A/N: Sadly, I wasn't very Vin Diesel-ish this break. I blame my father (for being an overbearing dad) and my laziness. Sorry everyone. But, I did manage to update twice and I will (hopefully) get chapter 4 up over spring break (in March). Again, I beg forgiveness from all of my devoted readers. You guys are the best in the world. And I hope you'll continue to be patient with me.
For those who demanded, this is a mostly Inuyasha chapter -- I figured this was a good point to introduce his character properly.
On a side note, I want to put some fears to rest regarding the return of some of my characters. Kagura and Sesshomaru, for example, will be downplayed a bit because their particular arch is over, but they will play a bigger role in this story as I get further along. As for Ayame and Kouga, they appear in this episode (Kouga is a brief appearance), but since they are good friends of Kagome's, will also be appearing more as I get further into the story. I also want to point out that these chapters aren't meant to be "filler" -- they are simply me getting acquainted with the characters in their respective roles before I turn their lives upside-down. Relax and enjoy the ride, everyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I own the basis of these stories, so PAWS OFF. (Also, there is a shameless plug for my novel hidden in here, so keep a look out, hehe!)
Unknown
Chapter 3
The lovely Kagome was not alone in her battle,
There were those who sought to help break her spell,
Though, as in most faerie tales, there was only one cure,
And for that she needed her one true love...
Inuyasha was in his bedroom, which was a rarity since he wasn't sleeping.
Normally, he would be playing video games in the den, or bugging Miroku, or out doing whatever it was he did with his time. Inuyasha had always been an active, rambunctious kid. Full of energy and personality, his mother said. His father would say he was full of piss and vinegar, and wasn't happy unless he was getting into trouble. It wasn't that he was a bad kid, he just didn't have his priorities straight. He wasn't like Sesshomaru, who was always composed and focused. He wasn't like Rin, who was sweet and young enough to still be ignorant.
He was Inuyasha. The black sheep. The problem, middle child.
Thump.
With a grunt, he threw his fuzzy green tennis ball back up against the ceiling. It whacked Stacy Jones in the face before descending back into Inuyahsa's awaiting palm. The poster of Inuyasha's favorite band looked back at him as his listlessly tossed the ball against the ceiling again and again. He lay on his back on his bed, the comforter curled up on the floor and his pillow propping up his left leg.
Thump.
One might expect his room to be trashy, full of empty pizza boxes and dirty laundry, but it was actually pretty neat. There was some clutter on his desk from where his school stuff overflowed out of the drawers and his backpack, but the rest of his things were in their own little place. The cds on the respective rack; the clothes stuffed into the drawers and closet. Years of his mother drilling cleanliness into his brain made it so he couldn't have a mess around him.
Thump.
This was one of the many things about him that no one in his high school would ever guess. Inuyasha "Grimm" Reaper, the Frogmaster, cleaned his room regularly.
Thump.
He freely admitted that it was his own making that made him the school's most wanted. People laughed when he did something stupid, and cheered when he was taken away like some kind of hero. Like he fought for the right of people to do stupid things. Behind his back, they called him a spoiled rich boy and thought he was just an idiot. In truth, he thought he was an idiot too, but he would never admit it to anyone.
Thump.
Half of the things he did, he did so he would stand out. So he would be talked about and noticed. So he wouldn't be Sesshomaru Reaper's little brother, or the younger Reaper boy. So he wouldn't be Inuyasha Reaper, brilliant student up until the ninth grade, where he transformed into a kind of smart-mouthed detention veteran. So he wouldn't be the kid in the back of the classroom who never spoke up but aced every test set in front of him, not like he used to be.
Thump.
Maybe it was a middle-child complex. That was his mother's theory anyway. His father would grunt and say the military would straighten him out in no time.
Thump.
Mid-terms started on Monday, in two days. He was confident that he would ace them all. In fact, he would probably be pulling down A's in all his classes if he went more often, and did the homework. When he was there, he always got top marks. Inuyasha was simply bitter, and had very little self-confidence.
Thump.
His little tutor girl would probably think that she was responsible for it if he came home with a bunch of good grades. That was some incentive to bomb them all. Spite was his biggest motivator in life.
Thump.
