Chapter 24

Girl Talk

Belle shook her head slowly as she stared at Gin's anxious expression. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea," she ventured at last, carefully choosing her words.

"Oh, please! Mama and Papa will love you, I'm sure, and Kichiro . . . well, he can get over himself! Besides, you have to meet my cousin Toga and his wife. They have two cute little girls, and Sierra's pregnant again. Nezumi'll like you, too!"

"Gin, seeing your brother is just asking for more trouble. He'll probably think I was there just to thwart him."

"Kich was being a jerk, that's all. I'm sorry about that . . . it was all my fault, and---"

"It's okay. He doesn't really like me anyway, so there's no real harm done."

Gin sighed and sank down on the sofa. "Did the beer wash out of your dress?"

"What, that old thing? It doesn't matter, even if it doesn't," she assured Gin.

Gin's face clouded over as she slowly shook her head and peeked at Belle through her eyelashes. "That girl . . . she did it on purpose, didn't she? Spilled her drink on you . . ."

Belle shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. It's okay."

"No, it wasn't. Why would she do that?"

"Sometimes girls are mean that way. I don't worry about it."

"But that doesn't make sense. Why would someone go out of their way to do that?"

"Maybe she was jealous or something. Maybe she was in a bad mood. It doesn't matter, does it? It's over and done with now. So tell me about this tournament," she asked, more to change the subject than because she really wanted to know. The pitying look on Gin's face . . . Belle couldn't stand to be pitied.

Though she didn't look like she wanted to 'drop it', Gin looked like she did understand why Belle might want to. She wiggled her shoulders and smiled. "Sometimes Papa gets irritated if he thinks the twins aren't keeping up with their training, so he'll call these tournaments to test them and see if they've been slacking off," Gin explained. "They're a lot of fun, even just watching . . . they don't always let me fight," she confessed.

Belle nodded. It seemed rather strange, to call a fighting tournament for what amounted to no reason at all.

'Gin doesn't really understand certain things, does she?'

'No, she doesn't. She's too cute, too happy. Who'd have ever done to Gin what that girl did to me?'

Belle was used to it, sort of. She was used to girls and their petty, vindictive ways. She'd been the recipient of that sort of behavior a lot over the years. Feeding off their insecurities and jealousies, other girls sought to put her down and make her the brunt of their jokes. She'd had a few girl friends growing up, but most of her friends were boys, and Belle didn't mind that; not at all.

'Pay attention, Belle! Gin's waiting for an answer!'

Belle snapped out of her reverie only to find Gin staring at her expectantly. "So, what do you think? Will you come with me?"

Belle sighed. "Gin . . ."

"Please?"

"I doubt your brother---"

"My brother was totally over the edge last night, and he took it out on you. I really think you'll have fun! You don't even have to pay attention to Kich, and if he even looks at you, I'll make sure he's sorry . . ."

Belle had to laugh at the sheer determination on Gin's face, and she just had to laugh. "I've never had a friend like you, Gin."

"Does that mean you'll come with me?"

Belle bit her lip and sighed again. "Yeah, I'll go with you."

Gin squealed happily and lunged at Belle, catching her in an exuberant hug. "We should teach you how to fight," Gin commented as she sat back and clapped her hands. "Then you can kick Kich's heinie yourself."

Belle giggled as Gin stood up and grabbed her hand, dragging her toward the door and only pausing to grab her backpack off the floor.

'Teach me how to fight?' Belle thought with an inward giggle. 'Daddy would have a fit . . .'

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"Mama, this is Belle. Belle, this is my mother, Kagome," Gin introduced as they stepped into the Izayoi house.

Kagome kissed Gin's cheek and shook Belle's hand. "Belle? What's your last name?"

"Zelig," Belle supplied. "Actually, my father doesn't like for me to go by 'Belle'. My name's Bellaniece."

Kagome's eyes widened, and she looked like she finally understood something. "Your father is the North American tai-youkai . . . the artist?"

Belle nodded as Gin tried not to fidget. "Yes, that's him."

Kichiro and Ryomaru slammed the door. Ryomaru was trying to grab Kichiro's nipple, and Kichiro was trying to shove Ryomaru away. Gin rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oi, Ryo! Knock it off, baka!"

"Get the hell off me!" Kichiro growled. "Damn it, I---Belle . . . ow!"

Ryomaru chortled as he let go of his sibling's nipple and stomped off toward the living room.

Belle wedged her right thumbnail under the left index finger claw and worried on her lower lip, blushing slightly as she avoided Kichiro's gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Kichiro asked, ignoring both his sister as well as his mother, who were both watching with varying degrees of interest.

"I invited her," Gin spoke up with a warning scowl, "and she's staying."

Kichiro stiffened, and Gin wondered if he had forgotten that she was even there. "Of course you did, and I figured as much. If you'll excuse me."

