Okay guys, here's a life update for ya.^_^ *giggles*
Both Mom and my bf's Nana agreed that I could stay up here for another two months, but because I'm going to be here when Nana and Papa are gone on a 2week-4week vacation, I have to watch the house and water the plants and so on and so forth. But, I'm also going to be making a little bit of animoney (hehe anime money, yay!) by babysitting my bf's cousin's daughter Kailey. I'm going to be watching her every day from tomorrow (Thursday) to sometime on Sunday me thinks, so that cuts down my writing time by quite a bit. Never fear though, it's only for a week, right?^_^ Oh, and on another note, it seems that my birthday may be on Friday instead of Thursday, meaning that my bf can be here for some of it. Yay!!! *does a jig*
Okay, onto the story. Well, all I have to say is that it gets slightly random... especially towards the bottom. 0.o; Poor Inu, but he brought it on himself... as usual.^_^;
Onto review responses! Yay!!!
Goku's Daughter- Wow, we didn't really get hit by the blackout here. Was it really that bad? How long did it last? I haven't heard much about it, being too lazy to plug in the cable for the TV and all.^-^; lol
Vampire-Elf- Yeah, I liked having his mom in the chapter.^_^ Mm… random comic relief…*grins* Well, I'm glad you liked it so much, and the cute comment made sense, so don't worry.^_~* It's hard not making Rin COMPLETELY adorable though. 0.o; *shrugs* Ahh well, I can try, right?
CorruptedAngel- Awww.^_^ *giggles* You sleep then, and you are faaar too kind.^_~ Thanks soo much!^_^
TheWraith1- Heh, I have another idea for a game, but Inu Yasha and Kagome are going to be playing it instead.^_~ Count a bit of Sesshoumaru in that play time as well. As for Naraku getting his ass kicked, eh, he might. To be honest, I'm not quite sure if I'm going to do anything with him at all in the end, other than cause more havoc, and therefore plot development, later on in the story. Since the story's based mainly around Inu and Kag, it's not quite as important, but I'll try.^_^ But yeah, that'd be awesome.^_~
Pruningshears- *giggles* You were quite coherent, so don't worry about it.^_~ Yeah, there has been a lot of seriousness, but no worries, there is much good stuffs to come... and soon! Yay!
S@n-ch@n- Wow, I didn't think anyone read the author's note... especially the long ones.^_^; *giggles* Yay! Thank you! Yeah, I have DSL (that's what we call it), so I have to go to my friend Sarah to get them. We just dl them while we have a sleep over and such. It's awesome.^_^ Gha! Anyway, have to go cut my Inu Yasha b-day cake! Yum!^_^ *giggles* See you soon and bye for now! And thaaank yoouu!!! *hugs*
Laura Li1- Thanks, and can do.^_^
Random- Lol you know what? Your comment had made my day today.^_~ Actually, I noticed that I'm doing the same thing that the anime does when it comes to the relationship thing. I'm making it obvious that they'll be together and at the same time making you think that it'll happen soon. Hehe, I hated that about the anime at first, just because they never actually DID get together (as of yet), but I grew to love the little cute fluff stuffs.^-^ Anyway, way too much about me! *giggles nervously* Yep, the plot thickens, although slowly, and very few chapters, if any, are there for random filler. There is almost always a reason I have something done. About not knowing what the plot is, don't worry about it; you're not supposed to. ^_^; That sounds strange doesn't it? What tends to happen is that the summaries for my stories confuse people because the summaries tend to happen mostly in the middle of my story, and thus the climax. Here, it's too in-depth to just make a climax summary, and it is no where near in the middle of my story... I think.^_^; So, basically, don't worry about it. You'll realize that the plot has been staring you in the face and growing throughout the entire story once you're finally, and I mean FINALLY (it'll be a while), introduced to the big picture. I can't say much about the rest of your comment without giving anything away (even if you're wrong, and I'm not telling you if you are or not, I'd have to give you some hint to the right answer(s)), but I can tell you when Shippou will come in. Unfortunately, Shippou won't have a huge part in this story. I love him too, but it was just too hard to figure out a way. However, he will be in one of my all-time favorite hilarious/fluff/OMG I can't believe he was so humiliated parts in the next color section, and that will last a couple of chapters. I'm usually wrong on my estimations, so I won't give one.^_~ lol He will also show up a bit later at a birthday party, but other than that, we won't see much of him. Sorry about that.~_~; Well, I hope you don't mind me ranting for so long, but thank you sooo much and I hope to see you around okay? Enjoy!^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol
Oh, and as always,
_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech
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And, what was more interesting, they had to go to the store with both Sesshoumaru AND Inu Yasha? This wasn't going to be just another trip to the store, was it? Undoubtedly, chaos would ensue, but, as for that, they would just have to wait and see.
