Chapter 1: Pepper Spray's Good on Tacos
I decided to write this because it was an idea that had been floating around in my head for a while now... Inuyasha as a kid. Wouldn't he be so adorable? Would he be any different than his regular moody, teenage self? Would he still have a tragic past that NO ONE should have to bear haunting him day and night? You'll have to read to find out!
And R&R to find out faster. ;)
Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha, Pillsbury, or Nestle. But as I am sitting here writing this fanfic, isn't that blaringly obvious already?
"Kagome!"
The cheerful shout pierced through the layers of her deep slumber, slowly, grudgingly pulling her back up to the surface of wakefulness. She groaned and pulled the covers- her nice, warm covers that she NEVER wanted to leave- over her head.
"Kagome! It's time to get up!" Footsteps approached her bed, and suddenly the covers were swept clear off her, leaving her to the mercy of the air-conditioner that someone had cruelly set to "Artic."
"Sango! Stop that!" Kagome shouted, or tried to at any rate. It came out rather garbled in fact: "Snnoospat…"
Without opening her eyes she reached down towards the end of the bed and pulled the covers back over her head, effectively shutting out the rest of the world. Or so she hoped.
"Come on, it's late enough in the morning as it is." Kagome's best friend Sango, who had spent the night, poked her playfully through the covers. Kagome squirmed and flailed at the assailing finger, but only succeeded in getting the sheets hopelessly twisted around her.
Finally, she managed to free herself and shot up, clawing her long, tangled black hair away from her face.
"I'm up! I'm up! Now leave me alone!" she exclaimed furiously (but coherently). Sango sat back with barely concealed mirth. Kagome glared.
"What?! I always look like this in the mornings, if that's what you find so funny…"
Sango laughed. "No…"
"Liar."
"…But if I didn't know better," she continued, "I'd've thought you'd forgotten that it's your birthday today." She deposited a large box in Kagome's lap. "Happy Birthday, Kagome!"
Kagome's eyes widened and she snatched up the box. "Oh, wow! Thanks, Sango!"
"Don't go thanking me yet. Don't you want to see what's inside?"
Kagome ripped off the wrapping paper and dug into the box, then let out a gasp. She held up a fancy deep red sweater, shaking it unnecessarily to get out any phantom wrinkles. "Sango, it's that sweater I've been wanting! How did you get it?"
Sango sighed sorrowfully. "Oh, only with the remains of my measly paycheck and even measlier allowance… Actually, I was about to pass it up, but then I thought, heck, it is Kagome's birthday, and I'd do anything for my dearest friend."
Kagome hugged her. "This is great! Thank you so mu…" She broke off, peering at the tag. "Wait a second… '40 percent off sale… $20.00'?!"
"Oh. I um… that is, I…" Sango twiddled her fingers. "…Crud. I knew I should have cut off the tag."
Kagome glared at her, then grinned. "Okay… I'll forgive you if we race from… here to the kitchen, and you lose."
"And if you lose?"
"Then I'll hold a grudge against you for the rest of my life!"
She sprang out of bed, flinging the sweater onto the back of her computer chair, and together she and Sango raced down the hall to the kitchen.
"I win!" Kagome cried, coming to a dramatic sock-sliding halt on the hardwood floor.
"You cheated," Sango protested, coming up behind her.
"I forgive you," Kagome replied, patting her on the shoulder solemnly.
"Well well, if it isn't the Birthday Girl! I thought you'd never get up." Kagome's father looked up from the open oven door. "And just in time, too."
Within the oven was a tray of big, fluffy cinnamon buns gently bubbling on top and drizzled with frosting. He carefully eased it out and carried it over to the kitchen table, where he set it down just as the two girls sat down.
"And here you go, sweetie. A special treat!" Kagome's dad pecked his daughter on the forehead. "Dig in."
"Thanks Dad! I love birthdays!" Kagome reached for one but immediately snatched back her hand and shook it rapidly in front of her. "Hot!"
Sango snickered. "You gotta wait until after they cool, Kagome."
Kagome glared. "I know that," she sniffed, her nose in the air. Then she abandoned her haughty façade and began to whimper pitifully. "I… know…"
Her friend sighed. "Five minutes of waiting is not going to kill you, Kagome."
