InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Lives ❯ Fighting Is Too Healthy! ( Chapter 15 )

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

"About me?"

She smiled. "As always."

To her surprise, he blushed a little. "You always think about me?"

~*~ Same Day, Higurashi Shrine ~*~

Grandpa gave her a stern look before he turned and went along with his daily duties of the shrine. Mama sighed, somehow just knowing that Grandpa had known she wasn't listening.

Maybe she should stop feeling for a murderer and hope someone catches him before he develops a taste for death. Or rather, for inducing incredible pain and torture, and then killing. . . Still, it was hard not to feel bad for him and his loss.

~*~ Phantom ~*~

"Funny, I seem to remember you chucking it because Kyomo kept using it against you," he shot back.

In a fuming fury, Sesshomaru left the room, smashing the door when he closed it and making dents as he struggled to control his rage and stomped down the hall.

"That's three hundred twenty seven: Me; five hundred eighty two: Him," he tallied. "Damn, he's still smoking me. . ."

~*~ Following Night ~*~

"You should take your food and hers upstairs," Mama told him in answer. "Make sure she eats, and try to calm her down. None of us had a choice in this, but I'll fight to include you in her sessions."

Inuyasha nodded, not fully certain what all that meant, but picked up the plates and started up the stairs. He had a lot to ask her about, and wasn't going to let her sleep until he got the answers, in whole or in part. He had to understand this, why she resisted so. He had to know why she stormed out like she did, in front of her family and forgoing her dinner in the process.

He had to know.


AE Forty Seven


Kagome didn't look like she was going to eat anything. In rather annoyed Inuyasha, but he put the plates off to the side and sat at her feet while she sat on her bed, looking quite angry. She didn't look over at him when he entered or sat, which again annoyed him, but he kept quiet about it.

She didn't look like she was going to talk, either, so he began.

"What's so bad about seeing this therapist?"

"I don't need one," she ground out behind clenched teeth.

"Yeah, but why not humor the guy -- or girl, whatever."

"Because," she snapped, finally looking at him with a glare. "You don't know how observant they can be, and if I even hint at being a miko, he'd chock me up as nuts!"

He didn't understand all of that, her phrasing and words, but he understood what she was getting at. "So don't say anything."


"I wasn't planning on it," she snarled. "Do you know what happens to people in this time who get the 'crazy' label?"

"Uhh. . . no?"

"They get medication, they get put on record, so everywhere they go, everyone knows they're nuts! Or even worse, they get sent to a mental institution until the people there are deemed sane enough to live in the world again!"

"And you're afraid that's what'll happen to you?" he asked, confused about where this was going.

"Partially, yes, but I can't let them know there's something else out there."

"What's to say this therapist isn't a demon?"

She blinked. "What? You think they survived?"

He shrugged. "Look at Sesshomaru. He's more than strong enough to live through to this time, and I can't see him dying; not since Naraku was killed. What threat could possibly be bigger, anyway?"

Kagome opened her mouth, then shut it. "That's a good point. . ."

Inuyasha leaned against the bed. "Where do you suppose Naraku hid all those shards, anyway?"

She shrugged. When they defeated Naraku, the jewel he had with him turned out to be a fake; crystalized miasma again. He'd gotten smarter with it, making it so Kagome could sense it. Even though it didn't feel like the jewel, she hadn't been thinking of that, and told Inuyasha exactly where to strike. In the end, the false jewel shattered and Naraku had laughed at them when he died.

Which, she supposed, was exactly how a sinister, twisted genius should die. The problem was the jewel. They looked all around the area and sniffed out where his castle was, but not only was there no sign of the jewel, there was no sign of Kohaku, either. Since Kagome could sense nothing nearby, it was everyone's guess – more like, everyone's hope – that he had simply gone somewhere else once freed of Naraku.

The fact that Kagura and Kanna died as well proved that Naraku himself had died, which would have freed Kohaku instantly. What scared Sango was the thought that no one knew what he would do with his newfound freedom.

"Maybe he broke the jewel again and hid it in different places," she suggested, trying not to think of Kohaku anymore. "Places he thought we would never check."

