“I didn’t forgive him - not yet,” Kagome repeated for the umpteenth time. “I just gave him the chance to redeem himself and made our relationship more civil.” She hugged her notebook to her chest. “Just so we’re not screaming at each other all the time.”


The other girl shook her head again. “Geez, Kagome, you’ve got to be the nicest person I know. How do you keep people from walking all over you?”


Kagome glared at her. “I beg your pardon? Just what are you talking about?”


Her friend rolled her eyes towards the heavens. “Do I have to spell it out? First there was the two timing boyfriend who kept dumping you for his ex -“
“You know that was Inuyasha and you know it wasn’t like that. I told all of you the whole truth months ago.”


She earned a glare for having interrupted Eri’s speech. The short haired girl continued without comment. “ - who kept dumping you for his ex girlfriend. Not only that, but he was constantly berating you and violent towards others and wild. Yeah, we know the truth now, but we didn’t then and we all thought you were insane to keep going back to him. Once forgiven is one thing, but every other week is something else completely. Then there’s the wolf that kidnaped you and tried to force you to be his mate -“


Kagome blushed, but managed to make a face at her. “Kouga only did that because I could see the Shikon Shards and he needed me to spot the shards to save his pack from the Birds of Paradise. And the whole mate thing was because he wanted to use me as a shard detector.”


Eri waved her hand towards her. “See? That’s what I’m talking about! He wanted to use you Kagome. And you act like it was nothing.”


“Well it’s not like I was actually going to go along with him! I mean, his attention was sweet and all, but I wouldn’t even let Inuyasha use me as just a shard detector. I wasn’t about to let Kouga do it.” Her face was bright red by this time.


“That’s not the point, Kagome. The point is that those are things that most people would have a really hard time forgiving. You’re not most people, I know, but you have to admit what your pop did was worse than that.”


Kagome sighed, shoulder sagging. “I had to do it, Eri-chan. If I didn’t, how would I have been any better than him? I tried for years to get him to be a part of my life, you know that. Now that he’s trying, if I shut him out, I’d be doing exactly what he did to me and Souta for all that time. I’m better than that, Eri-chan. I’m above that.”


Defeated, Eri sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. I wouldn’t have been able to do it, but I guess that’s what makes you so special. Oh! Are we still on for that double next weekend? You said you’d talk to Inuyasha about going to dinner with me and Ryu-chan, remember? Ryu really wants to meet him.”


Kagome grimaced, having forgotten about the double date invitation. She’d been so distracted that she’d neglected to give the information to Inuyasha and attempt to talk him into it. But Eri was looking forward to it and it would be fun....


“Don’t worry, we’ll be there.”


“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Inuyasha mumbled as Kagome dug through the chest that held his modern clothes. Souta had generously given up a small piece of his own closet space to house the hanyou’s attire since her own closet was overflowing as it was. “She’s gonna be the only one there, right?”


Kagome giggled and shook out a pair of black slacks to rid them of a few wrinkles. “I promise Inuyasha, it’s just going to be the two of us, Eri-chan and her fiancé, Ryu-kun.” She set the pants on the bed and managed to pull out a brand new, white dress shirt. The top was still wrapped in its package and she tossed it on the bed too. “Did we buy you any belts? You need a belt…I know I can’t make you wear a tie, but you really should have a belt…”


Inuyasha ignored her mumbling and crossed his arms. He gave the clothing on the bed a skeptical look and scowled slightly. She was picking out the most uncomfortable of the clothes she’d bought. “And this Ryu is a dragon youkai?”


“Partial…aha!” She squealed in delight upon finding her brother’s stash of belts and dug through them until she found a few that were large enough for Inuyasha. Picking out a black one she threw the rest back in the drawer. “He’s got less youkai in him than you do. You’re a half daemon so I’d say he’s about an eighth or so.”


She tossed the belt with the rest of the clothes and slipped past him. “Ryu-kun is taking us to a fancy restaurant so please wear the clothes that I picked out?”


“Feh, whatever.”


