I do not own Inuyasha or any of the associated characters.
Kagome liked giving gifts.
Perhaps that explained why she had set herself the somewhat ridiculous task of hunting through the Tokyo stores three days before Christmas, looking for presents for a bunch of people who probably didn�t much care about the holiday even if they knew about it, and who, moreover, lived half a millennium in the past, in a time which knew nothing of the easy out to gift-giving provided by the modern invention of the gift certificate.
At the moment, she was tired, footsore, and rather hungry. She had come to the mall with her mother, not wanting to have to explain to her friends who the gifts were for and why a gift certificate wouldn�t do. They had arrived a little after two, but now it was pushing five-thirty and they were still stuck on a gift for Inuyasha.
The others had not been nearly so difficult. Shippou was intrigued by bright colors and quick movements, and had made Kagome tell him over and over again about TV and movies. She sometimes felt bad that she couldn�t take him to her time to show him for real, as it seemed rather like waving something he could never have in front of his face when she described it to him. It had been an easy decision to get him a Gameboy and a couple of games (plus a very large supply of batteries). Kagome rather worried that she might be creating a monster by introducing the already excitable kitsune to videogames, but perhaps it would keep him occupied for a while and save him some lumps from Inuyasha.
Her mother had at first suggested catnip for Kirara, but Kagome was understandably leery of giving a cat demon any kind of stimulant. She had, however, agreed that she would probably enjoy some kind of toy, and they had finally settled on an electronic mouse that Kagome was absolutely sure would scare the bejeezus out of any normal cat. Kirara, however, youkai that she was, would probably enjoy a toy that buzzed, beeped, vibrated, and blinked.
Kaede had been somewhat harder. Kagome had wanted to get her something special in return for all the old miko had done for them. After all, it couldn�t be easy to take in your older sister�s reincarnation and the demon who nearly destroyed your village. Kaede had done it, nevertheless, and had become a weird amalgamation of older sister and tough grandma to Kagome, and even roughly mothered Inuyasha on occasion (much to the latter�s distress). Kagome had wanted to get her something that she could enjoy, so medicines were out. Books too, as they weren�t sure how well Kaede might be able to read. A Godiva�s chocolate store solved the problem. As Kagome�s mother said, there never was a woman who wasn�t cheered by a box of chocolates, and if Kaede had gone her whole life without a single taste, well, it was about time she got some.
She had wound up getting Sango a painted silk scarf. Originally, she had looked at jewelry, knowing that Sango might like having at least one very beautiful thing to her name, but had moved on to scarves after a little thought. Sango would probably prefer something that would stay out of her way in a fight and be harder to lose. She could tie the scarf to her clothing and keep it secure and out of her way, where a necklace might fly off or get caught.
Miroku�well, she had caved and simply gotten him a set of assorted books, including, against her better judgment, a small volume of poetry. She had no doubt that the women of the Sengoku Jidai would soon be subjected to endless recitations of "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day," but at the least, she could say it was something he would genuinely enjoy.
That left Inuyasha.
�Kagome?�
�What, Mom?�
�It�s getting kind of late. Do you want to grab something to eat at the food court?�
Kagome smiled.
�Yeah, Mom. That would be great.�
At the food court, Kagome watched the crowds while waiting for her mother to come back with their drinks. So many, many people. In the Sengoku Jidai she had gotten used to tiny hamlets being the largest population she was likely to see. They never went to cities, where Inuyasha and Shippou would be even more obvious than they already were, but even if they had, Kagome was sure that nothing back then could compare with the terrible press of people here in one Tokyo mall. Now being around such huge crowds in such a noisy place made her slightly ill at ease, just a little more nervous than she should have been. This in turn made her feel a bit guilty � she was spending so much time away from home that it no longer felt like home.
A paper cup set itself down in front of her with a dull tap and her mother slid into the seat across from her.
