InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages ❯ Just a Scratch ( Chapter 11 )

This is a chapter that will hopefully give all of you a laugh at poor Miroku's expense. Can we say 'nervous wreck,' boys and girls? *Laughs*

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Disclaimer: None of Rumiko Takahashi's very colorful characters belong to me, so even after all the suffering I put them through they don't get compensated for it! If I should worry about anyone suing me, it would probably be them…

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Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages

Chapter Eleven

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The sound of a phone being slammed violently back onto its cradle echoed around the room.

"Dammit, I couldn't talk to Kagome before she went to her classes today!"

Inuyasha started pacing back and forth, obviously on edge and alternately ranting and cursing himself for being a coward and waiting so long to tell Kagome about the fact that Miroku had taken Rin for the day. It wasn't something he particularly cared to tell her in person, knowing he'd probably pay for it.

He'd pay for it big time.

"She'll probably show up after class and kill me for letting that pervert take Rin anywhere!" He muttered under his breath. "I hope she at least gives me time to kill Miroku first, 'cause he started it!"

Shaking his head, he finally decided he ought to stop thinking about the whole situation before it drove him insane.

He abruptly stopped pacing and sat down on the living room sofa, staring blindly at the TV. He had nothing better to do until Kagome finished with her classes for the day, so he might as well fill it with mindless programming.

Inuyasha snorted when it finally registered what was on TV. "Mindless doesn't even begin to describe this junk!"

Not knowing where the remote was and too lazy to get up and turn the channel, Inuyasha was stuck watching some odd children's show that Rin had been watching earlier and wondering how so many full-grown men could bring themselves to act so stupid.

"Keh! Rotten show. My brain's started rotting already and I haven't even been watching it for five minutes!" Despite his obvious disgust, he still made no move to get up and change the channel.

Probably because the show was soon forgotten.

'What if Kagome doesn't want to have anything to do with me if Rin's not here?' He worried silently, already having forgotten his resolution not to think about it. 'We never really spent any time around each other before Rin, so maybe she doesn't like me at all and helps just because of the runt.'

That thought was terribly depressing and made his ears droop.

'But what if she's using Rin as an excuse to spend time with me?' That made his ears perk back up immediately. 'After all, she didn't seem to mind being so close to me last night, and I know I could hear her heart racing from something that couldn't have been fear.' Inuyasha's face took on a satisfied expression.

Now he was more impatient than ever for Kagome to hurry up and finish with her class. Even if she killed him for letting Miroku take Rin for the day, at least he'd die while being alone with her.

How…romantic…

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~*~*~*~*~*~

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"What are we going to do today, Uncle Miroku?" Rin was gazing at him with a curious expression as they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk. In her other hand she held a glazed doughnut for her breakfast, courtesy of Miroku the cheapskate.

'Just because I told Inuyasha that I would feed her doesn't mean I'm going to put out a lot of good money feeding her full meals all day! Kids don't really need to eat much anyway, do they?'

Praying to God that none of the women that they were passing by could read his thoughts like Sango always seemed to be able to do, Miroku smiled down at Rin like the charming father figure he was aiming to be. "I thought we might spend some time at the park! Won't that be nice?"

Rin's eyes got big. "Really? On a SCHOOL day? Papa Sess would never have let Rin do something like that!"

"Of course." Miroku shrugged. "You don't have to go to school while you stay with your Uncle Inu, right? So you should get to have some fun. Later, we can go have lunch at the café and you can meet someone that works there for me when Shippo can't work."

"Really?" She looked excited at the thought of getting to meet someone new. "Who? Are they as nice as Shippo?"

Miroku gave her a mock frown. "I can't tell you that, now can I? That wouldn't be any fun at all!"

Rin giggled at his antics, causing him to smile.

'This really isn't so bad. I don't see why people say taking care of a child is so hard. It makes me want to find someone to bear a few for me more than ever!' His face turned dreamy as he gazed sightlessly ahead of him.

The rest of the walk to the park was uneventful and quiet, giving Miroku time to play out about six mental fantasies, and in each one he ended up romancing a beautiful woman dressed in a very tight maid's uniform while she pushed a baby carriage through the park.

Seems like someone has been watching too much TV.

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~*~*~*~*~*~

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Inuyasha had just dozed off on the couch thanks to the mindless children's programming his laziness was forcing him to endure, when his phone suddenly decided to ring. It took almost all the energy he could muster to actually get off his butt and pick up the phone.

"Yeah, what do you want?" The haze of sleep was still clouding his eyes, and Inuyasha blinked owlishly to clear them.

"So, I see you're not too 'busy' to talk to me this time."

Inuyasha was wide-awake now, and he growled into the phone. "What the hell are you calling again for? Don't you think my life is already bad enough now without my having to talk to you, too?"

Sesshoumaru was faintly amused. "If I had known it would make you so happy, I would have insisted on talking to you last night. But Rin told me you were rather busy with a - friend."

The hanyou could feel his stomach slowly start to sink towards his feet. "What did she tell you?" He had to force each word past painfully clenched teeth, which only increased Sesshoumaru's amusement.

"Just that you and 'Aunt' Kagome were busy. Is there something I need to know?"

"NO!" Inuyasha nearly shouted. "She's none of your business, so just drop it before I decide to do myself a favor and hang up!"

Sesshoumaru sighed lightly. "I believe it is my business since you are taking care of Rin. Speaking of Rin, where is she right now? I promised I would speak to her each time I call."

Inuyasha immediately forgot about their previous subject and instead started to panic over the new one. What the heck was he supposed to tell him?!?!

"Uh - well, she's…taking a nap at the moment!" he finally managed to spit out.

