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Chapter 4: Little Hut in the Woods
'Scrub ,rinse, pat ,dry...scrub, rinse, pat, dry...'
Ah, cleaning clothes was such a simple task. Really, all you had to do was scrub the dirtied cloth, with soap of course, rinse it off, pat to make sure there are no suds left, and dry. Repeat the cycle about 2 or three times, and you've got yourself a pair of unsoiled, washed and sanitary clothes. I'd done it for years, and it worked every time. Seriously, it was that easy.
SPLASH!
There were some giggles, and a few, "Rin is sorry, Kagome! Very sorry!", as the hyped up girl pranced about the edge of the river, throwing big, and I mean BIG rocks into the said river. Of course this caused water to spray everywhere...including on me...
We finally finished washing, after some yelling and struggling, and that's when I noticed Rin squirming around and grabbing her ponytail. I looked around quickly, trying to spot any youkai that might have been sneaking around the area, but upon seeing none, I decided to ask Rin what was getting her so nervous.
"Hey, Rin, are you okay? You seem a bit edgy." She let go of her ponytail immediately. This piqued my curiosity even more.
Staring at the ground, Rin squeezed the bundle of flowers she had picked before, and mumbled something incoherent.
"What?" I lowered myself to her height level. "What was that, Rin?"
At last, she flickered her gaze at me. " Rin said that, Rin wants to go with Kagome to Kagome's home." Oh. Her brown eyes began shine, and pretty soon a trail of tears ran down her cheek.
"Rin can go with Kagome, right? Rin can go home with Kagome?" How could I say no?
"Well, who do you live with Rin? I'm pretty sure they'd miss you..." Her family was dead, but she had to live with somebody. No kid her age could live alone.
" Rin lives by herself." Except maybe Rin. Now there was no way I could say no. I pulled Rin towards me and embraced her in a hug. "You can stay with me Rin." Hiccuping, she nodded and smiled. For a moment, I actually anticipated having Rin live with me. I would be like having a younger sister, and as a child I always wanted to experience that.
Then she squealed, loudly, in delight, and grabbed my hand, racing forward. Well, it couldn't be that horrible....
" Where does Kagome live?!" Eh....
That was a very good question. Rin looked so happy and hopeful, and I didn't want to disapoint her by saying I had nowhere to live...so...
"So Rin. How exactly did you take care of yourself if you lived alone?"
I distracted her. Evil, yes I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures. But, so innocent was Rin, that she bounced up and down, obviously excited that I'd asked about her.
" Everyday, Inuyasha brings Rin food and fresh water so Rin won't starve, AND blankets to keep Rin warm! Inuyasha is a very nice friend," she scrunched up her nose, "but he gets grouchy a lot." That last part wasn't surprising...though everything else was.
The jerk I'd met the other day didn't seem like the type to actually go out of his way to care for a small child. And, did she call him a friend?
This actually made me chuckle, which caused Rin to chuckle also, though I didn't know why...
Rin was so busy laughing her little head off, I took her distraction as a chance to think about where we were going to live. I couldn't just live with her outside, it was too dangerous. So I tried to recall where I took residence all those years after my village kicked me out.
I remembered, right after they sent me away, I traveled some distance away and found a medium-sized hut. That was where I spent most of my time, and it was a cozy hut....
'If only I could remember where it is....'
So, me and Rin traveled all over the whole damn forest as I tried to tap into my feeble memory, which never seemed to serve me right.
Finally, 4 rest stops and 8 detours later, I caught sight of the hut I had stayed in so long ago. Rin yelped in excitement and she ran right inside, no questions asked.
I smiled, thinking her childish antics were adorable, only to run after her when I realized that someone else might have been occupying the hut at the moment.
"Rin! Get ba.....huh?" I jolted to a halt on taking a good look at the inside of the hut.
Trash all over the place...food scraps on the small bed. I used to sleep in...dirt smearing the walls...
