Author's Note: Whew. SeruleanOrbs requested to meet Satoshi's girlfriend, so I did my best, despite the language barriers. It ended up ... still being a chapter about Sess x Kag though. : D
A Distant Promise - Mini-Chapter # 48
Eleni Inès Laroque.
It was a difficult name for Kagome to say, because she struggled with the letter 'L' sometimes. She felt certain that she would never remember it. Worse still, it did not matter either way. Satoshi certainly liked this girl, but the rest of the group would not see her often. There seemed to be almost no point in forcing herself to remember the name, and to pronounce it properly.
Eleni was an interesting addition to their group, though. At first, she acted nervous. This was easily explainable as a product of her trip to Japan, a place that she had never been, and her introduction to a group of strangers that she had never encountered. But the girl seemed excitable too - high-spirited and independent. After all, her parents had allowed her on this trip, without any company. Kagome's family would never have permitted her to trail across the globe, alone... not ever. If the Higurashi clan went on vacation, they all traveled together! So, Kagome admired their guest for her independence.
After Inuyasha and Satoshi collected their visitor from the airport, Kagome was delighted to see that the two boys were getting along better than the day before. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone immediately paired off, upon reaching the inn, except for Shippo. Inuyasha had Makoto follow him around, and Satoshi lingered near his new girlfriend, Eleni. Meanwhile, Kagome had Sesshoumaru. But Shippo - the poor fox! - he had to work hard to enter into everyone else's conversations, now.
Furthermore, it seemed nearly impossible to draw all three of these groups together, at once. Sesshoumaru didn't speak much at all. Next, Inuyasha would speak to his half-brother, or his nephew, but not both of them at the same time. Finally, Satoshi spent most of his day hovering over Eleni, because she knew absolutely no Japanese, and she needed someone to translate for her.
Nudging Sesshoumaru in the ribs with one arm, surreptitiously, Kagome reminded him, "You speak English, right?"
"Hn," agreed the taiyoukai, blandly. He refused to open his eyes, from where he reclined against a stone in the courtyard. "But she does not."
With a frown, Kagome pouted. This was sad. They were supposed to get to know the newest addition to their party, not just sit apart from her.
"Well, do you speak French?" continued Kagome.
Somehow, this failed to draw the kind of response that she hoped for either. "Perhaps," Sesshoumaru noted.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Kagome surrendered the battle. She traveled toward Makoto and took the other half-demon's hand, tugging her toward their guest. Flustered, the other girl blushed slightly, seeming reluctant to leave Inuyasha alone in one corner of the courtyard. Still though, it was for the best. They needed an activity that involved all of the girls in the group!
As she suggested this to Satoshi, he dutifully translated the idea to Eleni. A devious smirk emerged on the new girl's face, when she heard Kagome's words. "Um... yes," Satoshi translated carefully, "She thinks that is a good idea. We should do a group activity."
Listening a bit longer, the smile became infectious. "And since this is a hot-springs resort," Satoshi finished brightly, "You should all go swimming!" The youngest dog-demon's expression lightened considerably with this thought. It resembled the look on Miroku's face, when he imagined spying on the girl's bath, in the past.
So, that was how Kagome ended up in a changing room with a spunky foreigner, demonstrating how to wash before entering the pools, and how to wrap towels so that they would not fall off in the water. As they left the changing room and sank into one blissfully warm onsen, Kagome smiled happily. There! They had done it! It was not too hard to include a foreigner into the group, even if Makoto-chan was resolutely shy around strangers...
An unexpected voice chimed into their dual-language conversation, however, interrupting Kagome's chatter. "Ah, perfect!" Satoshi grinned madly. "She says it is a very nice temperature."
Wide-eyed, the priestess turned in place, holding her towel tightly against her chest, even though it was already securely wrapped around her body. "What are you doing here? This is a girl's bath..."
"Shippo went to ask the owner if we can borrow this room for a while. There aren't many other guests today, anyway." A sparkle in the youngest inu-youkai's eyes implied that he didn't mind this surprise at all. Nor did he mind the way that he had managed to rope his guardian into participating in this endeavor.
Why would Satoshi do this? Eleni was a foreigner, and Europeans were used to private bathtubs, right? So, this was probably extremely embarrassing...
But when she checked on their guest, ironically, the girl did not seem insulted at sharing the space. "She thinks it is very common, here, to share bathrooms," the white-haired interloper added cheekily. "This is something I might have told her."
Narrowing her eyes, Kagome crossed her arms over her chest.
"Besides, France has some of the best nude beaches in the world!" he crowed, obviously enjoying her discomfiture.
After ten more minutes, Shippo joined them. Then, Inuyasha stormed in, fully dressed - only to turn around instantly, the moment he noticed that Makoto was also in the hot-spring. Sputtering, the boy failed to make any intelligible protest, although it was obvious that he disagreed with the idea of his girlfriend being wrapped in nothing but a towel around other men. So... Makoto left.
With a heavy sigh, Kagome rubbed her forehead. Darn it! This had happened again! Their group could not seem to stay whole, for longer than a quarter of an hour.
A stream of light foreign words carried through the air toward her ears and Satoshi laughed, before finally surrendering to temptation and swimming to sit at her side on the rocks. With a friendly smile, the pup introduced a very important subject. At least in his opinion, it was important.
"Because you are officially an expert on this subject," Satoshi nodded gravely, "I am sure that you can answer this question for Eleni."
"Um…" Kagome murmured hesitantly. Her frustration at Sesshoumaru's son had not quite burned off yet. "Okay?"
"Which is cuter..." the pup began impishly, "Lavender stripes or magenta stripes?"
Blushing furiously, Kagome whirled about to face the foreign guest. No. No way! Eleni seemed high-spirited, but no one in their right mind would ask such a question, within Sesshoumaru's hearing range. And the taiyoukai's hearing range extended for miles and miles. Didn't Satoshi inform her of this?
In the background, Shippo began to chortle helplessly. But ultimately, the kitsune pointed this fact out to the inu-youkai also. "He probably heard that."
The lavender stripes on Satoshi's cheeks darkened slightly, turning a richer light-violet color. "Well, sure," he noted, still staring at Kagome. "That's why it is such an important question."
After today, the miko vowed, she would never be capable of looking Satoshi straight in the eye again. One did not interrogate people about whether a son or father looked better! Not one of the father's lovers, in any case. Not when she knew where those stripes went, under the clothing...
"Sesshoumaru's stripes are better, of course," replied Kagome primly. "And they are maroon colored, not magenta."