"Then maybe he stuffed some up his ass," Inuyasha returned with a disgusted face.

"Oh, ewww Inuyasha!!" she gagged. "That was wrong!" She coughed, trying not to let herself get an imagery of that.

"Well he knew we wouldn't check there before disintegrating him," he reasoned.

"Naraku wouldn't -- oh Kami, I think I'm getting a mental picture. . . Yuck, Inuyasha!!" She covered her eyes, stuck out her tongue and tried not to think.

Inuyasha was laughing now. "Sorry, I shouldn't have suggested it, but. . . come on, it's reasonable."

"You're a disgusting little hanyou and you need to get your mouth washed out," she babbled on. Anything to keep from thinking about. . . that.

He laughed again. "Maybe, but you love me anyways."

She couldn't help her smile at that. "You wriggled your way into my heart; don't think you can't wriggle your way back out," she half-teased, half-warned.

"Wriggle this" he muttered back.

Before Kagome had uncovered her eyes, she was pounced on, throwing her back on the bed and ultimately trapping under him. At the same moment she opened her mouth to yell and had begun narrowing her eyes, he kissed her, and took the opportunity her mouth had 'opened' by deepening the kiss.

As a consequence, she couldn't form the words, nor the voice, to yell at him and her eyes drifted shut at the feeling that he invoked in her. She was only mildly aware of her arms lifting, of them wrapping themselves around his neck to keep him there. How he could do this to her, she'll never know, but she doubted she would ever care to find out.

Then he kissed down the side of her neck, stopping at her shoulder. He rested his head there, leaving himself in a position perfect for cuddling, and likely on purpose. Kagome had little choice but to hold him a little bit tighter to her, letting his warmth work its way into her skin, reminding her just what kind of man she'd chosen when she chose Inuyasha. And once again, she found herself thinking that he really was sexy when he wanted to be, and hoping he'd never learn that and try to use it against her.

And then he said, "I think we let the food get cold."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Typical man. When you're not thinking with your stomach, you're acting on its behalf."

"On behalf of my stomach, I think it'd prefer to eat gallons of you than your mother's cooking."

She blushed. "I hope you didn't mean that in the way I think you meant it. . ."

"I meant it in every way. . . except cannibalism."

She laughed. "I feel lucky, then." She patted his shoulder before reaching higher to rub his ear. His ears were just so soft, she didn't know how anybody couldn't love them.

He gave a small moan at the touch, and for a moment after, she thought she heard purring. While it would have been cute, she had the sneaking suspicion that he'd done it on purpose, to try and make her smile.

Which it did. She was practically grinning, and hated herself for letting it get to her so much. In fact she chuckled and tilted her chin up, in hopes that if he looked and tried to see her face, he wouldn't see her smile; how easily and predictably she fell into his games.

If they were games. Perhaps he was just teasing her because it got her mad at him.

She scratched his ear a little, half because she was annoyed at the thought, and half to see how he would react to it.

He definitely moaned a bit louder, then reached up and pulled her hand away. "Maybe you shouldn't do that. . . not with your nails."

She smirked. "So, then, if I had claws. . ."

He laughed. "If you had claws, right about now you'd be digging them into my back while screaming for more."

She blushed, and badly at that. "I turned you into a perverted jerk!"

"I was this way for years, just never around you."

The way he was talking continued to make her blush, made no better by the fact that he was talking into her neck, and seemed to be limp on top of her, as though they had just. . . made love.

It was then that she realized just how sexual of a position they were in and could have flipped about it, but instead she found herself smiling. She knew what this meant, if no one else did.

She didn't need a therapist. Inuyasha was all the help she'd ever need. If it were any other man at this moment, she knew without a doubt that she'd have thrown him off her, possibly began crying at the memories it would have brought up. But instead, she was letting Inuyasha stay just like this, and not only was she not remembering anything disturbing, she found she couldn't bring up the memories, even if she tried.