“Inuyasha…”


“I’m gonna wear the stupid clothes, okay? Just get outta here so I can change.” He motioned to the door with an irritated expression and waited for her to close the door behind her.


Kagome shut her door behind her and unwrapped her hair, using the towel to further dry the curling strands. She’d just gotten out of the shower and was about to get ready for dinner that night.


When Eri had first suggested a double date between herself and Ryu and Kagome and Inuyasha, she had been a bit nervous. This had been because she feared Inuyasha would refuse. Despite his rearing in Sengoku Jidai and relative newness to her era, he adjusted to the change well and seemed rather comfortable on the streets…For the most part. He occasionally found things that he considered gush worthy, like the time she had taken him grocery shopping and he had been awed at the fact that so much food was available in one place. It was fun to see that look of wonder and amazement in his eyes.


Smiling to herself, she took a brush and started combing the knots out of her hair. Another thing about him being on her side of the well was that he could relax and let is guard down. When they were in the feudal era, he had to be constantly alert and wary of danger. There was hardly a day that went by that they weren’t fighting some demon or another. On top of that, few people outside of Kaede’s village accepted a hanyou. On her side of the well his biggest threat was her friends and their questions.


Swift fingers parted her hair and wrapped the separated strands around a hot iron to give them a more defined curl. Spraying them with a tad of hair spray so that the curls would hold, she bound her hair in a tail just behind her right ear. As a finishing touch, she pulled the hair over her shoulder and attached a silk red flower to the band.


Looking around her desk she found her make up kit and gave it a thoughtful look. She never wore much, but a little highlight here and there wouldn’t hurt. That decided, she applied a hint of eyeliner and light blue shadow, rouge and a shimmering gloss.


I love going out…it gives me an excuse to dress up, she thought with a grin and pulled tonight’s dress out of the closet.


“To the left nii-chan, the left!” Souta exclaimed excitedly as he leaned over Inuyasha’s shoulder. “You gotta shoot at him!”


“I am shooting, damnit! The bastard just won’t die!” Inuyasha growled and punched the buttons of his controller with more strength. “Take that ya piece of shit.”


Kagome cleared her throat, standing in the living room doorway. Her hands were on her hips and she sent a venomous glare at the victorious hanyou. “Watch how you speak around my brother. The last thing I need is another you running around.”


Both boys looked around and stared, mouths agape. Even the ‘death music’ from the television wasn’t able to draw their attention away from her and she silently smirked.


Tear drop shaped opals hung from her ears. Her dress was a blood red halter dress, 40’s styled, with a swoop back that swooped to her waist. The skirt pleated and billowed out slightly, the hem coming to her knees. The vee cut of the neck managed to hide and expose at the same time, showing the barest hint of cleavage but certainly not enough to be considered indecent. On her feet were red heels.


“Wow, nee-chan…you look…wow…” Her brother fumbled for words. He’d never seen her this dressed up in his life. Usually the clothes she wore reflected her age, but in this outfit she looked older and more mature.


Inuyasha blinked, pulled out of his stupor as a blush formed over his nose and cheeks. “Yeah…he…uh…yeah…” Stumbling to his feet he looked away from her, his eyes drifting to the television though they didn’t really see the screen. “Yeah, well, I guess we better get going, huh?”


She smiled brightly, appreciating the silent compliments their looks had given. “You’re right. I took longer than I thought and now Eri-chan’s going to be waiting. I hope they made our reservations…”


They met Ryu and Eri in front of Chez Rouge, arriving exactly on time after a hurried bus trip to the Shinigawa district. Hitomi Ryu was a handsome man, Kagome had to admit, with his odd looks. His hair was a rusty red, several shades darker than Shippou, and he had bright blue eyes that sparkled when he laughed. A row of three small, silver hoop earrings dangled from one ear and she could just see the nose of his dragon tattoo peeking from above his shirt collar. When she’d first met him, she hadn’t been able to believe he and Eri had anything in common.


The couples bowed to one another and the girls squealed over the other’s outfits before introductions were finally made.


