InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Lives ❯ Time For Exploring And Schooling ( Chapter 10 )

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

"On the first charge, kidnapping in the second degree, how do you find the defendants?"

"Guilty."

"On the second charge, assault in the first degree, how do you find the defendants?"

"Guilty."

"On the third charge, rape in the first degree, how do you find the defendants?"

"Guilty."

:I put it like this cause I bet everyone loved that finding. :

Kagome went to take a bath and Inuyasha nearly crowed at the opportunity. He went into her room, turned on the television, and listened to everything carefully. When the portion of the trial came up, the newscaster said many things about it: a little info on the witnesses, a recap of the end of the trial, a few things that happened afterward, the car scene, several interviews, and even where the criminals were going now that they were in custody and sentenced.

Perfect.

AE Forty Two/Seventy Three

Kagome seemed to be in a much better mood when she entered her room than she'd been since he talked her through her dreams. She came in, dressed in her pajamas, her hair still wet and smiling brightly. In slight confusion Inuyasha stood, and she hardly wasted a second in shutting the door before she threw herself into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, and stood on her toes to kiss him.

While the kiss was hardly what could be considered unappreciated, he had to ask what the occasion was. But of course, there was that effect her gaze had on him, how her eyes showed her smile as much as her mouth did. It was purely captivating, he couldn't really look away.

"Kagome," he said.

"Hmm?"

"What's with the good mood?" he asked.

She grinned. "We won."

"We won," he repeated.

She nodded and flopped over on her bed. "We won. They're going to prison for years and now I can forget."

So that was her reasoning. Now he felt bad for continuing to think about their slaughters. The last thing he wanted was to distress Kagome, and surely any more media on those vagabonds would definitely remind her of their existence. Damn it.

He sat down with a sigh and stared down at his toenails. Maybe he should forget about them, too. Yeah, their lives were his for what they did to Kagome, but his life was Kagome's. She had more control over him than he liked to admit, but he knew that if she actually said the words - if she told him not to kill those bastards - then he wouldn't. Because she said so.

"Inuyasha," she said, and he glanced at her as she sat up.

"Yeah?"

"I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything you said on the stand." She reached over and took his hand, leaving him a small moment to marvel at the feel of her skin on his."For saying that you love me," she went on.

"I only said what was true," he replied, looking away and blushing.

"And that is what makes it better," she said as she leaned into him. "It's kind of interesting, though, the fact that you said it on the stand rather than any time beforehand." She was teasing him again. He recognized that tone.

He smirked at her. "Well, you told me once that knowing it is just as good as saying it. I proved it to you, didn't I?"

Her smile grew soft and she snuggled into his shoulder. "Repeatedly."

Whenever she acted thus he could never resist her. He shifted and brought her into his arms, stroking her hair and smirking at the dampness he found.

"There's another thing," she said as she drew back and looked up at him. "Something else I want to thank you for specifically."

"What'd I do this time?"

She laughed. "You're not in trouble. I wanted to thank you for saying that you weren't planning on killing. . .them."

He glanced away and shrugged.

He could practically feel her grow apprehensive. She went very still and paused for one long moment. "You're not, are you?" she said at length.

He shook his head. "I said I wasn't and I'm not," he assured her.

"Then why won't you look at me?"

"Because you'll see how much I want to kill them."

She turned him towards her. "I know you want to kill them," she told him. "I'm okay with that."

That was a surprise. She was alright with him wanting to kill humans? . . .Wow. "You're. . .okay with that?" he repeated.

She nodded. "I understand you just as much as I love you, Inuyasha. You're just as much a product of your time as I am. Your time's big on revenge."

He couldn't help but laugh. "You're a lot smarter than you act," he teased her. "What's your time big on?"

"Love," she said softly, smiling at him.

"Well that explains a lot."

She giggled. Not a moment later her mother knocked on the door.

"Kagome, dear? Dinner is ready. Come down, both of you."

Kagome smiled. "Dinner time."