As long as she was with Inuyasha, she was safe, both from physical attacks and mental ones. He gave her peace, though she didn't understand how or why. Maybe it was that in her mind, he was a pillar of strength and determination, blocking off the painful thoughts to keep her happy and warm. Or maybe it was simply something Inuyasha had imbedded in him, likely from his father, to naturally radiate these feelings.

Or maybe she was overanalyzing things.

She closed her eyes again with a contented smile, realizing that her hand was still in Inuyasha's, held above her breast; above her heart. That fact was entirely symbolic to her, and she had to wonder if it was an unconscious move on his part, or if he'd done it on purpose, to remind her how connected they were.

So now, he was a strong, sweet, cute, caring, sexy, perverted jerk and she found herself loving him all the more for it. After all, how many men could multitask, let alone that well?

Question being, was she lucky to find him, or cursed? He was already so difficult. . . But he was definitely getting sweeter. That was a plus, wasn't it?

The continual warmth coming from Inuyasha was lulling her to sleep. And as she began to drift off, he spoke again.

"Just go and see what happens. I'm sure they'll let me come with. If you want to go at any time, just tell me."

She had no strength left to argue, and at the same time, his words made sense. She mumbled something incoherent and sighed. "Fine. . ."

~*~ School, Next Morning ~*~

Kagome met Ayumi before school, as she usually did. Inuyasha couldn’t protest this morning because he’d been stuffing his face at the time, neither of them having eaten last night, but he still tried to keep her there. Nonetheless, Kagome was at school now, and waved at Ayumi as she came into sight.

But Ayumi didn’t look happy. As they met, Ayumi said, “Something bad happened.”

Again? Kagome sighed. “What is it now?” she asked, thinking it was something related to her.

“Hojo got hurt.”

Kagome blinked at that. Well, it wasn’t related to her, but she still felt bad. “How?”

“We don’t know yet. He’s at the hospital – someone broke his arm and knocked him out.”

Kagome bit her lip. There was an ache in her heart that told her it was somehow her fault, so she had to ask, “Does anybody know anything about it yet?”

Ayumi shook her head. “Not yet, no. He was just taken a few minutes ago. The only thing the police gathered was that he argued with somebody. . .”

Kagome glanced away. Her feelings told her to look into this, despite her better judgement. She really couldn’t afford to lose another day of school, but she felt she should go to the hospital and talk to Hojo, if only to prove to herself that he was okay and she had nothing to worry about.

Still, she shook her head. She and her friends would visit Hojo after school. . . likely with the rest of the female grade accompanying.

“He should be okay there,” she told Ayumi. “Let’s go; we can visit him after school to find out what happened.”

“But what if his attacker is still around?” Ayumi worried. “Then he or she could –”

“Won’t try it again,” Kagome interrupted. “The attacker won’t do it again, for fear of being caught.”

Ayumi waited a moment before nodding. “You’re probably right; we have nothing to fear. . .”

The way Ayumi said that made Kagome think that she didn’t really believe it, and was trying to convince herself. Kagome nodded as well. “Let’s find Eri and Yuka.”

Eri and Yuka were talking amongst themselves just outside their first classroom. When they spotted Kagome, then came over and began talking all at once. Unfortunately they were talking at the same time and Kagome couldn’t understand a word. Nonetheless she nodded and ‘hmm’d affirmatively, not really caring what it was she was agreeing with.

In the back of her mind, she just knew that Ayumi was watching her in a concerned way, but she found she couldn’t respond to it at the moment. Any and all further responding was interrupted by the bell ringing loudly, and they all went into the classroom and took their seats.

Around lunchtime is when they heard it.

There were whispers everywhere about how Hojo had gotten hurt, and rumors that he had done it protecting Kagome. Seeing as how Kagome wasn’t at school when he got hurt, she didn’t see how that could be possible, but the whispers continued. One person claimed to have heard him as he got taken away, saying something about keeping Kagome safe. Which, apparently, is how the rumor started.

If this were true, then she knew that it meant Hojo was still in love with her and couldn’t seem to give up. She knew, as well, that she was going to have to help him fall out of love, but she didn’t know how to. She hadn’t even figured out how to make a man fall in love, let alone out of love.

