". . . Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck; And yet methinks I have astronomy," William Shakespeare

The Darling Buds of May

Chapter Nine:

Sesshomaru only barely managed to contain his laughter. He watched the scene in his younger brother's hospital room with interest. Miss Higurashi was standing by the window with her arms crossed and her head turned, as Inu-yasha proceeded to argue with her over some point or other.

"You're NOT going to go around by yourself!" shouted Inu-yasha

"Oh I'm not, am I?! I don't see why you're so upset!" Kagome huffed.

"Why I'm upset?! What is wrong with you, you stupid girl?! That man could have KILLED you, and you don't see why I'm upset?!" Sesshomaru saw this as his chance to end the argument. He cleared his throat rather audibly, gaining the attention of the latter two in the room. Inu-yasha turned, noticing his brother for the first time.

"Sess, I need you to do a favor for me. . ." he said.

"Oh, no you don't! I don't need -" but Inu-yasha cut her off.

"Last night, someone attacked Kagome. . . I want you to see that wherever she goes, someone is there with her. I don't want anything to happen to her again, Sesshomaru." Sesshomaru turned to look at Kagome, who blushed a furious shade of red as Inu-yasha related this information to him.

"Really, Inu-yasha, I'll be fine. . . I don't see why you're so worried." Kagome said gently.

"I told you already, until I can watch you myself, you're GOING to have someone with you to make sure you're okay."

"Oh, Inu-yasha. . ." Kagome turned her head, and that's when Sesshomaru saw the bruises on her face and the lesions left on her neck.

'I don't blame him. . . I would feel the same way if something happened to the one I loved. . .' Sesshomaru tried to imagine his reaction if someone had done such a thing to his fiancé. He couldn't picture himself doing anything less than ripping out the heart of such a person if they laid a hand on HIS Rin. . .

"I have to agree with my brother in THIS argument." Sesshomaru finally said after a moment. "I will see that Myoga will be here to take her home every day."

"Feh. Stupid girl. . ." He looked perfectly smug again. 'Almost like his old self. . .' Thought Sesshomaru.

"UGH!! I'm just not going to win this one, am I?" Kagome said helplessly.

"Don't worry, Miss Higurashi. The moments in which I agree with my younger brother are rare indeed. . . You will not lose very many arguments with him." Sesshomaru reassured her.

"Well. . .I-I need to be going, anyway. Grandpa will be here to pick me up, now." Kagome mumbled, still blushing.

"Sess? Go down with her and talk to that man. I want him to know that Mr. Myoga will pick her up in the mornings to take her to school and pick her up in the afternoons from now on." Inu-yasha was almost grinning at her shocked face.

"Pick me up? You are sending someone to PICK ME UP?! I CAN take care of myself, thank you very much!!!" Inu-yasha waved his hand at her.

"Of course you can. . . Now, don't forget to be ready in the morning." He teased.

"Oohh, you-"

"Let us go, now, Miss. Higurashi. I don't believe you will wish to keep your grandfather waiting, now do you?" Sesshomaru cut her off, and bowed her out of the room before Inu-yasha ended up with another reason to stay in the hospital.

"Kagome? Who's giving you a ride this morning?" asked Sango, as she peered out her window. There was very nice car parked to the side. She looked to her friend who blushed furiously at the mention of her mysterious ride.

"It's-well, it's just that Inu-yasha saw the bruises and he - well, he COMPLETELY overreacted, in my opinion. . ." Sango looked at the left side of Kagome's face, and again to the marks around her neck.

"Well, not in MY opinion, he didn't. So who's driving?" Kagome blushed even more deeply.

"H-his guardian, Mr. Myoga. . . He'll be picking us up after school, too." Sango smiled to herself.

"Well, we'd better leave now, so we aren't late for school, don't you think?" she asked her friend.

"I guess. . ."

"Oh, Kagome. . ." Sango sighed. "What am I going to do with you, my friend?" Sango picked up her book bag, and the girls headed off to school.

Author's Note: Who hoo! It's St. Patrick's Day! You know, down here in the "deep south", we celebrate St. Pat's like it's Mardi Gras! Well, anyway, what did you all think? I hope it's not too short. I've been working to make my chapters longer. Oh, and I went and looked back, and I realized that every time I typed an ellipsis, it ended up looking like a period on ff.net. I don't know how to work with the html tags right now, so all my ellipsis's that you see are just 3 periods. I know, I know, I'm boring you all with writer mechanics, so I'll stop. Glad I'm underage. . . I don't think I want to drink green beer like some of the people here do on St. Patrick's. Oh well! La la la! Until I post again! -Starmoon