Bath Time!
Lord Sesshomaru was close behind Kagome's mom and watched her intently. He was fascinated by the indoor plumbing in the bathroom, even though he had seen a bit of it on his last visit. He was more interested in the temperature control.
Rin was burning up slipping in and out of awareness. Mrs. Higurashi rolled up her sleeves and helped Rin into the cool water to bring her fever down. Kagome's mom was surprised when Rin did not complain about the temperature. 'She must be really ill if this cool water doesn't bother her.' Then a thought occurred to her. "Oh, well, I guess you don't have many hot baths, do you?" she tried to keep Rin awake by talking to her. "I don't know how Kagome does it. I don't think I could rough it like that."
Sesshomaru stood in the doorway; arm tucked under his other empty sleeve. "You, Lady Higurashi, are meant for the finer things that life has to offer."
Kagome's mom blushed when she looked up at the seemingly young lord and said "Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, you give me too much credit" She rinsed Rin's hair with a soap that smelled like tart apples.
Sesshomaru picked up the open bottle of apple gooh and sniffed its contents. 'Mmmmm. Smells delicious.'
Mrs. Higurashi was busy lathering Rin's hair, when she blinked herself fully awake. "Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin said annoyed and used crossed her arms over her little girl chest. She turned away, embarrassed.
"Oh, ha ha ha ha ha, Lord Sesshomaru, I think she's embarrassed" Lady Higurashi said to him with a knowing smile.
'?' "Embarassed? I see." 'I don't see. I'm just watching over her. What if there are wolves in the vicinity?' Lord Sesshomaru knew that was poppy cock, and that Rin was in good hands, but he couldn't stifle his protective instinct.
"Do you mind waiting in the hallway?" asked Lady Higurashi.
'!' "No, milady, of course not" said Lord Sesshomaru. He walked out into the hallway with the bottle of apple gooh in his hand. He rested it on a table in the hallway and sniffed it again. 'Mmmmm. Must be yummy.' He dipped his finger in and took a big taste of the gooh.
Sesshomaru froze with this finger in his mouth. 'BLAAAH!' was his first thought. Before he could react more he heard Jakan coming. Sesshomaru promptly removed his finger from his mouth and tried to recover his stoic appearance. The glob of gooh swished around his mouth and made him sweat slightly. 'I have to find somewhere to spit this stuff out!' His face contorted as the soapy grossness smooshed round his mouth. 'Carpet, carpet, table—'
"Lord Sesshomaruuuu!" Jakan raced around the corner and clumsily ran up behind his Lord. Jakan was still wet with rain water and slid on the carpet in the hallway, and fell right into the back of Lord Sesshomaru's legs.
The staff of two heads smacked Lord Sesshomaru between the shoulder blades and caused him to swallow the apple shampoo (that didn't taste like apples). "OOOF!" GULP "Yach!" GAG BEEELCH
Sesshomaru belched up a large soap bubble. He turned and gripped an apologetic Jakan by the throat. Sesshomaru belched another bubble as Jakan squiggled in his hand.
Jakan's message was strained through the grip of his Lord. "Inuyasha!"
"SESSHOMARU! WHAT'RE YOU DOIN' HERE AGAIN!" Sesshomaru recognized this gravelly voice. He couldn't respond as the soap was scratching his throat, another bubble threatening to erupt. Sesshomaru simply turned his head and saw his brother clad in red and Kagome in that ridiculous tiny outfit of hers.
"Well Sesshomaru? Huh? What're you doing here?" Sesshomaru only glared back at his little brother and let Jakan drop from the height he had been holding him.
Mrs Higurashi opened the bathroom door and was surprised to see both the demon brothers there. "Here you go Sesshomaru! Rin-chan is all squeaky clean! I'll put her to bed. Inuyasha, Kagome! How was your trip? I'm so glad everyone is here. We'll have a wonderful dinner!"
"Kagome, this is Rin, she's Sesshomaru's friend. They will be staying with us until she is well. Can take her and put her to bed?"
"Sure, mom" answered Kagome as she tried to fight the worried look taking over her face.
"Oh! Who is this little fellow?" Kagome's mom asked as she bent down to get a look at Jakan.
Sesshomaru nodded to Jakan who said "I am Lord Jakan, the great Lord Sesshomaru's retainer! I—"
Mrs Higurashi cut off Jakan before he went on and on about himself and said "Isn't this so nice to have a full house?"
"Not one full of smug two faced demons!" Inuyasha blurted.
"Two faced?" said Mrs. Higurashi.
"Yeah! Two faced!" started Inuyasha. He stuck a rude finger in Sesshomaru's face and said "He's all polite when we're here then we get back to the feudal era 'n he's all 'I'm gonna disbowl yer gut's' er somethin!"
The soap had settled and was no longer burning his throat. Sesshomaru couldn't resist, he said "That's disembowel."
"Huh?" said his half brother, dropping his finger.
"You meant to say dis-embowl. Not dis-bowl."
"SEE! SEE! WHAT I MEAN!" Inuyasha jumped up and down.
Kagome emerged from her room and said "Okay Mom, Rin is asleep. I left an extra blanket there if she gets cold." She walked up behind Inuyasha and listened to her mother chastise Inuyasha.
"Oh Inuyasha keep your voice down. Plus, I don't believe you. Lord Sesshomaru has always been kind and polite in my house, and I don't see one reason why he should not be welcome in our home. You on the other hand…leaving footprints on Kagome's bedroom floor, greedily gobbling up the food. UH! And if I have to stop you from torturing the cat one more time!"
Buyo walked past them and meowed at the sound of his name.
"Plus, IF there is ANY blood spilled in MY HOUSE the two of you will be ejected so fast your little demon heads will spin! And this means, Inuyasha, no more adventures in the feudal era with Kagome, and for you Sesshomaru, no more visits with your little companions! Do I make myself clear? You are both welcome as long as the two of you can get along. If one of you misbehaves, BOTH of you will have to leave. I will not have anyone disturb the peace of my household."
The two supernatural men looked at each other then flicked their eyes back to Mrs. Higurashi's stern face. Sesshomaru thought 'This mere woman is remarkable. I should have her run my affairs. That heavenly voice of hers would make my days of legislation and destruction much more pleasing. Her ability to be stern and soft makes her the ideal woman….well…human woman…and I'm not into them. Really, I'm not.' "Of course, milady we would never dream of disrupting the peace of your warm household. I will do whatever is in my power as a demon lord to keep Inuyasha in check."
Inuyasha flinched at Sesshomaru's comments and was fuming. Red began to color his cheeks and his fists were balled in rage. Then he got a look at Mrs. Higurashi and realized Sesshomaru was the favorite here and he had to back down. 'Just this once Sesshomaru, I'll let you have the victory. Damn you and that silver tongue. I should'a cut that off instead of yer arm!' "Sure. Right."