She supposed there was always the chance of putting the cold hard facts to use. . . She could bring Inuyasha and kiss him to show Hojo that they were in love and she wouldn’t ever return his feelings. . . But then there was the chance, the possibility, that Hojo wouldn’t much care about her current love life and would continue to love her despite who she chose.

She hoped he would let go. It was for his own good, really.

After school, as she expected, Inuyasha was waiting on the roof for her. He tended to come here and follow her back, thinking he wouldn’t be noticed by her. Just to make sure she got home okay. When he saw her on the roof, he glanced away and shrugged as though she was going to ask him why.

“Hojo got hurt this morning,” she began. Inuyasha looked quite surprised at the topic.

“So?”

“So, there’s a rumor he got hurt trying to protect me somehow. I’m going to go to the hospital and see him.”

“Like hell!”

“Sit.” When he fell, she came over and sat by him. “I need to know what happened, Inuyasha. You can’t stop me, but if you want to come with. . .”

“Keh!” he snorted as he sat up. “Who’d want to see that weakling?”

“Would you stop calling everyone a weakling?” she snapped. “Just because they’re not you –”

“Is reason enough!” he interrupted.

She wanted to slap him at that, the arrogant jerk. “Not everyone can be a super-strong ageless hanyou, Inuyasha!”

“Ageless?” he echoed.

She didn’t feel like going on about that. “Whether you like it or not, this world is full of humans that will never reach your circle of power, so why don’t you quit calling everyone ‘weak’ and try to see how strong they really are!” She stood up and headed straight for the door, pausing to say, “I won’t be long at the hospital, so don’t worry about that, and I’ll have my friends walk me back.”

She didn’t look back to see if her words had struck home with him or not. She went straight downstairs, not thinking about the odd quiet that seemed to have overcome him. Meeting her friends at the door, she waved ‘hello’ to them and together the four of them trekked to the hospital.

When they entered Hojo’s room, it was obvious that he’d seen better days. While Ayumi, Eri and Yuka all seemed to flip and began fawning all over him, Kagome had seen worse and shrugged it off. Hojo had a black eye, and a bad one at that, as well as a cast on his arm and an IV needle in his good arm. He attempted a wave at her, hissed in pain, winced and leaned back into his pillows.

Kagome stepped up to the bed with a bit of a lag. This is partially because of the lack of surprise at his wounds and her own anxiety towards men as a whole. Still, she managed a respectful bow before sitting in a chair near the bed.

Getting straight down to business, she said, “I came here to find out what happened.”

Hojo nodded. “Ah. . . I don’t think you’d forget, but do you remember searching around for the guy who doctored that picture of you?”

She nodded. “I remember, yes. Did you find him?”

“Her,” Hojo corrected.

All girls blinked at that, and echoed, “Her?”

“Why do you think I didn’t fight back?” he asked. “It was a girl. From what she told me, she was really jealous of you, Kagome.”

“Jealous?” Kagome repeatedly with something of an insane laugh. She cleared her throat. “Doesn’t she watch the news?”

“Well, yes, but that was half the point,” Hojo went on. “She said. . .”

~*~ Hojo’s Morning ~*~

“So you’re the one who did this?” Hojo asked, surprised.

The girl he was talking to was a freshman, but who at the moment looked positively evil. She had a fire in her eyes that seemed to be half from anger and half from hurt. Vaguely, he remembered meeting her before, but nothing solid enough to bring forth a name.

“Yes, it was me, and I’m damn proud of it!” she snapped. Her hair was wavy and shone in a deep shade of red, and her eyes were dark violet. Hair pulled back into a ponytail, glasses on the end of her nose, she looked like she’d just gotten done doing something important – to a bookworm.

“Why, though? Why go after Kagome?”

“Because she doesn’t deserve any of this!” the girl went on with a wild flailing of her arms. “All this news coverage, all these admirers about how strong she is, that bodyguard – your undying affections! She’s a stupid harlot, that’s what she is and she deserves humiliation!”

