Sorry about the slow update, I admit I've rather neglected this story. Plus my computer screen has gone bright purple because of the faulty bulb in the monitor, so I'm finding it extremely difficult to stop my eyes watering. Thank you Lady Kagewaki, Viperthe strange, animefan3214, and umineko san for your reviews!
Disclaimer: Yes! Wait….No.
Chapter 4: Crime and Punishment
Inuyasha tiptoed quietly into Sesshoumaru's room early that morning; in his hands he held a large plastic bucket, full to the brim with ice cold water. He grinned mischievously as he crept closer to the figure underneath the bed sheets. He couldn't wait to see the look on his brother's face when he found himself drenched with freezing cold water, he suppressed a laugh at the very thought. Inuyasha neared himself to the bed with great care and placed his hand underneath the bucket to tip it over the sleeping demon's head.
"Don't even think about it."
Inuyasha yelped and lost his grip on the bucket causing it to crash down onto the carpet covered floor, and the icy water spilt everywhere, mainly on top of Inuyasha's bare feet. Inuyasha hopped on the spot in an attempt to warm his feet up but only made it worse by slipping on the wet carpet and landing on his backside.
Sesshoumaru emerged from his den of bed covers and stared down at the mess that Inuyasha had made of his perfect carpet.
"You are going to clean that." He growled. Inuyasha grimaced and slowly got to his feet, rubbing the sore spot of his body on which he had landed.
"How the hell did you know I was gonna do that?" Inuyasha asked irritably. Sesshoumaru merely glanced at him as he sat on the edge of his bed.
"I don't need to tell you anything." He replied. Inuyasha was a baka if he thought he could play pranks on a demon like Sesshoumaru. A real baka. Sesshoumaru had anticipated this kind of action the previous night and had been awake for hours to humour his idiotic little brother. And Inuyasha's cackles along with the sound of running water from the tap in the kitchen only confirmed Sesshoumaru's suspicions.
Just then a door slammed and little feet were heard scampering along the narrow corridor accompanied by the sound of a child's giggling. Suddenly Rin entered Sesshoumaru's room, jumped over the wet area on the carpet and dived into his bed. She squealed happily as she bounced around and immediately threw herself at Sesshoumaru causing him to fall back with a grunt into his pillows on impact. Rin laughed happily as Sesshoumaru lifted her effortlessly off his chest.
"G'morning, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She cried. Sesshoumaru nodded in reply and straightened himself into a sitting position and as soon as he did he caught sight of Inuyasha's face and the smirk he had plastered over it. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously and thought of a way to punish his half brother for both the foolish prank he tried to play and for the way he was silently making fun of the situation with Rin.
"Rin, go and get ready. Inuyasha's going to take you to school today."
The expression was instantly wiped off the hanyou's face. "Wha-?"
"Yay!" Rin squealed and dashed out of Sesshoumaru's room. She was soon heard to be getting dressed and stuffing things into her small pack.
Inuyasha was thrown an old rag by Sesshoumaru. "Get cleaning."
The rag hit Inuyasha in the face. "What the hell? I ain't cleanin' no damn…" But after spotting the fierce I'm-in-no-mood-for-shit look on his big brother's face, he hastily dropped to his knees and began scrubbing the spot of wet carpet. He grumbled to himself as he worked.
"Why the hell do I have ta take the brat to the park! She's your kid!…kinda.!" Inuyasha growled. Sesshoumaru pulled off his nightshirt and stood up from the bed, getting to his closet to pick out his clothes.
"It's her first day of school today and it seems you've done more than enough to earn this job." He said, without turning to look at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha stopped scrubbing and glowered. Sesshoumaru shut the closet door and covered his bare chest with a pale blue shirt and did up the buttons. He stared back at Inuyasha and said pointedly,
"That carpet will not clean itself."
Inuyasha resumed his scrubbing and mumbling. Rin had already skipped to the kitchen and was making herself some toast. She hummed a little tune as she spread jam on with a knife.
Sesshoumaru finished getting dressed and proceeded to explain the rules. He paced the room as he said them with his hands clasped behind his back giving the impression of a superior handing out instructions to an employee. Inuyasha listened begrudgingly.
