Broken Glass
Chapter Nineteen
The ringing of a phone alerted Kagome that she was awake instead of sleeping. Grumbling, she rolled over in her bed and tossed her comforter over her head. She didn't want to get up. Getting up admitted that she had to start her day. And starting her day meant that she'd have to get up. It was a continuing cycle for which she did not wish to emerge herself into.
"Kagome!" No such luck. A moment later her mother entered the room with phone in hand. "It's Rin. Oh. You're sleeping."
Kagome grumbled something that would have been a witty comeback coming from anyone else. She wearily held out a hand and her mother placed the cordless phone in it. She patted her daughter's forearm before leaving the room.
"Hello?" Kagome asked, her voice sleepy and groggy.
"Happy second winter break!" Rin cheered happily. "It is Monday, February twentieth, and the first day of the rest of your life!"
Kagome groaned and flopped down onto her pillow, holding the phone to her ear. "This is why you called me and woke me up?" she grumbled.
"Not a morning person, I take it," Rin muttered to herself. Kagome yawned and mumbled a protest against the girl's chipper greeting so early in the morning. "Anyways," Rin continued on, not missing a beat. "Sango and I are off to go see a movie or something. Want to come?"
"I'd like to," Kagome sat up and rubbed her eyes, cradling the phone in between her jaw and shoulder. "But I need to get my glasses today."
"Ah, so today's the big day. Our darling little Kagome shall no longer be blind," Rin said in an overdramatic tone. Kagome sighed. "No excuse for stealing my notes now."
"I don't steal notes from you…" Kagome protested meekly, brushing her hair with her fingers and examining the strands when they fell in front of her eyes. "We have none in creative writing and block class I just get it from…"
She trailed off. It was hard to say his name, no matter how ridiculous that fact sounded. It had only been two days since she'd seen him and she couldn't stop thinking about him. Everything she did reminded her of him, which was strangely pathetic since they'd only known each other for two weeks. But those two weeks had been… well, out of the ordinary. Her stance as the invisible girl had been shattered with the arrival of Inuyasha in her life. Once invisible she could roam the halls without incident.
Now, well, now she was the center of the rumor mill. Never really giving into the sin of gossip herself, Kagome wasn't particularly sure what the rumors were… but she did know that Inuyasha and herself were quite the 'couple' at her school.
Thinking about that brought her attention back to the kiss he'd given her. Did that make them boyfriend and girlfriend? Kagome's eyebrows furrowed.
Was Inuyasha interested in a romantic relationship? 'Of course he is, moron. He kissed me and told me that he liked me. That sounds like someone who was ready for a girlfriend to me.'
"Hello?" Rin asked after a long silence that had followed Kagome's thoughts. Kagome shook her head.
"Sorry. What?"
"I said," Rin gushed with only a hint of frustration in her voice. "That Sango and I will come by around noon and we'll go get your glasses with you. We'll make sure you don't fall!"
"Thanks." Kagome smiled and hung up the phone after saying goodbye to Rin. It was good to have friends.
"Take a left here," Bubbie said and pointed with a finger to demonstrate where she wanted him to turn-just in case he couldn't determine his left from right.
Inuyasha nodded his head and turned the steering wheel, causing a screeching to erupt from the tires. He cringed. Ever since his zadie's car accident, he'd been rather hesitant around automobiles… another reason as to why he walked around so much.
Inuyasha braked quickly and lurched forward in his seat when their car came to an abrupt stop. "Where are we going again?" Inuyasha questioned as he started pressing the gas pedal again. He continued straight down a hill, remembering to brake but to not press down on the pedal and cause his bubbie to lurch forward in pain again. "Because I have no clue why it is that you made me drive."
Bubbie shrugged. "You need the practice," she said thoughtfully. She pointed. "Right." The boy obeyed. "We're going out to lunch."
"What? How come?" Inuyasha turned to look at his bubbie. The action erupted a quick shriek of surprise and a protest for the boy to keep his eyes on the road. The silver-haired boy quickly whipped his head back around. "Sorry! But seriously, Bubbie, if you were hungry you could have told me. I would have made us lunch. We don't have to waste money on mediocre cooking skills."
