Families CAN Be Replaceable
I woke up just as the back door of the hut was opened. Sleepily, I opened one eye to see Kagome leaving the hut. She turned and looked up at me. "Good morning." she said cheerfully. "Good morning to you too." I replied.
"Is that going to become your sleeping place like Inuyasha sleeps in his tree?" Kagome asked playfully. "No." "Then why are you up there?" she questioned. "Shippo and I played a trick on Inuyasha last night and he chased us. When I saw that he wasn't chasing me anymore I climbed up here for the night, Shippo ran into the woods. Did he come back?"
"He did." Kagome told me, "Have you seen Inuyasha?" "No." I told her, "Why?" "I couldn't find him in his tree." she said. Miroku walked out the door. "That old demon's probably sulking somewhere." he informed us. "Why?" Kagome asked, "Did I do something?" "Tonight's the new moon." Miroku said simply. "Oh." she replied.
"Why is he upset?" I asked. "He turns into a human tonight." Kagome said. "So do I." I insisted, "Why is he upset?" Kagome and Miroku exchanged confused glances.
"Don't you feel- weak when you change back into a human?" the man asked. I thought about it for a second. "I never thought of it that way." I told them, "The new moon was the one night a month my parents didn't think of me as an outsider, but part of the family. I'm thrilled when tonight comes around. Speaking about my parents I forgot something through the well."
I hopped off the roof. "Is what you forgot important?" Miroku asked. "I guess you could say that." I replied starting to walk towards the well. "What is it?" he questioned. I stopped and smiled mischievously. "Why should I tell you?" I asked.
"Kyo, I'll come with you." Kagome declared, "There's no jewel shards here. I should go to school if I'm not needed. "Sure, come along." I said cheerfully.
Mrs. HIGURASHI, or 'mom' as she wanted me to call her, was thrilled when we walked into the house. "I thought you wouldn't come home from the feudal era for a few days at least!" she told us, "Kagome dear, you have to hurry if you want to be at school on time. Kyo, we haven't finished your shopping. We still need to get you a few things." "You don't need to." I insisted. "Yes I do." she replied,
"Kagome, really! You have to run the whole way as it is. Don't make it worse on yourself." Kagome sighed and picked up a backpack from the corner. "I'll see you later." she said. "Have fun at school!" 'mom' told her. "Will do!" she replied, "See ya!" With that Kagome left.
"Are you ready to go?" 'mom' asked. "Let me get my hat." I replied running up to my room.
"I thought we'd just go to the local grocery store and a few other places today." Mrs. HIGURASHI, 'mom' told me, "We have to get you shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hair brush of your own. You can't use Kagome's forever."
"You really don't need to do this for me." I said for the hundredth time. "But I do." 'mom' replied, "If you're going to stay under my roof, "Even not all the time, you need to have everything you need." I gave up arguing with her. It was nice to know someone cared for me even if I wasn't fully human.
The local grocery store was huge. They had anything you'd ever want, food wise of course. "You have to tell me what you do and don't like." 'mom' said, "Putting some instant ramen containers in the cart. She had explained in the car that she was always ready for when Inuyasha visited.
"I'll eat anything." I told her, "I have no foods I hate. But my favorites are spaghetti and meatballs, fish, and meat." Mrs. Higurashi laughed. "Your tastes are just like a cat!" she exclaimed, "Isn't that sort of expected?" I asked. "I guess so." she replied, "Now what toothbrush do you want. You can have anyone.
An hour later, 'mom' had bought me a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, shampoo, conditioner, some hair ties, a wrist watch, pencils, pens, a few notebooks, folders, another backpack, and some loose-leaf paper and a little stuffed mouse she had found. She had found the mouse near the school supplies.
"Do you like mice, Kyo?" "Yes, why wouldn't I?" "Isn't this adorable? You have to have it" Mrs. Higurashi held up a stuffed animal mouse. "I'll buy it for you. Kagome has loads of stuffed animals! You have to have at least one!"
"It's really not necessary." "Yes it is. You're a girl. You deserve cute things like this. Especially after how it seems your parents treated you."
Every time 'mom' mentioned my parents, I could see a spark of something flash in her eyes. I could tell she was dead set on spoiling me.
