Memories of a Boy Chapter 22 Part 1

Chapter 22: Truth or Dare: The Truth Part 1

Kagome frowned down at the list in her hand. So far, things had not been going according to plan with her little “tests” for her youkai friend. The chess game had nearly ended in another fight. While she had wanted him to learn chess to prove he was smarter than Hojo, she hadn't planned that he would be able to beat her, especially only 5 moves into the first game. Several dozen games later, and she still hadn't beaten the infuriating inu, although to his credit not once did he gloat or rub her face in it.

'If he had, I might have thrown my king right in his smug face,' she grouched to herself, reluctantly admitting that he had been a great sport about the entire thing. She on the other hand, was still waiting for her mom to realize that the game had “mysteriously” vanished. Kagome decided she would need to learn to control her temper before anything else managed to end up buried in the back yard.

Of course, her attempts to fish herself a compliment had failed rather miserably as well. Even after reading him the entire book, the only thing she had managed to get from the lordling was an insult. After every story, Sesshomaru had decided to ply her with question after question, pointing out things that didn't make sense or were, as he put it, “utter foolishness”. While she had tried to brush most of it to the side, after about the 6th attempt to point out how the prince always complimented the princess's beauty, he made it clear that he would be doing no such thing.

“Why are her looks the only thing he cares about? Women like that are deceitful, petty and bring nothing but trouble! I mean look at all these stories,” he had scoffed, pointing to the picture of a blonde-haired beauty clutching a golden ball.

“Not one of them thinks about their actions before they do something foolish that affects those around them that have been trying their best to protect them or care for them in some way,” he pointed out, voice thick with disgust. “All they think about are themselves and it ends up hurting those they should be caring for as a ruler. And all of them are so weak! Any time they get in trouble, they do nothing to free themselves or escape. They just wait for someone else to do all the work!”

With each word that had spilled from his mouth, Kagome had felt her hopes of getting a compliment being squashed like a bug. He ranted for several minutes, and though she felt like a traitor doing it, the young girl had to agree with his logic for the most part. The princesses in her book were rather useless, and she knew she'd never be able to enjoy her cherished fairy tales the same way again.

'It's kind of hard to imagine myself as someone who's stupid enough to eat something a stranger gave her,' Kagome thought to herself a little sadly.

After all, it her been her dad who thought of her as Snow White, so thinking poorly of the character felt like she was dishonoring his memory somehow. Still staring blankly at the list in her hand, she was startled when a droplet of water hit the paper. Rubbing at her eyes, the young girl sighed away her gloomy thoughts. They wouldn't do her any good right now, and she refused to be like those silly princesses in her story who just sat around feeling sorry for themselves. A new determination running through her, Kagome folded the list and tucked it back in her pocket.

“I'll just go up and ask him,” she told herself, hopping off her bed. Her hand paused on the door to her bedroom as something occurred to her.

'What if he refuses to answer?'

Biting her lip thoughtfully, she pondered whether there was any way she could make him answer her, and smiled as a plan began to form in her head. Delight coursing through her, Kagome slid open her door and raced down the stairs with a new bounce in her step. Stretching her senses to locate Sesshomaru, she resisted crowing in delight when she felt the familiar thrum of his energy from beneath Goshinboku.

'Here goes nothing...'

Skipping out the front door, she called to him in a sing-song voice, “Sessho-chan!  Time to learn a new game!”

~

“So, we each takes turns, and continue until someone refuses or fails to complete a dare?”

The girl in front of him nodded enthusiastically, adding, “Of course, since you're always so good at these games, we'll be playing the advanced version. There's still Truth or Dare, but you also get one Double Dare, Electric Chair and Promise to Repeat!”

The young inu listened intently as she explained that with a double dare, if you failed or refused to complete the challenge there would be a punishment. They decided the punishment would be to eat a single wasabi pepper. She then explained that with Electric Chair, you have to complete 3 dares in a row, and with Promise to Repeat, both people would have to do the dare.

'This is exactly the chance I've been waiting for,' Sesshomaru decided, even as he nodded in understanding of the rules. For months, he had been trying endlessly to get her to call him by his full name. Yet despite repeated requests, threats and complaints, Kagome still called him but that horrible nickname. He had finally given in to the reality that he would probably never hear her address him properly. In truth, the cutesy nickname had ceased to really bother him for some time, but he still wanted to hear his full name come from her lips, even if only for a short period of time. If what she said about the rules were true, then this was his golden opportunity! Unlike the girl across from him, he managed to easily resist smiling in triumph while she fished a coin from her pocket.

