InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inuyasha 24/7 ❯ Restaurant Brawl ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Queen Mongoose 
Brawl as in verbal and physical. ^__^
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.24.2003 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 786 | Status: Work In Progress
Brawl as in verbal and physical. ^__^
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.24.2003 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 786 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: I know what you're gonna say..."Well you sure took your damn time on this." I did. I guess I was feeling like I didn't want to finish it anymore, but then I got some encouragement. ^_^ Yes, I'm using this happy smile in place of me smiling right this moment since you can't really see me smiling right this moment. Right? Okay, so here's the next chapter! Oh, for Kate, thanks for all your reviews and yes, I actually am thinking of adding Kouga! Yay! I know, he just brings the drama doesn't he? Don't you love it? Anyways, since it's winter break right now, I might have time to update more often!!
Okay, enough of the too-much-sweetener-in-your-coffee attitude. On with the writing.
Inuyasha 24/7
Restaurant Brawl
"Sango! Miroku?" Kagome called, nudging the two gently.
Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and stalked forward. "Here, I'll wake them up."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, slapping at Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha 'keh'-ed and stepped back, allowing Kagome to attempt to wake the two from their sleep. But still they didn't stir. Were they drugged or something? Surely they should have awoken by now.
Inuyasha approached the two figures once more and this time he was a little bit more cautious. Kagome might hit him again. He leaned down, poking Miroku in the cheek.
"I refuse...to cut off little Miroku for you," he muttered unconsciously in his sleep. Inuyasha and Kagome couldn't help but chuckle incoherently at this.
Kagome gently nudged Sango, making her hat fall to the ground. "Sango. Sango wake up, it's me, Kagome." Sango stirred gently at first, her eyes, a pair of drowsy chocolate beads, peeping through heavy eyelids.
She was about to go back to sleep when she realized that there were people in front of her. Her startled eyes flew open and she quickly went in attack mode, giving Inuyasha an uppercut that was unintentional.
All the commotion woke Miroku up with a start, causing his eyes to dart in every direction, fumbling for something in his pockets. "What's going on!? Get the ofuda, quick! Demons! Don't come any closer!" Miroku shouted.
Inuyasha had flown back from Sango's punch and landed on his butt at the doorstep. Kagome was trying her best to calm the two down, demanding Miroku to put his spells away and Sango to put her fists away.
"You startled us...I'm so sorry Kagome!" Sango said, giving a relieved chuckle as she clutched her heart. Miroku slowly calmed down after seeing who they were, putting his spells back in the bag he brought.
"Ow..." came a voice behind the three. They all turned to Inuyasha.
"That must have hurt," Miroku commented.
"Nah...it was nothing," Inuyasha replied, with visible difficulty. He winced, glaring up at Sango. She smiled nervously at him.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha," she said with a shrug. "I did it on impulse."
"I'm not hurt," he snapped. Sure.....
"I think we should go inside," Kagome suggested, helping Inuyasha up, bringing him to the living room.
****
"Can you explain how you got here?" Kagome asked, as the two settled in. Kagome had given them blankets and some hot tea while Inuyasha was building up the fire in the fireplace. He came and sat down next to Kagome on the couch.
"It's actually a very complicated story," Miroku said, sipping his tea.
"Kaede-sama had given us a spell to temporarily invade the bodies of our reincarnates so we could see what was happening in your world because of something she was explaining to us," Sango illustrated.
"What was she explaining?" Kagome asked.
"She was telling us that since at Sengoku Jidai, you and Inuyasha had us to help you fight Naraku with, Naraku decided it would be better if he attacked you in your world where actual physical fights between youkai didn't exist. That way you," Sango said, glancing over at Inuyasha, "couldn't use Tetsusiaga to fight. Plus Kagome couldn't use her miko powers to destroy him."
"Yeah, but he couldn't use his powers neither," Kagome said.
"True," Miroku decided to continue. "But he has the advantage because you're here with family and you were unsuspecting. It's a bit simple, but Naraku figured it out. You two wouldn't use your powers in case your family was hurt. He doesn't care about your family so he'd use his powers secretly right under your noses."
That could probably be the answer to why I got that freakishly realistic dream, Kagome thought.
Inuyasha glanced at her nervously as Miroku continued to explain. He heard her thoughts again. It was becoming more and more frequent and he knew that wasn't a good sign. Musou had told him it was because his mental block was weakening so that he could hear the thoughts of those close to him. If they didn't do something soon, he'd get sucked in the tree...speaking of the tree...
"How about that black sakura tree in Maeko's yard?" Inuyasha blurted out in Miroku's mid-explanation. The three turned to him.
