Author's Notes: First off, this isn't my story. No, it isn't... but now it is! It was from the mind of one of my closest friends, but she lost interest a while ago and handed it over to me. It's still the same general plot with a few of my own ideas thrown in. If by any chance you've read it before, tell me what you think of my version of it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha... DUH!
The Thought That Counts
Chapter 1
Death and Money
Kagome Higurashi groaned, dumping the contents of her school bag on her unmade bed. Luckily she had an excuse for leaving it in the messy state it was in. Her rather obese cat Buyo lay stretched out in the pile of blankets and sheets and a noise of contentment escaped his throat. Kagome scratched his belly and the cat purred in gratitude.
She wanted it to rain. It had been so long since the parched earth had tasted water, and the hazy city air was thick with the smell of smog and cigarette smoke... not something she particularly enjoyed inhaling. Summer in the city had been hard every year for Kagome and her family, but enough dwelling on problems like that.
She unwillingly picked up her Algebra book, found a comfortable position on her bed, and began scribbling down some numbers. Extra homework for failing a test... again.
She hated math. It was her worst subject, and as she looked at the problems in the book, she realized that she was probably going to end up staying awake until midnight trying to finish the damn page.
She groaned again. Fate sure hated her.
"Kagome get in here!" The black haired teen heard her mother call up the stairs in a hoarse voice.
There were only two occasions in which her mother's voice would crack like that. Either she, Kagome Higurashi, was in trouble, or something was very wrong concerning the woman. Judging by the chewed eraser at the tip of her pencil, and the sketches on her binder paper, either something was wrong, or her mother had found out about the stick figures on the corner of her homework page.
Very unlikely.
"What is it?" she called back down without getting up from her position on her stomach.
"Please come down, Kagome!"
With a roll of her eyes, the girl slid off of her bed and headed out of the door waking up Buyo in the process.
"What?" she asked, annoyed, as she entered the kitchen.
"I just got a call from Grandma." her mom said. Kagome was surprised to see tears staining her cheeks. "Grandpa had a heart attack last night while they were watching TV. Grandma called an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital. She didn't call anyone last night because she was sure that he'd be ok, but he died this morning."
Kagome just stood there, open mouthed at her mother's face, unaware of the cat that was currently rubbing against the back of her knees. There were tears streaming down her mom's face. It made Kagome almost want to cry too.
Almost.
"I'm so sorry, Mom." She said walking towards her mother, and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"It's ok dear, it's not your fault." Her mother replied. "I have to go to the funeral this Sunday. Can you watch Souta for me?"
"Sure, Mom." Kagome would do anything for her in her time of need. "Does Souta know about this?"
Her mom replied by saying, "No, not yet. I think I'll tell him later. I just dread spreading news like this... Souta will be devastated! Now, I guess I should start cooking..."
"No, Mom, I'll do it. I know things are difficult for you, and I wanna help." Kagome hugged her mom.
"No, no that's okay, sweetie. I don't want things to be any less than normal around here. Even with Grandpa gone."
Kagome watched as her mom walked slowly into the kitchen to prepare supper, thinking that it was going to be hard to keep the house running smoothly without her grandfather…
Kagome paced the floor in her room, thinking things through. Where were they going to live? Grandpa had paid for everything. The phone bills, the electric bills, and their house and car bills.
Her grandpa was the founder for a top organization called S.T.A.R. (Save The Animal Race) and had worked there ever since he graduated college. Her grandpa had loved animals. He had four dogs and two cats, as well as a cage full of canaries. Why he had canaries, Kagome didn't know, but that didn't prevent him from being an elite member of the society.
The company helped lost and hurt animals find new homes. They also had a jungle and other land forms built in one huge building! Her grandpa was practically a billionaire! Surely he had written a will before he died... There had to be something about money in there.
She sat herself down on her bed and kneaded her forehead with her knuckles, trying to absorb everything, and how things would change for this period of her life.
Even though the old man had annoyed her with his constant legends and histories about swords and various jewelery – that was another thing, he was a total nut about antiques – she couldn't help but feel a little skittish. Without her grandpa, her survival would be about as likely as Kagome giving up her Jiu Jit Su for ballet, and that was damn near impossible.
Flashback
"Kagome! Don't eat those! Those are ancient bean cakes! They almost touched the lips of a legendary warrior!" Her grandpa ran over and snatched the withered pastries out of his granddaughter's hand, dusting them off with an old feather duster. "Besides, they're way past their expiration date!"
Looking at the cakes squished in her granddad's hands, Kagome began to feel extremely nauseated and suddenly lost her appetite. "And why didn't he eat them?"
"Don't be silly! He was a samurai, and the enemy attacked him from behind." He finished dusting them and placed them lovingly back onto the doily.
Typical. It was just excellent that her grandpa just had to put those disgusting bean cakes on the kitchen table. On a nice, clean plate too. "Why would you put these things on the table?"
