FicWad

Chapter 4: Trying to Forget

By: Brynn Parker

----

Tiva's alarm woke me up, playing some very loud, abrasive American music. It went off quickly enough though, as my blurry eyes picked up the sight of Tiva's hand flying up and hitting the snooze button.

I missed Inuyasha. I'd dreamt about him and Kikyo every night, and I kept on having these terrible dreams about her giving me a smug smile as he caressed her neck...I shuddered. "Alright, calm down Kagome," I said to myself. He wouldn't do that...he loved me...but he hadn't come through the well...

The alarm went off again and Tiva groaned and swung her legs over the side of the bed. It was about four weeks after classes had started, and Tiva, after going through my clothes, had declared that we were doing some shopping for me. Even though we'd only been roommates for a few weeks, I'd quickly realized that she was really energetic, and constantly talking about some guy or another. This was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

Tiva walked over to her side of the closet and pulled out a long, flowy white skirt and a black tanktop, yawning and walking into the bathroom. I sighed; she'd done this yesterday morning too, taking over the bathroom before I could even get up. She'd be in there for about an hour two...or at least that's what she'd done all the other days.

"Hey Kagome!" she said from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" I yelled back.

"Do you want to wear some of my clothes today?" she asked, walking out in the outfit she'd just pulled out of the closet. So she wasn't showering this morning...

She didn't really give me a chance to respond, and instead threw a baggy kind of tube top with a green, blue, and black pattern on it at me, followed by a bluejean miniskirt about as short as my school uniform. She walked out of the closet, "Kagome, I'm sorry, but I just thought you needed some dark colors...your complexion and your hair would look pretty with that...and can I play with your hair?"

I stared at her for a minute and she shrugged, "Well, go put that on!"

I went into the bathroom and changed, then came out, spinning around. I guess I was kind of behind the times after being in the Feudal Era so long...and Tiva was even pushier than I was. I felt completely overwhelmed...but I knew that when I started feeling comfortable here, everybody would find out the kind of person I really was...even if they didn't have on beads of submission, I could still verbally sit them, if you know what I mean.

Great, that made me think of Inuyasha again.

"Alright," Tiva said, "I think you should grow out your bangs a little, about to your chin...and until then we should just brush them out and put your hair up in a loose bun or something."

"Why are you telling me what to wear?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her.

"I'm studying design here, I'm supposed to do this," she said, smiling at me, "Now, come on..."

In a few minutes, I looked completely different. My bangs had been brushed out and straightened into submission, and they now framed my face, the rest of my raven hair pulled back into a clip and peeking up over the top of my head. "You've got a ton of hair Kagome, but it's not very healthy," Tiva said, "Don't you use shampoo?"

I laughed a little, "Well, at the shrine I always just used to bathe in the hot springs, and we're kind of against modern stuff..."

Tiva glanced around my shoulder, "You had hot springs?" She sighed. "I think I've got to visit your shrine sometime..."

Uh-oh. We didn't really have hot springs at the shrine, but I'd always thought it was a good replacement for the Feudal Era. I guess not...

"Uh, they're sacred," I said, "Only descendants of my family line are allowed to go there."

Tiva frowned, disappointed, "Oh well..."

"Sorry," I mumbled. This was just too tough. If I was going to live with her, maybe I should tell her...

----

"Alright Kagome," Tiva said. We were sitting at a small table outside of a little restaurant, and I was drinking a lemonade. "I've been meaning to ask you about this...I don't think that all those people were dressed weirdly because they work at a shrine."

I stared at her innocently. I'd gotten used to her now, and we were always joking with each other, making things more comfortable for me, at least. Maybe she'd been a little uncomfortable for a while, but she hadn't ever acted like it. "So why?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know," she said, "I was hoping you would tell me...but I think it's something weird. I mean, not everyone owns a set of ancient bow and arrows, not everyone hangs out with guys with white hair and golden eyes and fangs and claws, and not everyone has a bunch of dolls with tails and ears in thousands of different poses!" By the time she finished, she was out of breath - she'd said the entire phrase without pause. "Now...what's...going on...Kagome..."

"Tiva," I said quietly, putting down my lemonade, "If I tell you, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone and that you won't turn me in to the loony bin."

She raised her right hand, her face dramatically solemn. "I promise that I won't tell anyone and that I won't turn you in to the loony bin," she said gravely.

I smiled. "Alright..." I took a deep breath, "Here goes...Inuyasha...you know Inuyasha...he's not human."

Tiva laughed for a moment and then stared at me, "You're not joking?" I shook my head and her eyes widened, "Is he an alien?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. She clutched my arm, "No, Kagome, tell me," she said seriously, her ice blue eyes wide.

"He's a half demon," I said, "And he lived five hundred years ago."

Her jaw dropped and I smiled, "See, I told you this was crazy."

"No, keep going," she said, "I want to know how this came about."

