Until You Were Gone
Chapter 5
Nothing but darkness, delusion and suffering.
And yet it is light.
For, in a dark world, the dark is light.
"INUYASHA!" She yelled, loud enough to send the birds in a nearby tree fluttering off, all too eager to get away from a mother and her plan.
The grass whispered impatiently, tasting the sure success.
And finally...
There he came. Moping towards her like a forgotten puppy, cute little ears and all. She grinned, and he gave her a blank look. He stood before her now, all six feet of son in law material, she hugged herself. A forlorn and expectant look broke her excitement, she motioned inside, he complied.
She sat him down at the kitchen table and set to work making ramen, content to begin the conversation whenever it felt best.
As Inuyasha slurped slowly and quietly at what would have previously been scarfed food, she began her proposal.
"You love my daughter." She stated, not as a question, just to put it out on the table in hopes he'd take a look at it. "She loves you."
Inuyasha cringed and shook his head as if to rid it of an impending thought. He placed his chopsticks on his half finished bowl and gave the well-meaning woman a well-meaning look.
"Look Higurashi-sama. What I said to Kagome... "He closed his eyes and lowered his head, untangling the string of words he was trying to but before her.
"Cannot be taken back, I know." She said. "But if she really loves you (which I can guarantee you she does by the state she was in when she came back here) she'll find it in her heart to forgive you."
"...she needs to find it soon...because I need her." He raised two glistening eyes to gaze across the table.
"Well, before anything is found, we need to take care of that other boy she seems to be caught up with." She looked back on the scene she had witnessed only 20 minutes before. "I know she loves you, and so we need to help her make the right decision."
"Higurashi-san?"
"Mm?"
"Thank you... for believing in our love."
Kagome wrapped her arms around her newfound friend as they boarded the scooter. Or was he more? She shook the thought off. Fun. She was here to have fun and not reassess her friendships.
She carefully opened her eyes to the driving wind as they wove through traffic. Everyone and their dog were out shopping today it seemed, cars honked at negligent pedestrians and pedestrians squawked at negligent drivers. Somehow they managed to pull up to a small Thai restaurant. 'Thai?' Kagome thought. Unusual for Japan. She couldn't ever recall having food from Thailand... but it sounded like an adventure.
Inside it was dim and smelled of incense. A yellow glow was emitted from lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Everything that could be was adorned in gold. A great bronze elephant statue stared at her from the corner.
A tiny, wizened man, who had a foreign look about him, smiled from Yuki to Kagome and gave Yuki a wink. She blushed as he fished some menus out of a holder with fragile looking hands.
"Right this way." He turned and began through the narrow restaurant, heading towards the back. Dramatically, he pulled a curtain inside to show them a small booth with two large fluffy looking pillows and a low table. The floor was traditional tatami, but that was the only thing familiar about this voyage of a room.
The walls were painted with dancers, all wearing peculiar golden vase-looking hats. There was great purple velvet draperies that seemed to suck all sound right into their dense depths.
Kagome nearly tripped over her pillow as she gazed at the décor.
The table, rather then being square, was long and rectangular. Pillows situated so that the diners were next to, rather then across from each other.
Yuki sat cross legged and motioned for Kagome to do the same.
"That man is my grandfather." Yuki explained. "He came to Japan from Thailand many years ago and never left. "
That explained why Yuki seemed a bit different then most Japanese people in appearance, and it also could explain his eye color, or so Kagome hoped.
'N- NANI' Kagome squinted at the indecipherable katakana.
"Pado tai?"She tasted the word.
"Phad Thai." Yuki said expertly. "It's got rice noodles... It's pretty popular."
"I'll let you choose, seeing as you seem to know what this stuff is." Kagome nudged the menu away.
"It's a deal."
"So you're Thai eh?" Kagome said as Yuki put down the menu decisively.
"Partly. I think the reason that my grandfather never left Japan is that he met my grandmother, who was a descendent of a pretty wealthy family that traces back to the feudal era. They met and apparently nothing could come between them and getting married. (Except maybe the language barrier, but they managed.)" he added in an aside.
"Cool! I'm just plain ol' Japanese. Not much else to it really."
"Well, you live in a shrine, that much mean you've got some influential ancestors."
Kagome blushed, looking back at the time Hojo had found her name on his family tree, thinking it was just a coincidence.
Just then an old Japanese woman peeked her head into the curtain and smiled. She took another step forward and bowed.
"Yuki stood."
"Obaasan, this is Kagome Higurashi, Kagome, this is my obaasan." Kagome stood up and bowed, catching the woman's suggestive smile as she did so.
"Have you decided?" She asked
"Hai. My favorite please, and two of those ice things." Yuki said and then bowed.
They both sat back down.
"You know, now that I think about it, it seems like my grandmother's great great great grandmother, or something crazy like that, was named Kagome." He scratched his chin pensively.
"You're kidding." Kagome's heart nearly did a handstand as it skipped several beats.
"Nope."
'That means... wait but then... AHH THE PARADOXES!' Her mind screamed, one thought seeming to be louder. 'That means you must have married someone from the feudal era... someone meaning Inuyasha... and there was... CHILDREN.'
Yuki gave her a funny look, realizing how much distress this comment put her into. "It's just a coincidence, you think we're related or something?" He laughed.
"You wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain." Kagome stated simply.
'This is Inuyasha... well Inuyasha's... great great WHATEVER.' She tried to stop the next thought 'And yours too.'
"Yuki, do you believe in fate?" Kagome asked carefully after a great debate with herself.
"Sometimes, why?
"O nothing. So tell me where did you live before you moved here?"
Reluctantly, he went with the change of subject, sensing even more now that there was something major he was missing out on.
Sango and Miroku whispered by the dieing fire while Shippo and Kirara slept in the corner.
"What do you think is going on with them?" Sango asked.
"I wonder if they eloped and were too shy to tell us..." That one earned a elbow jab from the impatient taijya.
"I'm serious Miroku, what if there's something really wrong. What if Kagome never comes back!" She fretted hopelessly.
Miroku embraced her and kissed the top of her head lightly.
"All we can do right now is believe in their love, Sango." He whispered into her heavenly hair. "Love can do some wonderful things in addition to the pain it causes, sometimes we just need to remember that."
Sango's tried to even her breathing, but tears came to her eyes and she squeezed handfuls of purple.
If someone just believed. They do. Then maybe after all this drama. Make it so. We can make it work somehow. O how nice it would be
End Chapter 5
Thanks for reading, I hope you can find it in your heart to review.
Also, writing this fic has indeed brought it to my attention that sometimes, all someone need is for you to believe, and sometimes that's all you can do. So don't be tainted by jealousy or greed, and give them what they need.
kakite