"I'm sure you would love to hear the origin of these cakes." he said, ignoring her.
Kagome could feel the beginning of a long lecture and began devising an excuse to exit the room. She knew it was impossible to tell him that she didn't care in the slightest.
"It was perhaps five hundred years ago, when a – "
"Listen, Gramps, I gotta go to school, but I'll catch you later." Kagome said, interrupting his speech.
"Ok, goodbye, Kagome." Smiling, he waved to his grand daughter from the front door of the shrine.
Kagome left the house and closed the door behind her.
She rolled her eyes. Of course she had no intention of hearing the rest of his story after school. She would probably have tons of homework. It wasn't likely that he would remember anyway.
A sigh of relief passed through her lips.
End of Flashback
Without realizing it, Kagome began pacing the small area of her bedroom once again. Her mind was spinning wildly and it made her head ache.
She shook her head, causing her bangs to fly about. It wouldn't work out. Maybe her mom was worried about it too, but the look on her face earlier was enough proof to show how distressed she was. Who could blame her? Kagome didn't want to make things worse by mentioning money issues to her mom. But, money was probably number one on her list of "Things to Discuss in the Near Future."
Kagome yawned and sprawled herself out across her bed sheets.
Death. It was an enormous thing to go through. But was there life after death? She didn't believe it, but at the moment, it was nice to have a comforting thought inside her head about where her grandfather would be then.
The girl didn't know it, but she was really tired, and before long, her eyes started to droop.
She couldn't hope for the best, but she had somehow convinced herself that things wouldn't get too bad.
Kagome woke up greeted by the rancid smell of cigarette smoke.
After a wild fit of coughing, she looked out of her window and internally groaned once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness.
There, on the sidewalk, was a long haired figure smoking on the corner of her street. And since her room was facing the front of the house, the bitter smell had no trouble entering her nose.
Kagome realized that it was four-thirty in the morning after looking at the neon symbols on the alarm clock on her bedside table. Surely everyone was still asleep...
"Hey!" she yelled out her window, throwing caution to the winds. The dogs in the neighborhood immediately started to bark wildly.
The person turned to face her, taking a big inhale of tobacco smoke and making a lazy "Hi" gesture with his free hand.
"Could you please not smoke here? I kinda live in this house, you know?" Kagome could almost feel the guy tensing up after she said that.
He yelled something back at her that made her face turn red with anger. "Right back at you! Just to let you know, if you keep that up, I'll have an early death!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the canines to go into another wild fit of barks.
To her dismay, he just took another deep inhale of the vile smoke. At least he was smart enough to understand the concept of mental torture.
Whoop dee doo.
Hadn't her puny mind suffered enough this past week? Failing tests, extra math homework... and now this?
"Jerk." she mumbled to herself as she slammed the window shut, making the blinds crash nervously against the wall. The dogs barking was still loud enough to penetrate the glass of her window.
No matter what she said, he just kept coming back. Smoking on street corners without a care in the world. Ignorance certainly was bliss to that fellow, puffing away obliviously on the smoldering cigarette butt as he inhaled tar and a bunch of other junk.
Did they teach him nothing in school? How did people just do things like that without caring? Did he have any idea of what could happen to his health? Whatever people said about it calming you down was complete bullshit. But did he have a clue? Apparently not because it was evident that he was still gulping down the stuff... in front of her house!
What a Bastard!
After about another ten minutes of incoherent rambling to herself, Kagome fell into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams were haunted by the mysterious smoker. If he could be called that...
"Mr. Sesshoumaru," a nervous young girl asked her boss during the wee hours of the morning. The sun had not yet peered over the horizon yet.
"What is it, Joi?" the man replied from his seat. It squeaked under his weight as he shifted his position to stretch his arms.
The secretary cleared her throat importantly. "It is to my understanding that the founder of S.T.A.R. has just died recently. I didn't know if you knew yet since this company is so huge." She gave a nervous giggle. "I thought you should know since you're the VP... So... that's all."
"Thank you for telling me. Although, it has already reached my ears of his timely, yet unfortunate, death." That's what he said even though his voice remained a dull drone as he turned his rolling chair around to face the young woman.
His secretary giggled again and blushed covering her face with her clipboard, leaving only her brown eyes peering over the top. Her hands were shaking slightly. "I am glad to hear of it, sir." With a quick, and rather clumsy, bow, she left the room.
Sesshoumaru Sagashi looked over at the glaring computer screen again. The blinding blue light was beginning to get him peeved. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
Normally heartless and cold, he felt it was his duty to protect the animals since he was a youkai after all. Plus, he needed whatever job he could get to make enough money to support him, his idiot brother, and his "adopted sister."
