Hi! Me again, working on the next chapter as I am typing this up so maybe I'll put it up very soon? Tabun... Anywho, enjoy!
My Father's Will
Chapter Eleven
by Phoenix Blade
Pit! Whoosh! Pat! Whoosh! Pit! Whoosh! Pat! Whoosh!
The sound of the pouring rain hitting the car's windshield and the wipers wiping it aside, despite being heavy and loud, had a lulling quality that made me sleepy. The faint smell of cigarettes from daddy's jacket that mommy made for him, drifted to my nose. I wrinkled my nose and heard my father's light chuckle. I opened my eyes and looked up to see him smiling and watching the road ahead as he drove. He gave me a quick look and smiled gently at me once more before returning his eyes to the rainy road. We were coming back from a two hour drive from my father's friend's place. I wasn't supposed to go, but due to my persistence, my parents gave in and I accompanied him there.
"I'm sorry, ame," his soft, but deep voice spoke, "did I wake you?"
Ame meant rain and it was daddy's favorite nickname for me. I was born when it was raining and my parents had first met and married when it was raining. I like it when it rains because it's pretty and fun to play in. Either it was by coincidence or from what he said that he was too lazy to say my full name (he shortened it from Kagome to Ame), I got stuck with it.
I yawned and stretched my little arms out, making the large jacket fall down to my lap. I shook my head.
"No, I was awake the whole time daddy," I said in the middle of another yawn.
"Sure thing, Ame," he teased me.
I pouted, "I was awake! I remember us passing that big cow by that barn!"
He chuckled, "But that was right after we left their house!"
I thought of several comebacks, because I had always won in our little arguments. No way, I always won!... but I suppose I could let him win this time.
"Okay daddy, I'll let you win this time!" I told him.
He gasped surprisingly, "Eh? You'll let me…win? Why, this has got to be some momentous occasion! Is it my birthday or Christmas? Well, if this keeps happening, I'm going to win all our battles after this too!"
I pulled the jacket up to my neck, it was getting chilly from the AC. The smell of cigarettes drifted into my nose again and I wrinkled my nose again.
"Yeah right daddy! I'm just letting you win this, just this once!" I said and smiled at him.
He smiled back and turned back to the road. I watched daddy for a bit as he drove in silence. After a couple of minutes, I sighed out of tiredness and looked at the road. The rain continued to rain down on the windshield and the road. It was still raining hard, but for some reason… despite daddy saying that it was dangerous to drive in heavy rain like this… I liked it… It was very… calming…
We went under a bridge and the rain paused in hitting our car for a moment. When the car left came out from under the bridge, I held my breath in anticipation and looked up in awe as I saw the rain come down and hit the car repeatedly. I exhaled loudly.
"What's up?" otou-san asked me.
I shrugged and pretended like nothing was up.
"Nothing," I replied.
He was quiet for a bit, then chuckled, "Okay."
I knew that he knew what I was thinking about. Daddy was a psycho… or was it psychic? I can't remember, Sango said something about that when she told me what they were. People who could read minds. Daddy was one of them. I never asked him if he was one of them or not, I just knew, but I never told anyone or else they'd all come to daddy and want him to be their daddy. I didn't want anyone else to want daddy to be theirs, I wanted him to be mine… and maybe Souta's too, but noone else.
I continued to watch the rain. I liked rain and watching it fall was cool, but it was cooler whenever we went under a bridge and watch as the drops of rain fell and hit the windshield. Whenever daddy went driving in the rain, I'd always ask to tag along because of moments like that, watching the rain fall after coming out from under a bridge. It was cool and I liked it. I'm pretty sure daddy liked it too.
Pit! Whoosh! Pat! Whoosh!
I watched the windshield wipers go back and forth until I felt eyes get heavy and seemed to close on their own accord. I listened to the rain and the wipers as the smell of daddy's cigarette smelling jacket was pulled up to my chin. When did it fall down?
"Ame, you can sleep if you want. We still have a while to go until we get home," his soft voice said somewhere in the distance.
I was going to reply that I wasn't tired, but all I could get out was, "…not… tired…"
I heard him chuckle softly as the sounds of the rain drifted into silence…
Boom!
I awoke to the lightning boom overheard with a throbbing pain on the right side of my head and a loud curse. I rubbed my head and turned to look at the offending thing that had cause me such small pain that brought me out of my dream, a memory with my father. I grimaced. My head had collided into the car's window. I scowled at it with as much hatred as I could muster, well, it wasn't very much, but I had to take my anger out on something.
I was in a car on the way home in the rain (now no longer raining, but still dark and gloomy) with Inuyasha and- and... Sesshoumaru, who was now giving me a very annoyed glare, which I promptly retaliated with a raspberry. He scoffed and turned away.
Hah! I win!
Ok, ok. It was very childish, I know, but still, it made me feel good. It's not everyday that I get to feel better than that guy.
"Higurashi-san?" spoke the chaffeur, startling me from my short won victory.
"Y-yes-ahem, yes?" I replied.
"We've arrived. Would you like me to retrieve the bags for you while you go inside?" he asked.
