Complete the Circle
Chapter Ten: Welcome, Shippou. Hi, Sango.She stood there, looking down into the well. It seemed more dark and foreign without Inuyasha waiting on the other side. She contemplated breaking her promise to Shippou and jumping into the well anyways, but decided against it. If she disappeared now, Shippou would most likely get worried, and he would probably never forgive himself for letting her out of his sight and failing Inuyasha.
Inuyasha… Where are you now? Do you… Do you miss me? I-I'm sorry. I wasn't there for you. I wasn't there for you when you-when you… She couldn't bring herself to say the words, even in her mind. She saw a sparkling sphere drop down into the well and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. But still, they continued to fall, each tiny sphere falling into the darkness of the well. Maybe she hoped that her tears would somehow reach Inuyasha, or maybe she longed to see him, dead or alive, but she stood there until the morning waned and the noon sun rose high above the God tree.
"Kagome." She was startled by the voice of her mother, and quickly wiped her tears away.
"Yes?" she asked, trying to act as cheerful as she could.
"Kagome, you don't have to pretend around me," her mother said, walking over and hugging her daughter. Kagome willed herself not to succumb to her mother's bait.
"Did you want something, Mama?" she asked as her mother pulled away. "It's Sunday, so the shops might close early. Did you want me to get something for you?"
"Kagome…" her mother said, for a moment looking heartbroken, but Kagome could have imagined it, for a moment later, her mother was smiling again. "It's about Shippou. What are we going to do about him?"
"Mama, we can't turn him out!" she said quickly, her panic making her lose her reason. Her mother laughed softly.
"I wouldn't think of turning him out when he has no place to go," she said, smiling at her daughter. "I was thinking that perhaps we should adopt him."
"Oh," Kagome replied, feeling embarrassed.
"What do you think, Kagome? Are you up to the challenge of having another brother in the family?" her mother laughed. Kagome grinned.
"Hai!"
"I'll get the paperwork and such done for him. What you need to do is teach him about this world and school," her mother said, starting to walk away. "Oh, and make sure he knows how to read and write. I don't know if anyone taught him yet, but you had better make sure he knows how to by heart. Oh!" her mother said, seeming to think of something on the spot, "Make sure you get clothes for him. I don't know what form he's capable of, but you had better make sure you've got clothes for him."
"Yes, Mama," Kagome replied, starting for the house as her mother descended the steps of the shrine.
"And make sure he gets a full meal. I don't think he ate a lot yesterday. You too, Kagome."
"Yes, Mama," she said, slightly exasperated. She watched her mother disappear down the steps before going into the house. She heard the sounds of someone playing video games and headed towards it.
"Souta! What are you doing?" she asked, "I thought I told you to teach Shippou the modern things we have around here."
"I am, nee-chan," Souta said, trying to see over Kagome, who was blocking the television set. "I'm teaching him what a video game is. You can't go to school if you don't know the latest games!"
"What?!" Kagome answered, unbelieving of Souta. "You don't need to know video games just to go to school."
"Just because you are a hermit, doesn't mean Shippou has to be one, too," Souta said.
"I am not a hermit!" Kagome shouted. "Who says I'm a hermit?"
"You don't even know the latest movie that's out," Souta said, pausing the game for he couldn't get Kagome to move.
"That's because I was in the Sengoku Jidai!" Kagome said, reminded of Inuyasha. She didn't have time to get sad, for it was Shippou's turn to comment on Kagome's knowledge of the modern world.
"I bet you don't even know the name of the man who made 'The Legend of Zelda,'" Shippou said, giving her a self-important look.
"Huh?"
"See, we're right about you, hermit!" Souta said, running out of the room and from Kagome's impending wrath. "Shippou, run for it!" Souta shouted at the Kitsune, already far away from his sister. Shippou ran after Souta, laughing.
"Shippou! Come back here!" Kagome said, unable to prevent a smile from spreading over her face. "Shippou-chan!" She started to run after the two boys, her small smile growing larger. I won't forget you, Inuyasha, but I can't remain sad forever. You know, I wonder… Did you simply send Shippou just to make sure I'm safe, or was there another reason? Well, it doesn't matter. Having at least one of my friends from the Sengoku Jidai here makes me happy. Your deaths don't hurt so much anymore…
She caught the kitsune trying to transform himself into a trashcan, but failing for he forgot about the lid on top.
"Gotcha!" Kagome grabbed Shippou, forcing him to transform back to his original form. "Where's Souta?"
Shippou only grinned before turning into a leaf. What? A leaf? Then that means…
"Shippou! Souta! Stop hiding right now!" Kagome said, her temper starting to get to her. What did they really transform themselves into? I shouldn't have given Shippou that Shikon fragment yet…
She saw a leaf scooting away from her. That's suspicious. The leaf stopped moving. Hmm… Kagome moved away from the leaf, seeming to search in the opposite direction.
"I wonder where they could be?" she asked in an overly loud voice. The leaf mysteriously giggled. It started to inch away from her like a worm. She couldn't stop herself from grinning as she picked up the leaf by its stem.
"Hey! This leaf looks like a tea leaf. I think I'll boil it in water—"
"Ack! Noooo! Don't boil me! Shippou! Shippou!"
She heard a muffled voice from under her right foot. She quickly lifted her foot away and Shippou transformed back to himself, rubbing his back.
"Ow…" he whined. Kagome looked worriedly at him.
"Well you wouldn't have been hurt if you hadn't been doing that," Kagome said in a motherly voice. "Come on, let's go inside."
Once inside the kitchen, Shippou transformed Souta back while Kagome made them something to eat.
"So, Shippou-chan, did Souta teach you how everything works in this room?" she asked, handing them each a mug of hot chocolate.
