InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fragile Heart ❯ Chapter Two: Things that Change, and Things That Never Will ( Chapter 2 )

Still don't own Inuyasha, do own the first collector's editon dvd of Ceres! All in all, I think I can live with that trade-off. *grins* (special notes and author rant/commentary at bottom)

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A Fragile Heart

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Two: Things that Change, and Things that Never Will

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It was driving him crazy. After Miroku's name was dropped over the dinner table, Inuyasha couldn't stop thinking about the perverted monk and how much he missed all of his friends, though he'd never tell them that, even if he could. And he had to know, really. He had to know if Miroku was really the same man. Had this "wish" of his, gone a little too far? Had they all come…had…was it…gah! All this thinking was giving Inuyasha a headache.

He looked up at Sesshomaru's high school, thinking about how he should have thought up an excuse of why he's here before showing up at random. If he ran into Sesshomaru he knew he'd have some serious explaining to do. He didn't get much further than that though, as just when he was pouting over what he was supposed to do now that he was here, a blue blur leapt over the fence, and consequentially, his head, yelling "duck" and a baseball bat came flying over the fence, clocking him upside the head and knocking him to the ground. Well, needless to say, Inuyasha was, once again, seeing stars.

"Hey, are you okay man?" a black-haired blur asked.

Another voice, female, on the other side of the fence, said, "oh, crap! Look what you did!"

"Me! If I recall correctly…!" the first voice again.

"Will you two cut it out! You both did it!" A rattling of metal as another form landed beside him, crouching down. "Anyway, forget that for now. Let's get him to the nurse."

That voice. There was something painfully familiar about that voice. Something that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise and a growl almost escape his throat. Who was…

"Hey. I said hey. Can you walk?"

Inuyasha groaned. Oh, this was just perfect. "Kouga...???" It was the last word that escaped his lips before passing out.

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"What?"

Sesshomaru's habitual chilly tone always made Kouga cringe, just slightly, like touching a lamppost in dead winter with no gloves. It's hard not to shrink away from it, but it's also difficult to pull away, because it draws in the heat.

"Your kid brother is in the nurse's office you know," he said easily. That's it Kouga, don't let him know that being within twenty feet of him makes you feel like pissing your pants. You're not a coward, after all. You're not. And you're going to keep telling yourself that until you believe it.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "What would Inuyasha be doing here?" Sesshomaru asked, mostly to himself, but also, expecting an answer. Skeptical. That was the word. Definitely skeptical.

"Dunno. He passed out before anyone got to ask. Got caught between Sango, Miroku, and a baseball bat intended for the prior, if you catch the drift," Kouga said easily as he yanked on the cuff of his jacket. He always did that, it was just a gesture, a habit, but it always infuriated Sesshomaru and he didn't know why. This guy just went around like he didn't give a damn about anything. It was irritating. And while he's going on his little mental rant he'll ignore that much the same was often said about him. In truth though, Sesshomaru was a little envious of him. To be able to go around like he didn't have a care in the world, it was something he wished he could do. Kouga. He had a lot of aqaintances, but as far as anyone knew, no real friends. And he had a reputation for causing trouble, which also irritated Sesshomaru. They weren't rivals, not exactly, even if the rest of the school seemed to think so.

"Miroku," Sesshomaru half-groaned out the name. "That pervert." He pushed himself up off of the bench he'd been eating his lunch on and started walking towards the nurse's office, groaning mentally when Kouga fell into step beside him.

"So, I guess you owe me one now, huh Grumpy," Kouga commented idly.

"Whatever for?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow.

"Well, who do you think carried the kid to the nurse's office?"

Sesshomaru's eyes widened marginally. `This guy. He just keeps surprising me. …but he's still annoying.' "Che," Sesshomaru scoffed. "I thought you just did it out of the goodness of your heart."

"Goodness of my heart? Haha! In this day n'age! Come on, be serious!" Kouga laughed. "Actually, I did it to get on Sango's good side. She's my woman, you know."

"When are you planning on telling her that?"

"I do! She just hasn't quite decided to listen yet," Kouga chuckled as he noticed Sesshomaru's lips twitch slightly as the taller boy tried to keep a smile off of his face. "So, did the math homework make sense to you? Because I was so lost I just didn't bother doing it. Not worth the headaches, ya know?"

Sesshomaru's eyes widened marginally again and he stopped his stride, staring at the other boy for a moment.

"Wh-whaddid I say?"

Sesshomaru took a small breath before speaking. "We had math homework?…Crap. I knew I forgot something."