Gin winced, and Belle's blush darkened as Kichiro strode away.

Kagome cleared her throat loudly and sighed. "Belle, can I ask you something?"

Belle nodded jerkily once.

Kagome smiled. "How old are you?"

She looked confused but slowly answered. "Seventeen."

"I see," Kagome remarked as she slipped an arm around Gin's shoulders and the other around Belle's and propelled them both toward the kitchen. "Why don't you girls give me a hand? I figured I'd start some oden. Everyone'll be starving by the time the tournament's over, right?"

Gin leaned back, trying to get a glimpse of Belle's face. She winced and stifled a sigh, hoping that she hadn't made things worse for Belle by begging her to come along.

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Kichiro leaned against the fireplace mantle, staring in the general direction of the kitchen.

"What's Grabby doing here?" Ryomaru mumbled as he sidled up beside his brother.

Kichiro shrugged. "Gin invited her. They're friends."

"Friends?" Ryomaru echoed, voice dripping with disgust.

"Belle lives in the apartment next door."

"Oh, balls . . ."

"What the fuck is that smell?" InuYasha growled as he slammed the back door and strode into the living room.

The twins both turned to stare at their father. "Smell?"

"Hell, yes, that smell . . . it reeks of that youkai bastard . . . Gin's teacher."

"Yeah, he said he's met you," Kichiro remarked, turning his attention back to the kitchen. Belle was cutting up some vegetables, laughing at something Kagome had said. He swallowed hard and forced his gaze away again.

"You've met him?"

"Yeah," Kichiro remarked as he shifted his gaze to meet InuYasha's. "He's not too fond of you, either."

"Feh." InuYasha sniffed again. "So why do I smell him in this house?"

"His pup's here. She's Gin's friend, apparently," Ryomaru supplied, nodding his head toward the kitchen.

InuYasha leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned thoughtfully. "She don't look as bad as her old man."

"She's grabby, that one," Ryomaru grumbled, flicking his ears indignantly.

"Gin's friend?" InuYasha repeated, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously.

"She grabbed my ears. She thought I was him."

Kichiro rolled his eyes since Ryomaru's tone left little in the way of abject disgust that anyone would be unable to tell the twins apart. "Yeah, that was stupid, you know: since we look exactly alike. Who'd have thought that?"

InuYasha's ears twitched. "An ear-grabber, huh?"

"Yep," Kichiro answered. Belle's smile widened as she let her head fall back, laughing in earnest at something Gin had said. Sooty lashes fanning over her flushed cheeks, her hair spilled down her back in a golden brown wave that caught the sunlight and bathed her in a golden aura. She had dimples. He'd never noticed that before . . .

'Damn, Kich . . .'

Belle turned her head, caught his gaze. He tried to smile, but her amusement faded, and that guarded expression crept into her eyes as she quickly looked away. Kichiro winced, feeling like something had just hit him hard, right in the middle of his chest, leaving him breathless, dizzy, aching. 'Yeah,' he agreed. 'Damn . . .'

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"So you grew up in Maine?" Kagome asked as Belle dumped the chunks of carrots into the simmering hotpot.

"Yes, on the Atlantic Ocean."

"I'm surprised your father decided to stay here," Kagome went on. "I've heard of him. I always thought he was a bit reclusive."

"Yeah," Belle agreed. "It was surprising, really."

"Maybe he wanted a change of scenery," Gin suggested.

"Something like that," Belle mumbled.

"You're finished with school?" Kagome asked, either not hearing Belle's comment or choosing not to remark on it.

Belle nodded. "Yes. I was going to start college this fall . . . if we're back in time. I might just sit out a year, though. I'm not in a hurry."

"Oh, what do you want to study?" Gin chimed in.

"I'm not sure . . . There are so many things that interest me. Sometimes I think I want to do one thing, then I change my mind . . ."

"I sat out a few years because of that," Gin added. "It wasn't so bad."

"Is there a special guy in your life?" Kagome questioned, leaning around Belle to grab a bowl of onions.

Belle snorted. "Not hardly."

"You sound rather disappointed."

"Not at all," she answered in what she hoped was a calm tone. "I'm still young, right? I don't have to find someone right now."

"Oh, no, of course not," Kagome agreed.

Gin wrinkled her nose as she hopped up on the counter beside Belle. "Be glad your father's not like Papa. If he was, you'd still be waiting to go on a date."

"Your father loves you, Gin, even if he is being completely pig-headed and anal about the whole idea of you dating," Kagome explained. "Besides that, if you really had wanted to date a young man, you would have fought harder to do it."

Gin just sighed and crunched on a raw carrot.

"Toga, I swear to God, if you don't back off, I'll neuter you, myself."

Kagome's eyes widened as Toga and Sierra with Coral and Cassidy in tow entered the house. Sierra waved her mate away and hurried around the divider into the kitchen as the girls' giggling echoed out of the living room. Toga and InuYasha followed Sierra into the kitchen, which could only mean that the twins were the ones causing the raucous laughter.