“And here I was thinking on the pure ones were gone,” Ryu commented as he opened the door and held it for the rest of them. “I guess you got lucky, huh?” He had been told that Inuyasha was a hanyou, but Eri had promised not to tell about his being from Sengoku Jidai unless Kagome or Inuyasha wanted to do so themselves.


“Huh? Yeah, I guess.” The hanyou answered with a shrug. He didn’t necessarily see it that way, but realized that things were different in Kagome’s time and, obviously, the rift between human and youkai was not as large as it was in his time. “Lucky?”


Ryu was nodding. “Yeah, someone like you would have abilities several times better than someone like me, right? I mean, like, my great grandfather five times removed, was a fire dragon youkai. The youki gets diluted every generation so my dad’s abilities are slightly better than mine, but my visions slightly better than most people and my hearings a bit more acute and I’m just a bit stronger. You must be like Superman or something.”


Eri and Kagome walked ahead of them, going to the Matre’d’s stand and inquiring about their reservations. While he found a waiter to have them seated, Kagome looked over her shoulder at the two guys.


“You know, I’ve come to expect hero worship from Souta, but I thought Ryu would be above that.” She grinned as Eri giggled.


“When I told him that Inuyasha was hanyou, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning,” Eri informed her. “He said that his family was always just like whatever when it came to their magical heritage, but he thought it was...what were his words...oh, 'fucking awesome'."


"And you all used to think Inuyasha was a punk," Kagome teased giving the boys a sideways glance. "What would you call Ryu?"


Eri followed her gaze and then smiled mischievously. "A work in progress."


When the two guys realized their partners were giggling at them they gave similar looks of scowling contempt and grumbled about women under their breath, quietly agreeing with one another. The girls took their hands as the waitress came and showed them to their table.


Their table was a booth in a corner by the front window. Inuyasha and Kagome took one side while Ryu and Eri took the other. Though Inuyasha opened a menu to look over, reading it proved nearly impossible. Less than half of the words were in legible katakana/hiragana and the rest were foreign words he couldn't read.


Eri made a face, looking over her own menu. "I can't even pronounce half this stuff," she said rolling her eyes. "Why can't they just call it clam soup or grilled steak?"


"Because these names are prettier." Kagome answered, grinning. "You have to admit escargot and caviar sounds a lot more appetizing than snails and fish eggs. Though, I don't see how anyone could eat them even with the trumped up name." She and Eri both shivered in disgust.


"May I get you something to drink?" A male waiter with gray hair, pulled back into a ponytail and a starched tuxedo that looked like it had been ironed while one his body approached their table and offered a tight smile. "The house wines tonight are a stiff Cabernet, Pino Griggio and 1893 Chantilly."


In a moment of splurging spontaneity, they ordered a bottle of Chantilly for the table and drank it with their meals. By the time they finally left, Kagome figured the staff of Chez Rouge were only minutes from kicking them out. The Chantilly was gone by the end of the meal and at least two of the group members were feeling the affects. Never having been a drinker except for a couple sips during a ceremony or a glass from a store-bought bottle at a friend's party, Kagome wasn't all that great at holding her alcohol. While she wasn't drunk, she was feeling rather relaxed.


Eri, on the other hand, was smashed. It seemed her tolerance was even lower than Kagome's while Ryu seemed to be able to toss back an entire bottle without a seeing a single side affect. Inuyasha had felt a little more relaxed while in the restaurant, but as soon as they were on the streets, his defenses went back to normal and he was as alert as ever.


By the time they'd arrived back at the shrine, Kagome had taken her shoes off and was being carried, bridal style, up the shrine steps. When he put her down at the front door she yawned and smiled at him, touching his cheek with her hand. "Thank you."


Somewhere in her mind she knew that it would have been the perfect time to tell him the truth; that somewhere along the way, she'd fallen in love with him. It was quiet, dark, they were alone, and if worse came to worse, she could always blame her actions on the wine later. ut the words died on her tongue and the opportunity slipped through her fingers.


"Kagome? Is that you?"


She smiled again and then turned away from the hanyou, sliding the door open and stepping int the house. "It's us, Jii-chan. We just got home."