"Uh! Nah!" I grabbed onto the back of the passenger's seat in which Inuyasha was asleep in and leaned forward, "I'll just get my bags. You can grab theirs."
I motioned to the snoring Inuyasha and the nonchalant Lord of You're-All-Beneath-Me and the chaffeur nodded. As he popped the back open, I ran out and grabbed.my only suitcase among the brother's many other junk and without further ado, ran up the steps to the shrine. I raced through the tori gate without waiting for the rest and headed straight for the door to home, my sanctuary.
I heard the door open and my mother, my beautiful and angelic mother, stepped out. She heard my running footsteps and turned to see me with arms wide open only to close her in them in a tight embrace.
"Mama! Mama!" I cried, chanting her name like a sutra.
"Ka-Kagome?" she whispered, almost disbelieving that I was there.
I nodded against her shoulder and she started to cry and hug me back. We were like that for about a couple of seconds, a couple of seconds that crossed the span of time in the name of the bond between a mother and her daughter... But it was only for a few seconds before it was so rudely interrupted by the yawn of the younger Kageshiro brother.
"Kagami! yawn What're doing leaving us behind?" he yawned.
A moment destroyed. Come on! Why must you ruin my one peaceful moment away from you two? ARGH!
My mother made a sound between surprise and embarrassment before dropping me to the wet floor and greeting the two brothers. I almost cursed their births for taking away my mother's love from me... almost...
"Oh! You must be Inuyasha, Kageshiro-san's youngest son! My! You have grown since I've last seen you!" she clapped.
I was disgruntled as I watched her fluff Inuyasha's hair and he smiled at her action. Bastard.
"And you," she continued on to the bigger brother, almost beaming, "you must be Sesshoumaru! Heavens! You're tall like your father... and yet, you're very beautiful like your mother."
Just goes to show what mom would do in front of others, she gets straight to the point without regard for their background or what they feel about said subject. I still wonder how she was able to survive all this time without getting beat the shit out of for saying things out of the blue like that... By the way, how does his mother look like? Wasn't she Izayoi-san? Well... she did look a little... young to be having Sesshoumaru...
Sesshoumaru nodded at her words, "This Sesshoumaru has heard many tell him of that."
Mom was still beaming and did a sort of wave with her hand at him, "Well, I bet you've heard a lot of people tell you that. Well! Since you boys are here, I suppose some supper would be good before I show you to your rooms?"
"Bout damn time for some grub," I heard Inuyasha grumbled.
I looked down at my shoe and then looked at Inuyasha with a small smirk forming on my lips.
Hmm... Target practice...
Dinner was... interesting... not. It was downright uncomfortable as hell! I had to refrain from sounding like and speaking of girly things to my family with the two brothers at the table. Grandpa had fallen asleep in his chair after eating his plate. Mom and Souta talked to Inuyasha most of the time while Sesshoumaru ate his meal in silence. I cursed my luck and would curse it even more tomorrow. I had to figure out what to do without letting the brothers know that I was in fact a girl and not a boy and even worse, how to not let it slip out from the people in town that I was a girl. I had worked in the community and had been involved in many things in school so there was no way I could go around looking like a boy without someone recognizing me and calling out my name with the brothers in tow.
I spent most of my dinner thinking of schemes to get away from them and explaining things that would seem bizarre to them should anything hint that I was a girl. I finally left the table early saying that I wasn't hungry and ran up to my room. My room was
right across the hall from my parent's room and Souta's was right next to theirs. Mine was next to the bathroom.
Sesshoumaru would be getting the new guestroom that my father had built before he died. Mom had decided to give Inuyasha Souta's room while she would fix up the other guestroom for him. Souta would sleep with mom, but I would keep my room, just had to keep it locked so wandering eyes and hands didn't go where they shouldn't belong. I locked myself in my room with my cat Buyo and sat on my bed pondering for what could have been forever, but when I finally gave up and looked at the clock, it had already been almost five hours past the time I had gotten to my room. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were for sure asleep now. I heard no stirring or movement in the house.
I needed a bath and so, without a second thought, changed into my pink bathrobe and quietly stepped out of my room, down the dark hallway to the bathroom. I went in and closed the door quietly before turning on the light. I felt triumphant, there was no way they could come in and see me as a girl. I did a little gleeful dance in my head and just as I started to turn the lock, someone grasped onto the handle on the other side. Before I could get my bearings straight, they opened the door and knocked me to the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't tie my bathrobe on tight enough and so it fell open, flashing whoever it was at the door.
"Oy! Kagami! Why do you have a girl's body?" came the loud and very surprised voice of Inuyasha, who stood at the door with gaping eyes at my form before I could cover up.
Oh fuck!
Before I could even do anything, Sesshoumaru, out of nowhere appeared behind Inuyasha and looked down at my very uncovered form. I was too embarrassed and panicky to even look at his face as I hurriedly covered my front. My mom and Souta suddenly rushed out after I finally covered myself, but not before the brothers got a good look at me and I curse my horrible luck. What was this, show and tell?
"Kagami, you have a lot of explaining to do," Sesshoumaru spoke, in that cold, icy tone of his.
Double fuck!
Thanks for reading! Please review!
