InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages ❯ Apologies ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does so belong to me! I got him in the mail yesterday! *Dead silence* Okay, okay, stop looking at me like that! So it is only a keychain…I'm still entitled to my delusions, aren't I?

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Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages

Chapter Seventeen

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"Wow, Rin! Look at those tigers!" Kagome squealed happily, pointing a finger at the bored looking cats. "Did you see his teeth when he yawned?"

Rin turned to gaze at the tigers for a moment before nodding obediently in agreement to Kagome's observations. Once that was done, she turned back to watch what was, to her at least, one of the much more 'interesting' sights in the zoo. She stared at it with open curiosity and even a bit of confusion.

'Uncle Inu still looks kind of upset.' Rin pondered, thinking as seriously as her childish mind would allow her to. She watched as Inuyasha slumped against one of the rail guards in front of the tiger exhibit, looking extremely grumpy. 'Is he still upset with Aunt Kagome? Maybe he's sad because they were fighting.'

Rin really hated seeing her beloved Uncle Inu so depressed, but she just didn't know what she could do about it. Seeing all the cute animals in the zoo didn't seem to cheer him up like it had her Aunt Kagome.

Not able to stand it anymore, Rin moved from her spot next to Kagome and slipped up beside her white-haired uncle, who was about three feet away from the spot where Kagome was standing, as if he didn't want to get too close. Predictably, he didn't bother to acknowledge her at all.

"Uncle Inu?"

After several moments of silence Inuyasha finally grunted, a reluctant indication that he'd heard her.

Rin ignored his unfriendly attitude and smiled brightly at him. "Aren't you gonna look at the animals with us?" She waited expectantly for an answer.

When he didn't respond to her question, she glanced back at the tigers behind him as if imploring them to help. "You should look 'cause some of them have really, really cute ears just like yours! They are so cute that Rin would love to pet them!"

In response to this, Inuyasha looked down long enough to glare at her. It was more than obvious to Kagome, who was listening closely to Rin's attempts to cheer up Inuyasha, that he didn't like his ears being compared to a cat's ears. Tiger or not, it was still a lowly cat.

Kagome had to smother a laugh when one of his ears flicked in apparent disdain.

Rin didn't seem to pick up on any of this, though, and mistook his glare for something else entirely. "Don't worry Uncle Inu, Rin will always think your ears are much cuter." She assured him earnestly with one hand patting his leg in a comforting gesture. "The cutest ears in the whole wide world!"

If that little statement wasn't embarrassing enough for poor Inuyasha, Kagome's laughter echoing in his ears had to be the icing on the cake. His horrible temper, which had been simmering just under the surface ever since their fight that morning, finally gave way and he couldn't stop himself from snapping the first thing that came to mind.

"What are you laughing at, bitch?"

Kagome's laughter died as if someone had hit a switch, and she stared at him in shock along with Rin. Inuyasha stared back defiantly.

The older girl finally managed to find her voice. "How DARE you call me something like that! And in front of Rin!" Her face had turned red, more from anger than embarrassment. "You can be such a jerk sometimes, Inuyasha!"

"Keh." He turned his eyes to the ground and kept his arms folded across his chest.

"Don't you 'Keh' me!" Kagome continued to rant, oblivious to Rin's worried glances as her eyes darted back and forth between the two adults. "I don't even know WHY I try to be nice to you sometimes! The only reason I even came with you today was because of Rin!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Gee, who would have guessed? I thought you came because you loved me so much!" His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Kagome couldn't do anything more than splutter angrily for several moments, unable to come up with a suitable comeback. Rin said nothing and just continued to silently watch with a worried expression on her face.

"I don't even know why I bothered to come." Inuyasha grumbled under his breath. "Maybe I should just leave."

"Well…well maybe you should!" Kagome finally managed to shout. "We'd have a whole lot more fun without you sulking around behind our backs, acting like we forced you here at gunpoint or something!"

Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head. "You really want me to leave, huh? Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Kagome opened her mouth to deliver the repetitive retort once again, when Rin suddenly tugged lightly on the edge of her skirt. Looking down, Kagome felt a wave shame roll over her when she noticed the tears in Rin's eyes.

"Rin's sorry, Aunt Kagome! Rin didn't mean to start a fight!" She used her free hand that wasn't clinging to Kagome's skirt to wipe her eyes. "Just please don't make Uncle Inu leave, 'cause it wasn't his fault!"

Inuyasha was staring at the little girl beside Kagome with nothing short of pure shock. Why in the world was she making such a big deal about him leaving anyway? It wasn't like he was having much fun, and his bad mood just seemed to be making everyone else miserable, too. Kagome was right. They would have more fun without him hanging around like a storm cloud over their heads.

Meanwhile, Kagome had brought herself down to eye level with Rin, looking for all the world like she was ready to cry herself. "Oh Rin, the fight isn't your fault! Your Aunt Kagome and Uncle Inu are just big idiots who don't know when to shut up!"

Inuyasha made a sound of protest at the insult, but Kagome just sent him a glare telling him clearly to shut up or die. For once, he decided to keep his big mouth shut.

"But it IS Rin's fault!" The little girl argued insistently. "You weren't fighting anymore 'til Rin made you fight again! Rin should get in trouble, not Uncle Inu!"

People were passing by the little group and most were shooting sympathetic glances at the upset little girl. The ones that weren't doing that were shooting evil glares at Inuyasha, concluding that whatever was wrong with her must be his fault.

