Dying to Live
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Kagome flipped open her phone as soon as she exited the busy train station for her family's neighborhood.
When the "New Message" alert flashed up in the display, she quickly clicked the key to open it.
Aw, I missed Souta's message while I was on the train. She felt her heart warmed, but she also felt bad for missing him entirely. She should have wished him luck ahead of the Takadas' arrival, but caught up with thinking about the interview the whole way home, she hadn't even reached for her phone.
Heading out onto the street for the walk home, she debated whether to text him now, but finding that she was this close now, she finally decided he probably wouldn't see it anyway. Before long, she rounded the familiar street corner and marched up the slope to the house's front walk. Ready to kick off her Oxfords as soon as possible, she heaved a happy sigh upon finally reaching the top of the stairs leading up the incline to the shrine grounds.
When she got to the front door, Kagome slipped the key in the lock, and before she knew it, she was in the front foyer. A satisfied chill went down her spine, as she removed her shoes at last and breathed in the delicious aroma of her mother's sukiyaki. The gentle din of dinner conversation drifting along from the inner rooms of the house added to the immediate coziness of home that welcomed her.
Having hung her bag on the hook by the door, she quickly smoothed her commute-mussed hair. The strands felt a little oily, and she tutted mentally before reminding herself that this night was about Souta.
That's right, Kagome thought, wondering what kind of scene she would look in upon. I hope he's having some fun at least!
Telling herself to relax and be natural, she walked over to the formal dining room which contained the low banquet table. Kagome may have been a bit tired, but Tokyo commuting had nothing on riding a bicycle over rocky, ancient Japanese terrain. Not even close! she told herself emphatically. Pumped to put on a good appearance for her little brother, she put on a smile, as she stepped into the doorframe.
"Tadaima!" Kagome waved energetically, leaning into the room.
Happily, her smile settled into something more sincere, as the group looked pleasantly jovial. Pots of half-eaten sukiyaki steamed at either end of the table, and hand-sized bowls of sunny-yellow egg yolk sat in front of each person. Although seated at the table at the far-end from the door, her mother seemed to be the first to turn at the sight of her daughter. Rina Higurashi's face was flush with happy excitement and a smile, as she had been talking with a similarly aged looking woman who had to be Mrs. Takada. Even Grandpa, who was seated next to his daughter-in-law at the far, head-end of the table looked pleasantly enthralled in talking to Mr. Takada, who sat across from the two mothers. Meanwhile Sango, who sat propped against the wall on some plush pillows, had looked content at watching Souta and Mayu laughing about something in their seats closest to the door. A wave of relief and gladness on her brother's account passed through Kagome, as she watched the room turn from what they were doing to greet her. It looked like things were going well with the omiai.
"Kagome, you're home!" her mother smiled and then asked a question that told Kagome the room at large had fortunately been filled in on why she was late. "How was the job interview? Do you know when you might hear a decision?"
"Thanks, Mom, and certainly thank you for excusing my lateness, everybody," Kagome gave a polite bow to the room. "The interview was good. There are still some things to discuss, but I think I may hear from them soon," she replied. And aside from keeping the answer simple for the moment, she asked, "By the way, I have to admit I'm not used to riding the train for so long, would anyone mind if I change into some fresh clothes before coming to join you all?"
"Of course not, dear," Mrs . Takada kindly waved with a sweet voice.
Even Souta added, "Yeah, Sis, go ahead. 'Sides, I wanna take a moment to get a drink anyway. Does anyone else want more iced tea?" he asked the room affably, rising with his own empty drink glass in hand. When no one else wanted any, he and Kagome gave well-mannered nods to the room, earning a warm smile from their mother. Then, Souta followed his sister in stepping out the door.
:
In the hall, on the opposite side of the door and out of sight, Souta shot a quick look at his sister to find that she was doing the same.
With Kagome throwing him a questioning look with an uncertain thumbs up, he mirrored the hand motion to confirm, The night was actually going pretty well!
He did the same to her, and she smiled back with a thumbs up.
So the interview had been alright, Souta thought. "OK - Talk later," he whispered, and Kagome walked off the opposite way toward the stairs to her bedroom to change.
Souta smiled to himself, as he pushed through the swing door into the kitchen. By his pant leg, he felt the brush of Buyo's fur. The cat skirted into the kitchen trilling happily, as Souta knew without even looking that he was heading for his food bowl by the back door.
The omiai really was going better than Souta could have predicted. Mayu and he actually had more shared interests than he could have known. Since getting the new gaming PC with the renovation of his room, he had joined forums and game groups with friends on their favorite competitive online battle game, League of Heroes. Coincidentally, he had in fact seen Mayu's player name in live chats without realizing it was her! It was Friday night, so over the last few minutes, they had already made plans to play together with friends later that evening, after she got home from dinner.
Mayu seemed like a pretty cool girl, and it was even better that they shared some friends already. She was nice and without much effort, she liked to talk about things that interested him.
Happy in his thoughts, Souta pulled the iced tea from the fridge. Behind him, the glass doors looked out onto the shrine grounds, which stretched on into inky blackness due to the many old trees around the yard shielding out any moonlight. With it not quite yet spring, the sun still set early on the city, but Souta felt a spring in his moves knowing that it really wasn't that late at all.
Still plenty of time for Mayu and him to get some more time to talk between them - and both of them seemed to know well that would be better done without all their family around. Even if it was just going to be in the game's group voice chat…
Souta closed the fridge door again with a snap. Just about to turn and grab his glass from the counter, he jumped, as a loud thudding - "KUN" - reverberated through the kitchen from the glass doors, nearly stopping his heart.
Face white as a ghost's, the man's visage came into sickly-looking view under the harsh fluorescent wash of the kitchen light shining through the too-clean glass. Buyo's claws scrabbled loudly across the laminate floor, as the cat jumped a mile from the glass to hide under the table, equally shocked by the sight.
"Miroku!" Souta breathed, hands already tearing the sliding door open. Behind him, his iced tea sat, already forgotten in an instant.