"…You are to stay by her side at all times, if any child mocks her you shall defend her, the same goes to parents but keep in mind that they are not to be clawed to death. No foul language, no violent behaviour and…ah, yes," Sesshoumaru's voice lowered an octave, "If I find any sign that Rin has been hurt, I will have your head for it."
Inuyasha knew that his brother wouldn't stoop so low as to actually kill him but such was the threat that lingered in the air, Inuyasha found himself reluctantly agreeing to Sesshoumaru's demands, he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Whatever."
Sesshoumaru walked towards the door, sidestepping the area of carpet and Inuyasha, who was squatting beside the plastic bucket. He was about to leave the room but he paused for a moment and turned to his hanyou brother.
"Oh, and one more thing-"
"There's more?" Inuyasha said incredulously. Sesshoumaru nodded at a wet stain on the carpet, "You missed a spot."
Inuyasha gasped loudly, and Sesshoumaru knew that he had successfully pissed off his brother for the morning; he turned and walked out the door. Inuyasha threw down his rag as he scrambled to his feet, he launched himself at Sesshoumaru and he would have made it too if the door hadn't have been slammed in his face.
Sesshoumaru smirked as he heard a thump and an 'Ow, my freakin' nose!' as he made his way to the kitchen.
Rin finished her breakfast and was sitting in the comfy sofa, her legs swinging over the edge because she was too small to reach the floor. Beside her sat a small, pink rucksack containing all the materials she would need for her first day of school. Sesshoumaru entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. He took out a small, plastic container that held Rin's lunch and he went to put it in her pack. Rin caught a whiff of what it was and smiled broadly. Sesshoumaru began to check the mail and Inuyasha stumbled into the living room, hitching up his red cargo pants and straightening the cap he wore on his head.
"Ready?" Inuyasha said gruffly. Rin shot off the sofa with her rucksack and was at his side.
"YES!" She cried excitedly. Inuyasha mumbled to himself as he left the apartment, catching a glimpse of the smirk on Sesshoumaru's face and then looking down at Rin who was currently running around him time and time again.
"Could ya stop that already?" Inuyasha growled. Rin stopped and went back at his side again, smiling sweetly at him.
"We're going to have so much fun, Inu-chan!" She said. Inuyasha stared at her.
"Whaddya mean we're gonna have fun? I just gotta drop ya off at yer school." He said.
Rin's eyes widened and she shook her head. "no, Inu-chan, all the parents have to be with their kids until midday! You going to stay and play with me!" Rin said happily. Inuyasha's eye began to twitch.
That bastard Sesshoumaru didn't mention that! I'm gonna MURDER him! Yes I will! I'm gonna grab him by his pretty hair and stuff that stupid pretty face of his down the crap hole! Yeah! And then I'll-
"Inu-chan? Why has your face gone all red?" Rin's voice snapped him back from his daydream.
"I…er…uh, I'm just so…happy to be able ta spend the day with ya." He said through gritted teeth.
They arrived at Rin's school and began to cross the playground, Rin leading the way because Inuyasha obviously didn't know where to go. It was filling up with children and their parents, some of them turning to stare at Inuyasha, wondering how such a sweet girl ended up in his care. Inuyasha pulled down his cap self consciously and began to think how Sesshoumaru must have dealt with all this. Of course, they were all probably too scared stiff of him for him to actually bother. Rin was scampering ahead, occasionally waving to her friends and pulling Inuyasha along by his arm.
A football appeared from nowhere and hit Rin's arm, knocking her down to the ground. Inuyasha gasped and ran over to see if she was okay, Rin sat up and looked at him with tearful eyes, her bottom lip quivering. Inuyasha grabbed at his hair and growled in anguish.
"Oh man, Rin…c'mon don't cry. Ah jeez…okay, lemme see yer arm." Inuyasha said. Rin held out her small arm and Inuyasha inspected the place where a bruise was now forming. Rin began to whimper.
Inuyasha made flapping gestures to try and shush her, but she continued with added sniffing.
"Rin, c'mon man! Ah crap, I'm gonna DIE!" he said despairingly. He ran a claw through his hair, forgetting that his cap was on his head, causing it to fall off the top of his head, exposing his dog ears for all to see. Rin caught sight of them and immediately stopped whimpering and laughed tearfully. Inuyasha's ears were pressed down to his head, a sign that he was miserable or nervous. Inuyasha sighed with relief and began to grin, wiggling his ears and making Rin squeal with laughter.
