Complete the Circle
Chapter Twelve: Sango: Pest Exterminator
"Good morning, Sango-chan!" Kagome said, waving to Sango as she crossed the crosswalk. "Want to walk to school with me?"
"Um, sure," Sango replied, waiting for Kagome to catch up to her.
"So, how do you like the school?" Kagome said, trying to make a conversation.
"It's fine, I suppose," Sango replied, "It's like all other schools."
"Oh," Kagome said, for lack of a better response. The old Sango was shy, so I wonder if this Sango is shy, too. That might make it a bit difficult to get close to her.
They walked into their classroom, walking to their desks and starting to empty their backpacks of the textbooks in them. Sango sat a little bit behind Kagome, so Kagome would have no chance to contact her during class.
"Hey, Kagome!" Kagome's friend said, "Did you hear? I heard that the history teacher is going to leave us soon because of health problems, or something. I wonder who our new teacher is going to be, but most importantly, I want to know when the history teacher is leaving. I don't think I can stand another one of his lectures anymore!"
"Good morning, Kagome," her other two friends said. "Good morning, Sango."
"Good morning," Sango replied, smiling a bit. Kagome moved slightly aside to make room for Sango to join their little circle.
"Sango, are you walking with Kagome to school now?" one of Kagome's friends asked. "I think that's nice of you. Because Kagome lives at the shrine, she doesn't have many people who walk with her to school because the shrine is a little too far away from school and none of our classmates live near the shrine."
"No, that's not true," another girl interjected, "what about that one guy?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about him…"
"Who?" asked Sango and Kagome at the same time. They turned to each other and started to giggle.
"All right, students, please get into your seats. Class is about to start," the teacher said, writing something on the board. Kagome groaned when she saw the math problems on the board, but didn't say anything out loud.
"Oh no, there's going to be a combined chapter test two weeks from now," Kagome groaned to herself on the way home. "I better start studying tonight or I'll never pass the test."
She entered what she thought was going to be a quiet, peaceful home with perfect conditions for studying, but instead she found Souta and Shippou running around chasing something, along with Buyo and Kirara, while in the background, the wonderful music of the vacuum cleaner was humming incessantly.
"What's going on here?" Kagome shouted amidst the chaos.
"One of the boxes in the storage room has rats in it, and Jii-chan accidentally let them out in the house," Souta said, panting for air. Kagome heard Shippou use his fox fire in the other room.
"Shippou-chan, don't use your fire in the house," Kagome shouted, heading towards Shippou. She saw something slip past her feet and screamed.
"Kagome, it's just a rat," Shippou said, chasing after it with Kirara. "And my kitsune-bi doesn't hurt anything except the rats."
"Is Kagome home?" she heard her mother ask through all the noise.
"Mama, she's right here," Souta said, pointing at Kagome. Finally the noise from the vacuum cleaner halted and Mrs. Higurashi walked to where her daughter was.
"Kagome, would you mind running to a nearby store and buying a newspaper?" her mother asked, her eyes seeming to search the floor for something.
"A newspaper? Why?" Kagome asked, trying to find whatever it was her mother was looking for.
"Oh, I just need to look at the advertisements in the newspaper. I need to find a good exterminator," Mrs. Higurashi suddenly whipped a can of bug spray out from her pocket and began spraying a corner of the wall rather enthusiastically. "Actually, any pest exterminator will do. We've been having a real problem with insects lately. And since it was so cold outside yesterday, a lot of insects have come into the house."
"And it doesn't help with Jii-chan chasing the cockroaches out of the shrine and into our home," Souta said, handing his mother another can of bug spray. Kagome heard Shippou use his fox fire from another area of the house.
"All right, I'll go and get a newspaper," Kagome said, wearing her shoes again. "Kyaa!" she screamed as she quickly took her feet out of her shoe. She saw a brownish black insect crawl out of her shoe. Mrs. Higurashi immediately pounced on it and sprayed the cockroach till it could no longer move.
"So, can you please go get the newspaper now?" her mother said, spraying a row of ants. Kagome quickly slipped on her shoes after making sure nothing was living in them, and walked out of the house. She heard someone turn the vacuum cleaner on again. I bet they're probably trying to suck the ants up.
She returned a few minutes later with a newspaper, only to find her house covered in smoke. Oh no! The house is on fire. I told Shippou not to use his fox fire indoors! She ran into the house and expected to see the furniture on fire, but instead, she found her grandfather burning a very large stick of incense mumbling some sort of spell under his breath. The spell sounded something like "insectsbegoneinsectsbegone."
"Jii-chan!" Kagome coughed, trying to fan away the smoke with her hand.
"Don't disturb Jii-chan," Souta said, "He's trying to perform an extermination spell."
"Kagome, did you get the newspaper?" asked her mother. Her voice came from the kitchen.
"Hai, Mama," Kagome said, walking to the kitchen and trying to hold her breath.
"Kitsune-bi!" Kagome screamed as Shippou's fox fire passed through her legs and got the rat that had just run past her.