It was obvious that someone messy...very messy...lived in my hut.
Rin's voice broke my terror stricken thoughts.
"Kagome looks pale...is Kagome all right?" No. Kagome wasn't all right.
Kagome was angry.
Angry at the pig who dirtied up my beautiful hut. I turned to Rin.
"Rin, let's clean up this place, okay?" Whoever lived here, would just have to find a new home. So there. Heh.
I smirked in triumph. "Well, come on, Rin."
Off went the dirt, out went the trash, and away went the food scraps. By the time we were done, the sun was starting to set, and Rin was exhausted.
But that was okay, because we had cleaned, wait, not cleaned, purged my cute little hut of all the disease causing bacteria that had probably grown all over the place.
"Rin is tired, so Rin will now sleep." And she plopped on the bed, snoring away.
Geeze, to be able to get to sleep that fast....
Shaking my head, I landed right next to the already sleeping girl, and got comfortable. No sooner had my head hit the pillow, when the door opened with a loud 'BANG', jerking me out of bed.
I checked Rin, grateful that she was still asleep, then turned to glare at the intruder, who had prevented my much needed rest from taking place.
My glare met one as equally furious as mine, and I almost flinched at the sight of that dog-eared idiot from before standing in the doorway.
He took an angry step into my hut and I gulped.
Well.
Someone was angry.
"What the hell are you doing in MY hut?!" That struck a nerve.
His hut?
His hut?!
"What are you talking about? This is MY hut!" He actually looked baffled.
First frowning, then scratching his head, Inuyasha stepped closer.
"You look real familiar, wench..." Ha. He called me wench. This arrogant bastard called me wench. "In fact, I'd say you looked a lot like that ugly statue in the forest clearing..." Ugly?! Why that...
"Hey! Who invited you here?! Nobody! So GET OUT!" Like he really would....but a girl can wish, right?
"Listen, you confused wench, this is my hut. I live here. And I am in a real nasty mood. So get out before I throw you out!" I was about to reply, but a soft rustling of cloth caught my attention.
"INUYASHA!!! You're back!" She ran up to Inuyasha, trying to squeeze the life out of his leg. "Rin is happy to see Inuyasha!" The dog-man, or whatever he was, blinked.
"What are you doing here, Rin?" Rin being, well, Rin, gave her trademark grin. "Well?" he raised his eyebrow.
Rin released her hold on his leg and sidled up to me. "Well...Rin wanted to live with Kagome in Kagome's home, only Kagome didn't have a home..." I choked. 'She knew?!'
"....so Kagome chose your hut to live in, and Rin was happy because....guess! Guess why Rin was happy!" she looked at me, then at Inuyasha eagerly.
I hated guessing games.
I really did.
But Rin was waiting, so I took a guess.
"Uh...because then I could have my hut back?" Rin just smiled and I herad something that sounded like a "Feh." Whatever that was.
"No...." She looked at Inuyasha expectantly.
He rolled his eyes. " I don't know. Why?"
Dramatic silence...then, "Because then Rin could live with Kagome and Inuyasha and they could be Rin's mommy and daddy!" Then she jumped on the bed, yawned and closed her eyes.
"Rin?...Rin?"she was asleep.
Great. She'd left me alone with the weirdo.
Sighing, I lied down next to her, for the second time, and closed my own eyes.
"Hey!" I moaned, hoping he wouldn't start arguing again. "Where the hell do you expect me to sleep?"
Like I really cared. "Sleep on the floor."
"WHA.....!" I pointed to Rin.
"No shouting, please. Rin's sleeping." he grumbled and growled, but didn't say anything more, just stalked out.
'Good' I thought. 'He took the hint.'
My cheerfulness was short lived as I heard a 'THUMP' on the roof.
The stubborn fool just didn't give up....
But it didn't matter. This was still my hut.
"And this is NOT your hut! It's mine! Remember that you bitch!!!"
Bitch!?
End of Chapter 4