Chapter 8: Questions and Answers

"Hey Inuyasha?"

He walked over to her side then sat next to her "What's up?"

"Um...Does..."

But before Vanessa could complete her question the T.V. monitor said "Mother calling."

Then the image on the T.V. monitor showed an image of an elegant woman with light golden eyes and white hair tied in a loose ponytail wearing magenta lipstick and eye shadow. Vanessa instantly recognized her as Sesshomaru's mother.

"Hello , Inuyasha."

" Hey, Hahaue."

"Is that boy of mine home yet?"

"No, not yet. He's still working."

She sighed softly then continued speaking "While I do appreciate the fact he is a hard worker, if he continues to be a bore then I'll never have a daughter-in-law."

She looked closely at Inuyasha then asked "And why aren't you in your night robe? It should be night over there by now. Have you been out all day?"

"Well...Kind of..."

"Although it is good that you have a sense of fun, you should be dressed properly when you are at home."

" Yes...Hahaue."

Before she could reproach him some more, she noticed Vanessa and her eyes lit up with humor.

"And who is this? Your new girlfriend? I did appreciate your taste in that Kikyo woman but it is probably better for you to be interested in someone closer to your age. What family is she from?"

Inuyasha was completely angry and slightly embarrassed because of his stepmother's indiscretion while Vanessa was indignant that Sesshomaru's mother acted like she wasn't there. Inuyasha yelled back that Vanessa was just a friend and that she shouldn't be talking about people's business in front of others. Sesshomaru's mother brushed off Inuyasha's exclamations then looked directly at Vanessa and asked " Girl, what is your name?"

"Uh... My family name is Nguyen and my name is Vanessa."

"Are you not from Tokyo?"

"Nope. I'm here on vacation."

"I see and yet, you're rather fluent in the Japanese language."

"...Inuyasha taught me how to speak it."

Sesshomaru's mother was slightly surprised at Vanessa's answer since her stepson didn't have much patience or teaching skills. In Vanessa's point of view, it was slightly true since the accidental kiss had somehow awakened her ability to understand or communicate in another language.

"How did you two meet each other?"

Vanessa followed with Inuyasha's previous lie that they were online friends.

"What does your family do for a living?"

Vanessa felt awkward throughout the entire "interrogation", but now she got even more uncomfortable since she felt that Sesshomaru's mother was getting too personal but thought it best to comply. She'd probably forget about her when the world turns back to normal anyway.

"Um...My mother is an office lady and my dad works with computers."

"I see...Well then, it was nice knowing you, Vanessa."

"It was nice to know you too, Miss..."

"My name is Inukimi. And Inuyasha, when my son gets home, tell him to call me as soon as possible."

Inuyasha affirmed that he would do so then Inukimi wished them a good night and the screen went black.

"Sorry about that, Hahaue likes to check on who me and Sesshomaru associate with."

"Uh...Ok."

Afterwards, Vanessa had completely forgotten her intention to ask Inuyasha whether Kikyo was related to someone named Kagome. Meanwhile, Vanessa and Inuyasha passed the time together. Sometime later, Kagura arrived for her shift and Vanessa's suspicions of her being a maid was confirmed. According to Inuyasha, her father was Naraku, who in this world, was the leader of a rival technology company. Kagura didn't like living under her father's rules and left the house to live on her own. Through Sesshomaru's surprising mercy, she was able to acquire a job as a part-time maid. Kagura, like the other characters Vanessa had encountered assumed that Vanessa was Inuyasha's girlfriend followed by Inuyasha's denial. Then, she went right upstairs , presumably to assume her job. After Kagura left, Sesshomaru finally arrived home. He too, assumed that Vanessa was Inuyasha's girlfriend with an amused smile and sarcastically commented that the two of them made a good couple. Inuyasha once again, angrily denied it and told Sesshomaru that his mother wanted him to call her as soon as possible. Sesshomaru confirmed that he would do that then got dressed for dinner.

Dinner at the Taisho household was awkward to say the least. With Taisho Sesshomaru around, everyone was quiet save for Rin's cheerful conversation and when Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha about his audition tomorrow, the atmosphere got even more tense as the brothers engaged in a serious stare-off, a battle of wills. Even Vanessa understood that Sesshomaru did not approve of Inuyasha's dream but made no real attempts to stop him. Then Rin randomly interjected the question of whether Vanessa had any clothes to wear. Vanessa lied that she left her luggage at her friend's home then Inuyasha yelled at Jaken for being stupid and forgetful. Jaken asked for Vanessa's size then hurried to buy her a set of pajamas.

Afterwards, she was shown to her room and as soon as she got her pajamas from Jaken which were soft and a shade of light blue, she went to take a refreshing shower. After drying her hair and brushing her teeth, she started wondering about tomorrow. Following Inuyasha's audition, she had to find the source of the distortion and fix it. But how to do that, she was not sure of so she asked Luna.

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow, I have to find the cause of the distortion and deal with it to bring the world back to normal right?"

"Yes."

"How do I do that?...Am I really a witch?"

Luna had an uncomfortable look then confirmed Vanessa's suspicions to be true and added that she noticed that Vanessa's powers seemed to be suppressed when they first met.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to alarm you. I preferred that you would find out on your own." Luna replied in a gentle tone.

"Alright, I will let this go but don't keep anymore secrets from me since we're working together, Luna." said Vanessa in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I understand, I will abide to your request. Now I will show you a spell to deal with the cause of the distortion so listen carefully."

" Begone distortion. Bring the altered world back to proportion."

Right after Luna finished reciting the spell, there was a knocking on the door which caused the two of them to freeze up. Vanessa walked to the door and opened it only to find that it was Rin. Rin wanted to wish her a good night. After Vanessa and Rin exchanged good night greetings, Rin skipped to her room. Vanessa was just about to close her door when she saw Inuyasha.

"Hey." Inuyasha called softly.

"Hey to you."

"Well...Tomorrow's the big day huh?"

"I could say the same for you."

"Anyways, I just wanted to thank you again."

"Thanking me for the second time? That's a surprise."

"Well...You put my dream first before fixing my world so I thought... I needed to thank you again."

"Actually, I should be thanking you."

"What for?"

"For saving me from my fall when we first met, sticking up for me back at Wacdnald's, for letting me stay at your house, and anything else I may have missed." blushed Vanessa as she said so.

"It's nothing, to me, what you're doing is worth more than all that."

Vanessa found no words to reply to that but couldn't help feeling happy.

"Well...Good night Vanessa."

"Good night Inuyasha."

Inuyasha headed to his room and Vanessa closed the door with an obvious gleeful expression on her face until she was caught off guard by Luna looking at her.

"Vanessa?"

"Yes?"

"Do you like Inuyasha-san?"

"W-Well..."

Luna just continued smiling at her.

"I-I have a little crush on him, ok? Do you want to say something?"

"Nope."

Vanessa got into bed and prayed to Buddha that tomorrow would turn out alright. She exchanged good night greetings with Luna, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.