"Hey mister dog man, did my ball pass this way?"
Inuyasha ceased grinning instantly and spotted a small, black haired boy sanding behind him. He growled.
"It sure did, and it hit this girl!" He yelled, pointing at Rin. The little boy gulped.
"I'm sorry, mister, I didn't mean to hit her!" He squeaked, noticing the sharp claws and fangs of this funny looking dog man. He took a step back. Inuyasha picked up his cap and placed it on top of his head after seeing the boy stare at his ears.
"You better be more careful! My life is at stake here, man!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Yes sir! I promise I won't ever play soccer again!" The boy cried.
"Souta, what's going on here?"
Both Inuyasha and the boy turned in the direction of the voice. A girl was stomping over; she had chocolate brown eyes, raven black hair and a furious expression.
"Nothing sis!" Souta said, nervously looking at Inuyasha. The girl scowled.
"And just why were you yelling at my little brother?" She asked angrily.
"He hit that girl with his football! You should learn to control yer siblin's!" Inuyasha shouted.
"It seems obvious that you weren't looking after that girl very well, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten hurt!" She shot back.
"What? Your brother knocks over the girl with his football an' it's my fault?" he cried incredulously.
"It looks that way to me!" She replied. Inuyasha's mouth opened and closed. He was so angry that his vocal chords refused to function.
"Now if you'll just apologise to my brother for scaring the life out of him, and to me for speaking so rudely, we'll be off." She said, placing her hands on her hips. Inuyasha spluttered with rage.
"APOLOGISE? WHAT THE HELL?" he gestured at Rin, who had by this time picked herself off from the floor, "I…AM…GOING…TO…DIE! MY BROTHER WILL REMOVE MY HEAD FROM MY SHOULDERS…VERY SLOWLY…IF HE FINDS HIS WARD HAS BEEN INJURED!" He screamed.
The girl merely stared at him and stuck her nose in the air. "And what's that got to do with me?"
Inuyasha threw up his hands in frustration, "GAAAAH!"
The girl flounced off, pulling her brother along with her and leaving Inuyasha yelling his protests.
"Hey wench! We ain't finished yet!" He cried, but she didn't seem to hear him. He tried to gain control of his breathing and looked at Rin.
"Let's go inside shall we?" Inuyasha said in a tone that was shaking with anger. Rin smiled and grabbed her rucksack from the floor and took his hand.
Ooo
Nanae got back to her apartment just as Makis was getting up and they greeted each other as they passed, Nanae to the bathroom and Makis to the kitchen.
Nanae grabbed a towel and let the warm water run from the tap in the bath. We need to get a shower installed, she thought. She heard the tinkle of cups in the kitchen where Makis was making coffee. Makis was never one for healthy eating and fitness regimes, she preferred coffee and doughnuts while Nanae chose fresh fruit and mineral water yet Makis never seemed to gain an ounce of weight.
Nanae poured in a little lavender scented bubble bath and stirred the water around with her hand to check its temperature. She undressed and slid into the bath, sighing contently as the warmth eased her aching muscles. She shouldn't have pushed herself too hard today; she jogged for almost a mile before realising what time it was. Her legs were sore when she finally got back to the apartment and had decided on a nice hot bath to soothe her strained muscles. She didn't regret her decision. She dipped her head under the water and resurfaced, running her fingers through her hair to get the tangles out. She lay back and relaxed for a while; her thoughts lingering on a dream she'd had the night before. It was a dream that had repeated itself in her sleep many times and she couldn't understand why, maybe it was stress, or nerves but it still confused her. Nanae was beginning to doze off when the clatter of dishes being washed in the sink brought her back to her senses. She lifted an arm out of the water and reached for her towel and she slowly got out of the bath. She pulled out the plug and watched the frothy water swirl round and round before disappearing down the plug hole with a final gurgle. She wrapped the towel around her body, grabbed her jogging clothes and went to her bedroom. Makis was watching TV in the sitting room with the volume turned down low because it was still too early for the neighbours.