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Do the Math
Chapter 19: A Smile in the Darkness
Okay, let's go through this one more time; she was walking down the street playing referee to a one-sided fight, watching a little girl, and hiding behind her best friend to avoid the mass amounts of weird looks everyone on Earth had been giving the group since they had left to go on their trek to the store. Did that sound about right? What had she been thinking?!
The sounds of the city were hushed that morning, leaving but a few early cars to pass through the streets, potentially on a similar mission to the one they were then on. Other than the slight hum of office buildings, outside lights, and soda machines, or basically anything electrical within hearing range, the only sound that could be heard was a slight beeping, alerting all in the party that they could cross the street. Though relatively early in the morning, a few people were still bustling about, going here and there, bundled up against the frigid early morning air and going on their way as quickly as they could, drawing little to no attention to themselves, as it would probably prolong their trip. They were all so different from this group, and they all knew it.
Okay, okay, so Kagome had had enough foresight to see that having both Sesshoumaru and Inu Yasha joining them would be trouble, actually, everyone should have, but she'd never thought that it would get THAT bad! Everything had erupted into chaos once, not two minutes after they had left, Rin asked Inu Yasha where his pants had been that morning, something that had almost passed through the hauteur to raise a smile from the great Sesshoumaru himself, and had definitely raised the curiosity of the fellow party members above what it had been before. Judging by the look on Inu's face when he had realized that they had been standing there that morning, it must've been awfully embarrassing, but still, why was everyone asking him that? Somehow, Kagome highly doubted that Inu Yasha would let ANYONE see him like that, even family, and much less his adopted brother. Okay, face it, there was no explaining it; it was just a weird day, and she had a feeling that things weren't going to get much better, but then again, that depends on your definition of "better" now doesn't it?
A short, sudden wind blew past, chilling Kagome who, wearing a midnight blue miniskirt and one of her many "sham" sweatshirts, shuddered gently and pulled the azure fabric closer to herself. The miniskirt probably hadn't been that great of an idea, but at least it was comfortable. Sango, wearing jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, didn't seem affected by the chill breeze, nor did the Khioto boys, but Rin was another matter. Still in the shorts and tank top she had been sporting the day before, the little girl had little to protect her from the outside world, not even the years that age so dutifully provided. Sesshoumaru, however, seemed oblivious to this fact, and was too busy being aggravated by his brother to do anything, even though he probably wouldn't have anyway. The poor girl, if Kagome could've, she would've taken off her sweater and given it to Rin, but being a sweatshirt, she couldn't. Instead, all she could do was pull the girl closer to herself, obstructing the path of the wind to carry it around the girl instead of to her, and hopefully giving her some of Kagome's body heat as well. Although Rin tried to fight it, as she was being taken further from Sesshoumaru, in the end, she was soon overpowered by both the enticing warmth that the older body provided, and the older girl herself, and thus had no other choice but to relent, albeit reluctantly. She didn't want to bother her Sesshoumaru-sama.
Well, at least she wasn't bored. Turning to the spectacle on her right, Kagome could only sweat drop and shake her head, shying away from the "fight", it you could call it one, with an overly-developed sense of pity for one person in particular.
"Insolent whelp."
"Bastard!"
"Brazen, long-winded buffoon."
