Just in case anyone was wondering, Jordan and Crystal aren't actually Michael's sisters. They're "my characters". They're actually real, as in they go to school with me, but they aren't twins, and they aren't sisters. Crystal's last name isn't even Lee. I just felt like adding them in, and they agreed, so I did.
Angle452: Yes, Jordan and Crystal will end up at the shrine. The Ronins will somewhat find out about them, but not just yet. We'll see a bit of the STN-J later, but not a lot. There'll be lots of Spirit Detective work in this one, and not a lot of Inuyasha, which is why I'm debating taking this story down and putting it under the Yu Yu Hakusho genre instead of Inuyasha. Jordan…is just Jordan. She always describes and draws herself as a tiger, so I just put it in here. I put a reason in, but not until later.
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Kagome woke early and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. Maybe I can spare Robin some of the work, she thought. She's been cooking for all of us ever since…well, for a long time. Who knows, maybe I'll be the only one in the kitchen. Alas, it was not to be.
"Sango!" she exclaimed in surprise, seeing her friend in one of the chairs, holding her daughter.
"I've been thinking," she started. "We really need to name these little ones."
This shocked Kagome. "You mean you haven't even named them?"
The taijiya sighed. "Miroku and I couldn't figure out what to name them. Besides, children dying in the early days of their life aren't all that unusual. With your help, though, they've survived, and they're healthy. I think they should have names."
Kagome sat down beside her. "Do you have an idea of what their names should be?"
"Sort of. But Miroku and I couldn't decide on any."
"She's right, we couldn't," agreed a voice from the doorway. Miroku entered and sat by his wife. "Do you have any ideas?"
Kagome sat back. "Did you agree on any names?"
They looked at each other. "Well, for our daughter, we were debating Taberyu, Misao, and Michiru."
"Okay, um, what's your favorite?"
"We're not sure. We just narrowed the names down to those three."
"I personally like the name Misao." She looked at them for their reaction.
Miroku took his sleeping daughter from Sango and lifted her up, looking mock-formally at her. "From here on out, your name is Misao." He lowered her and placed her back into her mother's waiting arms. "Now our son. We've favored the names Makikazu, Yosho, or Taichi."
"Hm. Those are hard to choose from." She frowned. "I don't know what to say."
"The first one, Makikazu, sounds good," said Robin as she breezed her way into the kitchen and started getting food ready. "Of course, that's only my opinion."
"Any objections?" asked Sango. The other two shook their heads. "Then Makikazu it is."
"Where is Makikazu?" Kagome asked, not seeing him with either of his parents.
"Kirara's watching him," Miroku assured her, casting nervous glances at Sango.
"Oh, that reminds me," murmured Robin from her place in front of the stove, "Is it just me, or does Kirara seem to be a little…off?"
"What do you mean, 'off'?" asked Sango.
"She's acting strangely. More careful, you know?"
"I've noticed," affirmed Kagome. "I wonder if something's wrong with her."
Sango now looked genuinely worried. "I'll go back upstairs and see how she and my son are." With that being said, she handed the newly christened Misao to her father and went up the stairs. A few seconds later she came back down, a lot faster than she had gone up. "I think she's sick. Can I borrow some towels or something like it?"
Kagome wordlessly handed a bunch of hand towels to the distraught taijiya. She said a quick "Thanks" and hurried up the stairs back to the sick ka-neko. "I hope she's okay," whispered Kagome to Miroku.
"I doubt it's anything that will threaten her life," Miroku whispered back.
"There's no need to whisper in here," Robin said as she bustled around, getting things ready to be eaten. "It's not like she can hear you or anything."
"That's true," agreed Kagome, raising her voice. "Did you need help with anything?"
"Sure. You can set the table." Kagome jumped to do as she was told.
All was ready when Sango came back down with Makikazu. She still looked worried, though. "I think Kirara shouldn't move today. I'll have to look after her."
"That's fine. I'll look after the kids," offered Kagome.
"I'll help, too," Robin volunteered.
"Thanks, guys," Sango said gratefully. "Did you need help with anything right now?"
"We're finished. All you have to do is sit down and eat," commanded Robin. They all sat down and obeyed the queen of the kitchen. "You know, I'm surprised that no one is here yet aside from us."
"It's strange," Miroku agreed. "What time is it?"
"It's…oh. It just turned five."
They all looked at her in shock. One thing ran through Kagome's mind. It's only five in the morning! What am I doing up that early? "Why did I get up so early?" she asked aloud.
"Why did any of us get up this early?" Miroku asked in puzzlement.
"Who knows. Maybe it was fate," suggested Robin.