"Nonsense. It's always good to go out on the town every once in a while," Kaede said snippily. Inuyasha sighed. "I know it's a terrible thing to be caught in public with your old grandmother…"
"That's not it," Inuyasha protested, a small amount of laughter in his voice. "You know that I don't mind spending time with you, Bubbie."
"I know, Inuyasha." Kaede patted Inuyasha's hand as it placed itself on the steering wheel. "But going out to eat every once in a while isn't a bad thing, necessarily. It beats cooking, I suppose."
Inuyasha sighed and cracked a small smile, not saying anything more. He simply listened to the directions Kaede presented him with and went along his merry way. He pulled in front of the restaurant Kaede instructed him to park near and pulled the car they drove into a small parking space.
Inuyasha cut the ignition and pulled the emergency brake's rod. "Okay," he said, leaning forward to read the sign of the restaurant Kaede had dragged him to. "Yoko? You're kidding me, right?"
He turned and cast his grandmother a disbelieving look. Yoko, the teriyaki place that Zadie had taken the video camera with them when they'd gone to eat at the place… way back when Inuyasha was still a child. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Kaede shook her head and unbuckled her seat belt. "Of course not, Inuyasha. I want to eat here."
Inuyasha sighed and cracked a smile. Releasing his own safety belt, he jumped out of the car and ran to the other side. Holding the door open for his grandmother, he helped her out of the car and made sure she was situated on her cane before helping her towards the restaurant.
"For heaven's sake, Inuyasha," Kaede cried out. "I'm not so old and feeble that I need a handsome young man to accompany me like I'm going to fall over and break."
Inuyasha laugh. "Ah, come now, Bubbie, let this so-called handsome young man accompany you for the sake of his poor, adolescent heart."
Kaede rolled her eyes but didn't protest when Inuyasha held the door open to her and helped her inside the small restaurant. Inuyasha looked around the restaurant he hadn't set foot in for years. It hadn't changed much. The tables were arranged the same way they'd been when he was little, the same instrumental and very non-Japanese music filtered through the speakers nestled in the corners of the ceiling, and the same teriyaki smell saturated the air. He smiled faintly.
They found a table near the back and Inuyasha helped Kaede sit down. Settling down in his own seat a waitress came by and placed two menus before them before going back to the kitchen where she'd been originally.
Kaede looked over the menu before snapping it shut and setting it down. Inuyasha watched her curiously as she dug around her giant tote back before pulling out some Tupperware.
"What is that?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief as Kaede set the giant plastic container on the table and folded her hands in her lap.
"My food," his bubbie said calmly as if it were a daily occurrence that an old woman carried food around in her giant bag.
Inuyasha stared at her blankly. "Why'd you make me bring you down here if you were just going to eat some food you brought from home?" He found the whole scenario rather entertaining (albeit weird) and he tilted his head to the side to fix her with a curious look.
Kaede shrugged her shoulders. "Because," she said calmly, "I wanted you to enjoy a nice lunch out. Even if I am here as company. Who knows, maybe you'll run into one of your friends."
Inuyasha's stomach lurched as he thought of Kagome. Mentally cursing himself for his stupidity, he read over the menu curiously, looking at the food it listed. There were new dishes but Inuyasha could still remember some of the food items the menu listed. Finally, after a couple of minutes of looking it over, he set down his menu and smiled at Bubbie.
The two sat in silence for a long moment until the waitress returned. "What would you like to drink?" she asked, her voice heavily accented with some kind of Asian accent. She blinked dark brown eyes and shifted her gaze between Kaede and Inuyasha.
"I'll have water," Kaede said firmly and looked at her. "Could you heat this up for me?" She motioned to the Tupperware container before her that contained her mysterious lunch. The waitress nodded. "Good."
"And you?" the waitress asked, turning to look at Inuyasha.
"I'll have…" Inuyasha trailed off as he looked at the options in the beverage section. "Water too, I guess. Please."
"Are you ready to order?" The waitress asked as she grabbed Kaede's container and held it in her hands. She looked at Inuyasha curiously. "Or is this for you, too?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "I'll have a large mizo soup, please," he said calmly and the lady nodded before departing from the table. Inuyasha sighed and leaned his head in his hand. "I'm surprised they're letting you eat that without ordering anything else."
"I ordered water," Kaede reminded him.
"That doesn't count, Bubbie," Inuyasha said calmly, a smile on his lips. "Water is free."
