Chapter 3 - Mom, Can We Keep Him?

Chapter 2: Mom, Can We Keep Him?

Kagome's brown eyes darted around the kitchen the second she heard those keys in the door. A boy she could explain, but the ears were something else. There! A baseball cap. With the door opening, Kagome quickly laid herself over Inuyasha's lap as she reached to grab the Yankees cap, slung it on Inuyasha's head and tried her best to look innocent. Kagome pictured how the scene might look to her mother: her daughter alone in the kitchen with a half naked young man who was bleeding slightly. Not just any young man, Kagome thought to herself, how many guys are running around with long silver hair, dog ears, and claws?

Inuyasha's head was spinning from how fast he saw the wench moving. Everything had happened so fast he didn't even have time to appreciate the fact she had practically presented herself to him. Damn…maybe she's half demon too.

Mrs. Higurashi walked in, eyes down, looking at the mail. She paused, looked up slowly, quickly appraised the situation, and asked her daughter, “And who is your guest?”

Kagome's mind spun. She said the first thing that came to her mind, “Mom, this is Inuyasha.”

That apparently wasn't the answer Mrs. Higurashi was looking for.

Kagome realized her mom wasn't buying the situation. Inuyasha could smell the fear rising in Kagome. What does she have to be afraid of?

Kagome had a brilliant idea. She started talking, in what she hoped was her most adult and responsible voice, “Mom, Inuyasha is a foreign exchange student from um, Europe.”

If there was one thing Mrs. Higurashi liked, it was foreigners. Especially foreigners with accents. Kagome knew this and was using it to her advantage. Her demeanor immediately changed. She smiled warmly at the stranger, and asked politely, “You look famished. Can I get you anything to eat?”

This was music to Inuyasha's puppy-ears. If he had a tail, he would probably be wagging it. He responded gruffly, “Sure.”

Kagome relaxed. She had a few moments to collect her story. She felt ultimately responsible for whatever happened to this guy who had entered her life about an hour ago. She had to figure out a way to convince her mother that he was supposed to be staying with them because she guessed if Inuyasha made it out to the general population he would be locked up in some sort of mental institution. Kagome looked over at her mom, who was whistling, and telling Inuyasha, “How about some ramen noodles, dear? That always makes a good snack.”

Inuyasha had never heard of ramen, but at this point anything would do. He shared a look with the young woman who had brought him here. He couldn't really understand the look she was giving him. It was weird, for most of his life, he had had almost no contact with the opposite sex. All the stories he had heard were that women were pure evil and not to be trusted. He cocked his head and looked at this “Kagome” again. She didn't look evil or dangerous. She looked… Whoa boy, let's save those thoughts for another time.

Exactly three minutes later, Mrs. Higurashi was serving Inuyasha a steaming bowl of noodles. He dove in greedily while the women shared a look with each other.

Mrs. Higurashi raised an eyebrow and looked at her daughter, “So, where is Inuyasha from exactly?”

The hanyou in question was scarfing down noodles to quickly to answer. So Kagome answered for him, “He's from Belgium.”

“With a name like Inuyasha?” there was disbelief in Mrs. Higurashi's voice.

“It's a family name,”

“Well, dear, who is he staying with?”

“Ummm…well, here's the thing. The family he was supposed to be staying with is getting a divorce.”

“Oh no, do I know the family?”

“No…they just moved to town.”

“So, how did he end up here? Where is his stuff?”

“Well, the airlines lost his stuff and he wore his pajamas on the flight so that's all he has with him.” Kagome looked at her mother pleadingly. She desperately hoped her mother heard her underlying question.

Kagome's mother looked over at her guest, who was still slurping noodles like it was going out of style. Maternal instincts started kicking in; there was definitely some part of Inuyasha that could use some mothering. Mrs. Higurashi sense that there was something painful in his past that had caused him to be the way he was now. She also considered her daughter. Recently, Kagome had been withdrawn and reclusive. There was something about this boy that was drawing out a new side of her. With all these options, it was easy to make a decision.

Mrs. Higurashi said, “Inuyasha, I'd like you to stay with us.”

Inuyasha had finished his ramen. He considered his options. He answered, “Keh.”

Mrs. Higurashi looked confused. Kagome translated, “As far as I can tell, that means 'yes' in his language.”

Kagome's mother smiled, “It's settled then. Inuyasha, there is a room in the barn. It's not much, but it is better than a broken home. As for your clothing, you obviously cannot go to school in your pajamas. You can borrow some of my husband's clothes for tomorrow and after school Kagome will take you to the mall to get uniforms and some spare clothes. I'm sure his family sent him with some money.”

At that point Kagome had to choke in a laugh. She was having a difficult time picturing Inuyasha in pressed khakis and an oxford shirt. Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi looked at her strangely.