"Haha! Well at least I'll have company in detention for once! This is your third strike, isn't it?" For some reason, when Sesshomaru was cursing about forgetting about his math homework, he was somewhat less intimidating.

"The humor is not appreciated, Kouga."

"It's still funny."

"Feh," Sesshomaru said before he began walking again to see what sort of trouble Inuyasha was getting himself into this time.

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Inuyasha groaned into consciousness. He always managed to forget where he was when he was first waking up, or, more specifically, when. So, he wasn't as surprised as he should have been when he heard Kaede's voice saying. "He'll be fine. Make sure he keeps the ice on that lump while I go check on Miroku."

Sango blushed. "Y-yeah."

"You didn't need to hit him THAT hard, did you Sango? You know, you're a beautiful girl, but you'll never get a boyfriend if all the boys are scared of you. Try acting a little more feminine from time to time, and stop giving me so much work to do," Kaede scolded, wiping off her stethoscope as she walked into the other room, where Miroku now lay unconscious for his efforts.

Inuyasha's vision began to clear to find a familiar figure leaning over him, face etched with concentration and worry as she fussed with the ice pack on his head. "San…go?" he groaned.

"Oh! You're awake! I'm sorry I hit you with my bat. How are you feeling?" Sango spilled out in a rush, causing a low chuckle from Inuyasha.

"Keh. It'll take more than a baseball bat to finish me off," he chuckled. What was it about Sango looking at him and worrying her lower lip with her teeth that he found no end of amusement in? He just didn't understand, but he wasn't about to think about that now.

He sat up, slowly, taking the icepack from her hands and jumping slightly at the static shock they exchanged when their fingers came into contact.

"Sorry!" they said simultaneously.

"Uh, where's that other guy," Inuyasha said, pretending not to remember. "I think I heard you call him…Miroku…or something before I passed out."

"Nurse Kaede says you should keep that on your head. You have a bit of a bump," Sango began saying when Inuyasha interrupted her. "Oh uhm…" she pointed sheepishly with her thumb to the other side of the door. "I…hit him." Again, she worried her lower lip slightly, averting her eyes. "He's unconscious. But, he's just such a pervert! I couldn't help it! He makes me so mad!" Sango blushed slightly when she found herself fuming in front of a perfect stranger.

"I bet he probably deserved it," Inuyasha smirked. "And he'll probably wake up saying something like "it was worth it," right?"

"You know him pretty well for a perfect stranger. What's your name, anyway?"

"Inuyasha. My older brother mentioned his antics once or twice," he noted as a quick cover. `Man, I'm getting to be too good at that,' he thought.

"Older…oh! I see the resemblance now! I mean, it's sorta obvious, actually. You're Sesshomaru's little brother, aren't you? That guy is scary. Uhm…no offence. I mean, you seem really nice and all…"

"Kagome's the only one who doesn't think he's scary," Inuyasha commented. "Uh, his girlfriend, that is."

"Sesshomaru has…! No kidding!" Sango almost laughed. "It's hard to imagine, is all."

Inuyasha smiled at Sango's humor. It was nice to have his friends around, even if they thought he was a stranger. It made the entire ordeal just a little bit easier. Seeing Sango laugh and smile right now, it was almost like medicine for the soul, although, right now, he'd have settled for a bit of asprin. His head was killing him….and his brother's raised voice wasn't helping, as he heard the older boy all but slam the door behind him, calling, "Inuyasha!" before turning the bend and glaring at him. "What's the big idea?"

Kouga came around from behind him, giving the injured party a smirk that seemed to say "oooo! You're gonna get it!" without using any actual words. He scowled at both boys. Figures that they'd team up against him. Figures that Sesshomaru and Kouga would be friends, to make his life even more miserable. Figures that Miroku would be in the other room out cold so he'd have no one to defend him, figures that his head was pounding, he was stuck in the future, the only person to remember a different world, figures Sesshomaru got the woman he loved on top of everything else. It just figured. That was just the kind of luck he had.

"Hey! Don't yell at him!" Sango yelled, causing Inuyasha to shrink away slightly, lost puppy eyes taking on a pained expression, and hands coming to his ears almost on instinct. He whimpered.

"Oh. Sorry Inuyasha. You still have a headache, huh?" Sango soothed. Do you want me to go see if the nurse has some asprin or something?

Inuyasha, actually, was torn. Leave him alone with Sesshomaru AND Kouga? Or…get him something to fight back the pounding in his head. Finally, he agreed. "Thanks," he mumbled.