Through the midst of their bickering, their food arrived and they began to eat. Bubbie ate the leftovers from the matzohs ball soup she'd made when Kagome had come over for dinner and Inuyasha ate his mizo soup. He wasn't able to stop thinking about Kagome every time he ate a bit of tofu that appeared in the bowl, however.
'I'm acting like a lovesick puppy, for crying out loud. Everywhere I look I can only think of her. What the hell is wrong with me?' he thought miserably as he ate the liquid within his bowl. He sighed wistfully as he leaned his head against his hand. He missed her… and it had barely been two days since he'd seen her.
"Is this the place, Kagome?" Sango questioned as she slowed her car down in front of the eye doctor. Kagome nodded her head and Sango quickly cut right to catch a parking spot. "Okay, want us to come in with you?"
"Sure," Kagome smiled at Rin and Sango. They'd come to pick her up about fifteen minutes ago and they'd agreed to drive her down to the eye doctor to retrieve her glasses. It had been a long two weeks, but they were finally ready.
'I've known Inuyasha for two weeks now…' She smiled to herself. 'I wonder how he's doing?'
They entered the eye doctor and Kagome was greeted by Dr. Hubert. "Kagome!" He smiled and waved the girl over. She walked ahead of Rin and Sango but was unable to keep eye contact with the eye doctor. "It's great to see you. I assume you're here for your glasses, correct?"
"Yes, please," Kagome smiled shyly and nodded her head, trying to stand up straight.
"Just a moment," Dr. Hubert said calmly as he darted out from behind his counter and moved towards the back of the office. When he returned he held her glasses, complete with her old frames and new lenses. "Just take a seat and I'll see if they're straight, okay?" At Kagome's nod, he ushered her towards a chair and sat her down in front of a small mirror. Sitting on the opposite side of the table, he produced a machine that Kagome really couldn't comprehend and placed the lenses under a giant lens. Straightening his back, he examined the glasses he held and made sure they were indeed straight and that everything was screwed in tightly. "Here we are; try this."
Kagome took the glasses offered to her and she stared at the frames she'd been lacking for two weeks. The metal and glass felt light in her hands and she placed them on the bridge of her nose and over her ears. It felt odd to be wearing glasses again, but she didn't miss the feeling of blindness that came without them.
The world burst into clarity and it seemed that Kagome could see it for the first time. Things were in focus and it seemed that Kagome had awakened from a blurry dream.
Kagome looked at herself in the mirror and stared for a long moment.
The girl before her was different from the one two weeks ago. Her dull eyes were a bright blue, alit with the innocence she'd lost as a child. The soft blue orbs shinned back at her as a mirror image of herself. She felt her throat constrict.
She felt as if she were looking at an entirely different person. Her hands twitched and she resisted the urge to pull forward and touch the figure framed in the glass.
"It looks good," she finally managed to say, remembering why it was that she was looking in the mirror.
She looked back at Dr. Hubert and he took the glasses from her. Running one last check over them he returned them to her.
"I'd like to apologize again, Kagome," Dr. Hubert said as he moved back towards his main desk and pulled out her files. "I know that two weeks is an awfully long time to wait for glasses, but as I explained to you before… the frames that you ordered were not in stock."
"I know," Kagome reassured her eye doctor with a smile.
"Nevertheless, I apologize," the doctor said with a smile. "I understand that you might have been under much inconvenience with the absence of your glasses. I reassure you that the long wait will never happen again. Part of our delay was also that I only have one assistant to make these lenses, and as you can probably assume, business piles up."
"It's really fine, Dr. Hubert," Kagome said gently, her blue eyes staring at the man. With her glasses on she could make out the blemishes on his face as well as the wrinkles that crinkled near his eyes whenever he smiled.
"Right then, I won't hold you up," Dr. Hubert reassured. "Let's see… a Mr. Cohen has paid for your damages so I shall forward the bill to him, yes?" At Kagome's nod the doctor turned away from Kagome. "Have a good day, Kagome." He smiled. "Just stop by if the glasses get crooked or you have any other questions."
"I will, thank you." Kagome nodded her head and left with Sango and Rin.
The clinking of the bell over the restaurant's entrance's door clattered as the door opened to reveal three girls. Inuyasha's spoon dropped from his hand half way to his mouth as he recognized them.
