Chapter 6
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"As long as you know how to bake, life is sure to be sweet!"
-Anonymous
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She woke up in her own bed without any idea how she had gotten there. She wanted to wait for Souta to come home but ended up passing out on the table. Souta had probably moved her when he came in. She reached her hand out to her alarm clock to see the time, 8:30 a.m. This would be the first time in months she had been able to properly sleep in and she assumed it was because of her exhaustion.
Her day had certainly just begone as it was Saturday both Souta was home and she had her second day off. Kagome had no idea how to approach her brother about yesterdays event but certainly sweeping it under the rug wasn't an option either. Before any decisions were made some coffee was in order so dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a pink tank top she headed into the kitchen. As she added some flavored cream to her ceramic cup of liquid caffeine the door behind her opened.
She knew who it was and sighed to herself for forgetting her prior obligation. Not to mention how pathetic he had seen her and how bad she still looked with swollen eyes. Before turning around she took a long swig of her coffee.
As always, Sesshoumaru was dressed-normal? She had expected extravagant but saw him in a silver blue business suit. When he caught her staring she quickly averted her eyes to the space on the wall next to his head.
"So where's the dog?" was all she offered She had not forgotten his part in yesterday either.
He pursed his lips to whistle and she saw a flash of dark fur run past his legs. In front of her was dog that couldn't be more than a year old, still a puppy really. He or she's fur was short and dark as coal right down to its long tail. It had a rather large muzzle like those huge dogs she had seen in magazines and raised triangular ears that pointed upwards. It's eyes though, they were a glowing shade of crimson red.
It gazed up at her before bringing its large nose to the floor to sniff around leaving trails of black paw prints. Before she could complain the smell hit her. A combination of a fire pit and sulfur.
"Where has that dog been?"
Sesshoumaru raised on eyebrow. "Hell, obviously."
She glared at him even though the question was in her error. "Well what breed is he? Anything specific I should now?"
"Hellhound and she she likes her meat rare." He tossed a red velvet sack onto her counter and she assumed it's dinner was inside. That dog ate better than she did.
"Wait, Hellhound? You mean like demon dogs that are always surrounded by fire or something? Is it going to start a fire?"
"They don't catch on fire but because of their strength and agility there are able to handle abnormal levels of heat as you would expect in some areas of hell. Hence the lore that they are on fire and the sometimes unfortunate smell."
This didn't make her feel any better. "What about that old tale that if you look one in the eyes more than once you die?"
"Just a rumor. Usually if you see one it's because a reaper has come for your soul."
Her life was becoming a hell themed fairy tale. "What's her name and when can I expect you back?"
"She responds to Vesta and I should be back around late this evening or earlier of my meeting goes well."
The dark barked sharply at something behind Kagome and as she turned her head she recognized Souta standing in the entrance to the living room an kitchen.
Her body jerked as to try and hide Sesshoumaru but she realized it was too late.
"Ah, sis?" Souta inquired.
"Souta...this is Sesshoumaru, a um, acquaintance." She motioned her hands toward Sesshoumaru and silently pleaded with the devil to play along.
He nodded at the young boy. "Hello."
Souta raised a hand to wave meekly. "Hey..." His eyes traveled to the dog in the middle of the kitchen.
"I'm dog sitting as a favor. This is Vesta." Kagome added.
Vesta took steps toward Souta and started to circle him as she sniffed. Kagome immediately glanced to Sesshoumaru, "She's friendly right?"
Sesshoumaru rubbed his chin. "The breed is loyal to its owner but," they both watched as Souta petted the pup only to see his palms coated with black smudges."...they usually don't like humans however she seems to treat you two fine."
She gaped. "If you knew we were human why would you let me watch her?" she whispered in a hushed tone.
"Well you're not pure human. Perhaps that explains it." A ringing came from his pocket and he pulled a cell phone out. "I have to go. Good luck."
At least he had the decency to walk out her front door.
"This dog smells like a fire place or something and her furs dirty. Should we give her bath?"
Kagome looked at the dog and the trail of paw prints on the floor. "Um, I guess we could try but I want you to be really careful. She's still young and unpredictable.
"Ok, come on Vesta," he whistled and clapped to lead the dog towards the bathroom.
Man, she had not thought this day through.
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"Argh!" Souta exclaimed.
Kagome rushed to the bathroom with the towels she had gathered in hand. "What's wrong?!"
She saw Souta sitting in the bathtub while Vesta was outside the tub on the bath matt looking at her.
"I slipped while getting her out. Sorry," he apologized.
She sighed. "I'll grab some extra towels."
The bath had gone better than expected and Vesta had so far been on her best behavior. Souta seemed to really like her as well. They got her dried off and she roamed into the living room where she began to whine at the front door.
"I guess she needs ot go out." Kagome went to the velvet bag and inside was a plastic bag of meat she put int he fridge and a leash. Sesshoumaru had thought of it all she supposed.
"Can I come?"
She glanced at Souta. "Yeah, of course."
He smiled. "Cool, I'll grab my shoes."
