Chapter Nine

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A day and a half?

"A day and a half?"

"Well, yeah," Koga says, and he looks almost sheepish. You stare at him dubiously. "Chihiro's passed out in the dirt somewhere. We're just waiting for her to wake up before we head out again."

"Again? Did you move me while I was asleep?"

Sango nods and smacks something that looks suspiciously like a hand off of her waist. Miroku broods behind her. "You rode on K-"

"Kirara's back! Yeah," Koga interrupts, and you glance between the two of them, trying to discern the meaning behind their shared look. He stands. "Well, I'm gonna go spar with Inuyasha. Later."

You cautiously reach into your backpack nearby for one of the Yoo-hoo bottles and start to drink it.

Kagome notices and asks if you're hungry. You say no, but she pulls a cup of instant noodles out of her back anyway and begins to cook them with water from a canteen.

"You really don't have to," you try to assure, "I just pulled this out because I needed the sugar."

"You haven't eaten in over a day," she fires back, and you know she's right. "You need to eat."

Ugh. You know she's concerned, but you really don't feel like eating. You feel like going back to sleep for another day or so, and eating would postpone that. Logically, you know that you should really just eat and let everyone continue on their journey, but... Maybe your brother's attitude is getting to you. Maybe he'll never forgive you, for pulling something like this. Maybe he'll finally kick you out like he's threatened to but never followed through with. Maybe he'll just ignore it, and that would be worse, because he's insufferable when he ignores the elephant in the room.

Maybe.

You scrub at your face with the sleeve of your hoodie and decide to put it on, pulling it over your head and pressing the heels of your hands into your eyes. You sit like that - cross-legged, elbows propped on your knees, your head in your hands - until Kagome nudges you with the cup of noodles.

Sango - soft, motherly Sango - asks, "Are you alright?"

A sigh escapes you. You say, "Yeah," and take the ramen. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Koga and Inuyasha's sparring session escalates until Inuyasha actually uses the Wind Scar and you nearly get killed on your way to tell them to come eat. You shout, "Knock it off, you jackass!" and Inuyasha's head snaps towards you skeptically.

"He's the jackass," he gestures to Koga, who stands with one thumb tucked into his belt and the other hand in his mouth, biting at his fingernails. He looks incredibly bored.

"Why?" You watch him spit at the ground.

"He refuses to fight unless it's for Kagome's hand!"

Kagome's hand? Why would they want her-

Oh.

You blurt, "In marriage?" and Inuyasha nods, looking put-upon.

"She's like, sixteen! Hold your damn horses, guys!" Inuyasha's expression looks confused, now.

He asks, "Do people in your era not get married that young?"

Your nose scrunches in disbelief. "What the fuck? No - we get to know the person first, start dating, and after a few years, we propose. And we're usually over twenty years old. It's all consensual - no fights to the death for dibs on a woman who's not even remotely interested. Not to speak for Kagome," you add, when they both seem to become crestfallen, "You've both got flawless countenances and agreeable personalities, I'm sure."

Inuyasha looks consoled (evidently he doesn't understand sarcasm), but Koga snorts, catching your tone. "And what would you know about marriage, oh wise - how old are you again?"

You fix him with a flat look. There's a sensation of time physically warping - a voice in the back of your head, soothing and female, replies, We are millions of years old, you should say. We were there at the beginning of times, at the creation of this world and its first inhabitants. However many years you have, we have multiplied by thousands.

You blink, and time slots back into place. Koga is looking at you oddly - not at you, actually, more like just above your head, behind you - and you say, "Older than you by a long shot." You turn to follow his line of sight, looking up. "What're you looking at?"

He shakes his head and Inuyasha looks at him, baffled. "Nothin'. What'd you come over here for?"

You frown at him. "Uh, dinner? Kagome says it's time to eat."

You lead the two of them back to the camp and take a seat next to Sango, who is warding Miroku off with her shortsword. You laugh briefly as she shoves the butt of her hilt against his forehead and pushes him off of her. She turns back to you with a fluttering chuckle and you turn to see Miroku rubbing at his forehead before meandering over to join Inuyasha in tending to the fire.

You see Koga talking in hushed tones with Kagome, who seems to have pulled him aside. He looks flustered at whatever she's saying. Sango asks you a question and you completely miss it.
"Sorry, what?" you laugh nervously and she waves it off.
"It's alright, really," she says, and you immediately decide that she's a literal angel on earth. "I just asked what you like to do in your spare time."

"Oh," you perk at that, and pull your backpack to sit beside you. "I like to write, mostly. I dabble a bit in traditional art - pencil sketching and such." You pull your composition journal out of your bag and flip through the pages as she admires your sketches. You add, "I also like to play the ukulele."

She asks what that is, and you explain that it's a small four-stringed instrument that plays gentle, melodically appealing chords.

"It sounds wonderful," she grins, and Koga interrupts your moment by shoving himself to his feet, yelling, "This ain't about that, Kagome! It's about you!"

All conversation ceases. Kagome, smiling feebly, clears her throat. "I... I'm sorry?"

The Sight Of The Future: A Legacy (a Koga x Reader fanfiction)Where stories live. Discover now