Hojo’s more protective side surged up. “You have no right to say any of that! You don’t know Kagome – ”

“I don’t need to! I’ve seen her, always missing school, always trying to subtlely push you away and you never getting the hint. . . You deserve someone better, like me!”

“A freshman?” he asked in disbelief. “A freshman who tries to sabotage the competition? I’d sooner deserve a lab rat!”

In retrospect, it was that comment, said in shock and anger, which landed him where he was now.

The girl screamed. “You don’t even know what I could do for you!”

“Just like you don’t have any idea what kind of person Kagome is! If there’s anyone I know who needs a little humiliation, it’s you!”

That’s when she swung.

She had something in her hand all along, something hard and slender like a bat or a rod of some sort. Hojo never knew what it was, exactly. The first hit he had tried to block, which succeeded in giving him a nice bruise. He’d tried to recoil before she could swing again, but she was a lot quicker than she looked and her second swing had snapped the bone.

The sudden pain overwhelmed him for about a second, but that second was, apparently, crucial. He lost his footing, stumbled, and finally fell back. The girl came up to him, and she gave a yell akin to that of a harpy’s before she began kicking at him. The pain of his arm mixed with the gentlemanly way he was raised kept him strictly on the defensive, made no easier by how fast she was moving.

He felt one kick land on his eye, and for a moment he blacked out. When he looked up again, the girl was gone, and had taken her weapon with. Someone yelled about an attack and he had looked up, expecting to see someone pointing – but not towards him. Getting up proved futile; he’d made the mistake of leaning on his broken arm and with a yelp, he was down again, new pain surging through his arm and shoulder.

It wasn’t long before they had him on painkillers and stuffed into an ambulance. The painkillers had hit hard and fast, and he hadn’t the slightest clue what he had said in that time. He came to when the doctors had nearly finished putting on his cast.

~*~ Present Time ~*~

The girls had remained perfectly quiet during this, and when Hojo stopped, Kagome unconsciously gave an exasperated sigh.

This is just great, she thought, dropping her head into her hand. Bad enough that I’ve gotten so much coverage with the rape and trial? Oh no, now this has to show up. . . I’ll be the most famous Japanese schoolgirl in history by the time this is over!

“Are you okay, Kagome-chan?” Hojo asked.

She looked up and smiled. “You really should be worrying over yourself,” she half-laughed.

He laughed in return, then blinked and seemed to notice something.

“What is it?” Yuka asked, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

“That Inuyasha fellow isn’t here.”

They all looked at Kagome in question. She laughed nervously. “Yeah, he didn’t know I’d be heading here after school,” she lied. Searching for another topic, she said quickly, “I’ll bet you’ll be healed up and back to your old self in no time, with all your miracle cures.”
Hojo laughed. “Yeah, mom dropped some of them off a couple hours ago.” He gestured his bedside table, which was half covered in weird-looking fruits and oddball items.

“What’s this do?” Eri asked, poking one of them.

“That one cures any ache when put in hot water and drunk,” he explained.

“How’s about this one?” Yuka said while poking a different one.

“That one you wear on your head. It dissolves negative energy.”

Kagome smiled, seeing that everything was going well. “Guys?” she asked.

They all glanced up. “Would one of you walk me back home?”

Ayumi smiled at her. “I’ll go. I’m sure these two can keep Hojo alive and well.”

“That’s up for debate,” Kagome muttered under her breath. It was loud enough for Hojo to hear, to which he laughed.

“I have a button I can push to call a nurse if things get out of hand,” he whispered to her.

She snickered. “Have the button ready.”

They waved their goodbyes before leaving the hospital. If not for that black eye, Hojo really didn’t seem all that banged up, despite what that girl had attempted. And as Kagome thought about it, she found herself thinking that the girl would likely attack her again, probably more directly. That made her uneasy, but not because she feared an attack so much as she feared what she could do to that girl.

One human girl versus a highly powerful miko who was itching for something to hurt? The odds certainly weren’t in the girl’s favor. . . Still, Kagome put that out of her mind for now, deciding to relate the story to Inuyasha later on so he’d be on the look out for that girl coming to the house or school.