Nanae closed the door of her bedroom and stared at herself in the full length mirror that hung behind it. She removed her towel and began to scrutinise herself. She was slim and toned due to all the morning jogs but she was also fully formed. She didn't know if she was pretty, she had never been told. She only liked her grey-blue eyes because she believed they held everything she had ever felt in her whole life. She stared at her own body. She often felt jealous of Makis' figure, Makis had the typical Barbie doll body and even though Nanae was curvy, it was just that Makis was curvier. Nanae tended to be modest and discreet about her body, always wearing casual clothes that didn't reveal any part of her, while Makis seemed to show off almost every pore. Slinky and sexy were the words to best describe Makis' wardrobe and she had tried to persuade Nanae to buy some clothes for a 'fun night out' and had succeeded, but Nanae refused to go anywhere with those clothes. She had always preferred the quiet night in with a good book or a decent movie and Makis often left the apartment to go and have a wild time in a club recommended by boys she'd met in a coffee shop. It was always like that and Nanae had gotten used to it already.
Nanae dressed and went to join Makis in the sitting room.
"Nanae, when are you gonna call the repair guy for the washing machine? My pile of clothes is growing." Makis said. Nanae slapped her forehead.
"Damn! I forgot. Ah, I'll have to phone later then." She paused. "Whose turn is it to go to the Laundromat?"
Makis gazed at her sympathetically. "Yours, I'm afraid"
Nanae groaned and let her head fall back upon the sofa. "Damnit. I'll go tomorrow."
Makis suddenly sat up straight and tapped Nanae on the shoulder. "Hey, I'll tell you what! Why don't we have a girl's day out! You know, have lunch at Wacdonalds, and go for a good wander around the shops? Eh?" she said excitedly. Nanae shrugged and Makis squealed happily.
"I'm gonna go and get changed!" she said and she dashed off to her room. Nanae waited patiently for her friend. She wondered how this day would turn out, would she come back to the apartment alone again or will she have someone for company? She sighed.
"Ready! Let's go!"
Nanae trudged after Makis, not feeling as entirely happy as she was supposed to be.
Ooo
The phone rang back at Sesshoumaru's apartment. As he went to answer it he caught a glimpse of the looming dark clouds overhead and he smirked, knowing exactly where Inuyasha would be if it were to rain. He picked up the black cordless phone.
"Sesshoumaru." He said. It was better than saying 'hello'.
"Hello, Sesshoumaru…it's me." purred a female voice on the other line. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh.
"Emi. What is it now?"
"Aw, must you speak to your girlfriend in that manner? I only wanted to know what you were doing." She said in a mock hurt tone.
"And now you know."
"Silly, you haven't told me what you were doing." She said. This time Sesshoumaru did sigh.
"What is it you want Emi?" he demanded.
"I just feel so lonely here by myself…and I'm cold too. Won't you come over and warm me up?" She said seductively.
"I am not some domesticated animal that obeys your every beck and call." Sesshoumaru told her coldly.
"I'm sorry…I've been a naughty girl. I should be punished." She purred. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes.
"Goodbye Emi." He said and he hung up. He was in no mood to put up with Emi's nonsense. She was worse than a dog in heat in his opinion. Sesshoumaru sat down on the sofa. He looked over his shoulder to stare at the pile of clothes in the corner that would soon need to be laundered. He turned and gazed out the window at the gathering clouds. He glanced down at his watch and smirked…it was midday.
Ooo
"…And when I opened my lunch container I saw the Korokke Sesshoumaru-sama made for me so I ate it and it was tasty and then I went back in and the teacher said we were gonna do finger painting and it was really fun when you helped me and got paint all over your clothes…"
Inuyasha growled quietly as he trudged along the street with Rin skipping along beside him chattering non-stop about her day, even though he had been with her through the whole of it. He was amazed at how such a small child could say so many words in one breath. He gazed down at his t-shirt which was covered in yellow and green finger paint. Rin had not one smudge on her uniform because of the overall she had been provided with but Inuyasha, as her guardian, wasn't so lucky.
"…And when I get home I'm gonna show Sesshoumaru-sama the picture I did of him and I hope he likes it because he always like artsy stuff and then I'm gonna…"
Inuyasha groaned and massaged his temple. Rin had indeed painted a picture of Sesshoumaru; it was mostly white hair and a gigantic crescent moon that took up most of the face and two blobs of yellow for eyes. She had also done one of Inuyasha but it was only half the size of her painting of Sesshoumaru. She had painted Inuyasha as a big, flesh coloured blob with masses of white hair and two white triangles that flew in the air, just above his head.
