Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha nor do I make a profit from this story. Basically, if you see anything you recognize in this story: I don't own it. :)
-Just letting everyone know, Rin will be older when any romantic feelings come up. I wanted to try something different than my other story I'm working on and I hope this one is ok :) If you have any advice please let me know ^-^ Serriously. Let me know. :D
"Life is for the living,
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid."
-Langston Hughes
o~O~o
Dan Yamamoto stepped into the neat white kitchen, bracing himself for the argument that was sure to come.
"Yukiyo?" he questioned.
Cradling the phone against her ear, his wife looked at him and frowned. "Be right there" she said dismissively.
'Always on the phone' Glancing at the digital clock on the microwave, he sighed. She had been on the phone for thirty minutes now and was missing the movie, spoiling their daughter's fun. It was a stormy Friday night and both he and his wife had promised their daughter Rin that they would watch Pocahontas with her.
"Can you say goodbye and come watch the movie with us?"
She looked at him with a hint of hostility, but said nothing.
Dan had fallen in love with her when they were just in high school. A girl so tiny, he used to imagine he could carry her around in his pocket. He was so utterly and hopelessly in love, he never thought twice about the whispers in the hallways about her. They would call her a slut or a gold-digger, and he had always dismissed them as rumors and nothing more.
Shortly after they both had finished high school, he proposed to her, and they had gotten married soon after. So happy with the fact that she was now his, he made sure she never had to ask for anything. He was not a rich man, but he always made sure that whatever she wanted, she would get.
"Are you coming?"
"In a minute" she answered, obviously wanting him to leave.
"You said that thirty minutes ago" he retorted. Couldn't she just talk on the phone after the movie?
She ignored him.
Getting agitated, he simply walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a soda. He left, but decided to stop once in the hallway to eavesdrop.
"Yeah...I know...he's such a bastard"
Bastard? She was the one ignoring her daughter at the moment.
He stood there wondering for a moment: Was it his fault their marriage was crumbling? He worked all day and came home only to collapse in bed at night. He hardly had any time to spend with his wife, and on the rare occasions he got home early or had a day off, they always ended up arguing. He was also beginning to suspect that she might be cheating on him. There had been too many mysterious phone calls lately, and too many trips out of the house to buy things she claimed they positively needed, like peanut butter, napkins, or plastic cups.
Whenever he tried to ask who was on the phone, she completely ignored him.
Growing increasingly angry again, he walked back into the kitchen.
"Hold on a sec" she said into the phone. Turning to Dan, she narrowed her eyes and frowned.
He couldn't help but think she was still beautiful even when she was angry.
"What now?" she hissed.
"The movie."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm on the phone Dan."
"Fine. Don't blame me if Rin is disappointed."
He could tell by the troubled look on her face that he had hit a nerve. Good. Maybe she would get off the phone and join him and their daughter.
Back in the living room, he gave his daughter a smile and sat on the floor in front of the couch. Rin had always preferred the couch, where she would stretch her small body out and cuddle into a huge blanket.
Rin watched as her father stared blankly at the floor, not even paying attention to the movie she had been excited to watch with them as a family. They hadn't spent time together in what seemed like forever.
Though she was only nine, Rin was very mature for her age. She knew her parents' marriage wasn't...well it wasn't the best. She often listened in as they argued, and wondered: is this what love was really like? So different from the princess movies she loved so much.
"Where's mommy?" she asked, sitting up slightly.
"She'll be here in a minute" he answered reassuringly.
She glanced at the doorway and then back at her father. He looked upset. "Are you ok daddy?"
"Yes. Everything is fine Rin, don't worry."
Dan took a quick sip of his soda. Maybe he had been so busy, he had neglected Yukiyo's needs. When you worked all day long, you didn't really feel like doing anything afterward, and sometimes were a bit cranky because if the long hours. Sure, he wasn't rich, or breathtakingly handsome, but he did his best to provide for his family. Yukiyo had simply refused to live in an apartment, so he had worked extra hard and made enough money to buy the house they were currently living in. No, it wasn't that big, but it was cozy. And he had gotten it because he wanted to make his wife happy.
The booming sound of thunder interrupted his thoughts.
Rin pulled her blanket over her head. "Daddy I'm scared"
He glanced out the window and saw leaves falling. "It's just thunder and lightning Rin, we'll be ok. Now do daddy a favor and pass the popcorn"
She smiled, handing him the bowl, and he glanced at the soundless clock on the wall. It was a little past seven at night.
"Daddy?" Rin's brown hair was done up in a ponytail and her dark purple pajamas were hidden from his view; her body still curled up under the large blanket.
He took another sip of soda as he listened to the rush of wind and the patter of rain against the windows. The air was humming, and it was too dark out now to really see anything.
"Daddy" Rin said again, tugging on his shirtsleeve, fear showing in her light brown eyes.
He looked out the window again and saw the darkened sky light up from a flash of lightning, followed by the deafening booming sound of thunder; so loud that it seemed to shake the ground. It caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.
The lights flickered for a moment before going out.