~*~ That Night ~*~

It was hard to get to sleep that night. As was his usual, Inuyasha held Kagome close while she slept. But this time, he couldn't get comfortable, and her scent wasn't so soothing. It wasn't easy, staying still like he was. He wanted to do something, anything to burn his energy.

The day had been hectic, to say the least. The trial, what happened after, everything in between; it wracked his nerves. On the one hand, he couldn't just lie here and tap his fingers. On the other, he couldn't get up and leave Kagome without his presence. Not only that, be he didn't want to leave her. He'd already spent two weeks away and he could barely stay away from her for three days.

Then again, this was a somewhat perfect opportunity. The sounds of the city had calmed, relaxing now that those bastards were in prison. Everyone was likely sleeping easy, just as Kagome was. If ever there was a better time to explore the city more, he wasn't going to wait to find it.

He drew away from Kagome, being sure to keep her covered and still. He left out the window, shutting it behind him, and took a good whiff.

Where to go first?

After a while he didn't notice where he was, just where he was going. The city looked like on giant maze at night like this. He knew his forest better than any animal that lived within, but this city was so much different. The smells were more muddled, the shadows were shaped different. His hanyou senses gave him superb eyesight at night, but even that was a bit different than usual.

The buildings, the streets, the lights, the parked cars; it all contributed to the maze. As strange as it was, he couldn't help but admire it for its sheer detail. Nothing in his time compared to this. The buildings were huge, the lights were incredibly bright. The streets were some of the finest creations he'd seen yet, completely different from anything in his time. His roads were simply hard-packed over years of trampling on it. These were fashioned, built piece by piece.

And inside of the buildings. . . wow.

He could see through the windows, see the amazing contraptions inside. He read the signs; mechanics, groceries, restaurants, malls, motels, businesses of every kind. It was all incredible. He should go out with Kagome tomorrow and have her explain them, as long as she had nothing else to do, of course.

After a thorough self-guided tour of the city, he came back. Back to Kagome, straight back through the window. Once in, however, he tried to shake off the cool of the night. He patted his sleeves and shook out his hair, hoping to get rid of the chill so it wouldn't bother Kagome. He already had a challenge on his hands, simply to get back into the bed the way he was before he left without waking her. It wouldn't be easy, given that she had been pretty much draped over him in her sleep.

It really was a challenge, crawling back under her in such a way that she wouldn't wake. He seemed to pull it off fairly well, because she only sighed softly and curled a little against his side, tilting her head down a bit.

Problem now was how much sleep he'd get. It was already beginning to dawn, leaving only a few hours before Kagome's mother would wake them up. He sighed, surprised that he still couldn't sleep, but tried not to think about it. He'd probably come to the conclusion that his insomnia had something to do with Kagome, in any case. No use trying to figure it out. He didn't understand a damn thing he felt when it came to Kagome.

He watched the clock, practically counting the seconds as it ticked. Six. Six-fifteen. Seven-twelve. Seven-forty. Tick, tick, tick.

How annoying.

And sure enough, he heard footsteps in another room, Kagome's mother getting things ready to go, her Grandfather going through his chores, Souta already up and likely about to get off to school. It was after he heard Souta leave that Kagome's mother came up the stairs again to knock on Kagome's door.

"Inuyasha?"

She knew he was up. He knew she knew.

"Get Kagome up, please."

"Sure," he said to the door. Why not? He turned on his side and nudged Kagome until she rolled onto her back. "Kagome," he whispered. He rubbed her shoulder and she moaned lightly, turning away from him. She muttered something that was obviously a protest and he chuckled. "Get up, Kagome. Look, it's daylight."

"Daylight can shove it," she murmured.

Well, now. That wasn't something you heard from Kagome often. "Aw, were you having a good dream?"

"Spectacular."

He couldn't tell if her tone was flat or just reluctant. "Really? What was it about?"

She rolled back over and smiled at him. "I think you can take a guess."

"Did I share my ramen?"

She laughed. "You tease too much."

"You taught me how," he returned.

"I teach you too much."

He shrugged. "I had to learn somehow."

She laughed again and sat up. "My dream," she said, "was a memory. I was reliving it."

