Sanji: SANOSA! WHADDYA MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL IF I'M A BOY OR A GIRL!?!?!!?!!?!?!
Tailz: Well Sanj, s/he probably hasn't read A Glance Ahead....if s/he had, s/he would know that you are Inu-chan and Kagome's only son....
Sanji: HOW COULD YOU THINK I WAS A GIRL?!?!
Tailz: Well, if you ARE a girl, you're an awfully cute lezzy. =3 ::Smooches::
Sanji: ::Looks at Tailz like she's possessed::
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"Bye, momma!"
"Good bye, Souta! Have a good day!"
"Okay!"
Kagome was awakened by the typical morning goodbyes. She distinctly heard the coffee maker bubbling in the kitchen and Buyo begging for some kitty-chow in the kitchen. Something was frying, too—she could hear the grease popping, and the pans clinking as her mother stirred something. She searched the room. Bright morning light was peaking through the windows, slightly diluted by the drapes hanging over it. Her schoolbooks were strewn over her desk—someone had apparently brought over her school work, either the night before or early in the morning. Yup, everything looked normal.
Everything but the one thing that made her search of the room pause. Everything but the thing that made a smile come to her lips, even though she wasn't really awake enough to smile yet.
Inuyasha.
He wasn't sleeping, of course. He was looking through the crack in the windows, transfixed, but his eyes stared past the window, past the tree outside, past the little robin that was chirping at him. His deep amber eyes were clouded over with thought, and his expression was serious. Silvery strands of hair blew about slightly because of the air conditioner and glinted in the sunlight, making him look almost angelic. His expression was so still, and with Tetsusaiga still lying across his lap, he could almost have passed as a marble statue.
A very handsome marble statue.
Kagome shook her head to rid herself of the thought before it progressed.
Inuyasha looked up in surprise at the movement, and for a moment his face remained blank, as though he didn't recognize what he was seeing. She smiled hesitantly, wondering, and suddenly the spell was broken and he was at the bedside, looking her searchingly in the face as of he could see the future written there.
Kagome fought the urge to back up a bit, slightly uncomfortable beneath his penetrating, fiery gaze. "Wh-what?" she asked in a somewhat squeaky tone.
A small smirk creased his face as abruptly as he had crossed the room. "You look better," he said decidedly, and something like relief glistened in his eyes. "Great. We'll leave soon." Kagome blinked. Oh, of course. Back to the feudal era. Back to jewel hunting. It was her job, her primary reason for existence—or so Inuyasha had said, once upon a time. She gave him a cold glare and muttered angrily, sitting up with her feet over the side of the bed.
"Fine," she said. "But get out."
Inuyasha looked confused. "What?"
"Get out so I can change," she said impatiently, pointing at the door.
"What's wrong with what you have on?" Inuyasha asked in that infuriating way of his, being stupid as usual. Idiot.
"They're PJ's," Kagome said, quickly losing what was left of her tolerance.
"So? We don't have time for this," Inuyasha insisted. "We've been tied up with you for a whole month! We're leavi—"
Presumably, Inuyasha was about to say "We're leaving." Of course he was. It was only in his nature to be insensitive, and it was his character to be concerned and cute one minute, and then a jerk again the next. While it's pretty easy to guess what the hanyou was going to say, no one will ever really know, because what followed next blew all thoughts of doing anything but cursing out of his mind.
She said the s-word.
"SIT!"
Mrs. Higarashi paused in kissing her son on the forehead and looked up towards Kagome's window. Souta looked up as well and smiled. "They really missed each other," he said brightly, as though slamming a friend's face into the ground was proof of that.
"I know," his mother sighed, "but they're going to ruin the carpet." She kissed Souta goodbye one last time and sent him off to school, walking back into the house to do some damage control. She stepped into the foyer and glanced down the hall with all the bed rooms. What she saw was a ruffled, disgruntled looking Inuyasha twitching, facedown outside Kagome's closed (and probably locked) door, where he had obviously been kicked to his current position. The half-demon was cursing colorfully into the linoleum hallway, angrily trying to pry his face from the floor as the spell wore off.
"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, Inuyasha," Mrs. Higarashi said with a smile as he managed to shakily stand up, looking murderously at the door as if he planned to break it down.
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Ten minutes later found two very disgruntled looking teenagers sitting at the table across from each other, firmly looking anywhere but at the other. Mrs. Higarashi was serving an omelet cheerfully to each of them, smiling and saying that Kagome looked nice, even though she was just wearing her usual school uniform, and that she was glad Inuyasha could've come to visit, even though he hadn't stopped scowling since she'd heard the huge crashing noises.
Both of them ate their breakfast in silence, and Inuyasha didn't say anything else about leaving for the entire time. They had obviously come to some sort of agreement, because as soon as they were finished, Kagome went to fetch her huge backpack. She kissed her mother goodbye, and Inuyasha even mumbled a thank you before stomping off towards his time period. Kagome glared, irritated, at the door he had left open, and muttered something as well, heading after them.
