Finishing early that day, Lee arrived home to a house that she wished wasn't hers. There were soda and potato chips littering the floor and empty beer cans left on the table, spilled over to boot. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Shane's friends had been there, even if Shane wasn't there himself.
"This is the last straw. Im changing the locks, and not giving Shane a key." She kicked over the trash with her foot and set down her briefcase in a clear spot on the floor. She took a look at her attire, clean, neat, and professional, and decided this wasn't the clothing someone wore for cleaning the house. Especially a house so completely disgusting anyone's mother would turn their nose at it. Slipping through the garbage, she forged her way through to her room and lost the business suit.
"I think I'll wear..this.." She put on an old T-shirt with the words "All Done" on it. It was a present she had gotten from her young brother some time ago, and to this day she did not know what it meant by what it said. It was stained and dirty now, since the only time she wore it was when she was cleaning, and once she remembered having used it as a rag to clean up some grape juice that Shane had carelessly spilled on the coffee table. Next she slipped on some faded blue jeans, and exchanged her high heels for sneakers with the soles partially wore out. She ran her fingers through her hair and paused to look at the mirror, noting how quick the transformation was. Her hair was out of place from slipping the shirt over her head, and just being the perfectionist she was, grabbed a comb off the dresser to straighten out the few strands that had gone astray. She sunk down into her chair, pulled her feet up, and stared at the ceiling. She was doing nothing but procrastinating, and she was fully aware of it. Staying in her room and staring at the ceiling was much more entertaining a thought than going out to the disaster area a bunch of guys and one girl who shouldve been a guy left her. Shane needed new friends, and she, as she had stated before, needed new locks.
Pushing herself to her feet, she picked up in her own room first. Straightening out her sheets and dusting off her pillow, picking clothes off of the floor and putting them into the hamper, and next, straightening the books on the dresser that belonged to the night college course she took. Since she was a neat person to begin with, the pickup only lasted 10 minutes, and she was forced to face her fear and leave her room. Dragging her feet almost, she went back into the living room and then to the kitchen. She grabbed a huge trashbag and then started pitching stuff, not taking too long to look at it because then she wouldn't want to pick it up. This continued for a half hour or so, until she decided she was in need of a break, that and checking her e-mail.
She sat down and set her laptop up. After filtering a bunch of spam into the garbage bin, she found two e-mails that caught her attention.
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Time: 12:30am
From: (Kagome Higurashi) hanyousmaiden
To: (Lee Higurashi) Amethystjewel
Subject: Coming Soon!
Dear Lee,
I can't believe the days are passing so quickly! We will see each other soon, and I'm exited. Sometimes I'm nervous about making this move, but I know its a good thing and I just have to trust my gut. Lee, I have trusted you as my best friend for a long time. Ive sent you emails that no normal person would ever believe, and yet you did. And you didn't have the luxury of seeing it with your own eyes. A life in the United States will be great as long as you are there to support me. Our friends will be living with us for a time, but that is only until they can find a place of their own. I guess we are just so close knit now it is hard to seperate. Just a few days and I'll see you. You get to tweak the ears yourself. Do it to InuYasha, I dare ya, because it will really make him angry and, what can I say, I always find that funny. I remember the time when InuYasha got Inuko for the first time.
I'll stop rambling now, Im sure you are out there making a million dollars or something and I don't want to stop your amazing success. Write me back, okay? Ifyou have the time that is, it doesn't have to be much.
Kagome
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Before she went to hit the reply button, she stopped and stared at her inbox list again. The fact she got an email from this individual had her curious, so she clicked on the link to open it.
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Time 2:30pm
From: (InuYasha Higurashi) tetsusaigasblade
To: (Lee Higurashi) Amethystjewel
Subject: Don't got One.
Lee I don't type good this is hard for me especially since this is in english sohear me ou# out..stupid keeeyboa98rd. She wanted me to learn to use and even afterall this tiem I still hate the thing. Sothis is proof Im sending you an e-mail. Since I have to go to this othercountry I hope everything goes well. MaybeI'll find a good boardingschool to send Inuko too. You area good friend to kagomesothanks for that. I'll beyour friend but don't crowd me that pissesmeoff.
P.S. I claim all ramen in the house. Oh, and potato chips flavoredwithcheese.
InuYasha.
