InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ From Beginning to End ❯ The Normal Life ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

This chapter is going to be basically a giant back flash of before Kagome got sucked into a crazy quest.

Ev and I agreed that perhaps this story doesn’t sound right because I rushed straight to the adventure and didn’t lead up to it, so I’m going to try and fix that.

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Disclaimer: I sincerely doubt that I own Inu Yasha, but, just because it’s you, I’ll check. ::riffles through various files of government property that mysteriously landed on her desk...:: Well, according to the secret organization of the AOU [Anime Owners Unite] I do not own Inu Yasha...darn...

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From Beginning to End

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--- Last Chapter ---

“So he’s only awake when he’s opening the door?” Miroku asked. Now that hardly seemed fair...

Sango shook her head. “Naraku’s a creep...”

Kagome kept silent as she pursed her lips, making up her mind. “Then, I guess we’ll just have to take Shippou with us so that he isn’t forced to go back asleep. Who knows, maybe he’ll be of some help to us?”

--- End of Last Chapter ---

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Chapter Six: The Normal Life

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Irritated molten eyes kept trained on the young miko as she trudged ahead of the rest of the group. Kagome was several steps away from the others as she toddled along, talking earnestly to the little fox demon. Shippou eagerly answered all of her questions.

The small group was walking through what looked like a giant section of marshland. Smelled like they were too...

Boggy, spongy hills stretched out before them. There were no winding walls to prove to them that they were actually inside of a giant maze. The walls wouldn’t start to surround them until later.

There were some trees...they were just extremely stunted and had no greened leaves adorning their skeleton like branches. The fog was back, as thick and gray as ever. They could barely see a few meters ahead of them but Inu Yasha would call out directions every once in a great while so they didn't worry about getting lost.

With the grayish-brown muddy ground, the grayish-brown trees, and the grayish-brown fog the landscape didn’t look very pretty.

Except for Inu Yasha and Kagome’s red clad form, all the colors were pretty muted. There was a little pink on Sango’s uniform, but not enough to stand out and the purple in Miroku’s robe wasn’t that striking either.

Although...Shippou’s carrot top head did blind them every once in awhile.

“So, Shippou, do you know how much longer it is ‘till the next trap?” Kagome’s asked pleasantly to the little boy that walked beside her.

“Uh...” Shippou gave it some thought before wagging his tiny head. “Nah, Inu Yasha’s the only one who knows the way to the center. I just stand guard at the door.”

“Hm,” Kagome hummed as she pursed her lips. Shrugging lightly, she looked over her shoulder at the sulking half demon who stalked after them all several meters behind. Without breaking her stride, Kagome asked again, “How far until the next riddle?”

Inu Yasha’s ‘irritated molten eyes’ narrowed even more in annoyance. “Are you really that eager to get there and die?”

“Thanks for your support and belief in me,” Kagome drawled sarcastically. “Sheesh, I’m not that dumb ya’ know! I can do some things.”

Inu Yasha huffed. “Uh huh, I’m sure you’re as smart as you look.”

Kagome glared at him, not sure whether she should go along with the statement or not...

“Well, I for one think Kagome-sama looks and is very bright!” Miroku crowed.

Sango rolled her eyes. “You’re not getting brownie points for that.”

“I wasn’t expecting any!” Miroku protested. Why would he butter Kagome up just to get something? Except... “Oh, Kagome-sama-?”

“No, Miroku, I am not letting you hold my bow! For the last time, you have your staff now leave my arrows alone!” Kagome scolded.

Miroku pouted. They never let him shoot arrows!

“And don’t you defend yourself with the ‘you never let me shoot arrows’ because we did, actually, let you once.” Sango gave him a calculated glare.

Kagome sighed. “That poor old woman couldn’t sit down for a week.”

“I didn’t mean to shoot her there!” Miroku told them all quickly.

“So you meant to shoot her somewhere else?” Inu Yasha joined in with the teasing of the monk.

“Yes-no, I mean no!” Miroku coughed. Going non-stop for a few days without his meditation he was starting to lose his confident/calm/smooth edge.

Kagome laughed lightly from the front; the melodious sound brought everyone from their darker moods and put them at ease. She had that effect on some people.

“Anyway...” Kagome sighed. “When is the next trap?”

Inu Yasha ‘keh’d. Couldn’t she go more then five minutes without asking that? “It’s past early afternoon, we won’t get there today,” Inu Yasha ground out.

“Oh, okay.” The young miko fell silent.