"What memory?" he asked, getting intrigued.

She grinned. "When you told me you read my story."

"I thought that was embarrassing."

"At the time, yes. But you said nothing about not liking it," she pointed out and poked his chest. "I take that as a good thing."

He smiled back. "It was absolutely horrible. I don't know why I bothered to read the whole thing."

"Liar."

"Prove it."

She gave another laugh and kissed him. "You always lie."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"No -"

"Yes, you do," she said again, firmer. "I still have the power to 's' you, mister."

"No you don't." He gestured the table beside the bed, where the prayer beads still lay.

"Oh." She kind of giggled. "I forgot about that."

He grinned. "So that means. . ."

She sat up straight. "I don't like that look you've got. . ."

"I could. . . " he went on.

"Nu-uh."

"Do. . ."

"No you can't," she said while backing into the wall.

"This!" he said, and reached out to run his claws along her side.

She laughed instantly and uncontrollably. He continued tickling her, being careful with his claws and laughing himself. This went on for a while, until Kagome lunged herself forward and flipped over the side of the bed, taking him with her. He ended up on top of her, both of them still laughing. After a few moments their laughter faded, followed closely by dual blushes.

And then Mama knocked on the door.

"Kagome, dear, are you alright?" she asked.

Kagome started laughing again.

Knowing full well that she couldn't talk while laughing, Inuyasha got up and said, "We're fine, we just. . .fell out of bed," he finished with a chuckle.

There was a pause. "Yes, well, the breakfast I made for you two is getting cold. Are you coming down or not?"

Crap, he recognized that tone. He said something he shouldn't have. "Yeah, we're coming down," he answered.

"Don't worry, Mama," Kagome said from behind him. "Inuyasha only holds me while I sleep. Nothing happened."

Inuyasha paled. "That was what she was thinking?" he asked sharply, glancing between Kagome and her door.

"That's what you implied," Kagome replied, patting his shoulder.

"How'd I imply that!"

"I'll explain it later. Right now, I'm a little too hungry to bother with you."

She left him sitting there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out he implied that the two of them were actually. . .what was the term Kagome used. . ?

He sighed. "I implied that we were making love cause I said we fell out of bed," he said to himself. Like there isn't other reasons why we were on the bed in the first place, he thought. "Oh well, might as well go eat."

~*~ Next Day (Out of Inuyasha's POV) ~*~

There was a report on the news that Mama caught, something about a break-in at a store. While she thought it was mildly interesting, it certainly didn't thrust out at her. At least, not until they listed off the items stolen. It was a large black trenchcoat, a thick black turtleneck sweater, some rather huge-looking army-issue boots, and what seemed to be really tough-knit black jeans along with a small tube of some black makeup.

The police said they weren't suspecting anything yet, but Mama always knew best. It sounded like somebody was planning on using those items for something devious, hence the monochromatic pattern of the items. They didn't say a thing about how the thief got into the building or how he managed to avoid being seen by the cameras, at least not yet.

But it was breakfast time. She got up and started cooking while simultaneously listening to whatever else the news said. Souta and Grandpa were down at pretty much the same time. Not too long after both were fed, she heard laughter and a thud from upstairs and knew that Kagome and Inuyasha were roughhousing again.

Yesterday Kagome finally agreed to going to a doctor to get a checkup and while it left her shaken, there was positive proof now that she was fine. Her blood test came up negative to any kind of disease or infection, which was really an incredibly wonderful bit of news. Kagome had spent the rest of the day being soothed by Inuyasha, who himself took a quick trip to his time to check up on things around bedtime.

Mama had no idea when he got back, but he seemed rejuvenated enough judging by the almost-controlled laughter from upstairs, so she didn't stress about it.

Kagome and Inuyasha came downstairs just as Souta grabbed his backpack. Being the mother she was, she immediately picked up on Kagome's heartfelt smile and couldn't help smiling back.

"And what did you two break this morning?" she asked.

"Mama," Kagome replied. "Honestly, not to trust us."