But he couldn't do that to his mother. She was the only one in his life who had ever supported him and saw him as more than trouble. Another thing the kids at school would never guess: he was a Mama's boy. Not that he saw anything wrong with that. His brother respected their parents, but never took much interest in anyone else's life but his own. His sister seemed like she was born as a thirty-year-old woman, who took far too much after their brother. And she was Daddy's little girl. His father, who was a devoted family man -- to a certain extent, was devoted to bragging about his oldest son and heir, or spoiling his only daughter. In truth, it was Inuyasha who went to the doctor's appointments with his mother and picked up the prescriptions at the pharmacy. And she had been sick lately.
Thump.
He just couldn't disappoint her, no matter how much he despised the surprised reactions he got from everyone at his actually being a model student.
Thump. Thump. Crash. BAM!
"Confound it, Inuyasha!" Tahmores Reaper, the lord and master of the Reaper Household, opened the door to his youngest son's room with such force that it smacked into the wall, causing a picture frame to fall to the floor. Inuyasha caught his ball in one hand as he sat up.
"What the hell, Dad!"
"I can't concentrate with all that racket!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "It's a tennis ball, Old Man. Not an A-bomb."
"You wouldn't know it from my office," his father growled.
In many ways, all the Reaper men were alike. They all shared similar features, the fair coloring in hair, skin and eyes, as well as a kind of striking masculine beauty. But they also all had the famous Reaper Temper. In Sesshomaru, it was more of a dark brooding anger, but Inuyasha and his father both shared a loud and fierce temperament that was founded on fits of passion and strong feelings. It was a common theory to Mrs. Paloma Reaper that Inuyasha and Tahmores didn't get along well because they were so much alike in temperament.
"I'm sorry," Inuyasha commented, flopping back down on to his bed. "I won't do it anymore." He tossed the ball back into the air, but not high enough to connect with the ceiling.
His father snatched it from the air before it fell down into his hand. "That's not the point. If you want to play around with tennis balls, why not actually play the game?"
"Tennis?" Inuyasha sat up again. "You must be kidding."
"Why? You're a sporty boy, but all you do with your time is rot your brain with those damned video games, and tinkering with your cars." It was a familiar speech and Inuyasha gritted his teeth. "One of these days, you're going to have to stop dicking around with your life and wake up, boy."
"Get out of my room," the teenager snarled.
"This is my house, not yours. And I can go into whatever room I want."
"Fine," his son said, grabbing his tennis ball back from his father's grasp. They stood toe to toe for a few seconds, an impressive thing since both of them were the same height. "Then I'll go to a different room."
With that, Inuyasha turned on his heel and stomped out of his own bedroom. For a few minutes he thought about heading to the den or kitchen, but his father would simply walk in and start dictating again. No, he'd leave and go hide out somewhere else. But first...
He knocked lightly on his parents' bedroom door. Paloma sat on the bed, the comforter pulled up around her as she lay on a mound of pillows. She looked bored as she channel surfed.
Paloma was a small, beautiful woman who had always had the patience of a saint and the humor of a devil. In her younger years, she had been an art teacher, but after she got married and Sesshomaru was born, she became a housewife. Tahmores adored his petite wife, but now that his newspaper had taken off and he had his hands in smaller businesses all over their town, he didn't spend as much time with her as he used to. Back when she was in better health, Paloma had been as busy as he was, taking care of the children and working for charities.
"Momma," Inuyasha called.
Paloma jumped a little, hitting the mute button on her remote as she looked over to her son. A smile as slow and pretty as a sunrise spread across her face. "Hey there, Sport."
He smiled back, walking into the room to sit on the end of her bed. "I'm just on my way out, is there anything I can get for you?"
"No, I'm fine, honey." Her smile faded into a look on concern as she gave him a once over. "Had a fight with your father?"
"Yeah. I was bothering him." Inuyasha gripped the corner post of the bed, pouting. "I can't do anything right in his eyes."
"Oh, don't say that!" his mother insisted. "You're his son and he loves you. He just wants you to apply yourself more."
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, shaking his head.
"So, where are you going?" Paloma asked, changing topics like a pro.
"I don't know yet." He looked up. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"
"I'm fine," she insisted. "You know, sometimes you are worse than your father!"
"Don't say that to mm, Momma. It hurts to my heart."
"Oh, hush you," she laughed, swatting a hand at him.
He chuckled a little and stood up. "I'll be back by curfew."
"Have fun, Sport." She waved a little and smiled until he was out of sight, then pressed a hand to her head as she sighed, "my poor baby."
The library was not a place one would think to find Grimm Reaper, but it was a place where Inuyasha often fled to. Mostly because it was the last place he would be found. It was open until nine on week nights, so he could hide out in the stacks for a few hours before slinking back into the house by way of the backdoor.