Mrs. Higarashi watched and smiled, picking up the plates and thinking back to a time, long ago, when two other teenagers had behaved in quite the same way. Later, those two teenagers had come to their senses and mustered the courage to confess their feelings, and even have a wonderful family of their own.... She smiled wistfully, glancing out the window as she washed the breakfast dishes, and stared at the God Tree standing majestically outside. It sparked so many memories, but the most memorable had been back many more years than she cared to think about.
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It was the first truly winter day of the year. A cold wind blew about the Higarashi shrine, ruffling the naked branches of the giant 'God Tree.' People walked along the street, smiling and laughing. Christmas cheer was in the air everywhere. The shops were decorated with holly and ornaments, and happy little signs covered with elves that said "MERRY CHRISTMAS" in bright red and green letters. Christmas shoppers flocked to the malls to buy presents and gift wraps and tinsel in preparation for the grand holiday.
The God Tree oversaw all of this. It watched austerely as the people rushed about, never moving, never changing. It had remained the same for hundreds and hundreds of years—at least, that's what Higarashi Sr., the shrine's wrinkled old guardian, told everyone that stood still long enough to listen. The old man was usually out sweeping, but today, for once, he had retired inside to read the newspaper and brood about things no one else knew about, sipping hot tea beside the fire.
But someone had to sweep the dead leaves from the marble shrine. So, who else besides Higarashi Sr.'s grandson?
Satoru mumbled irritably under his breath, pushing the dark hair from his eyes as he swept the marble courtyard. His curses were lost in the foggy cloud of mist that rose from his mouth, and were partly muffled the scarf a certain someone had forced upon him against his will. The scarf was red, his sweetheart's favorite color, and was hand knitted, as well, and very warm—nonetheless, he had put up a huge fight when she had tried to force him to wear it. He insisted that it wasn't that cold, but she had wanted him to wear a heavy down jacket, a scarf, and earmuffs. He hadn't wanted any of it—but she had won.
She always won.
"Oh, c'mon, Sato," said a warm female voice playfully. "Don't look so cross! Your face might freeze like that, you know."
"Shaddup, Chiyo," he mumbled, throwing her a disdainful glare. "It's your fault I got into this."
"My fault?" She asked, blinking with wide, chocolate-brown eyes of open innocence. "What did I do?"
"You're the one who wanted to come back to the shrine."
"But it's so cozy," she protested, puppy-facing him. Satoru looked away, blushing. She always won when she puppy-faced, and he couldn't keep his resolve if he got the full blast of it—so he wouldn't look.
"Look, you know Gramps is always trying to catch someone these days," he said vehemently. "He's bored, so he pounces on anyone stupid enough to stand still!"
"He's just lonely," Chiyo defended, putting her hands on her hips. "He wouldn't be so lonely if you spent some time with him, Sato." He muttered again and kept sweeping, determinedly avoiding her eyes by watching the room's mussed head. "Hey, you," she said, jumping up from the front steps. "Stop being a jerk for a second, would you? It's almost Christmas!" She smiled and opened her arms wide to heavens and spun in circles.
Sato looked at her like she was possessed. "Yeah, I know it's Christmas," he said, shaking his head. "I know, believe me."
"Then why're you so glum?" Chiyo gushed, smiling at the white sky as she spun. "C'mon, Sato, spin with me!"
"No!" He exclaimed, looking as if she'd just ordered him to strip and dance around in the road waving a neon banner.
"Awwww, c'mon," the young woman begged. "Pleeeeaaaseee?" She looked like a six year old, spinning about in circles, her shoulder-length dark hair quickly coming from its loose pony tail, her eyes dancing dizzily as she laughed. Sato smiled in spite of himself and set the broom down, suddenly not feeling so grumpy. He could never manage to be grouchy around her. She was the essence of cheerfulness and liveliness.
"All right, stop spinning before you hurt yourself," he said smilingly. "Come on."
She stopped—or tried to stop, anyway. What she managed was a drunken sort of of staggering, and to collapse, laughing hysterically, into Sato's arms. He staggered under the sudden weight and lost his footing on the smooth marble, sending the both of them sprawling. He spread out his arms to catch her, and took the brunt of the fall onto the stiff rock with an "Oof."
"Oh...oh my goodness," Chiyo panted, looking down at Satoru. "You okay, Sato?"
"Fine, you please got off of me?" Chiyo looked down and blushed, realizing the awkward position, and quickly backed off, sitting on her knees beside her boyfriend and blushing wrathfully. Sato looked amused, and was smirking largely as he sat up. "Sheesh, Chi-chan. You ever consider wrestling?"
"Wrestling?" Chiyo echoed blankly. "Why?"
"Ah...never mind." He gave her a smile, and she smiled back, with that open smile of blatant cheerfulness. She was always so happy and carefree... being in her presence was more than enough to lift even the darkest of Sato's moods. He smiled some more, and then laughed, standing up. He grabbed her hand. "C'mon, Chiyo-chan."
"Huh?" She asked, following as he tugged. "Wh-where are we going?"
"I'll show you," Sato said with a mysterious grin, and Chiyo was curious.
He pulled her along at a pretty steady pace across the courtyard, around the house, to the back. She could see the long staircase and the archway that marked the public entrance to the shrine. She could see the back door and the stoop, and smoke coming from the chimney. Gramps had lit a fire.