"Ah yes, Naraku was trying to use that to his advantage," Miroku said. "That tree can suck up anything with youkai powers, so Naraku's steering clear. Kaede told us he was using his little puppet Musou--a sort of reincarnate of Sengoku Jidai Musou--to go around and mess around with you and Kagome. You really should be careful Inuyasha."
"But you see..." Inuyasha paused. He couldn't just tell Miroku straight off that he was hearing Kagome's thoughts--and that he had been able to hear it ever since before they left the shrine... Well, he could twist it a bit. "I had this feeling even before we reached Maeko's shrine mansion."
"You mean you were having those vibes even at our shrine?" Kagome asked, staring at Inuyasha with disbelief. She hit him in the chest.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha asked. Why was he getting beaten up by girls today?
"Why didn't you tell me? I've been so worried and you've been holding out on what you know!" Kagome yelled, hitting him repeatedly on the chest.
"Like I told you before, I didn't want to worry you with useless stuff!"
"It's not useless!" Kagome threw back, defensively. She hit him again. "You could've been hurt!"
"Well I'm not fucking hurt! I'm fine!"
"You aren't fine! A black tree is planning to suck you into itself for Kami's sake! You should know by now that you're not fine! Man...you know, if you'd told me sooner maybe I would've started researching on what was happening to you sooner and I could've figured out what Naraku was planning sooner!" Kagome pointed out, poking him painfully in the arm after each emphasized word. Inuyasha scooted away from her and rubbed his arm.
"Will you stop hitting me? Besides, it's unlikely that you would've found any information then because we probably still would've gone to the fair at the same time!!" Inuyasha shouted back.
"I can't believe you're yelling at me! I just wanted to help you because I l--" she quickly stopped herself. "--care about you! Am I suddenly not allowed to care about you too?"
"Keh!" Kagome punched him in the stomach. "Ow!"
"You deserve it!"
As the two continued to bicker childishly, Miroku and Sango exchanged knowing glances and knowing smiles. "Isn't that sweet? They're arguing about who cares more about who," Miroku said, clapping his hands together like a giddy school girl.
Sango laughed and quickly nudged Miroku. "Quiet houshi, we still have more explaining to do." She whistled, catching the attention of the two arguing teens. "Back to the subject," she said.
"Huh?" the two replied in unison.
"Back to what we were talking about? You know...Naraku...his evil plans, the minions he set out to do those evil plans," Sango said, as if refueling their memories.
"Right." the two said simultaneously. They looked at each other and narrowed their eyes.
"Look, the reason Inuyasha probably felt the symptoms at the shrine was probably because the black sakura tree already knew he was coming in this direction."
"Oh...that's it? No scientific explanation?" Inuyasha asked.
"No. The tree could probably just sense things since it's filled with some youkai whose powers have probably melded together with walls of the tree," Miroku expounded.
"So he's trying to use it against us..." Kagome said, leaning over, placing her elbows at the ends of her knees, resting her chin in her palms.
"I believe so," Miroku said, leaning back.
"So how did you get here?" Inuyasha asked.
"From the spell Kaede-sama gave us and something called a bullet train. After that we went and got some modern day clothes and went to find you," Sango said, taking a long sip of her tea. Kagome stared at their outfits and chuckled softly. They looked like a cross between a Care Bear, a Teletubby, and the Tooth Fairy.
The chuckle was oblivious to everyone so Sango continued to explain. "It was strange but we found this old man at the mall earlier saying something about 'that goose Maeko' and 'how I'd love to put live crabs in that Maeko's shirt' etc. And Houshi-sama and I remembered you saying something about your Great Aunt Maeko, though we knew there were plenty of people around with the name Maeko, but still it was worth a try. So eventually we came here."
That was definitely Grandpa.
"We didn't know what we should do so we thought about it and accidentally fell asleep at the back door," Miroku said.
"Oh, by the way, our names are Sanku and Mirogo. There's something ironic about it but I just can't seem to figure it out..." Sango rattled on thoughtfully. She shrugged it off. "Anyways, I'm Mirogo, and he's Sanku."
"Oh," Inuyasha and Kagome said.
"Strangely, we know each other in this life too," Sango said. Miroku was smiling appreciatively at her. She rolled her eyes. "We are not married houshi! Kaede-sama was only joking!"
"Was she really?" the monk asked, scooting closer to Sango. She scooted away.
"Kaede-sama said you couldn't touch me in this era. You could get 'sued', whatever that is. But it doesn't sound good so you shouldn't try it!" Sango warned.
Kagome smiled. She was so glad they were here.
"How'd you get rid of the little rat?" Inuyasha asked, obviously referring to Shippou.
"Oh, that didn't take much," Sango said. "But I do feel bad for the poor kid since Kaede-sama said he wasn't allowed to come."
"What did you do?" Inuyasha asked again.
"We played hide-and-seek with him. He was in the woods faster than Kagome-sama can time-travel," Miroku said with a small smile.