Kagome hadn't ben the only one who regretted allowing such a perfect opportunity slip away. Even after two weeks, a certain hanyou was still mentally scolding himself for not speaking.


“Higarashi-sama?” Inuyasha called uncertainly as he slid the door closed behind him. The first week after their dinner he had spent most of his time hanging out with Ryu while Kagome was in school. He’d spent the past week in Sengoku Jidai returning only to get Kagome since she was back to spending the weekends on his side of the well.


“I’m in here, dear,” she answered. When she saw him come in, she smiled. Over the years he had become like her own child and she felt the same motherly devotion for the hanyou that she felt for Souta and Kagome. “Would you like some chocolate chip cookies? They’re fresh out of the oven and there’s milk in the refrigerator.” She was currently spooning more dough out of a bowl into a pan.


He eyed the cookies and considered postponing this conversation while he feasted, but his nerves had his stomach tied in knots. “No, thanks.” He sat at the table, stuffing his hands in the sleeves of his haori in his usual posture. “I…I wanted to talk to you…without Kagome…about something…about someone, actually…it’s kinda about Kagome…”


She had bent to put the pan in the oven and stood, turning to face him, taking in his sullen expression. “Nothing bad, I hope?”


“Probably.” He grew even sulkier. “Most people would think so, anyway…”


“Oh dear.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and took a seat across from him. “Well, let’s have it.”


“It’s just…I mean…I needed to ask…” He muttered a few curses under his breath and looked away. A light blush tinted his cheeks and he fell silent.


After a few moments Keiko realized he wasn’t going to continue and smiled gently. “You’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Ryu-kun. The two of you have become friends?”


He gave her a sideways glance, his shoulders relaxing in relief as she easily shifted the conversation. Know he knew where Kagome got it from. “Yeah, I guess.”


“So, the two of you have been hanging out. Doing what? Kagome said you’ve been rather secretive lately…More than usual.” She smiled gently, trying to ease him on.


“He’s been showing me around…teaching me the customs of this era, stuff like that.” His back was straight and he’d gone stiff again, looking at the wall behind her. He'd admitted the truth to Ryu the day after their dinner. Or, rather, Kagome had given Eri the okay to tell him.


“What sort of customs?”


“Marriage customs.” The growled answer was barely loud enough for Keiko to catch.


The older woman nodded in understanding. She had assumed the situation would arise eventually. Kagome and Inuyasha had been together for a long time and it was obvious that he felt something towards her daughter.


“I think I understand what you wanted to ask me, Inuyasha,” she told him gently. “You wish to ask me if you can marry Kagome.”


He nodded in confirmation, but didn’t look at her. “I know you’re supposed to ask the girl’s father, but I figured it’d be better to ask you since he’s not really been around.”


Keiko stood and shifted positions so that she was sitting in front of Inuyasha, on his side of the table. “You’ve been traveling the well to this era for quite some time and you have become like a member of our family. I have always thought of you as one of my own children and I would be proud to call you my son.”


She touched his arm and gave him a loving smile. “Kagome loves you very much and I know that if you were to ask her, she would marry you in a heartbeat. She wants to be with you more than anything in the world.”


Keiko leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a light embrace. “You have my blessing,” she told him quietly and then pulled away.


“Inuyasha, I am a sword smith, not a silver smith. I make swords. I do not make jewelry.” Totousai huffed and went back to poking his fire. “Find yourself another demon.”


“Ah, come on jijii, how hard can it be?” The hanyou growled angrily.


“What do they have to look like?”


Inuyasha held out his smallest finger. “Two have to be that size. One of them is just a band with this in it.” He tossed the youkai a blue stone. “The other should just be a simple band. The third should look like the second, but big enough to fit this finger.”


The old man stood and looked at Inuyasha’s hand with furrowed brows. “Alright. I’ll see what I an do. Where’d you get that stone?”


The half daemon smirked. “Myouga got it for me. I didn't ask and he didn't tell.”


“Come back in a week. I may have the first two ready for you to look at.”