So I went through the story of how I'd fallen down the well four years ago, and how I'd met Inuyasha and Kikyo and Miroku and Sango...I went through the whole story. "So you believe me so far?" I asked right before I got to the part about killing Naraku. She nodded.

"I get it," she said, "So you're all stuck in Naraku's lair...right?"

"Yes," I said, nodding, "And Sesshomarou was there, and so was Kikyo, and everyone...and I shot my arrow at Naraku, and Inuyasha used the wind scar, and Sesshomarou was using his sword, and Kikyo was shooting down all the poison insects with Sango's help...and little did Naraku know it, but he was backing up right into Miroku's wind tunnel!"

It really had been that simple. We'd weakened Naraku to the point of fear because we'd beaten him bloody with our weapons and we'd cut the jewel off of him, and driven him backwards until he was close enough that Miroku could suck him up in the wind tunnel without getting any poison insects as well...it was amazing.

"So after we knew he was dead...and Miroku's wind tunnel was gone...Inuyasha swept me up in his arms and he held me..." I closed my eyes, "And he whispered in my ear, 'Will you stay with me?' And I said, 'I'll always be with you...'"

Tiva jumped up, slamming her hands down on the table, "You lied to him!" she said, completely wrapped up in the moment.

I was quiet for a moment as I thought it out, "I guess he was counting on me to stay...but how was I supposed to live in the Feudal Era?"

She sat down again, looking at me sadly, "You could've stayed in the Feudal Era and bathed in the hot springs and had little baby hanyous and instead you came to America to go to college!" She sat back, crossing her arms. "You're crazy Kagome. Absolutely crazy."

"I need to support my family," I said, "Somehow, I've got to help. I can't just stay in the Feudal Era forever and get money from my family whenever I need it. We're not the wealthiest people!"

My cell phone rang at that moment, and I picked it up, curious to see who it was. I didn't recognize the number...who could it be?

"Hello?" I said.

"Kagome? Is that you?"

"Steve?" I said, shocked. He hadn't called me for the whole four weeks I'd been here, and I had had no way of getting in touch with him. I frowned a little as Tiva gaped at me. 'Steve Kay?' she asked.

I nodded and she squeaked while I began to interrogate Steve. "Why didn't you call sooner?"

"I just got moved in," he responded, "And you told me to call you when I was settled in...God, you've got to see this place Kagome, it's really nice."

"I thought you said you didn't have any money!" I grumbled.

"I just got the check for all the profits I made on my Japanese CD...it's a lot of money," he said. I just knew he was grinning. "So...where are you now?"

"I'm out shopping with my friend," I said.

"Tell him I'm his number one fan," Tiva squeaked.

"She says she's your number one fan," I told him.

He laughed. "Well then maybe I shouldn't come," he said.

"He says then maybe he shouldn't come," I told Tiva.

"Hey!" Steve said, "I was just kidding! Where are you right now, at this very moment?"

I told him where we were and the phone clicked off. "Hey...Steve?" I shut off the cell phone. "He hung up on me!" I said.

"He's coming to see you," Tiva said, "I bet he'll bring you flowers..."

"Tiva, he's not going to bring me flowers," I said, "Anyway...Inuyasha..."

"Hey, you left Inuyasha, Kagome," Tiva said, shaking her finger at me, "He's probably gone back to...what's her name?"

"Kikyo..." I said. Yeah, he probably had...I should just move on...

"Hey Kagome," a voice said behind me. I looked back and there was Steve, wearing a black tanktop that showed off his not-too-muscular arms and some jeans. The bandana was gone, and his hair was smooth and clean. He held a bouquet of white flowers in his hands.

This guy was nothing like Inuyasha.

"Steve Kay!" Tiva squealed, jumping up and shaking his hand, "I am your BIGGEST FAN, I've got every single one of your CDs..."

"Shh..." he said, "I wouldn't want other fans to know I'm here." He pulled a chair over from another table and sat down next to me, handing me the flowers. "These are for you," he said, "You look really gorgeous today."

I blushed as Tiva freaked out some more, "That's my design, totally my design!"

"Steve..." I said, "This is Tiva...Tiva, Steve."

"Oh, we've met," Tiva said casually.

"We have?" Steve said.

She was immediately back to gushing fangirl, "Remember? At your autograph booth at ACL Festival?"

"Oh..." It was obvious he didn't remember, but he pretended anyway, "Yeah, I remember now." He looked over at me and I gazed into my eyes. "You have lovely eyes Kagome..." he said.

Tiva glanced at me and winked, forsaking her moment with her idol for me to have some time alone with him, "Uh...I gotta go," she said, "I'll see you back at the dorm, Kagome."

I smiled at her briefly before she left. She was a really good friend...

"So, do you want to go see a movie?" Steve asked.

"I'd love to," I said, taking his hand as he stood up. The connection between us was something different, something strong...

I hoped I wasn't truly using him to forget about Inuyasha.

----