Inu Yasha, however, gaped at her. All it took was that to get her to stop nagging? Which was better---keeping the information that she wanted away just to annoy her or having her quiet?

The group fell silent again; they kept stumbling through the rough land.

Kagome finally broke the quiet. “How many people have actually gotten to the center?”

Shippou shrugged and answered before Inu Yasha could stop him. “Dog breath back there got the closest. No one else has ever gotten there. They say Inu Yasha got to the last riddle but he passed out from wounds before he could get past it. Naraku awarded him by making it that far by letting him live and-.”

A clawed fist colliding with the kitsune’s head and stopped the boy’s rambling. “That’s enough,” Inu barked.

Shippou rubbed his head and sniffled. “That wasn’t nice,” he mumbled sadly.

When Kagome heard the little boy’s stifled sobs, she turned on her heal and faced the blinking hanyou directly. The black haired woman began to poke him roughly in his chest while glaring up at him.

“That was uncalled for! I want you to apologize to Shippou-chan before I purify your sorry butt!” She snapped.

Inu Yasha didn’t move. “Fuck no! He asked for it; it’s my business! Plus, he’s not really crying and I didn’t hit him that hard! He’s fuckin’ playing you!”

Kagome growled in irritation. “You know what? I don’t care! You hit him, you apologize, got it? And I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t use that kind of language you arrogant bastard!”

Sango and Miroku watched the yelling match at a safe distance, already knowing who was going to win. Shippou was looking up in awe at the petite miko in new admiration. She wasn’t strong, she wasn’t fast, and yet she was standing up for him against this big brute.

Cool!

“I can fucking talk however I damn well want to, bitch,” Inu Yasha spat.

“Not when I’m around you can’t,” Kagome hissed.

“Wanna bet?” Inu Yasha snapped. “And how are you going to pull that off? Do you have some kind of hidden spell up your sleeve that’ll make me heel like some kinda mangy mutt?!”

“No,” Kagome told him calmly, taking a small step back. “But I can do this,” she reached forward so her finger was again pointed at his chest. A small charge of her power sparked from her pointed finger and zapped him.

Inu Yasha looked at her coolly and raised a bemused eyebrow. “Was that supposed to hurt?”

Kagome scowled at him before letting a much larger bolt of her purple miko power pulse from her finger. Tilting her hand up, she allowed a steady flow of it to erupt from her palm and slam into him.

Inu Yasha, needless to say, was hit square on [she was only a couple of feet away] and was pushed down on his ‘sorry butt’ while sputtering in outrage.

“What the fuck?!”

“Language?” Kagome gave him a pointed look.

Inu Yasha glared up at her.

Kagome kept constant eye contact until she realized that that was the best she’d get from him. Sighing she walked away and resumed the front with Shippou. Miroku and Sango fell into step behind and slipped back into talk like nothing had happened. Inu Yasha blinked back at her unhappily before leaping back to his feet and following.

It wasn’t like he had any other choice.

Ahead of the others, Shippou stopped his endless chatter as he noticed that his idol had fallen silent and had a look of concentration on. Shippou kept quiet and left Kagome to her thoughts.

Kag ambled on as her mind flashed back to what her life was before the jewel went missing. Besides being a fearless guardian of a famous magical jewel, her life had been pretty simple and resembled something somewhat normal...

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Several days earlier

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“What do you guys want?” Kagome stood up from the table and retracted a small wad of bills from her jeans’ pocket.

Sango looked up from where she was sitting next to Miroku and gave her best friend a genuine smile. “Kags! You don’t need to buy us anything. We do work for a living, you know; assassination does more than enough to pay for the bills.”

Kagome waved off her flimsy excuse. “No way, you paid for lunch last time, it’s only fair.”

“I say it’s Miro’s turn then,” Sango gave her boyfriend a pointed look.

Miroku rolled his violet eyes and gave the two ladies a disarming grin. “Hey, if Kagome-sama wants to pay for the meal, you won’t hear me complaining.”

Sango elbowed him lightly and rolled her eyes at his protesting ‘oof’. “Whatever. I’ll have a teriyaki chicken dish if you insist.”

“Make it a large one, I’ll share with her,” Miroku piped up.

Kagome shrugged. “’Kay. To drink?”

“Just grab us each a water. Lunch doesn’t have to include a drink,” Sango insisted easily. Both she and her boyfriend got bigger salaries for their jobs so it wasn’t fair to bankrupt their friend. The only pay Kagome got was from the city to fund the shrine.

“I’ll take that as two diet cokes,” Kagome announced as she walked away from her best friends. At the counter she ordered her food and leaned casually against the wall to wait.