"Oh good," her mother said, opening the newspaper and looking through it quickly. "There we go. I'll call them up right now, because this is a bit of an emergency," her mother said, dialing the number.
"But Mama, where are we going to stay while they…never mind," Kagome mumbled as she saw her mother was clearly not listening to her. She saw her mother speak into the phone, look puzzled, then laughed and took the earplugs out of her ears.
Kagome walked outside with her backpack towards the giant God tree. She plunked down next to the tree, taking out her homework and trying to get some homework done before the sun set. She leaned against the tree, breathing in its scent. It smells like…
She didn't have time to finish her thoughts for the exterminators soon arrived. She saw her mother walk out of the house to greet them. She turned back to do her homework when she heard a voice call her name.
"Kagome-chan!" She looked up and saw Sango wearing a black uniform, waving at her.
"Sango-chan?" she asked, getting up from her position and starting to walk towards her. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't be silly," smiled Sango, "I'm helping my parents exterminate the pests in your house."
"You help your parents with their job?" Kagome asked incredulously.
"Think of it as an apprenticeship," Sango said, getting her equipment ready. "Your mother said this was an emergency, which is why I'm here. I usually don't do exterminations on weekdays, but if it's an emergency, then I come and help."
"Onee-chan, where do I put this?" asked a boy younger than Sango, but older than Souta.
"Just put it in the second pouch from the left, Kohaku," Sango said, readjusting the belt around her waist. "I'm going to get the pests in your house, okay? I think my parents have already started and they'll get mad if Kohaku and I don't help them." Sango and Kohaku were already in her house when Kagome realized that Sango's brother was also named Kohaku. This is getting really weird. What a coincidence that the girl who looks like Sango is named Sango, and her brother, which looks like Kohaku, is named Kohaku. Is this someone's idea of a joke? All I need now is a perverted monk and a guy with dog ears named Inuyasha.
Kagome sighed and went back to doing her homework. Shippou soon walked up to her, seeming to look for something.
"Kagome, have you seen Kirara?" he asked, looking up the God tree.
"No, I thought she was with you," Kagome said, trying to memorize a math formula.
"No, the last place I saw her was in the house- Oh no!" Shippou cried, running towards the house. "Kirara is still in the house." It took a moment for the information to sink in, but when it did, Kagome ran as fast as she could towards the house. Please don't let them see Kirara! Please be hiding, Kirara.
But luck was not on their side for Sango exited out of their house, holding the cat and looking extremely pale, even under her gas mask. Oh, no. How am I going to explain a two-tailed cat?
"Ka-Kagome-chan, wha-what is this?" Sango said, taking off her mask, her voice shaking, but her hand remaining firm on Kirara. "Is it some sort of mutated cat, or something?"
"Ah…no," Kagome replied, trying to get Kirara away from Sango, but Sango backed off away from her.
"Kagome…don't try to lie to me," Sango said, looking at Shippou, who had forgotten to transform his tail away in all the pandemonium. "That child…he isn't normal. Look at his tail, Kagome! And this cat… Kagome, why are—what are… Are you some sort of mutated human too?"
Kagome blinked. Then she started to laugh at Sango's expression.
"I'm not a mutated human! None of us are," she said, still laughing.
"Then what…?" Sango asked, confused with the strange things she saw before her.
"The one you're holding is a cat youkai," Kagome said, finally taking Kirara from Sango. She noticed that Sango looked a bit disappointed when she did. Does Sango remember her friend, Kirara?
"I'm Shippou, a kitsune," Shippou said, grinning and showing his small fangs.
"Kagome…they're youkai!" Sango said, gasping as she grasped the concept. Kagome started to worry. What if Sango told others about Kirara and Shippou?
"Sango, don't tell anyone, please," Kagome pleaded, hoping that Sango wasn't the type to gossip idly.
"Of course I won't tell anyone!" Sango said, suddenly smiling, "I always knew that things like youkai existed, and now I have proof that they do! I know what would happen if anyone found out they existed. They would probably send some miko to slay them or something." Kagome thought that her situation couldn't be more ironic.
"So you promise not to tell?" Kagome asked, awaiting confirmation.
"I won't even tell my family," Sango promised. Her parents, along with Kohaku exited the house, heading towards the steps after handing Mrs. Higurashi their invoice.
"Sango, we're going, so hurry up!" her father shouted.
"I'll be there soon!" she shouted back.
"That was fast," commented Kagome.
"Well, my family has been doing this for generations, so we have some tricks up our sleeves that not even the most modern and advanced pesticides can compare with." She turned to Kagome, her face seeming to glow with the radiant smile she had on. "I don't know why, Kagome-chan, but after finding out your secret, I feel like a part of me has been opened. Like when I saw Kirara, I felt like a part of me that has been sleeping my entire life suddenly awoke. So… I'm glad to know, and you should know that your secret is safe with me." Sango smiled then started towards her parents.
"I know," Kagome said, watching the family drive away. It was after the car passed out of sight did Kagome realize she never told Sango Kirara's name.