A/N: To you beautiful, amazing, wonderful people—I'm sorry you had to wait. I am finally kicking myself in the ass to get myself to update (like a boss). If any of you wouldn't mind, you can contact me for motivation and what you'd like to see at any location listed on my page. Also, I now have a LiveJournal to keep myself motivated and keep you apprised of my updates and progress. My username is Mockingboots.
Thank you so much for the reviews and support. Necessary responses are at the bottom. ;3

Paper, Rock, Scissors

Hillary E.G. Brown

(Various Other Usernames)

Chapter Five : Backwards Date

She had a niggling feeling that they were going about this 'dating' thing a little bit bass-ackwards, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. It was pretty fun, regardless of the horrible mess they'd made of classical protocol.

It made learning to walk normally after fooling around just a little bit less humiliating when a big, strong arm wrapped around to prop her up as she stumbled over a bit of uneven sidewalk. They continued along that way, smiling and half-hugging and searching for the nearest ice cream shop to replenish the energy they'd worked off during their 'tour' of the old shrine structures.

Amazingly, she hadn't spent more than a moment feeling shy or ashamed. It would probably come later, while her grandfather droned his way through his usual rounds with her in tow.

"Still don't get why ya need to hire someone fa this." He laughed, tapping his nose against the top of her head before straightening again. Heavens, he was massive—tall and strong with none of the slender fairness and enviable bone structure she'd grown so used to in men.

She shook her head and tried to let the old frustrations out on a long exhale. It was refreshing to have him, but the reasons were still on the 'to-do' list. She felt like an old woman sometimes, sorting through so many ridiculous expectations.

She'd helped save the world. Shouldn't that count for not needing a man to validate her existence?

"Believe it or not, I used to be pretty good at taking care of myself."

"Can tie ya shoes an' everythin'."

The good humor saved him a punch in the gut—not that he would have felt it. Instead, she rolled her eyes and burrowed into his side.

"I grew up, but half the time it's like I'm still twelve."

He arched a brow suggestively, and she couldn't but laugh.

"I'm not kidding. They gasp when I swear."

"You sweah?" The scandalized expression tore it. Serious discussions had bit the dust.

"You're buying."

"That's mature."

"Catch me if you can, grandpa!" She sang before sticking her tongue out and pulling away, dashing off down the walk, now much less concerned with her own awkward soreness.

Oh, no.

Once she rounded a corner and plowed into a soft body, she became much less concerned with the soreness in her core and much more concerned with the looming soreness in her brain.

It's a conditioned response to being cooed at like a wounded bird.

Justified, because suddenly there was a whole lot of cooing and petting and awkward fawning going on.

"Oh, Kagome, it's so good to see you out and about."

"Are you sure you feel well enough to be out this late?"

"Hush, Ayumi, of course she is. She's been getting lots of rest."

"You look so cute! Were you out on a date?"

"A date? You go, girl!"

"...But why are you running?"

The chattering came to a halt as heavy footfalls rounded the corner behind her. "There ya are!" Chu laughed, beaming brightly in the face of the teenage firing squad.

The situation wasn't lost on Kagome, which was probably why she didn't completely lose her shit when Yuka whipped out a can of pepper spray and aimed it straight at the burly man's face.

Chu just blinked at the foreign object, and Kagome realized that, despite his vagrant looks, he probably wasn't too familiar with the concept. Creeping up on women in the demon world probably involved a lot more physical punishment and a lot less horrendous burning in the eyes.

He caught up quickly enough, chuckling nervously as he took a step back, hands raised in a gesture of surrender, "Easy now, sheilah. I'm harmless."

"Oh-ho. Pull the other one, pervert, I am so not buying what you're selling."

Ayumi and Eri tried to tug her into the huddle they'd formed behind the fearless femme, but she swatted their hands away before making a 'shoo, shoo' motion and grabbing Yuka's arm.

"Yuka, put it away. Is that stuff even legal?"

"More legal than what he wants to do!" She growled, still focusing on her 'woman on the edge' persona.

And the hands were back.

"He wants to do dirty things to you!"

"He's a pervert!"

The be-all and end-all tone paired with the wide eyes was almost enough to make her wonder where McGruff the Crime Dog had wandered off to. *

"He's my date."