"Cool," Inuyasha said with a satisfied nod.
"Inuyasha!"
"Ow! What did I do now?"
****
The next day, Kagome and Inuyasha had a lot of explaining to do about why Sango and Miroku--or Mirogo and Sanku--were here. Kagome was the first to explain, but all the while Inuyasha was smiling. He wanted to give a little payback for that punch Sango gave him earlier that morning.
"So these are your cousins Inuyasha?" Great Aunt Maeko asked.
Inuyasha's smile got bigger, making Miroku and Sango a bit suspicious. "Actually, only Sanku is my cousin, Mirogo is his wife," Inuyasha explained truthfully.
Sango's eyes widened. "Wha--I am not--I can't believ--this is insane! The punch was an accident!" Sango hissed to Kagome. Kagome simply giggled.
"What's wrong with you being my wife, koibito*?" Miroku asked, gently smoothing his hand over her arm. (A/N: Something like sweetheart or darling or something like that.)
"Don't call me that," Sango snapped. "And stop touching me."
Kagome couldn't help but smile. Inuyasha returned after explaining to Great Aunt Maeko, passing them with a bright, innocent smile on his face. Sango followed right after him.
"Inuyasha dies tonight! I don't care about Naraku, I was here first!" she growled under her breath.
Great Aunt Maeko and Mrs. Higurashi stared blankly at Sango and Inuyasha. Miroku gave a sheepish laugh. "I'm sorry, my wife and my cousin have a, sort of, sibling rivalry."
"I'm not your wife!" Sango screamed from the distance.
"She's a bit angry with me because of our uncomfortable accommodations last night," Miroku explained to the elders.
"Would it be all right if they stayed here Great Aunt Maeko?" Kagome asked.
"Sure, I have more than enough room for them," Great Aunt Maeko said, waving her hand. "It's no problem at all. You know, they sure do all have the same tastes in...unique...clothing."
Kagome smiled then looked towards the rest of her family. They were eyeing her suspiciously. They knew who Inuyasha was and they knew it was very unlikely that Miroku was his cousin, due to the fact that Miroku looked human and Inuyasha wasn't. She smiled up at them and gave them a look that said, 'I'll explain everything later.'
****
"So what are we going to do now?" Kagome asked as she sat at the restaurant booth. She was looking down at her milkshake, swirling her straw in it.
"Who knows. We don't even know where to start looking for Musou, Naraku--whoever. And we don't know how to deal with that tree," Inuyasha replied, slurping down his bowl of ramen. Ah, the joys of ramen.
"You know, Kaede-sama did give us something that was helpful," Sango said as she was rewarded with hopeful looks from her comrades. Sango pulled up her bag and unzipped the front as she took out a heavy, encyclopedia-sized book out.
They all stared in disbelief. "Can I ask you a question?" Inuyasha asked, staring down at the large book that Sango was now dusting in front of them.
"Sure," she replied, blowing away the residue. Inuyasha covered his bowl of ramen.
"Why the hell were you dragging that big piece of junk around?" he asked.
"I thought it would be useful. And Kaede-sama told me not to leave it by itself, ever. Hou--Sanku and I have to keep it with us at all times," Sango explained, taking a peek at her surroundings as if to make sure no one was listening.
"What's inside it?" Kagome asked, touching the hard cover curiously.
"Spells and things. There was one in particular that Kaede-sama pointed out." She began flipping to the page that had a gold-plated bookmark in it. She put her finger down on the old material and began skimming. "Ah! Here it is. It's a spell to release the spirits of dead demons so that they may rest in peace."
Inuyasha and Kagome quickly glanced over at each other. "This is it! That bastard Naraku can't touch me! We're saved!!" Inuyasha exclaimed, grabbing Kagome and pulling her into an excited hug. She hugged him back, squealing happily--until they realized what they were doing. Almost as quick as they looked at each other, they pulled away. Inuyasha looked down at his ramen and coughed instinctively. Kagome simply sipped her milkshake.
Sango and Miroku were pretending not to notice what had just happened. But still, there was a discomforting silence as they all began picking at what was in front of them.
Then the silence quickly went away when the waiter came to their table. They all sighed with relief.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?" the waiter asked.
Kagome looked up. "Just water--Hojo?" Ugh...him again... Inuyasha thought bitterly.
"Kagome! Well, isn't this a surprise? I'm seeing you a lot lately now, aren't I?" the boy said with a polite chuckle.
Inuyasha groaned inwardly as the two began talking animatedly to each other. Miroku kicked Inuyasha under the table and tilted his head towards Hojo. "Who's that?" he asked.
"That's Kagome's boyfriend," he muttered, sulking back into his chair where Hojo couldn't see him behind Kagome.