�Here you go, Kagome. They didn�t have Sprite, so I got you Fanta instead, ok?�
�That�s fine. Thanks, Mom.�
For a few minutes they just ate quietly, munching on pre-made sandwiches and plastic-bagged chips. At last, they were left with only a few crusts of bread and the empty plastic.
�So do you have any idea what you want to get him?�
Kagome sighed.
�I have no idea.�
�None at all?�
Kagome gave a little moan and lowered her head to nestle on her crossed arms.
�What do you get a guy like him? As far as I know, the only things he owns are Tetsusaiga and the clothes on his back.�
�Stop that, Kagome. There�s no need for melodrama. Now why don�t you tell me a little bit about him and maybe I can help.�
Kagome lifted her head and stared. Inuyasha was�Inuyasha. He had become so much a part of her life that the idea of someone so close to her not knowing what he was like was a shock.
Her mother smiled gently at her from across the table.
�I only see him when he comes over to get you, you know.�
�Oh.�
Kagome blinked.
�Well, he�s stubborn. Hot-tempered. Rude. Violent.� She realized that she hadn�t yet said anything that might make her mother think well of him, and hurried on. �He�s very brave, though. He can be self-sacrificing, too. He does protect us.�
�I guessed that, dear,� said her mother, again smiling softly. This was true. When she occasionally caught Inuyasha on his way to Kagome�s room, he always greeted her awkwardly, as if he were not used to being polite. Inevitably, a few less-than-refined words would slip into his talk and betray his habitual coarse speech. It was easy to guess that Inuyasha was obstinate when he so persistently dragged her daughter back to his time. Hot-tempered�well, some of his fights with Kagome were loud enough to be heard downstairs. As for violence, bravery, and self-sacrifice�that was not hard to guess either. Once or twice, she had caught him with a limp, or with strange folds in his clothes that could only be hiding bandages. On one memorable occasion, she had found him absently picking flakes of something black out from under his claws.
At first it had terrified her. That Kagome, her daughter, the little girl she had taken care of for all of fifteen years, was going off somewhere she couldn�t reach with this half-demon boy who so casually cleaned blood off his claws� she had been paralyzed, knowing that it would be impossible to keep Kagome away from the well if she wanted to go. So she had just let her go, and packed her backpack full of first-aid kits and warm clothing and a hidden package of her favorite snacks, hoping she wouldn�t disappear down the well forever.
But Kagome came back. She always came back.
And over time, she began to notice how, though Kagome garnered legions of cuts and scrapes and bruises, it was Inuyasha who sustained the broken bones, the serious wounds, and even (according to Kagome) the occasional impaling. Such a disproportion of injury had gradually won her over and convinced her doubtful mind that despite his rough exterior, Inuyasha was genuinely devoted to protecting her daughter as Kagome said he did.
�Why don�t you tell me something else? What does Inuyasha want most in the world? What does he hate the most? Fear the most?�
Kagome absently stirred her drink with her straw as she pondered her answer.
�He says he wants to become a full demon, but�nowadays, I think he�s lying about that.�
Kagome was quiet for a few seconds, thinking, and her mother waited patiently, rolling the scrap of paper that once wrapped her straw across her fingers over and over.
�I think what he really wants is to be strong. Not that he would ever admit it, or put it this way, but I don�t think he�s looking for physical strength � he�s got plenty of that. I think he wants the strength to just not care about all the people who give him a hard time because of what he is, and he wants it to protect the people he cares about. Every once in a while he�ll say something without meaning to, and you can tell he blames himself for not preventing what happened with Kikyo. So I suppose his greatest fear is that he�ll turn out to be a weakling.�
Her mother listened quietly, storing away the information for when she next met Inuyasha. Kagome told her the vague outlines of her adventures, but she suspected that a good many things were left out, either out of respect for the privacy of her companions, or, more likely, so as not to worry her. So she had heard the major events in Inuyasha�s life, but had little idea as to how they had affected him.
