Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, much as I would love to have you believe that, but I do own Kiryki. And any caught trying to steal her without my permission will have close encounters with my "Frying Pan of Death" and my "Flower Vase of Justice"! Oh, and I don't own CC, she's my imoto-chan's. Hehehe. . .

A/N: Okay, I think for the rest of my fic I'm going to post my responses and A/N's at the bottom of the chapie, unless they're important enough to go at the top.
Family Secrets

Family Secrets


By: Aelii-chan

Chapter 3: That's What Girls Do

The ride with Kiry had been full of fun. She had a great sense of humor and kept up a very lively conversation.

None of them had eaten that morning since they were in such a rush, and Kiry said she hadn't dared to touch the plane food, so Kagome's mom took them out for lunch. Over a plate of sushi, rice, and udon, Kiry revealed that she loved pets.

"I have two cats (insert Kagome's "Yay!"), one named Chocolate Chip, the other with the very unfortunate name of Princess Minnie Ha-Ha the Magnificent."

When everyone gave her the 'Come again? Say huh?' look, she just explained with "My mom named her, and I didn't want to know, so, I didn't ask. The cat's a real brat, too. CC's a bum: she sleeps all day and attacks my feet at night."

Everyone laughed and, encouraged, Kiry went on. "I also have a dog and a hamster. The former named Belle and the latter named Toronto. Do you have any pets?"

Kagome giggled. "A fat, lazy cat named Buyo. He's our only resident furball."

'Well, kinda. . .though, InuYasha doesn't exactly count as 'resident'. . .I think.', Kagome thought.

Kiry looked at her with humor still shining in her eyes. "Are you not a dog person or sommat?"

Sota and Mrs. Higurashi choked on their sodas. Kagome was having a little trouble keeping her face strait. Kiry looked at them with an innocent 'What did say?' look, her of course not knowing she had made a comment that could be taken several ways to the Higurashi family.

"Oh, no. I. . .like dogs just fine." She spotted Sota opening his mouth to say something, probably something she would have had to kill him for, so she quickly suggested that since they were all done with their lunch, they could go the home.

@}~~~~~^~~~~~~~

Kiry plunked her giganormous suitcase on the floor by Kagome's closet. Then she straightened up and looked around the room, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Your room looks like my room at home." She said. "Well, not looks, per say, but it feels like my room. Friendly, and definitely a girls room." She walked over to the window and looked out. Pointing, she asked, "What are those buildings?"

Kagome walked over to join her. "That one's the storeroom, and that one's the well house. There's an old dry well in that one, and the storeroom's full of just-as-old junk."

Kiry gave a nodded 'Cool.' and then turned to Kagome, the humor sparkles back in her eyes.

"Ok, I have to know, how long did you take to pick out the perfect 'Meet- the-cousin-you've-never-seen-before-and-I-want-to-make-a-good-impression' outfit this morning? It took me probably 30 minutes to finally decide on this one." Kiry grinned sheepishly.

Kagome laughed till she had to sit down on her bed. All doubts about her itoko not liking her disappeared in a flash. "20 *gasp* for me *gasp*."

Kiry had started to laugh when Kagome did and folded herself down into a sitting position on the ground, holding her stomach.

"And to think I was nervous to the point of being a wreck." Kiry said, still chuckling.

"I was terrified! I was sure you were going to think I was an idiot, or un- cool, or that I dress like a schoolgirl, or something like that." Kagome confessed, abashed.

Kiry eyed her critically, and then grinned. "Most definitely not an idiot, you're not un-cool, but if you have any reserves on your outfit, I can do something about that. Not that it's not cute, it is; I like it personally, but it's not exactly an attention grabber, and it does kinda say 'Really hasn't gone shopping in a year', no offence." She scooted over to her suitcase and unzipped it. The quantity of clothes she had crammed into it was impressive: about the entire stock of merchandise from Hot Topic.

Kagome slid off the bed and crawled over. "None taken, I really haven't been shopping. Our school has uniforms and I. . .just haven't had time to go shopping for non-school clothes. Too busy." She perused the contents of the luggage, thinking at the same time, 'Another example of the past interfering with the present.'


Kiry glanced up at her. "School tough, keepin' ya running in circles?" Without waiting for an answer she bend down to grab a few thing from the bag and handed them to Kagome. "I think we're the same size, we look it. Go try these on; you'll look cute in them."

"Ok, sure!" Kagome skipped to the bathroom and closed the door. She looked at the blue gingham halter top and white shorts that were as short as the pair her cousin was wearing. 'Gee, I've never worn anything like this. (A/N: She hasn't, right? Oh well, she hasn't in this fic, and that's all that matters, ne?) *snort* Miroku would flip a gasket if I did. Hmmm. . .wonder what InuYasha would think? Listen to me, I'm thinking crazy thoughts! Enough of that!' She finished tying the strap and went back to her room.

Kiryki was looking down at her CD case and smiling, but looked up as Kagome walking into the room and twirled in a circle to show off. Kiry clapped her hands.

"Bravo! See, you look fab-u-lous!" She dragged out the word, and Kagome, over to the full length mirror in the corner.

Feeling much more confident in herself, Kagome pulled Kiry over to her suitcase.

"What else have you got in there?!" Kagome asked excitedly.

Kiry giggled and that's how they spent the rest of the evening, indulging in fashion.

@}~~~~~^~~~~~~~

The next morning, around 10-ish, InuYasha jumped out of the well into the present, or, future, depending on who's opinion you were going on. Sango hadn't let him come before now, saying that Kagome was probably sleeping still and "for heavens sake, sit down and stop wearing a hole in the floor!" So he sulkily sat down and grumbled till Sango got tired of that too and yelled at him "Fine go! But if you get 'sat' for waking her up, don't blame me!"

So here he was now, opening the door of the Well House and making his way to the tree outside Kagome's window. InuYasha stopped for a second, checking the surroundings. He could hear Kagome's okasan in the kitchen, probably making breakfast. Sota and Grandpa were in the living room, something on the 'television' thingy making them argue. Kagome was in her bedroom, he could smell her from down here.

If there was one scent he most loved, it was hers, sweet and warm, full of life and vitality.

He sniffed again. 'Something else? No, nothing's there now. Musta imagined it.' He shook his head, as if to clear it, and then leapt into the tree. And nearly fell right back out again.

'Oh. . .my. . .gods. . .'



A/N: HAHAHAHA! A cliff hanger! How many of your guys's heads are in the gutter? *sigh* What am I to do with you people? Lock you all in boxes with InuYasha wallpaper, I know. . .

Ryu ~~ Gomen nasai for not giving you a response in the last chapie!! I got distracted and. . .well, I'm you know how that goes. Thank you for the raves!!! Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. . .you'll just have to keep reading and find out! Hehehe. . .see my clever scheme?

Kiana ~~ Oh my. . .I'm sure there was a 'Great story' in there somewhere, so Thank You!

Amber, DaddyDoo ~~ Don't worry, the romance will come. . .*cackles*

DJP, Kagome07, Jupiter's Light ~~ Hehehe. . .Thank You ma petie.

Gryphnwng ~~ The sad thing really is that I was still up when you wrote that, I hadn't gone to bed yet so it was, like, 2 in the morning when it came to me! Don't worry, I up-date quickly.

Skara Brae ~~ Thanx, and here ya go! Now review, onegai.

Well, there everyone goes! *AHEM* REVIEW!

'.' Aelii