InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Definition of Normal ❯ First Down ( Chapter 3 )

I am SO happy with the way this story is turning out! It has been a very long time since I've been so excited about a writing project, and it is a wonderful feeling. I can only hope it continues so that I can enjoy writing it this much, and so you guys will have a wonderful story to read. After all, when an author feels true enthusiasm about what they are writing, it shows. At least, I believe it does.

Anyway, keep your comments coming, and I'll keep doing my best! Thanks so much for the reviews!
 

Warning: The language will get a bit coarser from this chapter on, because of the appearance of...yes...you guessed it...but I will still try to keep it to a minimum and only use the rougher words if I have to for emphasis.
 

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Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story, but I do own my muse. Yes, for once I actually want to claim ownership of the lazy thing...but by next week I'll probably be willing to auction it off to some poor sucker when it starts refusing to work again.
 

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The Definition of Normal
Chapter Three

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"Whew, what a day!" Kagome flopped down on her bed, reveling in the comforting scent of freshly washed sheets. It was several days after the incident with her Grandfather, and Kagome had already forgotten about it and was back in a much more cheerful frame of mind. "I really can't remember the last time the shrine has been so busy! We must have had at least four full tours of people today, most of them foreign tourists. So of course you know Miroku was happy."
 

"More than happy, I'd say," Came the dry response. "Knowing him, he's probably still mooning about them and driving the rest of your family crazy, isn't he?"
 

"You got it." Kagome laughed as she overheard her grandfather threatening to 'purify' Miroku's dirty mind with his non-existent powers. "I've obviously told you far too much about this crazy family for you to know that without even being here to see it."

Cradling the phone between her head and her shoulder, Kagome stood up and stretched while her friend Eri laughed. "I love your family, Kagome-chan! I wish my family were more like yours, but unfortunately it would be a cold, snowy day in hell before my parents would do anything that could be considered abnormal or even fun."
 

"Yes, but at least your parents are intelligent, successful people that have the means to put you through college so that you can do something with your life." The sadness in Kagome's voice was unmistakable.

"Oh, don't sound so down, Kagome-chan!" Eri cried. "You make me miserable just listening to you! I'm sure things will improve soon, you've just got to wait for the right opportunity to do something about it."
 

Accusing Kagome of being unhappy immediately put the girl in question on the defensive. "I'm not down! I just...started thinking about how much I miss you guys, since I don't get to see you often anymore." While they were talking she had moved over to her closet to dig for her pajamas, but stopped in the middle of her search to cross her fingers, hoping that Eri would buy the lie and let the subject go.
 

Thankfully, she did. Or at least she seemed to.
 

"THAT, my friend, is exactly why I called you tonight! Everyone has been talking about it for a while, and we finally decided that we'd like to have a girl's only day, just the four of us. We could go out, shop, eat, and even have a sleepover just like we used to! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
 

Kagome smiled wistfully. "Actually, it does...but I'm not sure if I should leave Grandpa alone with the shrine. No telling what he'd do while I was gone."
 

"Pssht." The sound Eri made told Kagome that she thought her friend was worrying needlessly. "Forget about the shrine for a while! I'm sure if you asked, Miroku would be more than happy to keep an eye on both it and your Grandfather for a day. He's over there all the time anyway."
 

"I don't know..." Kagome chewed on her bottom lip as she considered what her friend was saying.
 

"Kagome-chan." Eri's voice was suddenly dead serious, and a shiver of unease trailed down Kagome's spine. "If you don't come, I'm going to tell your grandfather that you were the one who broke his favorite antique bowl made from the dried skin of a-"
 

"UGH! Okay, okay! I'll go! Just don't remind me of that disgusting bowl!" Kagome covered her face with her hands, trying to ward off the memory Eri had just brought up. Her grandfather had once owned a bowl supposedly made out of the dried skin of a kappa, and Kagome, being young and careless, had eaten out of it one day without realizing what it was. When her grandfather saw her and freaked out about it, shouting about what it was made of, Kagome had immediately run to the bathroom and thrown up everything she had just eaten. Then not long after that, the bowl had mysteriously ended up broken beyond repair. Of course, Kagome had told everyone that the cat did it...
 

"Great!" Eri's cheerful voice broke through Kagome's disturbing memories. "We'll see you tomorrow, Kagome-chan. Meet us at Yuka-chan's house at eight o'clock sharp, and don't be late!"
 

"Yeah, yeah..." Kagome made a face at the phone when she realized that there was no longer anyone on the other end.
 

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~*~*~*~*~*~
 

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"DAMMIT!"
 

A door slammed, followed by the sound of shoes being flung rather violently against the wall.
 

"Inuyasha?" The delicate, feminine voice that called out from one of the rooms down the hallway was a stark contrast to the one that had just cursed. "Please mind your language, dear, for Kaede-sama has come to visit us today, and she is planning to stay for dinner. Oh, and please don't damage the wall again. We just had it fixed..."
 

Incoherent grumbling was her only response as Inuyasha followed the hallway until he entered the room. "Oi, what are you doing here, Baba? I thought you never left that run-down old shrine of yours."
 

The two women in the room eyed the grumpy hanyou, one with barely concealed amusement, and one with a gaze of warning. "Inuyasha, quit being rude to Kaede-sama. She is a guest in our house, and I won't tolerate your bad behavior towards her." When the only response she received was his usual 'Keh' as he sat down across the table from them, her look turned from anger to concern. "What's the matter? Did you have a bad day at school today?"
 

The change in his mother's tone was enough to make Inuyasha feel guilty for his earlier behavior, and his ears drooped in a telling manner. "The other day I got assigned to do a stupid project with this girl in one of my classes, but when we actually got around to doin' the work on it, she had to take off because of some sort of family emergency or something. So I got stuck doing the entire thing."
 

"Oh, the poor thing. Is everyone in her family okay?"
 

"Keh, as if I know! She hasn't been back to school since, and I had to turn the project in without her."
 

Now his mother was a bit suspicious about what he was really upset about. On the surface it looked as if he was just annoyed over having to do the entire project himself, but after his last statement, she began to question if it wasn't something else that was really upsetting him. "Have you gotten a grade back for it yet?"
 

"Yeah...got it today." If possible, his ears got even flatter than they had been a few moments ago.
 

To his mother, that look told all. "I'm sure you did your best on it for her, so I believe she'll understand. Don't feel too badly about it."
 

"Keh! I wasn't feeling bad about it! I'm just annoyed that she didn't help, because if she had, we would have gotten a better grade!" Huffing, he crossed his arms and turned away from both her mother and Kaede, a sure sign that a sore spot had been hit. He WAS upset about not getting a better grade on that project himself, though he certainly wasn't going to admit it.

From her vantage point, Kaede quietly watched the whole exchange between mother and son. The scene made her smile, because it really was a very telling conversation. Anyone who knew Inuyasha well enough could see that he felt bad for not doing a better job, because obviously the girl couldn't help whatever situation has arisen at home. And though he tried to make it look as if he were upset with her, he was really more upset with himself than with anyone else. Just as she had told Kikyo a few days before, Inuyasha had a good heart, even if he chose not to let many people see it.

But hopefully Kagome would be one of the few who could, whether he chose to let her see it or not.
 

After things had settled down some and the three had begun to eat dinner together, Kaede finally decided that it was time to do exactly what she had come for, because to put it off any longer would be pointless. Though she could only hope that he would remain in the room long enough for her to pull out the 'secret weapon' that she had hinted to Kikyo about. Without it, she had very little hope of convincing him to do anything, much less go out with a strange girl.
 

"Inuyasha, I know this is a very personal question, but do you have anyone special?"
 

The seemingly random, completely un-Kaede-like question caused Inuyasha to nearly choke on a mouthful of rice. "W-what the hell, baba? Where do you get off asking me a question like that?!?"
 

Once again the badly-mannered hanyou was on the receiving end of one of his mother's glares.
 

"Please, Inuyasha, just humor this old woman and excuse me for asking such a personal question. When you get to be my age, propriety just doesn't matter as much to you as it once did." This was followed by a hoarse laugh, more from finding humor in the expression on Inuyasha's face than her own words. "So do you have anyone that you care about?"
 

The shade of red that Inuyasha's face turned nearly matched his shirt perfectly, and his mother had to hide a smile behind her hand. "I think the answer is no, he doesn't have anyone, Kaede-sama. Because I'm sure that if he did have a girlfriend, he would have immediately started denying it very loudly." This caused a round of laughter from both women, and Inuyasha could have happily thrown himself off a bridge at that moment. Or even better, them. The idea was tempting...
 

"Oi, don't ask me such stupid questions, baba!" He slunk down as far as he could go, though no amount of slouching could completely hide him from the amused gazes of the two women across from him.
 

"Forgive me, Inuyasha." Kaede attempted to regain her normally serious expression. "I do not mean to make jest of you, but it was a necessary question to be asked."
 

This made Inuyasha sit up and narrow his eyes in suspicion. "What do you mean by that?"
 

Kaede and Inuyasha's mother exchanged a meaningful glance before turning back to the wary hanyou. This time his mother was the one to speak. "Inuyasha, dear, Kaede-sama and I have been talking, and we are worried about you. A boy your age should have a girlfriend, or at least should be showing a healthy interest in having one. But you seem to be...well...having a bit of trouble in that area..." Her voice trailed off, seeing the dark look on her son's face growing as she talked. They were obviously heading into dangerous territory. "Anyway, we thought that you might just need a little help, so we talked to a friend of Kaede-sama's, and his granddaughter-"

Unable to take it anymore, Inuyasha shot to his feet. "OH NO! I'm not playing that little game! No one has the right to interfere in my life like that. Not you, not anybody, you got that?!?"
 

Instead of being upset, his mother just smiled serenely. "Maybe we don't have a 'right to interfere' with your love life-" He opened his mouth to complain about his mother's wording, but she firmly cut him off "-BUT that doesn't mean that we won't. It just means that we have to work a little harder to find a way to do it. And I'm certain that we have found an excellent way of doing that. Don't you agree, Kaede-sama?"
 

"Oh yes." The older woman nodded, her face serious though her eyes were full of what could almost be termed 'sadistic' humor. "I am quite sure that you will see things our way once we explain something to you."
 

"Keh, like you could say anything to change my mind, baba." The stubborn hanyou crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back, though he thankfully did not leave the room.
 

"Oh, do you believe so, Inuyasha?" Kaede raised an eyebrow. "Well, what do you say if I say 'Kikyo's most treasured possession'?"
 

Inuyasha turned around, his eyes wide with horror.
 

"Oh shit!"
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"Oh my God, did you see that cute guy today standing outside the bookstore?"

"No, I don't remember seeing anyone standing there."
 

"Maybe that's because you were too busy actually looking at the books to notice him, Ayumi-chan! What kind of girl are you, anyway?"
 

"Well, I saw this book that I've been thinking about buying for a while, and-"
 

"AARRGG! Ayumi-chan! Lighten up and have a little fun, would you? With the way you act, it's amazing that you've actually had a boyfriend before."
 

"Yuka-chan's right. I'm surprised you even know what a boy IS sometimes."
 

"Man, Eri-chan, MAN. We are in college now, you know!"
 

Kagome smiled affectionately as she listened to her three friends talk. No matter how much had changed, some things would always stay the same it seemed, including her friends' fixation with the opposite sex. Almost all day, Eri and Yuka both had been able to talk about almost nothing else, and even now that it was dark and they were all gathered in Yuka's bedroom, the subject was still being run into the ground.
 

At least they hadn't thought to bring up HER love life, or lack thereof, yet.
 

"So what do you want to do now?" Yuka questioned. "We've had dinner, watched a movie, and talked about MEN-" She stopped to shoot a pointed glace at Eri "But what other things did we like to do during sleepovers? I can't believe it's been so long that I've actually forgotten!"
 

Eri laughed. "Hey, I remember something that was always fun! How about playing a game?"
 

Ayumi clapped her hands together in excitement like a little girl. "Ohhh, I loved to play games during our sleepovers! How about a card game? Is there one that was your favorite, Kagome-chan?"
 

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Yuka after she and Eri had exchanged a peculiar glance. "No, no, I wasn't really thinking about card games. Those just aren't...EXCITING enough for me! I was thinking of something more along the lines of...oh, say, `Truth or Dare'?"
 

"YES! Let's play that!" Eri tossed in before anyone else could give their opinion. Once again, the pair exchanged a knowing look, and this time Kagome couldn't help but wonder if they were up to something. They always had been the two mischief-makers of the group, and she was sure that no matter how old they all got, that was something that would also never change.
 

"Okay, since I thought of it, I'm going to go first." Yuka looked around the group as if deciding which girl would get the honor of being her first victim. For a moment her eyes landed on Kagome with a speculative gleam, but thankfully at the last moment she seemed to decide against it and turned instead to the most oblivious one of the group. "Ayumi-chan, truth or dare?"
 

"Ummm, truth?"
 

Leaning forward, Yuka rested her head in her hands. “Soooo, how far did you and your first boyfriend get, exactly?”
 

“How…far?” Ayumi looked completely puzzled by the question. “Well, we dated for about three months, if that's what you mean.”
 

Kagome had to resist the urge to laugh as Yuka's head slipped from her hands and hit the floor.
 

“What, did I say something wrong?” Ayumi watched Yuka in concern, not understanding her friend's reaction to the answer she had given.
 

Yuka pulled her head up and waved her hands in dismissal, looking half-amused, half-exasperated. “No, no, that answers fine, Ayumi-chan. It tells us exactly why your first relationship only lasted three months. Anyway, it's your turn now, so you get to pick someone!”
 

A thoughtful look crossed Ayumi's face as she gazed at each friend in turn, and everyone couldn't help but wonder who she would pick and what kind of question or dare she would come up with. As kids, hers were always…the most unique, to put it mildly. “Kagome-chan!”
 

“Yes?” As if being called upon by a teacher, Kagome automatically sat up straight and watched her friend with a nervous expression. Yuka and Eri were giggling behind their hands.
 

“Kagome-chan, truth or dare?”
 

Biting her bottom lip in a nervous gesture, Kagome tried to decide which answer would be the lesser of two evils. It was much harder to predict such a thing with Ayumi than with her other two friends. At least with them, it was always a given that dare would probably be the safest bet, because their `truths' always turned out to be more like deep, dark confessions that she would prefer not to ever see the light of day.
 

Steeling her resolve after thinking the pros and cons over carefully, Kagome finally decided. “Truth.” Her logic was that if she answered a question from Ayumi, then she might not have to deal with any really terrible ones from her other friends later.
 

“Okay!” A bright smile from Ayumi was the reward for her choice, which was expected, but the smiles on Eri and Yuka's faces were not. So they WERE up to something…but what? “Kagome-chan, please answer this question: In the 9th grade, you aced a math test. Did you cheat?”
 

Her face was so perfectly serious that Kagome was torn between laughing and being extremely offended. “Of COURSE I didn't cheat, Ayumi-chan!” She nearly shouted her response, because the more she thought about it, the more upset she got. How could anyone think she would ever cheat on anything?
 

The other two girls burst out laughing at Kagome's heated denial.
 

“I can't believe-“ Eri stopped to gasp for air, she had been laughing so hard “-that you are getting so worked up-“ another gasp “-about such a silly question!”
 

Kagome's face turned red with embarrassment. “Fine, go ahead and laugh, Eri-chan. But I choose YOU next! Truth or dare?” She was seriously hoping that putting someone else on the spot would take the attention off of her.
 

Not looking disturbed in the least, Eri chose truth.
 

“Um…” Kagome really hadn't thought of anything good to ask. “Uh, how many of your teachers have you been flirting with to help your grades since you entered college?”
 

Grinning, Eri answered without any shame. “Every single male teacher I've got. And it works, too!”
 

Kagome rolled her eyes, having expected that answer. Oh well, at least now attention would stay off of her for a little while, because surely they wouldn't pick on her again so soon.
 

Oh, how wrong she was…
 

“Kagome-chan, truth or dare?”
 

“W-what? Why me AGAIN?” She glared at her unrepentant friend accusingly. “It's not fair for you to pick on me again! What about Yuka-chan?”
 

“Eh, Yuka-chan just isn't interesting enough. She and I already know each other's secrets, and she won't give me a chance to give her a dare. So I decided to choose you instead!” Eri grinned, amused by Kagome's annoyance with the situation. “Truth or dare, Kagome-chan? We don't have all day you know, so hurry and make up your mind!”
 

“Of course we don't have all day. It's already almost midnight-“
 

“Oh, be quiet, Ayumi-chan! Don't take people so literally all the time.”
 

Ignoring the pointless banter going on around her, Kagome hid her face with her hands and bemoaned her terrible luck along with her bad choice of friends. `Why, oh WHY is someone out to get me lately? What have I done that is so bad that I deserve this?'
 

“Kagome-chan, would you please make your choice already? Stalling and looking pathetic isn't going to do you any good, so you might as well get it over with.”
 

While Kagome had been distracted, her friends had finally quit fussing and had returned their attention to her. Lifting her head, she met their expectant gazes. There was no help for it, she supposed. Might as well just get it over with as they so kindly `suggested.'
 

“Okay, fine. I choose dare.”
 

A squeal of happiness sounded from Eri and Yuka right after she made her choice, and a cold dread began to fill Kagome's chest. Had they been…HOPING she would chose dare? This couldn't mean anything good, because they had always preferred truth as far back as she could remember. What kind of horrible task were they planning to make her do?
 

“Okay! To be fair, I'm going to give you two dares that you may choose from. As long as you do one of them, that will be fine. But if you choose not to go through with either of them, then we shall be forced to engage the `Rules of Punishment.' Is that clear?”
 

Kagome nodded, feeling sick as a knot formed in her stomach. How could she have forgotten about the `Rules of Punishment'? It was a creation of Eri and Yuka's, made one day after Kagome had refused to do one of Ayumi's dares. The rules state that if someone backs out of a dare or refuses to confess a truth, then at any time in the future the other girls would be allowed to choose and inflict a punishment. Anything that doesn't cause physical harm or break any laws is legal according to the guidelines.
 

Kagome remembered the one time they'd used it on her, and she cringed. It was their final year of high school, and they had been in the dressing rooms of a clothing store. In the middle of changing they had barged in and stolen all her clothes as well as the ones she was trying on, before leaving the store completely. And there she stayed, in nothing but her underwear and completely humiliated for over an hour while concerned employees kept trying to coax her to come out. Eventually her friends had returned with her clothes after an angry Kagome called them from the store phone (after using a key to get in, the manager finally figured out the problem and loaned the poor girl some of the store's clothes to wear), but it had still taken her a long time to forgive them for that little incident.
 

“Your first choice is this-" Eri's voice brought Kagome back to the present. “We will buy you the lingerie of our choice, and you have to model it for Miroku.”
 

Kagome's eyes widened in horror at the very idea. “PLEASE tell me you're joking! What happened to the rule that all dares have to be done within an hour?”
 

Yuka raised a placating hand. “We never stated that as a rule before the dare was made, did we? It's your own fault that you didn't catch that! But don't worry! She's going to give you another choice, remember? Maybe it won't be as bad!”
 

Once again, the suspicion that they were both plotting something rose in Kagome's mind, causing her eyes to narrow on the pair. “Okay, so what IS this second choice, exactly?”
 

Eri smiled slyly. “Oh, I think you'll like this one MUCH better.”
 

“Would you just tell me already?!?!”
 

“Okay!” Eri paused for dramatic affect. “Your second choice is…a blind date!”
 

The room was dead silent for several moments as the words Eri said sunk in.
 

“I'm going to KILL both of you!” Kagome shrieked. She lunged at her two friends, but they managed to dodge her just in time while laughing hysterically. It wasn't often that they could get a rise like that out of their normally calm friend, so they found it extremely funny when they could. “You both know how I feel about blind dates! How could you even think to suggest such a thing?!?”
 

Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, Eri finally calmed down enough to speak. “Don't you trust us, Kagome-chan? We only want you to be happy!”
 

That didn't even deserve a response in Kagome's opinion.
 

“Come on, Kagome-chan. It's just a little date. I know you've had very bad experiences in the past, but don't let that ruin your future! I'm sure that if you keep trying, you'll find someone wonderful! So won't you please give this poor guy a chance?”
 

Ah, so that was it. Their odd behavior from earlier was suddenly perfectly clear, and Kagome could have slapped herself for not seeing it sooner. “So you even have someone in mind already, do you?” Kagome shot them a dark look. “Why do I get the feeling I've been set up?”
 

Yuka smiled sweetly, not at all put off by Kagome's attitude. “Maybe because you have?”
 

Groaning, Kagome flopped down on the floor of Yuka's bedroom. She just didn't have the energy to fight anymore. No matter what she did, she knew she wouldn't win. “Fine. I'll go with the blind date.”
 

Eri and Yuka exchanged triumphant, though rather surprised, glances.
 

“I'm actually kind of shocked that you gave in so quickly.” Yuka confessed. “I thought it would take a lot more than that to get you to agree.”
 

“I almost didn't.” Kagome sighed and laid down on the futon that had been rolled out for her. “I seriously considered choosing Miroku for a moment-“ Her friends all stared at her in disbelief “-but after thinking about it, I suppose it's a better option than going with any blind dates my grandfather chooses for me. You girls must have better taste in men than him!”
 

Ayumi giggled and finally spoke up after having remained silent during the whole thing. “Well, I would hope so, Kagome-chan.”
 

Instead of laughing along with Ayumi, Yuka and Eri suddenly looked nervous for the first time that evening.
 

“Um, about that…”

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NOTES: Wow, I think this is honestly the longest chapter I've ever written. I didn't intend for this to turn out so long, but I really wanted to give everything a proper set up for the next chapter. I'm sure you guys know what is coming, right?

 

And sorry about the 'truth or dare' bit. I know it seems rather cliché, but it was the only thing I could come up to suit my purposes. You'll see why! I can barely stop myself from rubbing my hands together and laughing like some corny TV villain...