A few guys walked by and admired her in her jeans and t-shirts but Kagome ignored them. ‘Idiots...’ she mumbled mentally as a cocky guy at a nearby table gave a low wolf whistle.

Sango, not too far away, laughed at the guys’ antics. If Kagome was going to settle for a man, it wouldn’t be an ordinary one.

Miroku didn’t even seem to notice as he continued to stare adoringly at Sango’s face.

“Young Miss, here you go,” A kind elderly worker caught her attention and gave Kagome the tray. She grabbed it eagerly and gave the waiter a large smile and left her a tip.

Kagome dropped the food back off at the table before taking the stacked paper cups over to the soda dispenser. Filling them up to the brim with some kind of drink or another she snapped on the lids and carried them back. Sitting down she handed them out to their respective owners.

“Thanks, ‘Gome-chan,” Sango took a grateful sip from her drink. She was pretty parched from their three hour shopping trip. Miroku wasn’t complaining because it meant he could spend time with his girlfriend and best friend.

They’d been pretty busy lately with their jobs. Sango had to take care of a few gang leaders and Miroku was watching over some visitors to his monk’s temple. More than a few people were coming to Kagome for some cures.

Miroku was always joking that with Kagome’s constant healing practice she’d find a cure for cancer or the common cold any day now.

Kagome took it a little more seriously than meant...her father had died from cancer when she was seven.

“What’s the plan for rest of today?” Miroku asked conversationally while they picked at their food and ate quickly.

“Souta’s birthday is in a few weeks,” Kagome commented. “Knowing him, he probably wants some new video game that I’ll never be able to get since it’ll be sold out. Sheesh, he’s almost 15 and he still has that unhealthy obsession with his X-Box.”

Sango shrugged. “My brother’s 16 and he’s still playing any game he can get his hands on. Although...Souta does seem to go for the bloody gore type, huh? Maybe I should bring him in for taijiya training...” She seemed to really ponder it.

“Nuh-uh. No way!” Kagome interrupted. “I’m not having my baby brother doing assassinations. Why don’t you train Kohaku?”

Sango sighed. “Unlike your brother, mine doesn’t seem to like blood and guts. Don’t get me wrong, he’s good with weapons...Kohaku’s just too shy around big business men who want to put a hit on some unruly demon.”

Kagome thought about Sango’s sweet little brother. Her friend was right, Kohaku was pretty shy. A living of killing strong murderous demons didn’t seem like a likely choice.

The three lapsed into a silence.

Miroku finally broke it again. “So...what are we doing today?”

“Huh?” Kagome then smiled a little sheepishly. “Guess I didn’t answer that, now did I? Well, we should go buy a gift for Souta...which is why I brought the subject of his birthday up. Then we can hit the arcade!”

Sango snorted. “Kagome! Didn’t we just go over unhealthy obsessions with games when you’re a bit too old?”

Kagome waved it off flippantly. “I didn’t mean the shooting games, I meant the dance game. We can nab the high score again, Sango-chan.”

Sango grinned. “It is pretty fun to get it when there are able-bodied teenagers trying. It helps to be preened into fighting since you’re young...you’re good at dancing.”

“What does fighting have to do with dancing?” Kagome wondered aloud, not getting what Sango meant.

“I think she means that she’s flexible,” Miroku raised his eyebrows suggestively, “And I should know.”

Sango slammed her elbow into his stomach while her cheeks turned pink. “Miroku!!”

Kagome made a face. “I think that was a little too much information.”

Sango sighed exasperatedly, her blush still there. “Come on Kagome-chan! I’m not going to do---that--- with Miroku! I’ve only been seeing him for two weeks!”

Kagome coughed nervously and switched the topic. “Anyone see that new comedy that came out last Wednesday?”

Sango was glad for the change. “No, not yet.”

Miroku seemed thoughtful for a minute. “I haven’t, but there is supposed to be some TV show on Friday about stupid things people have done. Wanna watch it?”

Kagome rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t sound that good...”

Sango sipped her drink again. “Actually, it’d be interesting. Why don’t we just try it out? If it’s bad we can just pop in a movie.”

“Fine, whatever, as long as we don’t watch it at my house. We always watch at my house,” Kagome complained.

“We’re watching it at your house; you have the bigger TV,” Miroku shrugged.

Kagome sulked while Sango agreed with her boyfriend. Guess the mater was decided without her...again...

Kagome scooted her chair back and scrunched her paper plate into a ball. She shot it from where she stood and laughed happily when the small ball circled the rim of the trashcan and then fell in.

