"My clothes are just fine!" Inu Yasha complained as Kagome dragged him, Miroku, and Shippo to the mall. "I don't need to wear any of your weird world's clothes!"
"Knock it off, Inu Yasha." Kagome pulled on his sleeve. "At festival times, it's fine to wear your normal clothes, but not for the trip we're taking."
"Is this 'mall' sort of like a… marketplace?" Miroku inquired.
"You could call it that." Kagome replied.
"Kagome," Shippo blinked curiously. "What are those things on the road that move without horses?"
"Those are called cars, Shippo." she answered. "They're machines that take people places that are too far to walk."
"Then why do we have to take a plane to get to that 'America' place?" the fox continued.
"America is much further away than any car could take us." Kagome explained. "Cars are for shorter, over land trips."
They reached the mall, and boys all dropped their jaws. This place was huge! Everywhere they looked, there were people coming in and out of stores with heavy bags in their hands.
A little girl, no more than two years old, paused as she walked by Shippo and tugged on his tail.
"Ow!" Shippo yelped, snatching his tail away.
"Don't tease the puppy, sweetie." she child's mother said. "It's not nice."
Shippo was still smarting from that rather hard tug when Kagome picked him up and cradled him in her arms.
"You'll be safer with me, Shippo." said Kagome. "Not too many people have ever seen a real fox demon, and I don't really want to have to explain what you and Inu Yasha are considering how much trouble you'd get in."
Inu Yasha was tapping on the glass window of an electronics store, looking at the TV and stereos inside. He knew what the glass was, but as for the things inside, the only thing he could identify was the TV. His ears twitched irritably at the loud music coming from within the store.
"Inu Yasha?" Kagome looked around. "Where did Miroku go?"
The dog demon turned his attention away from the electronics store to glance around him for the perverted priest. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Miroku.
"Over there!" he pointed.
Kagome faced the direction Inu Yasha was pointing and sweatdropped. Miroku was talking to some girls her age and holding the hands of one of them. As could be expected, the houshi was asking them his famous question and getting laughter in return.
"Aren't you the bold one!" one girl laughed.
"True," Miroku sighed. "I admit to being a bit forward, but you see, if I have no heir-"
The houshi's flirtations were abruptly cut short by a certain hanyou lifting him up by the back of his collar and dragging him away.
"Perhaps another time, ladies!" Miroku shrugged as Inu Yasha disgustedly dragged him off.
"Honestly, Miroku!" Kagome scolded. "It's bad enough you do that back in the Sengoku Jidai! You definitely don't need to be doing that here! I mean, even Inu Yasha isn't giving me that much of a hard time!"
"Hey!" the dog demon growled at her, but stopped when several people passing by gave him strange looks.
"C'mon," Kagome sighed. "Let's get you guys some clothes."
She took them to a casual clothing shop with T-shirts and jeans. Inu Yasha wanted nothing to do with the 'strange, tight hakamas,' but Kagome told him he'd have to get at least one pair or he'd get the 'O' word, whether it was a public place or not. Miroku wasn't too tickled about the jeans, but got a pair anyway, figuring it'd make Kagome happy. Shippo was too small for any of the jeans in that store, so they would have to try some other place later.
"This thing is too tight!" Inu Yasha complained as he stepped out of the dressing room to show Kagome the fit of the jeans.
"Oh come on, Inu Yasha!" Kagome groaned. "If you wear them any looser, they'll fall off! Now quit complaining!"
"How do you expect me to fight when I can't even move!?" the dog demon snarled.
"You'll get used to them eventually." Kagome turned the hanyou around to see how the jeans fit him. "And besides, we're traveling, not fighting. Unlike the Sengoku Jidai, there aren't demons lurking in every corner. So, how are those?"
"My loin cloth doesn't fit and it's just too damn uncomfortable!" the dog demon shifted the clothes a bit.
Kagome slapped herself in the head.
"You guys need underwear too, don't you?" she sweatdropped embarrassingly.