"Asshole!" Oh yeah, there was no competition there. Was this REALLY what their parents had to listen to day in and day out? Cocking her head slightly towards Kagome's leg, Rin's already large, chocolate eyes widened even more so, producing nothing less than an effect that would have had any mortal on their knees by it's mass amount of cuteness... or fear, you know, either way. Mumbling to herself, she quickened her step to match that of Sesshoumaru's who, in that instant, was trying to escape his brother's "mindless and shameless 'insults'" while at the same time trying to keep his aloof, nonchalant demeanor intact. Were all boys that complicated, or was it just those two? As Kagome let her go, albeit unwillingly, she wondered what Rin saw in Sesshoumaru that made her stick around. It was true that he was never really mean to her, not that Kagome could see anyway, but he wasn't exactly nice either, and didn't seem very attentive. Then again, she was still trying to get over the shock of Sesshoumaru playing "big brother" to an orphan girl. What was the world coming to?
"Buffoon? Is that like a buffalo?" She paused a moment, "... or a balloon?" Everyone in the party stopped in their tracks, their postures making them look much like overly starched shirts. Widening eyes turned to the little girl at Sesshoumaru's side and everything became quiet, still; not a cricket chirped nor a pin fell, and yet no remnants of sheep nor fences loomed about either. Breaking the newly arisen air of unspoken awkwardness that surrounded them all, Kagome walked forward and, tentatively taking Rin by her hand, led her to Sango, making sure that she was well protected. Turning, Kagome, moved to stand before the two boys, glaring at each of them separately, hands on her hips and fire blazing in her eyes.
"Is that any example to be setting for Rin?!" Both were silent. Even through the fighting, they hadn't completely missed Kagome's acts towards Rin that day; they had just been a bit...er... preoccupied. To be honest, Sesshoumaru was down right ashamed that he had even bothered to "stoop to his brother's level", and the fact that he had ignored Rin to do so made it that much worse. Of course, he'd never tell anyone that, nor show it to them in the least; it was a burden he had to bear alone. (*rolls eyes*) Inu Yasha on the other hand didn't see the big deal. Of course, unlike Sesshoumaru, he loved to voice his opinion.
"At least she didn't say assho..." A sound slap on the head cut off the word before it completely left his mouth and Inu turned, hell bent on punishing who ever dared to hit him. Of course, finding an enraged Sango could quickly change one's mind, but by stopping Inu, Sango had missed one crucial factor. Strolling alongside Sesshoumaru, Rin looked up to him confusedly.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, what's an assho?" Cold, amber orbs slit, turning to stone before their very eyes. How dare that insolent, good-for-nothing failure of a being teach her words like that! If Rin weren't there, Sesshoumaru would've quickly dealt with his "brother", but for her benefit, he settled with a death glare, and not just any old death glare either. His usual "long painful death" look had flown long ago, fearing the look that he now sent Inu Yasha. The sky clouded over and lightning crackled; people ran screaming from their houses, and though all of this probably happened somewhere in the world, lets just focus back on the group at hand. But seriously, seeing Sesshoumaru emotionless was creepy enough, but no one wanted to see him pissed, and Kagome had a feeling that Inu Yasha would be seeing a lot of it when they got home. Turning forward once again, Sesshoumaru stopped at the upcoming crosswalk, eyes focused on the child by his side while seemingly looking over the street before him.
"Rin, you will never say that, nor anything my "brother" says, for that matter, ever again." Blinking once, then twice, Rin's usual, energetic smile flooded over her face once more.
"Hai Sesshoumaru-sama!"
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The trip went on as such for a while, what would've been a possibly ten minute trip turning into a half hour one, prolonged due to a detour earlier along the way. By the time they had made it about two blocks from the store, the group had been strangely quiet for the five minutes or so prior to then. Whereas both Kagome and Rin were wondering, and maybe even slightly worrying, about the silence at hand, the other three had different thoughts in mind.
When had Kagome gotten so good with kids? First she had played with Rin all afternoon the day before, then had both protected her from the chill of the morning and the boys' fight, scolding them both for something they should've known in the first place, and even now, sitting at a light and being bored, she was still focused more on Rin than much else, holding her closer when the wind rose too high. Was she so protective of the child, or just children in general? Sango had rarely seen her act this way, even with her brother, yet somehow, it didn't seem out of place. Maybe it was some form of maternal instinct? She probably couldn't have that for her brother, and that in itself was a scary thought to begin with, so that might have been the case. Really, the only way to know for sure would be to see her with another kid, but that probably wouldn't happen anytime soon.
