-1Mass Disclaimer: I own nothing. Yeah.
Author's Note: 'Tis just the revised version of my story I'll Be Missing You. The story is basically the same, but minus all the damsel in distress shit from Kagome, the writing is more mature, and the characters are a bit older. So, yeah.
I'll Be Missing You
Prologue
I didn't know what mother was thinking when she decided to move us from Tokyo to Osaka. I assumed it had to do with my half-sister, though. Everything was always about her.
I could just hear my mom now. 'Honey, be quiet, your sister's studying.' or 'Honey, your sister's sick again, can you please make her some soup?' I know it wasn't her fault. Her immune system had been a wreck ever since that poor procedure when we were nine. An uneducated doctor had attempted to remove her appendix and there wasn't a fully qualified anesthesiologist at hand. You can only imagine the pain and suffering that ensued. She was still partly conscious when he made the first incision, but she was unable to say anything due to the tube in her mouth. She attempted a move her limbs, but could not. She was forced to endure almost an hour of the procedure before the dimwit of a doctor noticed that her eyes were squeezed shut from agony. He quickly aborted the operation and my sister was sewed up. A long scar, approximately three millimeters wide and seven inches long raced diagonally along the bottom of her stomach. That incident made her lose her trust in doctors. Can you blame her, though? They said she could have died because of blood loss or something like that. She had to be waited on basically hand and foot after that.
Several weeks later, our 'father' left us. From what I heard of the argument he was sick of mother paying so much attention of my sister. I may be younger than her, but I still feel the need to protect to her. I wouldn't tell her what happened, so she heard it from mother. That incident made her lose her trust in everyone else around her. We had all, we being my mother, me, and our closest friends Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, tried everything. But, no matter how much you poke a dead dog it won't come back to life. I was actually rather surprised that she didn't respond to Sesshoumaru's attempts to make her happy. The two of them had always been rather close, so it was quite shocking when she just snubbed him like she did the rest of us. Now, my sister has never been that social. She and Sesshoumaru have identical personalities: cold, brooding, but will go to the end of the world for whom they love.
Anyway, enough about my sister. Time to tell you about me. My name is Higurashi Kikyou and my half-sister is Higurashi Kagome. My birthday is December 19, so I would be turning thirteen in a matter of days. My best friend and 'long-lost brother' is Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru's younger half-demon half-brother. I really didn't know what I was going to do without him. We had been friends, literally, since birth. It was the same with Kagome and Sesshoumaru. I now held the gift Inuyasha had given me as an early birthday present. A wire picture frame which housed a photo of us at a park. We were both sitting at the bottom of a slide, broad smiles plastered on our faces. If I remembered correctly, that picture was taken around June or July of the previous year. Thinking about it brought tears to my eyes. I tried to conceal them, but curse Inuyasha and his nose.
"Kikyou, you said you weren't going to cry." He whispered gently.
"I-I know." I stammered. "But, it's hard." My voice cracked and tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. Inuyasha lifted a clawed hand and gently wiped them away.
"Hey, we'll keep in touch. We both have the internet, so it's not like we'll never get to talk to each other." I could tell he was trying his best to be comforting.
"It isn't the same, Inuyasha." His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me into his chest, giving me a tight hug.
"We'll see each other again. I promise." I sniffled slightly and managed a nod. My eyes, the brown glinting because of fresh, unshed tears, darted around Inuyasha's spacious front yard and finally landed on Kagome and Sesshoumaru. Kagome had one leg drawn into her chest with the other one extended. A hand sub-consciously massaged the knee of the extended leg, gaining a worried glance from Sesshoumaru.
"Is your knee bothering you again, Kag?" I heard him use the nickname Kagome had been dubbed with.
"I'm fine. The cold just messes with my joints." A lie. Or a partial lie. Yes, the cold did mess with my half-sister's joints, but, something she wouldn't admit so freely to Sesshoumaru, she had also sprained the hurt knee the other day in a spar with him.
"It seems to be hurting you more than usual, though." Sesshoumaru insisted.
Kagome heaved a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "It's fine, Shou. Nothing I haven't dealt with before." She may have only been in the eighth grade, but she had learned to deal with pain that most people don't feel until their sixties.
Sesshoumaru chanced a rare smile at his own nickname. I laughed quietly and turned my attention back to Inuyasha.