The library was a kind of sanctuary. The air smelled like books, fresh leather and paper and dust. The chairs that scattered the building were always comfortable and the nighttime librarians were always friendly. A few of them even knew his name and what his reading preference was. This was his secret place, and it was always a welcome relief from the rest of his life.
Inuyasha stuck his hands deep into the pockets of his long overcoat as he walked through the sliding doors, scanning the immediate area for any familiar faces from his school. No one was in sight, a blessing if he ever saw one, so he turned to the left and headed to the far corner where there were tables of free-access computers. He pulled the black floppy disk out of his pocket and headed to a vacant PC. The welcome screen clicked on, and he had to enter his library card number. Strangely enough, he knew it by heart, from many similar nights. He inserted the disk and opened one of the files saved on its memory. A Word document came up and he scanned to the bottom, to continue work. With a smirk, Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and began to type.
A few other people came and went to the computers around him, but no one bothered him. It was just as well, since he was in a world of his own. Indulging his secret passion.
"Excuse me," someone commented, placing a hand on his shoulder. Inuyasha jerked, taking his eyes off the computer screen for the first time in hours. His back hurt, his hands hurt, and his eyes were blurry, but he had nearly tripled the size of his file and the feeling of accomplishment was enough to make up for the cramps. Looking up, he saw one of the librarians from the Science Fiction department smiling at him. "The library is closing in ten minutes, Grimm. You should get your things together."
Inuyasha nodded and smiled. "Just give me a minute, Hannah." He hit the save button and ejected his disk.
"Working more on your novel?" the librarian asked, watching him with an amused look on her face. Hannah was young, and quite pretty. She was fresh out of graduate school and was very active in library affairs. It seemed that whenever Inuyasha wandered inside like a stray dog, Hannah was working the Sci-fi/Fantasy section, and would point him in the direction of a new, good read.
"Chapter 6 is nearly finished," he said with pride. "You still going to hook me up with your publisher friend?"
"When the finished product is in my hands," she grinned, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "I got a couple new books in this week. You want 'em?"
"Sure," Inuyasha agreed, getting to his feet as he logged off the computer. "I finished the last three, but I left them in my room. I'll bring them next time, scout's honor."
Hannah snorted as she headed back into her office. "Like you're a scout?"
"Yeah, well," Inuyasha stuttered as she shrugged and followed. "I promise at any rate."
"Okay then," she responded, shoving a stack of four hardcover novels into his arms. "Top is an opener for a new series. The bottom three are continuations. Let me know what you think, okay?"
"You got it," he said with a grin. "'Night, Han."
"Keep your nose clean, Grimm."
He waved a bit, carrying his new stash with him to the counter. His library card was attached to his key ring so it was an easy thing to get his books scanned and then he was off. The last one out of the building; same as always.
Inuyasha sat in his car in the library parking lot for a while. They never turned off the lights in the parking lot, even after the building was closed. He read for a while, letting himself be caught up in the adventures of brave dwarves and elegant vampires, and taken to far off planets on star cruisers. A world of fantasy so much better than his own.
He didn't head back for home until it was after midnight, when it began to snow. Inuyasha's little red Mazda was not built for snow travel, so he knew he better get back home before the roads got too slippery. He was a good driver, for all his daredevil antics. Cars were something he understood and could control, unlike so many other things in his life. The roar of a machine, the inner workings of a man-made creation...metal was easier to understand than flesh.
He wasn't surprised that the porch light was turned off when he pulled into the driveway. His father never left it on for him anymore.
Inuyasha stuffed the precious books under his coat as he got out of the car, making a run for the back gate. No one ever locked that, so he slipped through easily and headed for the back porch. The curtains were drawn over the sliding doors and, as he pulled on the handle, he found it was locked. With a sigh, Inuyasha justled around his books and fished out his keys. A couple years ago, his mother had made him get a duplicate of the house master key, for just such a situation.
Once the door was unlocked, he jumped inside and shook the snow from his hair as he locked it again. He placed his books down on the kitchen counter and shrugged out of his coat. The lights were off, though he could hear the television coming from the den. It looked as though the household had retired for the night, and he had no desire to awaken them. He kicked off his sneakers to leave them by the kitchen vent to dry, and padded toward the den. As expected, Rin was curled up on the couch, dozing peacefully.
Her brother sighed, and smiled. Then he walked into the room, shut off the television, and lifted his little sister into his arms.
