InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Treading Water ❯ 17- Another Day In Wonderland ( Chapter 17 )

“Oh, Kimmy! Come on girl!” Yash called. Dora gasped loudly as the large bird of prey materialized from thin air swooped down on her and Yash at a speed faster than the tiny parrot, Kimmy, was capable of.

 

Yash stuck his arm out and the hawk sunk its claws into his leather glove.

 

“Wow.” Dora and the children of the audience were all staring at him wide-eyed.

 

Yash glared half-heartedly at the bird as it nuzzled his hair with its beak and began grooming him.

 

“You aren't Kimmy.” He admonished playfully.

 

The bird trilled gently at him, the sound easily picked up by his microphone and getting broadcasted throughout the auditorium. He was met by a chorus of cutesy `aw's.

 

“Everyone, this is Zeus. Zeus, say hi to the people.” The bird turned to the audience and bobbed its head energetically in greeting.

 

“Good boy, Zeus. Go on.” He threw the bird into the air and turned back to the little girl to thank her for her help and let her know she could go back and sit down.

 

He went and stood center stage, instantly commanding the audience's attention.

 

“Now, most of you who come to these shows are used to seeing birds and dogs and perhaps a cat or two.” As he said that two dogs trotted out and wandered across the stage. Then a cat sashayed across the stage going in the other direction, making the audience laugh quietly. “Because that's what was safe. But every day youkai discover more and more jobs where we can use our inherent abilities to enhance certain fields beyond what was formerly possible. For any of you wondering, these are real.” He said as he pointed to his ears and flicked them a few times to prove his point.

 

“I have the blood of the inu youkai. Dog demons. As such I can understand your dog when he barks. And just the way I can understand them, they can understand me. I can talk to creatures in the canine family the same way you can talk to your friends and family.” The children of the audience began looking at him like he was their new hero.

 

“My ability, and the abilities of those like me, have made things safer and simpler. Did you know film crews used to have to shoot a scene twice if a man was supposed to be in a scene with a dangerous animal? They would shoot once with the man, and then again with the animal. And during the course of the film the man and the animal would most likely never even be in the same room! All the work would be done by the visual effects and editing teams. But now that we can tell the animals exactly what we want, and ask them nicely to do it, there's no safety issue anymore. Now it's just two professional actors in any given scene. One on two legs, and one on four.”

 

“Now I'm going to ask you all to please keep that in mind during the show. I will be bringing out some dangerous animals but I'm going to ask you not to be afraid. They will listen to me. I would also like to stress that these animals like being actors. But most of the animals of the world hate this kind of attention. NEVER approach dangerous wild animals. They will NOT be as nice as my friends.”

 

He saw little heads bob as most of them took his words to heart and absorbed the warning. He saw a few older boys sneer at the warning and fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing it was only a matter of time before those slackers were on the next `When Animals Attack' special.

 

InuYasha whistled and watched as a large wolf sauntered on stage without a leash of any kind. He heard the little gasps as his audience saw concrete proof that he had told the truth. The wolf sat a few feet away and gazed at InuYasha lazily.

 

“Everyone I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Arashi.”

 

The wolf wuffed at the hanyou and Yash wuffed back, much to the amusement of the crowd.

 

`I don't want to.'

 

`You wanna eat?'

 

The wolf snorted in InuYasha's direction, got up and pulled on a lever at the edge of the stage with his teeth. The lever set off a chain of events. A ball rolled down a track until it bumped into a button, the button released a pendulum that knocked over a bigger ball that rolled down a curly-Q type rail and depressed another button at the bottom. That last button activated a pulley system that lifted the cover off a dinner plate that usually held a treat or two.

 

Today the plate held a chunk of meat the size of a child's fist. The wolf snapped up the meat then looked to Yash, eyes holding his grateful curiosity.

 

“Usually all of our animals receive `treats.' But the treats were designed for dogs. A dog treat to a wolf is not even half a bite. So I told my boss that Arashi would stop performing unless we fed him better. But I forgot to tell Arashi.” He said with a smile.

 

He repeated the story for the wolf with growls and barks and yips and was promptly pounced upon as the wolf pinned him to the carpeted stage and proceeded to lick him to within an inch of his life. The crowd, that had become worried when the wolf leapt with such speed, began laughing as Yash pleaded with the fur bag to get off.

 

He turned his head to the crowd and asked, “You think he's thankful?”

 

Arashi laid down on top of the hanyou, his tail wagging happily and proceeded to bathe every part of skin he could reach.

 

`I love you.'

 

`I noticed.'

 

The rest of the show went as planned. The little boy came out with a snake wrapped around him, the little girl helped with a skit including three different dogs.

 

~o~o0o~o~

 

Kouga opened the microwave door and pulled the popcorn bag out, then dumped it's contents into an oversize plastic bowl. He took the bowl and grabbed the drinks and headed back into the living room.

 

Kagome hit the play button on the dvd player remote control and sat back on the comfy blue couch.

 

Kouga sat next to Kagome and put the bowl into her lap so he could lean on her. Her brother was in bed and her mother had retired early to give them some time alone.

 

It was some old horror movie, Kagome wasn't really paying attention. Kouga loved them, and she didn't really care. Living in a world where demons were real made the old movies seem silly to her. The part that she liked was cuddling with Kouga. They didn't need to talk. They were touching, they were comfortable with each other. Kagome smiled, for all his shortcomings she was comfortable with him.

 

Some tall man with a pale mask flashed onto the screen with a large knife in his hands. Kagome's eyes were gazing toward the tv, but she was looking inward. She was imagining the future, what her future with Kouga might look like.