“Tadaima!” she called as she entered the house, waving Ayumi away as she did so. Surprisingly, she got welcomes from only three occupants, when she knew there were four.

“Where’s Inuyasha?” she asked, glancing in the living room and up the stairs.

Mama answered her. “He went up to your room. He might’ve fallen asleep.”

“Arigatou, Mama,” she replied, beginning to go up the stairs.

“I talked to him earlier,” Mama said, stopping her.

Her guilt got to her then, and she lowered her chin. “I didn’t mean to yell at him,” she whispered to herself.

“What was that, Kagome?”

She jumped and shook her head as she spun around. “N-nothing, what did you talk about?”

“A man Souta had seen yesterday. And about the forth death. . .”

“So that Phantom guy is still killing the criminals?” Kagome asked carefully, avoiding words that would cause her discomfort.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. But I think he was telling the truth in those letters, that the world would never hear of him again once he finishes.”

“So basically when two days go by without word of him, he’s done?”

“I believe so.”

“And you said something a man?”

Mama nodded and finally turned to face Kagome. “Souta saw a man. . .” She explained what Souta had said, what she said to Inuyasha, her feelings on the matter.

And at the end, Kagome nodded. “I don’t think he’s anything to worry about.”

Mama looked shocked. “But Kagome –”

“I’m sorry, Mama, but I’ve learned to trust my instincts,” Kagome replied. “I’m not getting a bad feeling from this, so he can’t be a bad guy. Trust me, Mama. I’m a miko.”

Mama looked more shocked from that last part, about Kagome being a miko. Despite everything that had happened and been said, Kagome had never said a word about her being a miko before. Which means, despite how obvious it was at times, it was still news to the family.

At length, Mama smiled and nodded in return. “Alright, Kagome. I trust you.”

“Kagome no miko-sama, eh?” Grandpa echoed, coming in. He looked solemn at first, but then he cried a river of tears and pranced happily about the kitchen. “My granddaughter, a miko! A miko of the Sengoku Jidai! Ah, what luck we have!”

Kagome shook her head at his antics and went up the stairs, intent on confronting Inuyasha. She highly doubted that he was asleep, as he rarely ever slept when she wasn’t here in her room or with him. She opened the door slowly, giving him time to get up or sit down or jump out the window, if that’s what he wanted.

He was sitting in his usual place on the floor with Tessaiga over his shoulder. His head was down and his eyes were closed, but Kagome still doubted he was asleep.

She dropped her bag on the floor and sat down beside him. She knew him well enough by now to know that if something was bothering him he’d tell her, especially when it concerned her. The most she could do at the moment was sit there and wait.

After a long moment, he spoke. “Why did you call me ageless?”

She blinked. That was it? She yelled at him back there and the only thing he was curious about was her choice of wording? Her anger rose in her chest but she fought it back and looked at him.

“Because,” she began, “aren’t you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. As far as I know, I’m the oldest hanyou from Sengoku Jidai. From the real Jidai, not Hijiri island, I mean.”

She nodded. “I got that. Why do you let it bother you?”

He shook his head again. “I don’t know how long I’ll live. I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to go through time the long way or not.”

“Well, how old are you now? I think I remember Myouga-jiji saying something about it. . .” She paused, pressing a fingertip to her chin as she thought.

“Don’t strain yourself,” he warned and glanced up, finally. “I’d tell you, but I don’t think you want to know yet.”

“Why? Are you that old or that young?”

He didn’t make a move then. Nothing of his demeanor leaned towards either answer, leaving her baffled as to how old he really was.

“Tell me,” she pressed. “I’d like to know, Inuyasha.”

“Keh,” he scoffed, looking away. “You say that now. But you’d just tease me about being immature, like you always do.”

She couldn’t stop her smile at that, no matter how angry she tried to be. She hugged him around the shoulders. “I’ll tease you forever about it, that’s true, but it’ll have no effect either way from knowing your age.”

He glanced up at her again, but just with his eyes. “Kagome. . .”

She didn’t let her smile fade at all. “Tell me,” she repeated.