She shifted and opened her dazed eyes. "Inuyasha?"
"You really shouldn't stay up til all hours of the night watching X-Files re-runs, squirt," he whispered, adjusting her comfortably as he headed up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Can't help it," she yawned, putting her arms around his neck. "Mulder is dreamy."
"Don't tell Dad that," he advised. "He'll get an ulcer." Inuyasha kicked the door to Rin's bedroom open, hitting the light switch with his shoulder, and carried her over to the pink canopy bed. Rin's room was a little girl's dream, full of stuffed animals and pink. Their father was perpetually trying to keep her at the girly age of seven. Inuyasha and Paloma had secretly been condoning her small acts of rebellion against this, of course, which was why Rin had Spiderman bed sheets and there were several boxes of comic books and video games hidden under her bed. "Here we are," Inuyasha announced, placing Rin down on her bed and pulling back the sheets for her.
"Thank you, Inuyasha," Rin yawned, snuggling down into her bed. "You're the best."
"I know," he nodded, tucking her in. "Go to sleep now."
Rin's hand shot out and grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve. "You know I won't go to sleep until you do it."
Inuyasha sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Aren't you too old for bedtime stories?"
"Aw, come on, Inuyasha!" she pleaded, sitting up. "Please?"
In a way, he was secretly pleased. Rin was his ever-eager audience. She was the only person he ever trusted enough to tell his stories to, his epic adventures and thrilling tales. It had begun when she was much younger, their mother would read to her before bed and Inuyasha was expected to whenever he babysat. It had started out as reading her books, but it soon Inuyasha had abandoned the books to act out the stories his own way. And soon, even familiar stories were tossed aside as he began to create his own. Rin had always loved his stories much more than any three bears garbage.
"Ok, ok," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What story should I tell you tonight?"
"Oh, tell me about the one with the half-demon," Rin pleaded. "The one where he falls in love with the mute girl who's under the evil spell."
"But I've told you that one a million times," he laughed. "What about the one with the three orphans who save the world. You said you liked the princess."
Rin wrinkled her nose. "Do you have anything new?"
"As a matter of fact," Inuyasha commented with a devious grin. "I have been working on a new one. I think you'd like it too."
"Tell me!" Rin demanded, settling into her pillows again, like a princess commanding the court fool to entertain her.
Inuyasha didn't mind, truly. He loved his little sister very much; he just didn't know how to express it. "Well, this tale takes place in a kingdom far, far away."
"Once upon a time?" Rin added, her big eyes wide awake now.
"Not so very long ago," he added. "There were two great kingdoms. One kingdom, an island nation called Center Sea, was filled with people who came from the sea. The ocean was part of them, part of their souls, and they were very good, wise people. But one day, their peaceful land was invaded by the Empire of the Forest, from across the sea, and thus their war began."
"You always have to throw some kind of war in the mix, don't you?" Rin asked.
"Do you want me to tell you the story?" her brother asked with mock severity.
"Well sorry," Rin said, pouting for a second before grinning again.
"As I was saying, before being interrupted, and rudely I might add," he said, hopping to his feet so he could pace, "there was a great war. The war ended when the princess of Center Sea agreed to marry the King of the Forest. When the princess came to live in the Realm of the Forest, she brought with her a single handmaiden, who was then promised to a strong knight of the Forest Army."
"So this story is about the handmaiden then, or the knight?" Rin asked, tilting her head. Her voice was becoming heavier with sleep.
"Actually, it's about their daughter," Inuyasha clarified. "She becomes the bodyguard to the daughter of the princess of the Forest."
"A girl bodyguard?" Rin asked with a yawn. "Sounds exciting."
"There is a lot of action and adventure in this story," Inuyasha said. He walked back to the bed and kissed Rin on the head. "I'll tell you more another night. Sleep now, spirit."
Rin nodded, closing her eyes. "Goodnight, Inuyasha."
He flicked off the lights to her room and closed the door. "Sleep well, Rin."
Midnight was Kagome's favorite time of day. Those soft, fragile hours between one day and the next, when the entire world was still. She loved the quiet and the peace that came at those hours. When she wasn't working, or studying, or taking care of her family or friends. When she was just able to sit and breathe.
That was the only thing she truly wanted for herself. She just wanted time and room to breathe, time she nearly never had.