As if on cue, a girl of about fifteen scrambled into the room, and ignoring his protests, she sat on his lap, blocking the computer screen. "Hey, Fluffy. What's up?" Then she gestured to the door where the young female employee had just exited. "Obviously she's got the hots for you."
"Rin, it's five 'o' clock in the morning. Shouldn't you be asleep?" Sesshoumaru replied, obviously ignoring the comment she made about his secretary.
She twirled her black pigtails around her fingers. "Aww, don't be a party pooper. Besides, I got bored. Inuyasha said he was going to take a walk." She looked around for eavesdroppers. "I think he's just going off to chase some women at a bar or – "
"Rin! Don't say things like that! What would people think?"
The teenager pulled herself out of her brother's lap. "I'm a teenager! I can make my own decisions!"
"I just don't want you to turn out to be like Inuyasha's slut girlfriend." He sighed. "Well, what do I know?"
"Ooh! High and mighty Sesshoumau said a bad word! Ooh!" Rin began laughing hysterically. She enjoyed laughing at him whenever possible.
"It tends to happen when people get stressed from working on the computer all night!" Sessoumaru growled in a response.
"That's okay, Fluffy." She began plaiting his white hair. "I don't know how you leave your hair alone! It's so beautiful!"
"You do realize you've told me this at least fifty times, right?" Sesshoumaru said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.
"Yes, but it's so amazing!"
"Well, I really don't care."
"Aww, you're no fun." She leant over his shoulder casually. "What are you working on anyway?"
"White lepoards." he stated matter-of-factly, though slightly irritated at Rin's breathing in his ear.
"Huh?"
"Somehow the pen the lepoards stay in got infested with mysterious white fungus. I'm debating with other members of this foundation where to move them now, and what to do with the white mildew. Some idiot in the next building thinks they're eggs, but I find it highly unlikely... And you know, it would be a whole lot easier to work on this if you weren't breathing down my neck."
"What kind of fungi are white?" Rin asked, now genuinely interested, ignoring his attempt to get her to leave the room.
"That's what I'm trying to find out. They could be mushrooms, although I'm sure it's too cold to grow them in there..."
"Eh, goodnight, Sesshoumaru." Rin said, giving the youkai a quick hug then exiting the room.
"I guess they could be some sort of ice plant… It's a possibility, but I'm sure that there is a difference in size and shape..."
Sesshoumaru spent another sleepless night in his office.
The sun filtered through the ratty old blinds, waking up the girl inhabiting the bed inside the room.
With an enormous amount of effort, Kagome eventually managed to roll over and look at her clock. Six-fifty. Amazing. She was ahead of schedule. Cool.
Out of habit, she took a glance out of the window and saw nothing but several smoldering cigarette butts. How long had he been there? And just to smoke too...
She let out a yawn and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. After pulling herself out of bed, she made her way groggily to the bathroom, leaving her bed unmade.
What a surprise.
She looked in the mirror and the first thing that popped into her mind was that she looked horrible. Horrible as in scum out of the drain horrible. She groaned.
"Kagome!" Souta yelled up the stairs. "Do you want to play some baseball later!"
Their typical way of communication; yelling up and down the stairs instead of walking down and speaking in a civilized manner. Laziness was quite common in kids these days.
"Maybe later! I have to study for my test on Monday!" Kagome hollered back down.
"Ok! Uh... do you want me to get you a bowl of oatmeal!" Souta cried up the stairs.
"What!" Kagome had a little trouble hearing since the sink was turned on.
"Do you want some oatmeal!" her little brother yelled again.
"I can't hear you!" she shouted, turning off the running water.
"DO YOU WANT SOME OATMEAL?"
"Ok! Just put some in a bowl! I'll fancy it up when I get down there!"
"What?"
"OK! Just leave a bowl on the table!"
"Alright! It'll be ready when you come back down!"
"What!"
"Your food will be ready when you come down!" Souta repeated.
"Ok! That's what I said to do in the first place!"
"Huh?"
"OK!"
And that was just the typical morning routine.
Ayumi Higurashi fidgeted nervously. The people who had congregated to hear the reading of the will after the funeral of her father were all gathered around tables sipping French wine and speaking in low and mysterious voices. Some were crying, but the majority of all of them were grim- faced and somber.
Every single one of them was wearing black, and Ayumi felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was the only one that had chosen to wear pale lavender to a funeral and now felt extremely foolish.
She knew her father was not a depressed person. In fact, he'd given her the dress she was wearing, and she couldn't help but think that these people in black lace were disrespecting his memory. Half of them probably didn't even know him. They were probably just inferior employees hoping to be recognized by the founder of S.T.A.R.
Ayumi smirked. Her father wasn't dumb enough to hand cash to greedy money- hungry bastards. He was generous, yes, but not stupid.