�As to what he hates� Inuyasha hates Naraku. He hates Sesshoumaru. Sometimes I think he hates everything, but he�s so generally hostile it�s hard to tell.�
Kagome ended with a sigh and rested her chin in her hand as she sipped her Fanta. Her mother watched her sympathetically. If it hadn�t been obvious before, it was now unmistakable just how much her daughter liked Inuyasha.
�Poor guy. Sounds like someone who really has something to prove.�
�That�s Inuyasha for you.�
There was a lull as they both considered the implications of Kagome�s impromptu psychoanalysis. Finally, Kagome spoke up, returning the conversation to its original topic.
�So. Any idea what I could get him?�
Mrs. Higurashi made her choice. Inuyasha apparently had a lot on his shoulders. He protected her daughter, and Kagome liked him. And Inuyasha wouldn�t be so insistent that she come back with him if he didn�t like her too. So she took a deep breath, and gave her official seal of approval.
�If he�s got something to prove, why don�t you help him prove it? There�s a T-shirt shop right over there.�
Kagome made the old familiar trip down the well, backpack extra-heavy with gifts. Predictably enough (as she had told him all about gifts), Shippou was the first to greet her, flinging himself at her as soon as she appeared over the rim. Inuyasha hung at the clearing�s edge, still sullen at her absence. She sent him a smile and he turned his head away with a �Keh.� Her smile widened at the familiar stubborn gesture, and once finished greeting Shippou she made her way over to him.
�Hey.�
�So you�re finally back. Give me that.�
Without waiting for an answer, he hefted the pack out of her hands.
�Stupid girl. Why the hell do you always pack so much, wench?�
Kagome rolled her eyes.
�Why do you always complain so much? After all, it�s none of your business how much I pack.�
�I�m the one carrying it, idiot.�
�Fine. I�ll take it back if you want.�
Inuyasha snorted and snatched the pack out of her reach.
�Keh. Sure. Give yourself a fucking hernia.�
Kagome smiled once again and they headed towards the village.
Once arrived in Kaede�s hut, presents were distributed all around � except to Inuyasha. Kagome had explained to him that she wanted to give him his later. He had looked briefly startled before the familiar scowl overtook his features in response to Miroku�s speculations on what his gift could possibly be. Now he and Kagome sat side by side against the hut�s walls as they watched the others. Shippou, after a brief attempt at begging chocolate from Kaede, had quickly settled into the corner of the hut, fascinated by the beeps and moving drawings of his new toy. Sango fingered the bright painted silk of her scarf, running it through her hands as she savored its texture. Miroku teased them all in between reading pages from the selection of books he had received.
Kagome watched them, thinking on how close they had become. The scene in the hut could almost be taken for that of any family around Christmas. Glancing out the corner of her eye, she caught a slight, satisfied smirk to Inuyasha�s lips as he watched Sango and Miroku drift over to admire Shippou�s gift and then Kaede�s. A comfortable smile wound its way across her face in response, and she shifted to gently poke his ribs with a finger. His ears swiveled toward her in response and set back in mock irritation as he turned to face her, the smile gone now that he was aware of his audience, but his expression nonetheless looser than usual.
�Hey. Let�s go take a walk. It�s getting stuffy in here.�
One of his brows rose questioningly, but he shrugged and stood, dragging her to her feet after him. The rustle of their clothing caught the rest of the group�s attention from across the room and Miroku, not wanting to waste an apparently heaven-sent opportunity for innuendo, called out, �Going to get your present, eh Inuyasha?� and was quickly silenced.
While Inuyasha delivered the required chastisement, Kagome, blushing terrifically, dug in her pack for the paper-wrapped confirmation of Miroku�s guess. When they finally exited the hut, both she and Inuyasha were glaringly scarlet. They headed for the forest in silence, trying to recoup their dignity with only marginal success. Finally deciding that she might as well just do it because she would just turn red all over again when she gave it to him, Kagome tugged on his sleeve to get his attention and held the package out to him.
