Chapter 2-I don't Even Know his Name
"And so the princess kissed the knight, and they lived happily ever after." Kagome slowly closed the book that she was reading and glanced over at Shipp and Hitomi, who were now fast asleep. She could only smile as she flipped the book over to the cover, glancing at the happy scenery on it. A princess seemed to smile out at her, her golden locks tightly tied into a braid. Kagome sighed before slowly standing up from Shippo's bed, dropping the fairy tale onto the bookshelf before walking out.
"To live as a princess…" Kagome muttered to herself before slowly walking down the stairs of the house. The children were now all tucked into bed, though it took some persuasion and a promised pack of gum the next time she saw them. She doubted they would remember, but it sounded like a fair deal to them at the time. Once the deal was made, the kids brushed their teeth, jumped into their Pjs, and waited for their bedtime story.
Kagome really only read the stories for Shippo, since he was the only one who still liked picture books. Karan believed that she was much too mature for them and Hitomi was just too old to get into an eight page book. So every time she babysat, she sat on Shippo's bed and waited till Shippo picked out the book he felt like having read to him. It never mattered what book was read, since Shippo fell asleep before the end of it.
Kagome walked into the kitchen, examining for any big messes. She mentally groaned when she remembered that she was the one who suggested spaghetti for the kids. And when there is spaghetti, there is sauce. Sadly, Karan decided that it would look better on Hitomi's shirt than her food. This started the great food fight that Kagome spent the rest of her babysitting time cleaning up while the kids watched a movie. After she finished cleaning up, she had just enough time for each one to have a shower and get to bed.
Once Kagome was satisfied with her examination, she slowly walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch. Her eyes slowly closed for a moment, enjoying the small slip of silence she rarely got at the house. She relaxed slightly for the first time in a couple hours, not that she minded babysitting for the three kids. It was just hard to try and keep unwound when you find a piece of gum stuck to your pants.
"I'm not even in my twenties yet and I feel like I'm getting grey hairs." Kagome said, rubbing her temples with her fingers. A light laughter from the doorway caught the tired girl by surprise.
"I should sure hope that you still have black hair, it's much too pretty to turn grey so soon." The women walked over to Kagome, sitting down next to her and throwing one arm around her shoulders. "So did the kids give you that much trouble?"
"I give you two words, sauce and Karan." Kagome said tiredly. "I don't know how you manage Ayame; I would have given up by now. I can't handle them for one day, never mind the rest of my life."
"Well you get used to it after a while; though there are those occasions when you just don't realize what is going on. That's when everything gets hectic for me." Ayame replied, sinking lower against the couch and kicking off her sneakers. Kagome looked over at the older women and smiled at who she considered her older sister. Ayame had long red hair that went down her back, though most of the time she kept it in a bun. Her green eyes were always sparkling, either with excitement, anger, or whatever else she felt.
As for Ayame's history, it was pretty simple. She was around 33, though she never told anyone her real age, and had lived in the same house for two decades. She was a single mother, divorcing her husband Kouga when Shippo was only two because of his wandering eye.(Yes Kouga is not going to be in this one, but it's just because I'm saving people who like him from the stress of hating me.) She worked as a banker in the town bank, which gave her nothing but stress. She was an only child, and her parents seemed to always send her money at the most random times. It was their way to keep their guilt at rest for never coming to visit.
Eccentric would be the best word that Kagome could use to describe Ayame. She was more of a child than an adult, but was able to take control if her children got out of line. She never hit her children, but they listened to her just the same. She was always with a smile, and rarely ever went out unless it was for work. She worked all week and sometimes on the weekend to make sure that she had enough money, but she managed to get by just fine.
The only flaw with Ayame was her big mouth. If you told her anything, the whole neighborhood knew about it before you managed to step out of her house. She was the worst secret keeper, but she always seemed to know everything that was going on. If Kagome ever needed answers or was just curious about something, Ayame always seemed to know how to answer it perfectly.
"Have a hard day at work or something?" Kagome asked, watching Ayame yawn and lean further into the couch.