"Oh, won't it, now," she shot back. Then she abandoned her act and began to laugh along with Sango.
"Hey, I know something that will cheer you up!" Dad sat down beside Kagome.
"Yeah, what?" she replied curiously.
"How about, as a special treat, you and I go down to the mall this afternoon for a little D&D shopping spree?"
Her face lit up. "Really?"
"Really."
Sango cleared her throat.
Kagome's dad gave her a mock wounded look. "You spend more time with my daughter every day then I do myself in a month. Can't I get a break for once?"
She sighed. "Okay. I guess it won't kill me or anything… but you've got to promise to show me everything you got, okay?" she demanded of Kagome.
Kagome raised her right hand solemnly. "Cross my heart and hope to die." Then she carefully picked up a cinnamon bun with her napkin and bit into it. "Mmm! Pillsbury makes the best stuff!"
"Um," her father said, "actually, Pillsbury didn't make that."
"Oh. Well, Nestle then. Even though I like Pillsbury better…" She took another huge bite, looking surprisingly like a greedy hamster hoarding the entire food bowl as she chewed.
"…Not Nestle, either…" he said, beginning to look ticked off.
She looked at him, noticing his expression. "Fine then. Who?"
"Me!" He all but shouted.
Kagome's eyes widened. "Really? No way."
"You never cease to amaze us," Sango added, happily licking the frosting from her fingers.
"Really. I'm so glad," he muttered, and went off to put on his socks.
Much, much later, Kagome's dad decided that maybe the time he was able to spend with his daughter was sufficient enough after all and declared an end to their shopping excursion. Loaded down with as many shopping bags as a Christmas tree had ornaments, he staggered after her as they walked home.
"I think we… stayed a little later then… we should've," he puffed along behind her.
"No we didn't. It's only six-thirty. The mall closes in another half-hour."
"That's kind of… my point, Kagome…"
She laughed as they made their way across the street and down an alley-way shortcut to their apartment. "Don't be silly. We could've gotten more stuff if someone hadn't-"
She was abruptly cut off as something cool and sharp appeared at her throat and her arms were pulled sharply behind her back. "Well, well, look at the little mouse we caught," a voice sneered. "Not one move, missy."
"Mice. And they've got quite a lot of cheese," another voice replied. Kagome glanced over at her father and saw that he was in the same predicament.
"Now, girly, that looks like a pretty little purse you have there…" at this her purse was practically yanked off of her shoulder, "Inside and out!"
They were going through her money! Kagome let out a little cry as the knife pressed harder against her throat. "You aren't holding out on us, are you girly? Nothing else in your pockets?"
The thug that was holding her sniggered. "Maybe we should che- OOF!!"
He was abruptly silenced as something-someone- barreled into him, knocking him down flat. Kagome fell forward onto the pavement as the other thieves cried out in surprise.
"Wh-what the…?!"
The thug's attacker abruptly straightened up and turned to face Kagome and her father. It turned out to be none other then a little boy with long white hair and a dirty red kimono. "What are you standing there for?" he yelled at them. "Run for it!"
"But… you'll…" Kagome stammered out, astonished that such a little kid had dared to take on a full-grown, knife-wielding adult.
"Go on already!" And without waiting for a reply, he turned and kicked an attacking thug in the crotch.
Kagome's dad grabbed his daughter's hand as she stood frozen in half-fear, half-surprise. "Come on, sweetheart! We've got to go!"
She finally snapped out of it. "B-but… that kid, he-"
"I'm sure he'll be fine!"
Kagome reluctantly persuaded her feet to move, all the while casting numerous worried glances over her shoulder at the ensuing, unfair fight. Unfair for the boy, that is.
Then they rounded the corner, effectively cutting off her view of the brawl.
"Oh, I hope he's all right… I hope he's okay…" Kagome fretted, pacing up and down the living room and wringing her hands anxiously. "I hope he's all right…"
"Honey," her dad said from where he was massaging his wrists on the sofa, "Don't worry. We got away okay, we have all- well, some of our things (I had to leave some behind)… and I'm sure that boy knew what he was doing when he took them on. He sure seemed strong for his age."
"But…" The sounds of his pained cries haunted her even then. "He's just a little kid… and strong doesn't really mean skilled, you know? And they wouldn't have stayed surprised for long… and they had knives, and what if-" She increased her pacing, her hands over her face. "What if…!"