"Yeah, we broke something last night," Inuyasha agreed. "Nothing this morning."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped.

"What? It's true."

Kagome sighed.

Mama laughed. "I'll be sure to look your room over just in case," she promised.

"Don't bother," Inuyasha said as he sat down and grabbed his plate. "I already cleaned it up."

"After I practically sat you into it," Kagome pointed out.

"It wasn't my leg that broke it," he defended.

"But it was your fault."

"It was not."

"Yes it was."

"No it -"

"Yes it was."

Inuyasha pouted and then devoted himself to his food as Mama laughed again at their antics. Kagome took her seat beside Inuyasha while Grandpa finished up reading the newspaper thoroughly. Mama set down the last plate of food for Kagome, since Inuyasha had just grabbed the one closest to him, and attuned herself to the News again.

"Did you see this?" Grandpa asked, gesturing one of the pages. "Seems some nut broke into a military store and stole some stuff."

"Military?" Kagome echoed. "What'd he steal, a bazooka?"

Inuyasha coughed on his food. "Ba-zoo-ka," he repeated. "What's that?"

"A large rocket launcher," Mama told him. "I'll see if I can find a video with one in it."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"Actually," Grandpa interrupted, "he stole an outfit, along with face paint and boots."

"What, no dog tags?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha coughed again. "Dog tags!"

"Everyone in the military wears them in America," Mama informed him. "Around his neck so if he dies in battle, they'll know who he is. His name and regiment are on them."

"What happens if he loses his head?"

"They have another dog tag on a small ring that goes around his toe."

"And if he loses his feet, too?"

"I don't know."

"Inuyasha, shush," Kagome said. "Does it say why he took those things?"

Grandpa shook his head. "They have some theories about it."

"Any idea who did it?"

"Not that they said," Mama interrupted. "It was on the news. They figure it happened early this morning, before three, most likely."

"None of the cameras caught him," Grandpa was saying. "They didn't say how he got in, either."

"The place was supposedly impenetrable," Mama told her. "Whoever got in either had really good tools or knew the way."

"Sounds like the police are going to have their hands full," Kagome observed. "I'll bet this case goes cold within a week."

"Kagome," Mama sighed, "you shouldn't bet about these things."

"Because you never win or because I always do?" Kagome teased.

Mama smiled. "Both and neither. This is serious police work."

"Fueled by some nut? Yeah, they've got their work cut out for them."

Inuyasha laughed. "Who knew you could be this sarcastic?"

"You did," Kagome replied, poking him. "You practically told me I was."

"And you didn't listen until now?"

Mama laughed at them. "Finish eating, both of you," she said as she stood up. "Kagome, tomorrow you're going to start school again. The principal has convinced your teachers and classmates to be especially nice until you get caught up, so you shouldn't have any problem getting notes."

"Thank you, Mama," Kagome said, bowing her head.

"And Inuyasha," Mama went on, "don't you follow her."

"What!" Inuyasha snapped, looking up.

"You can't follow her to school."

"But something could happen!"

"She'll be at school with a thousand others and I can promise you that her friends won't leave her alone. I'll even go pick her up after school."

"But. . ."

"No."

"But she -"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said. "They're in prison. You can relax now."

He sighed, looking down at his plate. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, it's an order."

"Orders my ass," he muttered. He had a look on his face that Mama didn't like, but she had no idea what it meant.

~*~ At School Next Day ~*~

Inuyasha was hard pressed to let her go without him, but eventually he had to give in to save himself a good sitting. Now Kagome was walking to her class, pretty much bodyguarded by her closest friends.

From this time, anyway.

As she sat down in class, her mind wandered to the night Inuyasha left to his time for a bit. She didn't know when he got back, because by that time she'd been asleep, but she woke up cuddled in his arms again so she didn't bother worrying about it. He told her he'd seen Kaede about the prayer beads, who told him they'd work again if he put them back on. Kagome did the liberty of putting them around his neck, but because she knew Kaede didn't tell him the whole truth about it. If Inuyasha had put them back on, they wouldn't have worked for her anymore.