He shut his eyes as though he was debating with himself. Kagome let go of him and sat back, waiting for the answer she knew was coming.

“One hundred and fifty three,” he said. He glanced at her with his eyes again, and then away, half-turning from her.
“That’s it?” she asked, grinning.

He looked back at her sharply with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. “Th-th. . . that’s it?” he echoed. “What, were you expecting me to already be five hundred or something?!”

She giggled. “Not at all. In fact I originally thought you were seventeen or eighteen. . .”

His eye twitched. “Keh! Wench,” he spat, looking away again.

She snickered. “One hundred fifty three,” she repeated. “I didn’t know if you’d ever counted that high before now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” he snapped quickly, turning to face her. Tessaiga dropped off his shoulder and clanked on the floorboards.

She shrugged, but she was smirking. “It’s just that I don’t see a reason why you’d bother counting that high.”

“Keh!” he scoffed again and turned his back to her.

She wet her lips before going on. “Mama told you about the guy Souta saw?”

He nodded, seemingly refusing to face her for the time being. “She told me, yeah.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” she said easily.

He nodded again. “I didn’t get a bad feeling, either. So he’s harmless, or. . .”

“Or means us no harm,” she finished. “Do you think he’ll show up again?”

He sighed and leaned back. “Who can tell?”

Kagome raised a brow. “Inuyasha, I’m asking what you think.”

He looked at her. “He’ll show up again. I think the entire point of being here when Souta came home was to make himself known.”

“Now that that’s over. . ?”

“He’ll wait until the right time to come back. Kagome, after thinking about this. . .” He sat up again and looked at her carefully.

She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say. “Have you discovered something?”

“He’s gotta be a demon,” Inuyasha said quickly. “What they said about those slips of paper – they have to be ofudas. I’m going to ask Miroku about them, if there are ofudas like that.”

She nodded. “But you were going to say more than that, weren’t you?”

He looked a little surprised then. “Well, yeah, but I’m not sure if I’m right, so I won’t tell you about it yet.”

“So what, you’re just going to wait to tell me until you’re proved right or wrong?”

He nodded. “I have to be positive first.”

She sighed. “Alright, I won’t press the issue.” With a smile, she added, “I thought I was going to come up here and you were going to snap at me for yelling at you.”

Inuyasha blinked, then narrowed his eyes. “Hey, yeah! What was with that, anyway?!”

She grinned. “Well, now that everything’s back in order. . .”

It took another moment for them to get into a full-blown argument about. . . arguing. They snapped and scoffed, pouted and glared, just like they always did. And in truth, both of them were enjoying themselves greatly.

Until Kagome sat him.

:End Chapter:

Oy. . . You know, Hojo’s owies were spur-of-the-moment. Still, I don’t think too many readers are going to be concerned about it. XD To add a side-note:

I have WordPerfect now!! YAY me!! I’m back to having a spellchecker that’ll spot any and all mistypes, go me! I can also use the thesaurus to further expand my vocabulary so YAY for that, too!! :Grins happily:

I got a neat review for the previous chapter, stating that putting little side-comments in parenthesis throughout the chapter isn’t a very bright thing to do. (Oh yeah, I’m not quoting it for fear of deletion.) Here’s my rebuttal:

If I didn’t put the comments where they were and instead waited until the end of the chapter, wouldn’t it seem out of place? How many people would I confuse if I’d have said “But don’t expect her to admit it!” at the very bottom? Pretty much everyone, huh? Don’t let the parenthesis get to you. These comments aren’t my own without the “DL” in front of it, showing I said it. On the contrary, these parenthesis are like back-of-the-mind comments by the characters in question. Thoughts behind their thoughts.

And now that that is out of the way. . .

:Activates prayer beads across the country and Canada: Mwa ha ha!! Sit, stay, roll over, play dead, sit up, fetch, bring in the newspaper, get the frisbee –

Inu: :Does all of the tricks and comes up to me with the frisbee in his mouth:

Me: . . . Okay, what did they do to YOU?

Inu: :Tilts head cutely and whines:

Me: Ahh, forget it. :Tosses the frisbee again:

See ya!