Chapter 4

Thanks to the postman's instructions, Kagome found the house easily. As she biked down the long driveway, her heart became anxious. Nervous, for she was about to barge in on people she had never met before. Was it really okay that she came? And with so little notice? Her mom had said that they were nice, but she hadn't seen them in a long time either.

"Get a grip Kagome," she scowled at herself and gave a huff, "no matter what happens, you'll be perfectly fine. Trust your mother."

She pressed gently on the brakes and came to a halt and studied her surroundings. Though not thick, there were a lot of tall trees everywhere. Before her stood a two-story house, painted blue and with a veranda that looked as though it might wrap around the whole house. The house was not huge, but it was bigger than a lot of houses you find in her well populated town. She also noticed what looked to be a garden of to the right side.

"I wonder how big it is?" Kagome questioned in her mind.

She got of her bike and as she put down the kickstand, she heard a screen door slam. She had barely looked up when a woman with long black hair hugged her fiercely.

"I suppose this means everything is okay." Kagome thought.

The woman stepped back and placed her hands on Kagome's shoulders. "Welcome welcome," Izayoi said with a huge smile, "My, you look so much like your mother! Oh but what am I doing, chitchat can be done later." She pulled her arms away and reached for the backpack that was still sitting in the bike's front basket. "Let's get you settled and when my husband gets home we'll all have dinner." She started heading for the door.

Kagome grasped the bike's handle bars. "Where should I put my bike?"

Izayoi looked back, then pointed to the right side of the house. "You can just lean it against the house."

Kagome wheeled her bike over and after letting go, she looked to her right. Now she could get a better of the garden.

"Holy cow," she gasped, "It's huge." Though there were tall hedges surrounding the garden, she could now see through the entrance and saw vast amounts of trees and flowers.

Izayoi was already on the porch and had opened the screen door. Kagome turned away and followed suit.

As they entered the house, the smell of baking hit Kagome in the face. Her stomach growled suddenly and she grabbed her stomach and blushed. She had not had anything to eat since breakfast this morning. She looked up at Izayoi, hoping she had not heard, but she obviously had. Izayoi giggled, which made Kagome blush even more, then dropped the bag she was carrying. "One moment." she said, then walked through a doorway. Within a second she was back, carrying three cookies. "Here," she smiled and handed Kagome the cookies. "This should tide you over until supper."

Kagome graciously accepted the cookies, pink still reminiscent on her cheeks.

Izayoi reached for the bag she had been carrying. As she made her way to the stairs, she said, "all the bedrooms are on the second floor, but we have a guest wing. You'll have your own bathroom, which, believe me, you'll be happy to have."

They made their way up the stairs and Kagome could hear a shower running. "That's right," she thought, "I never even thought that she might have kids. She said that her husband wasn't home yet, so she must have at least one. I wonder how old he or she is?"

Kagome followed Izayoi down the long hallway, currently with a cookie in her mouth. At the end, Izayoi opened a door to a spacious room painted white. On the other side of the room, wind blew through the open window and light, white curtains accepted the breeze and lightly moved over the floor. A queen-sized bed was too the right and a bathroom to the left. The cookie fell from Kagome's open mouth.

"I take it you like it?" Izayoi laughed.

"It's beautiful"

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Izayoi had left Kagome to unpack while she started supper. Kagome put the rest of her clothes away and got up to make her way down stairs. Whoever was in the shower liked to take long ones, because the water was still going. As she made her way downstairs, she thought about how cozy this large home felt. It was obviously an old, western style building and made entirely out of wood, but there were large windows that also gave it a spacious feeling. As she entered the living room, she noticed a fireplace that had pictures on the mantle. She went to examine the picture and saw a wedding shot. She saw Izayoi, but there was a man with pointed ears beside her.

"A demon!" Kagome exclaimed in her head. Of course, demons and humans marrying was normal these days, but there were not that many demons left in the world. She did not actually know any such couples till now. Her eyes shifted to a family shot that sat beside it. In it, Izayoi and the man were present once again, but there were also two boys. One looked like he was also a demon, but unlike the others in the picture, he was not smiling. In the picture he looked to be about fifteen years old and had long silver hair. "So he must not Izayoi's," she thought, "otherwise he would be a hanyou." However, next to the boy and sitting on Izayoi's lap was a boy who looked about 5 years who looked as though he loved everyone, the way he was smiling. He had silver hair also, but the dog ears showed that he was a half-demon.

"He's so cute!!!" Kagome said to herself.

"Oh really?" questioned a deep voice behind her.

Kagome spun around and saw the older version of the boy in front of her, except the shape of his mouth was the complete opposite of the picture. He had his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. The dripping wet hair was proof as to who had been in the shower.

Kagome stood speechless for a moment, not realizing that she had actually said it out loud. Her face went red (which seemed to be happening a lot today) as she fumbled for words. She quickly stuck out her hand and stumbled out an introduction.

However, the boy neither took her hand, nor introduced himself. "What makes you think you're wanted here?" he muttered before turning away and walking into the kitchen.

Kagome was not too sure anymore about this vacation.