Rin led the way towards a table with Sango and Kagome in tow. Kagome looked up and her eyes locked with Inuyasha's. She paused in her step and her cheeks burned a bright red when she spotted him. His eyes lit up and he smiled at her tenderly. She blushed and lowered her head before darting after Sango and Rin.
He sighed. Good old Kagome. He debated going over to talk to her but decided against it. She was here with her friends and he was here with his grandmother (As pathetic as that sounded).
He watched her as she chose a spot next to Sango and across from Rin at a table for four, and Rin started blabbering on, though the words were lost to him due to the distance between them. The same waitress that had served him set down menus for the three girls before leaving.
Inuyasha's eyes never strayed from Kagome. She smiled at her friends when they spoke to her… but there was something different about her. 'She's wearing her glasses,' he realized. He smiled as he recognized something else. 'Is that my hoodie she's wearing? I guess I left it over there on Saturday.' Knowing that she was wearing his sweatshirt made him feel a little funny inside… a good funny, though.
"What are you staring at, boy?" Kaede demanded and turned her head to look at what her grandson was staring at. She raised an eyebrow as she spotted Kagome. "She's wearing glasses," she pointed out the obvious with a frown.
"I know…" Inuyasha sighed. "Isn't she beautiful?" His eyes widened when he heard the words escape him and he bolted upright, his cheeks pink. In a rare instance the boy was flustered. "I mean… er…"
Kaede gave him a knowing look. "She is rather pretty, isn't she?" His grandmother nodded.
Inuyasha, his cheeks still pink, bowed his head and took another spoonful of mizo to his mouth. He glanced back up again and his gaze moved to Kagome. The girl spared him a glance before blushing again and looking back at Rin, who was still talking.
He sighed again. Kaede watched him silently, her eyes inspecting him.
"You obviously want to spend time with her," Kaede said firmly. Inuyasha had told her about what had transpired between the two, briefly anyway. "Why do you torture yourself and her? Just go over and say hi."
Inuyasha silently shook his head. "I can't." His eyes never strayed from Kagome.
"So the movie's going to start at one twenty five, so that gives us about an hour to eat… fifty minutes if we want to get our tickets early," Rin declared with a bright smile. Sango nodded and munched on her vegetable tempura they'd ordered as an appetizer. "That's the great thing about Yoko… fast food only better!"
Sango rolled her eyes. "Rin, is there ever a moment when you're not talking?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin demanded with mock anger. Sango and Kagome laughed.
"You've been pretty quiet today, Kagome," Rin declared suddenly.
"How can she not be with you hogging up all the conversation?" Sango taunted and dodged a swipe that Rin sent her from across the table.
Kagome smiled and shook her head. "I don't have anything to say. So it's okay." She munched on some tempura.
"Whatever." Rin rolled her eyes and polished off her small bowl of mizo. "No point in arguing with you two when you team up on me."
"We weren't teaming up," Sango protested with a smile. "We were just pointing out the obvious." She dodged another swipe.
Kagome's blue eyes strayed to Inuyasha, but his eyes weren't on her. He was busy talking to his grandmother. Blue eyes stared at the silver-haired boy for a long moment before she looked away and fiddled with the Star of David hanging around her neck. She'd decided to wear his hoodie today, and of course she'd run into him where he'd see that she was, indeed, wearing his clothes.
'I hope he's not mad,' she thought to herself but knew that was ridiculous. He'd beamed so brightly at her when he spotted her it was impossible to think that he was angry with her. 'Nope, not angry.'
Kagome looked over at him again and his golden eyes locked with her oceanic ones. She stilled and it felt like the breath had left her lips. With her glasses, she could see him from this far away… and she could see the burning emotions in his eyes that she could normally only see when inches away from his face.
She gulped a lump in her throat and smiled shyly at him. He smiled back, his eyes soft and his lips curving upwards. She felt her heart beating faster and her knees beginning to knock together as if she were cold.
"Kagome…" Rin's sing-song voice interrupted her thoughts and the girl's head snapped towards her. "What are you going to have?"
"Oh!" Kagome blushed and picked up her menu. "Uh… the tofu yakisoba." Rin made a disgusted face and Sango smiled brightly.
"Ew," Rin declared. "Beef teriyaki for me," she declared which brought a similar expression on Kagome's face. "Don't knock it until you try it."