"It just was going so fast today, and I didn't get to take my lunch break either. Then I almost got ran over on the way home by some moving truck across the street." Ayame replied.
"Oh yea, I guess some new family moved into that house."
"I know, there's a mother and two sons. The two old folks that used to live there decided to move to a retirement house with their other friends. The younger kids on this street were starting to bother them."
"Oh they were such nice people too; it must have been a kind of quick decision because they never told me."
"Defiantly short, they sold their house and moved within two weeks!" Ayame said, causing Kagome's eyes to widen.
"Wow, that was pretty fast don't you think?" Ayame only shrugged.
"Well I heard the new people were nice, but I haven't been able to get too much information about them." Kagome pretended to act shocked as she placed her hand over her heart.
"Oh my god, I think the world has stopped! Ayame does not know everything about the new neighbors, and it's been a whole day!"
"Must you be so sarcastic?"
"It's a habit I guess." Kagome replied, shrugging slightly. Ayame laughed before sitting up, grabbing the younger girl's hand and hauling her up. Kagome followed her into the kitchen as she continued talking.
"I did hear that there was no father, but I'm not exactly sure what happened with him." Kagome sat down at the table as Ayame went to the coffee pot. "Want some?"
"No thanks, if I have any I'm sure to be bouncing off the walls all night." Kagome replied. Ayame nodded and started to make the coffee as Kagome continued to ask more questions. "Well did the house get published to a Miss or Mrs.?"
"It was a Miss, so I'm assuming that they got divorced or that they were never married to begin with." Ayame replied.
"I did meet the mother and she never said anything about her husband. She does want me to show one of her sons around the neighborhood so that he doesn't feel like a complete stranger."
"Isn't he the same age as you?"
"Depends, how old is he?"
"Fifteen."
"Yup, exactly my age."
"Well at least you two will have something in common, and maybe you two can become friends." Kagome looked over at Ayame, who was smirking wickedly.
"I know what you are thinking, and don't even start with me again." Kagome warned. Ayame blinked in innocence before pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"I have not a clue of what you speak of; I was simply saying you could become his acquaintance."
"I know what you mean by that too! Just because I'm going to show him around the neighborhood does not mean that you can whip out the wedding bells or anything. I still don't want to worry about guys right now; I have more important stuff in my life." Ayame rolled her eyes.
"You do not and we both know it. Why don't you just give him a chance this time instead of automatically writing him off?" Kagome shook her head at the older woman.
"I don't even know who he is or what he is like. For all we know, he could be the rudest person I've ever met. Then what would you tell me to do?" Ayame thought for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't know what I would tell you, but I would tell him you were shipped off to Alaska and then you could hide in your house for the rest of your life?"
"Ha ha, very funny. Like I want to be at my house for the rest of my life."
"You could come park it here and watch my kids twenty-four seven!" Kagome sighed and slowly stood up.
"Look, I know you are just trying to help me and all but it's not going to work. I just don't see me falling in love randomly. Especially with a kid that just moved here." Ayame smiled warmly up at her.
"Love can come at the most random and awkward times, remember that Kagome."
"Oh great, now you've gone all sappy on me. What happened to the 'I hate guys and lunar rainbows are dumb' Ayame? Where did she go?" Kagome asked, walking over to the closet and putting on her shoes. Ayame stood up, fishing in her pocket and pulling out some money.
"I didn't go all sappy on you, so stop complaining. I'm just overtired and so I'm a little less me. Remember I'm going to need you sometime this month again. Here's twenty dollars for all your work, plus ten for the sauce fight. I'll make sure to have a talk with her later." Kagome walked over and took the money, thanking Ayame before she walked out onto the porch.
"See ya later Ayame, hope you have a good night's rest!" Kagome called out, slowly pushing the screen door open and walking down the pathway onto the sidewalk. The moon above was less than halfway gone, but Kagome enjoyed it anyways. The cooler air swirled around her, her ponytail swishing in rhythm. Kagome sighed before going back to the conversation she had before with Ayame. So there is no father to the new family. I wonder where he is if he's not with his family. Maybe he just was a one night thing and the boy was accidentally made. But then what about the other one?