Sesshoumaru was silent for several moments, and Inuyasha held his breath. He might not care what his oh-so-hated brother thought, but he sure as heck wasn't about to give him anything new to hold over his head.

"Fine. Just tell her I will call back later and talk to her then."

Inuyasha nearly sighed in relief, but was able to stop himself just in time. "Oi, before you hang up, I wanna know…where the hell are you, anyway?"

"Traveling, of course." Was the smooth reply. "My business is not anything you need to know about. Just contact my office in case of an emergency, and they will contact me. I'm sure you have the phone number listed somewhere in the papers that I left for you."

"That's not what I wanted to know!" Inuyasha snapped, annoyed over the evasive reply. "I don't care what your stupid business is, I just wanna know WHERE you are!"

"Goodbye, Inuyasha."

Before the angry half-demon could argue further, Sesshoumaru hung up. By now, the plastic covering Inuyasha's phone was starting to show some serious cracks. It probably wouldn't survive until Rin left.

"I swear, the minute he shows his face here at the end of the month, I'm gonna kill him!" He yelled, venting his anger and probably annoying several neighbors. "Some business, huh? Yeah right! I bet whatever he's doing is illegal! Stupid, miserable, son-of-a-"

Suddenly, something the upset hanyou had heard while on the phone finally managed to sink into his brain, causing him to stop dead in the middle of his ranting.

"What the hell? Was that - DISCO music playing in the background?"

Inuyasha shook his head furiously, convinced he finally must have been driven mad by all the insanity going on the last several days.

"Now I'm starting to hear things…" He grumbled to himself.

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Miroku sat in a swing and gazed around the almost empty park listlessly. So much for getting a chance to live out his dreams.

"Look, Uncle Miroku! Rin climbed up here all by herself!" The small girl waved at him from the top rung of a tall slide, which just happened to be the highest piece of playground equipment in the area. When Miroku finally looked up at her, one of her feet slipped.

Rin giggled. "Oops!"

'Oh my God, Inuyasha's going to KILL me if she falls!' The dark-haired man suddenly had a few flashbacks of his life, and almost all of them featured Inuyasha beating him into the ground. In fact, almost all Miroku's memories of Inuyasha seemed to involve some sort of pain.

Jumping up from his swing and almost falling on his face in the process, Miroku waved his hands frantically at Rin as he ran towards her. "What do you think you're doing? Get down from there, now!" He managed to reach the slide just as Rin took a seat at the top.

"Okay!"

Miroku cringed when he realized she was coming down just like she told him she would, just not the way he'd meant for her to. She squealed as she slipped down the cool metal of the slide, going so fast that she flew right off the end and fell on her butt in the dirt.

Nearly panicking, Miroku quickly kneeled onto the ground next to the giggling Rin and checked her over for any wounds. What had ever possessed Miroku to make the stupid promise that he would bring Rin back without a single scratch? Especially when he knew full well that Inuyasha would take him at his word.

"That was really fun, Uncle Miroku! Can I please do it again?" She stared up at him hopefully.

"NO! I mean, uh - doesn't that nice, safe swing over there look like much more fun?" He stared hopefully back at her.

Rin shrugged. "Okay!"

The relieved Miroku followed her back towards the swings he had occupied before, wondering if he would really manage to survive the day. 'If Rin doesn't kill me with a heart attack, Inuyasha's sure to finish me off when I bring her back tonight.'

The soon-to-be-dead café owner continued to bemoan his fate while sitting in the swing next to Rin, who was now happily singing 'The Song That Never Ends' as loudly as she could. It was the perfect thing to make his misery complete.

Suddenly, a very welcome sound made itself heard over the obnoxious song.

"I guess you got stuck with babysitting for the day, huh?"

Miroku's head shot up when he heard the blessedly ADULT voice.

"Sango!"

The dark-haired girl was currently leaning up against a large tree, watching the pair with an amused expression on her face. She had a backpack sitting at her feet.

"Aunt Sango!" Rin was swinging very high, but the moment she saw the older girl standing under the shady tree she jumped and tumbled to the ground, much to Miroku's horror.

"NO!" He launched himself out of his own swing and nearly tackled the little girl, looking her over for any scratches or bruises. "Don't ever jump out of a swing like that! You might break your neck- or worse!"

Sango raised an eyebrow. "What in the world could be worse than a broken neck?"

"Scratches." He muttered absently.

"Okaaay…"

Miroku gave her a dry look and stood up. "Let's just say I made a promise to Inuyasha."

A look of comprehension suddenly dawned on Sango's face, and she nodded in understanding. "Scarily enough, that makes sense."

Sango was watching Miroku carefully, and noted the fact that this had to be the longest period of time that had ever passed with the both of them together that he hadn't tried to touch her. It was such a shocking revelation that she couldn't help but comment on it. "Are you okay, Miroku? You're not…acting like yourself today."

He quickly grabbed her hands. "I'm touched that you care enough to have noticed."

She glared at him. "Touch me anywhere else and I swear you won't be conscious to keep whatever promise you made to Inuyasha!"

As if her threat had snapped him out of his perverted haze, Miroku dropped her hands and looked around with dread. "Oh no, where did Rin go?"

Sango pointed up, half smiling.

"Oh my God! Rin, get out of that tree! If you fall, I'll die!"

Watching the frantic man as he attempted to climb the tree himself, Sango couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him. After all, he hadn't groped her, and he seemed to be having a lot of problems where Rin was concerned. Maybe she could help him out just this once. But not because she liked him or anything, she just felt sorry for him!

Didn't she?

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So, can you guys guess what children's show I was using in the story? It was one of the ones I was subjected to while babysitting my cousin's daughter a lot this past year. I never realized until then just how scary stuff like that could be. I'm still scarred for life by the Teletubbies!