Kagome watched him bound off as she hooked the red leash onto Vesta's brown leather collar. It was nice to see him smiling but it all still ate at her. When he came back they set off to the local dog friendly park for a walk. It was a pretty nice day with the overcast blocking out some of the suns heat. As they continued to go on Souta asked if he could walk Vesta next and she handed over the leash to him. Once he got comfortable with it she finally worked up the courage to ask.
"So how's school?"
His mood immediately darkened and he shrugged. "Fine."
It felt like someone had hit her this time. "Oh, and your friends?"
"We...haven't talked much since we started high school." His kept his eyes on Vesta sniffing the ground as she walked.
"Why not?"
Another shrug was his answer.
"Well, I know when I got into high school I slowly lost contact with my friends too but I found some people with the same interests as me and I made new ones. So don't give up hope." She patted him on the shoulder. "College will be a lot better though. Everyone says it's a much better experience."
There was a pause between them.
"Are you mad you never went to college?"
That took her by surprise. "Hm, I'm not mad per say. Right now in my life I am very happy with my career and that I am able to support us. I mean I get paid to bake, my life can't get any sweeter. Huh?" she elbowed him at her pun.
Souta just shook his head and tried to hide the small smile on his face but Kagome was content with it.
There was a sudden moment when Souta stopped walking and just stared into the distance. Kagome followed his stare to see a two girls walking their way.
"Do you know them?" she asked.
"The one on the right is in my homeroom."
Kagome took a second look and the high school girl was cute with her short light brown hair and welcoming expression.
"Are you going to say hi?"
"Maybe."
Kagome rolled her eyes. He was so obvious. As they closed the distance she noticed Souta kept switching the leash between his hands in a nervous motion. She watched in fascination as the two high schoolers made eye contact and he froze while she smiled
"Hey Souta, she stopped and greeted. "Is this your dog?"
"Ah, no. We're dog sitting."
"Can I pet it?"
Souta looked at Kagome and before she could say anything Vesta walked up to the girl by herself and wagged her tail.
"I think he likes me," the girl giggled and petted Vesta's head.
"Her names Vesta," Souta smiled and petted the dog himself. "She's still a puppy for the most part."
Just like that he started to talk more calmly. By the time they said their goodbyes Souta had a huge grin cross his face.
"I guess dogs are chick magnets," Kagome commented.
"Guess so," he said as he patted Vesta on the head.
They headed home and while Kagome worked on emails, checking bills, and chores, Souta attended to Vesta or rather she followed him around. Everything from playing, to laying on the couch watching T.V., to eating dinner at the same time. When it started to get late they both fell asleep on the couch. Souta's head rested on the dogs back and what looked uncomfortable. Kagome reached forward to wake Souta up and send him to bed but before she could touch him Vesta lifted her head and growled.
Kagome pulled back her hand and huffed. "Seriously?"
She laid her head back down and just kept her red eyes on Kagome.
In return she rolled her eyes at he dog and simply fetched a blanket to put over the two. She settled at the kitchen table and waited for Sesshoumru to arrive. It had been really nice to have Souta in a brighter mood, maybe they would adopt a dog themselves? The landlord allowed it after all and she would just need to put down a pet deposit. She would need to calculate how it fit into her budget though.
A few more hours passed and it was about a half an hour until midnight when she heard Vesta growl again.
She glared at the couch where she could barley see the dogs muzzle peer over the top of the couch.
"What? I didn't do anything," Kagome whispered to the dog.
The rustic sound of a door knob turning and Sesshoumaru walked through the pantry with an exhausted expression.
"Rough day?" she asked.
"Beyond human comprehension," he sighed.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Whatever. There's some blueberry muffins on the counter if you want one."
He helped himself to three of them before getting down to business. He whistled for Vesta and the dog simply lifted it's head and them laid it back down.
Sesshoumaru grimanced and glanced at Kagome.
She shrugged. "She really likes Souta."
He whistled again. "Vesta," he ordered.
Nothing. Kagome didn't mean to giggle but it still earned her a nice glare from the devil of the west himself.
He strutted over to the couch and glared down at the dog and she met his gold eyes with stubborn intentions. Obviously sick of this game Sesshoumaru reached forward to grab the dog and she growled at him fiercely. Kagome gaped from Sesshoumaru growled back with gritted teeth.
Kagome finally intervened before someone got hurt. She put a hand on his shoulder to calm one dog down. "When's her owner supposed to get her?"
"In the morning," he responded without breaking eye contact with the hellhound.
"I think it'll be fine if she just stays the night right?"
"Can't we just wake him up," he pointed at Souta and earned another growl from Vesta.
"Hmm? Vesta?" Souta asked in a drowsy manner.
"She's staying the night so you should head to bed, " Kagome replied gently.
Souta's eyes were barely open and his hair was thrown every which way as he got up and shuffled to his room with the dog right on his heels.
"Fine," Sesshoumaru conceded. "I'll be back in the morning."
"Hey, thanks for offering me the favor," she said suddenly.
He raised a silver eyebrow at her.
"I mean it made my brother happy so, if possible maybe bring Vesta back for a visit. It makes me happy knowing he;s happy ya know?" She offered a small smile. "Let's just keep the whole hell hound thing a secret."
He stared at her for what felt like an uncomfortably long span of time before just saying "Hn."
With that he left and Kagome retreated to her own bed.
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A/N: I like the name Vesta. :)