Her brothers had fallen asleep on the couch with her as they entered their third movie, but she didn't wake them up until it was over. She had to wait until Val Kilmer saved the day, it was a must. But then she had herded them to their rooms and cleaned up the dishes and straightened everything up. Like she did every Friday night. Kaori wasn't due to return until four, the standard night shift at their town's only edible diner. So for the next few hours, Kagome was alone and had the house to herself.
After she had put away every dish and locked the front and back doors and put the DVDs in their respective cases, she headed up to her attic. First, she stopped to check in on her brothers. Their even breathing and occasional snore or murmur laid her nerves to rest. She turned off the hallway lights and ascended to her room.
Walking up the familiar stairs, she could remember coming up here as a child. Back when her bedroom had been her father's studio.
Oh, the hours she spent up here with him. There had been drop clothes spread across the floor, and the air forever smelled like paint and cleaner and markers. She remembered her father, standing in the very center of the room, sizing up the empty canvas in front of him. He had been handsome, of course. His dark hair was always long; he only held it back when he was working in the studio. His clothes were forever spattered with paint and smelled of chemicals, and her mother was always laughing about how he never had anything nice to wear.
Kagome remembered the days when she would sit in her father's studio with her own paints and tried to mimic his work. Even when he was working hard and would rather have been alone, the door to his studio was never closed. In fact, Kagome knew that her father loved her interest and talent in art. He would take her to museums and galleries with him, showing her different styles and techniques. They even planned for her to go to art school together. She was going to be the next Monet or Degas or Cassatt.
God, how she missed those days. Those times when she had loved her father more than anything else in the world. When he had loved her. But those days had been so very long ago, and even the innocence of those memories were tainted now with the seeds of her bitterness and hatred.
Kagome closed the door to her bedroom and moved toward her hammock, shedding clothing as she went. Her pajamas were laid out, and she dressed silently.
Her mind was back to the conversation she had with Inuyasha Reaper. So far, he had not said anything about what she had told him that afternoon when he had questioned her. She just felt it like a dark cloud hanging over her head, waiting for the hammer to fall on her, praying that it wouldn't. For the life of her, Kagome didn't know why he asked her those questions. What was even more disturbing was that she answered them, all of them, and honestly.
She had admitted to him, practically a stranger, what she had never dared to admit aloud before. She hugged herself to ward of the impending chill and gazed out the window at the falling snow.
It was strange, her time with Inuyasha Reaper. He was a paradox, one of the few people she just couldn't puzzle out. On the one hand, he was very much like Miroku. Fun-loving and free spirited, he acted out for attention, and he behaved like an idiot for the sheer joy of it. On the other hand, he was so damn smart. Not even just when it came to school. She was shocked that he needed a tutor when he could do all of the world practically flawlessly with little input from her. But he could read people, their feelings and intentions.
There were moments when he was almost nice to her, when he would get something wrong and brighten when he understood how it was done correctly. There were moments when he would gloat over getting everything right and there were times when he would get angry at having missed something. No matter what he was feeling, it played across his face and shone in his eyes. He was really very different from Sesshomaru, in a refreshing kind of way.
There were moments when she saw what Sango and Miroku saw in him, when she almost liked being around him. But then he'd pull some macho move, like calling her "wench" or telling her to "go back to the kitchen and make him a sandwich" where she would become completely disgusted. Every time he did that, it moved her back another step from thinking him tolerable.
If there was just some way she could understand him, understand what make him tick, then maybe it would be easier to be around him. For the sake of her sanity, and for the sake of her friendship with Miroku and Sango.
Kagome sighed, collapsing back on to her hammock and letting it sway back and forth, comforting her.
Her mind moved on to other things. Sango's eighteenth birthday was next weekend, and she was throwing a banner party for herself at Serpentine. Mid-terms started on Monday, and she really should study some more before then. She had to finish Sango's birthday present, preferably before the party. There was the mending of Kohaku's jeans, which had ripped again when he was in another fight with his brothers. She had to work tomorrow, most of the day, and Sunday too.
So much to do, so little time.
Like always.
In the quiet of the Higurashi home, Kagome lay on her bed and wished, not for the first time, that she could close her eyes and not open them anymore. That was just how tired she had truly become.
But, like always, she would never say a word to anyone.
Stasia wheeled the returns cart around the store, yawning a little as she placed DVDs back on the rack. She had picked up on Ayame's filing system pretty quickly, and had no trouble following it. She had opened the store by herself for the first time today, and felt proud that she had been able to handle things thus far. Kagome had come in at ten, and Ayame was due in at noon, and it looked to be a slow day considering the heavy snowfall now blanketing the town.
"You think anyone will brave the storm?" she called to Kagome who was sitting at the register.
"You'd be surprised," the other called back. She had delved into her "backpack o' fun" after first arriving and was now sitting there, knitting a scarf. "People will come in no matter the weather, to rent the dumbest stuff possible."
"And you'll sit there and knit the time away?"
Kagome laughed a little. "It's a present for my youngest brother. His birthday is the day before Valentine's day, but I figure this can be a pre-birthday gift."
"You act like a grandmother," Stasia laughed, wheeling the cart back to the front.
"I can embroider, too," Kagome laughed. "I'm a fashion major."
"That must be so exciting," the other girl sighed, lifting herself up to sit on the counter. "I don't really know what I want to do yet. Maybe something to do with creative writing or English."
"I've always known I'd do something art-related," Kagome confessed, her sticks moving quickly. The radio behind her softly played one of Sango's new cds she had burned for Kagome. Songs inspired by the Narnia books. "My father was an artist. Mom says it's in the blood."
"Was your father famous?" Stasia asked innocently.
Kagome regretted bringing it up, but more and more, her father was on her mind. It was almost five years now...since he had left. "Yes," she replied politely. "His art sold well enough for us to live comfortably."
"Do you do any art besides fashion stuff?"
"Sometimes," Kagome nodded. "I draw a lot of cartoons for my friend, Sango. And for my brothers."
"You'll have to show me one day," Stasia said.
Kagome was about to answer when the doors to the video store flew open. Ayame, laughing and snow-covered ran inside, following closely by Kouga, as coated in the fluffy white stuff as she was. They attempted to brush themselves off, but couldn't stop laughing long enough.
"What happened here?" Kagome asked, putting her knitting aside.
"He offered to take me to work," Ayame giggled, elbowing Kouga in the side.
"I was trying to be a good boyfriend," he defended, finger-combing the snow from his hair. "How was I to know that she would insist we walk?"
"It's a beautiful, snowy day," Ayame declared. "I wanted to walk the virgin-powdered sidewalks."
"Bullshit," Kouga howled. "You just wanted to plow me into the snow."
"That too," she laughed.
"Yuck," Kagome said to Stasia while wrinkling her nose. "They are disgustingly cute today."
"Tell me about it." Stasia hopped off the counter. "Well, back to work then. Don't track snow everywhere Ayame."
"Why don't you come over here and say that," the red-head threatened. She didn't look very intimidating, with her hair full of snowflakes and her nose all red from the cold.
"No fighting," Kagome prompted. Then she waved. "Hi, Kouga."
"Hi, Kagome," he waved back. "You're lookin' good."
"Same to you," she said with a wink. "How's life going for you?"
"Pretty good," he nodded. "Now that football season is over, I'm looking forward to spicing up this year's baseball games."
"The Fighting Frogs need you," she encouraged.
"I know," he nodded. "Without my brilliant leadership and rousing speeches, they'd suck even more than they do now."
"Fight the good fight."
"You too." They nodded and he grinned. "Well, I'm off again. I've got to get to work myself."
"Bye!" Stasia called from the back, and Kagome waved from the counter. Ayame gave him a quick kiss before he departed back into the snow.
Ayame straighten her clothes and hair, then smiled at her co-workers. "So, what I miss?"
"Nothing much," Kagome told her, going back to her knitting. "It's been slow."
"Awesome!" Ayame jumped the counter and turned up the volume of the store radio, filling the store with music.
"If the boss finds out about this..." Kagome warned, grabbing her hand.
"You think Old Man Montgomery is going to come out in this just to yell at us about music?" Ayame asked, then just smiled. "Relax, Kagome. Things'll be fine."
The music filled the store, drawing Stasia out from the racks of bad movies to dance around the open floor in front of the register. Ayame hopped over and joined her. Together they danced about, twirling and dipping, the tango and cha-cha. Kagome laughed and relaxed a bit. How could anyone not in such a place?
"Come on," Ayame beckoned from the floor. "You only live once."
Kagome grinned sheepishly, then put her knitting back in her bag before hopping over the counter and joining them on the floor. The three video store workers danced around their empty store, through the aisles and around the candy display case. The three of them were having so much fun that they didn't stop after one song, or two, or even three. They kept dancing until a costumer walked through the doors and stood there, staring for about five minutes.
Kagome noticed him first. And, as her luck would have it, it had to be the one person in the world she would never want to find her dancing around in the video store.