Her drink was still pretty full so she just picked it up. “Ready?”

The other two got up quickly and dumped their trash before waiting for Kagome. The three set out through the mall crowd toward a department store.

Half an hour later, Kagome had small plastic bag clutched in her hand that held Souta’s new video game. “The arcade can wait,” she decided and then pointed towards a clothing store. “Why don’t we head there next?”

Sango nodded, “I could use a new tank top, Kirara scratched up my old one on accident.”

Miroku groaned but then reminded himself that he was lucky. Although Sango and Kagome liked to shop, they didn’t do it often and didn’t take long enough for him to want to die because of boredom.

Kagome smiled at the raccoon demon that was manning the door and the three friends entered to look at the various clothing items.

At one point, Kagome lagged behind to help a bird demon when his two-year- old son threw a tantrum and ripped half the clothes on a rack and threw them on the floor. Before the manager could come to yell about it, Kagome had the clothing back on its hanger and up on the rack where it belonged.

“Thank you,” the poor father told the young miko appreciatively before the son dragged the man off again.

Kagome waved as she watched them go.

“You really do find ways to help everyone all the time, don’t you,” Miroku drawled at her elbow. That was the fifth stranger Kagome had helped that day...

Kagome shrugged. “He was tired and the little boy is actually pretty sweet. I was right there and it was only fair that I helped them out.”

Miroku rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean it as an insult, just a comment.”

Kagome smiled at him before following after Sango when the brunette found a ‘Wednesday only’ sale.

Miroku good-naturedly clambered after them and waited patiently as they found the right sizes and colors. He was even nice enough to carry their bags out and act like the handy pack mule.

“Now what?” Sango asked as they mooched along the mall corridor. It was hard to move around easily with so many people.

“Uh...Miroku, is there anything you want to do?” Kagome asked.

“Not that I know of, Kagome-sama,” Miroku admitted.

“Okay, why don’t we pack up and head back to my place to hang out. It’s less likely to be as crowded as the taijiya training barracks or the monk’s temple.” Kagome suggested.

“Sure, I’ll head there in Sango’s car,” Miroku informed them both and led the way to one of the exits.

Kagome shrugged and grabbed her bags from the guy before looking for her car in the parking lot. Spotting it, she waved goodbye to her friends and headed home.

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Kagome clambered up the last of the steps that led to her home. Miroku and Sango were still a few minutes away; they’d been caught at a red light so Kagome was able to make it home before them.

Peeking over the top, she saw her mother waving goodbye to a few of the visitors. Smiling, Kagome made her way over and kissed her mother on the cheek.

“Thanks, Mama, for watching over the shrine today,” Kagome said gratefully. She knew she was lucky to have a mother who would do anything for her children.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled pleasantly and wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “You know me, Dear, I’m so lonely staying at home all day. With Souta at school, it’s good to be here and see some people.”

The city paid Kagome to take care of the shrine and even gave some money to Mrs. Higurashi, so the elder of the two women didn’t have to work.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m still thankful,” Kagome said humbly.

Mrs. Higurashi kissed her on the temple and was happy that she had such a sweet daughter. “Come on inside, Honey, and I’ll get you some tea.”

“Miroku and Sango are on their way here,” Kagome informed Mrs. Higurashi before she forgot.

“Then I’ll just have to make more tea,” Mrs. H. decided practically.

“They’ll like that,” Kagome admitted.

“Yes, we would. Thank you Mrs. Higurashi,” Miroku said from behind them. He gave a friendly smile to his best friend’s mother and then moved ahead of them to open the door for them all.

Sango caught up from behind and entered the house with the others.

The three younger adults sat at the kitchen table while Mrs. Higurashi bustled around the kitchen. “What kind of tea would you like?” She asked them.

Sango shrugged, happy for anything while Miroku did the same. “Blackberry, please,” Kagome spoke up.

Mama nodded and turned back to the sink to fill up the teakettle while the three friends started chatting again.

Not too long after the tea had been poured, the elder Higurashi joined the table; the front door slammed.

Souta darted in and gave a quick peck to both his mother’s and his sister’s cheeks. “Hey Mom! Your note said you were over here so I came by.”

“Oh, it’s nice to see that you haven’t forgotten about your sister. I get so lonely when you don’t visit, Souta,” Kagome pouted.

Souta rolled his chocolate brown eyes, eyes that matched his mother’s. “Whatever sis. I visit you all the time!”

“Uh huh, sure,” Kagome didn’t sound too believing.