"…yeah and then…um, Inu-chan?"
Inuyasha looked down at her. "What?"
"I just felt a drop of water on my nose."
He stared at her in confusion and then gazed up at the dangerously dark clouds above. There was a distant rumble of thunder. Dread began to creep over the hanyou. He picked up the pace and Rin had to run to keep up with him. Then the heavens let loose their deluge.
"Crap!"
Inuyasha grabbed Rin's hand and pulled her along, while she hastily folded her paintings and struggled to put them in her pack one handed. Lifted his head up to the sky and shook his fist at the clouds.
"Sesshoumaru put you up to this didn't he?" he yelled.
Ooo
Nanae and Makis burst into Wacdonalds just as the rain began to pour down outside. They panted and tried to catch their breath as they walked shakily to a table. The plonked into their seats and giggled as they caught sight of their reflections in the restaurant's window. Nanae tidied herself up a bit and wished she'd brought a hairbrush with her.
They both had cheeseburgers for lunch and shared a portion of fries. Nanae leaned back in her seat and patted her full stomach, sighing happily. Makis finished off the last of her soda and smacked her lips.
"Ahh. That was nice. How about a coffee?"
Nanae gawped at her incredulously. "Coffee? We just finished eating, Makis!"
Makis blinked and remained indifferent. "Yeah, so?"
Nanae opened her mouth to reply but she was too full and too lazy to say a word. She merely shrugged and gestured for Makis to go ahead. Makis used the table for support to lift herself from her seat but she soon plonked back down again.
"I'll get it later." She mumbled and she rested against the back of her seat. Nanae giggled. She looked around the restaurant and watched the people in it bustle around getting their food. Her eyes swept over towards the counter and locked with those of a brown haired guy in black jeans standing there, ordering his meal. She blinked rapidly and looked elsewhere, but as she glanced back at him, she found he was still staring.
"What are you ogling at?" Makis piped, looking in the same direction. "Oooh! He's cute!"
Nanae shushed her and shot a fleeting look at the guy at the counter and her stomach made a back flip when she saw him walking towards their table.
"Hi."
"Hi." Nanae replied, flushing a little. Makis immediately sat up straight and smiled at him sweetly.
"Hi!" Makis said, her eyelashes fluttering provocatively. The guy stared at her as if he had been granted the gift of sight for the first time. He scooted over to her side and sat down beside her.
"So, what's your name?" He asked. Makis giggled girlishly and answered him.
"Makis, eh? I'm Kiyuu. Can I get you a coffee or something?" he offered. Makis nodded and smiled and he got up to order a cup. Nanae slid as far down in her seat as possible and sighed. Makis waggled her eyebrows at her and mouthed 'wow'.
Of course, he would choose Makis. She's pretty, funny, blah, blah, blah,Nanae thought bitterly, I'm so stupid to think anyone would go for me.
Ooo
Sesshoumaru smirked when Inuyasha burst into the apartment soaking wet, dragging a hyper Rin along after him. They were covered in muddy splodges and, in Inuyasha's case, paint. Rin ran towards Sesshoumaru to hug him but he held out his hand to stop her and pointed to her bedroom. Rin nodded, understanding his gestures as a silent command for her to get changed into clean, dry clothes. She made to skip off but Sesshoumaru grabbed her elbow in one sudden movement. He inspected her arm closely and noticed it was bruising. Inuyasha crept silently to his room hoping he wouldn't be seen.
"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said calmly. Inuyasha winced and stopped dead in his tracks.
"What happened to her arm, may I ask?" He enquired, his tone even.
"Uhhhhh…."
"I-I-I fell down, Sesshoumaru-sama. In the playground." Rin said, hanging her head in supposed shame and glancing nervously at Inuyasha at the same time. Inuyasha suppressed a sigh. He was surprised at Rin and also thankful but he knew it was useless, Sesshoumaru could smell a lie off anyone, anywhere.
Rin lifted her head to see Sesshoumaru's expression and his eyes bored into hers, expecting her to tell the truth. She stayed silent and held her breath. He let go of her arm.
"Very well. Go." He told her, not letting on for one moment that he hadn't believed her. Rin scampered off to her room to change. Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha and watched him closely. Inuyasha stared back in defiance.
"How did it happen…the truth this time." Sesshoumaru demanded. Inuyasha shrugged.