“Okay, we'll flip to see who goes first! Heads, I go first, Tails you will,” she explained, pointing to the corresponding sides of the coin for his benefit. They both held their breaths at the soft ping of the coin flicking into the air. When it landed Heads up, he watched in amusement as Kagome did a dance of victory.

“Alright Sessho-chan, Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Electric Chair, or Promise to Repeat?”

Deciding not to give his hand away too easily, he answered, “Dare.”

“Okay, I dare you to say something nice about me!” she crowed, a smile stretching her face.

Not understanding how this was a challenge, he thought for only a moment before responding, “You smell pleasant.”

Not noticing the scowl she shot him, he quickly recited the list. He was pleasantly surprised when she immediately chose Promise to Repeat. It would seem this game was going to be easier than he initially expected.

Smug expression on his face he challenged, “I dare you to not call me 'Sessho-chan' for the rest of the game. This Sesshomaru shall do the same.”

Feeling like he had finally outsmarted Kagome, the lordling felt the blood drain from his face when she  cheerfully agreed to the challenge.

“Okay... Fluffy!”

~

Several dares later, and Kagome and Sesshomaru were equally frustrated. In their ire with each other, both children had managed to completely forget their original plans in favor of one-upping the other. Sesshomaru had given up on trying to get her to call him by his actually name after 'Fluffy' had turned into 'Sir Snuffle-Bums' on a promise to repeat. He was particularly annoyed by that trick, as it meant that any time he accidentally said 'This Sesshomaru' she stopped him and made him say the new name.

And Kagome had given up on getting an actual compliment from the stubborn young inu when, after telling her she smelt good, he only praised her ability to think of lame dares. Now, she was doing everything in her power to humiliate him, and she already had her next target in mind.

“Alright Sir Snuffle-Bums, Truth, Dare, or Electric Chair?”

The inu narrowed his molten gaze on her before snapping, “Truth.”

The young girl bared her teeth in a sinister grin. “Okay, Sir Snuffle-Bums! How did you come through the well?”

She saw him stiffen in outrage and felt satisfaction course through her. Ever since his first day here, he had avoided talking about what had happened to send him through the well and into her time. Kagome had only pushed the issue once, which is what had caused their first big fight. Since then, she'd respected his silence on the matter, understanding that there was something about the event that he was ashamed of. But this was a perfect chance for her to kill two birds with one stone, and she was taking it.

Unfortunately, she didn't expect what happened next.

“I quit,” Sesshomaru declared, voice flat and face blank. “You win.”

With that said, the inu stood and began to walk away, leaving Kagome sitting there stunned. Her mouth fell open in shock, and for a few moments she couldn't think past, 'Huh?'

The fading sound of his footsteps finally spurred her into action, and crying for him to wait, she sprinted after him. Part of her was worried that she might have pushed him too far, but the other part was angry that he'd given up so easily. She knew from past experience that in all likelihood, her youkai friend was probably going to walk away the victor of their match. So having him just quit like that felt... wrong. Her victory was hollow, her plan still hadn't worked and even worse... she still didn't have her answer!

“Sessho-chan! You can't just quit like tha-”

“According to your rules, I can refuse any challenge and thereby lose,” he countered before she'd finished, avoiding her eyes.

“Well, yeah, but... I mean, come on! What's the big deal about answering a question?” she protested, following him across the courtyard. She stilled for a moment when they arrived at the well-house, and her anger deflated when he also stopped to finally look at her.

In his gaze was a pool of emotions that took her breath away. Loneliness, shame, anger... but most overwhelming was bitter defeat.  Her small hands shook at the feelings washing over her from that one look, and it took everything she had to draw breath. Neither of them moved for several heartbeats, each consumed by the tense silence between them.

Finally, Kagome reached forward and laced her fingers through his, bridging the gap between them. His face was still blank, but his eyes reminded her of that time not so long ago when she had found him in her grandfather's room. They were lost, and she realized that this time it wouldn't be enough to find him.

She needed to find out what had happened so that he couldn't get lost again.

Tugging him forward gently, she pulled him back over to Goshinboku and sat down. Once he was seated next to her, she grabbed his other hand in her own and turned them so they were facing each other knee to knee.

Satisfied that he wasn't going to run this time, she prompted, “Sesshomaru? What happened?”

“It was her. She sent me through the well.”

Exposed honey-hue eyes drifted from their joined hands to her face, and she asked again, “Who, Sesshomaru?”

And the boy who had become lost in the future told her.

“...the warrior miko, Midoriko.”