Inuyasha didn't comment as he took a few further steps into the store. Kagome had ducked back behind the register, turning down the music to a reasonable level. Stasia returned to her cart and Ayame hid out in the back of the store, checking the returns list in case she had to make a call or two regarding late fees.
He browsed among the video games for a few minutes before picking one out and heading to the register. Kagome didn't say anything as she rang it up. He cleared his throat once, then looked up at her with a smirk. "You guys do that often in here?"
"Not as often as we talk on the phone," she said crossly. "$6.50, please."
"I'm not picking a fight with you," he commented, fishing the cash out of his wallet. "It was an innocent question."
"No," she replied. "You've been our first costumer today, and since we're snowbound and bored...we didn't have anything better to do."
"Oh," he said with a nod. "Well, have a good day then." Video game in hand, he turned to leave.
Kagome was struck with a sudden onslaught of guilt. He had only been polite to her and she had bit his head off. "Have you been studying?" she blurted out. He turned and pinned her with a questioning glance. "For midterms," she finished lamely.
"A little," he admitted. "I've actually been doing other things this weekend." He left it open to interpretation because he doubted she'd believe the truth. Rin's midnight Mulder marathons had caught up with her, and now she was in bed with the flu. He'd spent the better part of the day regaling her with his latest fantasy adventure. Now he rented the video game for her, so she could do something other than lay around in bed.
"The math's been giving me trouble," she admitted. "You should watch out for it."
"I can handle it," Inuyasha scoffed. "But you should probably hit the books more."
Kagome huffed. "Have fun playing your video game, Inuyasha."
For some reason, he grinned at her. "I'm sure I will. See you Monday."
"Yeah."
Once he was gone, Ayame raced out from the back room, and Stasia also slithered back over to the counter. "Okay," Ayame said, "dish."
"What?"
"You just had an interface with a total fox," the red-head stated, fanning herself a bit. "I'm surprised he doesn't melt snow."
Kagome laughed. "I tutor him. And trust me, he's not usually this pleasant."
"You tutor him," Stasia asked, wide-eyed. "That's the reason you cut hours? Wow, I can see why."
"It's nothing like that," Kagome denied. "I've got a boyfriend, if you recall."
"So?" Ayame asked. Kagome blinked at her, but saw she was being sincere.
"Ayame!"
"What? You wouldn't consider cheating if it was with a choice piece of ass like that?"
"I'd never cheat," Kagome said in all seriousness. "I value loyalty over anything else in a relationship."
Ayame just rolled her eyes. "Are you saying you wouldn't dump your boyfriend for that? Are you human? Are you female?"
"No. Yes. And yes."
"Can I have him then?" Stasia asked, eyes still lingering on the doorway. "I promise to take good care of him."
"Give me five minutes, an empty closet, and a jar of peanut butter," Ayame commented, licking her lips.
"Eh, you both disgust me," Kagome commented, closing the register and shaking her head.
"Now, you can't honestly tell me that you don't find him attractive," Ayame finally sighed in aggravation. "That I just won't believe."
"He...is not so bad to look at," Kagome admitted. "But he has negative traits that far exceed what little advantage his looks give him."
"Honey," the other two girls said, shaking their heads. "No one is that bad."
Kagome laughed and shook her head. "He's not for me," she replied, settling back into her chair.
Inuyasha stood on the front porch, hands in his pockets, boots on his feet, watching the snow continue to fall.
His breath hung in the air around him, as visible as the icicle that hung above his head, but the cold didn't affect him. It never really did. That was why he loved winter so much. Because it was so quiet when the snow fell, it was like the beginning of the world, before people ran everywhere and ruined everything. Whenever it snowed, and covered the world, it was so pure and fresh. It was like nothing bad or evil could affect it.
He hesitated about entering the house.
Sesshomaru and Tahmores were locked in their respective offices, working on things regarding the newspaper and its upcoming 20th anniversary edition. Any little noise would set them off. Inuyasha didn't want to enter the house because he knew he would make that noise, and set them off. He always did. And, as always, he would be the one they took out their frustration on. Because that was all Inuyasha was good for, a stress-reliever.
He didn't contribute to their beloved newspaper, and took no interest in it, therefore, he was nothing.
The truth of that stopped hurting him years ago, when he first realized it.