Although they hated to admit it, what was a curiosity for Sango was more appealing to the boys themselves. Even Inu Yasha was beginning to notice, and even potentially appreciate, the motherly way of Kagome's recent acts. There was just something about it that felt right, comfortable. The truth was, Kagome would make a good mother someday...hold on! Thoughts screeching to a halt, Inu Yasha mentally reeled back, realizing what had just traversed over his, now cluttered and rather confused, mind. Okay, he wasn't supposed to be having thoughts like that. This was just Kagome, KA-GO-ME! Then again, he never said that she'd have anything to do with him, like make a good wife, much less for him. Wait, he shouldn't have even thought that he wasn't supposed to think that to begin with! Did that even make sense? Oh, to hell with it all; it was just way too confusing! Mood plunging further and further into the red-hot sea of anger and confusion dammed up within his mind, Inu Yasha, noting that the lights had turned red, surged forward onto the crosswalk, unintentionally breaking all from their trances and causing Rin to reach towards him.
"Umm... we're not supposed to cross the road until..." Inu Yasha turned to look back over his shoulder.
"Keh, I know what I'm doing." Kagome took a quick step forward.
"Inu Yasha, Rin's right; you shouldn't be..." At that instant, a car swerved around the corner, blaring its horn. Hearing it coming, Inu Yasha leaped back onto the sidewalk, saving himself by the proverbial skin of his teeth. "... testing your luck." The signal across the street sounded and Sesshoumaru, groaning inwardly, made his way across, bidding Rin to do the same.
"Come along Rin, and leave my incompetent brother to his fate." As the little girl jogged forward to meet his brother, Inu Yasha's temper flared. It was bad enough to be humiliated and proven wrong, but to be insulted to boot? Inu Yasha cracked his knuckles. That was it; Sesshoumaru needed a good... Seeing the glint in his, now honeyed eyes, Kagome moved in front of Inu Yasha, waving her hands back and forth in front of her in a peaceful gesture, hoping to subdue the outburst she knew would be coming otherwise.
"Ahh, Inu Yasha, calm down. We have to get to the store before breakfast, ne?" After a moment of thought, Inu, deciding that it wasn't quite worth it after all, scoffed slightly and passed her, mumbling and mocking her under his breath as he did so. The crisis had been averted, but for how long?
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Though it had been quite a long journey for all of them, two blocks later they arrived at the store, only to find it closed. They had gone through all that work to get there in time, and it was still closed? Well, at least they had made it in one piece, a feat worth a pat on the back considering. Oh well, the fact of the matter was that, until the store opened, they had to fend for themselves against the ever present threat of boredom, and to each their own devices. Whereas Kagome chose to play with Rin, drawing on the sidewalk with a rock that they had found not a centimeter away, Inu Yasha, after scanning the visible contours of the building, chose to stand against the nearest wall, legs and arms both crossed indifferently. Sango, following suit, sat down against that same wall as she watched Kagome play, and Sesshoumaru, not one to show bad posture, stood upright, furthest away from Inu Yasha, watching over Rin with the sternness of a hawk watching over its prey. A few minutes passed without incident, but when Rin's rock skipped out into the middle of the road and was hit away by a passing car, all lost their only form of entertainment, slight as it had been, and, as always, Inu Yasha chose to be the one to point it out.
"*We have to get to the store before breakfast...* Keh!" Glaring at Inu from over her shoulder, Kagome stood. Turning to face him, her cool, almost sweet expression turned dangerously sour as her fists clenched at her sides. Before their very eyes, Kagome uttered the one thing that could've given them a lifetime's worth of entertainment if only a camera had been handy.