"It was like she said." He said hotly. He turned his head to avoid Sesshoumaru's cold glaring eyes.
"I see."
Inuyasha dared himself to breathe a sigh of relief and he looked at his brother, who was now staring at the kitchen counter.
"It seems, Inuyasha, that you weren't watching over her well enough. You know what this means."
Inuyasha gulped but he tried not to look anxious, instead he clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. He still couldn't help thinking, Awww, man…he's gonna kill me!
Sesshoumaru strode towards him and stopped, leaving about two inches of space between them.
"No, I'm not going to kill you," He said, grim amusement in his tone. Inuyasha let surprise flutter over his face, had he read his mind?
"I don't care what ya do bastard, it can't hurt me." Inuyasha growled. Sesshoumaru's lip quirked.
"You don't care what I'll do?" He asked, his eyes boring into the hanyou's.
"No way!"
Sesshoumaru smirked and turned his back on him, making his way to the kitchen.
"Very well then. You will not be having any dinner." Sesshoumaru told him, watching his expression carefully. Inuyasha's mouth dropped open for a moment but he soon snapped back into his usual defiant self and crossed his arms, pouting.
"Keh! That the best you can do? Yer losing yer touch bastard!" he said. He slowly turned his head to look at his brother.
"What are you making?" he asked in a small voice.
"Oden." Sesshoumaru replied simply.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Oden?"
Sesshoumaru nodded and smirked.
"With…with daikon radish?" Inuyasha asked apprehensively. Sesshoumaru nodded again. Inuyasha's mouth began to water.
"And..and-and those little fish cakes?"
"Yes." Sesshoumaru replied amusedly.
"And, and…karashi?" he said shakily.
"Of course."
Inuyasha groaned and swallowed the pools of saliva that threatened to dribble out of his mouth.
"And…." He lowered his voice to a whisper, "and… konnyaku?"
"Correct."
Inuyasha slapped his forehead and cried out in despair. Sesshoumaru's expression remained impassive but had he been human, his sides would have split already with laughter. Inuyasha trudged to his bedroom to get change and grumbled curses he knew Sesshoumaru would hear, along the way. Inuyasha entered his room and closed the door, then he began to get changed.
He should have watched Rin more closely. And if it hadn't been for that stupid wench back then…he sighed, it was no use thinking about that now. He wasn't getting any dinner. The thought sunk in properly. Inuyasha growled. He may hate living with his older brother, but there was one teensy weensy advantage. Sesshoumaru's food. He was a fantastic cook even though he didn't eat any of it himself. Sure, he would taste it to see how it was coming along but that was about it. Inuyasha groaned again and threw himself onto his bed. Oden was one of his favourites, other than Ramen, and the way Sesshoumaru prepared it…Inuyasha's mouth watered, he could almost smell it. He checked his watch. Only two hours till dinner.
Ooo
Nanae trekked up the stairs to reach her apartment, put the key in the lock and opened the door. She dropped the keys onto the small table and went to the kitchen to grab a snack before going to her shelf and taking out a romance novel. She made herself comfortable on the sofa and began to read, taking bites of a chocolate bar every now and then. She turned the pages. The kitchen clock ticked and the tap dripped but no sound caused her concentration to falter. But her own thoughts did. Makis had gone off with Kiyuu, the guy from Wacdonalds and he had offered to take her out to a club. That meant she would be arriving at anytime…after midnight. Makis always knew how to have a good time but Nanae never learned. Nanae felt a slight ache in her chest and she rubbed the sore spot, glaring accusingly at the chocolate bar for possibly giving her heartburn. But she somehow knew the chocolate bar wasn't at fault. She sighed and turned another page of her book.
After a few hours she felt her eyelids begin to droop sleepily and she yawned. According to her watch it was now eleven thirty. She still wanted to read a bit more though, she only had a few chapters left to go, so once again she turned a page and her eyes began to follow the sequence of words that had been carefully written by the author.
Ooo
A/N: lousy finish to the chapter, I know. I was going to write more but somehow it looked better for the next chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, my parents are forcing me to go to their farm, which is in the middle of NOWHERE. No TV or pc. Groan. Anyway, please R and R!
Korokke: Japanese croquettes.
Oden: Japanese hot pot dish.
Karashi: Hot Japanese mustard
Konnyaku: Yam cake