Belle frowned. She didn't want to consider that Kichiro might be good with children. She didn't want to think about him, at all.

"You're being entirely unreasonable," Toga said in an overly-reasonable tone. "All I said was---"

"I heard what you said," Sierra growled. "My ears work fine, even if you think the rest of me doesn't."

"I warned you, pup, you'd be stupid to try to tell your mate that she can't do . . . whatever . . ." InuYasha remarked.

"I was trying to be helpful," Toga pointed out.

"Yeah, you were trying to be helpful," Sierra grumbled as she washed her hands to help the girls. "I can carry my purse, you know."

"I didn't want you to strain yourself," Toga argued.

"Feh. I'm siding with your mate on this one, pup," InuYasha snorted.

Kagome shrugged. "Yeah, I'd have to agree.

"Me, too," Gin said with a grimace.

Toga rolled his eyes but grinned. "All right, I get it. You sure you're okay to help Aunt Gome? I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you sat down . . ."

"Toga . . ."

The inu-youkai's hands shot up in mock self-defense, and he backed away.

Satisfied that she'd made her point, Sierra heaved a sigh of relief and turned, finally seeming to realize that Belle was there. She smiled brightly. "Hello, Belle. Nice to see you again!" Her smile faded just a little, and she shook her head slowly. "You're not here with Kichiro, are you?"

Belle's back stiffened, and she shook her head. "Not at all. Gin asked me to come."

"Yeah, well, whatever," InuYasha mumbled as he grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it to Toga before retrieving another from the refrigerator. "Did you bring something else to wear?"

"No, Papa, she's not here to fight," Gin cut in. "I just thought she'd enjoy watching."

"What? You don't fight?" InuYasha demanded. Gin could tell from his slightly less gruff tone that he was joking. Belle shook her head.

"Fight? Me?"

"Wait . . . are you saying your old man didn't see fit to teach you how to defend yourself?" InuYasha asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

Belle shrugged. "I don't really know . . . I suppose he thought it wasn't necessary."

InuYasha still looked like he was suffering mild shock, but he shrugged and strode out of the kitchen with Toga close behind.

"Was it something I said?" Belle asked, scowling at InuYasha's retreating form.

"Papa's like that," Gin answered. "He thinks that youkai and hanyous need to know how to protect themselves."

Belle laughed. "But my father's the North American tai-youkai . . . No one would dare threaten me."

Kagome grimaced. "It isn't like that. InuYasha taught Gin how to fight because, even though he tries to make sure she's always safe, he also has the peace of mind of knowing that she can do it, if it ever came down to it."

Belle nodded then shook her head. "I don't think Daddy would like it, if I learned how to fight." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I'd want to, anyway."

"Knowing how to defend yourself is important," Gin insisted. "Especially when bakas decide to leave you in the middle of the night instead of walking you home."

Belle winced and shot Gin an almost panicked glance.

Kagome frowned at the interplay between the girls. "Someone left you to walk home alone?"

Gin stared at Belle for a moment then sighed. "Belle said it wasn't a big deal."

"It wasn't a big deal, Gin. Everything was fine."

"Man . . . good thing it didn't happen around these guys," Sierra commented as she jerked her head toward the living room. "They'd have beaten the tar out of anyone ignorant enough to leave a girl alone."

Gin snorted and opened her mouth. Belle touched her arm, shook her head. Gin made a face but snapped her mouth closed with a pronounced snort.

The discussion was interrupted as Kagura breezed into the house with Rin and headed straight for the kitchen. Sesshoumaru peeked in long enough to nod in greeting before he was attacked by two overzealous granddaughters while Shippou laughed at the sight of the proud tai-youkai being dragged down by pups.

"Aiko didn't come?" Gin asked. Nezumi ducked into the kitchen, too, but didn't try to help with dinner. Her cooking skills were matched only by those of her mate. Ryomaru couldn't cook, either. All things considered, Gin had to wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper for the two of them just to buy a restaurant. At least they'd get free meals, sort of . . .

Kagura hugged Sierra and rubbed her belly before turning to Gin. "Not this time. They already had a vacation planned."

"Oh, where'd they go?"

"Jamaica," Sierra answered.

"Aiko's idea?" Nezumi asked.

Kagura chuckled. "Of course."

Gin grinned as Sesshoumaru strode through the living room. "Uncle Sesshoumaru brought Tenseiga?"

Kagura rolled her eyes. "Yes, because Sierra and Toga were arguing when they called; something about not wanting to be carried everywhere? He figured he might have to use it on his son."

Sierra blushed but smiled. "He's ridiculous."

Kagura smiled, too. "Perhaps, but it is only because he loves you."

A/N:

Final Thought from InuYasha:

She can't fight?

Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Justification): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

Sue