"Sit." Now he had a problem. Sure, it was embarrassing when he had to do it in front of peers, but Sesshoumaru?! No way, no how! There was no possible way on Earth that he'd EVER sink that low in front of... Seeing Inu Yasha's indecision, Kagome decided to make it that much easier for him. "A bet's a bet Inu Yasha. You have to honor your word." Okay, now what was worse, being horribly, horribly embarrassed, or going back on your word and doing so in front of Mr. Honorable himself? Growling softly, Inu turned to Sesshoumaru's, strangely, almost amused face, and then back to Kagome. Looking back and forth one more time, he slumped his shoulders in defeat before glaring at each with smoldering globes of untold loathing, you know, just for good measure. Sitting back on his haunches, he did the most humiliating thing that he could've done given the situation.
"Woof." Oh, she tried, Sango tried, even Sesshoumaru tried to keep from humiliating him even more, but of course, that was a lost cause. As Sango tried to suppress her laughter, Kagome was completely incapable of resisting the victorious grin that now mounted itself on her face. Oh, it was justice, but was it too harsh?
"Bitch." She'd worry about that later.
"Now, you're going to SIT..."
"Woof." Kagome's grin widened and even Sesshoumaru couldn't help but smirk.
"... there until the store opens." Grumbling profanities under his breath, Inu Yasha turned his back to them, insistent on pouting yet unwilling to allow them to see it, defiance bleeding from every humiliated pore in his body.
What did I do?! In the meantime, Sesshoumaru was engaged in thoughts of another nature. It greatly intrigued him that this girl could handle his brother so well, and added to the fact that she cared for Rin as she did, it almost impressed him... almost. This... Kagome was an interesting one. He'd have to watch her more closely.
A short, balding man turned the corner. Walking up to the group, he passed Kagome and reached out to the door behind her. Pulling out a ring of keys, he slipped one into the keyhole, unlocking the store, but not before throwing an odd look Inu Yasha's way. Finally, their mission had been completed... well, the majority of it anyway, and now all that was left was to buy the groceries and go home.
For the rest of their shopping trip, the owner refused to take his eyes off of Inu Yasha if he could help it, staring at him as if he were loony and going to steal something from him. Actually, Kagome was pretty sure that another kid in the store DID steal something while the owner was thus preoccupied, leading her to believe that maybe, just maybe, irony did serve a purpose other than humor. Things were pretty quiet on the way home as well. With Inu Yasha ignoring Kagome for "sit"ing him, and him being too embarrassed to talk to anyone else, there wasn't really anyone there to make trouble, and thus noise. So, in the end, the shopping trip hadn't been so chaotic after all, and now they all got to go home and eat a well deserved breakfast. Oh, wait, Kagome had forgotten the milk. She'd have to go back. Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, there it was. So anyway, they had the rest of the day ahead of them, no doubt each group without the other, but who knew what the day could bring.
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Over time, Rin began to come around more often, spending most of her time with Sesshoumaru, but playing with Kagome nonetheless. It was during these times that Inu sat on his bed, looking down from the window above onto the girls below, contemplating life, love, and ramen... or maybe just ramen. Actually, he usually got pretty hungry, so he sat on the bed and ate ramen while watching them. (*author nods resolutely*) But, the point is that over the weeks to come, Inu Yasha would watch them play, sometimes jump rope, or picking flowers, even drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, it didn't matter. What was important wasn't what they were doing, but why it affected him as it did. How one girl could care so much was beyond him, and at times he felt himself becoming jealous, almost lonely as he watched them play. Had anyone ever been that kind to him? Had his mother shown him the love Rin was receiving from Kagome, or even more so? What had his father been like? The truth of the matter was, he didn't know. He didn't remember his past family, or much of his past at all for that matter. He didn't know where he was born or what his life was like before he was adopted. He had no clues to his past, and where could one's future go without a past, without something to work from, reflect from? The first memory he had was of a little girl with slightly wavy black hair, and a smile that shone more brightly than all the stars in the sky. If only that smile could be for him. Inu Yasha was certain that his future no longer lay with her; he had done enough damage to see to that, but where else could he turn? Turning from the window, Inu Yasha dropped the shades and lay in bed, preparing himself for a fitful sleep and an empty awakening. If only that smile... could be for him...
... and chase away the darkness that plagued his heart.