After the Battle
Chapter 18
Disclaimer: My attempts to own Inuyasha have been all failures so far... :(
a.n: Okay, I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding about the chapters but I'm going to take a suggestion and combine them which might take me a while. For now, I think I'm just going to update because I looked and I had like 80 reviews! 80 REVIEWS! I'm happier than I've been in my life, so give me more reviews and I'll update with rapid speed. Yay mad ninja updating powers!
-Flashback from the last chapter-
"I don't know him very well. I only know that he's my friend." She said again hoping they would back off. Sango shot her another glare before grabbing her daughters' hands.
"Talk to her Miroku. Her parents are going to hear about this."
Kei spent the rest of the early evening helping a stubbornly quiet Sango prepare dinner and watch over her children. She tried to start up some conversations, but unless the question was a yes or no Kei wouldn't get a response. She finally gave up all together and just took advantage of the silence as a time to think. She was trying to feed Yumi a snack when she heard some rustling in the bushes and saw Inuyasha and Kagome step out, both in each other's embrace and looking expressionless. They didn't seem unhappy or anything. It looked so natural to see them together like that, just peaceful and content. Kei stopped what she was doing to look up at them as they drew nearer. She could barely recognize her mother.
When Kei was growing up Kagome had always been hardworking and happy, but Kei could always tell there was something missing to her. She had never seemed whole, which was kind of hard for her daughter to understand. Kei had always wondered if it was her that had caused that hole in her mother's life. Did Kagome ever have to give something up she really wanted to raise her in high school? The thought had always lingered in the back of Kei's mind, only to come out and nag her on her really bad days. Now that she knew about her father, however, she was thankfully relieved of that thought. All these years thinking he was dead had really cost Kagome her youthful beauty. As she walked arm in arm with Inuyasha Kei felt as if she was finally seeing her mother. Instead of the haunting sadness that always lingered in the darkest corners of her eyes there was happiness. Actual, true bliss. Something Kei was never able to give her mother all by herself...
"Kei Higurashi!" Sango's voice called, snapping her back into reality like a brutal slap. Kei couldn't understand why Sango seemed to be so against her and her mother had always told her of a best friend she had which she now figured was Sango. Why was Sango so different to her? She must have been fairly pleasant to her mother at least for a bit. What had happened to change her so much, or at least towards Kei?
"Kei, honey, is this true?" Kagome asked her, because Sango had just told her mother her version of what had happened that day.
"Well... I guess." She said stubbornly, willing herself not to be embarrassed. Sango didn't know what she was talking about. Kagome took a long look at her and then turned to Inuyasha. He had a thoughtful look on his face but his eyes never left Kei's face.
"Kei, I think I'd like to hear your side of this story." He spoke calmly before sitting cross-legged on the grass and pulling Kagome down next to him. Kei didn't know what to expect, but because Inuyasha had met Hiroki last night she expected him to be on her side.
"Well... Hiroki... I met him when I traveled back from Kikyou's. I don't know why, but he kept telling me he loved him and, quite frankly, I'm very fond of him. I know that his father was killed by Inuyasha, but Hiroki doesn't think that matters. Sure, at first, he wanted to kill me, but then found out I was female. He loves me now. I love him too." She finished, feeling her cheeks redden as she reviewed the story of how it all happened in her mind. It did almost seem too good to be true, but she knew in her heart that it was actually happening, and to her. Kagome smiled at her, but Sango still looked angry.
"She's lying. There's no way that's all it is. That boy is up to something. I don't trust him at all." She hissed. Kagome looked worriedly at her friend and then over to Inuyasha again.
"I don't know. Kei, I don't think you should see Hiroki any longer." She whispered, lowering her eyes, because she probably knew Kei would be upset.
Kikyou stood over Hiroki who sat on the earthen floor of a smaller hut.
"What have you been doing with your time, Hiroki? You haven't been serving me, which I know for sure. Care to humor me with tales of your adventures before I give you a punishment?" She hissed. Hiroki just stared back at her with those infuriatingly blank eyes and a cheery smile plastered on his face.
"I was off visiting Kei of course. I'm sorry to have left you, milady, but I promise I can make it up to you." He soothed, standing up and walking towards her in order to comfort her. Kikyou was too pissed off to accept his babying anymore. He always did this to her when he could tell she was angry to calm her down and slip away from a punishment. She let him off easy one to many times.
"Stay where you are. I will see to it that you do not leave this hut until I can bear to look upon your face once again." She said, her black eyes flashing with her built-up rage. She turned swiftly and stomped out of the hut into the midnight hours, instructing Jun and Ginji to watch over the hut and kill Hiroki if he left. What angered her the most, however, was that in response to Kikyou's threat he only smiled.
Kei couldn't sleep that night. Her thoughts were only on how unfair everyone could be. Just because Sango still didn't trust Hiroki they were all planning to keep him away from her. What did she do to deserve this? How could she tell Hiroki? She sighed, and sat upright in her sleeping mat.
"Kagome, dear?" It was her mother. "I'm sorry about Sango, but she might be right. Sango has always been overprotective of me and I guess she thinks you're trying to hurt me with Hiroki. I've never seen Hiroki... is he as nice as you're saying, or is their something you're not telling me?" Kei looked into her mother's brown eyes and almost felt guilty for concealing the fact that Hiroki could travel through time. It was his secret though, and Kei didn't want to betray his trust.
"He really is nice mom. I don't know why Sango is so against him. He's completely okay about the Inuyasha and his father thing. He didn't like his father too much anyway because he is a hanyou too, like Inuyasha. He told me about how much he suffered and was always made fun of." Kei said shakily, almost adding the fact he could time-travel as a last thought, but catching herself before she did. Her mother was one of the people who agreed to keep her from Hiroki after all.
"If that's what you say I'll believe it Kei-chan." Kagome smiled, wrapping her arms around her daughter and looking into the stars. They were silent for a while, just staring into the vast heavens, Kei deep in thought.
"I've been so happy now that I've got Inuyasha once more." Kagome spoke unexpectedly, and Kei turned to see tears glistening in her mother's eyes.
"I'm just... so happy."
a.n: Well, sorry that was kind of weird. I kind of got blocked halfway through and didn't want to stop. I hope you like it! Review! Oh yeah, and I totally forgot about Shippou... hehe... He might come in later in the story now that I've been reminded.