"For such clothing, I believe so." Miroku answered calmly.
Kagome looked at Shippo, who had fallen asleep on one of the fitting room chairs. The little demon's tail was curled tightly around him and his tawny hair hung loosely over his face. Kagome gently picked him up and cradled him in her arms.
Inu Yasha came out of the fitting room with one pair of jeans on his left arm and two other pairs on his right arm. He held out the single pair.
"I'll take this one since it's the loosest one." he said.
"Alright." Kagome replied softly. "Now you guys'll need shirts. Look around and see if there's anything you like."
The dog demon and the houshi browsed around, checking out each shirt they encountered. Inu Yasha grinned broadly when he found a large, colorful shirt with a gold-haired warrior blasting another fighter sprawled across it. He picked it up and continued looking. Miroku found a couple of blue shirts with kanji and English to his liking. One shirt had 'Holy Man' written on it and the other shirt had 'Sexy Man' on it. The houshi grinned and picked up both of them. Kagome, still carrying Shippo around, blushed as she got the boys some underwear.
Inu Yasha and Miroku each tried on several shirts before picking out three of their favorites. They left the store and sat down on some benches to plan their next shopping expedition.
"Shippo is gonna need clothes too," Kagome stated. "So we're going to have to go to a children's store to find anything even remotely in his size."
"I'm getting hungry." Inu Yasha rubbed his growling stomach. "Do you have any ramen with you?"
"No," Kagome replied. "But there's a yatai stand right around the corner where we can get some. How about you Miroku? Are you hungry too?"
"Now that you mention it." Miroku glanced upward. "It has been awhile since we've eaten."
As if he had heard the question too, Shippo stirred awake and yawned, his little stomach growling loudly. Kagome smiled.
"It's unanimous!" she laughed. "We're getting something to eat."
They settled down at the yatai stand and both Miroku and Inu Yasha each put down a big bowl of ramen. Kagome and Shippo shared a bowl together. Afterwards, a very stuffed Shippo sprawled out on his back on one of the stools, panting.
"Oi, Kagome!" Shippo moaned, burping in mid-sentence. "I don't think I'll need to eat for a year!"
Kagome and Miroku could only laugh. Even Inu Yasha, who normally didn't join in the group's conversations, grinned at the fox demon's remark.
As the group headed for the next store, they realized that Shippo was simply too full and round to be able to walk and keep up with them. Soon, he was back in Kagome's arms and snoring his meal off.
Their destination store was all the way at the other end of the shopping mall, and in no time, Inu Yasha's mind began to wander. He glanced over at Kagome, carrying the little fox demon in her arms like a baby. The hanyou's ears drooped slightly. In his mind, Inu Yasha pictured something he had only dreamed of a few times. He pictured Kagome, sitting and smiling, but instead of the fox demon, there was a small child with black hair that shone silvery like his, and twitching the two, snowy-white dog ears on its head. Kagome would make such a wonderful mother…
"Inu Yasha?" Miroku waved his hand in front of Inu Yasha's vacant daydreaming gaze.
"Is he ok?" Kagome looked into the dog demon's unfocused stare.
Inu Yasha shook his head, snapping himself back to his senses. He assumed his usual attitude when he saw Kagome and Miroku getting in his face.
"What!?" he complained. "What's the matter?"
"You were daydreaming!" Kagome laughed. "And we're at the store we need to go into."
Finding something for Shippo to wear was difficult. Whatever managed to fit the little fox was too childish and uncomfortable. Shippo especially detested trying on pants, as his tail constantly got in the way. Then, Kagome got an idea.
"Shippo," she said. "Can you turn yourself human without changing your size?"
"Of course I can!" the fox demon smiled, getting the idea.
From his clothes, Shippo pulled out a magic leaf, put it on his head, and transformed. The only thing different about him was that his tail was gone and furry feet were now like a human's. Kagome helped him try on several outfits before they both settled on two sets of clothes. Shippo had two pairs of green sweatpants and two shirts, one brown and the other one gray.
