InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages ❯ Getting to Know you More ( Chapter 13 )

I've noticed that a lot of people are very curious about Kagura. She does play a part later in the story, but her being in the story isn't too significant. Obviously Miroku needs someone to work at the café during the day while he runs around and gets himself in trouble, and I thought Kagura might be an interesting character to use since I've never attempted to write anything with her in it before.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but my cousin did once. But he died, so she had to get another fish. I do own Sesshoumaru, though…*points towards her fish bowl* :-P

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Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages

Chapter Thirteen

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When Kagome got home, the apartment she shared with Sango was unusually quiet. Especially since Kagome knew that Sango should have been finished with her morning classes long before noon, and it was almost one o' clock.

"Sango?" She called out, heading for the bedroom the two girls shared.

After not receiving an answering call and finding the bedroom empty, Kagome finally just shrugged off her roommate's unusual absence and went to the closet to drop off her school bag. Once she had it put away, she turned to head to the kitchen, but not before shooting a longing glance towards her bed.

"I'm starting to regret staying up so late last night to study." She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

Leaving the bedroom, Kagome walked into the kitchen and looked around to see if Sango had left a note. Not finding any, she decided to leave one of her own since she didn't know where the other girl was or when she would be back.

After writing the note, Kagome headed back out the door and up the stairs to go talk to Inuyasha. Stopping in front of his door, she decided to try the knob first to see if it was unlocked. To her surprise, it wasn't, which meant someone else must have been there before her. Inuyasha never locked the door unless he was intentionally trying to keep someone out.

"Probably Miroku." She muttered under her breath.

Deciding to forget about that for the moment, Kagome rapped her fist against the door several times before calling out to him. "Inuyasha! Open up, it's me!"

"I'm coming!" He shouted from somewhere inside. Kagome had a hard time pinpointing his location from his voice, but it sounded like he was in the bathroom.

A second later she giggled when the sound of the toilet flushing could be heard.

"I heard that!" He again yelled, but this time he sounded closer. By the time he actually managed to get the door open, her giggle had turned into an all out laugh. "I'm not even gonna ask what you find so funny about that."

"Good." Kagome smiled at him. "So, are you going to let me come in?"

Inuyasha hastily got out of her way so she could enter the apartment.

"Listen, I know you're probably here just to see Rin and stuff, but-" Inuyasha ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "You don't have to stay, 'cause the runt isn't here right now."

Kagome stared at him in confusion. "Not here? Where in the world is she?"

"With Miroku."

This made Kagome's eyebrows rise in disbelief. "What would she be doing alone with him? Wait, don't tell me." She rolled her eyes. "He wanted her to help him attract women, right?"

It was Inuyasha's turn to be confused. "How did you guess?"

"I think I understand how his warped mind works, as much as I'm not proud of that fact. Besides that, he does have a one-track mind where women are concerned." She gave him a stern look, causing him to flinch. "I just can't believe you let him take Rin somewhere alone, especially with a reason like that! Are you crazy?"

Inuyasha sweatdropped and took a step back. "Hey, it was either that or have him tell everyone about what, uh…happened last night." His face turned bright red and he hastily continued. "Not that anything went on last night, but it did look bad, and-"

"Miroku's perverted, so he thinks everything that happens is perverted." Kagome finished dryly with a slight pink tinge on her cheeks. "Don't worry, I think I get the picture now. That must be why your front door was actually locked for once."

He sighed in relief before grinning. "Yeah. Once he left with the runt, I locked it so he couldn't bring her back."

Kagome laughed.

"So…" Inuyasha's face turned serious again. "You aren't upset about what happened last night, are you? Not that anything happened." He had to stop himself from rambling nervously again like he had a few minutes before.

'I guess nothing happened after all, at least according to him.' Kagome managed to smile weakly, attempting to ignore how depressed that knowledge made her feel. "No, of course not. It was my fault anyway for looking at those pictures, even though you didn't want me to. I'm sorry about that." She hung her head, looking more upset and guilty than he had ever seen her.