"We'll stay friends, right?" I asked quietly. A gust of wind blew, sending a sheet of snow our way. I pulled my jacket more tightly against myself and bowed my head to protect myself from the cold. I glanced again at Kagome and Sesshoumaru, seeing his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, drawing her towards him. She was almost a year older than me, her birthday being in February and mine being in December, but she was still smaller than me. She had always been smaller than. She would, most likely, always be smaller than me. Her body straightened as the wind died down and she dusted snow off of her knee length pale gray coat. Her wide leg black dress pants had stopped flapping and I could now make out the white blouse she had paired with them. I shook my head and waited for Inuyasha to reply.
"You're moving, Kikyou. You aren't dead. Of course we'll stay friends." He stated matter-of-factly. "Just one thing though, Kikyou." A smirk played across his features.
"I don't know if I like the look you're giving me, 'Yasha." I gave him a questioning look, my head tilted to the side.
"It's nothing perverted, I swear. Just promise me that next time we see each other it'll be like you never left." I smiled and nodded before he gave me another hug. Another gust of wind blew and his arms tightened around me. I buried my head in his arm, breathing in the scent of his clothing. Mine wasn't very substantial in twenty degree weather, just a pair of blue jeans and a sweatshirt.
"Kagome, Kikyou, it's time for us to go, we don't want to miss our flight." My mother called. She was standing by the driveway, taking to Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's parents. "We really must get them together soon. They've grown so attached to each other."
The other woman nodded slightly. "Of course. They're welcome to stay with us anytime they like. We've got plenty of room, so just come back for a weekend or summer vacation." she smiled pleasantly and looked to her husband for agreement.
"Of course, Ami." InuTaisho said. "Now, get going. Your plane leaves in an hour and a half."
"Right." Mom sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Girls, come on." Inuyasha released me and gave me a fanged smile.
"I'll see you around, Kikyou." He whispered. I nodded, wiped my eyes, and smiled.
"I'll call you once we get settled in and everything. Bye, 'Yasha." My voice cracked and my lip started quivering. Inuyasha sighed and bent down, his lips grazing against my cheek.
"Don't start crying again, Kikyou. We'll see each other soon." I nodded and turned around, walking towards the van we were taking to the airport. Kagome had since stood up and was slowly making her way through the ankle deep snow with the help of Sesshoumaru.
"You're sitting in the back, right?" I heard him ask. Everyone always talked quietly around Kagome. I guess they thought they would scare her if they used their normal voices. They were right.
"Yes." Kagome replied. A particularly strong gust of wind blew, nearly knocking her off balance. Sesshoumaru quickly caught her by the waist, once again pulling her closer to him. I heard her laugh and smiled.
"You spoil me, Shou." She said quietly.. "I may be small, but I think I can handle a little bit of wind."
"Heh, right." He released her, though reluctantly, and opened the sliding van door. Kagome stepped up with her good leg and sat down on the bench. My attention turned back to the window of the passenger side door, where Inuyasha was standing.
"School won't be the same without you, Kikyou." He muttered.
"Boys, come on. Let them get on their way." Their mom called. Sesshoumaru glanced over his shoulder before turning back to Kagome.
"I guess this is it… Bye, Kag." He squeezed her hand gently and turned to me. "Have fun in Osaka, Kikyou."
"Yeah, right, Shou." I replied. "I'll see you sometime." Inuyasha cleared his throat and I turned back to him.
"Don't forget to call. And if anyone annoys you, fry their butt." He grinned before shuffling his feet. "Bye, Kikyou."
"Bye, 'Yasha." I whispered.
"Bye, Kag. Try to control your temper if someone upsets you next time." With another smile, Inuyasha turned and walked away. Sesshoumaru sighed and looked down at Kagome.
"I expect you to be a lot stronger next time we see each other. Maybe you can beat me in a fight."
"Good-bye, Shou." Her voice was almost inaudible as he pulled the door closed. I saw her slump back in her seat, twiddling her thumbs in front of her. Mom started the van and slowly pulled out of the Konoe driveway. My last image of Inuyasha was of him with tears running down his face.
Author's Note: Not that long, but oh well. The chapters will get longer, so deal with it for now. Three reviews equals a happy authoress and an update.