These characters do not belong to me.

Choosing a Partner

Chapter 4

By Kenzie Kennedy

"What do you think?" Kagome asked once they were back in the room with the door shut.

Sango shrugged. "I don’t know. It’s not how I thought it would be."

Kagome nodded. "You’re right. I thought they’d be like normal guys."

"They are normal," Sango said, giving Kagome a look.

Kagome blew out a big breath of air. "I guess so." She looked at the stuff they had amassed in the room. Okay, she thought. We’ve gotten rid of all the piles of stuff lying around and put them into storage containers. Those need to be stacked against the wall. We’ve gone through the four filing cabinets in here that really belonged in the library. Those need to be moved. The couch needs to be trashed because Mom’s admitted she’ll never get around to re-covering it like she wanted to. There were some old toys and magazines that needed to be gotten rid of. They had at least ten bags of miscellaneous trash that needed to be toted outside for the trash collector tomorrow. So most of what’s left is getting the stuff out of here and then getting it cleaned. After it’s cleaned, we have to find some kind of beds for them.

Suddenly, Kagome felt tired. From looking at Sango, her friend was feeling the drain, too. But they couldn’t stop. It was all part of the responsibility of caring for another person.

A knock at the door made both girls turn their heads and Sango called, "Come in!"

Miroku opened the door and both men walked in. They stood waiting for orders.

Kagome got an idea. "This room is going to be yours for the night. We’re going to try to clean out another room tomorrow so you can each have your own room." She looked into both of their eyes and smiled. "So we’re doing this for you. You have a choice. Do you want to help us or do you want to stand there and watch?"

"Neither of us is going to be angry if you just want to watch," Sango added. "We’re tired and it would go faster if you helped."

Miroku stepped forward and Inuyasha stood still watching them warily. Sango moved to one end of the couch and Kagome joined her. "Miroku, could you take the other end? We’re going to move it out into the hall." Miroku moved to grasp the end of the couch that was furthest inside the room while the two girls backed up toward the door. Inuyasha got out of the way when they moved through the door.

The three came back inside when the couch was out of the room. Sango and Kagome attacked the filing cabinets next. They hauled out the two drawers and asked Miroku to carry the shell.

Back and forth between the room and the library they went four times. Next came the bags of trash that had to be carried out to the front lawn. They took a five-minute break and came for the couch next. The next job was getting the boxes stacked up. One line of boxes went on the floor. The next line was stacked on top of those.

Most of the boxes were done when Sango and Miroku went for the brooms. Inuyasha had stood there the whole time, moving when he had to, but not saying a word. There were three more boxes that had to be stacked on top of the two already on the ground. Kagome grabbed the handles and lifted it up. The goal was to get the bottom of the box on the lip of the second and slide it forward.

Kagome could feel her arm muscles shivering as she lifted. She didn’t stop, though, and lifted the box higher. She had gotten it up to chest level when her arms protested loudly and her numb fingertips let go of the box. She opened her mouth to shriek...

Two clawed hands seized the handles from behind her. Kagome blinked and looked over her right shoulder.

Inuyasha stood there, holding the box easily. He shoved once and the box went up and onto the next box. Working quickly, he shoved the last two boxes into place and went back to standing by himself.

"Thank you," Kagome said softly. "That was very nice of you."

Inuyasha didn’t give any hint that he’d heard her. He just stared straight ahead. Kagome sighed inwardly. "Why did you help me?" she asked.

"You were going to hurt yourself, Kagome." He answered.

"You don’t have to say Kagome after each sentence. It’s not a replacement for master," Kagome told him.

"I have to, Kagome."

"Why?"

"It is expected. We are trained, Kagome."

Kagome frowned and walked up to him. "I appreciate the help, Inuyasha. You may have another master in your life, you may have many. But I don’t expect to be called Kagome after each sentence."

Sango and Miroku came back with the brooms and the three swept up a storm.

Twenty minutes later, the room was clean and mostly cleared out. Kagome wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Great, I need another shower," she fussed.

Sango shrugged. "Me, too." She looked at Miroku. "You need to be cleaned up."

Thoughts of Sango cleaning him up flitted through his head, but all he said was, "Yes, Sango."

"Miroku, I want you to take a shower every day and clean up when you get dirty." Sango ordered. "Like now, when we’ve been working hard and the job is finished, go clean up."