"...Date?" Yuka nearly squeaked, taking her turn at blinking like a stunned doe as she lowered the can with all the ceremony of an officer holstering her weapon.

"The kind that takes me places, even."

"Him?"

"You were so happy about me being out five minutes ago."

"But he..."

"Is standing right in front of you."

"...Huge."

"Oh, I'll tell you all about that later."

"Kagome!"

"I still want ice cream."

Chu was doing a remarkable job of holding it in as he rejoined her, plucking her neatly from the clutching fingers of her shell-shocked friends and steering her back towards their destination—away.

They lasted for a few moments after turning another corner before both of them cracked up, and it became almost impossible to decipher who was supporting who.

"They're in for the shock of their lives when they find out Ken dolls lied to them."

"Am I really that scary?"

He asked later as she watched him lick the remainder of his frozen treat from where it had dripped—between the thumb and forefinger.

It took a moment or two for her to gather herself for a response: a goofy little smile and a spot of soft-serve dabbed onto the tip of his nose.

"Not anymore."

On the way back, she felt confident enough to walk unsupported, but he grabbed at her fingers, anyway. The calloused pads of his own fingers fluttered over her palm as he adjusted the grip, holding her hand properly, and tugging her closer.

They walked like a normal couple, albeit the oddness of the match still drew attention.

He mumbled to her, "You sure you picked the right match fa this?"

And she was.

She really was, but it still ached a little, knowing that they'd have to talk about that whole 'payment' thing at some point.

She smiled and nodded anyway, and the way he squeezed her hand sent warmth spilling up her palm, her arm, and left it splashing warm and sunny in her chest.

He took to guiding her home with the warmth of his palm, and struck up a cheery rendition of "Pour Some Sugar On Me".

"That is not a drinking song."

"Nah, it's a classic."

They took forever to get back, because they kept stopping to dance under the street signs and lamp lights.

The next morning, when Kagome wandered downstairs, rubbing the sleep from her bleary eyes, she found her mother alone in the kitchen.

It was oddly comforting, to know that so many things could stay the same when other things seemed to change so much.

Her mother was a smiling anchor, fiddling with pots and pans, shooting her that knowing look as she rummaged in the fridge for something appropriately breakfast-y to eat.

"You came in late last night. I was starting to worry, after all that noise from the well house."

And suddenly that smile had gone from 'proud mother' to 'proud madame'.

Like most normal young women, Kagome found it opportune to panic. If the orange juice had been alive right about then, the death-grip she adopted would have killed it.

"Oh, stop that. You'll spill it all over the place, and Souta just finished helping me mop up all of the syrup spots from his sleepover."

"Mama."

"Relax, sweetheart. Where do you think you and your brother came from?"

...Surprisingly accepting.

Kagome was torn between humming like her brother did in these situations and spilling the entire setup like orange juice—like syrup.

Guilt was sticky, too.

Kahoko shook her head, and her eyes sparkled just the way they always did when she felt connected to her children, "You smile at each other, you know?"

The younger Higurashi woman couldn't help but make a face, and her mother laughed.

"Oh, I know it seems silly, but mothers like to see little things like that. ...He doesn't sound like such a slouch in bed, either."

She didn't seem particularly affected as her daughter gagged and shoved the bottle back into the fridge, turning for the door. Ah, it couldn't be helped. She was still young, after all.

Kahoko went back to fussing over her chosen task, but not before calling over her shoulder, "As long as you use protection."

...Oh, eff.

A/N: Once again, I'm so sorry for the wait. This chapter was a monster to get myself into, but the next is fully fleshed out and should be much easier to write. To Kin Pandun, I love you. I appreciate that you enjoyed the story enough to leave such a detailed review. They were actually fooling around on the grounds, so don't worry too much about grandpa. Stay amazing. :3 . I See Dead Animals, I'm so glad you liked it enough to sketch it out. :) I'll do my best to meet your expectations more quickly next time.

Answers:

Demon's purity— When they introduce Chu in the Dark Tournament, they explain that the line-up was chosen by 'Paper, Rock, Scissors', which Chu apparently sucks at. I thought it was cute.

Quorinne— I'm always glad to broaden horizons. Sadly, I haven't seen any other fics with this pairing. I had to e-mail the site to have Chu added to the list. Travesty! :(