Afraid that she might start crying at any moment, Inuyasha searched his brain for anything he could say to try to make her feel better. He finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I really didn't want anybody to ever see 'em, but if someone had to then I guess it could have been someone worse than you."

'Stupid!' His mind shouted. 'Why the hell did you have to go and say something like that, huh?'

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that, or flattered." Kagome's small smile stopped him from mentally beating himself up further since she seemed to be amused, even if it was faint.

There was an awkward pause.

"So…" Inuyasha gestured awkwardly towards the sofa. "You wanna sit down, or would you rather leave since Rin isn't here? Miroku's supposed to have her the whole day, and you've probably got better things to do than hang around with me."

Kagome shook her head at his slightly forlorn expression before moving to sit down. "I'll stay for a little while at least, if you don't mind. I've barely ever had a chance to really talk to you without someone else around. And I'd MUCH rather hang around with you than do school work."

Inuyasha couldn't believe his luck! She actually wanted to stay even though Rin wasn't there? The thought of actually getting to spend time alone with her was ruining his ability to form any other coherent thoughts at the moment, so all he could do was sit down next to her and nod again.

A moment of silence reigned, while each tried to work up the courage to speak.

"Do you mind if I ask about the photo album?" Kagome tugged on the edge of her skirt nervously. "I was kind of curious to know why you keep something like that if you hate it so much. I mean, I personally would have burned something like that a long time ago." She mentally urged him not to yell at her for asking him personal questions.

Surprisingly enough, though, he didn't seem to mind.

"It was one of the few things my mother left to me when she died." Inuyasha sighed and slumped down into the couch. "She loved photography and took every single picture she could of me, collecting the ones she liked the most in that book. I didn't realize she'd done it 'til after she died."

"I'm sorry about your mother." Kagome said quietly. "She obviously loved you very much to do something like that. I'm sorry I laughed at the pictures."

He actually smiled at her. "It's okay, she did too - a lot."

Both were silent for a moment, but this time it was a comfortable silence that filled the small apartment.

"My mother was never very good at taking pictures, but my father loved to." Kagome suddenly volunteered some information out of the blue about her own family. "He died when I was twelve."

Much to his private embarrassment, Inuyasha was getting a warm, fuzzy feeling over the fact that she was actually telling him about her own family. The hanyou desperately tried to ignore the feeling as best be could and continued to listen.

"I've never really told you anything about my family, have I?" When Inuyasha shook his head no with a suspiciously red face, Kagome gave him a curious glance before continuing. "Well, I have a little brother who is now in high school, my grandfather who runs a shrine, and my mother who has a full-time job just keeping us all sane."

Inuyasha laughed, causing his fangs to poke out. "I'd hate to say it, but I think she failed where you're concerned."

"Oh, hush!" Kagome smacked him on the arm. "I'm very sane, thank you. The only person my mother failed with was my grandfather. He's believed for years that he has mystical powers and would probably try to purify you if he ever met you."

"Maybe we should introduce him to Sesshoumaru."

This made Kagome laugh out loud, especially when Inuyasha got a rather wistful look on his face. "You REALLY don't like your brother, do you? But then, maybe you do like him if the worst thing you can think of to do to him is sic my grandfather on him."

"Oh, believe me, I've had years to think of everything horrible I'd like to do to him! Your grandfather's just another thing to add to the list."

Smiling at him while he started mentally going down his list, Kagome tried to work up her courage enough to ask more questions about his family. She finally realized that if she didn't go ahead and jump right in, he'd be content to sit there all night and fantasize about his brother's demise.

She took a deep breath. "I know you probably don't want me to ask, but why do you hate talking about your family so much? What happened?"

The hesitant question took Inuyasha by surprise and he stared at her blankly for a moment.

Kagome rushed on, embarrassed. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but I can't help wanting to know more about the story behind you…and Rin!" She smiled nervously, hoping he hadn't caught the fact that she was a lot more interested in hearing about him and not Rin.

