Chapter 7 : The Bonds That Connect Us
After a long moment of silence in the car, Vanessa had drooped her head down from exhaustion but forced herself to wake up. This happened many times until Inuyasha told her to stop forcing herself awake and just rest. Then, she leaned back on the car seat and slept. Finally, they arrived back to the house that belonged to Sesshomaru and Vanessa opened her eyes just before Jaken drove the limousine into the driveway. However, her head seemed to be sideways and resting on someone's arm?
"You finally woke up?"
Vanessa blushed when she heard Inuyasha's voice so close to her and realized that she was resting on Inuyasha's shoulder! She tried to prop herself upright quickly but was held back by her grogginess so she was only able to move slowly.
"I remember I was leaning on the car seat before I fell asleep... How did I end up resting on your shoulder?"
"Heh. I guess you were so tired, you ended up leaning on my shoulder in your sleep." said Inuyasha with a smirk.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Y-You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to disturb you."Inuyasha said with a faint blush on his face.
"Oh..."
Jaken parked in front of the house and he told everyone to get out so that he could park the car into the garage. Inuyasha and Rin started walking towards the front door while Vanessa stood with Luna in her arms, examining the house. Vanessa suddenly felt the glare of lights behind her and when she turned around, she saw that the road leading to the house was aligned with two rows of pretty white framed lamps on both sides. The light started to lit up, one by one, beginning from the one that surrounded the roundabout where a white Akita dog statue was placed.
"Wow... It's really nice." commented Vanessa.
Even Luna couldn't help but be slightly amazed at the sight of it.
"I guess you don't live in a fancy place like this, huh, Luna?"
"Nope, my family is regular."
Vanessa watched as Jaken backed the limo into the driveway and she saw a glimpse of the red Ferrari that Inuyasha mentioned earlier.
"Oy! Vanessa, are you coming?!"
"I'll be there!"
Vanessa started hurrying towards the door which Inuyasha had already opened. As she went towards the front entrance, she saw that the house was snowy white as well.
"What were you doing spacing out there?"
"I was just looking at the house..."
"It's really nice right? But it's even more amazing inside the house, Vanessa-san." said Rin.
"Oh, ok."
They stepped inside what appeared to be the living room and Inuyasha and Rin took off their shoes and put it on the shoe rack and put on a pair of slippers while Vanessa just followed their lead.
Then a robotic male voice said "Unidentified individual. Unidentified individual. Animal in the house. Animal in the house."
"Ah!" exclaimed Vanessa while Luna screeched from the surprise of hearing the voice.
Rin hurried in front of what looked to be a big T.V. monitor and said "It's alright AI-san , Inuyasha-sama brought a friend over and she has a cat with her."
"Mr. Love?" thought Vanessa.
"I see. Welcome home, Miss Rin." said the T.V. monitor.
"Thank you, AI-san!" said Rin holding a hand in front of it.
"Ah, Rin you're home." said an elderly lady in a formal black and white suit.
" Kaede-san!" exclaimed Rin hugging the woman.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yes! Rin liked looking around!"
Kaede chuckled "Well, let's get you changed then. Shippo will be glad that you're home. Ah-who's this, Inuyasha-kun? Could it be your girlfriend?"
"Ack, no, she's just a friend!"
" I see, it's nice to meet you. What's your name? "
"Ah! My name is Vanessa and my family name is Nguyen, it's nice to meet you." she said with her head bowed, remembering the Asian habit of greeting one's elders. At the same time, Luna bowed her head as well.
"Ah, you're not Japanese."
"Yes, I'm from out of town. I'm here on vacation."
"Is this your cat?" said Kaede looking closely at Luna.
"No, I'm taking care of her for someone."
"Then why do you have her with you?"
"Uh..."
"Tell her that my owner is your close friend and she came back to Tokyo for a family vacation and they left me with you; my owner missed me so much that her parents paid for you to come and bring me over." Luna whispered to Vanessa without looking at her.
Vanessa told Kaede the story that Luna made up for her on the spot and Kaede seemed to accept it. Inuyasha then added that he was going to let her stay over for the night.
"Is that so? How do you two know each other then?"
"Uh... We're online friends." Inuyasha lied.
"I see, youth and technology nowadays. When Kagura gets here for her shift, I'll tell her to fix a room for Miss Vanessa."
"That's not necessary , Kaede oba-san, Jaken's already got that taken care of."
"Is that so? Well then, I hope you have a nice stay, Miss Vanessa."
"Thank you, Miss Kaede."
Kaede nodded to acknowledge Vanessa then turned to Rin and said "Let's head to your room, Rin."
"Mmm. See you later, Vanessa-san." Rin waved back at Vanessa while holding Kaede's hand and going up the stairs.
Vanessa held out a hand in acknowledgement of Rin's greeting.
"So... Is Kaede like Rin's nanny or something or like that ?" asked Vanessa turning to Inuyasha.
"Yeah... She was my nanny too since Sesshomaru doesn't have the skills to raise a kid. Discipline...Yes, but the other stuff was not his thing."
" I see. Was he strict on you?"
"Yeah...Still is. But that doesn't stop me from doing my own thing." he stated confidently.
"Uh, sorry for being nosy but Kaede mentioned the name Shippo."
"Oh, Shippo? He's her annoying grandson, she takes him with her when she comes here to take care of Rin. Ms. Higurashi is her granddaughter and his big sister. When Kaede's done taking care of Rin, she comes here to pick up the two of them."
Vanessa recalled that Shippo looked like he was 7 years old and Kikyo was a few years older than she was in the Inuyasha anime so she was surprised at the age gap between the "distorted" Higurashi siblings.
"So I guess your family is pretty close with the Higurashi family."
"Yeah... Kaede oba-san brought Ms. Higurashi over when I was little, just like she did with Shippo and Rin so... She's like a big sister to me I guess."
"I see..."
Although his emotions towards Higurashi Kikyo had evolved to more than that of siblings as he grew older, he felt awkward stating his personal feelings to Vanessa, despite the fact that she was the one who told her that she was his destined one. Even though he didn't tell her that Kikyo was more than a big sister; Vanessa already had a feeling that it was the case and thought that he didn't want to tell her about it out of awkwardness. As she thought this, she felt a little upset but it wasn't as bad as she felt earlier back in the limo. She felt a little relieved and mentally reminded herself that she shouldn't be falling in love with Inuyasha. At that moment, Jaken entered the living room.
"Why don't you sit down?" asked Inuyasha.
"Uh, ok."
As Vanessa went to sit down on the fine couch, Inuyasha asked Jaken if he remembered to get a room ready for Vanessa. Jaken retorted that he did and that he already called Kagura to take care of it when she gets to the house. Vanessa caught Kagura's name and wondered if Kagura worked as Sesshomaru's maid. She didn't like Kagura all that much but she didn't hate her, then it lead her to wonder if Naraku was in this distorted world too which put a visible frown on her face because she really hated him.
"Is there something wrong, Vanessa?" asked Luna who turned to look back at her
"Ah, nothing, just thinking."
Her thoughts made her realize that she never did get a chance to confirm whether Kagome was in this distorted world as well.