"I thought you worked at that ice cream shop at the mall?" Kagome said.
"Oh it's just a couple small jobs here and there," Hojo replied.
"Oh it's just a couple small jobs here and there," Inuyasha imitated in a small girlie tone, earning him a painful kick in the side of the shin from Kagome. She smiled innocently up at Hojo.
"Well I better get back to work. Would it be okay with your friends if I come see you later?" Hojo asked, his innocently naive face searching the faces of those around Kagome.
"Sure, why don't you come by and marry her while you're at it?" Inuyasha muttered again, sulking even deeper into his chair as another kick was hurled to his shin once more.
"That's fine. They don't mind," Kagome said, glancing at Inuyasha with a smile on her face. "Right?"
"Yeah...whatever," Inuyasha said, waving his hand. She was doing this to spite him even if he didn't do anything. Why was she like that? Did she just like rubbing Hojo in his face? That damn boy...weaklings like him didn't deserve Kagome. Not that he'd ever, ever tell Kagome that...ever.
"Oh I'm sorry, I never introduced you. Hojo this is San--Sanku and Mirogo," she said, pointing out who was who. "Vice versa."
"Why aren't you fighting for your woman Inuyasha?" Miroku teased, nudging Inuyasha's foot under the table. Inuyasha glared at him.
"The two of them are married," he said, smiling up at Hojo.
"Oh, that's nice," Hojo replied, turning to the two. "Do you have any children?" he asked, innocently, though the comment left Sango fuming with pure hate for Inuyasha at the moment.
Inuyasha knew that it was more of an insult to Sango than it was to Miroku, but he knew that Sango would vent her anger out on Miroku sooner or later and he wouldn't have to worry about punishing Miroku himself. He smiled.
"In fact--" Miroku began.
"We don't have any children," Sango continued bitterly, her teeth gritted together, but still giving a forced smile to Hojo. "He's sterile."
Miroku took the time to think about it before he smiled sincerely at Sango and put his arm around her. She shrugged it off. "But we keep trying anyways. We keep trying and trying... Like that pink Energizer bunny I saw on the television contraption on the way he--" Miroku finished, but was quickly cut off by a foot that happened to fall on his, crushing it severely.
"Well, I have to be getting back to work now. I'll see you all later," Hojo said, his manners perfect, his smile utterly polite. How did the boy live like that?
"Bye Hojo," Kagome said, smiling as she waved to Hojo. When he was completely gone, she turned back to Inuyasha. "I can't believe you! He's my friend. I was trying to be nice to him! Why couldn't you just do the same thing?" Kagome vented.
"I was nice to that idiotic yahoo last time, wasn't I? Besides, I didn't feel like it okay?"
"It's not whether you feel like it or not! It's common courtes--Whatever! Why am I even trying?" Kagome cried out, throwing her hands up in the air.
"You're going to die Inuyasha," Sango hissed. Miroku laughed. She turned her icy glare at Miroku. "Don't laugh because you're next." Miroku's laughter instantly ceased.
"What did I do?" he questioned innocently. "I am but a monk--ow!!"
Kagome continued to glare at Inuyasha who refused to look back at her. Usually, she'd be glad that Inuyasha was being himself again instead of being nice like the last time he talked to Hojo. He could have been a little less distinctive about it though. He acted like such a jealous bastard sometimes. Kagome sighed. Why was he doing that when he apparently didn't have any feelings for her?
Then Kagome remembered the incident at Great Aunt Maeko's library. She shook her head. Over the few hours that passed, she convinced herself that Inuyasha was probably only thinking of Kikyo when he'd almost kissed her. Even though deep inside her she knew she was only trying to hide the fact that maybe, just maybe Inuyasha did share her feelings. But she was was just being a hopeless teenage girl. She sighed again.
Inuyasha somehow sensed the hostility in her silence and gently nudged her. "Hey wench, what's wrong with you?" he asked. She glared at him and sat at the far end of the seat, sipping silently at what was left of her milkshake. Inuyasha shrugged and continued sipping the rest of the soup in his ramen bowl. At the corner of his eye, he was still watching her though, a bit worried that maybe she had taken his rudeness a bit too seriously, something he really didn't mean.
He hated it when Kagome was mad at him and he knew that his stubbornness was wearing away too. He had sincerely apologized to her last night and had held her occasionally when she had been scared. Maybe this world filled with too many humans was making him softer. Maybe it had something to do with the tree...
"Oh, Sango--ow...please stop! That's my ear between your fingers!"
"I know, that's why I'm twisting it!"
Inuyasha quickly snapped out of his thoughts and watched happily as Miroku got tortured. It was better that Miroku and Sango were here. He could ignore Kagome easier if they fight and there would be people to distract her from him.