�Here. I hope you like it.�
Crap. She had wanted to say something more than that, let him know just how important he was, but it had all died in her chest when confronted with reality. Big, sincere, cheesy gift-giving speeches only happened in the movies.
Inuyasha took it gingerly out of her hands and ducked his head, a few thick hanks of hair falling over his face to hide his expression. It didn�t matter, though. She could see the insides of his ears flare red again and a very quiet, mumbled �thanks� met her ears, awkward and fumbling. He turned the gift over in his hands a few times, almost reverently, before carefully disemboweling it with a claw. Discarding the paper absently, he held up the revealed item, examining it carefully.
�Oi. Kagome. What is it?�
Kagome rolled her eyes.
�It�s shirt, nitwit. You know, a garment?� she said teasingly.
�I know that, wench! I meant what�s it say? I�m not wearing anything that has crap on it I don�t understand.�
He gave the T-shirt a suspicious poke.
�Well,� Kagome hedged, �It�s in English.�
A snort.
�That doesn�t help me.�
Kagome, her bashfulness suddenly renewed, gazed resolutely down at her feet as she started to reply.
�You�you�re always fighting something. It�s not fair that people treat you like that.�
Inuyasha leashed a soft warning growl. This wasn�t something he wanted to talk about. And he couldn�t see what it had to do with the damned shirt. At least he hoped he couldn�t. If this was a pity gift�
�Kagome��
Guessing the direction of his thoughts, Kagome hurried on, overriding whatever he had been about to say and spewing out her sentences in choppy, rushed torrents of speech.
�And I wanted to get you something to help you fight, but you don�t need it. You already win all the time. So instead I got you something I thought you might want your opponents to see.�
Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at the nervous flood of words, simultaneously amused and frustrated that she still hadn�t answered his question. Well, at least he was pretty sure it wasn�t a pity gift now.
�Just tell me what it says, wench.�
Kagome once again turned cherry-colored, and suddenly found the ground very interesting, scuffing a shoe across the dirt in front of her in a short arc.
�It says, �Fuck Authority.��
Inuyasha blinked, stared, and blinked some more, vaguely aware that his jaw was opened almost wide enough to unhinge. Kagome just didn�t say that sort of thing. He eyed the odd, angular lines on the front of the shirt with new reverence.
�Really?�
�Yup.�
�It really says that?�
Kagome wanted to laugh in happiness that he hadn�t taken it in the wrong way, and at his bemused, hopeful expression, but contented herself with an eye-roll and familiar, friendly sarcasm.
�Really. I saw it and thought of you.�
Anything further she might have said was cut off by the rather embarrassing sounds of Inuyasha ridding himself of haori and yukata to drag the T-shirt over his head. Kagome, now permanently red, peeked despite her best intentions.
At the end of the process, she was left staring at an Inuyasha transformed into a walking, breathing anachronism. He stretched the bottom edge of the shirt out with his hands, smugly inspecting the writing across his chest, looking from the waist up almost like any punk who might start fights in her school, but for his youkai features and the very toothy grin rolling across his face. For a few seconds, he just stood there, looking inordinately pleased with himself, while Kagome silently thanked her mother�s intuition and mentally cheered at the grin.
�Oi, Kagome?�
�Hm?�
�I had better be wearing this thing when we next meet my asshole half-brother.�
Now Kagome did laugh out loud, and Inuyasha answered her with another small, blissful grin.
�Let me guess: It�s just what you always wanted to tell him?�
�Damn straight.�
They stood content in comfortable silence for a few moments under the pearl-gray December sky before scattered tatters of white began to float gently down. Kagome shivered, feeling one dissolve on her bare neck, and Inuyasha was suddenly beside her, his discarded haori thrust into her hands.
�C�mon. I�ll give you a ride back.�
Smiling gratefully, she wrapped herself in the haori and clambered up onto his back, hearing him grumble something half-hearted about stupid weakling humans, but ignored it to bury her forehead into the crook of his neck.
She knew what he meant.
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