In the way of food, 'mom' had bought, plenty of tuna fish, chicken, turkey, and even a bit of salmon for dinner. There was almost as much tuna fish in the cart as there was instant ramen.
Mrs. Higurashi pulled out some money to pay for everything. "And I need to give you an allowance too!" she said. "You don't." I said quickly, "I don't need money of my own. What would I do with it?" "Kagome buys lunch at her school." 'mom' told me, "If for nothing else, you'll need it for that." For once I couldn't argue with her.
The next store we went to today seemed to be a bookstore and toy store combined. "You can get some books and toys." 'mom' told me, "Choose whatever you like." I picked out two other stuffed animal mice, a stuffed animal cat, and a few fantasy books that sounded good.
When I returned to 'mom' she frowned. That's it?" she asked. I nodded, "And I don't even really need all this. I could put some things back if you want." "No." 'mom' said. She pulled out two puzzles, another stuffed animal cat, and another book entitled 'The Secret Garden'. "It's a classic." she explained, "You'll love it."
I took her word for it and we left. I guess I should be grateful for her kindness and willingness to buy me nice things.
It was noon when we got home. I went towards the stairs to get something out of my room. "Don't go anywhere." Mrs. Higurashi told me, "I have a nice tuna fish sandwich for you." "I have to get something out of my room." I called. But, I just couldn't turn that sandwich away. 'It' would have to wait.
"You got whatever you needed from your room awfully fast." 'mom' commented putting the sandwich and a glass of milk in front of me as I took off my hat and hung it from my chair. It was killing my ears. "I decided it could wait till after lunch." I told her. I took a bite. The sandwich was good.
"What were you going to get?" she asked, sitting down with a sandwich of her own. I decided I could tell her a bit about 'it'. "My parents gave it to me." I told Mrs. Higurashi, "It was the only real present they ever gave to me."
"What did they give you?" she asked. "Miroku and Kagome asked me the same thing." I replied, "I didn't tell them, "I'll bring it out tonight. You'll see it then." "Will I be the first?" 'mom' questioned. I nodded. "Good." she said smiling.
I checked my new watch. It was five o'clock in the afternoon. The sun would be setting in about an hour. Kagome and Souta were doing their homework. 'Mom' and Kagome's grandpa were downstairs. No one would bother me. It was time to take 'it' out.
I opened the bottom drawer of my dresser and pulled out the kimono my parents had left me. I unfolded it and looked it over, smiling. The majority of it was dark red velvet. Around the bottom and armholes was gold embroidery. The obi that went with it was black silk.
Pulling a spool of red thread, gold thread and a needle out of the right sleeve, I searched for any rips that needed repairing. Satisfied that I didn't find any, I changed into it and put the repair supplies on top of the dresser.
There wasn't much of a difference in my appearance at the moment. The sun hadn't gone down. It was only 5:30. After then I would finish primping myself. I locked my door. No one could see me in this outfit until the sun set.
Taking one of the day's shopping bags, I began to arrange my animals around the room. I then settled down on the bed and began reading 'The Secret Garden'.
My watch beeped. It was finally six. I put my book down and walked to the window to watch the final seconds of the sunset. It was beautiful, but soon over. I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline take my demon blood out of my body. My fangs shrunk into regular teeth. The claws on my hands and feet became shorter and softer, now nails. My ears disappeared and human ones appeared on the side of my head.
I looked into the mirror to admire my 100% human body. My pretty purple eyes had turned dull green. That was the only part of the change I didn't like.
With the night's transformation over, I walked over to my brush and made my brown hair, it doesn't change when I transform, up into a bun. I unlocked my door and made my way down to the kitchen.
Mrs. Higurashi was the only one there when I walked in. She was busy cooking dinner and didn't notice me enter. "Do you like my present?" I asked. 'Mom' turned and gasped. I'm not sure if she was gasping at my different look or my kimono.
"Where'd your ears go?" she asked walking over to me. "It's the new moon tonight." I told her, "All half demons change back into humans for the night." "You must be upset." 'mom' said. I remembered Miroku's question, "Don't you feel- weak when you change back into a human?" Kagome must have told her about how Inuyasha became upset at the new moon. "No." I replied, "I look forward to tonight every month."
Is this kimono your gift?" Mrs. Higurashi asked me. I nodded proudly." "It's beautiful!" she declared, "I've never seen something quiet like it." "Thanks." I replied, "I love it a lot. My parents gave it to me two years ago during a new moon."