"Don't knock tofu until you try it," was Sango's rebuttal before she closed her menu. "I'm getting the fried rice."
When the waitress arrived, they ordered the said food and drinks. "What's a bubble tea?" Kagome asked curiously as she read over the beverage section.
Rin jumped at the idea to explain the drink to her friend. This was the first time Kagome had ever been to Yoko, whereas Rin had been attending Yoko every Thursday when her Dad had a 'date' with her. She'd been going every Thursday since the seventh grade when her parents had divorced.
"Bubble tea," she explained eagerly to Kagome and Sango. "Is a drink that's… really yummy. It's like a smoothie, only not. I don't know how to describe it…"
The two other girls exchanged looks. It was obvious that Rin could not explain things very well.
"Well, I guess I'll have a strawberry bubble tea," Kagome decided as she read over the menu. She looked up at the waitress briefly to make sure she got her order.
"With tapioca?" the waitress asked.
Kagome watched Rin shake her head violently, signaling that getting tapioca was not a good idea.
Kagome made a face. "No thank you."
Rin ordered a peach bubble tea. Not to be outdone and out of the loop, Sango ordered a watermelon bubble tea. The waitress left with their orders after taking away their empty tempura dish and Rin's empty miso bowl.
Kagome's eyes found Inuyasha's again, but she didn't keep them on him. She couldn't stop looking at him, but it seemed he was having that problem, too. Did Rin and Sango know he was here? They hadn't said anything, so probably not. As of now both her friends were slightly irritated with Inuyasha. She herself was a little aggravated that he insisted on staying away from her… but that didn't mean she was angry with him.
She sighed gently and fiddled with her utensils. It was hard to concentrate when his burning eyes were on her. She felt raw and exposed… yet at the same time…
She frowned thoughtfully. What was Inuyasha doing? Why couldn't he just be… her boyfriend? She blushed at the thought. Her… have a boyfriend? It sent tingles up her spine and she wanted to squeal. But, not only would that be so very unlike her, it would also draw unwanted attention to herself.
"Steve!" Rin declared loudly, startling Kagome. She looked up to see a tall man of Asian descent chat it up with Rin. They two started talking like maniacs, and Sango and Kagome stared blankly.
"Kagome, Sango… this is Steve." Rin pointed. "Sango this is Kagome- I mean Steve. Damn it!" Rin cursed and frowned. Steve just laughed, and Sango looked confused. "God, I'm so bad at introductions!" Rin cursed again and took a deep breath. "Kagome." She pointed at Kagome. "This is Steve." She pointed at Steve. This continued on until she got everyone's name right. The end result was a bemused couple of girls, a laughing Steve, and a frustrated Rin.
"Shut up and get our food," Rin muttered, rousing more laughter.
Kagome finished off the rest of her tofu yakisoba in time to see Inuyasha stand. Instantly her blue eyes were on him as he looked directly at her. He moved towards the back of the restaurant. With a tilt of his head, he indicated he wanted her to follow.
Gulping down the lump of noodles and tofu in her mouth, Kagome glanced at Sango and Rin, wondering if they'd seen Inuyasha. If they had, they made no comment. She looked back at where he had once stood, but he'd disappeared around a corner. She swallowed another lump in her throat- a lot of them were showing up lately.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she said suddenly and stood. Her chair scraped against the ground and her two friends looked at her. Blushing, Kagome darted away towards where Inuyasha had disappeared around the corner. She felt increasingly nervous as she approached the back of the restaurant.
The one-roomed bathrooms were lined up against the wall in a small alcove and Inuyasha was waiting for her when she showed up. Before she could protest, he grasped her wrist and pulled her into the family bathroom- usually reserved for mothers with their small children.
Once inside, he locked the door and turned to look at her. Kagome was about to say something when he promptly cut her off by pulling her into a hug.
"Inuyasha!" she gasped out, her cheeks burning. He held her tightly and said nothing. She felt her heart beating quickly. What was with him lately? He was a paradox. He said he had to stay away, yet here he was in the bathroom with her.
Under normal circumstances, Kagome would have found their particular situation a little dirty, unsanitary and all around disgusting… but she was with Inuyasha. And he was hugging her. Despite their extremely unromantic location as he displayed his affection towards her, Kagome felt strangely relieved to be in his arms.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I just… I wanted to hug you." He found the words rather lame but Kagome seemed to have a different opinion because she sighed wistfully and her hold on his tightened.