"Whatever it was, it's not really my business anyways. I told Izayoi I would help her son out, not do a background check on his previous life before coming here." Kagome said to herself while walking past the house with the family in question inside. Slowing down, she glanced up at the house. Still, it can't hurt to be curious. Not like I'm going to ask him about his father or anything, but it'd be nice to know.
"What am I thinking; I got to get back to my house before my mom has an anxiety attack!" Kagome said, quickly running down the rest of the street. She ran across her yard and up onto the steps of her house. Stumbling on the last one, Kagome managed to get up the stairs without hurting herself. Taking a deep breath, Kagome opened the front door and walked into the dimmed lighted kitchen. When she saw no sign of her mother, she tip toed into the living room, where she had to contain her laughter at the picture that was now placed in front of her.
There was her mother, fast asleep in her chair. The clicker for the TV was settled into her lap. The sound from the TV was soft, but the bright glow was too much for Kagome's eyes. She walked over to the TV silently, shutting it off before making her way past her mother's chair and up the stairs to her room. At the top of the stairs, she glanced down at her mother, who had not awoken.
"Goodnight mom." Kagome whispered to the sleeping woman as if she could hear her. With her final statement, Kagome hurried up into her room, switching the light on and jumping onto her bed. She snuggled her face into the pillow, sighing before she slowly turned over and sat up. Yawning with exhaustion, Kagome slowly leaned over and flicked her light off.
"I guess I'm just going to have figure out who this new kid is tomorrow." Kagome paused as her eyes slid shut, a single though running through her mind as she drifted to sleep. I don't even know his name.
Now you all have the second chapter! Yea it's been a little bit since I gave you a chapter, but I accidentally erased my chapter for my other story, so this is how I'm apologizing for my other story… so feel lucky. Oka, so I did get a lot of reviews and stuff, which I'm very grateful for! Here are my responses for each of them…
InuyashaMaster- Sorry for the spelling mistake, I was just taught to spell it that way. I did fix it for future references. As for the 'Oka' question, it's just a little trait I picked up. If you say the 'a' like in 'day' then it still sounds like Oka. But I also have a Boston accent so yea…thanks for the help!
Wings of Ash- I'm glad that someone liked my story, it makes me feel really good when I get reviews like that. Hope this was as good as my first one!
Kokari- Don't worry about the introduction of Sango and the others. Miroku and Shess will be in the next chapter with….DUN DUN DUN…. Inuyasha! The others will be coming in soon though, so don't worry. Thanks for the review!
Wisebunny- ….thanks? I'm happy that you liked it, and maybe this chapter will make you say more that one word to me or else I'm going to have a hard time making a good response for you.
Inashosetai- I'm glad that you really like it! I worked so hard on this, and my original story has to be majorly tweaked so that I can make sure that the characters fit perfectly. And I hope you like this chapter too.
InuyashaAngel- Yes this is an Inu/Kag story. I thought it said it in the info for the story, but maybe it didn't get on or something. So the three main pairings are Inu/Kag, Miro/San, and Shess/Rin.
Inuxkag4ever- Ah I'm so happy! You read my other story too! Oh this is cool! I'm sorry that this story got updated before the other one, but I kind of…erased the chapter from the computer for my other story….but I should get it out soon, don't you worry! Hope you like this story as much as my other one.
HelikeaAkileh- Well here is that next chapter that you wanted. I really like your name too, it's so unique. Anyways, I'm glad that I made someone happy with this story, and I promise it will only get better as I go along. So here is chappy two!
Lonely Youkai- Another reviewer from my past story. Oh I love it when people do this! I feel like I actually have faithful readers, and that's so cool. And for the new perspective, I really just wanted to try something different…so here it is. She'll still have the same personality most of the time though.
Chapter 3- "Falling" into the Beginning