Flowers for My Daughter

Dinner, a Bath, and Bedtime

Kagome's dinner was a resounding success. Papa and little Kagome cleaned their plates and asked enthusiastically for seconds, and everyone had a wonderful time laughing and joking with each other. In due course, the dishes were cleared and washed, and the adults sat at the table over a pot of tea while Izayoi and little Kagome chatted in the corner. Izayoi was showing little Kagome how to press leaves and flowers in books, and from time to time little Kagome, particularly proud of how one of them turned out, would walk over to her father, tug at his sleeve, and show him her handiwork.

Papa was talking about the rest of the family. "My wife, Grandpa, and my son are off visiting relatives. Grandpa and Souta are coming back tomorrow, but I need to pick up my wife later this evening." He leaned back from the table, one hand behind his head, an embarrassed look on his face. "I...I'm afraid I need to ask you a favor. When I leave to pick up my wife, could I ask you to watch Kagome for me? I'd take her with me, but she usually takes a bath tonight," and he leaned forward and whispered with one-parent-to-another confidentiality, "and she does not like missing her bath, and I'll never hear the end of it if she does." He straightened up and resumed in a normal conversational tone, "So...would you be willing to watch my daughter while I go pick up my wife?"

"Of course we'll be happy to help any way we can," Kagome chirped happily. "Frankly, Izayoi could use a bath tonight too."

Izayoi's ears twitched visibly under her kerchief. "A bath? Keh!" she announced from across the room. "I hate baths."

Little Kagome jumped up joyfully, "No, Iza-chan, baths are fun! Let's go take one together!" She grabbed Izayoi's hand and headed for the bathroom. Izayoi grudgingly allowed herself to be led away, and her gloomy and resigned expression caused all the adults to laugh.

Papa clapped his hands with joy again. "My Kagome...she does love her baths!"

"So does mine," laughed Inuyasha.

Kagome blushed and hid her head in her hands. "Wait 'til I get you alone," she muttered into the sleeve of her kimono.

To Kagome's great relief, the bath was as big a success as the dinner. Izayoi suffered little Kagome to scrub her back with far fewer protests than she offered when her mother tried to do the same, and much more quickly than Kagome expected, the two girls were happily soaking in the tub, chatting and giggling. While the girls were enjoying their bath, Kagome sat quietly in the corner and did her best to appear absorbed in her magazine so she wouldn't get caught listening to them.

Izayoi sighed contentedly and slid under the water until her nose was just under the surface, and happily blew some bubbles. Forgetting that she was among strangers, she untied her kerchief and shook her head, wiggling her ears with relief. She settled back into the bath, only to look up and see little Kagome staring at her.

Izayoi slumped dejectedly. "Oh...my ears." She was utterly crestfallen. "You probably don't like me any more. You think I'm weird now."

"No, no, no, Iza-chan!" little Kagome piped. "They're so cute! I wish I had ears like that. Do you think I can pull mine up until they're like yours?" She tugged at her own ears for a few moments, trying to get them to stick up through her hair like Izayoi's. The sight was pretty comical; and Izayoi laughed, which started little Kagome laughing, and soon they were giggling and splashing happily again, the moment's awkwardness quickly forgotten. Mother Kagome smiled too, heaving a quiet sigh of relief that another bath-time battle had been won, and returned to her magazine.

With unusual difficulty, Kagome talked her daughter out of the bath (normally, it was a struggle to keep her in for more than a few minutes) and took her downstairs to brush her hair while little Kagome finished getting ready for bed. Izayoi was babbling happily about her day's adventures with her new friend, when Inuyasha walked in with a dark and concerned expression.

"I've been all over the grounds," he said. "I can't find anything unusual, but still...something just feels wrong."

Izayoi suddenly sat upright, her ears twitching nervously. She bared her little fangs and growled, "Jyaki."

Kagome put down the hairbrush. "I feel it too," she said. Inuyasha twitched his ears, and expectantly sniffed the air.

Suddenly, there was a shriek from upstairs, and little Kagome came running down the stairs. "There's a monster in my room!" she screamed. "There's a monster in my room!"

Inuyasha reached for Tessaiga, but Kagome put a restraining hand on his arm. "Don't bring out that huge sword right now...she's scared enough already."

Little Kagome came around the corner in tears, pointing to the stairs. "There's a horrible, horrible monster in my room! It tried to eat me!" She looked around the room in a panic. "Where's my papa? Where's my mama?"

Kagome knelt before the little girl ("I can't believe I'm comforting myself," she thought) and put on her cheeriest face. "Your mama and papa aren't here right now, but don't worry. Monsters in your room? We'll take care of that!"

Izayoi hugged little Kagome, and did her best to be comforting. "My mommy and daddy are really good at this. They'll get rid of that monster right away--you'll see!"

Inuyasha and Kagome left little Kagome in the care of Izayoi, and crept slowly up the stairs. Inuyasha ripped the cap off his head and petulantly stuffed it back into his sleeve. "Keh. I can't hear anything with this thing on." He sniffed at the air. "There's definitely something in there," he whispered.

"I could have told you that," Kagome whispered back. "I was never scared of the dark. I never saw monsters in the closet, or any of that sort of thing. If I...I mean, if she, said that there was something there, I knew that it had to be true." She grabbed the sleeve of his kimono. "Inuyasha, do what you have to...but can you please try not to destroy my house in the process of saving us all?"

"Fine. Why don't you take care of it, then," he whispered irritatedly. He padded softly up the stairs ahead of Kagome, who nocked an arrow and drew her bow, aiming directly at the door to the child's room.

Inuyasha pressed his back to the wall next to the door, stealthily reached for the knob, then flung the door open. A thick grey-green tentacle shot through the open door, reaching for whoever would have been standing on the threshold. Inuyasha saw Kagome's eyes flash angrily. She loosed her arrow, which flew through the door and destroyed whatever had been inside in a shower of glimmering violet sparks.

The two of them rushed into the room; there was only an ugly stain on the floor, and a breeze blowing through the open window.

"Well, that's how it got in, but I still don't know what it was," Kagome mused. Inuyasha said nothing; his face was ashen, and he was grinding his teeth so hard that she could hear it from across the room. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked.

"That smell...I'll never forget that smell as long as I live." He balled his fists, and his knuckles popped with the force with which he clenched them.

"No...No!" Kagome shook her head vehemently. "It can't be. It can't be."

"It is," said Inuyasha grimly. "It can't be anyone else." His eyes narrowed to angry slits, and he growled with utter hatred.

"Naraku."