He pulled away, his hands straying and grasping her hips lightly, in a comforting manner. She looked up at him, her blue eyes confused. He sighed. "Look… I know being in a bathroom with me isn't the greatest of places, but…"
He blushed and trailed off. He looked flustered- a rare occurrence indeed. Kagome smiled lightly and touched one of his hands. She mustered up the courage to remove his hand and wrap her fingers around his. His eyes widened but he didn't protest.
Inuyasha swallowed. "It's just that… I was wondering if… you know… you'd…"
Kagome stared at him in surprise. He was so cute when he was flustered. 'Though,' she added silently to herself with a small smile, 'He's always cute.'
He wasn't sure how to ask Kagome if she wanted to be his girlfriend. How was a guy supposed to ask a girl he was rather smitten with? Kagome was a fascinating and wonderful girl, and he really liked her. He couldn't deny his growing affection for her, of course, but he wasn't sure how to address a fragile topic with an equally fragile girl.
Kagome looked at the ground. It was rather dirty. And the bathroom smelled funny (as bathrooms often do). But it didn't matter, she mentally told herself. It didn't matter because she was with Inuyasha. If anyone outside saw them enter together she knew she'd have a world of embarrassment to face when leaving.
"Kagome…" he murmured and his hands moved to her face, cupping her cheeks delicately as he tipped her face to look at him. He smiled and Kagome blushed. "Will you be…" He licked dry lips as he looked down at her. He smiled shyly again, his lips curving upwards. "My girlfriend?"
Kagome's eyes widened and she felt herself growing flustered. He leaned his forehead against hers and golden eyes stared at her. She felt weak and, had he not been holding her up, would have fallen to the grubby floor below.
She nodded slowly, her eyes closing as she felt the beginnings of tears building up. Happy tears? It appeared so. She didn't even know those existed. She bit her lip and smiled brightly. A boyfriend. She had a boyfriend.
She reopened her eyes to see Inuyasha smiling down at her tenderly. She struggled to speak.
He leaned towards her and she pushed her face up. "Ouch." Inuyasha retracted suddenly, rubbing the corner of his face, right beside his eye. Kagome blinked in surprise, her eyes wide. What was wrong?
He chuckled lightly and plucked her glasses from her face. Her face ignited into flames. "I'm sorry!" she gushed. She sputtered at the realization that her glasses had hurt him.
He laughed again and brushed black bangs from her forehead. "It's fine. It didn't really hurt. Just surprised me." He folded her glasses up and held them in his hand. Leaning down, he pressed his lips against hers, one arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her up so she didn't need to strain due to their height difference.
Kagome blushed brightly, her eyes wide as she stared at him. Realizing that when one kisses a person they're supposed to keep their eyes shut, Kagome slammed her blue eyes closed as she melted into his warm embrace. She almost forgot she was in a bathroom in a restaurant.
He pulled away slowly and smiled at her again, his eyes soft and tender. His lips, curved into a brilliant smile parted as he spoke. "You're so adorable."
Her eyes widened and she blushed as she took the glasses offered to her and put them on. Pushing them up the bridge of her nose, she looked at him. He continued to smile.
"I… I…" Kagome blushed. He'd kissed her. Her second kiss. It wasn't as awkward as before. She'd actually kissed him back, she realized. She'd responded to the lips pressed against hers. She smiled shyly and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Inuyasha…" she said slowly, looking at him. She wanted to ask if she was a bad kisser. If she wasn't up to standards. But she didn't know how. "I… er…"
He tilted his head to the side and placed a finger under her chin, tilting it up to look at her. He shook his head. "It's fine. You go out first. I'll follow."
Kagome nodded, opened the door, peeked out and left with only one look back over her shoulder.
When she reached Rin and Sango, they were waiting for her. "You were gone for a long time," Sango stated.
"There was a line," Kagome quickly lied, glancing over her shoulder to see Inuyasha return to the table where Bubbie was waiting.
Inuyasha couldn't wipe the smile off his face later that day. He was currently walking along town, getting fresh air because the sun was shinning brightly. 'I haven't actually just walked around in forever!' he remarked silently as he made his way down the street.
A gentle wind blew through the wisps of hair, peeking out from under his beanie hat. He smiled lightly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. 'It's nice to be outside.'