There had been a few minutes when he had thought about walking over to Miroku's trailer, to maybe spend the night with the two Yuki men, but thought better of it. Miroku was probably cramming for Mid-terms tomorrow, if school wasn't called off on account of snow. In all truth, he would rather be over there studying, than sitting in this house just waiting to be pounced on.
Home had stopped being a happy place for Inuyasha years ago, but no one would believe it if he said anything. He was a Reaper kid, loaded, wanting for nothing. There was no way he could be unhappy, with a face like his and a checkbook to match. There was no way the crazy, wise-cracking Grimm Reaper could be miserable with his life. It was something else he knew, understood, and accepted.
This was life. Better get used to it and move on quick.
Rin was inside, still sick, curled up with their mother in their parents' bed. The two Reaper women were either watching some Sunday Night drama, or asleep. There would be no salvation from them. The library closed early on Sundays, so there would be no point going there either. All the usual haunts were closed, and all the unusual ones, too.
Inuyasha took a deep breath and moved out into the snowy front yard. The snow was over his ankle now, and getting higher, but the streets were clear. The air was so thick, he could barely hear the car moving on the next street over. All the trees and their branches were coated in ice, and shimmered in the dim lamplight. Winter surrounded him with it's cold, silver-white arms. But it was no wonderland, not here. Not for Inuyasha.
Tilting his head upwards, he closed his eyes and felt the snow flutter around him. Each flake like an icy kiss to his skin. Cold, like pain, made him remember he was alive.
He thought about Miroku, who had no mother or sibling or house of his own. He and his father barely had two pennies to rub together. They lived off the barest amount they could to save up for a new house. To make up for the one that had consumed their home and memories. All they had was each other, and even though they didn't always agree, they always would.
He thought about Sango, who had once had a father she adored, who was now dead. She hardly ever spoke of him, except in small anecdotes that would make an unbearable sadness film over her eyes. She adored her absentee mother, who seemed to care more about making her step-children love her than whether her own daughter was loved or not. He thought about how Sango had been tormented by her step-sisters growing up, and had to learn to be tough in order to survive.
He thought about Kagome, who had to look after three little brothers because her father took off to New York. Something that obviously caused her a great deal of pain, but fed her strength and endurance.
They were people much worse off than himself. He thought about them, and forced himself to stop his pitying mood. He thought about them and vowed to be stronger. To not become like the Montgomery family, who cared only for themselves.
Inuyasha let out a deep breath and let himself fall backwards into the snow, not caring that it would melt through his trench coat or get his hair wet so that he dripped when he went into the house. He smiled with his eyes closed and made a snow angel. He remembered when he and Sesshomaru were young and used to play in the snow together, before his brother became bogged down into a mini-version of their father. He taught Rin the basics of snowplay, but she was so much like Sesshomaru sometimes, he despaired of her hanging on to her childhood very long.
For some reason, he thought about Kagome Higurashi, dancing around the video store with the other two girls. Her hair had spilled across her face and her smile reached her eyes. He had never seen her smile so innocently before, like she hadn't a care in the world. He had the feeling she didn't do it often.
She had been edgy around him since he asked his questions, not that he blamed her. He had gone in there with a simple plan. He had wanted to annoy her, and more importantly, make her give enough away about herself that she wouldn't feel the need to lord over him the fact that he needed a tutor. In the end, he had asked her a great deal of useless questions, and a lot of personal ones that should have gotten him a good dose of pepper-spray to the eyes.
The evil part of him, and there was a very deep, dark corner of his heart that was forever filled with anger and hatred, delighted in the fact that she didn't love Hojo. It was very obvious to all that Hojo was head over heels for his perfect little girlfriend. He could have quite a bit of fun at Hojo's expense over this piece of information. But another part of him, the side of reason and logic which had much been ignored over the past few years, told him that no good would come of his mixing with the love affairs of Kagome Higurashi and Hojo Montgomery.
At the same time, it was like a scab. If he didn't pick at it, and left it alone, it would heal on its own and there would be no harm or foul toward him. But Inuyasha had never been the kind of person who left a scab alone. He picked at it, picked at everything, because he had always been picked at by other people.
Inuyasha, never good enough for anyone's expectations but his own.
He rose up from the snow and shook out his coat, then headed back toward the house. It was getting late and he probably had school in the morning. It was better he just get the lecture, insults, and impending fight over with so he could just go to bed. He looked back at the snow one more time as he reached the door, and thought about Kagome again. This time, he wondered what she would think if he told her that he lived in an overly-tidy room and read just about any book he could get his hands on.
She would probably laugh. Anyone else would.