Sango looked at Kagome. "Rimiko says there aren’t any other beds in the house."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I thought so. We’ll have go to shopping." She glanced at Inuyasha. "Unless you two want to sleep on the floor."

"If it pleases you, Kagome."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "It doesn’t. People sleep in beds." She raised her voice a little on the word people. "You are going to sleep in a bed with pillows, sheets, and blankets. Why? Because it is comfortable. And I want you to take a shower too, just like Sango told Miroku."

Inuyasha looked puzzled for a moment and Kagome was glad to see it. Any trace of emotion on that face was welcome. "Did you bring any other clothes with you?" Kagome asked.

"No, Kagome."

Kagome silently counted to ten. Maybe if I tell him I’m going to punish him if he calls me that one more time? No, that’s not right. I don’t want him to be afraid of me. Uh-huh, right, Kagome. With those claws, he’s going to be scared of you. "Then we’ll go out and buy you some clothes and two beds."

***

The girls, needless to say, had a great time shopping. They went for the clothing stores first and shopped. There were a few fun moments admiring black silk boxers and crazy Hawaiian shirts, but they soon settled down.

Kagome and Sango were looking at button up shirts and jeans when Kagome had a thought pop into her head. "Hey, Inuyasha," she said casually. "What’s your favorite color?"

"Whatever yours is, Kagome," he answered blandly.

Kagome coughed. Oh, the temptation to put him in something really ugly was great, but she wouldn’t give in! Kagome gestured him over and waved at the display table. "I want you to choose one."

Inuyasha glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Choose, he thought. What if I choose wrong?

"I’m not going to punish you," Kagome said softly. "I just want you to wear something you’ll be comfortable in. You pick the clothes and I’ll buy them. I’ll tell you if something’s too expensive."

Inuyasha wavered. To wear something that he liked was a strange concept. He was intelligent and he had definite opinions, but he was a slave. It didn’t matter until he was a husband. With these features, he’d never gain that high honor. Youkai women didn’t want him and humans shouldn’t either. So why was this girl being so nice?

He looked at the colors again. They were very rich in texture and in color. Slowly, he pointed to one.

Kagome nodded and pushed him away from the display. He couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes and Kagome laughed. "I’m just going to look for your size," she explained. "The shirts are over there." She pointed and Inuyasha saw where the shirts were. Kagome picked out what she thought might fit and sent him into the changing room.

While that was going on, Sango was examining another display. Miroku’s hand crept to cup her rear and she stiffened. She sighed when she realized who it was and turned around. "Miroku," she said quietly, "we are going to have to fix that." She pulled his hand away and looked at the display again. She had the same problem as Kagome did, but eventually Miroku picked something out. She sent him into the dressing room at the same time Inuyasha came out.

Sango blinked at the male. To look at Kagome, she thought the same thing. Wow.

Inuyasha had walked slowly out of the dressing room incredibly self-conscious. The red shirt he had chosen was loose-fitting, enough to move in comfortably in. But the dreamy way it moved with him was off the scale.

Kagome nodded dumbly. "Uh, um, yeah." She paused and took a few deep breaths. "Did you want a few more in the same color or another color?"

Inuyasha answered, "Whatever you’d like, Kagome."

"Does it fit well?"

"Yes, Kagome."

"Do you like it?"

"If you do, Kagome."

Kagome was about to have to go to the dentist because she was grinding her teeth too much. "Does it catch when you lift your arms?"

Inuyasha swung his arm up. "No, Kagome."

Kagome walked closer to him so that she was whispering when she spoke. "I said I will buy you what you want. Now, I want you to pick out seven shirts. I don’t care what color they are as long as you like them. It doesn’t matter what, Inuyasha." She pointed toward the rest of the store. "I’ll come with you while you look."

"Is that seven more or is this one included, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Six and the one you’re wearing," Kagome amended. Inuyasha nodded and stepped hesitantly out into the store with Kagome behind him.

Sango shook her head at the interaction. She hoped Miroku wouldn’t be so fussy. They were just clothes.

A bit of motion caught her eye and she turned. Miroku stood there by the entrance looking for her. Sango swallowed. The black collared shirt he had chosen fit him well. And I do mean well, Sango swallowed again. "Does it fit?" she said slowly. Miroku nodded. "All right. Kagome and Inuyasha went shopping for more clothes. Did you want to choose some more?"

"If you do, Sango."

Oh, yeah, Sango sighed. She was going to have trouble.

*********************