Mrs. Higurashi stood up, “Well, that's settled."

Kagome beathed a sigh of relief. She had bought herself at least a few days. She turned to go when her mother asked, "Any reason that Inuyasha is bleeding? It wouldn't have anything to do with your archery would it? I've always told you how dangerous it is.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, when Kagome clmpaed her hand over it. She smiled sweetly and said, "Inuyasha scraped himself at school, we were just rebandaging it. You're ok now, aren't you buddy?"

Inuyasha nodded. He was still reeling from the soft hands on his lips. He had never had contact like that before.

Mrs. Higurashi seemed appeased, she asked her daughter, "Will you please show Inuyasha where he will be staying?”

Kagome was happy to get away from her mom and any more questions that might be asked. She grabbed Inuyasha's arm and his shirt and steered him outside. Once they were in the clear and alone in the spare room, Kagome burst out laughing.

Inuyasha looked at her strangely, “Keh?”

Kagome smiled to herself. Her next task was somehow coming up with a story to enroll Inuyasha at the school. She might have to call up some reinforcements. Miroku came to mind. Although he was a total perv, he was also well connected with the school's leaders. He would probably be able to work things out. Kagome was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she was completely ignoring Inuyasha.

Inuyasha once again studied Kagome. There was something about this place that was very content. For a half-demon who had led a very tiring and demanding life, things were taking an interesting twist. Inuyasha looked appreciatively at Kagome…

“Take a picture, it will last longer.”

Inuyasha didn't understand the phrase, but he did sense Kagome was upset with him. He got defensive, “What?”

“Never mind. We have to get working on a back-story for you. We'll say you are the son of a friend of my parents and they wanted you to get a different education for a semester.”

Inuyasha had had enough. From the beginning, this crazy girl had treated him like he was just a pup. Maybe this has something to do with going through the well… It was like part of his brain had been foggy and now it was clearing up. He was a fierce hanyou, not some idiot child. He bared his fangs, “Listen wench, I didn't ask you for any favors! You just decided things without even consulting me first!”

Kagome smiled wanly, Finally, a spark in this guy… She had begun to wonder where the guy was who had jumped on top of her in the well, “Well, buddy, I didn't hear you coming up with any explanations!”

“dog,” Inuyasha said it just loud enough for her to hear it.

“What did you just call me!” Kagome was shocked and at the end of her patience. Sure, she had `accidentally' shot this guy, but she had also done everything in her power to make sure he was ok. Even having adorable ears wasn't going to get him out of this one… She exploded, and got right in his face, “Listen dude, ok, I shot you and that was a bad thing, but if you were on your own out there you would already be on your way to some sort of mental institution or military base for testing. In case you hadn't realized it, people here don't have dog ears or wear pajamas like every day clothing. People also have manners here and calling me dog isn't the way to get on my good side.”

They were staring each other down. Inuyasha's subconscious was warring within himself, he was always the dominate one, the alpha male and here was someone threatening his dominance, and a female at that. Still, since entering this world, he hadn't smelled anything remotely resembling a demon, half or full. It was a strange world to be sure and one he didn't belong to. You have an ally here…it's better to stay where there is safety. His intuition was strong and it told him to stay put. However, he would be damned if he was going to apologize to this girl. She was tapping her foot, obviously waiting for an answer. Impatient girl that she was, Kagome eventually gave up waiting, turned on her heel and left a bewildered Inuyasha staring after her.

Women... Some of those things he had heard about women were starting to make sense.




Kagome was nervous as she drove to school the next day. It had been difficult for her to get any sleep last night…she tried to tell herself that it was due to how things would go over at St. Joe's…but knew it was really because a big part of her was curious to go down to the barn and get to know Inuyasha a little better. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Inuyasha sniffed and picked up on some strange and wonderful scent coming from Kagome. It almost made riding in this devil machine easier. Or wearing these strange clothes…Inuyasha longed for the easy movement and protection his fire rat haori provided. He also wasn't too sure about the “boxer briefs” he had been told to wear under this entire getup.

Kagome looked back at Inuyasha and told herself to focus. He looked literally, like a little kid on his first day of school. A really big kid… Inuyasha was about 3 inches taller and easily that wider in the shoulders than her father. His pants were riding above his ankles and the shirt made him look like the Hulk. He was still wearing the Yankees baseball cap. Going shopping this afternoon was going to be a blast. Kagome would of course get the requisite school uniform for her guest, but then she was going to take him to her favorite thrift store. She pictured him in cords, dark jeans and a lot of white T-shirts…to set off his hair.

Kagome, don't get ahead of yourself…first we have to survive a day at High School…

AN: Ok, raise your hands if you want me to keep going. As much as I'm writing for the sake of writing, I am also hoping for comments…good or bad. It's difficult to continue without any feedback…

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