Which Kaede neglected to mention, thank the gods. It was a dirty trick, really, but Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that Inuyasha knew exactly what she did. Hence the little fight they got into as soon as she got them on again which resulted in knocking over her lamp and a few books.

It was actually fun to roughhouse with Inuyasha because he always let her win. They both knew that if he really wanted to win, Kagome really didn't have a prayer without the beads and her arrows. It touched her heart, too, because he always holding himself back. It just proved that much more how he loved her and was so willing to do anything to protect her.

In all honesty, she was shocked that it'd been three days since the trial and those men haven't ended up on the news, dead. It made her trust Inuyasha a bit more, and believe him when he said he wouldn't kill them. At this point, she knew he wanted to slaughter them more than anything else. Well, almost.

He readily admitted he'd rather make her happy than sad, and death always made her sad. Not that she wouldn't feel a certain satisfaction in knowing that her rapists had been killed in horrible, painful ways, but if it was proved that their deaths were a direct result of what they did to her. . .

That was a bit different.

Damn complicated feelings. Yuka poked her in the back and Kagome turned to see her.

"What?"

"Pay attention," Yuka whispered. "You drifted off again."

Kagome smiled. "Just thinking about my rude, possessive, violent boyfriend."

Yuka smiled back. "You forgot loving."

"I didn't forget it. I just failed to mention it."

Yuka giggled.

"Something you wish to share with the class?" the teacher said, an overly tall yet skinny man. "Kagome, Yuka?"

Both girls shook their heads and apologized.

So much for personal thinking, Kagome thought. I've got to concentrate. Sorry, Inuyasha, I'll just have to save thoughts of you for lunch.

~*~ Lunch Break, Cafeteria ~*~

Kagome sat in between Yuka and Eri with Ayumi in front of her. They chatted back and forth and admitted that they were wrong about Inuyasha, at least in part. Kagome accepted their apologies readily and told them all about his good qualities. How incredibly loyal and trustworthy he was, his disregard for his safety in proportion to how far into trouble she got, his determination.

She told them specifically about his immense sense of justice and good will. She couldn't count all the times he went out on a limb for somebody else, or how many times he came running at the sound of a call for help. It was who he was, despite how much he tried to hide it or deny it.

All three girls stared at her in awe once she finished. Ayumi - who tended to agree with her in any case - smiled broadly and looked like she was falling in love.

"He's really that great?" she asked.

Kagome smiled. "Once you get to know him. He doesn't let you know a thing about him until he trusts you, which takes a while. He still hasn't told me about his mother."

"What's wrong with his mother?" Eri asked.

"Well, she died when he was very young," Kagome told them. "I don't think he ever got over it. Myouga said she was a real beauty and never let Inuyasha think he was in any way wrong."

"Myouga?" Yuka echoed.

"Myouga's kind of like Inuyasha's vassal," Kagome tried, unsure how to explain it. "Usually when Inuyasha gets in a jam, Myouga can help him out. He knows a lot, but he's a total coward and never gets in a battle."

"Inuyasha is?"

"No," Kagome laughed. "Myouga's the coward. We tease him about it all the time."

"Kagome-san?"

She looked up. "Oh, Hojo-kun. Hi."

He glanced at the girls. "Can I sit down?"

"The only space is beside Ayumi," Kagome said, gesturing the spot. Ayumi scooted over to let Hojo take a seat.

"Kagome-san, I. . .don't really know how to say this," Hojo began.

"I'm sorry," Kagome said. "I should have told you about Inuyasha."

He shook his head. "I should have read your hints. All those times you were absent. . .they weren't because you were sick, were they?"

Oh, boy. "Not all of them, no." Understatement of the year.

"You skipped school to see him."

"Sort of." When did Hojo become perceptive?

"You love him, don't you?"

"Completely." At least that part was totally true.

Hojo dropped his head. "Did you ever use the stuff I gave you?"

"Some of it." That was true, too.

A pause had gone over their table and a few ones close to them. Every girl was watching Hojo and Kagome, and more than a few boys.

"So I never had a chance," Hojo finished.