"Kagome, it's fine," her father sighed tiredly, before brightening up as if he'd just had a grand idea. "I know, why don't you make yourself some nice hot tea, I'm sure it'll help calm you down."
Kagome knew her father was just trying to be comforting, but did he have to sound so unconcerned? In a heartbeat, she reached a decision. She whirled around and hurried down the hall to her room, grabbed a spray can off of her desk and ran to the door.
Her dad looked up in surprise. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going back to look for him!"
He started in alarm. "You can't! Those thugs could still be hanging around!"
"That's why I've got this!" She briefly held up the can of pepper spray that her somewhat paranoid father insisted on her bringing with her everywhere she would be unchaperoned before running out the door, ignoring her father's warning shouts.
Afterwards, Kagome would barely remember running down the apartment steps and down the sidewalk. She didn't care that people were turning to stare at the girl who looked like she was fleeing a pack of rabid dogs. All she was thinking about was reaching the alleyway… and the numerous, unpleasant fates that could have befallen the boy.
"Please, please be all right," she prayed as her breathing became more labored. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost ran right past the familiar dingy alleyway with the familiar dumpster graffitied with obscurities.
Skidding to a halt, she doubled back a few steps and cautiously went forward into the alley, cayenne pepper spray shakingly held out in front of her. At first she could not see the boy anywhere and grew even more anxious, but then she heard some wheezing noises on the far side of the dumpster. She hurried around it to see the boy who'd fought the street gang… and who'd evidently lost, if the dark stains on his kimono and the way he was holding his right arm were any indication.
"Oh my god…" Heedless of the filthy ground, she dropped to her knees and tentatively reached out to him. "Hey…a-are you okay?"
He looked up, wincing in pain, and for the first time Kagome noticed, with some shock, that he was sporting a pair of somewhat large, white cat ears right on top of his head.
"It's… you…" the boy gasped out, before his eyes slid shut and he slumped forward in a dead faint.
"Dad!"
Her father had not moved from the sofa, where he was sitting with his hands clenched in front of him. He looked up in relief as he heard her voice. "Kagome! I'm so glad you got back safely, I was-"
His face fell as Kagome shuffled in through the door, bent under the weight of the sleeping boy she was carrying piggy-back. "Oh Kagome, you didn't…"
"Yes, I did," she replied defiantly, walking over to the couch and carefully letting the boy slide off; her dad got up hastily to make room. "He's really hurt, Dad, can you stay here with him?" Kagome asked distractedly as she turned away. "I'm going to get bandages and antiseptic and…" She hurried off.
"H-hey! Kagome, wait! How…" He sighed, then slumped down in the armchair opposite the sofa, clearly deep in thought.
When Kagome came back, laden with medical supplies, she asked, "Has he woken up yet?"
Her father shook his head. "No… Listen, honey, let's let him sleep before we do anything, okay?"
"Sure. It'll give me time to make some food, anyway." She headed for the kitchenette, musing, "I think some soup will be good… what kinds do we have?"
"Honey… you aren't thinking of letting him stay here, are you?"
She looked back, a stubborn expression instantly painting itself on her face. "Of course!
"Kagome," her dad protested, "We can't let him stay here! He's got to have a family waiting for him somewhere-"
"Well, they can't be a very good family, I mean look at him, he's so filthy-"
"And if we let him stay for long, someone would notice him sooner or later! Then, as we'd have no intention of making him leave, we'd have to start paying rent for him, too, and we can't afford that!"
"What about all those?" She made a sweeping gesture with her arm, indicating the remainder of the shopping bags dumped in the hallway. "Surely his rent would cost at least that much… and yet there they sit, bought and not about to go back!"
"Well… that's different…" Kagome, however, could see he was beginning to weaken. "It is your birthday, and…"
"How about we wait until he wakes up and see what he has to say about it," Kagome said decidedly as she began to tinker around in the kitchenette.
Her dad thought for a while, then said grudgingly, "Oh, all right… but if he can't stay, he can't stay, all right?"
She glared at him. "If that happens, we only kick him out after he's healed."
"Done," her father sighed wearily, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
Kagome grinned and tossed him an orange to peel.