Then, there was a garbled voice in his head, pinching at his brain, making ever other noise around him disappear. Sango's screams were only distant pounds and Miroku's yells of help couldn't even be heard...but Kagome's silence was still there, beating at him incessantly as he listened to the voice talk to him.
"The tree will take you tomorrow..."
A/N: Ah...finally. ^__^ Yes, it's a bit long, but I had to cram in everything in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Though I might be putting some changes in it as well as the previous chapters of my story.
Okay, enough of the too-much-sweetener-in-your-coffee attitude. On with the writing.
Inuyasha 24/7
Restaurant Brawl
"Sango! Miroku?" Kagome called, nudging the two gently.
Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and stalked forward. "Here, I'll wake them up."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, slapping at Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha 'keh'-ed and stepped back, allowing Kagome to attempt to wake the two from their sleep. But still they didn't stir. Were they drugged or something? Surely they should have awoken by now.
Inuyasha approached the two figures once more and this time he was a little bit more cautious. Kagome might hit him again. He leaned down, poking Miroku in the cheek.
"I refuse...to cut off little Miroku for you," he muttered unconsciously in his sleep. Inuyasha and Kagome couldn't help but chuckle incoherently at this.
Kagome gently nudged Sango, making her hat fall to the ground. "Sango. Sango wake up, it's me, Kagome." Sango stirred gently at first, her eyes, a pair of drowsy chocolate beads, peeping through heavy eyelids.
She was about to go back to sleep when she realized that there were people in front of her. Her startled eyes flew open and she quickly went in attack mode, giving Inuyasha an uppercut that was unintentional.
All the commotion woke Miroku up with a start, causing his eyes to dart in every direction, fumbling for something in his pockets. "What's going on!? Get the ofuda, quick! Demons! Don't come any closer!" Miroku shouted.
Inuyasha had flown back from Sango's punch and landed on his butt at the doorstep. Kagome was trying her best to calm the two down, demanding Miroku to put his spells away and Sango to put her fists away.
"You startled us...I'm so sorry Kagome!" Sango said, giving a relieved chuckle as she clutched her heart. Miroku slowly calmed down after seeing who they were, putting his spells back in the bag he brought.
"Ow..." came a voice behind the three. They all turned to Inuyasha.
"That must have hurt," Miroku commented.
"Nah...it was nothing," Inuyasha replied, with visible difficulty. He winced, glaring up at Sango. She smiled nervously at him.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha," she said with a shrug. "I did it on impulse."
"I'm not hurt," he snapped. Sure.....
"I think we should go inside," Kagome suggested, helping Inuyasha up, bringing him to the living room.
****
"Can you explain how you got here?" Kagome asked, as the two settled in. Kagome had given them blankets and some hot tea while Inuyasha was building up the fire in the fireplace. He came and sat down next to Kagome on the couch.
"It's actually a very complicated story," Miroku said, sipping his tea.
"Kaede-sama had given us a spell to temporarily invade the bodies of our reincarnates so we could see what was happening in your world because of something she was explaining to us," Sango illustrated.
"What was she explaining?" Kagome asked.
"She was telling us that since at Sengoku Jidai, you and Inuyasha had us to help you fight Naraku with, Naraku decided it would be better if he attacked you in your world where actual physical fights between youkai didn't exist. That way you," Sango said, glancing over at Inuyasha, "couldn't use Tetsusiaga to fight. Plus Kagome couldn't use her miko powers to destroy him."
"Yeah, but he couldn't use his powers neither," Kagome said.
"True," Miroku decided to continue. "But he has the advantage because you're here with family and you were unsuspecting. It's a bit simple, but Naraku figured it out. You two wouldn't use your powers in case your family was hurt. He doesn't care about your family so he'd use his powers secretly right under your noses."
That could probably be the answer to why I got that freakishly realistic dream, Kagome thought.
Inuyasha glanced at her nervously as Miroku continued to explain. He heard her thoughts again. It was becoming more and more frequent and he knew that wasn't a good sign. Musou had told him it was because his mental block was weakening so that he could hear the thoughts of those close to him. If they didn't do something soon, he'd get sucked in the tree...speaking of the tree...
"How about that black sakura tree in Maeko's yard?" Inuyasha blurted out in Miroku's mid-explanation. The three turned to him.
"Ah yes, Naraku was trying to use that to his advantage," Miroku said. "That tree can suck up anything with youkai powers, so Naraku's steering clear. Kaede told us he was using his little puppet Musou--a sort of reincarnate of Sengoku Jidai Musou--to go around and mess around with you and Kagome. You really should be careful Inuyasha."
"But you see..." Inuyasha paused. He couldn't just tell Miroku straight off that he was hearing Kagome's thoughts--and that he had been able to hear it ever since before they left the shrine... Well, he could twist it a bit. "I had this feeling even before we reached Maeko's shrine mansion."
