Take Two
Chapter 7
“Kagome?”
Sango’s still alive, along with her
village, and Kohaku. Maybe there’s some way we can separate them
before Naraku attacks. Maybe Naraku won’t attack at all, without
the Shikon Shards.
“Earth to Kagome. Come in, Kagome.”
It’s so hard to know what to do,
sometimes. I just want this to be over. I want to go
home. I want to wake up in Inuyasha’s arms with some obscure
journal under my pillow and half an apple in the dresser.
“Kagome, are you in there?”
I swear by all my ancestors, I’ll
never pick on Inuyasha about the clothes on the floor again, or the
books or anything. Just please, let this end. I don’t know
how much longer I can-
“Higurashi!”
Kagome snapped out of her reverie at Houjou’s bark, blinking her dry,
bleary eyes. “Inuyasha?”
“You zoned out, Kagome. Is everything okay?”
Kagome poked at the cold, congealing fries in front of her.
“Everything’s fine, I think. Things… events are changing.
I’m not always sure what I should do.”
He looked confused for a minute, then his expression cleared.
“Oh. Right. Just… do your best. I believe in you.”
She smiled, grateful for the reassurance. “Thanks,
Inuyasha. I needed to hear that.”
“Come on,” he said, gathering up her empty hamburger wrapper and
uneaten fries. “I’ll walk you home. You look like you could
do with a rest.”
“I don’t want to go home,” she replied, collecting her purse.
“Can we go over to the park instead? I don’t get to spend enough
time with you.”
“You sure?” he asked, taking her hand to lead her out. “It’s
getting near sunset. I don’t want your mother to worry.”
“She knows I’m safe with you, Inuyasha. It will be fine.”
They walked the few blocks to the park, the same park that would have
played host to their first kiss a little more than a year later.
Kagome wondered how that conversation would go this time. She
only remembered bits and pieces of it now, but not as a result of the
Recent Strangeness. She’d been days from collapse then, riding
the last wave of strength before the mono caught up with her iron will
and pulled her under. They settled on the grass, in an area she
would come to think of as ‘their spot,’ sitting considerably closer
than that first time.
“It’s nice out here,” Inuyasha said, breaking the awkward silence that
had fallen on them outside of Wackdonald’s.
“Yeah. Very peaceful,” Kagome agreed. No rampaging youkai, she added
silently.
He plucked her hand from the grass and toyed with it, checking palm and
back for scratches and scars. “I’m taking care of you,
right? Not like before?”
“Yeah. All the time. You always took care of me.” She
gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before reclaiming her own, then
leaned back, hands resting on the grass. She was aware of the
creeping thinness coming over her, due at least for the moment to her
suddenly active life rather than apathy and illness.
“How’s it really going, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked. “Tell me
something, anything. I feel so useless stuck here like this.”
“There’s not that much to tell. Without having to search for the
shards, I’m feeling pretty useless myself. We’re fighting off a
lot of demons who are after the Jewel as a whole, but it’s going all
right. Miroku about flipped his lid when you offered to solve his
Kazaana problem for good if he touched me.” She chuckled softly
at the memory, until she caught the set of his face.
“Inuyasha? What’s wrong?”
“Why don’t I remember that, Kagome? I still remember being
confused when you said you loved hentai guys.” He sighed.
“I still remember everything the other way.”
Maybe it’s better that way,
she thought. The things she was keeping from him, the way his
hanyou counterpart touched her, held her, hardly let her out of his
sight, he probably didn’t want to
know. “Maybe… maybe that means it will be all right. That
there’s no need for you to remember. Maybe we’ll wake up in bed
one morning a happily married couple.”
He looked at her in astonishment, then a radiant smile broke over his
face. “You asking me to marry you, Higurashi?”
She straightened up in confusion, head ducked forward to hide the
sudden paleness in her face. Fortunately, Inuyasha didn’t seem to
be expecting any kind of answer as he lay back on the grass, hands
behind his head. “That would be good, to be married. It’s
what I wanted, to be with you forever.”
“Me, too,” Kagome murmured, fighting to keep the trembling out of her
voice. Memories of living at the Shrine had been the first to go,
then their years in Chicago. How was it possible, that he could
forget what she had come to realize were the best years of their
lives? The cheery theme from an American children’s program
tinkled in her head, and the fought hard to repress a shudder, only
partially succeeding. What magical moment would be the next to
go, now that he had lost their wedding as well?
Her ever-vigilant suitor, noticing her distress, stood. “Come
on,” he said, taking her hands and lifting her to her feet. “Time
to get you home.”
She allowed herself to be lifted, and didn’t struggle as he draped his
red hoodie around her shoulders. “Not too cold?”
She shook her head. “Not with you,” she replied, curving her hand
around his, ready to be led away. “Never with you.”
He smiled down at her, mouth opening to say something when his head
snapped around, attention suddenly focused on the small lake across the
footpath. The ducks were giving their usual performance, quacking
and flapping wildly, then settling into tidy Vs in the sky.
“Chaos theory in reverse,” Kagome said to herself, watching until the
setting sun stung her eyes.
“Yeah,” Inuyasha replied, almost reverently. “Like you. You
come into my life, and everything becomes clear.” His fingers
shifted, interlacing with hers. “Come on,” he repeated.
“Let me walk you home.”
Kagome followed, focusing on the warmth of her hand in his, and
wondered how she could ever bring herself to give this up.
“Kagome?”
“KYAA!” Kagome jumped, spinning away from the doors to face the
well. “Inuyasha? You scared the life out of me.” She
looked at her watch in the dim light cast from the streetlamp.
“Shouldn’t you be home by now? I thought you left half an hour
ago. Your mom’s gonna flip.”
He shrugged. “You know Mom. Any reason to flip works for
her. Listen, I forgot something before, and I didn’t want you to
leave without it. I know it’s early, but I don’t know if you’ll
be back on the day, so Happy White Day.” He held out a clumsily
wrapped gift.
Kagome took it with an expression of awe. “Oh, Inuyasha, thank
you. I completely forgot Valentine’s Day, too. Some
girlfriend I am.”
“Don’t say that. You’re the only girlfriend I ever wanted.
I don’t really like chocolate, anyway.” He shrugged, scuffing the
plank flooring with one foot. “There is something I’d like
though, instead, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Name it.”
“Come back for Tanabata, okay? There’s a festival, and I’d really
like to take you.”
Kagome knelt down, swinging her pack free and securing Inuyasha’s gift
inside, pulling out her calendar. “July 7,” she confirmed,
scribbling a note to herself. “I’ll be here if at all
possible.” She stood, tucking the calendar away. “I guess I
better go.”
“Yeah.”
They stood, staring awkwardly at the walls, at the well, at anything
but each other. “I guess,” Inuyasha began, “if I kiss you, I’ll
smell myself…”
“… on the other side, yeah,” Kagome finished. “You’ll probably be
very angry, too. In fact, if I don’t go now, you’ll be in here
yelling, and who knows what kind of mess that will be.”
He nodded. “Okay. So I’ll see you on Tanabata for sure.”
She nodded back. “Yes. I’ll probably be back a few times
before then, but I have that day marked, just for you.” She
stepped away, down the stairs and over to the edge of the well.
“I’m going now.”
“I’ll wait until you’re gone.”
Kagome climbed up on the ledge and looked back over her shoulder.
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.” He watched from the walkway as the blue glow
faded from the well-house. “Ja ne, Kagome.”
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Interlude
Chapter 8
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