He headed towards the park. There was just something about it that provided him with tranquility. Despite the reminder that he'd gotten the pulp beaten out of him there, it was also was a spot where he could forget about his worries.
It must have been the trees, he decided silently. He loved trees. His zadie loved trees, too. His eyes softened in memory. His zadie. They'd parted in anger.
He paused in his step and bowed his head, his eyes shadowed by his bangs. He silently quivered, his slightly pointed canines biting into his full bottom lip. His zadie had died hating him. His zadie had died because of something he'd done.
'If I hadn't been there with him… he'd be alive. He'd be alive.' He nearly collapsed at the realization. True, he'd thought it before, the sickening realization that his zadie died because of him… but every time he thought about it, he was reminded bitterly of what he'd been.
'He never got to see me change. He never got to see me do well again. He never… got to see me stop being…' His thoughts trailed off and he clenched his eyes shut, leaning against a tree for support.
Slowly he moved towards the park and entered.
It was funny how morbid his thoughts could turn just because of trees. He laughed mirthlessly at that thought, too. Golden eyes, dull and lacking their usual luster, stared ahead as he knelt to the ground.
He sat in the middle of the grassy field that sat between two baseball fields. He slowly folded his legs and sat with his back curved and his eyes on the ground.
He lazily watched a ladybug make its way up a blade of grass. He smiled lightly at the ladybug. The same, emotionless smile that he was so accustomed to seeing.
'Smile like you mean it,' he thought bitterly. 'They'd never question me that way. Nothing's ever wrong with the smiling children.'
He knew better. He bent his legs and drew his knees to his chest. He hugged his legs to him and stared ahead of him dully, his hair whipping in front of his face as he released a small sigh.
He didn't know how long he sat there. It seemed like hours perhaps. The ladybug had flown away long ago. The blades of grass had bowed to the whims of the wind. The clouds had moved across the sky, casting their shadows. The sun had moved its position, never staying in one place forever. Shadows grew.
A shadow fell over him as the wind blew his hair aside and Inuyasha shifted for the first time in hours. Silently, he turned his head and looked up.
He should have expected that it would be Naraku. Naraku was attracted to him like a moth to the flame. Inuyasha smiled bitterly and his fists clenched the fabric of his jeans.
Silently, as if pulled by invisible strings, Inuyasha stood. Each limb seemed to move on its own accord before he stood tall, his arms hanging lifelessly and golden eyes staring darkly at Naraku.
Naraku stood calmly, the light breeze ruffling his clothes and hair. Red eyes focused on him and didn't waver.
The two stood silently for a long time, their eyes locking and refusing to falter. "What do you want?" Inuyasha finally asked when the silence had dragged on.
Naraku said nothing for a long moment, just stared at Inuyasha with a calculating and vacant expression. "To talk." Inuyasha didn't look convinced. "That's all. I only want to talk," Naraku promised, his red eyes staring at him.
'I highly doubt that…' Inuyasha thought disdainfully but didn't protest. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his nails digging deeply into his skin. 'But whatever.'
They walked in silence, Inuyasha tensed and Naraku looking like a defeated child. The change surprised Inuyasha. What was Naraku thinking?
"It will bind us," Naraku promised, the nine-year-old staring at his hand and then up at his best friend. Said boy looked slightly uneasy with the concept. "Don't tell me you're chicken?"
"No," Inuyasha said with a furrow of his brows as he looked at his own hand.
Naraku held his father's only kitchen knife. The blade was dull, but sharp enough to cut through the two boy's skin. It gleamed in the low beam Naraku's single light bulb produced. Inuyasha hesitantly reached out with shaking fingers and grasped the handle of the knife.
Slowly he pressed the cool metal against his palm and sliced at it. He hissed in pain as a thin line of blood appeared on his hand and it began to steadily bleed. The knife's edge gleamed red.
Naraku grasped the knife and cut himself the same way Inuyasha had done. He held out his hand and a single drop of blood drizzled to the ground. He held it out as an offering and Inuyasha obediently grasped it. Their hands clapped together, cupping the other and their thumbs hooking.
"Now we're blood brothers," Naraku said proudly, beaming. Inuyasha silently nodded.
Blood brothers. They'd be friends forever. They had a connection now. One that couldn't be destroyed.