Before any more could be said, the boy Kagome spoke with last night at dinner appeared, looking slightly dazed. "Um, good morning," Kagome greeted him.
"Oh, good morning," he responded, still looking dazed.
"Did you want breakfast?" asked Robin, playing the part of hostess.
"Um, sure," he replied. But instead of heading for the table, he went right for the stove.
"Breakfast is already made," said Robin, looking surprised. "Unless, of course, you don't like it. I can make something else, if you want."
He shook his head and turned to them. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm just used to making the food, so it's kind of a habit." He sat down at the table and began to eat. He looked surprised when he took his first bite. "This is good!" he exclaimed.
"Thank you," Robin laughed as she watched him. "A cook is always glad to get compliments."
Kagome took a seat next to him and asked, "So do you normally get up this early?"
"Sometimes," he said. "Not usually, but sometimes."
"You wanted to meet other people who spoke English, right?"
He nodded. "Well, the cook, Robin, is one." Turning to look at said cook, she said, "This young man is from England, and would love to talk in English sometime."
"Okay," Robin replied. Sitting down in the other seat next to the boy, she asked in English, "What do you think of Japan?"
He turned to her and the two of them began chatting in English. Kagome, feeling like she wouldn't be missed, left to go and set up the booths with Miroku and Sango. They managed to get everything done by six thirty. By this time everyone else was up; well, almost everyone. Shippo and the blue-haired boy were still sound asleep, as well as the two babies.
Kagome sat with Mia, talking with her to catch up on what had been happening since they last saw each other three years ago. "They all live with me. I'm not exactly sure why, since most of them have families still, but I won't say anything."
"Well, maybe they have a good reason not to go home," said Kagome, thinking of her own split with her family.
"Yuli's family died around a year ago, so I'm basically his guardian now. Ryo grew up in an orphanage, Cye's an exchange student from England, and Rowen's parents are who knows where, but Sage knows where his family is, and Kento's family has a restaurant somewhere. Cye stayed with the Rei Faun family, so that would only leave me with Yuli, Rowen, and Ryo. I'm not complaining, but they can be a handful at times."
Silence greeted this. "Um, Mia, I want to sound ignorant, but I only know who Yuli is. The other names are over my head," Kagome finished sheepishly.
Mia looked at her for a second before bursting into laughter. "I'm sorry," she gasped. "I didn't introduce you, did I? Well, since most of them are here right now, I'll point them out. That one," she pointed to the Chinese boy, "is Kento. He looks tough, and he is, but he's real sweet and likes to eat. His family owns a restaurant, like I said, so that's probably where he gets his appetite from."
Indicating the British boy still talking with Robin, she continued. "His name is Cye. As he probably told you, he's from England. He loves water and anything to do with it. He's an expert at marine biology, and is a great swimmer. What I like about him is that he's always polite and is a great cook. With him in the house, I don't have to cook a lot, and he can somehow keep Kento full. When he came here as an exchange student, he stayed with the Rei Fauns, Kento's family."
She nodded at the black-haired boy. "He's Ryo Sanada. He pretty much leads the other guys. When he was a child, he was put into the Toyama orphanage since his mother was dead and his dad was a wildlife photographer. A wild animal attacked Mr. Sanada and killed him. Somehow Ryo met Whiteblaze, and the two of them stayed together after that. And," she finished, "that's the scoop on the ones currently in the kitchen."
At that moment, the blonde entered the room dragging a stumbling and muttering boy. "Sorry we took so long," the blonde apologized. "Rowen here wasn't quite ready to get up."
Said person snapped back, "It's too dang early to be up. Normal people sleep until nine at a minimum."
They all laughed at the grumpy Rowen, who went back to muttering incoherently under his breath. "That is Rowen," said Mia to Kagome, who was trying to keep her laughter back and failing miserably. "As you can tell, he isn't a morning person. He's smart, but takes a long time to wake up. The blonde who got him up is Sage. He has the patience of a saint, which is why he shares a room with Rowen. His family owns a dojo somewhere, and like Cye, he's polite to a fault."
"Mia?" questioned Kagome nervously, "Thanks for explaining things to me, but why are they suddenly a lot more friendly? I mean, yesterday they wouldn't give you the time of day, and they've lightened up a lot."
Her cousin frowned. "I don't know. Be right back." She marched over to Ryo and spoke quietly with the black-haired boy. After a few moments, she nodded and came back to Kagome. "Last night they decided that griping about being dragged here wouldn't solve anything, so they've resolved to try to enjoy their stay."
"I see." She was silent for a few seconds, then, "I'll start getting water outside. Want to help me?"
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