"You mean you were having those vibes even at our shrine?" Kagome asked, staring at Inuyasha with disbelief. She hit him in the chest.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha asked. Why was he getting beaten up by girls today?
"Why didn't you tell me? I've been so worried and you've been holding out on what you know!" Kagome yelled, hitting him repeatedly on the chest.
"Like I told you before, I didn't want to worry you with useless stuff!"
"It's not useless!" Kagome threw back, defensively. She hit him again. "You could've been hurt!"
"Well I'm not fucking hurt! I'm fine!"
"You aren't fine! A black tree is planning to suck you into itself for Kami's sake! You should know by now that you're not fine! Man...you know, if you'd told me sooner maybe I would've started researching on what was happening to you sooner and I could've figured out what Naraku was planning sooner!" Kagome pointed out, poking him painfully in the arm after each emphasized word. Inuyasha scooted away from her and rubbed his arm.
"Will you stop hitting me? Besides, it's unlikely that you would've found any information then because we probably still would've gone to the fair at the same time!!" Inuyasha shouted back.
"I can't believe you're yelling at me! I just wanted to help you because I l--" she quickly stopped herself. "--care about you! Am I suddenly not allowed to care about you too?"
"Keh!" Kagome punched him in the stomach. "Ow!"
"You deserve it!"
As the two continued to bicker childishly, Miroku and Sango exchanged knowing glances and knowing smiles. "Isn't that sweet? They're arguing about who cares more about who," Miroku said, clapping his hands together like a giddy school girl.
Sango laughed and quickly nudged Miroku. "Quiet houshi, we still have more explaining to do." She whistled, catching the attention of the two arguing teens. "Back to the subject," she said.
"Huh?" the two replied in unison.
"Back to what we were talking about? You know...Naraku...his evil plans, the minions he set out to do those evil plans," Sango said, as if refueling their memories.
"Right." the two said simultaneously. They looked at each other and narrowed their eyes.
"Look, the reason Inuyasha probably felt the symptoms at the shrine was probably because the black sakura tree already knew he was coming in this direction."
"Oh...that's it? No scientific explanation?" Inuyasha asked.
"No. The tree could probably just sense things since it's filled with some youkai whose powers have probably melded together with walls of the tree," Miroku expounded.
"So he's trying to use it against us..." Kagome said, leaning over, placing her elbows at the ends of her knees, resting her chin in her palms.
"I believe so," Miroku said, leaning back.
"So how did you get here?" Inuyasha asked.
"From the spell Kaede-sama gave us and something called a bullet train. After that we went and got some modern day clothes and went to find you," Sango said, taking a long sip of her tea. Kagome stared at their outfits and chuckled softly. They looked like a cross between a Care Bear, a Teletubby, and the Tooth Fairy.
The chuckle was oblivious to everyone so Sango continued to explain. "It was strange but we found this old man at the mall earlier saying something about 'that goose Maeko' and 'how I'd love to put live crabs in that Maeko's shirt' etc. And Houshi-sama and I remembered you saying something about your Great Aunt Maeko, though we knew there were plenty of people around with the name Maeko, but still it was worth a try. So eventually we came here."
That was definitely Grandpa.
"We didn't know what we should do so we thought about it and accidentally fell asleep at the back door," Miroku said.
"Oh, by the way, our names are Sanku and Mirogo. There's something ironic about it but I just can't seem to figure it out..." Sango rattled on thoughtfully. She shrugged it off. "Anyways, I'm Mirogo, and he's Sanku."
"Oh," Inuyasha and Kagome said.
"Strangely, we know each other in this life too," Sango said. Miroku was smiling appreciatively at her. She rolled her eyes. "We are not married houshi! Kaede-sama was only joking!"
"Was she really?" the monk asked, scooting closer to Sango. She scooted away.
"Kaede-sama said you couldn't touch me in this era. You could get 'sued', whatever that is. But it doesn't sound good so you shouldn't try it!" Sango warned.
Kagome smiled. She was so glad they were here.
"How'd you get rid of the little rat?" Inuyasha asked, obviously referring to Shippou.
"Oh, that didn't take much," Sango said. "But I do feel bad for the poor kid since Kaede-sama said he wasn't allowed to come."
"What did you do?" Inuyasha asked again.
"We played hide-and-seek with him. He was in the woods faster than Kagome-sama can time-travel," Miroku said with a small smile.
"Cool," Inuyasha said with a satisfied nod.
"Inuyasha!"
"Ow! What did I do now?"
****
The next day, Kagome and Inuyasha had a lot of explaining to do about why Sango and Miroku--or Mirogo and Sanku--were here. Kagome was the first to explain, but all the while Inuyasha was smiling. He wanted to give a little payback for that punch Sango gave him earlier that morning.
"So these are your cousins Inuyasha?" Great Aunt Maeko asked.
Inuyasha's smile got bigger, making Miroku and Sango a bit suspicious. "Actually, only Sanku is my cousin, Mirogo is his wife," Inuyasha explained truthfully.
Sango's eyes widened. "Wha--I am not--I can't believ--this is insane! The punch was an accident!" Sango hissed to Kagome. Kagome simply giggled.
"What's wrong with you being my wife, koibito*?" Miroku asked, gently smoothing his hand over her arm. (A/N: Something like sweetheart or darling or something like that.)
"Don't call me that," Sango snapped. "And stop touching me."
Kagome couldn't help but smile. Inuyasha returned after explaining to Great Aunt Maeko, passing them with a bright, innocent smile on his face. Sango followed right after him.
"Inuyasha dies tonight! I don't care about Naraku, I was here first!" she growled under her breath.
Great Aunt Maeko and Mrs. Higurashi stared blankly at Sango and Inuyasha. Miroku gave a sheepish laugh. "I'm sorry, my wife and my cousin have a, sort of, sibling rivalry."
"I'm not your wife!" Sango screamed from the distance.
"She's a bit angry with me because of our uncomfortable accommodations last night," Miroku explained to the elders.
"Would it be all right if they stayed here Great Aunt Maeko?" Kagome asked.
"Sure, I have more than enough room for them," Great Aunt Maeko said, waving her hand. "It's no problem at all. You know, they sure do all have the same tastes in...unique...clothing."
Kagome smiled then looked towards the rest of her family. They were eyeing her suspiciously. They knew who Inuyasha was and they knew it was very unlikely that Miroku was his cousin, due to the fact that Miroku looked human and Inuyasha wasn't. She smiled up at them and gave them a look that said, 'I'll explain everything later.'
****
"So what are we going to do now?" Kagome asked as she sat at the restaurant booth. She was looking down at her milkshake, swirling her straw in it.
"Who knows. We don't even know where to start looking for Musou, Naraku--whoever. And we don't know how to deal with that tree," Inuyasha replied, slurping down his bowl of ramen. Ah, the joys of ramen.
"You know, Kaede-sama did give us something that was helpful," Sango said as she was rewarded with hopeful looks from her comrades. Sango pulled up her bag and unzipped the front as she took out a heavy, encyclopedia-sized book out.
They all stared in disbelief. "Can I ask you a question?" Inuyasha asked, staring down at the large book that Sango was now dusting in front of them.
"Sure," she replied, blowing away the residue. Inuyasha covered his bowl of ramen.
"Why the hell were you dragging that big piece of junk around?" he asked.
"I thought it would be useful. And Kaede-sama told me not to leave it by itself, ever. Hou--Sanku and I have to keep it with us at all times," Sango explained, taking a peek at her surroundings as if to make sure no one was listening.
"What's inside it?" Kagome asked, touching the hard cover curiously.
"Spells and things. There was one in particular that Kaede-sama pointed out." She began flipping to the page that had a gold-plated bookmark in it. She put her finger down on the old material and began skimming. "Ah! Here it is. It's a spell to release the spirits of dead demons so that they may rest in peace."
Inuyasha and Kagome quickly glanced over at each other. "This is it! That bastard Naraku can't touch me! We're saved!!" Inuyasha exclaimed, grabbing Kagome and pulling her into an excited hug. She hugged him back, squealing happily--until they realized what they were doing. Almost as quick as they looked at each other, they pulled away. Inuyasha looked down at his ramen and coughed instinctively. Kagome simply sipped her milkshake.
Sango and Miroku were pretending not to notice what had just happened. But still, there was a discomforting silence as they all began picking at what was in front of them.
Then the silence quickly went away when the waiter came to their table. They all sighed with relief.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?" the waiter asked.
Kagome looked up. "Just water--Hojo?" Ugh...him again... Inuyasha thought bitterly.
"Kagome! Well, isn't this a surprise? I'm seeing you a lot lately now, aren't I?" the boy said with a polite chuckle.
Inuyasha groaned inwardly as the two began talking animatedly to each other. Miroku kicked Inuyasha under the table and tilted his head towards Hojo. "Who's that?" he asked.
"That's Kagome's boyfriend," he muttered, sulking back into his chair where Hojo couldn't see him behind Kagome.
"I thought you worked at that ice cream shop at the mall?" Kagome said.
"Oh it's just a couple small jobs here and there," Hojo replied.
"Oh it's just a couple small jobs here and there," Inuyasha imitated in a small girlie tone, earning him a painful kick in the side of the shin from Kagome. She smiled innocently up at Hojo.
"Well I better get back to work. Would it be okay with your friends if I come see you later?" Hojo asked, his innocently naive face searching the faces of those around Kagome.