Sango pat his shoulder gently. "It's okay. Just keep the ice on that bump huh? Please? I feel bad enough already," she said as she got up and went through the other door, pausing to glare at the two other boys. "Don't yell at him anymore. And Kouga, try to be…a little less like…well…yourself. At least until he's feeling better."

"Hey! I'm the one who lugged his ass in here, if you remember correctly!" Kouga huffed.

"Yeah, and you bitched about it the entire way! If YOU remember correctly."

"Ah, well, yeah, that's true….but…Sango…" he pouted, about to say more, and possibly dig a deeper grave for himself.

His words were cut off by a slight slam of the door behind her. Kouga sighed. "She's so cute when she's angry."

"You're hopeless," Sesshomaru deadpanned. "He followed me here," he explained to his brother. "Why'd you come here anyway? Something important, I hope, for all the trouble it's gotten you into already."

"…not really. I just…and…um…yeah."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow elegantly at his brother.

"I…well, since it's my turn to cook tonight, I wanted to know if you'd be home for dinner," Inuyasha said. `Stupid!' he thought. `Like he's going to buy that one!'

Sesshomaru chuckled slightly. "You really ARE an idiot, Inuyasha."

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"Aaaawwww!!!!" Kagome cooed when Sesshomaru told her why he would be unable to spend any time with her on Sunday.

Apparently, he'd volunteered his time to help with the field trip to the park the kids were going on. "Normally, I wouldn't ask," Dr. Gale had said. "But Rin has taken such a liking to you, and the rest of us will be so busy trying to keep the other children in one place that…well, it would be a huge help, if you're willing."

What had surprised Sesshomaru most, at that time, was that he had wanted to. He had wanted to give up his Sunday, `as long as it's for Rin, it's okay,' he had thought. Any of the other kids, he would have had to think about, but, for Rin…it was different. The way she would always give him a wide, gap-toothed smile when he entered the room, the way she called him Sesshou-kun and always fell asleep on his lap looking out the window toward the very park they would be going to this weekend. He found, more than anything, he wanted to be there for her. Kagome would understand. Just this once. And apparently, if the squeal that came out of her when he told her what he intended to do this weekend was any hint at her state of mind, he'd already been forgiven for any possible neglect of his girlfriend.

As for Inuyasha, he'd given his, as of late, customary response. He scowled and grunted at his older brother. It was almost as if…as if he knew something that Sesshomaru didn't. Whatever the case, it was…annoying.

"Ne, Inuyasha. If you aren't doing anything Sunday, let's go to the arcade!" Kagome crooned. "Like we used to. It's been forever since we've spent the whole day there like we did when we were little. It'll be fun. You'll come, right?"

"… … sure Kagome. It sounds great," Inuyasha said, but his tone was somewhat less than enthused. Sure, it would be a lot of fun to spend a day with Kagome, but with Sesshomaru, and now this little girl, taking up permanent residence in the back of his mind, he doubted he'd have much fun. He seemed to be suffering from some endless depression lately, even his here-again/gone-again father had started to notice it. And now, he kept thinking about Sango and Miroku, and even Kouga, and wondering just what sort of mess he'd caused, and if he should do something to fix it, or if everyone was happy with this arrangement except for him. It sure seemed that way. `I'm just so tired, of being alone.' Excusing himself, he left his half-eaten dinner on the table, since it wasn't his turn to do dishes, and retreated to his room once again, flopping back onto his bed and staring at the ceiling. "If this is a test, I think I'm failing," he grumbled. "I'd almost be tempted to ask Miroku for advice, but it's not as if he remembers me, or anything." He brought fingers to the bump on his head and smiled nostalgically. "All the same, it's nice to see that those two…haven't really changed much. … … I guess that's just how life is though. There are things that change, and there are things that never will."

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o-tay, that's it for chapter two. Thanks again to my reviewers, your enthusiasm means so much to me, really does! And check it, I even figured a way to squiggle Kouga in! All for you kasia! You've constantly reviewed this arc, so, this is in return for your endless support! And all the gifts! (to pet! Of course! Even if he rips my arm off, it would SOOO be worth it! Lol) I love Kouga too, but I haven't attempted writing him much, so if he's a bit on the ooc side, well, I guess we'll all just deal with that.

Hanna, check it! It hasn't been two months! Although, who knows when I'll write the next chapter. *sweatdrops at her own flighty nature* Actually, it's just that I have this awful tendency towards writing ten things at once, and Xavier, my evil muse, keeps giving me new ideas. But I won't start on any of them until I've finished the two fics I'm writing now! *determination* Uhm…well, until next time everyone.

Happy Haunting,

~Banshee Puppet~