"No, Hojo, you had a big chance," Kagome replied. "If Inuyasha had never made a move, I would've chosen you."

"Over Inuyasha and Kouga?" Eri asked.

"Hush," Kagome hissed at her.

Eri winced. "Sorry."

"Kouga?" Hojo asked.

Kagome shrugged. "He's from where Inuyasha's from. He claims to love me, too."

"So you had three suitors?"

"Essentially."

"Essentially?" Hojo echoed. "Did you or didn't you?"

Kagome glanced away. "Well. . ."

"Four," Yuka said. "Remember Miroku?"

Kagome winced. "Miroku doesn't really count."

"But he asked you to bear his child," Ayumi pointed out.

"But like I said, he asks all girls that," Kagome shot back. "He's not very particular as long as she's pretty."

"A total lecher," Eri agreed.

"Well, his hands do tend to wander. . ."

Hojo looked horrified. "Four, then. And Inuyasha was best to you?"

"Well, no," Kagome replied. "Everybody had their better qualities, it's just. . ."

"Just what?"

"I always knew I loved Inuyasha, of all of you," she admitted.

"You said nothing but bad things about him," Yuka pointed out.

"That's because he always argued about my going to school," Kagome told her. "So at school I was always in a bad mood about him. You weren't there the rest of the time, you didn't see all of his good points."

Hojo was staring at the table. "Are you going to marry him?"

She blushed. "I was hoping, but I'm not sure he'll see it as necessary."

"How is it not necessary?"

"He lives by a different set of rules. I suppose he would go through the marriage if I wanted him to, but I'm sure I'd get an earful about how it didn't matter first."

The bell rang then, saving them any further talk about marriage and Inuyasha and Hojo's broken heart. He looked heartbroken, anyway. He slumped his shoulders as he walked and Kagome realized he really thought she was right for him. Her heart went out to him and she spared a moment in her math class to pray for him, hoping he found the woman for him very soon.

It was the least she could do after letting him continue his affections, even though she knew all along that she didn't want to be with him.

:End Chapter:

I’m sure you’re all wondering about the delay. Well, as it turns out, I had absolutely no computer access yesterday, at all. Which is funny because I encountered four of them. So naturally, I couldn’t get online to update. Sorry about that but you can be sure that I’ll keep to my schedule as best I can. Not too much longer now and I’ll have finished the next chapter and it’ll be up and those of you who’re reading this for the second and/or third time, can breath a sigh of relief.

Well, there ya have it. What exactly do you have? I have no idea. XD

In any case, here we have the next chapter. I tried to make it funny everywhere I could so the serious parts wouldn't be too serious. I hate it when my reviewers tell me they cried. Makes me all sad.

:'( I didn't mean to make you cry! :Cries:

Okay, back to the point. What was my point? . . . . . .You don't know, either? Well, now we're on the same page. . . . . . .Same page of what? Some book, I guess. I never bothered to look it up, ya know. . . . .You don't know? Seriously, I need a better talking partner than Muse.

Who's Muse? Gee, guess. He's a cat-man in my head, usually in chibi form. He's pretty damn hot, if I don't say so myself. ;-)

Yet I did say so myself. . .who invented that phrase?

Sorry, rambling. I do that in case you haven't noticed. Eh heh.

Well, for today I'm pretty much clueless about how to threaten you, so I'll let my PA do it for me. Attack, my pretties! :Insane cackle: Mwa ha ha ha haaa!

Naraku: Ku ku ku ku ku! :Swipes at pedestrians:

Me: Naraku! How'd you get out! Where's your chain!

Naraku: :Looks around: You took it off me?

Me: I did not you liar! :Chains him back up in my backyard: Now stay, boy!

Naraku: :Cries: This is unjust! Unjust I say!

Me: Tell it to the judge.

Naraku: I was. :Points at a judge:

Me: What the - when'd we get in a courtroom?

Naraku: Some time ago. Ahem! :Straightens his papers and starts accusing me of stuff:

Me: Well dang it. See ya! :Waves while handcuffed: