InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mating Season ❯ Eri ( Chapter 22 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.06.2006 | Updated On: 07.17.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 14.7K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.06.2006 | Updated On: 07.17.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 14.7K | Status: Completed
Blanket Disclaimer:
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
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Chap ter 22 - Eri
Meeting up with the girls after school, Kagome walked with Ayumi and Eri to WacDonalds. Yuka and Tojin had decided to head off on their own. Their meal was rather uneventful, as Ayumi did the majority of the talking, talking about herself and Hojo, as the two were now “officially dating” as she’d called it. Both Kagome and Eri gave her their honest congratulations, and Kagome went on to warn Ayumi not to get sick! All three girls laughed at the implications, since Hojo would likely shower her with “health” gifts if that were to ever happen.
After they finished eating, the three started walking along together, but after a short while, Ayumi excused herself, stating that she wanted to take a detour in their usual route towards where they all lived, as she turned down a street that would, instead, take her towards Hojo’s house.
Eri smiled, she was grateful to have Kagome all to herself without having to figure out how to arrange it. She then proceeded to walk with Kagome the rest of her way home. What she didn’t know was that Kagome was also grateful to have so easily gotten her alone, but for an entirely different reason than the one she had in mind.
Upon reaching the shrine, Em was surprised when Kagome didn’t at first head up the stairs towards the main house, but instead, she turned and headed down the ground level path.
“Come with me…” she said sweetly, “…I want to show you something.”
Eri was confused, but followed, until she found herself standing before a rather large tree that had sutras tied to it.
“This is the ‘sacred’ tree, isn’t it?” she asked, trying to sound respectful of her friend’s family shrine.
“Yes, it is.” Kagome answered in a pleasant sigh, as she approached the tree, and rubbed her hand along the bear spot in the bark. “My father proposed to my mother in front of this tree. She didn’t even want to say yes at first, because of some silly argument they’d had…” Kagome paused and chuckled, “…but the Goshinboku knew better, and its aura convinced her to accept.” she said with a smile.
Eri lifted an eyebrow, wondering where this was going, but she didn’t interrupt.
“It took me a while to understand,” she continued, “what my mother had meant when she spoke of how special this tree was to all of us.” She turned towards her friend and offered her a smile. “It has watched over all of us, comforting us in our times of need, like when my father died. It’s watched Souta and I as we grew, and gave my mother a feeling of comfort whenever she missed my dad.”
Eri approached Kagome from behind and delicately placed a hand upon her friend’s shoulder. Surprisingly, at least to her, Kagome’s response was to reach up and place her hand upon her friend’s.
“It was at this tree two years ago, that I met a mysterious boy with unusual silver hair and amber eyes.” She felt Eri stiffen behind her, so she gave the hand she held a gentle squeeze before continuing. “He changed my life, from that moment on, and not always for the better. We fought, yelled, and insulted each other on a regular basis, but through it all, I knew in my heart that I felt an undeniable connection to him.”
“But why?” Eri asked finally.
Chuckling, Kagome confessed “I don’t know why…” as she proceeded to explain that for the longest time, she hadn’t believed that he’d felt the same way about her, and that there had always been “issues” with the ex-girlfriend. She explained Kikyou’s actions with a kind of “If I can’t have him then no one will” type of attitude.
“She claimed to love him, but at the same time, strove to make him miserable. She didn’t want him to be with me, because that would have made him happy.” She paused, and turned around, causing Eri to drop her hand from her shoulder. “Jealousy is such a horrible emotion.” she commented. “If you truly care for someone, but that someone doesn’t return your feelings, you should want only what is best for them, whatever would make them happy.” She turned back towards the tree, and muttered. “That’s what I did, when I thought he still loved Kikyou.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Eri asked, a little snappier than she meant to.
Kagome merely sighed, and turning back towards her friend, she took her hand again, and smiled. “Because…” she began. “I want you to be happy for me. We’ve been friends for so long, and I don’t want something like this to come between us.” Kagome didn’t want to just come out and say it, she wanted Eri to feel comfortable enough to confess her feelings on her own, but she hoped she’d gotten her point across all the same.
The girl in question just stared down at where their hands were touching for a moment, and Kagome could smell the barrage of emotions that she was currently experiencing.
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Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi were still a good two blocks from the shrine when he paused, sniffing the air, and proclaimed that Kagome was back, but that she had her friend with her. Mrs. Higurashi’s reaction at first had been…
“Oh that’s wonderful, she so rarely gets to see them any more. Would you mind if we invited her to stay for dinner?”
His ears twitched underneath the bandana, silently protesting their constriction. He knew if the human girl stayed throughout dinner, he’d have to keep the cursed thing on his head, but decided it’d be worth it.
“That’s fine with me…” he finally answered, but added, “…but I don’t think she’ll want to stay. She doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“Why would you say that?” Mrs. Higurashi asked in mild shock, never having heard anything from Kagome about any of her friends not adoring Inuyasha as much as they did.
“Keh, cause…” he trailed off, not really wanting to go into details, but Mrs. Higurashi insisted.
“She was rude at the carnival.” he finally settled on, adding “She didn’t exactly give her approval of Kagome’s choice in….men.” he emphasized, wondering if she’d catch onto his meaning.
Mrs. Higurashi didn’t say anything further on the matter, except that she’d better start getting dinner prepared once they made it to the shrine, so she headed straight up into the house, Inuyasha on her heels as he’d been carrying half of the groceries. But as soon as he finished helping her put everything away, he headed back outside towards the Goshinboku.
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Eri just stood there in a mild state of shock, every thought and emotion fathomable running through her system simultaneously, while Kagome’s nose worked double-time trying to catalog them all.
Does she know? (panic) Her hand is so soft. (attraction) She loves him. (jealousy) She seems so happy. (happiness) She’s happy with him. (sadness) I’ll never be that happy. (depression) How dare she?! (anger) Her lips look so sweet. (arousal) What am I thinking? (embarrassment) She’s too good for him! (conviction) She can’t really be meant for him. (denial) There’s got to be something I can do! (determination) But I just want her to be happy. (selflessness) Why did this have to happen? (confusion) I just want to scream! (tribulation) Get a hold of yourself, if this is what she wants, then that’s all that matters. (understanding)
Able to pluck out and identify each and every one of her raging emotions, as they appeared in succession, Kagome found it was almost as if she could read her mind. She wondered in passing how, if Inuyasha’s sense of emotions was this strong, could he have ever thought she wasn’t as in love with him as she truly was? The answer came to her in the form of an undead miko, who did more than keep him confused regarding his feelings, but had also, intentionally or not, contributed to his self-loathing over being born hanyou.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she sensed her mate’s approach. She’d smelled his return with her mother a few moments ago, but they’d headed straight toward the house. Kagome was sure that he could also, in turn, smell that Eri was with her. It surprised her at first to discover that he was approaching them now.
Eri may lack superior senses, but her powers of observation were working, when she noticed Kagome’s eyes glance behind her, apparently catching the appearance of somebody approaching them. Glancing behind herself, then, she caught sight of Kagome’s boyfriend making his way towards them, rather casually by the look of things. Good she sighed silently to herself. (relief) He didn’t seem to look too pissed.
“Hey…” he called out with a friendly voice once he figured he was within hearing range of the human girl.
Eri apprehensively snatched her hand from Kagome’s grasp, as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her place, waiting for him to close the final distance between them.
“Went to the store with Mama?” Kagome asked nonchalantly, not moving from her spot mere inches away from her long time school friend.
“Keh…she asked me to go along.” he confessed, not sure if Kagome was okay with the idea that he’d been out in public.
“That’s nice, I’m sure she appreciated the company.” she said instead, and he could tell from her scent that she wasn’t just covering up her anger because they weren’t alone, she honestly felt fine about it.
“Looks like you’ve got your own company, too.” he said next, keeping his voice rather neutral.
“I’m not…Kagome and I…we were just…” She couldn’t spit out a complete sentence.
Surprising both girls, Inuyasha laughed; a genuine, lighthearted laugh.
“Relax…” he finally managed to say. “I ain’t jealous.”
At his words, Eri shifted her gaze back to Kagome, mild panic peaking into her scent again, which disappeared when she saw the knowing smile the girl was offering her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t like to hurting people.” she whispered. “I truly hope that you find your own happiness.” she added, taking her friend’s hand again and squeezing it for a moment.
“You…know…?” Eri managed to ask.
“Keh, you ain’t the only one…everybody seems to love my Kagome.” Inuyasha chuckled.
“Hojo and Kouga are hardly everybody.” she said in rebuttal
Who’s Kouga? Eri wondered to herself.
“Don’t forget Akitoki.” he reminded.
Where does she meet these people?
“Akitoki doesn’t count, he’s your time’s Hojo.” she smirked, but quickly flashed a nervous glance at Eri when she realized what she’s said.
Fortunately, Eri hadn’t caught on to exactly what Kagome had said, and simply asked “Who are Kouga and Akitoki? Other admirers? Like the one who asked if you’d have his child?” She snapped her head back towards the white haired boy again when she heard him laughing hysterically.
“You told her about Miroku? No wonder she thinks I’m a dog!”
Walking up towards Eri, he greeted her with a friendly smile, and said “Miroku is one of a kind, I’m nothing like him.”
“Thank Kami.” he heard Kagome mumble under her breath. Due to their close proximity, Eri had heard her as well, and seeing the friendly banter that was taking place between the two, a small, but genuine smile, began to rise on her own lips.
“Let’s see…there was also Chokyuukai.” he chuckled, really racking his brain now.
“That pig?!?!” Eri had no idea how literally Kagome used the term. “He doesn’t count! He was taking every girl for a wife!”
“Hmmm” Inuyasha hummed, finger on his chin, as if he were thinking of more names to add to the list.
“Two can play at this game, ya know.” he suddenly heard his mate smirk.
“Keh, I don’t recall no women ever throwing themselves at me.” he stated rather matter-of-factly.
“Didn’t say Jakotsu was a woman.” she said through a chuckle.
“Oi!”
At that point, Eri busted up laughing, smiling uncontrollably while shifting her glance between the two of them.
Keh, she’s all right… Inuyasha thought to himself, before stating out loud…
“Kagome’s mom says you’re welcome to stay for dinner, if you want.”
The way he’d said it, and the expression on his face, both indicated that he was genuinely extending the invitation himself, as well.
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Eri’s smile didn’t fade all throughout dinner, though she did silently wondered why Inuyasha didn’t remove the bandana from his head. She recalled Ayumi having told her how Kagome’s ‘cool’ boyfriend had really long nails that almost looked like claws, with the way he kept them filed. Now that she looked for herself, she confirmed what the girl had told her, they did look like claws. A little too much like claws, actually. She’d always thought it strange that the boy was named “dog demon”, and she remembered all too well how he’d thrown it back in her face when she’d called him a dog at the fair. He was really into his namesake, she decided. Wait, were those fangs? Slowly, Eri’s smile increased. Maybe there was more to the story than Kagome had told her, but either way, it was beyond obvious how in love the two of them were, and she decided that what Kagome had tried to get across to her was the truth, she did need to be happy for her friend. She was happy for her friend. She’d rather keep her as a friend, than lose her to her jealously.
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
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Chap ter 22 - Eri
Meeting up with the girls after school, Kagome walked with Ayumi and Eri to WacDonalds. Yuka and Tojin had decided to head off on their own. Their meal was rather uneventful, as Ayumi did the majority of the talking, talking about herself and Hojo, as the two were now “officially dating” as she’d called it. Both Kagome and Eri gave her their honest congratulations, and Kagome went on to warn Ayumi not to get sick! All three girls laughed at the implications, since Hojo would likely shower her with “health” gifts if that were to ever happen.
After they finished eating, the three started walking along together, but after a short while, Ayumi excused herself, stating that she wanted to take a detour in their usual route towards where they all lived, as she turned down a street that would, instead, take her towards Hojo’s house.
Eri smiled, she was grateful to have Kagome all to herself without having to figure out how to arrange it. She then proceeded to walk with Kagome the rest of her way home. What she didn’t know was that Kagome was also grateful to have so easily gotten her alone, but for an entirely different reason than the one she had in mind.
Upon reaching the shrine, Em was surprised when Kagome didn’t at first head up the stairs towards the main house, but instead, she turned and headed down the ground level path.
“Come with me…” she said sweetly, “…I want to show you something.”
Eri was confused, but followed, until she found herself standing before a rather large tree that had sutras tied to it.
“This is the ‘sacred’ tree, isn’t it?” she asked, trying to sound respectful of her friend’s family shrine.
“Yes, it is.” Kagome answered in a pleasant sigh, as she approached the tree, and rubbed her hand along the bear spot in the bark. “My father proposed to my mother in front of this tree. She didn’t even want to say yes at first, because of some silly argument they’d had…” Kagome paused and chuckled, “…but the Goshinboku knew better, and its aura convinced her to accept.” she said with a smile.
Eri lifted an eyebrow, wondering where this was going, but she didn’t interrupt.
“It took me a while to understand,” she continued, “what my mother had meant when she spoke of how special this tree was to all of us.” She turned towards her friend and offered her a smile. “It has watched over all of us, comforting us in our times of need, like when my father died. It’s watched Souta and I as we grew, and gave my mother a feeling of comfort whenever she missed my dad.”
Eri approached Kagome from behind and delicately placed a hand upon her friend’s shoulder. Surprisingly, at least to her, Kagome’s response was to reach up and place her hand upon her friend’s.
“It was at this tree two years ago, that I met a mysterious boy with unusual silver hair and amber eyes.” She felt Eri stiffen behind her, so she gave the hand she held a gentle squeeze before continuing. “He changed my life, from that moment on, and not always for the better. We fought, yelled, and insulted each other on a regular basis, but through it all, I knew in my heart that I felt an undeniable connection to him.”
“But why?” Eri asked finally.
Chuckling, Kagome confessed “I don’t know why…” as she proceeded to explain that for the longest time, she hadn’t believed that he’d felt the same way about her, and that there had always been “issues” with the ex-girlfriend. She explained Kikyou’s actions with a kind of “If I can’t have him then no one will” type of attitude.
“She claimed to love him, but at the same time, strove to make him miserable. She didn’t want him to be with me, because that would have made him happy.” She paused, and turned around, causing Eri to drop her hand from her shoulder. “Jealousy is such a horrible emotion.” she commented. “If you truly care for someone, but that someone doesn’t return your feelings, you should want only what is best for them, whatever would make them happy.” She turned back towards the tree, and muttered. “That’s what I did, when I thought he still loved Kikyou.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Eri asked, a little snappier than she meant to.
Kagome merely sighed, and turning back towards her friend, she took her hand again, and smiled. “Because…” she began. “I want you to be happy for me. We’ve been friends for so long, and I don’t want something like this to come between us.” Kagome didn’t want to just come out and say it, she wanted Eri to feel comfortable enough to confess her feelings on her own, but she hoped she’d gotten her point across all the same.
The girl in question just stared down at where their hands were touching for a moment, and Kagome could smell the barrage of emotions that she was currently experiencing.
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Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi were still a good two blocks from the shrine when he paused, sniffing the air, and proclaimed that Kagome was back, but that she had her friend with her. Mrs. Higurashi’s reaction at first had been…
“Oh that’s wonderful, she so rarely gets to see them any more. Would you mind if we invited her to stay for dinner?”
His ears twitched underneath the bandana, silently protesting their constriction. He knew if the human girl stayed throughout dinner, he’d have to keep the cursed thing on his head, but decided it’d be worth it.
“That’s fine with me…” he finally answered, but added, “…but I don’t think she’ll want to stay. She doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“Why would you say that?” Mrs. Higurashi asked in mild shock, never having heard anything from Kagome about any of her friends not adoring Inuyasha as much as they did.
“Keh, cause…” he trailed off, not really wanting to go into details, but Mrs. Higurashi insisted.
“She was rude at the carnival.” he finally settled on, adding “She didn’t exactly give her approval of Kagome’s choice in….men.” he emphasized, wondering if she’d catch onto his meaning.
Mrs. Higurashi didn’t say anything further on the matter, except that she’d better start getting dinner prepared once they made it to the shrine, so she headed straight up into the house, Inuyasha on her heels as he’d been carrying half of the groceries. But as soon as he finished helping her put everything away, he headed back outside towards the Goshinboku.
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Eri just stood there in a mild state of shock, every thought and emotion fathomable running through her system simultaneously, while Kagome’s nose worked double-time trying to catalog them all.
Does she know? (panic) Her hand is so soft. (attraction) She loves him. (jealousy) She seems so happy. (happiness) She’s happy with him. (sadness) I’ll never be that happy. (depression) How dare she?! (anger) Her lips look so sweet. (arousal) What am I thinking? (embarrassment) She’s too good for him! (conviction) She can’t really be meant for him. (denial) There’s got to be something I can do! (determination) But I just want her to be happy. (selflessness) Why did this have to happen? (confusion) I just want to scream! (tribulation) Get a hold of yourself, if this is what she wants, then that’s all that matters. (understanding)
Able to pluck out and identify each and every one of her raging emotions, as they appeared in succession, Kagome found it was almost as if she could read her mind. She wondered in passing how, if Inuyasha’s sense of emotions was this strong, could he have ever thought she wasn’t as in love with him as she truly was? The answer came to her in the form of an undead miko, who did more than keep him confused regarding his feelings, but had also, intentionally or not, contributed to his self-loathing over being born hanyou.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she sensed her mate’s approach. She’d smelled his return with her mother a few moments ago, but they’d headed straight toward the house. Kagome was sure that he could also, in turn, smell that Eri was with her. It surprised her at first to discover that he was approaching them now.
Eri may lack superior senses, but her powers of observation were working, when she noticed Kagome’s eyes glance behind her, apparently catching the appearance of somebody approaching them. Glancing behind herself, then, she caught sight of Kagome’s boyfriend making his way towards them, rather casually by the look of things. Good she sighed silently to herself. (relief) He didn’t seem to look too pissed.
“Hey…” he called out with a friendly voice once he figured he was within hearing range of the human girl.
Eri apprehensively snatched her hand from Kagome’s grasp, as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her place, waiting for him to close the final distance between them.
“Went to the store with Mama?” Kagome asked nonchalantly, not moving from her spot mere inches away from her long time school friend.
“Keh…she asked me to go along.” he confessed, not sure if Kagome was okay with the idea that he’d been out in public.
“That’s nice, I’m sure she appreciated the company.” she said instead, and he could tell from her scent that she wasn’t just covering up her anger because they weren’t alone, she honestly felt fine about it.
“Looks like you’ve got your own company, too.” he said next, keeping his voice rather neutral.
“I’m not…Kagome and I…we were just…” She couldn’t spit out a complete sentence.
Surprising both girls, Inuyasha laughed; a genuine, lighthearted laugh.
“Relax…” he finally managed to say. “I ain’t jealous.”
At his words, Eri shifted her gaze back to Kagome, mild panic peaking into her scent again, which disappeared when she saw the knowing smile the girl was offering her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t like to hurting people.” she whispered. “I truly hope that you find your own happiness.” she added, taking her friend’s hand again and squeezing it for a moment.
“You…know…?” Eri managed to ask.
“Keh, you ain’t the only one…everybody seems to love my Kagome.” Inuyasha chuckled.
“Hojo and Kouga are hardly everybody.” she said in rebuttal
Who’s Kouga? Eri wondered to herself.
“Don’t forget Akitoki.” he reminded.
Where does she meet these people?
“Akitoki doesn’t count, he’s your time’s Hojo.” she smirked, but quickly flashed a nervous glance at Eri when she realized what she’s said.
Fortunately, Eri hadn’t caught on to exactly what Kagome had said, and simply asked “Who are Kouga and Akitoki? Other admirers? Like the one who asked if you’d have his child?” She snapped her head back towards the white haired boy again when she heard him laughing hysterically.
“You told her about Miroku? No wonder she thinks I’m a dog!”
Walking up towards Eri, he greeted her with a friendly smile, and said “Miroku is one of a kind, I’m nothing like him.”
“Thank Kami.” he heard Kagome mumble under her breath. Due to their close proximity, Eri had heard her as well, and seeing the friendly banter that was taking place between the two, a small, but genuine smile, began to rise on her own lips.
“Let’s see…there was also Chokyuukai.” he chuckled, really racking his brain now.
“That pig?!?!” Eri had no idea how literally Kagome used the term. “He doesn’t count! He was taking every girl for a wife!”
“Hmmm” Inuyasha hummed, finger on his chin, as if he were thinking of more names to add to the list.
“Two can play at this game, ya know.” he suddenly heard his mate smirk.
“Keh, I don’t recall no women ever throwing themselves at me.” he stated rather matter-of-factly.
“Didn’t say Jakotsu was a woman.” she said through a chuckle.
“Oi!”
At that point, Eri busted up laughing, smiling uncontrollably while shifting her glance between the two of them.
Keh, she’s all right… Inuyasha thought to himself, before stating out loud…
“Kagome’s mom says you’re welcome to stay for dinner, if you want.”
The way he’d said it, and the expression on his face, both indicated that he was genuinely extending the invitation himself, as well.
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Eri’s smile didn’t fade all throughout dinner, though she did silently wondered why Inuyasha didn’t remove the bandana from his head. She recalled Ayumi having told her how Kagome’s ‘cool’ boyfriend had really long nails that almost looked like claws, with the way he kept them filed. Now that she looked for herself, she confirmed what the girl had told her, they did look like claws. A little too much like claws, actually. She’d always thought it strange that the boy was named “dog demon”, and she remembered all too well how he’d thrown it back in her face when she’d called him a dog at the fair. He was really into his namesake, she decided. Wait, were those fangs? Slowly, Eri’s smile increased. Maybe there was more to the story than Kagome had told her, but either way, it was beyond obvious how in love the two of them were, and she decided that what Kagome had tried to get across to her was the truth, she did need to be happy for her friend. She was happy for her friend. She’d rather keep her as a friend, than lose her to her jealously.