"Are you going to go through the well tonight?" 'mom' asked me. "Yeah." I replied, "Inuyasha doesn't seem to like tonight. I'm going to go see if I can go cheer him up even though he doesn't like me." "You're a good girl." she said patting me on the shoulder, "A good girl." Mrs. Higurashi returned to her cooking.
A few minutes later, Kagome and Souta walked into the kitchen. "Where'd your ears go?" he asked sounding a little disappointed. I laughed. "Kyo changes like this once a month for the night. So does Inuyasha." Kagome told him, "She'll have her ears back tomorrow after the sun rises." "Then I guess that's okay." he replied, "I like your ears K." "Thanks." I answered.
After dinner Kagome and I went back through the well. It was just like any other night at Kaede's hut. Sango was murdering Miroku for groping, Shippo was watching, and Kaede was mixing herbs. The only difference was that there was no Inuyasha. I decided to look for him. Maybe my appearance would cheer him up.
I walked out of the hut and headed for the woods after seeing that Inuyasha wasn't in his tree. It was dark and I didn't have eyes cat eyes so I picked my way carefully through the underbrush. It was hard. I tripped quite a few times over roots. I continued on my way through the forest.
It had been a few minutes since I had last tripped and there seemed to be a clearing or something near by because I couldn't see the outline of trees. Maybe Inuyasha was in the clearing. I stepped into it.
Strong arms gripped me. "Don't take another step." a voice warned. I had heard it before. "You should know better than to run around a forest on a new moon without a light. You almost fell into the river." I took a step back. The hands released me. A candle was lit. Mikoto's face appeared in the dim light.
"Hello kitten." he said smiling. "Hello." I answered. We stood in silence for a while. "Thanks." I said finally. "No problem, "He replied.
"Are you watching me or something?" I asked after another moment of silence. "When there's no one else to watch you." he replied, "You are just like a kitten, always getting into some sort of trouble."
He handed me the candle. "You'll need that if you're going to take a walk." he told me. "Thanks." I said again. As soon as I took the candle he was gone. I continued my walk to find Inuyasha after finding a bridge across the river.
It didn't take long to find him after that. He was sitting on a tree stump. I was surprised to see him with black hair. He looked a lot different. "Still not over changing to a full human?" I asked sitting down next to him. He turned to me. "What do you know Ca-" he stopped when he saw me. "I forgot you changed to a human too."
"That's alright." I told him, "Does it really bother you to be human for a few minutes?" "Yes!" he told me, "I'm so weak. Someone could attack me and I wouldn't be able to defend myself. What if something happened to Kagome or the others?"
"I never thought of tonight being a time that I'm weak until Kagome told me you didn't like it this morning." I informed him. I've learned that idle talk makes people forget their problems maybe it would work on Inuyasha.
"Then what the hell did you think of it as?" he demanded. "A time that I was just like everyone else." I replied, "A time when the only people I knew respected me." "Feh." he said, "People who discriminate you for what you are aren't worth living with to begin with. Why didn't you ever run away from those people you called your family?" "I'd have nowhere to go." I told him. "So?" he asked, "You could protect yourself."
"That's not the only thing I'd need." I replied, "How would I get food or find shelter? No one would want to hire some kid with cat ears." "What ever." Inuyasha said, "Go back to Kaede's hut before you get hurt. Tell Kagome that I'll be back by dawn or a little after."
I got up and left smiling. By telling me to leave before I got hurt he had told me that he cared if I did. He had accepted me.
Inuyasha: You turned me into a softy! I'd never accept that cat even if my life depended on it!
Kagome: That's not nice.
Inuyasha: It may not be nice but it's the truth! I hate cats!
Miroku: Can we go back to the beach tomorrow?
Clear Waters: Sure! I want to go back in the water.
Shippo: I want to make another sand castle!
Sango: I'd like to improve my tan.
Kagome: Me too!
Miroku: I want to meet more pretty girls! {Loud smack} Ow
Inuyasha: It serves you right. You deserved that.
Kagome: Agreed.
Inuyasha: Hey when are we going home anyway?
Clear Waters: In two days.
Shippo: Oh.
Clear Waters: I know, but we have to leave sometime. R&R! Thanks!