Eventually, they stopped, and Chiyo found herself staring up at a very tall tree.
"The...the God Tree," she said, puzzled. What was so special about that? She had seen the old tree a million times.
"Yeah, the God Tree," Sato said quietly. "Come on." He sat down on the roots and motioned for her to come too, smiling still. Chiyo obeyed, noticing the slight nervousness to his smile. What was with him? She set down beside him, looking in his dark eyes curiously.
She waited.
Sato seemed to be grouping for the right words. His lips fluttered, and a few times he made a sound like "uh" or "um" and acted like he wanted to say something, but always lost his nerve before he actually said anything intelligible. Chiyo was fascinated. He was never this nervous or jittery, and he kept fidgeting and kneading his hands. He was avoiding her eyes.
But not for long.
Chiyo reached over and put hands on his face, gently pulling it up to her eye level. "Hey," she said with a giggle. "Don't be so nervous, okay? Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it." She smiled in satisfaction when Sato suddenly paled.
"But—but—how did you—?"
"I'm a girl," she said confidently. "I know these things." She gave him a charming smile and Satoru gulped, aware that his heart was pounding a million miles an hour. How could he be this tense, talking to a girl—to Chiyo, no less? He was never tense.
'All right, Sato,' he told himself, turning to Chiyo resolutely, 'suck it up.' She gave him reassuring smile, and he took the moment to take manual control of his jittery hand, and plunged it into his pocket before he lost the nerve, pulling out a small package. It was obviously a jewelry box—small. She couldn't tell exactly how big it was because Sato had wrapped it himself, and it was rather sloppy.
He handed the box to her. Chiyo blinked. "What's in it?" she asked, looking like a three year old again.
"Open it and find out, silly," Sato said with a weak smile.
"But Sato...Christmas isn't for two weeks, and I don't have your present with me—"
"It doesn't matter," Sato said quietly. "Just...just go ahead."
"Well...all right..." She looked naively at the package, before slowly slipping one of her slender, graceful fingers into the wrapping. She pulled the paper away, and found herself holding a fuzzy blue box. A ring box. She smiled. It WAS jewelry. She knew it. She held onto the top of the box, and pulled open the lid with a tiny POP.
There was a ring there. It was a thin silver band with a beautiful diamond atop that glinted cheerfully in the sunlight. It was beautiful, but....too beautiful for just an ordinary Christmas present. Satoru was by no means a rich man, only barely out of college. It would've been more than a scrape for him....she glanced at him with a smile. "It's lovely," she said hesitantly, "but Sato, you really shouldn't've spent so much on me..."
Sato smiled. "I...I had to, Chiyo."
She looked confused. "You had to?"
"Yes...I...well...." He closed his eyes and swallowed, and seemed to be gathering courage. Chiyo waited. For a reason she couldn't quite place, her heart was pounding madly. Sato opened his eyes, and Chiyo realized she had been holding her breath. "Chiyo, I....."
"You....what?" she asked softly, her voice but a whisper.
"Chiyo, will you....will you marry me?"
Silence filled the courtyard. Even the breeze in the branches of the God Tree held still. Chiyo stared at him with wide chocolate eyes, seemingly disbelieving, and sparkling with something he couldn't name. Sato felt his heart sink. "It's okay if you don't want to," he said. "It was a bad time, wasn't it? I should've wai—" he never got to finish his hurried apology, because a very warm, very soft pair of lips silenced him in mid-sentence. They held the kiss for a full minute and a half, and when they finally broke away, both were panting.
"So...I guess that's a..." Sato began, panting. Chiyo smiled, and looked about to burst with happiness.
"Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She exclaimed breathlessly, and they kissed again, beneath the God Tree's solemn branches. Somehow, in the middle of being kissed more passionately than ever in his life, Sato managed to open the little box with fumbling fingers and slip the little ring onto his fiancé's finger.
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Mrs. Higarashi smiled faintly, putting the now-clean dishes away. Inuyasha and Kagome's arguing had faded, finally, but she knew they would be back eventually. She pulled her gaze from the tree outside and glanced contentedly at the small silver ring with the cheerful diamond.
'I miss you, Sato,' she thought lovingly. 'Watch over them for me, while they're gone.'
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Tailz: ::Cries hysterically into Sanji's shoulder:: I'M GONNA MISS YOU GUYS!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
Sanji: ::Looks sad:: Yeah...so will I...
Tailz: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I'm gonna be so slow updating.... ::Sniffles:: check out my profile...it'll...it'll ex...expl...explain....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!
Sanji: ::Patpat:: S'ok, Tailz....we're not going away, we're just...
Tailz: ONLY ALLOWED ONE HOUR ON THE COMPY A DAY!! How am I gonna update?!?!!?! ::Sobs::
Sanji: :'( Happy birthday to Yuni, whose birthday is August 20th. Email her and tell her happy birthday....see you guys when we can....
Tailz: ::Sobs:: I'll miss you guyssssssss!!!
Sanji: ::Smiles:: Don't worry. I'll watch her. Make sure she doesn't walk out in front of a car again. ::Wink::
