Counting Kisses
By
Lady MoonHawke
AN: "Counting Kisses is a ficlette based on "The Hero in the 21st Century"
doujinshi at Hibernating Bats.
I'm not normally a fan of web-comics (It's more Lady Razor's passion
than mine) but this one's different. So since it's so damned good,
do yourself a big favor and head over there to read it. Also, this
fic will make a lot more sense once you do. -LMH
Tokyo, 1998
The morning after Book 11.
He was up early again the next morning, though this time
he’d gotten considerably more sleep. It probably helped that he’d dropped
her off at home much earlier the night before. And he’d stolen two
more kisses from her, one just as they’d left the graveyard for Wackdonald’s,
and another when he’d taken her home. Of course, it might not be stealing.
She’d certainly not complained. Hell, she’d been the one to kiss him
in the cemetery. Certainly it made up for the fact that she’d punched
him there the day before. Had it really only been 24 hours? It
seemed unlikely, but it was true nonetheless.
Koinu poked through the refrigerator, liberating a pair
of juice bottles and tossing them into his school bag. Scooping up
a couple of cream buns, he threw them into a box and tied a cloth around
it. “Mom, Dad, I’m going. I’m picking up Kagome on the way to
school.”
“Koinu-chan...” Haruka began, but she was drowned out.
“Ja ne!”
“Maybe it will be all right,” her husband murmured.
“He certainly seems very happy.”
“For how long this time?” Haruka asked. “How long
til she breaks his heart again?”
“You met her, Haruka. What do you think?”
She sighed. “Maybe he’ll be lucky this time.”
“Maybe they both will.”
The stairs were empty when he reached the Shrine, and
for a moment, he was afraid he was late and had missed her. But a look
at his watch assured Koinu he had arrived well before her normal time to
leave. He ran all the way up the steps, nearly running into a small
boy at the top.
“Souta-chan!”
The boy looked up. “Oh. Morning, Houjou-kun.
She was on her way downstairs when I left.”
He couldn’t place the boy’s lack of enthusiasm for a moment,
then realized, Souta didn’t know who he was. “Hey, Souta, you should
always tell a girl your true and honest feelings.”
The boy turned and looked, really looked, at him.
“What did you say?”
“Banzaii!” Let him believe, please.
“Inu-no-oniichan?” It was a whisper. “You
came back?”
Koinu grinned. “Yeah.”
“You came back for Onee-chan!”
He nodded. “Yeah. Sorry I couldn’t figure
it all out sooner...”
The boy threw his arms around him. “This is great,”
he said after a quick hug. “Are you going to take her back to the Sengoku
Jidai?”
He shook his head. “No. That’s all over now.
I’m living here in Tokyo now.”
“Koinu-kun!”
They both turned to see Kagome come out of the house,
bag slung over her shoulders. Souta raced over to her. “Nee-chan,
Nee-chan, look! It’s Inu-”
She clapped a hand over his mouth. “I know, Souta-chan.
Houjou-kun came to walk me to school.” She nodded at his protesting
sounds. “I swear, Souta. I know. I know.” She let
him go. “Now get going. You don’t want to be late.”
He ran for the steps, waving to them as he went.
“Ja ne, Nee-chan! Ja ne, Inu-no-oniichan.”
She looked at Koinu. “You told him?”
“I couldn’t help it. I just wanted someone else
to know. Did you eat breakfast?” She was still painfully thin;
a cup of ramen and a burger from Wackdonald’s weren't going to change that
over night. But there was a light in her eyes that he hadn’t seen in
months.
“A little, yes.” She saw his frown and grabbed his
hand. “I tried, Inuyasha, really. And I thought, I ought to just
work for now on not throwing up. So I didn’t eat a lot this morning,
but I did keep it down.”
She was trying, he had to admit. “Okay, then.
I brought you a roll and some juice, anyway.”
Kagome smiled. “Save it, and I’ll eat it at break.
I’m going for small frequent meals. Getting back in the habit of eating.”
“I’m holding you to that,” he warned her.
“Good.” She turned a little, shooting a sidelong
glance at him. “Don’t I get a kiss?”
He turned and caught her up, kissing her with a passion
he wouldn’t have known what to do with 500 years ago.
“Wow!” she said when they finally broke for breath.
“Nine,” he announced. He shouldered her bag and
wrapped an arm around her waist, walking her to the steps. “Do you
know we kissed 6 times yesterday?”
“Still counting, I see.”
“Not for much longer. I figure ten’s a good number
to stop counting at. But we’ll have to make it a really good one.
Something special.
“I think they’re all special.”
He smiled, hugging her closer. “You’re a very wise
woman, Lady Kagome.”
Really. I mean it. Go read "Hero in the 21st Century."
And be sure to tell the author/artist how wonderful it is. Right
now. We'll be here when you get back.
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