Mirror, Mirror by iloveprettysilverhair

Double Take

Title: Double Take
Author: iloveprettysilverhair
Genre: Humor, General
Word Count: 2,165
Rating: R
AU/Canon: A little of both I suppose
A/N: Well, my muse decided it wanted to write another series of one-shots and drabbles.  When will it ever learn to leave well enough alone?
Written for Ebony Silks week 87 theme: Blood

Kagome glared her best ‘burst into flames’ glare as Inuyasha paced back and forth in front of her, listing all the reasons why she should want to stay in the feudal era instead of taking an extended vacation back in her time to recuperate from their battle with Naraku.  After a particular nasty shot to head by one of her arrows, the evil half-demon had fled and gone into hiding to regenerate his missing limbs.  They suspected he would be gone for a while, seeing the damage they had caused; he had been the one to have his blood spilt that day.

So, seeing as how they weren’t doing anything, Kagome thought it had been perfectly reasonable asking to go home for a while so that she could spend time with her family and friends.  Of course, Inuyasha had thought differently, telling her that the shards weren’t just gonna find themselves, and that this would be the perfect opportunity to one-up Naraku. 

It would have been a good idea, if he and the others hadn’t also been somewhat damaged during the battle.  Sango sported a nice set of bruised ribs from her amazing flight through the air caused by a tentacle flinging her, Miroku had a sprained ankle and knee from tripping over Shippou while trying to catch Sango in mid-fall (to which, he missed), she herself had a nice black eye and swollen lip from Inuyasha accidently hitting her face as he yelled, arms flailing, at Sango and Miroku’s lack of skills as warriors, and Inuyasha…well, he was about to become bedridden if he didn’t shut his mouth .

“-I swear Kagome, if it weren’t for you wasting our time all the time, this whole thing would probably be over and done with by now.  I mean, how many tests does one girl have to take?  And would it kill you to bring back more than three packages of ramen once in a while?  You don’t really need your bag to carry books in, it’s better used for food and supplies and-”

“Inuyasha…”

“-but noooo, you just have to study.  Feh!  Women are such-”

“SIT!”

Sango rubbed a hand over her head.  “Thank you, Kagome.  Bruised ribs or not, I was about to shove this boomerang where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Miroku chuckled and leaned back against the tree again.  Resting hadn’t been easy with Inuyasha’s tirade, but luckily their friend had a means of quieting him, if not for a little while.  Shippou cracked an eye open from his spot on Miroku’s lap, but closed it again and continued his snooze in the warm afternoon sun as if nothing of importance was going on.

Kagome took a deep breath to calm herself and stood from her spot on the ground.  “You guys don’t mind if I go, do you?”

“Of course not, Kagome,” Sango chimed in.  “We can’t really go anywhere right now anyway, so you might as well visit your family.”

She looked towards Miroku who was nodding his head in agreement.  “Thanks you guys.  I promise I’ll be back soon.”

Kagome knelt down and patted the subdued Inuyasha on the head.  “Now, Inuyasha.  I’ll be back before you know it, so don’t come trying to get me back early.  I promise I will bring ramen for you too.”

An indistinct grumble was her only answer and Kagome smiled as she gathered her things and headed for the well.  To be honest, she had been in desperate need of a break for a while, but since shard hunting and demon fighting were not something to ignore, she had gone without for nearly two years.  Regardless of what Inuyasha thought, this quest that they were on was her top priority, but that didn’t mean she could put her other life on hold.  There were things she had to take care of!

She reached the well and ran her hand across the aged wood.  Placing her backpack on her back, she sat upon the edge and prepared herself for jumping in.  For reasons unknown to her, she glanced up just as she jumped and saw a looming white figure, nearly hidden in the tree line.

‘Sesshoumaru?’

She blinked and he was gone, and she was then transported to her time before she got a chance to think about why he would be there, if he even was.

`~`~`~`~`

A deep sigh escaped Kagome’s throat as she soaked her tired body in her bathtub.  Nearly four days back in her time had her nerves back in a small semblance of order, and she both regretted and was looking forward to returning to her friends in the feudal era. 

Scratching on the door yanked her attention from her daydreaming and she frowned and shook her head when she saw a cat’s paw sticking in underneath the bathroom door. 

‘Mrow’

“Go away Buyo, I can bathe myself thank you.”

‘Mrrroooowwwww’

“Stop it, you fat cat.  Let me take my bath in peace!”

She smiled triumphantly when the cat pulled his paw back and stopped his meowing.  He had been like her small shadow ever since he got back, and wasn’t even deterred when she accidentally kicked him when he got under her feet.  Instead, he sought his revenge in the form of tearing the fluff out of her favorite pillow while she was out with her friends, making sure it somehow spread throughout her entire room.

Her mom called her from downstairs, and Kagome took that as her cue that her bath time was over, much sooner than she would have liked.  Coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head and body, she quickly changed into her pajamas and went to see what her mom needed.

“What is it, mom?”

“Dear, would you mind taking the trash out?  It was Souta’s job, but it looks like he’s staying at a friend’s house tonight.”

“Sure, no problem.”  She grabbed the garbage bag and hefted it over her shoulder.  Stumbling to the back door, she opened it and nearly tripped over Buyo as he flew past her.

“Oh, try to not let the cat out!  He’s been bringing us back dead things, so we want to try and limit his time outdoors.”

“Now she tells me,” Kagome grumbled as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.  With strength she didn’t think she had at the moment, Kagome was able to toss the trash into the collecting bin and then began her search for her elusive, and apparently murderous, cat.