"Sure, why don't you come by and marry her while you're at it?" Inuyasha muttered again, sulking even deeper into his chair as another kick was hurled to his shin once more.
"That's fine. They don't mind," Kagome said, glancing at Inuyasha with a smile on her face. "Right?"
"Yeah...whatever," Inuyasha said, waving his hand. She was doing this to spite him even if he didn't do anything. Why was she like that? Did she just like rubbing Hojo in his face? That damn boy...weaklings like him didn't deserve Kagome. Not that he'd ever, ever tell Kagome that...ever.
"Oh I'm sorry, I never introduced you. Hojo this is San--Sanku and Mirogo," she said, pointing out who was who. "Vice versa."
"Why aren't you fighting for your woman Inuyasha?" Miroku teased, nudging Inuyasha's foot under the table. Inuyasha glared at him.
"The two of them are married," he said, smiling up at Hojo.
"Oh, that's nice," Hojo replied, turning to the two. "Do you have any children?" he asked, innocently, though the comment left Sango fuming with pure hate for Inuyasha at the moment.
Inuyasha knew that it was more of an insult to Sango than it was to Miroku, but he knew that Sango would vent her anger out on Miroku sooner or later and he wouldn't have to worry about punishing Miroku himself. He smiled.
"In fact--" Miroku began.
"We don't have any children," Sango continued bitterly, her teeth gritted together, but still giving a forced smile to Hojo. "He's sterile."
Miroku took the time to think about it before he smiled sincerely at Sango and put his arm around her. She shrugged it off. "But we keep trying anyways. We keep trying and trying... Like that pink Energizer bunny I saw on the television contraption on the way he--" Miroku finished, but was quickly cut off by a foot that happened to fall on his, crushing it severely.
"Well, I have to be getting back to work now. I'll see you all later," Hojo said, his manners perfect, his smile utterly polite. How did the boy live like that?
"Bye Hojo," Kagome said, smiling as she waved to Hojo. When he was completely gone, she turned back to Inuyasha. "I can't believe you! He's my friend. I was trying to be nice to him! Why couldn't you just do the same thing?" Kagome vented.
"I was nice to that idiotic yahoo last time, wasn't I? Besides, I didn't feel like it okay?"
"It's not whether you feel like it or not! It's common courtes--Whatever! Why am I even trying?" Kagome cried out, throwing her hands up in the air.
"You're going to die Inuyasha," Sango hissed. Miroku laughed. She turned her icy glare at Miroku. "Don't laugh because you're next." Miroku's laughter instantly ceased.
"What did I do?" he questioned innocently. "I am but a monk--ow!!"
Kagome continued to glare at Inuyasha who refused to look back at her. Usually, she'd be glad that Inuyasha was being himself again instead of being nice like the last time he talked to Hojo. He could have been a little less distinctive about it though. He acted like such a jealous bastard sometimes. Kagome sighed. Why was he doing that when he apparently didn't have any feelings for her?
Then Kagome remembered the incident at Great Aunt Maeko's library. She shook her head. Over the few hours that passed, she convinced herself that Inuyasha was probably only thinking of Kikyo when he'd almost kissed her. Even though deep inside her she knew she was only trying to hide the fact that maybe, just maybe Inuyasha did share her feelings. But she was was just being a hopeless teenage girl. She sighed again.
Inuyasha somehow sensed the hostility in her silence and gently nudged her. "Hey wench, what's wrong with you?" he asked. She glared at him and sat at the far end of the seat, sipping silently at what was left of her milkshake. Inuyasha shrugged and continued sipping the rest of the soup in his ramen bowl. At the corner of his eye, he was still watching her though, a bit worried that maybe she had taken his rudeness a bit too seriously, something he really didn't mean.
He hated it when Kagome was mad at him and he knew that his stubbornness was wearing away too. He had sincerely apologized to her last night and had held her occasionally when she had been scared. Maybe this world filled with too many humans was making him softer. Maybe it had something to do with the tree...
"Oh, Sango--ow...please stop! That's my ear between your fingers!"
"I know, that's why I'm twisting it!"
Inuyasha quickly snapped out of his thoughts and watched happily as Miroku got tortured. It was better that Miroku and Sango were here. He could ignore Kagome easier if they fight and there would be people to distract her from him.
Then, there was a garbled voice in his head, pinching at his brain, making ever other noise around him disappear. Sango's screams were only distant pounds and Miroku's yells of help couldn't even be heard...but Kagome's silence was still there, beating at him incessantly as he listened to the voice talk to him.
"The tree will take you tomorrow..."
A/N: Ah...finally. ^__^ Yes, it's a bit long, but I had to cram in everything in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Though I might be putting some changes in it as well as the previous chapters of my story.