Miroku watched amused as Souta continued the sibling squabble. “I do too visit you all the time!”

“Do not,” Kagome retorted. “You only show up once in a blue moon when I ask Mama to watch over the shrine for the day. In fact, you normally only do that so you can get some food!”

Souta looked away, knowing that he’d been caught.

Mrs. Higurashi laughed merrily, “She’s got you there son. You should really visit more often!” she scolded, although it didn’t sound like a scold.

Souta grinned and slumped at the table. Turning to Sango he told the magenta-eyed woman: “I talked to Kohaku after school. I told him Mom told me that you were out with Kagome. He’s going to swing by, probably in a few minutes.”

Sango smiled at the thought of her little brother. They were pretty close.

Kagome groaned before smacking her brother playfully in the arm. “See, Souta! That’s what good little brothers do, they visit their sisters!”

“Are we back to this?” Souta complained.

All five of them laughed. The doorbell rang and Souta raced to answer it and let Kohaku in.

“Sheesh, he answers my door at my house. What, does he think he lives here?” Kagome grumbled.

Miroku and Sango ignored it, knowing Kagome didn’t really mind. After Souta had grown out of his annoying 11-year-old brother phase, the two Higurashi children had become pretty close.

Souta had been barely one year old when their father had died so he often came to Kagome for stories about Mr. Higurashi. Kagome, gladly, told her little bro about the tall, booming man that had been their father.

Kagome left out the part about how the man that had been so strong had become so frail in the last months of his life.

“Hey Kohaku,” she greeted when the teenager entered the kitchen, Souta close behind.

Kohaku gave the miko a soft smile, “Hello, Kagome-san,” he said formally.

Kagome didn’t comment on it. “How was school you two?”

Souta answered first while Kohaku and Sango started to greet each other. “It was all right.”

“Oh, don’t bore me to death with the details!” Kagome stated dramatically.

Souta glared and muttered under his breath. “Ha ha. Nothing happened so I can’t tell you much.”

Kagome rolled her eyes and then settled them on Kohaku. “And what about you?”

“It was fine. I have a big assignment for English. We’re supposed to write a report about people we look up to...I was think of writing one on you and my sister,” he told Kagome.

Kagome was flattered. “That would be sooo sweet,” she reached out and tweaked the young man’s nose.

Sango grinned and gave her little brother a noogie. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

The rest of the conversation was pretty boring and in a few hours Kagome’s guests were leaving. She kissed her mother and [much to his dismay] brother goodbye and waved them off.

The ebony haired miko gave Sango and Kohaku each a friendly hung goodbye, and then did the same with Miroku. The monk, amazingly, didn’t do anything improper with his hands.

The three started out; Sango was driving them all home. Sango turned back to her friend and grinned. “So Friday we’re meeting here to watch that show on TV, Kag-chan?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Kagome waved to them.

“Good night, Kagome-sama, I’ll probably talk to you tomorrow,” Miroku called back to here. “Can’t wait for Friday!”

“Me too!” Kagome smiled and watched them disappear. Once she was sure they were safely to their car, she retreated into her home and shut the door.

Heading back towards her kitchen, she wondered idly what she was going to have for dinner...

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Present Time

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Friday had come and went, the jewel stolen in the process. Kagome did some quick calculations: Saturday they went to court, Sunday they arrived in Ireland, Monday they met Inu Yasha...so today was Tuesday.

And, not counting today, that meant they had 25 more days to get the jewel back.

“What’s worrying you?” Inu Yasha asked gruffly as he eyed her grim expression.

Kagome noticed that sometime in the last few minutes she had drifted to the back of the group and was walking with Inu Yasha. Miroku and Sango were up ahead and Shippou was walking between the couple.

Kagome looked away for a moment and then looked back again, the serious expression on her face shed. “Nothing,” she said shortly.

Inu Yasha scowled. “Don’t lie. I just wanted to know...”

Kagome swallowed when she realized that the hanyou was really making a conscious effort to talk with her. “I...was just thinking how we have 25 more days...”

Inu Yasha looked ahead again and Kagome felt like he wasn’t going to keep talking anymore; he surprised her. “You should stop counting the days. If you’re not worrying about how much longer you have, you’ll probably do better on this stupid ‘quest’ of yours.”

Kagome looked at his profile and thought it over. He was right; if she wasn’t so busy counting down the days to her death she could put more thought into the traps and riddles.

Even after she came to her conclusion about his statement, Kagome found herself still looking intently at her guide’s face...

...Inu Yasha seemed to notice it too.