Ms. Higurashi walked around the large room trying to talk to people, but after several failed attempts to lighten the mood and begin conversation with some of the other attendants, she sat down by herself and patiently waited for the reading of the will while tasting caviar on crackers for the first time. She decided that she didn't like the saltiness of it.
Finally, a speaker stood up and everyone quieted as he asked for the attention of the crowd. "We are here today to honor a brilliant man who had so much to offer into the business of animal protection. His fate is regrettable and I'm sure his memory will live on in all of our hearts..."
Ayumi Higurashi pursed her lip. She new damn well that half the people had only showed up because they hoped to receive something from her dad.
"... Now it is time for the reading of the will. First, his prized collection of baseball cards will go to Mr. Keichii Kuoy." Her uncle. There was a pause as a polite round of applause erupted in the room. "Second, his precious terrarium of exotic frogs will go to Ms. Nuriko Satsume..."
Ms. Higurashi nearly dozed off. The list seemed to go on and on. The reader droned on, only being interrupted by the dull applause after each announcement. However, when her name was called, she jumped in her seat.
Kagome and Souta were outside playing baseball when they heard their mother's scream.
"Kagome I'm home get in here quick!" screamed after just entering the house. She had just come back from her father's funeral, and she was carrying a load of groceries in one arm and a manila folder in the other. She was looking very happy about something. Tired, but happy.
"Mom, what's with the face?" Kagome asked her mother with a raised eyebrow at her parent's grin.
"You brought grandpa with you?" Souta quickly asked, his cherubic face glowing hopefully.
"No dear," their mother replied giving him a gentle look and chuckling lightly.
Kaomge rolled her eyes and muttered something about ignorance and incompetence. Unfortunately her brother heard her and jumped onto her back so her could have access to her hair.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I hate it when you make fun of me!" Souta said, yanking his sister's hair.
"Get off brat!" Kagome screamed. She tried to pry her brother off her shoulders, but foolishly leaned backwards and lost her balance. The two siblings fell to the ground in front of the door in a mess of angry shouts and flying limbs.
"Kagome! Get your hand off of my face!" Souta yelled angrily although muffled by his sister's palm.
"Then let go of my hair, runt!" Kagome shrieked back.
"You first!"
"KIDS!" Both brother and sister froze at the sound of their mother's voice. "Stop it! Right now! Kagome get off your brother."
"But – "
"NOW! And Souta, let go of your sister's hair!" Ayumi Higurashi looked particularly menacing with one hand on her hips and her eyes narrowed in fury. Kagome and Souta both stood up off the floor. Kagome's hair was twisted and looked abused, and Souta had a red handprint on his face. "Honestly, Kagome... I expected more from you. Now, take these into the kitchen." Kagome received the brown grocery bags from her mother and made her way out of the awkward silence and into the kitchen, but not before sending her brother a death glare that he returned.
"'I have no idea what you're talking about, but I hate it when you make fun of me!'" Kagome mimicked her brother in the kitchen as she unpacked the eggs from their carton and set them carefully in the fridge. She could hear her mother talking softly to Souta in the other room, but she couldn't hear it clearly enough to know what was being said. However, when she heard Souta's happy squeals and her mom's laughs, she abandoned the food and the refrigerator and rushed into the living room.
"What's going on?" Kagome asked, seeing her brother and her mom embracing on the sofa.
"We're MILLIONAIRES no BILLIONAIRES, BILLIONAIRES!" Souta screamed, jumping up and down on the old sofa. Kagome's mom shushed him when she saw the look of confusion on her face.
"Pardon my French, but what the hell just happened?" Kagome asked.
"I know this is going to be hard to believe, but it's the truth. In Grandpa's will he had over two billion dollars. Part of it goes to Grandma, a small portion of it goes to charities around the world and his company, and since I'm his only child the rest goes to our family!"
Kagome stared at her mom in disbelief. "And you're... you're serious?" she croaked out, hardly daring to believe her ears.
Her mother embraced her. "Absolutely."
"Now we can pay off all the bills and keep the farm!" Kagome said and without thinking went over to hug her brother, their feud forgotten.
"I can get a skateboard!"
"And I can get the piano I've always wanted!"
"That's lame! Why would you want that?"
"Shut up, Souta!"
"Well actually dear," said, putting a stop to her children's laughing and rejoicing. "I know this may be hard to grasp now, but I thought it through and realized that this is what's best for our family."
Kagome laughed. "Mom, what are you talking about? How could it get any better?"
"Dear," Ms. Higurashi said, putting a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "We're moving."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Kagome's screams could be heard all through the street, making the dogs bark again.
Author's Note: Woot! Chapter one! I'd appreciate reviews. Any kind is welcome. I already have the next eight chapters outlined, so I'll be updating, but don't expect anything immediately. I'm generally a very lazy person, and I live to please myself... Sorry if I offended anyone. Lol. Stay tuned for chapter two! And... don't forget to review. Laters!