Kagome looked around uneasily and noticed the antagonizing looks people were giving the hanyou and the looks he was giving them in return. Figuring they'd better move before a fight could break out, she stood up and motioned for him to follow her and Rin. "I swear, Rin, none of it is your fault, just mine and your Uncle Inu's. And I think the two of us need to talk about it, so why don't we all go somewhere a little less crowded, okay?"

Muttering something unintelligible under his breath, Inuyasha followed Kagome as she started off in search of a more private place to have their little 'talk'.

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"This place looks pretty deserted." Kagome decided. They were now in a small area that contained some benches and a fishpond that was sheltered by a few trees. Even though they could still easily be seen, it was far enough away from the high traffic sidewalks that no one could overhear them talk.

Seating Rin on one of the benches, Kagome then looked at Inuyasha and pointed to the spot next to the little girl. "Sit."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but a fierce glare from Kagome made him think better of it. He reluctantly sat down, curious despite himself about what Kagome was gonna do. She seemed awfully determined all of a sudden.

"There, now isn't this much better?" Kagome smiled at the pair, once again acting like her normal, cheerful self. "Now we can get down to business! Things have been going badly all day and I'm determined to fix the problem, no matter what!"

Inuyasha shifted nervously when Kagome began to pace back and forth in front of him, suddenly feeling like he used to when he would get in trouble with one of his teachers. Not surprising, since it probably happened a LOT.

Inuyasha was jolted out of his school day flashbacks when Kagome came to a sudden halt in front of him. She looked ready to say something to him, and he prepared to defend himself from whatever accusations that she might decide to throw at him.

"Inuyasha, I…" She trailed off and cleared her throat nervously. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about this morning! I shouldn't have yelled at you because it wasn't your fault. I was just embarrassed about having to admit it to you!" She finished her small speech in a rush, looking relieved to have it done with. In a lot of ways her personality was just as pigheaded as Inuyasha's, so making an apology when she knew very well that she wasn't the only one at fault was very difficult for her. Now she could only hope for the same from him.

Inuyasha couldn't do much more than stare at her, though, dumbfounded.

Rin, on the other hand, looked delighted that someone finally seemed to be making a serious effort towards making up. Looking hopeful, she immediately turned to her Uncle Inu and waited for him to do the same thing. When he didn't speak for several moments, she frowned at him and moved to whisper in his ear.

"Uncle Inu, tell Aunt Kagome you're sorry!" She hissed rather loudly, causing his ear to fold down in annoyance. At first she seemed satisfied with that and moved to sit back down, but suddenly changed her mind and moved back to cup her hand to his ear again. "And when you tell her, don't forget to kiss and make up! Mommy always made Rin do that when Rin was mad at someone!"

Poor Inuyasha almost fell off the bench, especially when he realized Kagome could hear everything that was said and was blushing furiously. Not that she was the only one looking a little red in the face!

Digging his claws into the wooden back of the bench (he had a death grip on it after almost falling off), Inuyasha desperately tried to think of what he could say. He knew that if he didn't say something, Rin would probably take the matter into her own hands and who knew what might happen then. She'd probably tell Kagome all about how much he lo-, er, liked her.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry too, I think…I mean, I am sorry!" He sunk back against the bench a little while Kagome glared at him. "I shouldn't have yelled either, okay?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "I still don't get why you were so upset, anyway."

Inuyasha flinched slightly. 'Damn, I can't tell her the truth, especially with the runt around! If I tell her I thought she was disgusted with the idea of having a relationship with me, that would only lead to questions that I really don't wanna answer.'

Feeling slightly guilty, Inuyasha pushed the feeling away and chose not to admit the truth. Instead, he stood up to glare at her closer to eye level. "Do I have to have a reason?"

For several moments the pair stared each other down, until Kagome broke out into sudden laughter. "No, I suppose you don't need a reason, do you? You act like a jerk all the time anyway!"

"Oi, that was rude!"

"Rude, but true!"

Rin watched blissfully as the two adults began to get along better than they had all day, even if they WERE technically still fighting. But even though things were getting better, Rin still wasn't satisfied with the outcome.

"Aunt Kagome? Uncle Inu?" Both turned to stare at Rin questioningly. "You haven't kissed yet, remember?"

"K-Kiss?!?!" Kagome and Inuyasha echoed together, looking at each other in horror.

"Of course!" Rin gazed at them patiently as if they were the small children that didn't understand simple concepts. "My mommy always said 'When you fight with someone you love, you should always kiss and make up so they know that you still love them'."

"Love?" Kagome squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

Inuyasha stayed silent and looked down, suddenly finding the sidewalk a fascinating sight that he had to examine very carefully.

Giggling in an almost disturbing manner, Rin jumped up and attempted to herd the flustered Kagome towards a distracted Inuyasha. He still didn't look up.

'What the hell do I do?' His frantic mind questioned. 'I'd give anything to kiss Kagome, but she doesn't look too eager to kiss me. Should I do it anyway? Or should I offer to shake hands or something? Gah!'

Then, almost before he knew what was happening, Rin had actually succeeded in pushing a protesting Kagome until the flustered pair was practically nose to nose. When Inuyasha looked up from the ground, he found himself staring right into her eyes. Now the temptation to act on his desires was stronger than ever, and Inuyasha suddenly made a well-thought-out decision.

'Oh, what the hell!'

With that, Inuyasha gave the best apology he'd ever made in his life.

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*Looks around carefully to make sure no one is planning on throwing anything at her for stopping there* A terrible place to leave it off, but I couldn't resist! I loved that ending line as soon as I thought of it and had to use it. But don't worry, the details will be covered in the next chapter, courtesy of Kagome. ^_^