He didn't.

"Actually…" Inuyasha propped his elbows on his knees and leaned over so that he could look at the floor instead of at her. "The thought of talking to you doesn't bother me nearly as much as it did just a day or two ago, although I dunno why."

Kagome could have been blown over by a strong breeze at that moment, she was so surprised at his admittance. That was the last response she had expected to her nosiness.

After a short period of silence, Inuyasha continued. "My family had a lot of problems, but up until my mother died, I had a good relationship with both of my parents. Sesshoumaru and I never got along, though."

"Why not?" Kagome questioned quietly.

A bitter laugh escaped, the sound unusual for Inuyasha. "What do humans really think of youkai? Or of hanyou?" For the first time since he began, Inuyasha looked up and waited for an answer.

"Well-" This took Kagome a few moments to think about and she decided to answer like she would if she'd been asked a question in one of her classes. Instead of focusing on her personal opinions, she looked at it more from a general viewpoint. "There used to be a lot of hate between the groups, but not for a long time now. Youkai are stronger than humans are, but much more rare, and humans are weaker but more populous. So both groups have a good reason to tolerate each other." Her brow scrunched up in thought. "As for hanyou, they seem to be accepted too as far as I can tell. Humans view them pretty much the same as a youkai."

"So even though I'm half human, they still look at me as if I'm a youkai, right?"

Kagome finally seemed to be catching on. "Youkai look at you as if you're human, don't they? They don't accept you any more than humans do."

Inuyasha nodded tersely, his whole frame stiff.

"So is that why your brother always hated you so much?"

"Hates." Inuyasha corrected her. "I'm pretty sure he must hate me just as much now as he used to. Why else would he be out to make my life miserable?"

Kagome's eyes were soft as she stared at the miserable half-demon. "Are you sure about that? If he really hates you, then why would he trust you so much with something he obviously cares about? I'm sure that even though Rin is human, he doesn't hate her at all."

This hadn't occurred to Inuyasha before, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge the idea that Sesshoumaru might actually have a heart. "He may hate me, but he knows I'd never hurt a little kid and he's banking on that."

Sighing, Kagome knew arguing with him over it probably wouldn't get her very far. Instead, she decided to concentrate on something much more important.

"You may be odd, Inuyasha, but because of that you fit into our little group just fine." She laughed lightly and laid her head on his shoulder. "Having good friends like Miroku, Sango, and even myself who like you for who you are is much better than having a world full of humans or youkai that accept you for what you are, isn't it?"

Inuyasha had stiffened considerably at the feel of her head touching his shoulder, but relaxed as he listened to her words. He'd never really thought of it that way before.

'I always thought I had a pretty bad lot in life. My mother dying, the fight with my father, Sesshoumaru…but I guess it could be a lot worse. There was a time when I wished that I could have been born as anyone other than myself, but now I don't think I'd trade my life for anything. Even if it would mean that I wouldn't have to babysit the runt.' The last thought made him smile.

Inuyasha suddenly noticed that Kagome's breathing had gradually evened out and become more shallow while he'd been lost in his thoughts, and realized she was probably falling asleep. Feeling content with the situation (if not insanely happy), he decided to just lean back and let her stay there. It's not like he had anything better to do for the moment.

Or for the rest of his life, for that matter…

The afternoon was gradually getting later, but neither occupant of Inuyasha's little apartment seemed to notice the passing of time. Both were happy right where they were and didn't have any plans to move anytime soon.

Just when he started drifting off to sleep himself, Inuyasha was startled awake by Kagome's groggy voice.

"You know," She yawned widely, barely awake. "You have a really bony shoulder."

The sound of Inuyasha's laughter echoed around the apartment.

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I rewrite stuff so much before I post that the chapters rarely look anything like they did after I first wrote them. ^^;; Anyway, thank you for reading! Please do my poor ego a favor read and review! ^_^