"Yes! That box thingy over there is a 'microwave' and that big cold box over there is a 're'-'refri'-'rehi?' 'Rehigarator?" he asked.
"Refrigerator," Souta corrected, opening a box of cookies and starting to chomp on them.
"Well, other than that, I know the name of everything else in the kitchen," Shippou said cheerfully, taking the cookie Souta handed to him and chewing it carefully before stuffing the entire thing in his mouth. "That's good!"
"Don't pig out before lunch," Kagome said, starting towards her room. "You're the eldest, Souta, so you're responsible for Shippou, understand?" She saw her brother nod at her absentmindedly before reaching for a cookie quickly, as if afraid that Shippou would eat it all. She smiled fondly at them and headed to her room to do her forgotten homework.
I guess running away to the Sengoku Jidai if I fail the High School Exam is out of the question now. She sat down before her desk, taking the chain with the Shikon shard off from her neck. Guess I won't have to look at this for a long time. She placed the Shikon fragment inside a drawer and locked it. She felt like she was locking an important part of herself in the drawer, but she ignored the feeling. Can't dwell on Inuyasha and the Sengoku Jidai forever. Right. So, to work! She promptly began doing all the homework that she had missed.
Despite all that Kagome and Souta tried to teach him, Shippou still had a lot to learn, so Kagome's mother decided to place him in kindergarten because he really didn't know more than any other kindergartener, and also because he looked like one when he was in his untransformed state. No matter how much Shippou denied being a small child, Mrs. Higurashi refused to believe him, and was firm in her decision. It allowed Shippou to know where Kagome's stubbornness sometimes came from.
A week after he arrived, Mrs. Higurashi determined Shippou ready to start school.
"Now remember, Shippou," she said very motherly, "just stick close to Souta and he'll teach you how everything goes. Okay?"
"Okay, umm… Okaa-san," Shippou said uncomfortably. Mrs. Higurashi just smiled.
"You can call me 'Mama' like Kagome and Souta, or, if it makes you more comfortable, call me 'Okaa-chan.' 'Okaa-san' sounds a little bit too formal for a child your age to be saying, doesn't it?" she asked, smiling at Shippou. Shippou agreed nervously. "So then, off to your first day in school. Souta, remember to help Shippou."
"I know, Mama," Souta said impatiently. "Come on, Shippou. If we don't start right now, we're going to be late."
"Bye, Mama," Kagome said, walking after Shippou and Souta. So, Shippou's first day in school. I hope he doesn't mess up any of his facts. But then, he's in kindergarten, so I doubt the teachers will give him too much grief if he says something wrong. What I'm most worried about is his transformation. She looked at the brown haired boy walking before her, conversing with Souta. He looks normal right now, but I wonder how long can he hold it? I wish I had tested Shippou more before letting him go…
She crossed the crosswalk, looking at the glowing light that signaled for the pedestrians to start crossing the street. The light from the signal reminds me of Inuyasha's hair on a night of the full moon, glowing, silver, and—Why am I thinking about him?! That's it Kagome, lock all these thoughts away. You've been doing this for a week, so this day should be no different. But she felt the floodgates within her start to break, and promptly began looking at the sky. The sky is harmless. It won't remind me of anything… Hmm… The sky in the Sengoku Jidai looks higher and—Why do I keep thinking about that?! She tried to turn her thoughts away from that time period and the memory of friends lost there.
Oh look! That cloud looks like an ice cream cone! Kagome thought, glad to be free from thinking about more unpleasant and serious things. And that cloud looks like a pillow. Oh! And that cloud looks like Inuyasha—No! Stop it!
"Ow!"
"Ite…" groaned Kagome as she got up from the ground. She saw that in her lack of attention, she had knocked someone down. "Ah! I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…"
"It's alright," the girl said, getting up. She had long black hair and looked incredibly similar to…
"Sango!" Shippou cried, frozen in his tracks. His eyes were bulging with surprise.
"Huh? Do I know you?" the girl asked, looking at Shippou with confusion.
"Sango! It's m—" Shippou was cut off by Kagome's hand over his mouth.
"Oh, I'm sure he's mistaken you for someone else," Kagome laughed nervously, trying to get Shippou to stop squirming in her arms.
"Oh? Are you sure? I mean, if he knows my name, then I'm sure we must have met somewhere before," the girl said, frowning.
"Your name is Sango?" Kagome asked, dropping Shippou in her surprise.
"Yes. Yamata Sango. I just moved here recently, so that kid might have met me somewhere else," she said, looking curiously at Shippou. Shippou began to feel uncomfortable under her gaze. She looked like she was trying to remember something that was just out of her grasp.
"Well, I'm Kagome. Higurashi Kagome," introduced Kagome. "And this is Shippou and Souta. We're pleased to have met you."
"I don't think I've seen any of you before," Sango finally said, shifting the books in her arms.
"Oh! That's probably because you haven't," Kagome laughed nervously again, "Shippou likes to guess people's names, and I guess he guessed right this time."
"Oh. Well, I better start towards school or I'm going to be late," Sango said, starting to walk off.
"I'll walk you there. I'm guessing we go to the same school," Kagome said smiling, and waving goodbye to Souta and Shippou as they split up to go to their own schools. She looked at the person walking next to her and wondered if she was really the Sango that she knew, or was she someone else entirely. She looks exactly like Sango! It makes me wonder if Miroku and Inuyasha are in this time period too…
Kagome was jarred from her thoughts with the ringing of the first bell.
Author's Note: Err… I don't know what Sango's last name is, and her entire family was killed off anyway, so I made up a last name for her. Fine, I didn't exactly make it up. I asked my grandma, who knows a little Japanese, to provide me with some last names, and one of them was "Yamata." I think it means mountain field or something, but I could be wrong…