"Yukiyo" he yelled, knowing their daughter would want the comfort of both her parents. Rin was scared of both the darkness and thunder storms. Put both together and she was terrified. Though she was slowly getting over her fears of the dark, it was times like this where she just couldn't help but be scared. He hoped one day soon she would get over her fears, knowing both her parents were there for her.
"Mommy?" Rin wailed.
She met them in the doorway, looking both irritated and confused. "What's going on?" she asked.
"The lights went out because of the storm" Dan said.
"No shit" she said sarcastically. She headed for the front door to see how it looked outside, but he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back sharply. "Ow!"
"You shouldn't go outside while there's a storm like that" Dan said calmly, not wanting to fight at the moment.
"Don't grab me like that bastard" she hissed.
"Mommy!" Rin pleaded, looking at her parents with the concern of a child whose emotional range and maturity seemed to outstrip their own at the moment.
Yukiyo rubbed her arm, nursing imagined wounds. Her eyes grew soft as she stared at the outline of her daughter. Because of how dark it was, she couldn't make out her features.
Dan walked over to a night-table, opening the drawer to take out two flashlights. Walking back over to the couch he saw Rin had pulled her blanket tightly around herself, as if it could protect her from the frightening sounds. Yukiyo had her arms wrapped protectively around her daughter, knowing how frightened she was.
Handing one flashlight to his wife, he said, "Be right back" before quickly running upstairs. Dan walked into the master bedroom, shining the flashlight around the dark room. He walked over toward the bed and yanked off the covers. It had gotten a bit cold in the house.
Back in the living room, he draped the blanket over his wife and sat next to her on the couch.
He turned his head slightly and met Yukiyo's angry gaze, the light from the flashlight playing across her grim features. Her mouth was shut tight, forming a straight line, and she was looking at him as if the storm was his fault.
'Fine, blame me' He didn't really care at the moment. Wind blew against the windows.
"Where's Aiko?" Rin asked suddenly.
"She'll be ok Rin, she's probably just hiding" Dan told her.
The cracking sound of thunder startled them all. A few seconds later, they heard a faint meow.
"Aiko!" Rin's eyes filled with terrified tears as she quickly stood and ran upstairs, hoping to find her cat.
Walking into her room, she squinted her eyes, trying to locate her cat in the dark room. A flash of lightning suddenly lit the room, and in a panic, Rin quickly ran to hide in her closet.
She huddled in the far corner of her closet, covering her ears, trying to shut out the frightening noises.
Dan and Yukiyo sat quietly on the couch, neither trying to start a conversation. A "meow" was suddenly heard, closer than before, seemingly coming from the kitchen.
"Go get the cat for Rin" his wife said.
Fine. If it'd make Rin happy, he'd do it. But also because he didn't really want to be around his angry wife.
He walked slowly down the hallway toward the kitchen. Trying to hear the cat again proved to be difficult, between the rolling echo of the thunder and the hard rain hitting against the windows, he doubted he'd be able to hear if the cat made a sound again.
Shining the flashlight around the kitchen, he finally caught site of the grey cat crouched atop the counter. Moving slowly so he wouldn't startle it, he walked over to the counter and was now only a foot away from the scared feline.
"Come here Aiko..."
The cat tensed and simply stared at him, unmoving.
"Come on, come here Aiko"
It still refused to move.
He jumped, startled as he heard a crackling sound and then a thunderous bang that made the house quake slightly.
The cat, also startled, arched its back and lunged at him, causing him to drop the flashlight and fall backwards, landing on his rear.
"Shit" he muttered, standing up and accidentally kicking what he assumed was the flashlight.
A shattering sound of glass breaking caused him to cover his head. After a moment, he looked around as a bolt of lightning lit up the kitchen, and he saw one of the widows had broken. A violent wind came rushing in and he briefly wondered what caused the glass to break. 'Forget the cat' he thought as he crawled along the floor, searching blindly for the flashlight he dropped.
"Dan?" came Yukiyo's distant cry. She must have heard the window break.
"Everything's fine!" he yelled loudly, hoping she heard him over the noises from the storm. He crawled into the hallway, still searching for the flashlight. He needed some light. His hand reached in front of him, and he felt the hard handle of the flashlight. Letting out a small sigh of relief, he clicked the button to turn on the light.
Dan swept the flashlight beam across the wooden legs of the mail table, the beige rug, a pair of sneakers by the front door... Wait, sneakers?
Seemingly brand-new white jogging sneakers. They certainly weren't his. They were too big to be Rins'. And his wife? Jog? Definitely not.
He stared, confused, at the neatly tied laces and then gave a startled cry as dirt from outside flew in his eyes.
He couldn't see, but he knew the front door was open. "Hello?" he squinted his eyes, quickly trying to blink away the tears as he tried to see who this person was. Panic coursed through him as he desperately tried to stand up quickly.
A cry of pain left his mouth as a blunt object hit the side of his head.
The only thoughts that formed in his head at the moment were 'Kami...please...please have mercy on my family...'
Blood trickled down his head and he took a quick sobbing breath as the owner of the jogging sneakers stepped into the house.
The door slammed closed with a loud 'thud'.