 

She knew she wanted kids, she knew she wanted pets. She pictured the way her children might look, and then how they would look if Kouga were the father. They both had black hair, they both had blue eyes. The only real question was what shade of blue the children would have. Kagome smiled a small smile. She loved children, she couldn't help it.

 

A few years ago she had watched a political debate and decided she hated it, hated politics. The lies and deceit, right to your face. But the happy smiling faces of children, before they learned how to lie convincingly, always lifted her heart.

 

Sometime during the movie Kouga put the popcorn on the floor and placed himself in Kagome's lap. She smiled and went back to her daydreams.

 

She couldn't help it. Despite all his faults she cared about him. And I can train him, and then he'll be perfect. She thought to herself as the terrified children on the screen led the skeptical officer to the log cabin in the dark forest where their friend had been hacked to bits earlier that night.

 

Kagome's smile widened slightly as she began running her fingers through Kouga's bangs and he groaned lightly in appreciation.

 

The only thought that gave her pause was that she hadn't been expecting him to make that particular noise, she had expected a purr-like growl. Odd.

 

~o~o0o~o~

 

Kikyou stretched, reaching for the ceiling before stripping out of her clothes and sauntering into the bathroom. She turned on the faucets and began filling the tub before wandering naked into the hallway to get herself a towel from the linen closet.

 

She heard the front door open and close and looked at the clock. Almost five o'clock. She hadn't expected him to be home from work so early, he usually got stuck in traffic. Kikyou scampered into the bathroom so he wouldn't see her naked butt walking around his apartment.

 

She blushed as she thought about how she must have looked, walking around without a stitch on. She quickly turned off the water and sunk into the tub, hissing softly as the hot water hit her skin, turning it a delicate rosy pink.

 

“Kikyou?” She heard his voice call from the living room.

 

“In the bath.” She called back. She smiled to herself. Her life had taken a turn for the worse and she didn't know where she would be if he hadn't walked into her life.

 

She heard footsteps outside the door and sunk down into the bubbles until she was decently covered. When his shadow fell across her she looked up and smiled sweetly.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hi.” She replied, her smile growing slightly as she saw him smirking down at her.

 

~o~o0o~o~

 

Kagome placed the movie back in its case and handed it to Kouga as he put on his jacket and headed toward the door.

 

“Kags, you set for this weekend?”

 

Kagome's heart leapt. The dance was Friday. Did Kouga change his mind? Was he really going to the dance with her? Her dazzling smile hit Kouga full force and his smile faltered, Kagome was instantly confused.

 

“Strange girl. I've never seen a girl so happy about driving cross-country.”

 

Kagome's face morphed into utter shock and confusion.

 

“Uh, remember? I left a message for you on your cell last week. You and I are flying to New York Friday night. We're driving Ginta and Hakkaku out here with all their shit. Oh, you want a window or isle seat? I'm going to buy the tickets online when I get home.”

 

Kagome's jaw worked soundlessly for a minute as sadness and anger chased each other like a rabid dog chasing a kitten around her mind. Finally the words made their way out.

 

“Kouga…The dance is Friday night. I've been asking you to go since Halloween. I've already bought my dress and our tickets.” Her fingers twisted together as she explained, feeling bad. A dance seemed trivial compared to helping family move, but it wasn't her family and her plans were months older than his. How could he give her less than a week's notice that they were going cross country!? Through it all the pain that he had brushed off her plans and made his own radiated slowly through her heart.

 

Kouga looked at her a moment before opening his mouth.

 

 

 

|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|

 

 

Hai - Yes

Nani - What?

Onegai - Please

Konoama - Bitch

Temee - Bastard

Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you.

Ookami - Wolf

Oi - Hey

Nani shiyagaru - What the fuck?

Kiba—Fang

Tsume—Claw

Shinkuu—Vacuum

Arashi - Storm, Tempest

 

A/N: If you think Kikyou's weird now just wait, my real life Kikyou was…unique. Muhahaha Do you guys think Inu and Kikyou are together or did I just find a way to screw with you? I'll tell you…eventually. =) Just so you guys know, Kouga is based on a real person, a real ex of mine. And just like any real person he's not 100% jerk or 100% sweetheart, don't be surprised if your own feelings about my written character take a roller coaster ride. This is still an Inu/Kag fic, we just gotta get there.

 

Alatero - I don't know what to tell you about the pictures except keep trying/use another browser if you have another on the comp. They're very pretty. I know one of my biggest writing weaknesses is that I hate describing stuff. Action and dialogue are always front and center in my stuff, I try to give you guys pictures so I don't have to kill myself describing everything.

 

Wendy - Growing up where I did I was a 4 minute metro ride to a theme park, and every year our parents would buy us yearly passes. A theme park was our `local hangout.' And then after high school a friend's fiancé worked at another theme park. They're like bars to me, it's where I meet people! Lol Don't make me feel bad, I don't want to make you late! Lol

 

Hehe hope you had fun with your parties Star. =)

 

Thyme_cat - I'm glad you like the fic. I also love the ideas you had/have. It's nice to see people using brainpower to think about my writing. Yes, Shippou and Sess will be in this fic, not just yet though. It's called delayed introduction/entry and I like using it to bring characters in. I don't like some fics where in the first chapter you meet EVERYONE and it's a lot to digest in one chapter.

 

*hugs Courtney* Quit apologizing for not reviewing within 6 hours of my posting! I'm still flattered you think my writing is worth commenting on each and every update. You aren't obligated to review, the fact that you do it at all makes me grateful, don't feel bad for having a life.

 

Oh...my...god...

 

I just realized that my rapid-fire reposting probably spammed some of you so badly...

 

I am SO SORRY.

 

 

 

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