“Buyo…here kitty kitty kitty,” she said with a click of her tongue.

She heard a muffled meow coming from the well house and dropped her shoulders in exasperation.  “Who knew he’d go in there ever again?” she asked herself.

Pushing the door open, she allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark building.  She spotted her big, fat cat tracking a small cricket and guiding it to the corner.  Her lips curled into a frown, thinking that the food they gave him surely was better than insect.  By the look of concentration upon his face though, he just may have thought otherwise.

She stepped towards him and that’s when he pounced, chasing after the hopping cricket in a desperate flee for his life.  She tried to grab him as he went between her legs, but he was too fast.  She watched the cricket hop furiously around the small structure with Buyo hot on his trail.  After a couple more failed attempts at subduing the cat, Kagome huffed and sat down on the rim of the well, watching as the chase continued.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and crossed one leg over the other, determined to simply wait him out.  When it grew quiet, Kagome opened her eyes and looked around to see where her cat was, noticing that he was at her feet, sitting on his butt and looking at her while his tail swished gently from side to side.

“Are you done?” she asked him.

She felt movement on her shoulder and looked over to see the cricket resting comfortably out of harm’s way.  She froze in disgust and turned back to her cat, just in time to see him fling himself from the ground and straight into her, claws sharp and at the ready.  She squealed as Buyo hit her head on, knocking them all⎯cricket included⎯into the dark well below.

`~`~`~`~`

A pounding in her head woke her from her sleep and she sat up cautiously while attempting to open her eyes.  She could feel a weight pressing down on her stomach, so she looked to see what it was.  Buyo was curled up, sleeping soundly and purring, while the cricket was nowhere to be found.

“You darn cat, you could’ve really hurt us,” she scolded him.  She looked up and noticed that the sky was brightening and decided that the fall had put them back into the feudal era.

“I wonder where Inuyasha is.  He’s usually the first to know I’m back.”

She climbed to her feet, ignoring the cat that scrambled to find his footing before jumping on the ground.  Kagome frowned, thinking about the best way to bring both herself, and her cat, out of the well.  She picked him up and put him over her shoulder before beginning the long climb out.

After what felt like an eternity, Kagome was finally able to grasp the edge of the well and heave she and her baggage up and over, falling gracelessly on the ground. 

“Ugh, you need to go on a diet.  I’m telling mom when we get home.”

She stood up, deciding she might as well see how her friends were feeling before going home again to finish off her vacation.  She stretched and took a step forward, forgetting that there was a cat under her feet and didn’t realize she had stood on his tail until his yowling alerted her. 

Kagome quickly lifted her foot and watched helplessly as Buyo took off running into the forest like the devil himself was on his tail.  She smacked her forehead and groaned, “Good thing Inuyasha has a good nose, or otherwise I’d probably never see him again.”

With a resigned sigh, she began following after him, hoping that he didn’t get too far.  She made her way through the familiar forest, calling out to her cat every now and then, hoping to hear something.  She nearly gave up and went to seek out Inuyasha, when something in the near distance caught her eye.

She made her way towards it, crossing her fingers that it was Buyo so they could go home.  Kagome stopped short when she saw Sesshoumaru, holding Buyo by the scruff of his neck and taking calculating sniffs at him.  She saw his back stiffen when she neared and she wearily continued forward.

“Does this, by chance, belong to you?” Sesshoumaru’s voice rang out between the trees.

“Um, yes it does.  May I please have him back?” she asked quietly.  While not on friendly terms with Sesshoumaru, they didn’t necessarily seek out to destroy each other.  It was a strained relationship, but one that was compatible to both of their needs.

“What trick are you trying to play now, priestess?”

“Eh?”

His eyes narrowed and she swallowed thickly.  “I’m not playing any trick on you, what would make you think that?”

“No companions today?  Are you sure it was wise of you to come alone?”

“Well, um…”

“Sesshoumaru!  I’ve got you now, and there’s no place to run!”  Inuyasha came crashing into the space; sword brandished to its fullest extent and aimed directly for Sesshoumaru’s heart.

Kagome looked on incredulously as the half-demon charged.  “Inuyasha!?”

“Good work, Kagome.  There’s no saving him now!”

“You stop that right now!  What’s gotten into you?!”

Inuyasha looked back at her questionably.  “What the hell are you talking about?  He’s the only thing keeping us from our goal!”

Sesshoumaru was poised at the ready, eyeing the two of them with distrust.  Something was off, but he wasn’t sure what yet.  It seemed they had a bit of a misunderstanding amongst them. 

“Sesshoumaru’s not our problem, Naraku is,” the priestess tried to reason with him.  The half-demon looked at her closely and narrowed his eyes.  Something was different about her; this wasn’t the same Kagome.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked blatantly. 

“What are you talking about?  It’s me, Kagome.”

“I’ll ask you again, bitch.  Who, the fuck, are you?”

Kagome was confused beyond belief.  What had gotten into him?  How come he didn’t believe her?  All eyes were drawn to a figure that suddenly emerged from the trees, and Kagome’s mouth hung open as she gaped disbelievingly. 

Standing before her was an exact image of herself, looking at her with a raised brow and a sneer across her face.  Her replica circled her slowly, giving her a once over before coming to rest at Inuyasha’s side. 

“Hm…interesting.”

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Well, there's numero uno!  Hopefully this will be regularly updated, but the muse has been a bit of a b!tch, so no promises :D  Hope you enjoyed it!