As they were leaving the mall, a gang of tough-looking thugs approached them. Kagome tried to move away from them, but the punks surrounded them quickly. The hurried movements woke up Shippo.
"Well, well, well." grinned one of the tough guys. "What do we have here? A couple of out-of-towners!"
Inu Yasha had to strain to keep himself from growling. He could easily take out all six of them with no problem, but he knew he might get 'O'-worded for doing that in public here in Kagome's world.
"And we were just leaving." Kagome tried to pass by them, but they blocked her way again.
"Where're ya goin', beautiful?" another thug prevented her from leaving. "We haven't even been properly introduced!"
Inu Yasha clenched his teeth tightly. It was taking all of his self control to keep from killing these jerks. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Miroku and Shippo were uneasy as well.
"We have to be getting home now." Kagome tried getting by once more and failed.
"What's the rush?" the first thug reached out to take hold of Kagome's wrist. "We've got all night."
That did it. No sooner had the punk gotten a hold of Kagome than Inu Yasha got a hold of him. The thug glared at him darkly.
"You got a problem, weirdo?"
"As a matter of fact," Inu Yasha bared his fangs. "I DO!"
The dog demon effortlessly yanked on the thug's arm, sending him a few feet back and on his ass. The other thugs glanced at their friend, then stared at Inu Yasha.
"Get them!" one yelled.
Three punks came straight at Inu Yasha, two went for Miroku, and the tall one, who was the leader of the gang, went for Kagome.
The dog demon was anxious to use his claws, but knew that Kagome wouldn't be too happy if he killed humans, even if they were worthless scum. He instead resorted to his fists, pummeling one punk after another in the stomach. The thugs backed up, keeling over from the dog demon's fighting expertise.
"I would very much like to resolve this without violence." Miroku stated, a hint of warning in his voice to the two guys surrounding him.
"Too late, jerk!" one thug charged at the monk, his fist tightly clenched.
Miroku yawned as he blocked the hit with the hard part of his cursed arm's cover. The other punk attacked, but the houshi leapt easily out their reach. Miroku thought about opening the Air Rip, but decided against it seeing that there were too many other people around. One of the thugs pulled out a metal pipe and charged again. At this, the monk got an idea. He blocked the blow with his cursed arm again, then quickly snatched the pipe out of his opponent's hand before he could react. As the thugs closed in around him, Miroku punched one in the face and whacked the other in the head with the pipe. Both fell to the ground, unconscious.
The leader of the gang caught up with the fleeing Kagome and cornered her.
"Thought you could get away, huh?" he advanced toward her slowly.
"Back off, ya jerk!" Shippo yelled, still in Kagome's arms.
"What the hell?" the surprised thug stared at Shippo, then smiled. "And what's a little stuffed animal like you gonna do if I don't?"
"Kitsune-bi!" the insulted fox demon gave the gang leader a face full of foxfire. "That'll teach YOU to call me a stuffed animal!"
Kagome took the opportunity to quickly get back to her friends. By the time she got there, all the gang members were out cold on the pavement.
"Weakling brats!" Inu Yasha dusted his hands off. "I fought like that when I was five!"
"Are you alright, Inu Yasha?" Kagome asked. "How about you, Miroku?"
"We're fine!" the hanyou scratched his head nonchalantly. "What about you?"
The question sort of caught Kagome off guard, so much so that she nearly dropped Shippo on the ground. Inu Yasha actually cared if she was ok? That was a shocker!
"I-I'm ok, I guess." She finally said. "C'mon, let's go home before they wake up."
"HOLD IT!" screamed a voice.
The group turned around to see the gang leader, his face red and black from the foxfire. He glared murderously at them, and was wielding a gun. All the onlookers ran off, screaming hysterically and leaving only the punk and Kagome's group of friends.
"You're not going anywhere, you freaks!" the thug pointed the gun straight at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is Chapter 7. Where would you like to go next?