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Lee stared at the ill-written message for a moment, and a smile creased her lips. She laughed. The few times she had spoken to InuYasha on the phone gave her a clear idea of his personality, and his email to her only confirmed everything. Living with him would be interesting, but hopefully him and Shane put together wouldn't be too much trouble. She twisted her lip up in thought, and rested her head in her hands. Kagome had mentioned in an earlier email that her friend's husband was a strong reminder of Shane. It would be this man she would have to worry about, not the brash talking InuYasha.
Kagome's life seemed like a fairy tale to her. Lee secretly envied her cousin's life, and was glad to finally become a bigger part of it. Kagome lived her life quixotically, romantically, and Lee wished so much to drop her conservative exterior and live life that way. Even if just for a weekend. She guided her mouse over to the compose button on her screen, and began to type both Kagome and InuYasha a response.
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To: hanyousmaiden
Cc: tetsusaigasblade
Subject: Hello both of you.
Kagome, InuYasha, sorry to compact an email like this, I'll make sure to send you both messages seperately later on. I have a lot of preparation to do for your arrival. I hope you enjoy it while you stay here, and I'll be doing my best to find the place that you really belong within the city. Shane is still here Kagome so I hopeyou don't mind him, and InuYasha, having been warned previously about your taste for ramen, I am going to order a whole bunch of it for you to snack on when you arrive. I just hope it tastes the same as the type in Japan. The computer is your friend, InuYasha, embrace it. Getting in touch with technology does not mean losing yourself to it.
Tell my aunt that I wish her well, and that I expect Sota to visit as soon as possible. InuYasha your english is great so don't worry about it. I think I already toldyou about my great new job at Sho Electronics, so I'll save that rant for another email. Can't wait to seeyou both, and..everyone else.
Lee.
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Clicking send, she decided to go online and check her various forums and galleries. She had posted to a small writing site, one where she posted her short stories and poetry. Immediately she guided herself to her ongoing story, the Miko and the Hanyou, and checked her messages there. It had been her most popular story ever since she begun it a year ago, and it still remained so today.
"Just another testament to my envy, Kagome," Lee sent her thank you notices to the new posters on the forum, with her standard encouragement to write and explore their own ideas. 'Just take your life and make it more interesting' she typed, 'and you will spin stories that shine brighter than gold'. She tilted her head to the side to check how much damage was left in the room. She sighed. With the kitchen to clean and the second bathroom surely a mess, Lee set her laptop to the side and grudgingly continued her work. Hopefully Kagome coming to live in the United States would not strip the excitement from the legend she built in her teenage years.. Still, the stories she would have to tell would bring new meaning to her writings.
Keys rattled, and Shane entered in from the back door. Lee snapped her attention to her younger brother and proceeded to raise her voice, but reluctantly stopped herself from going any further. Sensing this, Shane took the beer cans in his hand and put them in the garbage neatly and quietly, and sat down in a chair.
"The Miko and The Hanyou.." he started off, his jet black eyes staring off into the distance, "Chapter 31. Has it been completed?"
"No."
"Send me an email when it is done."
"Sign up for the alert system. It will alert you when I update."
"I'll do that." Shane got up and without looking back to his sister, spoke once more. "Are you ready for your place in the legend?" He went to his room with that, leaving Lee to her thoughts.
It was dark out by the time she awoke from her nap. Not remembering when she had gone to sleep, she muttered to herself about her own stupidity and got to her feet slowly. She hated messing up her sleep schedule, but since she was wide awake now there was no fixing it. There would be nothing on TV this late at night, so she was left with only one other option. Go online.
Bypassing her writing forums, she went straight to some research she had been doing on the area. Kagome's adventures in Japan had not only inspired "The Miko and the Hanyou", but a general interest in myths and legends. If it was true that items like the Shikon No Tama had power to manipulate life, death, love and sorrow, then there had to be truth in other legends as well. There could very well be a Shikon No Tama in her own backyard, and deep in her heart, she hoped to find it.
She wanted to create her own legacy.
But little way to accomplish it. All she had was a list of old stories, dates, and times. Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, nothing beyond old Native american tales and rituals. With so much that was empty out there it seemed impossible for her to strike gold, but if she could, her stories would be filled with a richness of flavor that only a real life experience could inspire. Cold, dark, research, stored within the files on her computer, along with her cousin's stories, was her only strand of hope for that at the moment. Even still, that had to take a backseat to her everyday life. There was family and work to worry about. Needs had to be met, and since their parents left her this responsibility, she had no intention of shrugging it off.